Hello from Denver - self publishing success

[mws87]

"...The odds are extremely long. Extremely. Better than they were as trad pub, but still very, very slim." Russell Blake

I first started publishing only about 3 months ago and quickly began to see a trend (with myself) in reading comments like the above - I began to lose motivation. Every article I read which focused on the pitfalls made me second guess myself.

Yes, it's hard, however, I soon realized, as MJ and many others have said "It's supposed to be hard."

As mentioned, it's extremely difficult for those who aren't pursuing it with a fastlane mindset. If you fail, you learn (hopefully). Make adjustments where necessary until something sticks. If you're persistent enough - it will work.
Just like any business, to succeed you have to fight competition, learn, grow and create value. Appreciate your readers, don't treat them like suckers.

I'm actually happy about Amazon's new program, it's putting a damper on the money chasers. I read reviews for certain books by my competition, one really stuck with me: "I'm always reluctant to buy these shorter books, all of the ones out there on kindle seem to be really poorly written. And once again, I regret purchasing this one." Paraphrasing there, but those are the parts that stuck with me.

It's pretty straight forward: create value. Whether that be great quality, something that grabs reader's attention and makes then want more or simply showing readers not all kindle publishers are quantity over quality types.

Remember, as useful as Amazon can be for driving traffic, it's not the only platform available.

If you're putting out books for years and still having the same results, you're not improving. It's similar to when body builders hit a plateau in muscle and strength development. What do they do to overcome it? CHANGE IT UP.

Perhaps some of the more successful writers here can weigh in on how KU has (if at all) affected them.
@ChickenHawk @Held for Ransom @Mattie

 

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[mws87]

Also there is a difference between writing for you and writing for a market. If you have a romance author complaining and then see the covers of his books being landmarks, he just had it coming for him.

I think also that the best advice is still "write more books". I have many handicaps (not a writers background, English not being my first language, using stock photos for a genre that does not help it) but I just keep writing, intending to create momentum, not pay the bills with my first try.

P.S. Sold first copy of first book

Congrats! Start the second one and love the process.

 

[webcomber]

Some people just understand the Fastlane principles, and some (most authors) don't. The ones who complain are usually the ones writing books nobody wants to read. The ones killing it have an incredible work ethic and write to fulfill the needs of their readers.

Sometimes this forum mixes reality with fantasy, and expectations are way too high. There are many variables to what makes a book hit the top 100, and others never get there. Comments like this a disservice to authors who write for many years and never see success until the 30th novel/book. I did read one post where a fastlaner wrote a book in three days and hit the top 100. Amazing. Truly amazing.

 

[Mattie]

expectations are way too high

I don't know if my expectations are just to high. I think I"m just a perfectionist with myself, because it goes back to my professors. It was basically challenge yourself to be the best, or don't do anything at all. I already knew right off the bat, if I wrote a crappy novel, it would go no where. And trends were going to be new and inspiring and out of the box. Do I have a guarantee? No I don't. And probably going to get myself in heap of controversy if I write what I originally planned, and umm...that may be what sells. Pick something that that gets everyone talking. The thing is I have to write it the right way, but usually they are the writers who make it.

I'm actually glad I found this place before I almost took a nose dive last year and wasn't ready or prepared as a writer, nor business aspect of it. I didn't learn all this stuff from other authors and any of that I know, even Ann Rice on my list on Facebook hardly ever talks about that end. She's more causing controversy with other writers and getting darts shot at her. I don't know her that well, but have conversed on her page. Just watching her, I see how other authors go off.

Reality is writing the book
Fantasy is dreaming about it

I do agree with you in away, but also agree with MTF. Most writers I know are writing for fun and not for profit. And there are some that don't have a clue on the business part. And others arguing about morals, values, ethics, and the debate of business and authentic writers. It's a crazy world of diversity amongst writers like anything else. I've already learned don't follow other authors. And I suppose I'm just made that way to not follow the crowd.

 

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[ChickenHawk]

Perhaps some of the more successful writers here can weigh in on how KU has (if at all) affected them.
@ChickenHawk @Held for Ransom @Mattie

KU definitely has its upsides. For one thing, it's useful in getting visibility, since books in KU generally rank higher than books that aren't in KU. I also think that KU 2.0 is a ton better than KU 1.0. (Authors of short works will likely disagree though.)

All that being said, I think the pre-KU days were better, because borrows can hugely cannibalize sales, at least in my experience. Happily though, there's still money to be made, and KU can really help a new author gain an audience, because it's easier to talk readers into a "free" borrow than into a paid sale.

I'm actually happy about Amazon's new program, it's putting a damper on the money chasers.

I agree 100%.

It's pretty straight forward: create value. Whether that be great quality, something that grabs reader's attention and makes then want more or simply showing readers not all kindle publishers are quantity over quality types.

That's for sure! It seems to me you have the right attitude for this. Good luck as you move forward!

 

[Chazmania]

I agree 100%.

Sorry if you have it posted already, but do you mind sharing how many books you have published by now?

If not though of course I respect your privacy, just curious

 

[ChickenHawk]

Sorry if you have it posted already, but do you mind sharing how many books you have published by now?

Under this pen name, I've published five books so far. Right now, I'm writing my sixth. They're full-length novels, and I'm a slow writer. so it always takes me longer than I'd like. Basically, I'm publishing about three novels a year. I wish it were more. Must write faster!

 

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[mws87]

They're full-length novels, and I'm a slow writer. so it always takes me longer than I'd like. Basically, I'm publishing about three novels a year. I wish it were more. Must write faster!

Three novels a year is still solid, especially if you're taking your time on it (IMO). Curious - do you set "deadlines" for yourself? I used to do this and quickly realized it works against me :\

 

[ChickenHawk]

Curious - do you set "deadlines" for yourself? I used to do this and quickly realized it works against me :\

Yup! I set rough deadlines up-front and announce them publicly. For example, I'll announce that book XYZ is coming in Spring of 2016. Then, as the date draws near, I'll announce a specific date. This helps keep me focused, and alas, in a panic as the date draws near. Panic is a fine motivator, I think.

 

[Mattie]

Do you write a series, trilogy, or separate novels? That's what I'm pondering at the moment.

 

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[SimonP99]

Yep, right here. Three year anniversary coming up. Thanks @MJ DeMarco. You changed my life, man.

I am forever grateful.


My best month ever in August (only took me 35 months to get there) but well within the range I discussed at the beginning of this thread many moons ago. It's taken a lot of work and it's never been easy but I'm hoping to break the upper limit of that range in two to three more years if all goes well.

FWIW, I'm 100% KU 2.0.

Exciting times...

My best month ever in August (only took me 35 months to get there) but well within the range I discussed at the beginning of this thread many moons ago. It's taken a lot of work and it's never been easy but I'm hoping to break the upper limit of that range in two to three more years if all goes well.

Fantastic, Inspirational, What writing, Once I started reading I couldn't stop..! And that's just your posts
In all seriousness man you have inspired me to pursue this myself and I hope in 35 months I'll be where you are now.

Thank You

 

[Boozoon]

Do you write a series, trilogy, or separate novels? That's what I'm pondering at the moment.

Lindsay Buroker makes some good points in her recent article ->
http://www.lindsayburoker.com/amazon-kindle-sales/can-serials-be-profitable-in-kindle-unlimited-2-0/

I like Lindsay because unlike other guys who are faking success (imo Stephenson shouldn't be talking about how to make sales using keywords when his books are not doing that good) she is actually really successful in her niche and even tried a separate one with good success.

 

[Mattie]

Lindsay Buroker makes some good points in her recent article ->
http://www.lindsayburoker.com/amazon-kindle-sales/can-serials-be-profitable-in-kindle-unlimited-2-0/

I like Lindsay because unlike other guys who are faking success (imo Stephenson shouldn't be talking about how to make sales using keywords when his books are not doing that good) she is actually really successful in her niche and even tried a separate one with good success.

Thank you.

 

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[adventureguru]

Amazon has various ways of ranking products, but one of the least understood seems to be the Amazon Bestsellers Rank (also known simply as ‘Sales Rank’). This post will hopefully help you understand , as a customer, which books are selling well in a certain topic, and as a seller, which products may be your main competitors.

As a seller (or in the case of books, as an author) is your marketing is working? Armed with Amazon’s “secret recipe”, you also become a better buyer.

Please bear in mind that Amazon does not explicitly state how the Bestsellers Rank is calculated. The information below is based on research, deduction, and processes of elimination.

What is the Amazon Bestsellers Rank?
In all book categories (including Kindle paid and free books), as well as most product categories on Amazon, if you scroll down the page to the ‘Product Details’ section, you’ll see it says ‘Amazon Bestsellers Rank’. This is a number that’s purportedly calculated hourly (as stated by Amazon) and is linked to the number of recent sales of the product (while also taking into account historical sales data), relative to the other products in that category.

The rank for one product can, of course, be different on different Amazon stores, as each store represents a different ‘market’ per se. For example, The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari is #17 in the Indian store, while #9,168 in Amazon.com.

A rank of #1, therefore, means that product has recently sold more than any other product in that category, on that store.


With this in mind, let’s take a look at what we should understand by this ranking. As mentioned above, this Bestsellers Rank is available for most products available on Amazon, but I’ll explain this topic mainly using books as a case in point.

The rank is based on sales, not reviews or ratings.

A common misconception about the Bestsellers Rank is that it takes into account more than simple sales, but it seems this idea is completely untrue. This rank takes into account only sales (recent and historical, more on this later), so I’m afraid getting tons of Amazon Vine members to leave you tons of reviews and ratings won’t necessarily help your Bestsellers ranking. This means that a rank is not representative of cumulative sales (or overall sales volume), but more on how a product has been selling very recently compared to others in it’s category.

That being said, although reviews and ratings have no direct bearing on a Bestsellers Rank, they are likely to influence people to buy your product, and thereby indirectly help your Bestsellers rank.

Sales of a product don’t have an immediate effect on Sales Rank
According to Amazon, the Bestsellers Rank is calculated hourly, but sometimes there is a lag between an increase in sales, and an improvement in a ranking. This lag is usually no more than 2 or 3 hours, but there is some debate over exactly how many product rankings are calculated hourly.

An article on WebProNews, mentions that, in the books category, only the top 10,000 books are calculated hourly, whereas books with a ranking of 10,000+ are calculated once per day with ‘current projections as well as historic sales information play[ing] a key role in calculations’.

Books are weighted the same, whether free or paid

Contrary to belief, paid and free books on Amazon are weighted the same when it comes to the Amazon Bestsellers rank, but are treated differently (in that they have separate bestseller lists).

As mentioned, all that counts is the number of sales relative to other products within the same category. Amazon splits ‘paid’ and ‘free’ books into separate categories, so these act as sub-sub categories, in turn having their own bestsellers rank, which seems to be ranked using the same (or very similar) algorithm to paid bestseller ranks.

“However, probably fueling the confusion, Amazon’s Popularity Lists are influenced by price. Free books are worth roughly a tenth of a paid book,” ~ Ryan Casey

An increase in sales doesn’t necessarily mean an improved ranking
Amazon Books & Sales

As the Amazon Bestsellers Rank is relative to other products in a category, an increase in sales alone isn’t enough to increase rankings. To increase the Bestsellers Rank, your product must sell more units than other products in your category. This means that if there’s a sudden influx in overall sales in Juicing Machines, and everyone in that category starts to sell more products, the sellers may not see jumps in their Bestsellers Rank, as they might have hoped.

Along similar lines, if your product is selling a steady one unit per day, but some of your competitors start to sell more than you, then your rank will fall (i.e. the number will get higher), even if your sales remain steady.

Predictive features are also built into the algorithm the Amazon Algorithm

Recent sales alone are not all that’s taken into account. Amazon also has predictive features built into the Bestsellers Rank, which are likely to be based on historical data of a product. This is how a newly released book can have a higher ranking than a book released three years ago, even when the latter has more cumulative sales- Amazon can predict that the new release will overtake that book in a given period of time.

What this also means is that a book that’s ranked 800,000 can see it’s rankings skyrocket to 200,000 just with a couple of sales. As you move up the ladder, however, Amazon’s complex algorithm kicks in soon thereafter making it harder for you to break through the 100,000 milestone, and even harder to get past 10,000. This is because these higher rated products have historical data to back them up, so a lull in sales for them won’t result in as dramatic a drop in rankings as it would for a new product with less data to draw on. In all, the ranking seems to be somewhat logarithmic.

A high-profile, quick launch is short sighted
When it comes to ranking highly on the Amazon Bestsellers lists, as the ranks are based hourly (or daily if the above information is correct), then a quick spike in sales due to a successful marketing campaign, followed by a lull in sales a couple of days later will only serve to see the product’s rankings quickly plummet. It’s far better to space out a product launch over a period of week, so Amazon can collect consistent historical data to make predictions on future sales. This will thereby make it easier for you to break into higher spots on the ranking table in future.


The numbers speak for themselves

In December 2013 Theresa Regan posted the following figures on her blog representing how many sales we can expect a book to be achieving, depending on its overall sales rank. Of course, these numbers are likely to be rather arbitrary, but they’re interesting nonetheless. Note, these numbers do not apply to product categories other than books. It’s also important to mention again that it’s the sales that cause the ranking. The ranking doesn’t cause the sales.

Amazon Best Seller Rank 50,000 to 100,000 – selling close to 1 book a day.

Amazon Best Seller Rank 10,000 to 50,000 – selling 5 to 15 books a day.

Amazon Best Seller Rank 5,500 to 10,000 – selling 15 to 25 books a day.

Amazon Best Seller Rank 3,000 to 5,500 – selling25 to 70 books a day.

Amazon Best Seller Rank 1,500 to 3,000 – selling70 to 100 books a day.

Amazon Best Seller Rank 750 to 1,500 – selling 100 to 120 books a day.

Amazon Best Seller Rank 500 to 750 – selling120 to 175 books a day.

Amazon Best Seller Rank 350 to 500 – selling175 to 250 books a day.

Amazon Best Seller Rank 200 to 350 – selling 250 to 500 books a day.

Amazon Best Seller Rank 35 to 200 -selling500 to 2,000 books a day.

Amazon Best Seller Rank 20 to 35 – selling 2,000 to 3,000 books a day.

Amazon Best Seller Rank of 5 to 20 – selling3,000 to 4,000 books a day.

Amazon Best Seller Rank of 1 to 5 – selling4,000+ books a day.

Conclusion
There are plenty of other bestseller lists and rankings which you can base your book buying decision on, but Amazon’s Bestsellers Rank is by far one of the most cited. As mentioned at the start of the article, though, it’s difficult to pin the Amazon Bestsellers Rank down too firmly, but the above is what I’ve dissected from plenty of research online. People will disagree to an extent with some of the above, but the importance you place on this ranking algorithm is up to you. I don’t know how (or even if at all) this ranking impacts buyer decision, but I hope you’ve found this interesting.

 

[Natalie]

Just spent several hours reading this thread, still have a few pages to go. I've spent a good couple of months trying to research/figure out this whole kindle publishing thing, but never felt like I was getting an accurate picture. Until now!! This thread has just been amazing, inspiring and just the thing I needed to get me going, (after feeling pretty deflated recently). I actually have a kids book to publish, which may happen in the next week. I am thinking of going into romance/erotica but this kids story just came to me so, I thought - why not? I have a couple of different pen names in mind. It's encouraging to know that people are writing short fiction, because I think that's what I could do -- I can't imagine writing a 90,000 word book or anything...but 10-20,000 is something I can envisage. Do any of your writers outsource any of your fiction to - or have you had any experience of that? Just curious! Many thanks, brilliant thread. I hope I can update you with some success in the up and coming months...

 

[Unknown]

@ChickenHawk stop writing your books. My wife keeps buying them! You're costing me money!

 

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[Boozoon]

Just spent several hours reading this thread, still have a few pages to go. I've spent a good couple of months trying to research/figure out this whole kindle publishing thing, but never felt like I was getting an accurate picture. Until now!! This thread has just been amazing, inspiring and just the thing I needed to get me going, (after feeling pretty deflated recently). I actually have a kids book to publish, which may happen in the next week. I am thinking of going into romance/erotica but this kids story just came to me so, I thought - why not? I have a couple of different pen names in mind. It's encouraging to know that people are writing short fiction, because I think that's what I could do -- I can't imagine writing a 90,000 word book or anything...but 10-20,000 is something I can envisage. Do any of your writers outsource any of your fiction to - or have you had any experience of that? Just curious! Many thanks, brilliant thread. I hope I can update you with some success in the up and coming months...

@GiroudJD is outsourcing his books with tons of success. You can check his threads in the Self Publishing subforum
here
https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/threads/my-take-on-self-publishing.49869/

and here on his latest adventures.

https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/threads/its-been-awhile-fastlane.61449/

The majority of us are do it yourself writers though and if you intend to go into erotica/romance, I say you do it yourself at first.

Having pen names is great, you are off to a great start. I suggest writing a bit, whatever it is you want, to find what are your difficulties and sticking points. I wrote 5 short stories and published 4 of them, 3 in erotica and 1 in fantasy. I now think that I have a process down that can help me write better books and eventually earn more money. My point is to start as lightly as possible, don't take on a huge project, start something you consider doable and go from there.

Also, in case you haven't already, read The Millionaire Fastlane , it will put you in the right mindset

Cheers and welcome ^_^

 

[Natalie]

@GiroudJD is outsourcing his books with tons of success. You can check his threads in the Self Publishing subforum
here
https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/threads/my-take-on-self-publishing.49869/

and here on his latest adventures.

https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/threads/its-been-awhile-fastlane.61449/

The majority of us are do it yourself writers though and if you intend to go into erotica/romance, I say you do it yourself at first.

Having pen names is great, you are off to a great start. I suggest writing a bit, whatever it is you want, to find what are your difficulties and sticking points. I wrote 5 short stories and published 4 of them, 3 in erotica and 1 in fantasy. I now think that I have a process down that can help me write better books and eventually earn more money. My point is to start as lightly as possible, don't take on a huge project, start something you consider doable and go from there.

Also, in case you haven't already, read The Millionaire Fastlane , it will put you in the right mindset

Cheers and welcome ^_^

Thanks so much on the feedback!!!!!

I have actually half finished a non-fiction as well, but I had been doing a course based on non-fiction, (even though fiction was always the way I'd really wanted to go!)... I always wanted to be a "writer" when I grew up lol. But realised in my teens, that you really had to WRITE something in order to be a writer and I'd always go through short bursts of starting a project and not finishing it. I'm in a totally different mindset now though and feel like this is something I could do. Guess I will actually have to order some books to READ and research... reading for pleasure is another thing I largely gave up along the way... :/. For a couple of years anyway. But it will be interesting!

Cheers!

 

[Greg R]

I liked the fact that you were able to back door the credibility process with Amazon and use Amazon to build up credibility. I started a blog hoping that I would generate enough content to eventually write a book, but you really have this thing figured out. It makes me want to reassess what I am doing and maybe develop a faster plan to get where I want to go. Thanks

 

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[Held for Ransom]

Some people just understand the Fastlane principles, and some (most authors) don't. The ones who complain are usually the ones writing books nobody wants to read. The ones killing it have an incredible work ethic and write to fulfill the needs of their readers.

@MTF. Please don't give away the secrets. Before long, Amazon will be flooded with millions of books and we'll never be able to compete.

Under this pen name, I've published five books so far. Right now, I'm writing my sixth.

@ChickenHawk. My readers are waiting.

It's encouraging to know that people are writing short fiction, because I think that's what I could do -- I can't imagine writing a 90,000 word book or anything...but 10-20,000 is something I can envisage.

@Natalie

I have not written short fiction in quite some time (more than 18 months). All my books today are full length novels, written in series. The landscape of Amazon has changed dramatically since the creation of this thread.

IF you want to be in KU, you would be far better served learning how to outline novels and write in series, regardless of your genre.

My wife keeps buying them! You're costing me money!

@Unknown She's very likely buying mine then as well. Apologies, sir.

 

[Girzo]

Was reading previous pages and I wonder: What's so special about ISBN that you have to pay for that in USA and some other countries? Do you get some additional benefits with that or what? I'm asking because it's free where I live and it was surprising to hear you have to pay for that.

BTW. Great thread, I've been reading it all night long. Congrats on your journey HfR!

 

[Held for Ransom]

Was reading previous pages and I wonder: What's so special about ISBN that you have to pay for that in USA and some other countries? Do you get some additional benefits with that or what? I'm asking because it's free where I live and it was surprising to hear you have to pay for that.

BTW. Great thread, I've been reading it all night long. Congrats on your journey HfR!

@Girzo

ISBNs can potentially be a complicated issue. You don't have to pay for them, no. I'd encourage you to figure out what your needs are and then pursue your research from there.

For me, free ISBNs are sufficient.

 

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[Selfy]

OK, who here is still in self publishing? Show yourselves, as going through the thread there were dozens interested.

The game has changed with KU2.0, what are you currently up to?

Surprisingly, I'm still here! I had deviated to outsourcing the books, and now back to writing. Thinking back, the outsourcing gig payed off in more ways than I can imagine. For one, it exposed me deep in my niche and now I spend zero time in the marketing/research. I know what they want, and I know who I'm up against, all my keywords, and relatively, the size of the market.

Still trying to crack the writing skill nut though and currently harpooning at full-length whale-goliaths. I pubbed an enormous amount of shorts which allowed to me glimpse what the craft entailed. Writing full-length is a beast of a skill to learn, but so what? I'll grind it out.

 

[nichiseven]

Phwoar.

What a monster to pile through! HfR my sincere gratitude and respect to you especially as well as the other writers who combined to make one hell of an epic megathread. I've learned more in the past 3&1/2 hours reading than I could have hoped for. I'm seriously interested in pursuing self-pub fiction as a solid start to my Fastlane journey and it's gratifying to hear there's a serious market for those who are willing to work hard and smart for it. As someone who has bought many a regrettable Kindle book I welcomed the 2.0 changes. Hoping it will signal a lift in value/quality for readers in the long run.

 

[Selfy]

Just to clarify. If you want to write fiction and make cash without much English writing experience. Basically, IMO, you should write erotica.
What is Erotica? Erotica is a kink that other people masturbate to. Basically, porn with words. SMUT. You don't really need stories, you just need marketing and a hardy stomach. Write a few and get a sense of what writing craft entails.

Then you can jump to genre-fiction. What is genre-fiction? Stories. Plots and Characters. Much, much harder to write, but here is where the long-term authors hang out and it is competitive AF. In the end, you get what you put in.

 

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[trimmer9]

Hello Writers,

i just joined this Forum, for asking u guys how you all are doing? Because i see no updates from you for this year so far. Are you still on track?

Especially HfR, how is your second Pen name rollin? And are u still writing under your first Pen name, too? Or did u shift completely?

I try your whole approach under the conditions in germany with the german language.

I'm one month into it and have four books out so far. 16000 - 24000 words.

The first one went well. But the three after just did two sells each and thats it. Anyway i don't want to talk much about me. Just wanted to get an update from you pros!

 

[Selfy]

Hello Writers,

i just joined this Forum, for asking u guys how you all are doing? Because i see no updates from you for this year so far. Are you still on track?

Especially HfR, how is your second Pen name rollin? And are u still writing under your first Pen name, too? Or did u shift completely?

I try your whole approach under the conditions in germany with the german language.

I'm one month into it and have four books out so far. 16000 - 24000 words.

The first one went well. But the three after just did two sells each and thats it. Anyway i don't want to talk much about me. Just wanted to get an update from you pros!

This business is best for people who like to read and write stories. You will read A LOT for market research, noting the tropes, themes, all of the commonalities that you can determine in a genre. Next, you will need to incorporate all this into your writing, which is voice, style, plot etc etc. The reading (analytically) and writing gets better the more you do it. In time You may find that you're able to deconstruct how a particular writer is doing well. You may start writing faster with the aid of an outline. You may just develop a clairvoyant voice and a penchant for cheesy dialogue. You may drill down a genre type into a formula.

This is all hard work. You will be reading and writing most of the time. You will be drafting and editing. You will need to know how the other authors are getting eyeballs. Did I mention that you will be writing and reading?

The good part is going on break and still expecting to get paid. The bad part is that it is a damn slog churning these all out that you'll need breaks. Start hanging out in boards where writers hang out, because, really, fml is not it (it has tons of value though).

 

[Niptuck MD]

thank you good info here on this thread

 

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[fresh]

I join this site, not even realizing there's a writing section. Then I stumble on this thread...makes me smile. Good to see you.

 

[AnAverageJoe]

Wow, thanks a lot to @Held for Ransom for getting this thread started, and to people like @ChickenHawk @COSenior @Rawr among others for contributing a lot along the way. I'm working on another business right now with it's own progress thread, but I am so happy I found this thread and took the time to read through it.

I have always loved writing. I wrote for fun throughout most of my teen years. I love creating new worlds and characters and getting lost in them. I just never thought of writing to be a way of making money, much less fastlane money, because of the traditional ways it used to be controlled that have been talked about on this thread. So I just stopped doing it.

I'm going to research and start writing. I'm going to use my first pen name to learn the game, and then expand to others.

Since there hasn't been a real update in over a year, how is everyone doing? Is it still possible to follow the same process and research until I found a profitable genre, read a bunch of the bestsellers, come up with my own version and repeat like it was 4 years ago? I'd love to hear from some of you guys again. I'll also check out some of your individual progress threads as well.

Thanks again. I've learned so much from you guys!