OK, I'm in! Let's Self Publish.

[COSenior]

Quick update, I got to 25,000 words before my hand started hurting then lost the last two days to the new South Park game, The Stick Of Truth.

Tsk, tsk! Take care of your hands, and playing video games isn't the way to do it! You know this, no need for me to put on my 'mom' hat. Toggl's the bomb, until you forget to turn it on or forget to turn it off.

 

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[lleone]

Toggl's the bomb, until you forget to turn it on or forget to turn it off

HaHa!! I do this all the time and get that e-mail....your Toggl's still running...blah blah....I use focus booster also....it's based on the Pomodoro concept...makes you crank for 25 minutes and then forces you to take a 5 minute break (can customize it too). Saves my eyes....

 

[COSenior]

HaHa!! I do this all the time and get that e-mail....your Toggl's still running...blah blah....I use focus booster also....it's based on the Pomodoro concept...makes you crank for 25 minutes and then forces you to take a 5 minute break (can customize it too). Saves my eyes....

That sounds like something I'd look into. Send me a link?

 

[Dave C]

That sounds like something I'd look into. Send me a link?

I'm actually using this there are lots of fee (non-official) apps that do this but if you have an iPad / iPhone I found this great thing called 30/30 which is 100% free and lets me plan my writing time and rest time out perfectly along with the rest of my day.

Update

My book sales were doing great until about the 7th. At that point you can replace sales with tumbleweeds, just nothing going on. I went back through the best selling one and refined it massively, something I plan to do with the others now my editing and writing skills have improved.

I'm also struggling being process orientated, I find my mood fluctuates based around sales. Still more to learn.

Ghost writer finished the final romance of this series, will link them together and put out a collection once I've gone through it. I'm also putting out my non-fiction which should be ready to go this week and probably be 40,000+ words but has been a labour of love and something that fills a need. I don't even care if it doesn't sell, I'm just curious to see if I've identified a need correctly or not so I can refine my work niches.

Based on how the romance sells (it's been way weaker than my non-fiction) I may leave that genre for a while and move across to something that looks more promising.

 

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[Rainy_TX]

Based on how the romance sells (it's been way weaker than my non-fiction) I may leave that genre for a while and move across to something that looks more promising.

There has been a lot of discussion about the importance of covers and descriptions on sales... have you tried tweeking either on the series? Might be something you wanna give a shot. Change one or the other and see how it effects sales. I had some luck doing this on one of my books. It's amazing what a difference it can make, but people do judge books by their covers and descriptions.

 

[Dave C]

There has been a lot of discussion about the importance of covers and descriptions on sales... have you tried tweeking either on the series? Might be something you wanna give a shot. Change one or the other and see how it effects sales. I had some luck doing this on one of my books. It's amazing what a difference it can make, but people do judge books by their covers and descriptions.

I think this is a good idea, especially the first one I released because I had no idea what I was doing so I have an erotica cover for a romance novella, talk about mismatched.

I'll give it a go soon. Thanks @Rainy_TX !

 

[ctcrompton]

I'm actually using this there are lots of fee (non-official) apps that do this but if you have an iPad / iPhone I found this great thing called 30/30 which is 100% free and lets me plan my writing time and rest time out perfectly along with the rest of my day.

What's the name of the app? Is it called Pomodora? Or is it called 30/30?

 

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[Dave C]

What's the name of the app? Is it called Pomodora? Or is it called 30/30?

The one I love is called 30/30

 

[lleone]

What's the name of the app? Is it called Pomodora? Or is it called 30/30?

The one I use is Pomodoro - Focus Booster. I haven't use 30/30 so may want to compare both.

 

[Dave C]

I now have five books in one how-to series.

All the back links are done in each and I've improved formatting in earlier ones. I want to write one more and then put them all into one big book that'll total over 100,000 words.

One if going to be set as free from Sat - Wed which is exciting because I'm hoping it boasts total sales massively. I'm also talking to some people with mailing lists into sending traffic to the free book in the hopes that qualified leads will result in more purchases but how good these lists are is unknown.

Third romance book is done, waiting on cover for that and then I need to order another cover for the collection.

Once that book happens it will be my 10th release and time to start sorting the lessons I've learnt so far into new actions that will increase scalability and revenue.

 

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[ctcrompton]

I'm also talking to some people with mailing lists into sending traffic to the free book in the hopes that qualified leads will result in more purchases

Any interest in sharing some information on how you found the people with mailing lists?

 

[Dave C]

Any interest in sharing some information on how you found the people with mailing lists?

Read this:

http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blo...ys-includes-successful-templates-e-mails-etc/

 

[ctcrompton]

That blog always has nuggets of wisdom.

 

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[Dave C]

So I got some good news and some bad news.

The good: I broke the 100,000 kindle store paid. Woo!
(Specifically I'm just below the 95,000 ranking)

I did it with only four sales, one each day from release so it's not a best seller or anything BUT this book is priced at $9.99 so I'm making a lot more from theses sales then the others that sell more sporadically. Of course, they are all linked together also so hopefully people will buy the others or just keep buying this one, either way.

The bad: The book I put up for free got a one star review but no other reviews yet.

I expected a one star from a free book promotion because they've been noted in other threads and have happened on other promos. It's free people download it because it's free and then they hate it because it really isn't their thing. It just sucks if that's the ONLY review.

That said I have someone on the forum reading it for a fresh perspective and I had good reviews from beta readers, so I'll have to ask some of those reviewers to post their rating to save my bacon.

 

[Dave C]

I've slowed down on writing and been looking into marketing but I need to switch back soon. Still it's been a good few days of resting.

Decided to follow @ctcrompton and see what my stats are this far so I can measure progress.

US Store Only

Jan 2014 = $19.68
Feb 2014 = $35.88 + $27.66
March 2014 = $34.04 + $44.52(So far)

Overall moving in the right direction. Pretty happy.

 

[Dave C]

BTW, I need to put that in perspective so no one thinks this is easy (it isn't, ask the people making the real money)

I've spent $739.73 so far for under $200. I am still making my money back but most definitely in the red.

 

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[ctcrompton]

US Store Only
Jan 2014 = $19.68
Feb 2014 = $35.88 + $27.66
March 2014 = $34.04 + $44.52(So far)
Overall moving in the right direction. Pretty happy.

And this is all off $2.99 and higher priced books?

 

[ctcrompton]

BTW, I need to put that in perspective so no one thinks this is easy (it isn't, ask the people making the real money)
I've spent $739.73 so far for under $200. I am still making my money back but most definitely in the red.

Interestingly, despite your greater earnings, we're still roughly about the same amount in the red. I'm close to $500 down, and it looks like you're roughly the same.

 

[Dave C]

Ok, firstly a huge thanks to @COSenior because she gave me great feedback on my book and some very sound advice. A lot of the advice was paralleled by @smarty, so that you both very much and I am improving my book when I get time.

Unfortunately work has made me it's bitch. Been very busy but I'm lucky because I've learnt so many skills through work which leads me to an important distinction I've made, taken from Thick Face Black Heart:

Work Does Not Need You, You Need Work. Through Work, Destiny Unfolds. Your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart give yourself to it.

With that in mind continuing marketing strategies and editing works but next week it's back to writing. I'll check back in when I have some words on paper.

 

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[Dave C]

Ok, I've written 2500 words on a new memoir, got a few ghostwriters working on short stories. One was from the Philippines, it's a minefield of mixed tenses but the labour was very cheap. I've got 7500 words on a different memoir and 5000 words of notes to trim down on a new non-fiction.

I've also got my final romance novel ready to go out along with the compilation. After finding a great Editor this week thanks to @Lauryn's thread. I've realised I've been making simple mistakes. A lot of bad habits are engrained from high school, run on sentences, passive voice, oh the pain!

If anyone else sucks as hard as me (I doubt it), then I recommend The Elements of Style (FREE) and The Curious Case Of The Misplaced Modifier.

BUT

This is where it gets fun, my non-fiction is paying off in the sense of getting me an audience and building that audience. I've recently booked $765 worth of consulting over the last week. Most of it is already in the bank.

This is a mini-success because it means with book sales I've made all my money back but the consulting money is not something that I can depend on just now, it's a high variable and so we get back to our usual place; MUST KEEP WRITING

 

[Isness]

If anyone else sucks as hard as me (I doubt it), then I recommend The Elements of Style (FREE) and The Curious Case Of The Misplaced Modifier.

Hey, I'd like to give you a heads up on The Elements of Style. Here's an article: http://chronicle.com/article/50-Years-of-Stupid-Grammar/25497

This above link was shared within one of the comments posted on a review for The Elements of Style. Here's the original review and the critic's suggestions: http://www.amazon.com/review/R11PUSCRIQLWLC/ref=cm_cr_pr_viewpnt#R11PUSCRIQLWLC

I just recently finished reading the Elements of Style and wanted to get any varied opinions on the writing. From the first link, you can be sure I found some. In any case, the people posting in that discussion should lead you toward other useful tools if you're interested.

 

[COSenior]

Hooray! As an English major who was subjected to Strunk & White as a textbook, I've spent the last several decades trying to get the devil off my shoulder. My writing has been stilted and overly formal most of my life because of it. Only when I stopped thinking about all those rules and started writing as people talk did it become readable. I won't presume to say it's good, but I will say it's better than it was.

Yay! for passive voice.
Yay! for split infinitives.
Yay! I can use adverbs (albeit sparingly).

Thanks for saying what I always was afraid to. DON'T, under any circumstances, use Elements of Style to learn how to write. Wow, that feels like freedom!

You seriously read it? Hats off to you for persistence, I couldn't have read that straight through to save my life.

 

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[Dave C]

I enjoyed elements of style, I (sorry all) like it. *cough*

My book broke the ranked 50,000! Not sure if it'll be there tomorrow but for now I'm soooo excited.

 

[Isness]

Hooray! As an English major who was subjected to Strunk & White as a textbook, I've spent the last several decades trying to get the devil off my shoulder.

Hey, I'm glad you persevered! I'm 20 now, and all throughout school I'd never been introduced to the text. I'm very glad for that! Though to be honest I still know nearly nothing about the technicality of writing because I'd never be attentive to the lessons. I still pause to contemplate the meaning of an adjective ... haha. I declined the offer of honors English in a somewhat subconscious fear I'd be engaged with rules that would bar my flow. I never did take the course with any "seriousness" (as you might gather from what's probably poor grammar thus far and following) although my friends found me to be their spell-checker and I'd essentially be a grammar guide for all reasonable purposes. Come to think of it, I still edit their college papers today....

I agree with what you said. To speak as people talk is very useful. In fact, it's really the only way I write. For a very long time, and still during times today, I seemed to have Benjamin Franklin with a twist of that not-actually-old-English old English voice in my head that apparently kept me close to error free in school work . As I write, I will speak (internally) ahead of my written word. I'll have repeated the next 4-8+ words about 5-7+ times over in just fractions of a second as I re-arrange the word order and word choice. Not sure how most people write, but that's my experience. I'd also use that process to organize my essay as I began to write the first words out on paper, so my timeline and general grammar errors did not appear on my first drafts. I was the king of fluff and BS ...but I digress .

I have recently grown an interest in writing for non-fiction, and possibly fiction in the future. Just finished Stephen King's "On Writing" and I've gone through several parts of Sol Stein's "On Writing" which is a fantastic eye-opener to the craft. Lyrics may also be in my future, since I love singing (and for the "" moment, I do actually sound good ). In any case, it's great knowing the materials to keep and which to avoid. Just as you said, there's something worse than an ineffective lesson, and it is a damaging one. I read Elements of Style because I was curious about the true elements of grammar. Turns out I 1) didn't read the title 2) broke my internal code of questioning the general consensus. If you know of any suggestions about writing within any form, I'd love to know them. I haven't gotten a hold of much more than books from that link I sent, as I'm just starting this now. ^_^

 

[Isness]

My book broke the ranked 50,000! Not sure if it'll be there tomorrow but for now I'm soooo excited.

Hey! Congratulations! That must be exhilarating for you . All the more reason to keep going!

 

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[Dave C]

Ok, so it looks like I may be unemployed from tomorrow.

This means I'll sign on for unemployment, apply for at least one job a day and then keep writing. It might be a blessing in disguise honestly.

I broke the $100 barrier on just ebooks alone this month, I may be closer to $200 total. I'll give the full account when I can. I also found some good ways to promote non-fiction and fiction books that I will share shortly.

 

[Dave C]

Ok,

Before I bore you with 'stats', let me tell you what helped me this month.

1) The Goodreads Giveaway Contest

This was excellent, I mean really great, you put up your book (must be physical, hit CreateSpace) and say I will give away x copies. All these people who are interested will sign up, but the real benefit is that most of these people will actually add your book to their 'To Read' section. I saw an upturn in sales after I did the giveaway.

Even better, if you're clever about it you can Split Test your book covers this way even though it'll be too late to change it on your physical book. All you do is put one cover up for the first day and another the second day. The third day didn't count because then the contest is ending and people just feel the time pressure to apply. I found my second cover, the one the book had, scored way better than an alternative. Way more sign ups with cover #1. Useful to know.

2) Writing better descriptions, this has helped a lot. Unfortunately I'm still an amateur, will keep coming back to this soon.

3) Joining various groups and offering people something in exchange for buying my book. I've been spinning up the non-fiction stuff into a website where guys can hang. I offer certain people a deal, buy the book, get a twenty minute call with me to go other stuff, then join the members only site for free.

Pushed up my book sales massively, I also had a few blog shout outs and did a little Twitter marketing. All helps.

I'm back firmly with butt in chair now, must write because the marketing stuff is great, but it's limited in what it can accomplish.

STATS:

US Store Only:
As before it's Digital + Physical = Total

Jan 2014 = $19.68
Feb 2014 = $35.88 + $27.66 = $63.54
March 2014 = $142.40 + $47.40 = $189.8 (If I factor in other currencies I beat the $200 mark)

 

[ctcrompton]

This is great man! Awesome to see such progress so quickly. From what I can gather though, I think it's important to distinguish that this seems to be mostly from your non-fiction writing, correct? You could probably run with that alone and turn it into a business without ever having to dabble in romance or erotica fiction.

I'm tossing around the idea of writing non-fiction books for my own knowledgeable areas in life, and really pushing that stuff. Seems worthwhile just from watching you do it!

 

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[Dave C]

This is great man! Awesome to see such progress so quickly. From what I can gather though, I think it's important to distinguish that this seems to be mostly from your non-fiction writing, correct? You could probably run with that alone and turn it into a business without ever having to dabble in romance or erotica fiction.

I'm tossing around the idea of writing non-fiction books for my own knowledgeable areas in life, and really pushing that stuff. Seems worthwhile just from watching you do it!

That's actually where my thinking is going now, I really want to see if this might be a business opportunity. To make the distinction I've invested a tiny bit of seed capital into this on the side in order to see if I can increase a customer base / make something else happen.

However, it may not be possible because:

a) The market may be too small
b) Many people in the market don't seem to read Kindle books for whatever reason (Although I can overcome this with PDF books / physical versions)
c) It's a very congested and competitive market already

That said got three more books I want to write in this space before I can consider it done. Then maybe one HUGE compilation.

 

[Dave C]

Been busy, not writing unfortunately. I thought I'd be done with the job last month, but a last minute investor pulled us back from the brink. Pretty much went from feeling the wind in my hair, as we plummeted from the financial cliff, to being pulled back onto the cliff, but still dangling from the edge. This is what a near business death experience feels like. It's good because it isn't my business and I've learnt so many mistakes to avoid from my current employer that these are great lessons.

Unfortunately, a company melting down means you work lots, how horrible. Hopefully, next time, sweet business oblivion will catch me.

Anyway, let's start this update off right.

<DISCLAIMER> DO NOT FOLLOW ANY OF MY ADVICE, I AM NOT RICH OR SUCCESSFUL... YET </DISCLAIMER>

With that public service announcement out of the way, let me explain how I've expanded the non-fiction side of things.

Stage One - Write until smoke comes out of your fingers (or your keyboard)
Stage Two - Proof Read, Release - no matter how bad you think it is, get it out there - NECESSARY: See if you are in the right market / plugging a gap
Stage Three - Repeat, update each new book, back link / front link etc
Stage Four - You have now created a small (microscopic) dent in your chosen industry - Research how everyone else markets
Stage Five - Do the exact opposite. You use sales funnels? I'll use word of mouth. You focus on methods? I'll focus on how to learn.
Stage Six - Write that book that explains your whole industry in a novel way, use graphs occasionally because they look pretty
Stage Seven - Open a place where everyone can come ask you questions, get involved, help each other
Stage Eight - Build Community - back link each book, add links to things on the site like free videos
Stage Nine - Build Community - social media, contests, word of mouth and even free webinars
Stage Ten - WHY WON'T THEY COME!!!
Stage Eleven - You successfully have minions... I mean potential customers / a community
Stage Twelve - Monetise the meeting place - tastefully, don't piss off your people
Stage Thirteen - Watch as the community starts to self police and / or tell others to get your work (Read: Tribal Leadership)
Stage Fourteen - Create a system, remove yourself by 90% but still chime in (Read: The E-Myth)
Stage Fifteen - ??????
Stage Sixteen - $$$$$$$$$

As you can see it's foolproof. The real points of failure are as follows:

Pick a market that has enough people - potential market share
Make sure you can innovate as mentioned above
Beware that creating the community is the hardest part, you have to work everyday on it, including writing things for them
There are upfront costs that some may wish to avoid

Did I mention it's a lot of work?

I hope this is the path that teaches me some great lessons and maybe even makes some money. We'll see.