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Messages - SomeoneElse

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1
Writers' Cafe / Re: New Author forum - WriterSanctum.com
« on: September 21, 2018, 06:48:23 pm »
Quote from: Lynn Is Going Away on September 21, 2018, 06:24:47 pm
It's a pretty stripped down version, for older mobile use, I think, so there are a lot of missing things. But it's great for reading and posting if you don't mind text only. Sorry. :)

I can't post on that version :( probably due to the not being registered thing, of course. But I can read the public stuff, and it looks like Tim has done a great job setting things up and answering questions.

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Writers' Cafe / Re: New Author forum - WriterSanctum.com
« on: September 21, 2018, 05:36:05 pm »
Quote from: Lynn Is Going Away on September 21, 2018, 04:42:29 pm
If you don't mind text only until things get straightened out, you can use the wap2 mobile version of the site. It's been working for me just fine. https://www.writersanctum.com/index.php?wap2

Excellent news! Is there a way to register using this version? I only see login and when I click login I don't see a register option like I would expect...

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Writers' Cafe / Re: New Author forum - WriterSanctum.com
« on: September 21, 2018, 11:45:25 am »
Quote from: Ann in Arlington on September 21, 2018, 06:32:53 am
I understand why a new forum was created and understand why many have decided to join.

That said, I think it's in Very Poor Taste to use THIS forum to troubleshooot problems and complain. If nothing else, it falls under WHOA -- What Happens On Another site...should stay there.


I'm not one to go against moderators, so I shan't continue to report issues here. However, this does feel like singling out this particular service, as I have never seen anyone reporting issues with, for example, book report, accused of acting in poor taste.

I was under the impression Tim was being treated in this forum as any other vendor, and we could discuss bugs/issues with his service - to which he had the right to respond. Apparently this is not the case.

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Writers' Cafe / Re: New Author forum - WriterSanctum.com
« on: September 21, 2018, 04:23:53 am »
Quote from: AltMe on September 21, 2018, 04:16:59 am
What versions are each browser?

Firefox is 62.0 (64 bit.) Chrome is 68.0.3440.106 (Official Build) (64-bit). Edge is 42.17134.1.0.

Saw there was an update for Chrome and tried it. Still getting the blank page on Version 69.0.3497.100 (Official Build) (64-bit).


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Writers' Cafe / Re: New Author forum - WriterSanctum.com
« on: September 21, 2018, 04:14:31 am »
Quote from: Authoress on September 21, 2018, 04:06:45 am
Oops, was writing in the wrong thread so, update...

Cleared cookies & cache can now get onto page with http, still a blank page with https so cleared cookies & cache again, still white page :(

So it was working for you with http? How did you pull that off? Mine seems to automatically opt for https even when I explicitly type in http. (I have tried 3 browsers: FireFox, Chrome and Edge. I've only tried clearing the cache and cookies in Edge.)

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Writers' Cafe / Re: New Author forum - WriterSanctum.com
« on: September 21, 2018, 03:49:01 am »
Certainly Tim deserves a chance - and many of us, myself included, are grateful for the effort he's putting in. No one is being forced to join his forum, and I'm sure it would be easier to leave his forum if things weren't working out than it is to leave this one.

Unfortunately I can't say much about the forum itself because all I'm getting is the following:
<html lang="en-US"><head>
   <meta charset="ISO-8859-1"></head><body></body></html>

I take it this issue is known about and being worked on?

7
Writers' Cafe / Re: To register or preregister a copyright?
« on: September 19, 2018, 11:02:57 pm »
Quote from: EB Mazza on September 19, 2018, 06:51:13 pm
I'm less worried about things like that and more worried about someone claiming my work as theirs. I honestly could care less if it gets pirated as long as my name is still listed as the author.

Okay, yeah, but registering the copyright doesn't stop someone from doing this. It just means it's easier to take legal action against them if they do. So the question of whether or not you would have the motivation and means to pursue someone is relevant.

If you wouldn't bring legal action against them, but would only want to prove it was your work (to, for example, your fans), wouldn't the (presumably dated) posts in the forums you put your work up in suffice?

8
Writers' Cafe / Re: Anonymity, pen names, and KDP?
« on: September 19, 2018, 12:00:16 am »
I think the best thing to do is just put your real name in the tax stuff. I've never heard of a single case of Amazon revealing anybody's real name. As long as you put the fake name on the book cover and in the author field, you should be fine.

Of course, there's always plausible deniability if your real name is common - once I found an erotic novel on Amazon coincidentally published under a version of my name. And Amazon technically won't know that you wrote the novels you publish - they only know that you have the rights to them.

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Writers' Cafe / Re: The importance of an original title
« on: September 11, 2018, 03:53:28 am »
The 'her' could potentially be a reviewer not paying attention, or assuming the gender of the author from something in the writing. But the review about the audio edition is clearly on the wrong book and Amazon shouldn't have a problem removing it. I say shouldn't because sometimes their actions defy reason.

Many of my books share titles with other books, but I don't think the genres match. At any rate, I've never had a review that didn't match up with the book it was left on (referencing events, naming characters etc.)

10
Writers' Cafe / Re: Your first spark of indie excitment
« on: September 10, 2018, 01:13:49 pm »
I haven't reached many of the milestones above yet, but just recently I sold a copy of a book 2 before I'd told anybody I'd released it. It felt like someone out there had actually remembered it was coming and been waiting for it.

11
Writers' Cafe / Re: Mystery Sales Spike
« on: September 01, 2018, 06:48:47 pm »
If I have an unexplained spike, I usually Google the book in question to see if there's an obvious reason. For example, your book might have been featured on a blog.

And of course, sales lead to sales (or downloads lead to downloads.) If your change in ranking puts you on a top 100 list or in a top twenty you weren't in before, that can cause a small increase to turn into a bigger increase.

But sometimes you just never know why you get a spike...

12
Writers' Cafe / Re: Yay. A 1* review...
« on: August 27, 2018, 03:13:09 pm »
Quote from: Konolly on August 27, 2018, 02:32:19 pm
She probably leaves reviews to assist other readers. She seems to mostly back up her scores with reasoning in her reviews, rather than just leaving a couple of words, so it's possible she just gets disappointed by some books and wants to warn others.

Also, Amazon sometimes sends an email asking you to review a book you've bought recently. It can be (somewhat irrationally) irritating to get one of those emails for something you disliked, maybe reviewers like this one only write reviews in response to Amazon prodding them.

I don't leave bad reviews since I started publishing, but I did occasionally leave them back when I was just a reader (never one stars, but definitely reviews that could be considered negative.) It was exactly for this reason - to assist/warn others of how the book didn't meet expectations.

13
Writers' Cafe / Re: Why is everyone hating on cliffhangers????
« on: August 27, 2018, 12:43:46 pm »
Quote from: Marti talbott on August 27, 2018, 07:17:33 am
I always thought so too and in all genre. It's a three part story. It wouldn't make sense if the reader didn't want to know what happens next. Might as well just write three books.

You can have a three-part story without a cliffhanger. You can certainly have the reader wanting to know what happens next without a cliffhanger. There's a difference between having loose story threads and having a cliffhanger. I expect in a trilogy that the first part will have an ending, and also have open plot threads. Maybe the will-they won't-they couple isn't together yet, or our heroes have defused the bomb and saved the city, but are yet to catch the bad guy. There's an ending, but also clearly more to come. If that more-to-come is presented as a cliffhanger or not (e.g. maybe we end with a celebration of our heroes (not cliffhanger), or maybe our MC spots the bad guy across the street just as the book ends (cliffhanger)), I don't really mind, but it's certainly not an expectation of mine that it is presented a cliffhanger.

There might be different expectations in different genres.

14
Writers' Cafe / Re: Sample chapters versus full free books
« on: August 20, 2018, 11:32:36 pm »
I've downloaded a free short story from Amazon that was meant to hook readers into a series with the same characters.

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Writers' Cafe / Re: Why is everyone hating on cliffhangers????
« on: August 20, 2018, 11:30:38 pm »
Quote from: Matt.Banks on August 20, 2018, 08:37:47 pm

Both Twilight and 50 Shades end with cliffhangers of sorts, they are not fully contained stories, you know the couple is going to end up together in the end yet each book ends with them separated.

People *say* they don't like cliffhangers yet books with cliffhangers continue to sell and be successful.

ETA: Did Hunger Games end on a cliffhanger? I can't seem to remember the exact endings.

Never read 50 Shades, but which Twilight book do you think ended with the couple separated? From memory, they're together at the end of #1, they're apart during 2 but make up at the end... and then I don't believe they're ever apart again.

Off the top of my head, book 1 of Hunger Games didn't end in a cliffhanger, and book 2 might have - the cliffhanger being that Peeta was left behind/taken by the capital.


The only cliffhanger I've ever actually hated was in a book I was bored reading. I really wanted to just finish it and be done, but when I got to the end I wasn't done. I didn't read the second one, but I was annoyed I'd gone through all the dull stuff for the 'promised' happy ending, only to not reach it.

Other cliffhangers I tolerate, but if the next installment doesn't come in a timely manner, it does get annoying.

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Writers' Cafe / Re: How to do a Kickstarter for a graphic novel?
« on: August 20, 2018, 12:28:04 pm »
I haven't done one of these myself, but the best way to begin is to know what it will cost you. If possible, choose an artist and get a quote. (The artist's fanbase may then also contribute.)

There's nothing worse than people who reach their goals only to come back and need more because they hadn't planned ahead. A solid plan and clear accounting will also help on-the-fence people decide you're worth funding.

17
Writers' Cafe / Re: receiving payment by check pen name question
« on: August 20, 2018, 12:15:17 pm »
I have books out using my maiden name and books with a pen name which is completely different from my actual name. But the name I have listed as my full name in the my account part of KDP is my real name as appears on my licence, passport etc. The cheques come made out to this name, and I've never had any problems.

18
Writers' Cafe / Re: What loses you loyal readers?
« on: August 17, 2018, 12:10:30 pm »
An old favourite author of mine repeatedly goes back to the same series/world (which is his most popular) but I was more of a fan of... everything else he'd written. He has also started cowriting with other authors, and the result has been mostly dull with a few bright moments. I now read his stuff from the library rather than buying, and sometimes years after the release.

Some people above have mentioned repetitiveness or feeling like the authors are phoning it in or have nothing new to offer - after reading around 15 books from the same author, I do start to get that sense.

19
Writers' Cafe / Re: Quick blast of sales to cheer me up
« on: August 12, 2018, 02:57:13 am »
Quote from: David Lea on August 12, 2018, 12:09:55 am
I turned my brain off and watched Gods of Egypt instead (terrible, terrible film). It's interesting though quite how focussed the promotion of indie books is on price reductions/going free to sell sequels or AMS/Facebook ads. It seems very difficult to get any traction with a full price book. I tried a BookBub Ad a few weeks ago and spent $20 to get nothing in return.
Maybe I'll just leave it and wait till next month when I can do a Countdown. I should really be writing rather than faffing about eeking out a few sales. I'm doing ok with KU anyway so i'll watch that graph instead :)

Just for the record, you can drop the price without running a Countdown deal. Go to your bookshelf, click the button with the three dots, choose edit ebook pricing.

However, if you drop the price below $2.99, you will only get 35% royalty this way, so a Countdown deal usually works out better in terms of ROI. On the other hand, Countdown deals are only available in the US and UK markets, so you may find the wider reach makes up for it.

BKnights is my usual for a quick boost in sales. I've had anything from 2 to 10 sales - usually doesn't quite break even until I count sell through.

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Writers' Cafe / Re: Another Fiverr Question
« on: August 11, 2018, 02:36:44 pm »
I'm not able to quote the TOS or anything, but paying someone to read your book in KU seems plain wrong. I would be very surprised if Amazon doesn't have wording against that.

As for promoting KU books (your Q1) - this is a serious risk. I wouldn't do it without knowing and trusting the service. The problem is it's easy to, via bots or cheap labour, gain illegitimate reads. Some of these 'promotion' services that are particular to KU don't actually promote (at least not effectively.) They just bot/read your books so you think you've got some more readers. There's every chance Amazon will strip those page reads if they discover they're illegitimate. I think they've cooled it with banning accounts over a few illegitimate page reads, but I personally wouldn't risk it.

21
Writers' Cafe / Re: 79¢ revenue per paperback, lol
« on: August 05, 2018, 12:53:55 pm »
79c isn't that bad anyway, depending on your goals. If someone buys one of my 99c first-in-series ebooks, I get less than that.

22
Writers' Cafe / Re: Why Per-Click Advertising Doesn't Add Up
« on: August 02, 2018, 01:16:47 pm »
I have one ad where my average cost of click is 3c. I've had 22 sales from 100 clicks. The book is 99c, but it's still making money. But that ad? It's been running for over a year now, and only got what? Less than one sale every 2 weeks? There's every chance I'd be making more money (more sales, lower percent profit) with a higher bid. So cost per click isn't everything.

Just FYI, I've tried to repeat that with other books and it doesn't seem possible for my others. I think the genre and keywords have a lot to do with it - some words are really competitive and you don't get any impressions with 2-5c bids.

The things I focus on are how many impressions it takes to get a click - that lets me know if there's a problem somewhere with my ad copy, cover or maybe just my choice of keywords/targeting - and how many clicks it takes to get a sale. That tells me if my blurb or look inside might need work. Obviously the average cost of sale is important too to know if you're losing money.

23
Writers' Cafe / Re: About success and the Amazon algorithm
« on: August 02, 2018, 01:25:33 am »
I have heard (and not verified) that Amazon gives a little extra boost the first book of a new pen name. But I think there are enough authors whose 2nd, 5th, 10th books were their breakouts, while having unsuccessful books out under the same name to show that if there's any 'punishment' for previous flops, it's insignificant.

24
Writers' Cafe / Re: Book dedications - yes, no, maybe - what do you do?
« on: July 31, 2018, 02:51:25 am »
I ran through my close family, and now I either don't do dedications, or sometimes I do general dedications when I have something meaningful to say - "For anyone who..."

You can definitely skip it, and I think if you don't have anyone in mind to dedicate it to, it's better to skip it than waste a page with something meaningless.

I only had acknowledgements for my first book - for me, those would get pretty repetitive too, always thanking the same people.

25
Writers' Cafe / Re: What in the world? I only published exclusively on Amazon but my book is on B&N
« on: July 31, 2018, 12:16:27 am »
Quote from: CasperValentine on July 30, 2018, 07:23:21 pm
Another site called Kiss Library has it listed for $6.00 and says you get both PDF and a Kindle Book EPUB. My list price for a paperback through KDP is $9.99.

https://kisslibrary.com/book/1173514656953c7a4e9c

Have you ever published or distributed the book anywhere else? I've heard some of the places the big distributors send your book to can take a little while to take books down. I haven't heard of kisslibrary, so I can't say if they're legit or not, but if you haven't authorised them to sell your book and they are selling it, that sounds like a problem.

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