Self-Publishing Goons: Yep, people buy it!

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > Creative Convention > Self-Publishing Goons: Yep, people buy it!

painted bird: Oct 18, 2013; by Lowtax

So is this thread interested in web serial writers, too?

# ¿ Jul 27, 2014 13:51

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# ¿ May 3, 2024 19:19

painted bird: Oct 18, 2013; by Lowtax

Is it cool to drop a link to my serial fiction here, or does that not count as self-publishing for the purposes of this thread?

# ¿ Sep 6, 2014 16:49

painted bird: Oct 18, 2013; by Lowtax

I don't have an official blurb yet! But here it is. It's a serial, meaning I more or less update on the webcomic model, a small chunk three times a week and it's all up for free. I intend on getting a Patreon once I'm sure I'm sticking with this.

# ¿ Sep 6, 2014 18:28

painted bird: Oct 18, 2013; by Lowtax

Can I get some feedback on a blurb? It's for a serial fiction project (so it updates in chunks twice a week), for context but I figure I can ask here about the blurb anyway:

quote:

The star Ain sits at the centre of the universe. Orbiting it is the hollow world Mir, which conceals within herself an old god. The celestial abyss around Mir is full of spirits � the young shoggot, who freed themselves from slavery mere millenia ago. Their former masters, the fungal stareczi, still lurk in space, in the darkness between stars. But down on Mir, along with spirits generated from the planet�s own magic, live mortals and the mortals have their own problems.

Mir has just faced a Cataclysm. Fire rained down from the skies and the earth shook. Cities fell. Countries fell. Many primordial spirits crawled out of their secret dwellings to roam the daylight world. There is revolution in the Empire of Orm and unrest on the inner satellites of Mir. Anzu Menelik, former necromancer, black and queer as a five-speed walking stick, wanders through all this, looking for his three-year-old daughter. The loss of her is but the most recent stain on his consciousness � he is full of regrets for a life lived under the heel of one of Mir�s most notorious necromancers, the late Raimut Hellewege, Ghast of Svet-Dmitrin.

In seeking his child, Anzu will find many things he thought lost � including hope at a life beyond graverobbing and profane magic � but he will also find that not all things thought dead will stay buried.

# ¿ Oct 14, 2014 17:27

painted bird: Oct 18, 2013; by Lowtax

I entered my tax ID number and now it says Amazon's the cut from US etc. marketplaces will be 0%, is that correct? Or did I gently caress up somewhere.

# ¿ Nov 26, 2014 16:10

painted bird: Oct 18, 2013; by Lowtax

Germany, actually.

EDIT: I misread, 0% is the withholding rate. I'm just trying to figure out if I did this right, since trying to find out what my German tax ID number was difficult and I'm still not sure I got it right.

# ¿ Nov 26, 2014 16:21

painted bird: Oct 18, 2013; by Lowtax

How does fantasy do, on average?

# ¿ Jan 5, 2015 22:55

painted bird: Oct 18, 2013; by Lowtax

I posted this question earlier, but no one answered: obviously romance is where the big money is, but how does fantasy do, comparably? Is it worth it at all?

# ¿ Jan 8, 2015 21:02

painted bird: Oct 18, 2013; by Lowtax

Also: speaking of marketing. I've read your posts about sending out ARCs, but you said you got people's attention via a mailing list, which I obviously don't have yet. Are there other ways of finding reviewers? Legitimate reviewers, of course.

# ¿ Jan 8, 2015 21:11

painted bird: Oct 18, 2013; by Lowtax

Hrm. Well, thank you for the input.

Looks like I might have to switch gears and pump out some post-apocalyptic stuff before doing the fantasy project I've got my heart set on.

# ¿ Jan 9, 2015 16:11

painted bird: Oct 18, 2013; by Lowtax

Well, I want to write my baby project and make money. :v:

A conventional job is not an option for me right now.

# ¿ Jan 9, 2015 23:17

painted bird: Oct 18, 2013; by Lowtax

moana posted:

What you want is a nice catalog of very similar books (same length, subgenre, writing style) so that when one of them breaks out big, fans can go back and buy all your poo poo. Or you can do what I do, which is switch subgenres until you strike a breakout hit and then write a sequel lightning fast to capitalize on it, and then get bored and wander away to another subgenre. God, I need to not do that.

Would writing a series in the same subgenre achieve the first part of your advice? I have a couple of ideas suitable for a series.

# ¿ Jan 10, 2015 20:16

painted bird: Oct 18, 2013; by Lowtax

I have a question about Kindle Select: say that before offering the book on Amazon, I sold it through another retailer or via my own website in various formats (ePub, PDF and Mobi) and that once I put it on Amazon, I would stop selling through other means. Would that mean I can still make use of Kindle Select?

# ¿ Jan 10, 2015 22:40

painted bird: Oct 18, 2013; by Lowtax

EDIT: nvm.

painted bird fucked around with this message at 19:38 on Jan 17, 2015

# ¿ Jan 17, 2015 19:35

painted bird: Oct 18, 2013; by Lowtax

I'm really curious about your process, because you do pretty amazing cover work and I've been wondering how much of it is stock images and how much of it is your own art.

# ¿ Jan 24, 2015 16:43

painted bird: Oct 18, 2013; by Lowtax

So is it a bad idea to write a 25k fantasy novella and price it either free or 99 cents?

It's a prequel to the full-length novel I'm working on now and I thought I could release it first to get my toe in the water before the novel release.

# ¿ Feb 1, 2015 11:44

painted bird: Oct 18, 2013; by Lowtax

Oh, I'll be writing another novella to offer as a mailing list incentive. :v:

# ¿ Feb 1, 2015 18:07

painted bird: Oct 18, 2013; by Lowtax

EngineerSean posted:

3.76 is actually a pretty high rating on Goodreads.

On Amazon, if you get a lot of early 5 star reviews, that helps out. If you don't get a lot of early 5 star reviews, and one of your first reviews is a 1 star, it can tank a book before it even takes off. It's a moral gray area but ask your mom to give you a 5 star review on it, seriously.

edit: I didn't read your "especially on Goodreads" part, for the most part Goodreads reviews won't affect your sales negatively.

So what do you do if you get a 1 star review early on and the book tanks?

# ¿ Feb 4, 2015 23:03

painted bird: Oct 18, 2013; by Lowtax

moana posted:

What's your goal with this? If you are aiming to make money, you need to be able to write more than one book if you go the self-publishing route. I do a novel every 1-2 months and I still feel like I'm falling behind in visibility sometimes. If this is your only baby for the next year or so, then trad pub might be your best shot at making any money.

Is a novel every 1 or 2 months the standard recommended rate?

# ¿ Feb 20, 2015 02:53

painted bird: Oct 18, 2013; by Lowtax

midnightclimax posted:

Yeah replicated plot branches is what I'm trying to avoid, but of course it's an option.
Good to know there doesn't seem to be a market for it on the Kindle though. Hmm. Well first I'll have to finish the thing.

This might be relevant to your interests!

# ¿ Mar 6, 2015 18:06

painted bird: Oct 18, 2013; by Lowtax

moana posted:

You have to see what works and what doesn't for your genre. Ask other writers who are succeeding in your genre. Don't be surprised when they don't pour out information immediately; it probably took them years to learn the right way to do things and there are a lot of entitled artistes who want to snap their fingers and get the right answer immediately.

I've got two questions, basically.

1. "What works and what doesn't": is this a way of saying that you have to write things a certain way or they simply won't sell? That you have to hit certain tropes and archetypes for people to buy the book?

2. Where do I find authors to ask questions, other than this place? :v:

# ¿ Mar 14, 2015 00:41

painted bird: Oct 18, 2013; by Lowtax

What's a decent indie editor going to cost? I don't mean a copyeditor, necessarily, but more story-structure, etc. editor.

# ¿ Mar 28, 2015 20:38

painted bird: Oct 18, 2013; by Lowtax

Let's talk pen names for erotic romance. Is flowery but gender neutral a decent thing to aim for if I'm writing gay fantasy eromance or should I be going with Dirk Lang III here?

# ¿ Jun 17, 2015 10:07

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# ¿ May 3, 2024 19:19

painted bird: Oct 18, 2013; by Lowtax

Is asking for pen-name advice also verboten? :ohdear:

I know we're not supposed to talk about super-romance details, but I thought asking for generic pen-name advice would be okay.

# ¿ Jun 17, 2015 14:02

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > Creative Convention > Self-Publishing Goons: Yep, people buy it!