Road to Becoming a Fastlane Author

[Thriftypreneur]

You really seem to be flying through (jealous! ). Any tips for coming up with story or progressing plots?

Having just finished book one of my series, and having pretty much all of book 3 mapped out, I'm kinda stuck on what to do/put in book 2. And, I think that's pretty sad, considering they're novellas. Guess this is my inexperience really showing.

 

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[Breaking Free]

Send me a PM and we can compare notes. It really boils down to making sure each scene does something, no matter how little, to advance the plot. It's a learned skill, and depending on your plot and genre, there are some tricks I found to help.

 

[Breaking Free]

Okay, someone slap some sense into me. My first book uploaded overnight, and at 9000 words, Amazon only gave it 21 pages. Ugh. So I started questioning my 2.99 price point.

Then I looked at my downloads, on both Amazon and Smashwords. Overnight, I had 5 previews on Smashwords, and 3 sales on Amazon (with 1 return). Now, I'm writing a paragraph, then checking my stats on both sites.

And I need to be more productive today...

 

[ChickenHawk]

Okay, someone slap some sense into me. My first book uploaded overnight, and at 9000 words, Amazon only gave it 21 pages. Ugh. So I started questioning my 2.99 price point.

Then I looked at my downloads, on both Amazon and Smashwords. Overnight, I had 5 previews on Smashwords, and 3 sales on Amazon (with 1 return). Now, I'm writing a paragraph, then checking my stats on both sites.

And I need to be more productive today...

It's soooo hard to not look at stats, isn't it? I'm continually slapping myself. I'm no help!

About your price point, you could always keep it at 2.99 for a while and then drop it to see what happens. Or, you could do the reverse, start out at 99 cents and raise it once you see what kind of results you get. That's the nice thing about the Kindle system, isn't it? It's so easy to make these changes on the fly.

On a cheery note, three sales is waaaaaay more than I had when first starting out, so you're obviously onto something. I had ZERO sales until I ran a freebie.

 

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[Breaking Free]

Just realized I never posted an update last week. Hmmm.

Released novella #2 last week, with a slightly different genre to try and expand my base. Didn't go so well, with my results to date as the following:

Short Story #1 - 1 sale
Novella #1 - 6 sales
Novella #2 - 2 sales

This week I'll release the third, with a short story next week while I get novella's 4 & 5 edited, and write #6. Depending on how those go, I'll either push to finish that series (with about 12 books total) or move onto my second series. It will be in the same blanket genre but a much different niche, and a different format along with longer books.

I also have a series of short stories in the works (2k-3k words) that I plan to release as a series, to get more work under my pen name. Even at $.99, I can't complain about any sales/royalties at this point.

Smashwords took forever to approve my books, so none of my results include its distribution. It's been downloaded there, and in one person's library, but no purchases. Also no reviews/feedback.

I also got an idea for a non-fiction work that could spin into or from a blog site, so that may be something I do under my real name should I ever make enough writing fiction to quit my job.

And I REALLY need to stop procrastinating on my website, goodreads, etc. I think because I work in technology that the thought of learning more technology bores the crap out of me, which makes me want to write.

 

[Breaking Free]

So I did pull the trigger on novella #3 last night, and Smashwords is starting to distribute my other books to other vendors. However, I'm tempted to tell them to stop. Here's why:

1. My description gets horribly manged in each vendor's listing. Kobo doesn't like some punctuation, and Apple doesn't like carriage returns.
2. It *still* hasn't shown up in Barnes & Noble.

And that's just after some light poking around. I'll still use them for their service, think I'll have them stop pushing out to Apple, Kobo, and B&N. Anyone else have a similiar experience?

 

[COSenior]

1. My description gets horribly manged in each vendor's listing. Kobo doesn't like some punctuation, and Apple doesn't like carriage returns.

Thanks for pointing out these issues. Now I need to go and see what has happened with mine. I opt out of Smashwords distribution to Barnes & Noble and use the file from Smashwords to publish it at B&N myself. Looks like it bears investigating to do the same with Kobo and Apple.

 

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[Gymjunkie]

Don't overworry about social media sites, just pick one of them first and master it. Maybe Goodreads should be first, maybe Facebook. Pick one that you enjoy and understand most.

Good luck and keep us updated!

 

[Breaking Free]

Released a short story this weekend, as I didn't have much opportunity to write with family in town. Also doing a KDP promo for my other short story, which so far has resulted in 20 downloads. Though, after they left, I wrapped up a novella and am now taking a break of a re-write on a separate series. Though I stumbled on these podcasts, which are mostly good, but this one is pure gold:

http://selfpublishingpodcast.com/71/

It's with Dean Weasley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch. Everyone who is writing on this forum(mostly applies to fiction), listen to this podcast now.

 

[COSenior]

Though I stumbled on these podcasts, which are mostly good, but this one is pure gold:

http://selfpublishingpodcast.com/71/

It's with Dean Weasley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch. Everyone who is writing on this forum(mostly applies to fiction), listen to this podcast now.

Just listened, and thanks for the link, it was a great interview. Lots of stuff I wanted to hear, and I hope it's good advice. Sure wish they would publish a transcript...could have read it a lot faster than listening.

 

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[Breaking Free]

Just listened, and thanks for the link, it was a great interview. Lots of stuff I wanted to hear, and I hope it's good advice. Sure wish they would publish a transcript...could have read it a lot faster than listening.

Listening was a little rough, had to stop and rewind a few times. But, there was a lot of advice being floated around, and the fact was, everyone's advice worked for them. Hugh Howey has another form that works, as does JA Konrath.

But here are the consistencies:

1. Write. And write a lot.
2. Build a brand around your name/pen name.
3. Write some more.
4. Pick a strategy and stick with it.
5. Write.

Everyone, and I mean everyone, is pushing the high amount of content. That's been the consistency between these authors, that Held for Ransom started us off with.

And to sort of prove it, I found a blog of a writer that read about the throwaway_writer of reddit fame. She started trying it, but couldn't bring herself to mass produce work. But, the more content she put out, the more her income gradually grew. It was slow, a lot slower than any of the major success stories, but it was growing.

 

[Breaking Free]

So today I came home sick from work. Wish I could say that it was to write, but I really wasn't feeling well, so thinking creatively wasn't really working out.

But, I can always think logically. Which meant I just pulled the trigger on publishing two novellas, both from different series.

My bookshelf now has seven books, and I'll be releasing another novella and short story this weekend. I'm aiming for 20 by the end of the year. 5 short stories with 15 novella length or longer, with 3-4 different series spanning several genres. Books sell books, so I'm just going to write. I'm not even going to look at sales, except in the morning when I'm eating breakfast.

That way, I'll be much more surprised when I start making money.

 

[Thriftypreneur]

Congrats! Noticing any growth in your bottom line as you're nearing a more sizable catalog?

 

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[Breaking Free]

Congrats! Noticing any growth in your bottom line as you're nearing a more sizable catalog?

I wish! But I've only been publishing a month, which is another reason why I'm not going to watch sales. I have one main series, which I think was a mistake to put all my efforts into it at first. I should be writing books in different series, and have 3-5 series instead of soon six novellas in one series.

But that's just me. I want to cast a wider net.

 

[Thriftypreneur]

I wish! But I've only been publishing a month, which is another reason why I'm not going to watch sales. I have one main series, which I think was a mistake to put all my efforts into it at first. I should be writing books in different series, and have 3-5 series instead of soon six novellas in one series.

But that's just me. I want to cast a wider net.

Why not put the first on perma-free to drive a stream of sales to the other 5? Read about one guy doing this with a 3-book novella series and pulling 60k in 12 months off the series. I'm sure not all do quite that well, but even 1/4th would be pretty nice for one series.

 

[Breaking Free]

Why not put the first on perma-free to drive a stream of sales to the other 5? Read about one guy doing this with a 3-book novella series and pulling 60k in 12 months off the series. I'm sure not all do quite that well, but even 1/4th would be pretty nice for one series.

I plan on doing that once I release the sixth part, and have a couple more stories out. I want to make all the first parts of my series perma-free, with links to all my books in the back. I also want to do collections of novellas in a series, to try and drive sales later.

But first... write.

 

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[COSenior]

That way, I'll be much more surprised when I start making money.

Won't that be fun? I can't stay away from my Amazon sales report. It's like that old SNL skit, where the person is complaining that it hurts when he hits himself over the head with a hammer.

 

[Thriftypreneur]

I plan on doing that once I release the sixth part, and have a couple more stories out. I want to make all the first parts of my series perma-free, with links to all my books in the back. I also want to do collections of novellas in a series, to try and drive sales later.

But first... write.

That's what I'm planning to do as well: Multiple novellas series, each with the first book perma free to drive sales, all interlinked in more than one way.

Since you write so much faster than I do, I'm very eager to see how they go for you.

 

[Breaking Free]

As a small update, this had been a slightly off week for me. My slowlane job has been kicking my a$$, so today I drove up to Sedona (if you ever get to Arizona, go there!) to clear my head. Saw some art, tried some wine, met some fun people. Also during the drive I realized how to fix a couple drafts I'm working on, so it wasn't all lost productivity.

I'll still get a novella and a short story out this weekend. But I'll need to bust my a$$ this week to maintain productivity.

Sales are still slow, only having sold three books since the 1st. Not encouraging, but I only have seven books out there. By the end of the month I should be able to start taking my first series, discount the first book to probably free, and make some collections from the rest, thus expanding my bookshelf (and this will not count to my book count by end of the year).

Also, I wanted to share these tidbits I found from Hugh Howey. If Dean Wesley Smith is the college professor for writing professionals, Hugh Howey is the guy at the top of the class:

http://www.hughhowey.com/facebook-chat/

http://www.hughhowey.com/listen-to-yourself/

 

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[Gymjunkie]

Just keep writing and publishing. Here are some stats from Perma-free book and series. Awesome numbers:

http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,164086.0.html

I think you'll be doing good, now is just a phase of paying dues and pushing through!

 

[Breaking Free]

Just keep writing and publishing. Here are some stats from Perma-free book and series. Awesome numbers:

http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,164086.0.html

I think you'll be doing good, now is just a phase of paying dues and pushing through!

Thanks Gym. I have to keep in mind I only have seven books out, none of them breaking 15k words.

And I plan on making the first book in each series I write perma-free or .99, but it's always nice to see how it works out for someone else. Just need books in the series to back that up.

All these case studies are interesting. It seems there's some overlap as to what works for some people, so it's a challenge to recreate that for ourselves.

 

[Gymjunkie]

Thanks Gym. I have to keep in mind I only have seven books out, none of them breaking 15k words.

And I plan on making the first book in each series I write perma-free or .99, but it's always nice to see how it works out for someone else. Just need books in the series to back that up.

All these case studies are interesting. It seems there's some overlap as to what works for some people, so it's a challenge to recreate that for ourselves.

Yeah, just get to 20 as fast as you can. Don't overworry about the money until then. I've seen someone on KBoards with 50+ short stories doing well ( I think it was short stories..).

 

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[Breaking Free]

Yeah, just get to 20 as fast as you can. Don't overworry about the money until then. I've seen someone on KBoards with 50+ short stories doing well ( I think it was short stories..).

I've actually wondered if the kboards helped with marketing at all. But I tend to have issues navigating them, so if you have any more gems from there like you already posted, feel free to share them

 

[Gymjunkie]

I've actually wondered if the kboards helped with marketing at all. But I tend to have issues navigating them, so if you have any more gems from there like you already posted, feel free to share them

Yeah, some people share good info there about marketing there definitely. There have been good ones but I don't remember links etc. but if I see something I will drop it on Resource thread in this sub-forum.

 

[Breaking Free]

I was debating on doing an update this week, as it hasn't been the most productive of weeks. I did release another novella, bringing my catalogue to 9 published books, and three more awaiting a second read/edit.

I'm also doing a sale on my first novella, since I now have 5 in that series. Strongly considering dropping them all to .99 and doing a collection once I hit six in that series.

I'm also shifting gears a bit, but just ever so slightly. I'm hesitant to discuss it, since it's a competitive environment, but I hope it will help me get some sales and pen name recognition.

I'll keep everyone posted.

 

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[Breaking Free]

As an update, I'm up to 11 books on my bookshelf. I have three more waiting in the wings, and a collection of my first six novellas in my series going into a longer work, including a createspace book. I've also tapped the Kindle Worlds market, in an attempt to gain some exposure. Unfortunately... I can't track sales, I can only watch my rank move. If anyone has seen how this works, and if I can see how many copies I sell, let me know.

Sales are still meh. Nothing worth writing about; I think I've paid for one of my professional covers. But I think, in my genre, I'm on the right track. I just need slightly longer novellas, and the ability to turn them into novels (and create physical books). See what Hugh Howey did with Wool, a book released in five parts. That's what I'm aiming for.

I've got lots of ideas to explore, so now after I finish my two WIPs I need to pick a new one. Unless a current one takes off, and I can build on those.

One thing I did learn that, if I go from writing (being creative) to editing, formatting, or working in CreateSpace (being logical), I can't switch back to writing without a mental reboot. Reading, watching a TV show (a show that falls in my genre helps), or going for a drive seems to work. Anyone else experience that yet?

 

[Thriftypreneur]

One thing I did learn that, if I go from writing (being creative) to editing, formatting, or working in CreateSpace (being logical), I can't switch back to writing without a mental reboot. Reading, watching a TV show (a show that falls in my genre helps), or going for a drive seems to work. Anyone else experience that yet?

Currently experiencing that now. As I finished the second in my series, my production has come to a standstill. I attribute this largely to not mapping the entire thing out in advance (because I have no clue where I want the story to go now. Trying to map it out currently). I'm going to start working in an hour or two a day of just brainstorming/researching to start building a notebook of ideas for future writing projects. I think the worst thing that can happen is to finish something up and not have another work you can start writing right away.

Really surprised you're not seeing much sales with 11 works in your portfolio, are they mostly short stories? How long are your novellas? How are you using them as marketing tools? etc?

 

[Breaking Free]

Really surprised you're not seeing much sales with 11 works in your portfolio, are they mostly short stories? How long are your novellas? How are you using them as marketing tools? etc?

I have a handful of shorts, which trickle sales (but are great KDP select fodder). I have a series of six, then two of another, then my Worlds story. The first in my series has the most sales, obviously; but even then they're not translating to more sales. But, I'm not in the romance genre; I don't think works of 10-14k will cut it. So I'm curious to see what happens with my collection when I release it, probably by week's end.

I don't know; maybe, for my genre, I need to focus more on novels once i finish my Kindle Worlds series. I know it's not above my skills; I've written over 100k words since starting in August. 60k-ish to a novel, I could do 5-6 a year, I'm sure, and release it in parts (provided it flows that way).

I'm also considering KDP Select for my longer work. Smashwords and its affiliates have made me a whopping $2.43, so prolonging work for 90 days may not be a bad thing.

 

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[Gymjunkie]

I have a handful of shorts, which trickle sales (but are great KDP select fodder). I have a series of six, then two of another, then my Worlds story. The first in my series has the most sales, obviously; but even then they're not translating to more sales. But, I'm not in the romance genre; I don't think works of 10-14k will cut it. So I'm curious to see what happens with my collection when I release it, probably by week's end.

I don't know; maybe, for my genre, I need to focus more on novels once i finish my Kindle Worlds series. I know it's not above my skills; I've written over 100k words since starting in August. 60k-ish to a novel, I could do 5-6 a year, I'm sure, and release it in parts (provided it flows that way).

I'm also considering KDP Select for my longer work. Smashwords and its affiliates have made me a whopping $2.43, so prolonging work for 90 days may not be a bad thing.

Select is pretty much dead.. can't compare it to previous success it had. Maybe you should have one book there, but even then, there is an argument for Perma-free instead of Select.

Anyway, if you can write 5 full books a year, you should do it. Like Russell Blake did etc, he was releasing them fast. Same with Konrath etc.

 

[Breaking Free]

Anyway, if you can write 5 full books a year, you should do it. Like Russell Blake did etc, he was releasing them fast. Same with Konrath etc.

I think this is the route I have to go, but in the aspect of releasing them in parts, then together as a collection/novel. That way my bookshelf increases and I release content more often as a build a base of readers.

Also, to write a novel in parts... SO much easier than trying to tackle one giant project (at least for me). Think of it in pieces, and then putting it together.