Hello from Denver - self publishing success

[Chazmania]

HfR,

Thanks for opening my eyes to this option for generating income. I never would have thought of writing fiction. I'm working on a non-fiction book (my 1st crack at writing) right now based on my experiences with owning some rental houses, just to get a taste of writing "something". I figure any experience will help me get a feel for the process of self-pubbing and for creating a cover, picking keywords, titles etc. I never wrote anything before, and I plan on writing fiction once I've "warmed up" with this little project. So here's my first observations:

1. This shit is harder than it looks!

2. This is an awesome business model!

I plan on writing quite a bit once my schedule loosens up a little in a month or so, and I'm attempting to begin to become an author in that time. Can you elaborate on what steps you took to "prepare" to become a writer, since I think you said you never really planned on being one before you got started in this. Were there any particular books, websites, forums, etc, that you found helpful to get you "up to speed"?

I'm currently reading "Techniques of the Selling Writer" and "Writing Fiction for Dummies". I just started both but already I can say they're good for a newbie. Do you have any recommendations? Thanks again for inspiring.

 

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[Held for Ransom]

Hey Chaz,

Can you elaborate on what steps you took to "prepare" to become a writer, since I think you said you never really planned on being one before you got started in this. Were there any particular books, websites, forums, etc, that you found helpful to get you "up to speed"?

Uhhhm, most of what I did to prepare was read a lot. As far as other websites/forums and things, I do participate in a couple of private ones these days but early on, I really didn't do any of that.

I'm currently reading "Techniques of the Selling Writer" and "Writing Fiction for Dummies". I just started both but already I can say they're good for a newbie. Do you have any recommendations?

I didn't read any books on writing when I got going.

For the record, I wouldn't necessarily say that what I did is the best way to go but in the end, I did learn the importance of producing content on a regular basis. Now I am actually in the process of learning a lot more about the mechanics of writing, you know, getting better at the craft overall.

Backwards I know.

But even while I am learning, I am still putting out new stuff. It's so important that if you want to write, you need to be writing. I was talking to my wife the other day about this. Since I started, I always looked at my first pen name as "practice". And today, even after selling 1000s and 1000s of books under this name, I still see it as practice.

That's not to say you should put out subpar material for the sake of putting it out. But, there is a balance between perfection and speed. You need to find the sweet spot for yourself in there. For me, it's a title about every couple of weeks or so.

Also, I would add that if you are feeling stuck, reach out to a big name in your niche. It's sounds counterintuitive I know. Why would you ask your competition anything? And, why would the top dogs want to help you?

Well, my personal belief is that fiction is one of those special businesses where literally the consumer cannot get enough. If they love a certain genre, they will buy ALL that they can get their hands on. So it's not like it's a zero sum game where if I sell a book, someone else won't. It just doesn't work that way.

I have done this recently with one of the very top selling authors in my niche. I figure she earns $500,000 - $750,000 a year. I literally asked her how to go about creating a series because that's all she does and makes a killing with that approach. But, I was clueless so I wrote to her and asked. She wrote me a lonnnng e-mail back and talked about a lot of how she does it.

I mean, it was f***ing awesome. Granted, she knew my pen name because our respective Also Boughts are loaded with each other's stuff but even so, don't be afraid to ask is my point.

Anyway, I think what you are doing is good. By all means, get educated. But also, just start getting stuff out there. There is no substitute for it.

Good luck!

 

[Breaking Free]

This thread is full of great advice. It actually was what inspired me to pick up writing again. I used to write for a small movie blog (this was years ago) to the tune of $300 a month, so it was more for fun and practice than making money. But I did learn that I can write, and be able to produce a LOT of content in a short amount of time. I even explored writing a novel and going the traditional route of getting published, but was intimidated by the publishing process, and the fact that most published authors can't even ink a full living from their work.

Flash forward to a month ago. I met up with an old family friend who's created several businesses and gone from millionaire to broke several times over. I expressed my desire to have my own business one day, and he agreed to mentor me. He also gave me a few books to read, one of them being the book that brought us all here. Now I've always had trouble looking around to try and identify what sort of business or website I can start (I've only got a few ideas and they're not cheap), but writing? The ideas almost literally pour out of me. I've had to stop conversations with friends and my girlfriend on several occasions to get an idea on paper.

So this week, I scavenged some free time from my dreaded 9 to 5ish gig and started writing. 90 minutes later, I have over 2000 words in a word document. This weekend, I've cleared my schedule and literally going to write as much as I can. Writing has been my passion since grade school, and e-publishing right now is my fastlane vessel.

Why am I posting this, you ask? Because everyone I've tried to talk to about this, aside from my new mentor and my girlfriend, the reaction is less than supportive. I think I need new friends... who wants to grab a drink in Phoenix?

I'll also post an update on Monday. And HfR, your Amazon tool is freaking awesome!

 

[Thriftypreneur]

@HFR

Regarding best-selling authors in a genre, I think, with kindle's mainstream popularity, that best-selling authors are really killing it. Here's a sales chart I found from an authors personal experiences and records. I've cross checked the chart among popular author hangouts and, for the most part, people seem to agree on the numbers.

Theresa Ragan: Sales Ranking Chart

Based on the chart, if you were to be in the top #5-#10 of Amazon best selling titles for six months, that's an average of 540000 books sold. At 3.99 each, that's $1,506,600.00 that Amazon is cutting you a check for (70% commission - and this doesn't even include sales on other platforms or print-on-demand, etc). I'm not saying it's easy to get there, but I'm saying that, since mobile and ebooks are now so widely adopted and accepted, that best-selling authors are really, really killing it. And this platform is still in it's infancy.

Edit: Don't really know what my point was for this post, just wanted to share these numbers in this thread.

 

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[Jonleehacker]

I think I need new friends... who wants to grab a drink in Phoenix?

I'm just about finished my first non-fiction book, inspired by this thread.

Your question got me thinking, I have a good group of friends that support each other in email and skype for my eBiz, anyone into an accountability and peer to peer mentoring group for writers?

 

[Breaking Free]

anyone into an accountability and peer to peer mentoring group for writers?

I'd be up for this. It could be a simple email chain, or even a post on these forums (then everyone can hold us accountable)? It could range from a word count challenge, to a content produced challenge for those of us that are competitive. Or just encouragement, if someone gets stuck with writers block or no motiviation, we help keep each other going.

 

[Michael Raphael]

Where should I publish my finished ebook? I was thinking of doing the Kindle deal where you only allow it to be published there, but then I did some research and read that Barnes and Noble is a better store so now I am unsure of what I should do.


Also what do you all think of the cover I designed?

Thanks for your help!

 

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[Chazmania]

...Good luck!

Awesome Man, great feedback...message recieved! Thanks so much, I will post after I've uploaded my first book.

 

[RahKnee]

Yet another question for HfR and everyone else. To convert my Word document to kindle acceptable format, I just used the save as filtered webpage command. It preserves the way the file looks when I open it with Word, but does it a little too well. The font is kind of small and it seems to be forcing every word on the page in Word to a single page on the kindle. Makes for an awkward reading experience. Someone even complained about this already. Any advice on how to fix it? Say for example, use bigger font and double spacing or something like that?

 

[joanna]

Where should I publish my finished ebook? I was thinking of doing the Kindle deal where you only allow it to be published there, but then I did some research and read that Barnes and Noble is a better store so now I am unsure of what I should do.


Also what do you all think of the cover I designed?

Thanks for your help!

View attachment 5623

It LOOKS great, professional and all, definitely eye catching. However I'm not sure if the design is genre appropriate. My first thought was fiction (thriller, post-apocalyptic, or drama/life story?), second thought - self help guide of some sorts, then I had to read the title a few times, to get the "oh, it's a writing guide".

 

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[ChickenHawk]

Yet another question for HfR and everyone else. To convert my Word document to kindle acceptable format, I just used the save as filtered webpage command.

If you don't have images in your story, the "filtered webpage" command may be overkill. It looks like you can now upload a straight Word document and get good results. Just make sure you've cleared up any formatting clutter and have used the style "heading 1" for your chapter headings, rather than bolding, centering them manually.

From what I've read, the Kindle publishing system has come a long way since it was originally rolled out. I had great results just oploading a straight word file, except all my images were gone. But if you have no images, you may not need to worry about this. Hope this helps!

 

[Michael Raphael]

It LOOKS great, professional and all, definitely eye catching. However I'm not sure if the design is genre appropriate. My first thought was fiction (thriller, post-apocalyptic, or drama/life story?), second thought - self help guide of some sorts, then I had to read the title a few times, to get the "oh, it's a writing guide".

Yea I have to get back to square one on this design, do you have tips I kind of drew a blank on this one, don't know what to make cover. But thanks for the compliment I agree it is a bit depressing and not genre appropriate.

 

[Boyd]

...anyone into an accountability and peer to peer mentoring group for writers?

I might be interested in doing something like this.

It could be a simple email chain, or even a post on these forums (then everyone can hold us accountable)?

There is already a writer's group on this forum, though I don't see much going on over there. That might be a good place for all of us to get together...and stop hi-jacking Ransom's thread.

I had great results just oploading a straight word file, except all my images were gone.

It's my understanding that you need to use the "Insert-->Picture" function in Word for photos to be converted properly to Kindle. Simply copying and pasting images won't work. Not sure if that's the problem you had or not.

 

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[COSenior]

Attempting to begin to become an author

I'm attempting to begin to become an author

I can relate to that feeling, because it still creeps up on me sometimes. I've got three very short stories up on Kindle now, and they aren't going to make me thousands or even hundreds any time soon. But while I read books about crafting stories, how to write naughty stories (my genre) and edited like crazy, I took HFRs (or was it the how to write naughty stories guy?) advice. Perfection isn't required. The guts to put something out there and see if someone likes it IS required. And we've all heard that practice makes perfect anyway, right?

I promised I'd report on my progress with the book blogs. First I'm going to share with you all the results of a question that one of the Facebook pages I found posed on Thursday. The question was 'Does size matter?' The size of the BOOK, guys, get your minds out of the gutter. :eusa_naughty: The overwhelming response was that readers won't pay more than 99 cents for a short story, and most don't want to pay more than $2.99 for a full-length novel. If it's under 10,000 words, a lot of readers want it free.

Ok, mine are all under 10,000 words. What to do? Obviously, I need to make those free, and gain some readers. I put the first book of a short series on KDP select and made it free from 8/9-8/11. As of today, almost 600 downloads! Two reviews, resulting in a 4.5 star rating. And two purchases of the second story in the series. That's in less than 24 hours since I took advantage of the exposure offered on that Facebook page. Now I'm writing like crazy to get the third story done in time to take advantage of the buzz, and it will be about 15,000 words, so my readers will be willing to pay 99 cents for it. But you can bet I'll be working toward longer books in the future.

 

[ChickenHawk]

As of today, almost 600 downloads! Two reviews, resulting in a 4.5 star rating. And two purchases of the second story in the series. That's in less than 24 hours

Exciting progress! I did the KDP select free promo on my two stories for about the same timeframe. It's in a different genre, so I'm not sure how the numbers compare, but I had about 200 downloads for one story and 300 downloads for the other. Since then, I've had a couple sales and a couple "borrows." I didn't do any promotions though. Next time, I'll make sure to do that. But right now, i'm working to finish up another book. It'll take me at least a couple more weeks, but I'm hoping to see added momentum when I have more books out.

Please keep us posted, and I'll do the same. Congrats on such a promising start!

 

[nextgen]

I have read the entire thread and seems to be a lot of good information in it. Was wondering if you could send me the link to the special program you use

 

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[Chazmania]

I can relate to that feeling, because it still creeps up on me sometimes. I've got three very short stories up on Kindle now, and they aren't going to make me thousands or even hundreds any time soon. But while I read books about crafting stories, how to write naughty stories (my genre) and edited like crazy, I took HFRs (or was it the how to write naughty stories guy?) advice. Perfection isn't required. The guts to put something out there and see if someone likes it IS required. And we've all heard that practice makes perfect anyway, right?




I promised I'd report on my progress with the book blogs. First I'm going to share with you all the results of a question that one of the Facebook pages I found posed on Thursday. The question was 'Does size matter?' The size of the BOOK, guys, get your minds out of the gutter. The overwhelming response was that readers won't pay more than 99 cents for a short story, and most don't want to pay more than $2.99 for a full-length novel. If it's under 10,000 words, a lot of readers want it free.

Ok, mine are all under 10,000 words. What to do? Obviously, I need to make those free, and gain some readers. I put the first book of a short series on KDP select and made it free from 8/9-8/11. As of today, almost 600 downloads! Two reviews, resulting in a 4.5 star rating. And two purchases of the second story in the series. That's in less than 24 hours since I took advantage of the exposure offered on that Facebook page. Now I'm writing like crazy to get the third story done in time to take advantage of the buzz, and it will be about 15,000 words, so my readers will be willing to pay 99 cents for it. But you can bet I'll be working toward longer books in the future.

That is awesome, congratulations! Great to hear so many of us are off to a real start here. I can't wait to get my stuff out there too!

 

[ALSL]

I promised I'd report on my progress with the book blogs. First I'm going to share with you all the results of a question that one of the Facebook pages I found posed on Thursday. The question was 'Does size matter?' The size of the BOOK, guys, get your minds out of the gutter. :eusa_naughty: The overwhelming response was that readers won't pay more than 99 cents for a short story, and most don't want to pay more than $2.99 for a full-length novel. If it's under 10,000 words, a lot of readers want it free.

Doesn't this directly contradict HfR's experience? He didn't put anything up for free and priced all of his works at the $2.99 level in order to take advantage of the 70% profit margin.

Now, after 34 titles, all of which were anywhere between 8,000 - 20,000 words, he finally broke his first $15,000 month.

It seems to me that people aren't to be trusted. I'd even go so far as to say that the majority answering your question aren't being honest to themselves.

Of COURSE I'm going to say I won't pay more than 99c for a short story. Of COURSE I'm going to say I won't pay more than $2.99 for a novel. This is because if I say otherwise, you'll charge me more. I want to pay as little as possible for as much value as possible.

However, I've yet to find someone who would refuse to pay $3.99 or $4.99 for a book in a series they really enjoyed. Sure, maybe the first book needs to be priced at $2.99 and put on sale for a limited time at $0.99 just to hook the reader. But if they enjoyed your first book, and you made a conscious effort to make it impossible for a reader to not pick up the sequel, then they're going to pay your $2.99 or even $3.99 for that second book.

This is where quality trumps quantity. Quantity will establish you as a serious writer, but quality is what will hook repeat customers.

HfR or someone else with historical data correct me if I'm wrong here.

 

[Michael Raphael]

I am actually pricing my book at 4.99 even if its less than 10,000 words. Why because it has quality not quantity. If its a great read who cares. People will purchase it. There is literally a whole website fiverr, where people spend 5$ on stupid shit. So what makes you think they wont spend it on your book?

You are trying to make a business, your advertising it for free will not help get money. Perhaps you may have 600 downloads, lets say you get 2k but what happens after the free-download expires, how many will start buying it? As for reviews, does anyone care about who writes the reviews on amazon. Not really, you just read them. So why don't you get people on this site to read/write a review. I am more than confident, at least personally, I will write you an amazing review and in return you write me an amazing review. Why not help each other out.

Anyways, congratulations on your book and 600 downloads, that is still pretty amazing. All I am saying is price your book! You can get the money don't worry. Also get on Barnes and Nobles Nooks why limit yourself to just Amazon you are not scaling enough if you are. Now get that damn second book out and price it at 4.99 and make some money!

 

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[nextgen]

If you price it at 5.00 as a self publisher you receive 30% not 70% on amazon. Also people that buy on fiverr are an entire different breed of people then the people buying on amazon.

 

[COSenior]

all of which were anywhere between 8,000 - 20,000 words

I would never dream of contradicting anyone's experience, much less the visionary who brought us all together and inspired so many to just get out there and do it! My stories were all around 6000 words or under, 15-18 pages, and I myself wouldn't pay more than 99 cents for a story of that length. Also, I wasn't the one who asked readers; I followed a thread on a Facebook page where someone else asked. Their intention was to learn whether their readers wanted links and reviews of short stories. Some did say they would pay, but most said they wouldn't. Two of my three reviews, although they were 5-star for the writing quality, said the stories were too short. Maybe it's a different genre from HfR's, or maybe it's because there is SO much for free out there in mine that it's difficult to attract a following, but I have to try different approaches and see what works for me.

This is where quality trumps quantity. Quantity will establish you as a serious writer, but quality is what will hook repeat customers.

I don't think anyone who writes erotica could be established as a serious writer, no matter what the quality. That's ok. Like HfR, I'm in it for the money. I really appreciate what I'm learning here for that reason.

 

[COSenior]

If you price it at 5.00 as a self publisher you receive 30% not 70% on amazon.

I agree that people buying stuff on fiverr are a different breed, but I don't think the royalty figure you quoted is correct. If I price at 2.99 to 9.99, I get 70%. Assuming anyone buys, which before now, they haven't. But people are beginning to buy the other books now that they have had a chance to read my very first, amateurish effort for free. It took me 4 hours to write, I'm good with my results.

 

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[COSenior]

I am actually pricing my book at 4.99 even if its less than 10,000 words. Why because it has quality not quantity. If its a great read who cares. People will purchase it. There is literally a whole website fiverr, where people spend 5$ on stupid shit. So what makes you think they wont spend it on your book?

You are trying to make a business, your advertising it for free will not help get money. Perhaps you may have 600 downloads, lets say you get 2k but what happens after the free-download expires, how many will start buying it? As for reviews, does anyone care about who writes the reviews on amazon. Not really, you just read them. So why don't you get people on this site to read/write a review. I am more than confident, at least personally, I will write you an amazing review and in return you write me an amazing review. Why not help each other out.

Anyways, congratulations on your book and 600 downloads, that is still pretty amazing. All I am saying is price your book! You can get the money don't worry. Also get on Barnes and Nobles Nooks why limit yourself to just Amazon you are not scaling enough if you are. Now get that damn second book out and price it at 4.99 and make some money!

Thanks for the vote of confidence, kind sir. I'll go with my research on pricing, since my genre and yours are completely different. Yes, I intend to publish soon on B&N, but there are only so many hours in the day, and I spend most of them writing. All in good time. As for an exchange of books for review, gladly. Fair warning, though, mine are raunchy. PM me if you want to proceed.

 

[nextgen]

I apologize i actually just went back and looked, I mixed up my royalty figures. You receive 35% if the price is below 2.99 and 70% if the book is priced between 2.99 and 9.99

Also the different royalty rates have a wide range of requirements and they have audited people to ensure that your following their terms and conditions. Amazon requires you to price your e-books with a 20% discount if you have physical books listed with other platforms.

Once again sorry about the mix up.

Edit: spelling mistake

 

[ChickenHawk]

I don't think anyone who writes erotica could be established as a serious writer

I agree with everything you said, except this. Following women's fiction for some years, I've noticed an increasing trend of erotica going mainstream. If you look at the bestseller lists, you'll find more erotica than ever before, and not just Fifty Shades of Gray. Some of these authors are becoming household names. It's funny to see how much has changed.

About pricing, etc., I'm also taking the experimental approach. It's true that giving away free books doesn't make you any money, but it can help boost exposure for someone brand new who's trying to gain an audience. There's a lot of competition out there.

 

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[Michael Raphael]

Thanks for the vote of confidence, kind sir. I'll go with my research on pricing, since my genre and yours are completely different. Yes, I intend to publish soon on B&N, but there are only so many hours in the day...

It took me 10 minutes to get on B&N... dont make excuses EXECUTE brother!

 

[Breaking Free]

An update...

I started writing my novella Wednesday, and after maybe 6 hours of work, I have a 9000 word novella. It's gone through one round of editing, and after I flesh out one scene, I think I'll be ready to proceed.

My plan:
- Revamp my desk. I feel I could have been more productive if it wasn't so damn uncomfortable. Already researching new chairs
- I was considering KDP select, but I think being able to publish everywhere at once looks to be a better option
- I want to produce at least three more stories before I epublish. I unfortunately have a demanding day job, but want to release content at least every two weeks. I know working a 9 to 5 isn't very fastlane, but i would like some income first before i quit
- I've eliminated all distractions, from video games to tv to non essential hobbies. My focus is my writing, until it gets me on the fastlane


Questions:
- Should I reconsider KDP select?
- Should i leverage social media for my work and pen name or just let my work do the talking?
- Any recommendations on how to create covers for my stories?
- Is there anything else I haven't considered?

 

[Michael Raphael]

I can create a cover for you for mad cheap. PM me. Would need title, sub title, your name, and description so I can make the best one... literally like cheap as hell not trying to profit at all...

As for KDP I thought about it but not worth it. There is B&N Nooks which is a huge market, and in the future or now if your interested Apple iBooks. I am doing Amazon and B&N.

What do you mean Leverage social media?

 

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[Breaking Free]

By social media I mean marketing my work under my pen name. Setting up a facebook and or twitter account to communicate to or with those that may really like (or hate) my work. I'm not particularly keen on it but if there are those that see a benefit from it, I'm all ears.

 

[joanna]

Yea I have to get back to square one on this design, do you have tips I kind of drew a blank on this one, don't know what to make cover. But thanks for the compliment I agree it is a bit depressing and not genre appropriate.

Hmm... I'd need to know a bit more about your book. But first of all I'd try to vary the word size in the title, the fact that it's about "character development" gets a bit lost atm. Maybe the title overall needs reworking - however I suck at copywriting so nothing really comes to mind.

Looking at amazon it seems a hard topic: Amazon.com: character development - Writing, Research & Publishing Guides / Education & Reference: Kindle Store

What's your book's voice? Is it more conversational or educational? I think it's important to establish two things: that it's not fiction and that the book is for writers and about writing (if it is ).