C.W.’s Comments (group member since Feb 16, 2014)

C.W.’s comments from the The Fresh and the Obscure group.

Jenelle wrote: "I have no experience with Smashwords, but doing free promos on Amazon has really worked pretty well for me. Particularly the last time I did it (disclaimer: you have to plan about a month in advanc..."

Thanks Jenelle. Great contribution.

Nick wrote: "Where do you get the majority of your sales from? I took my books off Smashwords as I wasn't getting reviews and only a few sales...Once on Amazon got reviews and now regular royalty cheques."

My novels are not self published. All four of my books are through Wing ePress. They're a midlevel publisher specializing in e-formats but also POD trade paperback. However, I am still responsible for my own marketing--an arduous task to be sure. I ran my short stories through Smashwords to 1) get them out there, as they've been sitting uselessly on my computer for years; 2) generate interest in my books. My thought was that if people read and liked the short stories they might be inspired to read one of my books. All of my books are available through Amazon as well as my publisher and my webpage. I even have them in our local brick-and-mortar book store.

To answer your first question: most--if not all--of my sales come through word of mouth or via suggestions from friends on Goodreads. I've spent quite a bit of money advertising both locally in my town as well as through Google, Yahoo, and even Goodreads. It has resulted in a lot of people "adding" books "to read" but as of yet, not much in sales.

My marketing efforts have been frustratingly non-productive for years. Perhaps I'm going about it all wrong. I've read every blog from every "successful" indie author, I have heard all the amazing "rags-to-riches" tales and followed all of their sage advise. I must be missing something because in the end, what I take away from it all is that
pure blind luck is the only factor in determining success.

So, I keep writing and listening to writer friends for hints and suggestions and hopefully I'll make my own luck!

Nick wrote: "In the case of Smashwords, freebies didnt work...but with Amazon, when i offer freebies for a couple of days every couple of months...the actual sales go up too, a lot some months. So as a sales pi..."

Nice to know, I'll give it a try. Haven't paid too much attention to Amazon.

Chris wrote: "It's funny that you refer to yourself as jaded and yet you're surprised that people who take advantage of free aren't giving back en masse. Silly, silly people.

I can say from experience that the..."

Good advice. Let's hope persistence pays...

Chris wrote: "Hi All:

So far I've written a literary novel and an illustrated children's book, and am currently doing research for a thriller. I have a wide range of interests, which is why I'm writing all ove..."

Welcome Chris. Bring along some friends, it's sure to be an interesting ride...

I've often been told that I'm a pessimist. Cynical. And it might be true--

No. It is. I AM cynical. Jaded. Whatever...

But I've also been told that because of the unique way in which I wear that label; I actually make it quite endearing.

Anyway, today I am marveling at a social phenomenon that, quite honestly (and rather frighteningly) is becoming less of a phenomenon everyday: The Freebie.

By way of illustration I give you the example of an author who publishes a few short stories on Smashwords (ed. I fully support and endorse Smashwords. I think it is a wonderful venue for the independent and self-published. This article is not about the mechanisms is place, but rather the users of).

Anyway, this author lists his works for free for a period of time and to his surprise--and pleasure--the downloads are staggering. 20-30 downloads a day and with twice as many views! He's totally stoked! He thinks: "Maybe I'll ride this for a few more days and then I'll add a price to one of the stories. Nothing too greedy. Its a short story after all. $0.99 would be fair." That's the minimum price allowed, by the way.

So he does just that. He charges essentially a dollar for one of his original stories. Why not get a little something in return for your hard work?

The downloads for that story cease immediately. Oh, it's still getting looks and sample downloads like before; but not a single purchase. This stagnation goes on for a few weeks and then the author decides to employ a little experiment: He drops the fee and returns his work to Freebie status. You all know what happens next, don't you?

Within hours, the downloads of his story return to previous levels. The readers are glad to have their free lunch once again.

Now, I must say that at least two of the initial readers of the free version left kind reviews (and the author is grateful and thanks them profusely). But after that, there has been nothing.

What's my point? I guess I need to ask this: Isn't there some sort of social commitment from the reader of a free story to at least comment on the gift they've been given? Kind of like a one or two sentence "thank you". I would like think that conventional courtesy would prevail and someone might feel the obligation to take the time to at least offer a quick review of the story. It saddens my heart to see how deeply greed and entitlement have permeated our culture. I have accepted the fact that we live in "couponing" world--everyone is out for the big savings, scrambling for the next huge giveaway. It's gimme-gimme. But have we gotten so self-obsorbed that we aren't even willing to acknowledge the simple gift of a free story? Really?

That worries me.

As many of you may have already noticed there are a number of groups on Goodreads that are designed to get new and independent authors connected with readers. They offer vast forums to promote yourself, solicit reviews, discuss marketing tactics. The works. And for the most part, they are well intentioned, smartly designed and professionally managed. I actually belong to a few.

But what I've found most frustrating is the lack of involvement and response from the membership of these sites as a whole. More to the point, the lack of reciprocity from other authors.

It's sad to see so many authors of so many good stories NOT helping one another. Some of these groups have hundreds of members... you'd think with a population like that, there'd be at least a few interested readers/reviewers for each and every book. But, the reality is exactly the opposite: Everyday I see new posts in every genre, promoting new books. These authors are excited and proud; and the work itself is usually professional and sound. They follow the long-standing recipe of offering "giveaways" and free review copies. Sometimes there are even a few comments over the follow few days: "Sounds intriguing!" "I'll have to add to my list..." And so on...

But then all to soon, those posts become literally buried in an seemingly endless thread of hopeful posts from other like-minded authors, never to be seen again.

I want to avoid that. I want to eliminate the threads that are thousands of entries long and extend for years. I want to allow an author to generate a buzz and be able to maintain some of that momentum for longer than a few days. I have some ideas, but the first and main thing is going to be you, dear member and colleague.

I want to promote a community in which we, as authors (and let's not forget our other passion: we're also READERS) help one another out. I want to encourage more active membership involvement. Do more than just comment on someone's posting. Make the effort to click a few more times and actually obtain a copy of the book you think sounds intriguing. If you put a book on your list, make the effort to get it, read it, and most importantly--REVIEW it. Getting reviews and feedback from other authors is probably the best way to generate a following.

I guess my plea is to not be so self-involved with your own struggle. Remember there are many other authors out there that could benefit from some attention as well. I want a community of authors that are willing to help one another--not compete with one another. Our competition, after all, is NOT other authors but the huge population of readers that are stuck in the rut of reading the same mass-produced products from the same handful of writers that the Massive Publishing Machine forces them to read.

Let's do our very best to rescue those readers from their imprisonment and show them that another world of books exists beyond the narrow scope of what the Big Houses allow them to read.

Even if it's one new reader at a time...

Jenelle wrote: "Yay! I have missed this group. Thanks for bringing it back to life!

My name is Jenelle Schmidt and I'm a mom of two adorable little girls, and writer of young adult fantasy and sci-fi. I have one ..."

Welcome back, Jenelle. I hope more prior members return. Looking forward to your new release.

I'm offering 5 free copies of my last two novels: Envar Island and This Garden of Souls in a Give Away that will be ending soon.

Enter both events for a chance to receive signed copies:
https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sh...
https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sh...

Jennifer wrote: "Great! Just find me several thousand of your closest friends who like contemporary women's fiction :)"

That's it? No problem... ;)

I have just started this book and it looks promising. It was originally serialized on Amazon and it's a bit confusing on Goodreads when you're looking for the book in it's entirety. (most of the reviews are of the individual chapters/sections as they were released individually). Anyway, I found it at my local book store and it is available at Amazon in any format:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0071XO8RA/r...

Anyway, This is my second submission for BOTM.

I hope more members are interested in reading a BOTM...

Looking forward to your debut, Jen! Let me know if there's anything I can do to assist or advise.

All right, I'll throw the first suggestion out there: Envar Island.

Of course it's my book... but for the lack of any other suggestions, we have to start somewhere. Right? But don't worry... I'm also going to recommend another book I just starting reading from an author that is rapidly loosing his "Obscurity" label. See my next posting...

Inquisition received 5-stars!! See the review: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

I am excited to offer another short story for fans of this lost art. You can download Inquisition for FREE at Smashwords:

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...

This short story was the inspiration for my latest full-length novel: This Garden of Souls. It is an ontological mystery that introduces yet another interesting chapter in the epic tale of Man and God and their insatiable quest for one another.

Inquisition is a futuristic tale of humanity and hubris. An existential parable. It introduces the us to a weary “Assessor” by the name of Rindell, who has begun to not only question his own morality but that of his entire culture as he is assiduously tasked to pass judgment on entire societies based solely on his assessments of their worthiness through the testimonies of unlikely "defendants".

Please visit Smashwords and check out this and other stories available there.

EnjoyInquisition !!

A Small Measure of Anxious Grace is a hit at Smashwords!!

I'm pleased to offer a gift to all interested readers!!! A copy of my most recent short story, "A Small Measure of Anxious Grace", is now available at SmashWords. For FREE!!

Here's a synopsis of the 3000 word short story:

Emmella is an anxious girl. She worries about the things most of us ignore or take for granted. She believes she can see things very few people can, experience events and causal relations before they even occur. Her mother is patient with her, trying to empathize and manage Em's anxiety. She assumes her daughter will grow out of this phase; but what she's about to realize is that maybe there's much more to Emmella's perceptions than just mere anxiety. And maybe it's time she start taking Emmella's observations a little more seriously.

Go to:

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...


Download and share. Please leave a comment, review and critique as it only takes a minute. Also, take a few moments and read my latest interview as well. If you enjoy this story, I encourage you to check out my other novels.

I'm relatively new to Goodreads (about a year), but just now beginning to dig deep into all that this world has to offer. What a great resource for readers and authors alike! I can't believe the amazing stories I've discovered from authors like myself. I've been an avid reader all of my life; and so inspired by my favorites (Ray Bradbury, Philip K. Dick, Asimov...), I decided to pick up the pen, dust off the keyboard, heat up the coffee and finally press one of my many unfinished works through to completion. That was five years ago. My debut novel, the hard Sci/Fi tech thriller Rubicon Harvest went to press in Oct. 2008 and has since enjoyed fantastic sales and reviews. Excited, motivated and properly addicted to my Muse, I followed promptly with Thrones for the Innocent, a very personal supernatural tale of a Mother's love and cosmic justice. This book received a very warm and emotional reception and continues to inspire charged theological debates. Envar Island came next: A hard sci/fi adventure saga and personal tribute to Philip K. Dick and his many worlds. Envar Island was recently adapted into an award winning screenplay that I'm excited to be shopping around for possible production. Now, I am proud to announce the release of my fourth and possibly my most eclectic novel: This Garden of Souls. A very unique book that questions the composition and purpose of Human awareness and challenges traditionally accepted ideas about the Origin of Man.

I invite everyone hungry for a fresh new voice in Speculative/Science-fiction to check out any of my four novels. Help me share my stories with the rest of the sci/fi world. I also have two fun short stories available at Smashwords for FREE!!

A Small Measure of Anxious Grace
Inquisition

Visit me at http://cwkesting.com/Home_Page.html and leave feedback, start a discussion, whatever. I LOVE to hear from my readers and I've created a brand new guest page for all of my visitors. Thank you and happy reading!!

Whether you're an author looking for a review or a reader willing to offer one, this is where you'll meet. I will allow a great deal of latitude here while both camps mingle. All I ask is that you remain professional in your interactions and that you take it upon yourselves to establish the terms of your relationship. That being said, let's remember some Golden Rules about this process:

Reviewers--please read and review the book you agree to in a timely fashion. Be truthful, but kind. If you feel the book is anything less than 3-out-of-5 stars, don't make the review public. But instead, explain to the author why you feel this way and offer suggestions as to how to repair the definencies. Be constructively critical. We are not here to roast anyone, but rather to improve and help fellow authors realize their dreams and survive in the three-ring circus of publication.

Authors--be gracious in accepting criticism. Reviews generate buzz and bring traffic into your marketing model. Embrace the procees and work with your readers...more likely than not, they are authors as well. Always be willing to offer quid pro quo.

Let's please leave the Discussion folder for discussions only. Conversations about books, genres, authors, writing, editing, publishing, etc... I would like to keep this as open as possible, but also eliminate the clutter of promotional postings. We encourage promotion of your works, but please post all marketing efforts under the appropriate genre folder within the group folders. Thank you.

I am now accepting Book of the Month nominations for a March read. Feel free to start posting a book you want to see included on the list of possibilties. I would like to suggest that we only select books from our own author/members. Let's keep it local for now and help one another out. Please: only one book suggestion per member and if at all possible, include a URL or hyperlink to the book either via Amazon, the publisher or author website. Whichever is easiest for the readers to obtain a copy. Also, please include a short synopsis with your nomination. I haven't decided if we should vote on the title or just randomize it...

I agree and am working on trimming the old for the new. Will take a little time. Just reopened the site last night (2/17/14) thanks for the comment.