Monday Musings: Author Website

One thing that's important to know for those who are thinking of delving into the indie business is this: you're going to work a lot and you're going to make very little money.  See, the thing about going it alone is you have to go it alone; meaning, you're going to be responsible for all your own marketing, you're going to have to manage all of your social networks yourself, you're going to have to either make or find someone to make all of your cover art, you're going to have to edit...oh, and you're also going to need to write a book somewhere in the midst of all this.

My biggest frustration with being an indie is figuring out how to prioritize what money I do make.  There are so many things I'd like to do but, because I don't have unlimited fundage, I can't do them all.  I'm only now reaching the point where I may break even.  Up until now, I've been plowing all of my royalties into things like writing and business-related software, taking some classes, buying a few ads, and paying for cover art.  I'm certainly not complaining because I'm frankly thrilled with every penny I make, but it's incredible how quickly costs can add up, especially if you don't practice some restraint.

An expense I am starting to think seriously about taking on, however, is the expense of an author website.  I have this blog and am active on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest, but none of these things allow me to centralize information the way I'd like.  I'd love to have a bibliography so readers can see all of my available books at a glance, would love to have somewhere to run polls (such as having readers vote on which book I should work on next), would love to have a one-stop site for all info about me as an author, with my social media platforms as something extra. 

I also have some ideas I'd like to implement.  I've been kicking around the idea of doing a series but, if I do, I want there to be a central place where readers can post feedback and suggestions for future installment, and I really think a website would be the best solution for that because I can centralize all that on one page instead of readers having to click through multiple blog posts.  I'm even contemplating making a sort of "choose your own adventure" series in which I'd conduct regular polls and let the readers decide which direction the story will go.  Another thing I'm thinking about doing is writing free short stories periodically.  And, last but not least, I am the author of a certain fanfic that has been fairly popular over its somewhat lengthy existence, and I'm thinking about claiming it publicly and hopefully even finishing it, as that's something I've yet to do.  It's also the most epic thing I've ever written, which has quite a bit to do with why it's not yet done.

Really, the overall big picture here is that I want a central source I can use to interact with readers.  It's difficult to try to reach out to people over multiple platforms, and it would be more efficient for me and easier for my readers if I had a central site where all of my important information is housed.  Plus, I just think it would be fun.  I love the flexibility I have as an indie, particularly when it comes to things like collaborating with readers to help me shape stories.  While I'll still write more traditional novels, I am 100% in love with the idea of creating interactive narratives.  To me, it's a really exciting new form of literature, and I'm eager to explore it.

So there's an idea of what I'm looking at doing on the horizon.  My big goals for 2013 are to get an author website up and running and to make some of my books available via a print on demand service--most likely Createspace, as that will allow me to distribute on Amazon.  If you have any thoughts, opinions, or ideas, I would love to hear back from you. 

Announcement: Unpublish date for B&N and Kobo

This is just a quick announcement to let readers know that, on September 26, I will be unpublishing The Eye of the Beholder on Barnes & Noble and Kobo.  If you'd like to know why I've chosen to do this, you can find a post here that explains my reasons.  I wanted to give fair warning to anyone who might want to purchase a copy via these outlets.  I also want to emphasize that my book will remain on sale at Amazon, and that, like all of my current and future books, it does not contain DRM.  I will be enrolling once more in the Kindle Select program, so the book should be available for borrowing as of October 1.

I'll write another quick announcement once I've unpublished, just to confirm to everyone.  As always, I welcome feedback from my readers.  You're the ones who make all of this possible, and your feedback really and truly matters to me.

Business Decision: The Eye of the Beholder

Being a self-published author is really a learning experience.  Even though I did a lot of research before going into this, spending hours pouring over posts by other indie authors and gathering the advice they so generously offered, I still often feel like I'm blundering around in the dark.

For instance, I still don't know which day of the week is the best for a free promo.  I've done two for Creators so far this month (one is still active until midnight!), and I had pretty good results with the first one, which I ran on a Friday.  Today's promotion, however, is proving to be far more anemic.  The next time I run a free promo, I'll probably do it on a Saturday and see what my results are like.  Maybe after that I'll be able to figure out which day of the week is best for releasing new books!  (Hint: It's probably not Tuesday as that's the day the traditional publishers list their new releases.)

The other aspect of this whole business that I've been trying to pin down is whether it's best to remain exclusive to Amazon or to offer my books at as many outlets as possible.  In principle, the idea of being exclusive doesn't sit all that well with me.  I want my books to be available to as broad an audience as possible.  Though I do not (and never, ever will) use DRM on my books, I think it's just more convenient for my readers if I can offer my book in multiple storefronts in various formats.  So, when my Select period for The Eye of the Beholder expired, I decided to try selling via Barnes & Noble and Kobo.

Now that I have a few months under my belt, I feel I can make a more informed decision.  The truth is, my sales at B&N and Kobo are ridiculously low.  At Kobo, I have sold a grand total of one, count it, one copy of The Eye of the Beholder.  On my best month at B&N, I sold less than ten.  This is in comparison to the more than 160 copies I sold on Amazon last month.  When The Eye was available in the Kindle Owners' Lending Library, I didn't have too many borrows, but the fact of the matter is that my number of borrows there was higher than my sales on B&N and Kobo.

Given this, I've come to the conclusion that it's not really worth it to continue to sell via B&N and Kobo.  I don't come to this decision lightly and, as I've said, exclusivity doesn't really sit well with me.  However, from the data I've collected, I find I have more of a demand from readers who want to borrow my book from the KOLL than I do from readers who want to purchase via B&N and Kobo.  I'm not ruling out the possibility of selling my books on other venues in the future but, at this point, I've decided to stop selling via B&N and Kobo, return to exclusivity with Amazon, and offer The Eye on the KOLL.  I will unpublish on B&N and Kobo at the end of the month, and I'll post another announcement here once I've done this.

As a writer, nothing is more important to me than my readers.  Without readers, I wouldn't even be able to entertain the idea of writing as a career.  I truly welcome feedback from my readers, and I try to make myself available on as many platforms as possible.  You can hit me up on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, or here at my blog, and I will definitely listen to your feedback and suggestions.  One of the things I like best about self-publishing is that it removes the barriers between me and my readers, so I can not only take your feedback to heart, I can act on it promptly.