Okay, so I’ve been still tweaking the cover. The responses have been all over the map. Many of the people think the color free version is more appealing, but think that children will prefer color. Some respondents thought the “The Challenge” was too pink, and would turn off boys.

So, I’ve added a third version to the choices. What do you think?

           

The comments on last night’s post spurred me on into action!

I set about looking for a royalty-free image on istockphoto that would make a good cover. As you see, I succeeded. I am pleased with the results, but I have two versions. I would appreciate feedback via the comments.

A simple I like the first one, or the second one made me want to stab myself in the eyes with a pointy halibut, you know, that sort of thing.

Also, I’m looking for beta readers. I’d like people (adult people) who are willing to read it and then force one of their children to do the same. Okay, maybe force was the wrong word to use. Strongly imply that Santa will never visit them again if they don’t read your middle-aged and bitter, social media friend’s book…yes, that is more the tone I was going for. (I will be ordering about a dozen proofs to send out, after I get it back from my uber cool editor Erin)

Also, I would like the adults to agree to give an honest review and, if they felt it was warranted, include a comment from their progeny. Something along the lines, “Little Betty-Mae, said she enjoyed the book so much that she felt her love for mommy had grown because of the opportunity to give it a read and that only bad parents wouldn’t immediately order a copy for their children…only really bad parents.”

Something subtle is what I’m looking for there. Not that I’m trying to write the review for you.

Let me know.

           

I just got the first draft for Secret Doors: The challenge. I’m underwhelmed.
I hired an artist to create something for me and she said she could get it down in a couple months tops. I hired her at the beginning of December. I’ve written two and a quarter novels since then and she’s gotten me one cover that looks like she spent about forty minutes playing around in DAZ.

It is really frustrating.

Cover design is hard and my vision for this one was rather specific, but then I didn’t think she could pull it off, so we changed to something much simpler. I told her to come up with something that would be right in her wheelhouse. I hoped that flexibility would yield magic. It hasn’t.

I even feel like the male character is a bit stiff.

The worst part is I paid her upfront. She’s poor, which I can understand, because I’m poor, too. There won’t be any getting my money back, as I’m sure it is long gone, but I doubt there will be a cover, either.

It has become apparent that I’ll be needing to hire someone else. I’m open to suggestions.
It needs to be an artist who can create from scratch, not just use a 3d modeling program and a few freebie models. I’d prefer someone who is willing to read the book before they start. My current artist said she would, and told me she has, but she doesn’t know anything about the story. I’m quite sure she lied.

Also, I don’t want combined photos. It should be an illustration.

If anyone has a cover artist suggestion, please let me know. I’m also sort of stuck on Touched, too.

           

Publishing is the best video game ever!

“Is writing and self-publishing a book really analogous to playing a video game? I’m not convinced,” I said to myself. Myself answered.

When one begins a new game, at least the kind I like to play, one builds a character. Often this is one of the best parts. One gets to pick the characters race, gender, proficiencies, how they will behave in battle, and usually a few bonus goodies. It can eat up hours just deciding between a mage with their magic or a ranger with his bow.

Starting out a new book is much the same. One must decide all sorts of things about their characters. Once that is done, then the fun begins and one goes on an amazing adventure, just like in the games.

The early part of the game is much like writing a novel. It isn’t very tough, the decisions one makes aren’t so challenging. It is just about the fun. When one gets past the easy parts, the writing of the novel, or the first few quests, then the hard stuff begins.

Editing is the first boss one must slay. You can’t continue if you don’t. Oh, some will try, but they will be ill prepared for the trolls that lay in wait. They will be crushed.

Next comes the cover art. This, too, can be a challenge. Many hours are spent puzzling through different choices, but often it leads only to sorrow. Still, to continue to the next level, one must slay the cover demon.

Okay, so you’ve made it through the first two bosses, great, what’s next? You must find treasure. Initially, the best strategy is to focus on building readerships, which is similar to gathering resources in most games. The real treasures are well beyond one’s reach at this point.

This is where I’m at in the game. I’ve got a couple of books in my party, but finding the dragon horde will require many more warriors. I’ll need a couple of more Henrys, an Arthur to keep the party entertained, and possibly an evil serial killer that needs to be watched. I might also add some halflings to add depth to the party (the halflings are my childrens book. I really need to get back to work on book two of Secret Doors, but I digress)

Even when one has a full group of warriors, there are many challenges. The biggest riddle of the sphinx that I’m facing now is advertising. We found one route that works this week, but that won’t be enough to get us to our treasure.

******

Okay, I’ve beaten the analogy to death. You get it. The point is that there are many moving parts in publishing. One must continue to ask questions of everything. If you’ve run out of questions, you’re probably dead in the water.

It is the questions that act as guides through the unknown. For instance:

• What percentage of people who download a free book read it?
• Is a person who pays for a book more likely to read it, even if it is only 99 cents?
• How long is the tail after a promotion? By this, I mean, the goal of running a promotion is to move up the rankings and land on the various Amazon lists. Once there, an opportunity to be seen by readers outside the author’s scope of influence exists.
• Is there a way to increase the length of this tail?
• What do I do if I get a review on my print book and it doesn’t show up on the Kindle version?

This last one was a question I thought of today, as I had a very nice review show up for Time and Again, but it was on the print version. Not that having a review over there is a bad thing, but the reality of self-publishing is that the only sales that matter are the Kindle ones. I can push my books onto Kindle lists, but I’m not going to be able to do the same with print. I need my reviews to show up on Kindle.

It turns out the system is supposed to link the two, but sometimes doesn’t. If this happens, one can submit a request to Amazon through their help section of the KDP dashboard and they will get it sorted within 24-hours.

That is what we call a side quest, but the prize is important and one really can’t hope to slay the dragon without using all of one’s weapons.

Okay, I’m going to get back to the editing part of the game. Do you have any questions?

           

It was another good sales day with around 50 for HWDA and 2 for HWT&A. As I suspected, the sales did slow down to a trickle when the 24-hours of my ad ended. I’m thrilled with the results. (153 total)

The sales were enough to drive me onto the paid mystery>crime list. Being on the list, if only for a short while, gives one a chance at being seen by a few more potential readers. I took a screen shot of my highest ranking, 22, but am currently 31st, which is still freaking awesome!

I have to admit that I let the excitement completely wreck my productivity for the last 36-hour. Mostly I became obsessed with checking the updates. I should have been doing more editing. I did better today, but only by a small margin.

The top priority is to get the cleaned up version of Perception into Scrivener. I’ve still got five or six hours of edits to go through from Erin. Once that is done, I’m going to teach myself how to compile to make the book ready for Kindle and print.

Last month, I paid someone to help me with this step. It is time I learn it for myself, because it is one of the keys to being able to handle self-publishing.  In truth, it is the last publishing step I need to master.

I don’t know why, but I tend to fuss a bunch when I need to undertake something unfamiliar. There are videos that walk one through the compile steps. It is really not at all difficult. I just need to suck it up and get it done…but first, I need to get the editing done.

I better get back to it. Thanks again for all the cheers over my recent flurry of sales.