Jumping on the bandwagon

[COSenior]

Does anyone here know of a good non-fiction ghostwriter? I've begged my client to let me write only fiction from now on, so he's in the market for someone who can mirror my style in the non-fiction arena.

 

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[ChickenHawk]

Book Bub has approved, bad news (according to publisher) BB unfortunately won't be able to squeeze it in until Feb. 18. I told him, hey, Feb. 18 is my mother's birthday, it's got to be good luck.

Wow, congratulations!!! I've heard that it's really hard to get accepted by Book Bub. Limited slots, lots of demand -- that really says something about your book. Please keep us posted on how it goes!

 

[COSenior]

Wow, congratulations!!! I've heard that it's really hard to get accepted by Book Bub. Limited slots, lots of demand -- that really says something about your book. Please keep us posted on how it goes!

I think it probably has more to do with my publisher's skill than my book, which is nowhere near as good as yours. But I'll definitely keep you posted.

 

[santa]

I haven't been on the forum for a while, good to see you plugging away Co!

I had a quick look at your book- there's a few things I would personally do differently in your strategy, but from the sounds of it you're in capable hands. Here's to a successful 2014!

 

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[COSenior]

I haven't been on the forum for a while, good to see you plugging away Co!

I had a quick look at your book- there's a few things I would personally do differently in your strategy, but from the sounds of it you're in capable hands. Here's to a successful 2014!

Thanks, Santa. It's not my strategy, but he's got a good track record. If you'd like to PM me what you think should be different, I'll take it under advisement.

 

[COSenior]

Calling all writers for help! A few posts up, I mentioned I was writing in first person POV with a dialect, although I'm not certain that's the correct word. I was using my dad's Texas accent/colloquial speech as a guide, because that's what I've heard all over the rural West, whether Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, though curiously, not Colorado in particular.

I'm seriously second-guessing my decision, even though I toned down the phonetic spellings quite a bit. I saw in a review of someone else's book a reader saying the colloquialisms were distracting. So, if you're willing to give me an opinion, read the excerpt below and vote for one of three options:

A--Leave it alone, it's fine
B--Get rid of most of those apostrophes and just leave the g's off the -ing endings
C--Forget all of it and just write it straight; make the tenses grammatically correct, too

Here's the excerpt:

When all them girls come to the ranch, it changed everything for us. Before, the boss paid us some attention, but left us alone to do our work. Uncle Hank would tell us what the boss wanted done, and what needed to be done besides, and we’d get it done. The only woman on the ranch was Janet, the cook, and she was older than my mom would'a been if she hadn’t've died. I didn’t mind that. It was hard enough to know what to say to the girls at school, before I graduated, especially when they got all moony-eyed and expected stuff I didn’t know nothin’ about.

In my senior year, I had a girlfriend, though. Wasn’t any of my doin’, Cass just come around and wouldn’t leave, and I gotta admit, those kisses she gave me were somethin’. Got kinda uncomfortable in my jeans, if you know what I mean. When the time come that she peeled me outta them jeans, and showed me what life was all about, I got a whole new interest. That spring, I was a walkin’ hard-on. But then come graduation, and before I could ask her what next, she up and left me for a dude that graduated the year before, just because he was doin' good in the rodeos and got him a fancy new pickup and trailer rig for his calf-ropin’ horse.

That’s when I decided I’d like to rodeo, too. The boss told me I was startin’ out at a disadvantage, that everyone on the circuit had been ridin’ rodeo since they was little kids, but it didn’t matter to me. I knew I was good with horses. Uncle Hank made me a wrangler after just six months at the ranch. I just needed to save up and buy me a horse, tack and some way to get to the rodeos around, and I’d be on my way.

I’d been on the ranch a year and a half by then, and workin’ full-time once I graduated high school, when I took a shine to a two-year old frame overo named White’s BB King. The boss liked to name his horses for old blues singers, Uncle Hank said. I called him by his barn name, though. One of the older hands, a Mexican outta Texas, named him Abogado. He said it meant lawyer in Spanish. That was because no matter what you wanted him to do, that horse would argue about it. I’d say, “Here, Abo, have some sweet hay.” And damned if that horse wouldn’t turn his nose up and say, “I’d ruther have some grain.” Or the other way around. I got such a kick outta that--he was somethin’! But, he always listened to me, and sometimes he wouldn’t argue quite as much. One day, the boss noticed I was givin’ Abo more attention than the others in the barn.

“Cody, what’s with you and Abogado? You got an understandin’?” The other wranglers laughed, because the boss meant was I sweet on that horse, like a girl, and I turned red.

“Boss, this horse listens to me, I swear it. I bet I could train him for a calf-ropin’ horse, I put my mind to it.”

“What would you need a calf-ropin’ horse for, Cody Wayne? Wanta give up wranglin’ and go to cowboyin’?”

“Nosir, Boss. I wanta rodeo.”

“You serious?”

“Yessir. I reckon I know horses and that’s all it takes.”

“Well, Cody, you got some more reckonin’ to do, but if you’re real serious, I’d sell you that horse on payments, if you want him.”

Uncle Hank was there, and Miguel, who’d named Abo, and a few others. They was all shakin’ their heads like that was a bad idea. I couldn’t back down. I stuck out my hand to shake on it, and Abo was mine. At a hundred bucks a month, I reckoned I’d have him paid for about the time I could start ridin’ him. Right then, I started puttin’ away an extra hundred for my tack.

I took to ranchin’ like I was born to it, my Uncle Hank always said. We didn’t talk much about my mom, dead from the poison my dad was cookin’ up in a shed behind the house and sellin’. I knew about meth, what kid in this country doesn’t, these days? But I saw what it was doin’ to Mom, and even though I couldn’t get her to quit it, I wouldn’t touch it. When Mom died, I called my Uncle Hank and he was there in half an hour, hollerin’ and takin’ on. He said he was gonna kill my dad. I was sixteen, too old to cry, but I couldn’t help it. If Mom was dead, and Uncle Hank killed my dad, I’d be an orphan, and he’d be in prison. I begged him not to, not that my bastard dad didn’t deserve it. After a while, Hank settled down and took me to the ranch. We never knew what happened to my dad.

So, there I was, workin’ and goin’ to school, and then just workin’ and talkin’ to Abo, gettin’ him used to listenin’ to what I said. I was growin’ taller and gettin’ heavier, so I knew I couldn’t ride him for another coupla years. Makin’ friends with my horse, I didn’t miss Cass so much, but there was times I like to've busted outta my britches, I got so horny. Times like that, I’d climb way up in the hay loft and take care of things. I guess the other guys my age was doin’ the same thing. More protein in the hay, they always joked.

 

[Lauryn]

A - it's fine as is.

No matter what you write or how, someone will take offense to it.
Reading was an adjustment for about a minute, but I caught on quickly and I think it's fine as is!

 

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[ChickenHawk]

I love it! You did a great job of capturing the flavor. My vote is for keeping the vast majority of it, as-is, with a few exceptions, in particular words that might cause the reader to stumble, visually.

For example, I'd eliminate words like "ould'a been" and "hadn’t've". I think you've done such a nice job of setting the stage for the way he speaks, that when people read it, they'll automatically, in their own minds, make these mental substitutions. I think if you write, "ought've been", they'll automatically think, "ould'a been". And if you write "hadn't have", they'll mentally replace it with "hadn't've".

I'd definitely keep the tenses like you've written them, as he'd speak them. I love the way you say "them jeans" rather than "my jeans". It's perfect, IMO.

 

[britnidanielle]

I agree with ChickenHawk & Lauren.

On things like "would'a" I would just change it to woulda. Nobody is going to throw your book away because you didn't use an apostrophe, but "woulda" reads easier, or just switch it to would've.

Things like gotta, coulda, woulda, I would keep without too much manipulation.

 

[Enki]

It's good,

It was kind of hard to read for only a few seconds (I am running on little sleep for the last week), but I wouldn't have put the book down anywhere during that excerpt. I think you might be being a little to critical.

 

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[Rawr]

COS, took a look at the amazon page. I'd recommend adding more to the blurb - via specifics, expand the cliches a bit. Run from what, etc? Add another line or two, and make sure it GRABS the face of the reader. I think it will boost sales

 

[COSenior]

Thanks, I'll pass the message on. I don't have any control over that part, but he does listen to my opinion. BTW, you should have seen the pathetic attempt I made.

 

[joanna]

Before reading the sample I would have said simplify, but as others actually it reads very well. Just a few of the double apostrophe words could be dropped/simplified but overall it does give a good flavour, without being hard to read.

 

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[mossie]

Ain't that how them folks woulda be talkin?

I like it I say go for it.

 

[COSenior]

Ain't that how them folks woulda be talkin?

I like it I say go for it.

Yup, them folks talk just like that, until they move to the city and get embarrassed by it. Ask me how I know that, lol.

 

[COSenior]

Mini-update: Joined the INSIDERS group, but have no idea what I should do now. Do I keep up this thread? Somehow make it an INSIDERS thread? Just read other INSIDERS's threads? Feel I should contribute somehow, but everything I know is in here already.

Waiting and trying not to hold my breath for the BookBub ad on Feb. 18 that we hope will boost sales on Rustled, which have been underwhelming despite the known pen name. Publisher apologizes for the delay, but I don't see how to avoid that since BB is in such demand for this genre, as evidenced by the price for an ad going up steadily. However, the delay is going to have an unexpected bonus. I think I'll be able to complete the linked book that I'm writing now in time to take advantage of the publicity and have a link in the back matter of Rustled for it.

On that subject, ploughing away at 4000+ words per day on Wrangled, the next book. I appreciate the link that @AubreyRose shared with @Held for Ransom and he shared with the rest of us in @ctcrompton's thread, a better beat sheet for romance novels specifically. It's facilitated my process even more. The new novel will be done at least two weeks ahead of the end-of-February schedule, as I have 46k of a planned 80k already.

Excited also at a new direction with my ghostwriting client, and the re-write of the adventure thriller I'm writing with him. A little premature to say more, though.

All in all, I'm happy to be taking a day off for Superbowl fun, but excited to get back to work tomorrow.

 

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[Jordi]

Hi COS, great thread! I recently finished to read it.
I'm glad to hear about your new publisher.
If you don't mind to share, would you tell me the percentage that your publisher earn for each book you publish?

 

[COSenior]

Hi COS, great thread! I recently finished to read it.
I'm glad to hear about your new publisher.
If you don't mind to share, would you tell me the percentage that your publisher earn for each book you publish?

Thank you.

Like most publishers that I've researched or read about, mine earns 50% after expenses are paid from first royalties. That's what I expected the terms to be. He fronts the expenses, and if the book doesn't earn out, the risk is all his.

When I started to self-publish, I thought that was outrageous, but here's what I found. My books didn't sell well. I sold a few, but by no means did I sell enough to make a living, or even pay for covers. So I spent some time trying to market them using Goodreads and Facebook publicity, again with no resources to advertise them directly. They still didn't sell well and I was using valuable writing time trying to figure out what to do to make them sell well. I resigned myself to having to write 20-40 titles in order to get some traction, but then pricing drove me crazy. I felt I'd need to write shorter works to boost the volume, while pricing them lower so buyers would buy them, meaning I'd get only a 35% royalty from Amazon, instead of the 70% for a price that's standard for indie novels in my genre. All this analysis was literally making me lose sleep.

By the time this publisher said, 'yes, I like your writing and would like to work with you', I came back to something I've known for a long time. I'll frame it for you:

Half of something is better than all of nothing.
​

I have yet to discover, as you know if you've read the entire thread, just how much that 'something' will be. But he is encouraging me daily to expect it to be substantial within the next few months if I keep producing. Would it have been anyway? Maybe. But I wouldn't have been able to leave things alone and just write, because I'm more proactive--or should we say impatient?--than that.

I've assumed in answering that your question relates to whether you should try to find a publisher. I wouldn't say that necessarily. I hope my reasoning process helps you sort out yours. Do be careful of publishers that require you to pay up front to work with them. From other threads in this genre, you can see that a publisher isn't required, but patience, research, diligent work, a realistic view of your writing skill and common sense are. I just took a short-cut on the patience part.

If you'd like to learn whether my publisher will take you on, I'll be glad to read one of your books and if it meets MY standards, I'll pass it on to him. He's always in the market for new writers who write well in genres that sell. A couple of other writers I have recommended are waiting to see how this first book does under his administration...that's fine too. I won't recommend a writer whose books are ungrammatical, poorly proofread or suffer from other issues that require an editor. And he's not particularly interested in short stories or novelettes; it must be at least a long novella/short novel. You're welcome to PM me if you're interested.

 

[Jordi]

Wow, thank you very much for the large response!!

I totally understand why you prefer to publish with a publisher. I think that having the necessary amount of patience, without being dissapointed by the sales of the first couple of months, is the hardest part.

I will send you a PM.

Thanks again!

 

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[COSenior]

As of today, I'm 80% finished with my target word count for Wrangled, and I can confidently say I'm sure it will be ready to publish before the BookBub ad comes out for Rustled. Trying not to be impatient.

In other news, took in a foster dog today. Sweet boy, and it's fun having a companion while I write, even if all he does is sleep on the floor beside me. Supposedly anxious because of abuse, but he's been quite calm since everyone left after delivering him to me. Loves people and is very well-behaved. Amazing in view of his history, which is confirmed. Hope they threw the bastards in jail.

 

[COSenior]

I'm fascinated by all the bells and whistles on this platform. Can anyone tell me what the Starter banner on my avatar means? I don't see it on people who are even newer than me, or who have lower speed designations, which got me wondering. I just assumed it would go away after a certain number of posts? Just curious.

Also wondering if there's any way to tell who's following you so you can follow them back. Is there somewhere else I should ask questions like this? Inquiring minds want to know, and clearly it's too early in the morning for intelligent thought.

 

[COSenior]

I'm fascinated by all the bells and whistles on this platform. Can anyone tell me what the Starter banner on my avatar means? I don't see it on people who are even newer than me, or who have lower speed designations, which got me wondering. I just assumed it would go away after a certain number of posts? Just curious.

Also wondering if there's any way to tell who's following you so you can follow them back. Is there somewhere else I should ask questions like this? Inquiring minds want to know, and clearly it's too early in the morning for intelligent thought.

Oh, duh. Nothing to see here. Thanks for ignoring this stupid question.

 

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[COSenior]

I've been privileged to watch behind the scenes as my publisher bundled a set of five short titles that were published approximately a year ago and bundled them for publication mid-month in January. Yesterday, the BookBub ad came out. I sure wish I had noticed the Amazon sales rank before, because today it's #1 in Kindle/Erotica, #1 in Books/Erotica and #2 in Books/Romance. #17 overall after seeing #12 overnight. Dare I hope for numbers like these next week? Probably not...the Stories pen name isn't as famous due to a long hiatus from publishing before I took it over. But wow...what if?

 

[Erock87]

I've been privileged to watch behind the scenes as my publisher bundled a set of five short titles that were published approximately a year ago and bundled them for publication mid-month in January. Yesterday, the BookBub ad came out. I sure wish I had noticed the Amazon sales rank before, because today it's #1 in Kindle/Erotica, #1 in Books/Erotica and #2 in Books/Romance. #17 overall after seeing #12 overnight. Dare I hope for numbers like these next week? Probably not...the Stories pen name isn't as famous due to a long hiatus from publishing before I took it over. But wow...what if?

COS,

I'll submit my own dumb question for this:

Can you elaborate what you mean by this? Are you saying that on Amazon, you bundled 5 works already published and sold them as one entity? Also, this jumped up to be the #1 seller on Kindle/Erotica? Doesn't that generally relate to the sale of thousands and thousands of books? That's incredible if you were able to generate that much money by bundling prior works as a great deal.

If I'm off the mark (which I've been known to be!), just let me know. Regardless, it makes me ecstatic because this ties into that concept of "printing money." Bundle a bunch of older books together, consumers see them and buy a bundle for a bargain price, and it's win-win for everyone.

 

[ChickenHawk]

I sure wish I had noticed the Amazon sales rank before, because today it's #1 in Kindle/Erotica, #1 in Books/Erotica and #2 in Books/Romance. #17 overall after seeing #12 overnight. Dare I hope for numbers like these next week?

Oh man, it would be SO sweet if you had anything close to this kind of result. Aside from the exposure, this has to be some serious money. Crossing my fingers for you!

 

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[COSenior]

COS,

I'll submit my own dumb question for this:

Can you elaborate what you mean by this? Are you saying that on Amazon, you bundled 5 works already published and sold them as one entity? Also, this jumped up to be the #1 seller on Kindle/Erotica? Doesn't that generally relate to the sale of thousands and thousands of books? That's incredible if you were able to generate that much money but bundling prior works as a great deal.

If I'm off the mark (which I've been known to be!), just let me know. Regardless, it makes me ecstatic because this ties into that concept of "printing money." Bundle a bunch of older books together, consumers see them and buy a bundle for a bargain price, and it's win-win for everyone.

It's not a dumb question if I didn't make it clear for you. First let me clear up a misconception. These weren't my books, but those of another author that my publisher represents. I had advance notice that the BookBub ad was coming out yesterday, and that the price had been discounted in conjunction with the ad, which is why I said I'd seen behind the scenes. Otherwise, you've got it right.

What I really meant to convey was not the point you took, but rather that the BookBub advertising medium is an effective one if you can meet their requirements, which is a whole other subject. However, what you took from it is equally true. Several authors in this forum use that very strategy to do several things:

a) create a longer book for which they can charge more money (five short stories of 10k each at 99 cents, selling one copy each = $1.75 in royalties; the same five stories bundled as one 'boxed set' and selling one copy at $2.99 = $2.09 in royalties. Even more effective if it's a trilogy, as long as the bundled set is at least novel length.)
b) add another title to your catalog without writing another word
c) boost lagging sales (because in this particular genre, things don't stay on the top for long unless they're an outlier like Fifty Shades of Grey)
and possibly
d) make it worth the expense of a new cover for a CreateSpace paperback, which in turn has its own reasons. @AubreyRose gave them here. https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/co...-publishing-success.46006/page-22#post-331383

Never be afraid to ask a question. I've heard it said that the only dumb question is the one you didn't ask. On the other hand, my dumb question above was just a matter of not using my noodle.

 

[Erock87]

That makes a lot of sense! Now I am very excited for your work to coincide with your BookBub ad, and see what sort of results you see.

Thanks COS - greatly appreciated!

 

[COSenior]

Oh man, it would be SO sweet if you had anything close to this kind of result. Aside from the exposure, this has to be some serious money. Crossing my fingers for you!

Well, my results won't equal serious money, because the book's going to be free for the promotion. Just trying to get some exposure. Now, if I get Wrangled finished in time to link it at the back before the ad, that could get interesting. I hope. I've got about 6400 words to go, and then some quick editing.

But thanks!

 

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[ChickenHawk]

Well, my results won't equal serious money, because the book's going to be free for the promotion. Just trying to get some exposure. Now, if I get Wrangled finished in time to link it at the back before the ad, that could get interesting. I hope. I've got about 6400 words to go, and then some quick editing.
But thanks!

Ohhhhh, that's right! Sorry, I wasn't thinking. That's an excellent point, though, about Wrangled. I'm assuming that if you get it finished, you'd be able to add a little blurb at the end of Rustled to point people to Wrangled? I've heard that those free promos can really give a boost to the next one in the series. Fortunately, you write like lightning! If anyone can get it done in time, you can.

 

[COSenior]

Ohhhhh, that's right! Sorry, I wasn't thinking. That's an excellent point, though, about Wrangled. I'm assuming that if you get it finished, you'd be able to add a little blurb at the end of Rustled to point people to Wrangled? I've heard that those free promos can really give a boost to the next one in the series. Fortunately, you write like lightning! If anyone can get it done in time, you can.

Yes, exactly. I have to get it done and edited in time to publish it and then put the link in Rustled in time to update it and get the new version live before the ad comes out. The writing's no problem; I'll have it done by Tuesday at the latest. It's the rest that's going to be a race. Thanks for the encouragement, though. Now I feel I have to do it to justify your faith in me, lol.