Kindle Forum banner

Facing facts and being honest --- Basically an open rant

3K views 39 replies 27 participants last post by  Will Write for Gruel 
#1 ·
Now this isn't a thread where I am trying to beg for sales.
Don't buy my stuff out of pity.

It's just that I like the people here and let's just pretend we're on your back patio having a beer (or three) and I came over to rant a bit.

So......I have to face facts.

My Crowell stories, while okay, aren't selling as good as I had hoped.
I still maintain an average of ten sales per month. Give or take.

I need money and since I can't sing or dance, I am creative and I figured that maybe I could take a stab at writing.
I've been in e-books since April 2010 and to date I've sold 120 units. ( 80 of them were Crowell sales)

Now I haven't been marketing all that much though I have tried. I have a couple of interviews out there as well as a blog that is read by 300 people around the world every week. I have to assume that many of my sales are word of mouth and I am greatly encouraged by that. People out there who have read The Crowell Files seem to like it enough to pass the word and I thank you all. Truly I do.

I am still a new writer and I know I haven't quite found my voice with my work but I guess there is enough potential that shows through where the books are still making a little money.

And yet....the bills keep coming.

So, I have to change my plans a bit.

There is one more Volume to this Crowell series planned and that should be out for Halloween.

Then I have a fantasy novel I want to put out as well as a "female Indiana Jones in space" thriller I am outlining/researching.

Still, I love the Crowell character and I want to open him up to new readers. Now, maybe the price is the problem. So in early 2012 I am planning an incredible sale the likes of which you haven't seen. Most other people I know would be crazy to give away their work.

But here it is....

Early next year I will take all 3 volumes in the Crowell series and put them into one Omnibus.
That's over 500 pages and 13 stories for just 2 bucks. Over half off the price you'd normally pay for all 3 volumes

I'll see how that goes I guess.

But while I like the character and I do have a rough idea of future stories.... I have to eat.
So I'll be doing this Omnibus thing next year and then put the character away for a while.
I can't keep at it without something coming back.

Now I see the monthly number crunching and I know full well that I do not deserve to be making 1,000 sales a month like the few dozen here make. They are much better writers than I am and they deserve those numbers.

Still.... I think I'm good enough where my numbers could at least be double what they already are.
And I know my style is a little off although I have been told my dialogue scenes are pretty good.
I'm still learning.
I'm trying my best each time out.

Maybe the story of a hard working male Detective who is stuck being visited by people with weird problems isn't most people's cup of tea. Or, there is still a chance it hasn't been discovered yet. But I think I've peaked out on this theme/character/genre.

I could have added a "Monster of the month"
Crowell VS. Dracula or a werewolf or a giant ant that happened to be in a nuclear testing site....or any number of standards.

But this character has his own style and is in a class by himself.

I don't think that there's anything out there quite like this guy.

And maybe that's it. Maybe he's TOO unique.
Or maybe my writing just sucks.

Writing is a big guessing game.
And so I'm going to be making a switch in genres.

Okay well, a bunch of you need to get back to work. I'd hate to have some of you get in trouble at work from reading my little rant.

Have a good week folks
see you on the boards.
Though maybe less often.

Frank
 
See less See more
#27 ·
Oh dear, I'm new here and my response will probably be seen as harsh and unhelpful. Even if I try to soften the blow, the words will still seem negative. Deep intake of breath.

Dear Frank, Writing is not the best way to make extra money. It takes up hours of your time with little reward. Even if your sales were ten times the present sales, it would not compensate you for all those hours spent writing, editing and polishing your work. One hundred sales per month instead of ten sales per month would net you $35 for $0.99 ebooks. You could earn far more than this per month by doing an extra shift stacking shelves. (Joanna Trollope wrote a story, The Rector's Wife, about a vicar's wife who took a job in a supermarket stacking shelves so that she could pay for private schooling for her daughter. Joanna Trollope has probably never stacked a shelf in her life, but she knew that even someone with the intelligence and talents of a vicar's wife, would need to take a job that earned money. Suggesting that writing would be a good way for a character in a book to earn money would not be realistic.) What I'm trying to say is that writing is a long term investment that might never pay off, whereas real money can be earned in the short term by taking an extra job. If you need the money now, writing isn't your best option.

Sorry to be so brutal, but you did say that you wanted to face facts!
 
#28 ·
Shelagh
I know. Everything you said is true.
And yet I keep at it every day. I pretty much have nothing else going aside from the cartooning and while I'm good at it- there is just as much work (marketing, promotion etc) involved in that as there is doing the actual drawing

I'm just in a slump the last month or so.
Facing summer and knowing the year is already nearly half over (Might have something to do with my turning 55 in July!)

On the positive side though....
I DO have 120 sales from the 5 books (and despite that annoying bad review- just one return)

I have a few more stories on tap for this year and next (and the possibility of one or two others that I might think up between now and then)

I'll be okay I suppose. I guess even Stephen King used to have a bad thought now and again while he was hammering away at those classics while cramped into the laundry room in his trailer with the kids crying and the wife worrying over the bills. Not that I expect to get his numbers (I am not THAT naive!) but I also know I need to enjoy the ride more while I'm strapped in

I guess I'm worried more about when the roller coaster ride will end (and maybe how much I paid to get on) than just enjoying the thrills of each dip in the rails as I go.
 
#29 ·
Bards and Sages (Julie) said:
Publishing is a business, and it needs to be approached like any business. The typical business loses money it's first three years. You don't start a business because you have to pay the bills. You start a business because you have a long term plan to make it successful.
Julie is exactly right. My parents are self employed and so am I (separate businesses). So I have both witnessed a small business starting up and experienced it myself. Three years of consistent work is really when you will start to see steady income generated from your business. Five years is usually what it takes to be established. Maybe not world famous, but definitely established.

The key word here being "consistent."

I would also not recommend forcing yourself to write a story that you think will sell due to genre alone. I've tried this and it doesn't work well. It's draining trying to drag plots from your brain that you don't care about.
 
#30 ·
Love the small business analogy, because I'm just starting out, and trying to keep this mindset as well.

I know all of us hope that we'll be able to at least make enough to supplement our incomes from our Evil Day Jobs, but it takes time and effort.  Julie's absolutely right--those who succeed are the ones who don't give up and focus on being consistent.

Good luck with your writing, friend!
 
#31 ·
Hey Frank, I'm diggin' on what Jenny's saying(and many of the others here in their affirmation). It's all relative. I got into this because I love to write. It's been fun to meet readers and authors alike. The promotional process is "part" of it but does not need to consume us! We write, regardless of sales or anything else. We write because we must. Those stories are in our collective heads begging for release...keep writing...and keep editing!

BTW, I'm all for a good rant once in awhile...

Hang in there! :D
 
#32 ·
I read your description for your first book. I will be honest, the blurbs need help but the stories sound really interesting.

I hope you don't mind but I came up with a cover idea for you. The paranormal portion of your story really caught my attention and I worked out a cover you may like. There was a lot of text on your covers, probably to much so I did the best I could.

If you like this cover, you're free to use it. If not, it's fine, it may not be right for you. Just let me know if you want me to send the jpg over.

It's not a perfect cover, but it is almost 4 am, the birds are starting to chirp, so that means I'm done for the night! Good luck with everything. Keep writing.

Caedem - http://CaedemMarquez.com

 
#33 ·
Caedem
My goodness that's an impressive cover. Thank you.
But it's not quite..Oh, I don't even know myself what it is I'm looking for myself.

(Crowell, is shot in a cemetery by a suspect he had been chasing and he almost dies from the wounds. AFTER this, he is sort of 'recruited' by a few people in the after life to be a comfort station of sorts for people who are passing from this life to the next. At least, that's as near as he can figure what's going on.)-- so I took several photos in a handful of local cemeteries, leaving room at the top for my text as well as the bottom for my name.

I also made darn sure not to have any family names showing as well as not to use any distinctive looking gravestones
and yet-this is still sacred ground and I'm using it as a mere 'cover' for a book

So, I took a dollar pair of toy handcuffs from a store and placed them on a couple of poster boards and got my cover. I thought it was at least safer this way than using actual gravestones from a cemetery.

I am working on contacting a couple of people to barter for a cover (I need 3 plus an Omnibus version) or maybe even arrange a payment plan but that's not til summer because we're in the middle of moving.
I'm working on getting a good editor as well (not only for the 2 books already up but for the upcoming Halloween volume)

I DID at least go in there and fix the blurb in the Author page so it's a bit tighter. Still have to try and sneak a bit of time in to shorten the blurb in both books this weekend also. I have been told i give too much away (when what I was trying to do was entice people to get interested in stories being told- but I can see their point. A blurb needs to be more like a TV Guide teaser- or a good film trailer. Give a bit of plot but no spoilers)

I'm truthfully overwhelmed at the responses I've gotten. It was a kind of down day when I typed it up. (Though later that day I got a fan letter from someone who had read Empath and despite a few misspellings in the text (which is better than what it had originally been because I had gone in there and re-edited it (but yes, I am in the process of getting an editor to go over it) this person thought the character had a lot of potential and that I should hang in there.

So I am working on improving the product over the next month

It has also been suggested that I take it down and then reload it. (Can I do that? Should I?)

Meantime- thanks for the cover art. It certainly serves as a hint of the struggle Crowell feels with this service he provides these people he meets. And yet.... it's not quite what I had in mind.
THANK YOU though. You did say on your own webpage it was a late night impulsive thing you did.
I appreciate the gesture

What an incredible group of people you all are.
(I need to stop here because I hate taking up so much time because many of you have families and other things you could be doing. Though I know you are all trying to be encouraging and helpful)

I'll get there...(And Caedem.. despite the gesture- this is why I wouldn't want to use the cover by you. Is it part of a gravestone? Will the family recognize it? What of the artist? These things need to be considered (at least, being an artist myself, that's what I think. But THANKS so much for the effort, sir)
 
#35 ·
Frank,

While you are waiting for the novel sales to pick up, perhaps one of the things you might think about to generate income is greeting cards.  It's an industry where you can make money once you figure out where your strengths are.  I wrote for about six different companies a few years ago and was paid anywhere between 75.00 and 450.00 per concept.  I did not do the artwork, just the writing, but they do hire out for artists, as well.  If you are interested in how to get started, send me a message, and I'll give you the information.

Maria
 
#36 ·
Frank - no problem. Like I said, if you liked the cover, you were free to use it, if it wasn't a good fit, that was fine. The photo was free so I changed it to represent the paranormal elements of your book. Other than that, I don't have the information to tell you where it came from. It may just be a garden statue for all I know.

Like I said, I really like the ideas for your short stories and I hope you continue to work on them to make them better. Good luck with everything. It's natural to get down every so often. We've all been there and we'll be there again I'm sure!

Caedem - http://CaedemMarquez.com
 
#37 ·
You know, a lot of us are in the same boat! Making just enough to keep afloat in our day jobs, but extra income to put into our books is scarce.

I'm almost wondering if a 'Barter' thread of some sort would a good idea.

For Example:
"Author A is good at cover design, but needs an editor"
"Author B needs a cover, and is good at editing"

A makes a cover for B, while B proof-reads A's book!


I see lots of threads about authors helping each other with blogging, tagging, marketing, etc. So why not this?
 
#38 ·
Good luck, Frank.  We're all writing and hoping.  What's the saying, design a better can opener and the world will beat a path to your door.  Actually, I have a really new design, a radical can opener, that cuts into the side of the can.  But then I have to whack the top with a wooden spoon to get it off, and that wooden spoon didn't come with the opener.  Anyway, I like the old one. 

Anyway, I can feel your frustration in your post.  We're all a little frustrated or we wouldn't be writers.  The long and the short...  all you can do is your best, put your heart and soul into your writing.  Realize that some people will like it and some won't.  And go on.  That's what I plan on doing.

Best!

 
#39 ·
T.J. Dotson said:
I'm almost wondering if a 'Barter' thread of some sort would a good idea.
I like that idea.

Frank, I think there are a lot of us who are feeling your pain. It's easy to get discouraged when you see people putting up big numbers consistently. I'm just trying to focus on what I'm doing and take what advice I can from those threads, without focusing too much on the numbers yet.

Julie's comment about a business taking 3 years to profit is extremely helpful. It puts things in perspective.
 
#40 ·
Shelagh said:
Oh dear, I'm new here and my response will probably be seen as harsh and unhelpful. Even if I try to soften the blow, the words will still seem negative. Deep intake of breath.

Dear Frank, Writing is not the best way to make extra money. It takes up hours of your time with little reward. Even if your sales were ten times the present sales, it would not compensate you for all those hours spent writing, editing and polishing your work. One hundred sales per month instead of ten sales per month would net you $35 for $0.99 ebooks. You could earn far more than this per month by doing an extra shift stacking shelves. (Joanna Trollope wrote a story, The Rector's Wife, about a vicar's wife who took a job in a supermarket stacking shelves so that she could pay for private schooling for her daughter. Joanna Trollope has probably never stacked a shelf in her life, but she knew that even someone with the intelligence and talents of a vicar's wife, would need to take a job that earned money. Suggesting that writing would be a good way for a character in a book to earn money would not be realistic.) What I'm trying to say is that writing is a long term investment that might never pay off, whereas real money can be earned in the short term by taking an extra job. If you need the money now, writing isn't your best option.

Sorry to be so brutal, but you did say that you wanted to face facts!
Shelagh, why is his income from a book limited to one month? There's another way of doing the math. Let's say it takes him 100 hours to write a book. If you can write 500 words an hour, a modest amount, that's a 50,000 word book.

Let's say he gets a better cover and blurb and he sells a modest 50 copies a month for three years. That's 1800 copies. At $0.35 per copy, that's $1050 in revenue. He's just made $10.05 an hour from his book, and who knows? It may sell at that rate for seven years. It may sell more than 50 copies a month. And of course it may only sell five copies a month, too. And he can play with pricing, too. Maybe he tries $2.99 and he only sells 10 copies a month, but that's the equivalent of 60 copies at $0.99.

I think you're right in that there are better ways to make money, but when you trade your time for an hourly wage the income stops as soon as you do. When you create a product it can sell long after you've stopped creating more products. I love waking up in the morning and seeing sales that have registered overnight. I made money while sleeping! How great is that? :)
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top