I Will Reach $10,000 USD monthly in Self-Publishing.

[Thriftypreneur]

Hmm that's cool. How do you do it on your own? Photoshop? Flickr creative licenses? Stock photos?

Not much I can add to what joanna said.

I use Gimp and purchase stock photo licenses so everything is on the up and up.

 

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[COSenior]

On other news, my first book had its first sale last night!

Way to go! Gotta take that first step before you can run. Now, go for it!

 

[Mark Anthony Le]

To be honest *money* isn't as big of a problem, as *accounting* for it. Also you do need a designated person who manages such a colaboration from their account since I don't think any of the platforms allows for multiple owners of a book (other than tagging someone as author). I think what some author groups do is create a legal entity that manages all that stuff and the authors are then part of that entity. It's quite nicely explained here for anyone interested:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DHPQGN0/?tag=tff-amazonparser-20

It's a good read overall, too.

Wow that's interesting! I have to put that on my to read list after I finish off my current deadlines.

Answer honestly a few questions:
- Have you got any design background or at least a decent eye for design?
- Have you got any skills already in using something like Photoshop or Gimp?
- Realistically what is your budget

Hmm not much design background but I've tinkered with Photoshop and gimp in the past. I'm definitely trying to do it on a minimum budget. I currently try to keep my titles simple and to the point.

I've see some of the qualities for 5 dollars on Fiverr and it looks "ok" nothing I don't see why I couldn't do myself.

I could be wrong though.

Not much I can add to what joanna said.

I use Gimp and purchase stock photo licenses so everything is on the up and up.

What do you do with the stock photos? Do you combine it with multiple different stock photos, play with the coloring and then just slam on a title?

Way to go! Gotta take that first step before you can run. Now, go for it!

Yea definitely full throttling it now.



Update #6:

Just finished proof reading the book. Now debating on purchasing a cover or not. I've been playing with Photoshop and a old image I had that I felt related to my book.

I feel like it's taking away from my writing time though.

 

[Thriftypreneur]

What do you do with the stock photos? Do you combine it with multiple different stock photos, play with the coloring and then just slam on a title?

There's a little more to it than that, but yes.

 

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[joanna]

How do you do it on your own?

Here's an example. Or scratch that, there was a great thread on kboards but it seems to be gone now. Darn.

Any way. Here's some tips:
http://www.creativindie.com/8-cover...-use-to-manipulate-readers-into-buying-books/

And that's an interesting read, even if you're not planning on having a custom photoshoot
http://www.orbitbooks.net/2013/07/10/making-of-a-cover-series-david-dalglishs-shadowdance-series/

If you want a quick start here's a 6x9 standard sized psd I use as a starter for covers.
http://bookcovermasterclass.com/6x9-front-cover-with-print-bleeds.psd

Here's an extract from a presentation I did some time ago (sorry, just the slides, no commentary)
http://bookcovermasterclass.com/fonts-presentation.pdf
My favourite font site for free stuff is dafont.com, since it's easy to look for "free for commercial use" stuff.

What do you do with the stock photos? Do you combine it with multiple different stock photos, play with the coloring and then just slam on a title?

Depends. If you're starting out and don't have the photo-manipulation skills, then it's better to stick to single photo with a few effect, or really easy blends. Otherwise it shows. Despite being a designer for a long while, I still wouldn't consider myself that great at combining multiple random photos, not to mention to do it well it takes a lot of time - you need to get the lighting right, shadows, proportions between the two photos, often different exposure, and so on.

I feel like it's taking away from my writing time though.

Yeah, it can do that to you

 

[Thriftypreneur]

As joanna has already mentioned, unless you have a strong desire to learn or a background in design already, your time is going to be better served just hiring someone to make covers for you.

If I didn't like that part of the creative process so much, I'd be hiring someone without thinking twice about it.

 

[Mark Anthony Le]

Any way. Here's some tips:
http://www.creativindie.com/8-cover-...-buying-books/

And that's an interesting read, even if you're not planning on having a custom photoshoot
http://www.orbitbooks.net/2013/07/10...wdance-series/

If you want a quick start here's a 6x9 standard sized psd I use as a starter for covers.
http://bookcovermasterclass.com/6x9-...int-bleeds.psd

Here's an extract from a presentation I did some time ago (sorry, just the slides, no commentary)
http://bookcovermasterclass.com/fonts-presentation.pdf
My favourite font site for free stuff is dafont.com, since it's easy to look for "free for commercial use" stuff.

Haha great tips! Thanks Already gave me some ideas.

Depends. If you're starting out and don't have the photo-manipulation skills, then it's better to stick to single photo with a few effect, or really easy blends. Otherwise it shows. Despite being a designer for a long while, I still wouldn't consider myself that great at combining multiple random photos, not to mention to do it well it takes a lot of time - you need to get the lighting right, shadows, proportions between the two photos, often different exposure, and so on.

As joanna has already mentioned, unless you have a strong desire to learn or a background in design already, your time is going to be better served just hiring someone to make covers for you.

If I didn't like that part of the creative process so much, I'd be hiring someone without thinking twice about it.

Yea, i'm thinking about seeing how great my cover turns out and then outsourcing it to Fiverr if anything.

 

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[Mark Anthony Le]

Update #7:

PHEW! Published my 2ND Book. MAN does it feel good

I decided to mock up my cover and I felt it looked good. I'm going to test it out and pay for one from Fiverr. If my cover doesn't sell for about a week or two, I'm going to use one that I'm going to buy from Fiverr and test that out to see what the conversion rates are and whether or not my covers really do suck

Anywho... Off to Outline #3. I'm debating whether or not I should continue a 2nd book series for my first book? Or write a new one completely. My first book only made two sales in a week. I'm not sure whether that's a good thing or not. But I think I'll probably try to buy a cover for my first book as well since my cover was self-made for it too.

Decisions decisions decisions...

 

[Mark Anthony Le]

Update #8:

Just uploaded my stuff to Smashwords for a different venue.
I couldn't help but realize that my last novella is #8 in it's keyword for a sub niche. Yet still no sales. Perhaps it's because I priced it at 2.99 or it could be the cover.

Outlined about 5 books for a series of my last novella. Man, I can't lie but waking up everday at 4AM is starting to take a toll on me since I go to sleep around 11. Not enough sleep

I literally wake up with the fuel to work on the novellas, but then during the day I can feel my body at work. Literally shutting down. Falling asleep. Etc.

I'm not sure if increased Caffeine consumption would be ideal in my situation but ehh.

I'm trying to follow DWS's tips on not promoting my books, rather just keep writing. But I can't help but feel like my books aren't taking off



I'm going to leave it as is for a week and then use a different cover from Fiverr. Gotta split test.

 

[Mark Anthony Le]

Long time without an update I know.

So far I've gotten the first part of my outline for my next book. Pretty excited for the next book honestly.

It seems that my 2nd book has gotten a purchase with a refund immediately as well. Seems like they're finishing my book really fast and returning it. I'm going to see if longer books work.

We'll see. So far no promotion has been done. Simply just plugging away at writing.

How is everyone else dong?

 

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[COSenior]

It seems that my 2nd book has gotten a purchase with a refund immediately as well. Seems like they're finishing my book really fast and returning it.

Aw, I'm sorry to hear that. I was devastated the first time someone returned one of mine. Seriously, who goes to the trouble to return a 99c purchase? But, don't take it personally. Some people are just cheap. Some people are scam artists. And some people just aren't going to like your writing--you can't please everyone. Shake it off and just keep writing.

 

[santa]

Seems like they're finishing my book really fast and returning it

There can be a ton of reasons for that. Expect it, embrace it even. Wait until you start getting reviews slating your book..keep going and you'll have that to come

Simply just plugging away

:icon_super:

 

[Held for Ransom]

Shake it off and just keep writing.

^ THAT ^

Otherwise, I don't recall if you've shared your genre at all but each one has its average return rates. In mine, it's around 5-7% on average. My personal average is around 5% most months. What I find is that whenever I put something new out, the return rates are usually about 3 to 5 times than what they average out to be a couple of weeks later. I have no idea why. Perhaps you are experiencing a bit of that phenomenon yourself.

There's a small caveat and I'd say that if (for you) the returns are WAY higher than normal, you may want to take a look at the blurb, the title or possibly even the categorization you picked. The last one is less likely but still a possibility. In any case, if it's way out of whack, there might be a disconnect between what you are saying about the book and what your readers are getting out of it.

Otherwise, returns are uncontrollable and for the most part insignificant. Books are just merchandise after all.

All the biggest companies in the world get their products returned all the time. It's just a cost of doing business and besides, it's Amazon's policy anyway. You get seven days to return it, no questions asked.

On the other hand, at Barnes and Noble, trying to return an e-book is harder than getting a next day kidney transplant. In fact, of the thousands and thousands of books I've sold there, I've only ever had ONE, that's right, a SINGLE return. Now, is that realistic? No, I don't think so. I think it's at least in part a function of B&N's policies just like the liberal return policy is Amazon's.

But as an author, B&N is only about 8% of my monthly income. Each and every month, Amazon is 90+%. The point is wouldn't you rather sell nine times as many books overall if it meant a certain percentage of them came back?

I would.

Most authors tend to view their work as reflection of themselves which makes a even single return, let alone a one-star review hard to stomach. Rather, consider that your books are just like any other product in the marketplace. Even people who are in your target market may not like it for umpteen reasons.

It could be quite possible it has nothing to do with you or your book at all.

Perhaps they are just the type of person who returns a lot of e-books or maybe they bought the wrong book or perhaps they don't want their husband seeing what's on the Kindle!

You see what I mean? Those are just some things to consider if you are taking it personally. There's no way to know.

Does Nike get mad when people bring shoes back? What about Nordstrom when people return clothes they've already worn? Or even you, think about what you have returned in your life and why. Sometimes it's a legit reason and other times, ehhh, maybe not so much.

Someday you'll have 20 or 30 books up. Wait until someone buys your whole catalog, reads it and returns it. It happens to everyone sooner or later.

At first, you're like :icon_super:

And then you're all :404:

Although it's VERY HARD, it's best to detach yourself from all of these kinds of things you cannot control. It makes all the difference in the world over the long run.

Again, my wise friend to the north of me summed it up best...

Shake it off and just keep writing.

 

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[Mark Anthony Le]

Aw, I'm sorry to hear that. I was devastated the first time someone returned one of mine. Seriously, who goes to the trouble to return a 99c purchase? But, don't take it personally. Some people are just cheap. Some people are scam artists. And some people just aren't going to like your writing--you can't please everyone. Shake it off and just keep writing.

Yea I realized. I noticed that my first book has gotten only 2 sales and 41 free downloads from my free promotion. 1 good review and 1 ok review. I know that many success writers have said to ignore it so I'm choosing to do just that. Regardless if it's a good review or bad review.

There can be a ton of reasons for that. Expect it, embrace it even. Wait until you start getting reviews slating your book..keep going and you'll have that to come

Haha yea I know. It's quite fresh for a beginning writer is all.

Otherwise, I don't recall if you've shared your genre at all but each one has its average return rates. In mine, it's around 5-7% on average. My personal average is around 5% most months.

I have two penpal names. 1 in the Mystery section. and 1 in the Romance section. How would I go about checking the average?

What I find is that whenever I put something new out, the return rates are usually about 3 to 5 times than what they average out to be a couple of weeks later. I have no idea why. Perhaps you are experiencing a bit of that phenomenon yourself.

I probably am. What I have trouble with is that, how do people find my books if my sales rank is high as all hell. I was thinking that maybe writing more books would probably be the best promotion method since it establishes myself as a on-going continuous writer.

you may want to take a look at the blurb, the title or possibly even the categorization you picked. The last one is less likely but still a possibility. In any case, if it's way out of whack, there might be a disconnect between what you are saying about the book and what your readers are getting out of it.

Wow thanks. I completely forgot about that. I'm going to analyze and reevaluate my stuff. I just changed the cover to a professionally done one from Fiverr. We'll see what happens.

Perhaps they are just the type of person who returns a lot of e-books or maybe they bought the wrong book or perhaps they don't want their husband seeing what's on the Kindle!

You see what I mean? Those are just some things to consider if you are taking it personally. There's no way to know.

Does Nike get mad when people bring shoes back? What about Nordstrom when people return clothes they've already worn? Or even you, think about what you have returned in your life and why. Sometimes it's a legit reason and other times, ehhh, maybe not so much.

Someday you'll have 20 or 30 books up. Wait until someone buys your whole catalog, reads it and returns it. It happens to everyone sooner or later.

At first, you're like

And then you're all

Although it's VERY HARD, it's best to detach yourself from all of these kinds of things you cannot control. It makes all the difference in the world over the long run.

Thank you so much HFR. You're the shining beacon at the end of the tunnel. When I do have a massive collection of books and a check to prove it, I dont care where you are, how far it takes, I'm going to hunt you down and personally thank you. (I hope that didn't come off creepy):thankyousign:

 

[ChickenHawk]

Seriously, who goes to the trouble to return a 99c purchase? But, don't take it personally. Some people are just cheap.

On the Kindle Boards, one author said you haven't really lived until someone's returned one of your FREE books. Somehow, that made me feel better about the couple returns I had, because this made no sense whatsoever.

 

[Hicks]

On the Kindle Boards, one author said you haven't really lived until someone's returned one of your FREE books. Somehow, that made me feel better about the couple returns I had, because this made no sense whatsoever.

LOL.
I had a one star review because the 'look inside' function wasn't working (nothing to do with me)!.......on a free book.

 

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[COSenior]

On the Kindle Boards, one author said you haven't really lived until someone's returned one of your FREE books. Somehow, that made me feel better about the couple returns I had, because this made no sense whatsoever.

Oh, my. I'd probably put my head in the oven, lol.

 

[Lauryn]

LOL @ returning free books.

Sometimes the book is returned because the person wants their 99 cents or doesn't see the value in your story. Like they've all said, don't take it personal. Same with one star reviews - unless there's a specific and valid point made in their negative review.

Trust me, people PAY people to leave bad reviews.

 

[Mark Anthony Le]

On the Kindle Boards, one author said you haven't really lived until someone's returned one of your FREE books. Somehow, that made me feel better about the couple returns I had, because this made no sense whatsoever.

I literally laughed out loud. Thanks man

UPDATE:
My writing schedule has been hectic as all hell. Damn. I've been trying to squeeze writing into every single second of my free time. I haven't even had time to visit you guys

So... Here are my realizations:

MORE TIME =/= MORE WORDS

My god did I learn this the hard way. The more time I squeezed into writing the more I felt like my writing was sloppy and terrible. It was almost as if my creative side was burnt out from the overload of the work I gave it. I'm going to figure out a way to make it work though. Perhaps one of my outlines in writing is wrong.

So far I'm working on a lengthier book just to see if I get more traction in my category. Even though the large majority of my category uses 200+ pages, I'm testing the waters to see if they respond more with different unique twists that are much shorter aka novellas or in general they stick with longer books.

All about testing and finding the right formula in my niches now.

How is everyone else doing?

 

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[COSenior]

I literally laughed out loud. Thanks man

UPDATE:
My writing schedule has been hectic as all hell. Damn. I've been trying to squeeze writing into every single second of my free time. I haven't even had time to visit you guys

So... Here are my realizations:

MORE TIME =/= MORE WORDS

My god did I learn this the hard way. The more time I squeezed into writing the more I felt like my writing was sloppy and terrible. It was almost as if my creative side was burnt out from the overload of the work I gave it. I'm going to figure out a way to make it work though. Perhaps one of my outlines in writing is wrong.

So far I'm working on a lengthier book just to see if I get more traction in my category. Even though the large majority of my category uses 200+ pages, I'm testing the waters to see if they respond more with different unique twists that are much shorter aka novellas or in general they stick with longer books.

All about testing and finding the right formula in my niches now.

How is everyone else doing?

I'm currently re-reading the book you cited earlier, and wondering if you just haven't hit your stride yet? As I told my ghostwriting client yesterday, it seems to be largely just believing you can do it. Like the author of that 2k to 10k book, I tend to write faster the longer I write. First hour might be 1000 words, but by hour two, it's 1500 and I know there have been days when I hit 2000/hour average. And those are the days when I don't want to quit writing when it's time to stop and cook dinner. The story's flowing, my fingers are flying, and I guess you could say I'm 'in the zone.' When I started writing none of that happened. One caveat--I seldom sit down to write if I have less than half an hour. It takes that long to get my head in the story.

But as many established writers say, my experience is not your experience--you'll find what's best for you as you keep working on it. I'm impressed with your dedication to your goal, and your willingness to test even if it means failure for one or two books. Thanks for sharing your journey.

 

[santa]

"MORE TIME =/= MORE WORDS

My god did I learn this the hard way. The more time I squeezed into writing the more I felt like my writing was sloppy and terrible. It was almost as if my creative side was burnt out from the overload of the work I gave it. I'm going to figure out a way to make it work though. Perhaps one of my outlines in writing is wrong."

Now this is where we have to find a writing system that works for us (and which can change over time, e.g. the great EL writing later;

). You might find that if you keep writing with a similar schedule, (but maybe emphasizing quality a bit more) that your writing quality does improve. A bit like someone playing speed chess, and getting their @ss kicked at the beginning but becoming a master of that over time.
OR, as you seem to be concluding, you may need to spend more time per word to get that quality to a good level. Which would be a bit more like traditional chess.
OR using a hyrbid or somehting totally different (checkers anyone?)...
The challenge we all have is knowing when to stick with a method (with tweaks) and when to go in a dramatically different way.

I think it is a continual evolution, and I loved what you said in bold. You'll find your writing process!

 

[Rainy_TX]

Mark Anthony Le - What are you doing to market your books? I am also curious to see what others are doing as well. I found the following article interesting: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/jan/12/amanda-hocking-self-publishing The thing is, how many of us just have a blog we've had forever related to our genre with tons of followers?

Anyway, anyone with marketing ideas for marketing fiction? Would be greatly appreciated! I just received my first fiction novel back from my editor and am making the final corrections/edits to it. Being a professional graphic designer, I've already created a cover so... other than that, I just need to dive into marketing.

 

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[Mark Anthony Le]

Wow.Big Update guys.

Turns out that I might be expecting a baby soon!

Very. Very. Excited.

 

[Rainy_TX]

Congrats!

 

[smarty]

Hey Hicks,

About the KDP Select, yea it's officially kindle only. I might be wrong but it's only for 90 days I think? Not home to double checks

And yea my book is in English. Albeit, I was never the greatest English student in my classes in college, practice makes perfect

Just trying to supply a demand in the market is all.

Great job! Why don't you include a link to the book here? someone might buy it or at least share and give you additional exposure.

 

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[Mark Anthony Le]

Mark Anthony Le - What are you doing to market your books? I am also curious to see what others are doing as well. I found the following article interesting: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/jan/12/amanda-hocking-self-publishing The thing is, how many of us just have a blog we've had forever related to our genre with tons of followers?
Anyway, anyone with marketing ideas for marketing fiction? Would be greatly appreciated! I just received my first fiction novel back from my editor and am making the final corrections/edits to it. Being a professional graphic designer, I've already created a cover so... other than that, I just need to dive into marketing.

All i'm doing is writing more books. I'm taking the DWS's way of marketing. I agree with him when he says that the only way to market a book is to just keep writing. The writing itself will give you more exposure via more books in amazon. But from the looks of the route you're taking (traditional i'm assuming) blogging and connecting with like minded authors in your genre and your audience will definitely help you.

Now this is where we have to find a writing system that works for us (and which can change over time, e.g. the great EL writing later; ). You might find that if you keep writing with a similar schedule, (but maybe emphasizing quality a bit more) that your writing quality does improve. A bit like someone playing speed chess, and getting their @ss kicked at the beginning but becoming a master of that over time.

Wow, thanks for the video. Definitely needed that. I actually might try a segment where I can't delete anything I type and see how that works! Sounds really good IMO.


UPDATE: WOW AGAIN!
I know I haven't updated this for several days now but I'm definitely keeping up with my work. I'm about half way done with the new book and am glad that I stuck with it. My method as of now is not to try to pump out as much as possible but rather take it easy and type out as much as I can with the allottted time that I'm given.

Moments after I found out that my gal was pregnant, I developed some sort of hives and eventually I itched at it and long story short I had an extreme form of Cellulitis which sent me to the ER and out of my day job for about two weeks. I've been home with my foot up dangling off the ceiling cerning books out on a consistent basis now.

I'm trying to keep it up, there might be times that I feel depressed and confused at life but I'm definitely trying to keep things going.

I hope you guys are all doing well too. I promise to keep this updated daily

 

[Rainy_TX]

I've been home with my foot up dangling off the ceiling cerning books out on a consistent basis now.

Poor guy! Hope you feel better!

 

[COSenior]

I've been home with my foot up dangling off the ceiling cerning books out on a consistent basis now.

Way to turn a bad thing into a good thing. Congrats, by the way, Pop. Better get those titles out in a hurry!

 

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[Mark Anthony Le]

Poor guy! Hope you feel better!

Haha thanks

Hows your book coming along? I noticed your thread and was meaning to sub to it.

Way to turn a bad thing into a good thing. Congrats, by the way, Pop. Better get those titles out in a hurry!

Thanks Haha. Can't say i'm not excited but also looking down at the lack of down time i'll have working on the business. I feel like I have to work even harder now that I have a child coming.

 

[Rainy_TX]

Hows your book coming along? I noticed your thread and was meaning to sub to it.

Second book is going good, thanks for asking! My characters are really starting to speak to me and it's interesting to see which way they take the story. I try not to let them venture too far off course though... I have a plot to stick to!