Due to being alone in the house for most of the day, I don’t really have a lot to talk about here. I cooked, cleaned, mowed the lawn, and ran errands when my son wasn’t home. I keep trying to think of anything else that might be interesting, but I’m coming up horribly blank. I mean, there were a few minor things that happened that I’ll talk about, but it was fairly uneventful. So, I guess I hit at the details.
First, this post is going live while I’m in the middle or near the end of taking a civil service test. I’m still aiming for Teaching Assistant, but I signed up for this first and I figure it doesn’t hurt to take the test. I mean, it’s been paid for. My TA test has finally been posted too, so I’m one step closer to that certification. I keep submitting my resume and I’m really hoping that I’ll have something by the end of November the latest. As usual, fingers crossed.
There was one unfortunate mistake on my part though. I forgot to check my spam folder last week and a response to one submission was sitting there. Missed it by two days and now I’ve learned my lesson. Don’t leave any stone or spam folder left unchecked. It is funny how the rejections went to my inbox and the interview request went to spam. As I said, it’s been a learning experience and I refuse to repeat it. Seems this little story was shorter than expected.
Geez, this post is going to be boring. I managed to get back into an editing groove with Derailing Bedlam, but I only did 3 chapters. Normally, I could cover 15 in a week by doing 3 a day. That’s no longer an option and I’m going to be grabbing my time when and where I can. My breakneck production speed of 5 years is officially going down to a crawl. With any luck, I’ll be able to do the edits throughout this week and then set up all of the posts that will go through December. This story is going to be once a week, so it’s going to last a while. Might take more than a year to get it out, which helps me keep the blog active. It also means Ichabod Brooks has more time to avoid this fate and get published in the future.
Speaking of publishing on Amazon, sales have dropped so low that I checked to make sure my books are still available. What the hell happened? Twitter does nothing. Blogging does nothing. The only thing moving is Beginning of Hero, which is free. I hope this means there will be an influx of readers who go through the series, but it’s really frustrating to see the whole basically come to a cold end. I’ve heard other authors talk about how sales and even free page reads have dried up or been reduced to a trickle regardless of promotions. Really wonder what’s going on here. Anybody think they have an answer or theory?
This coming week is going to be busy, but a little bittersweet. The fun part is that we’re doing another zoo trip tomorrow and it’s during their Halloween festivities. I always enjoy those trips. After that, it’s preparing for next weekend, which is going to be rather awkward for me. Without going into details, I’m going to be rather lonely and possibly bored. I can’t watch the new seasons of ‘Castlevania’ or ‘Seven Deadly Sins’ because I promised my wife we’d watch together. She’ll be busy. Editing all weekend might be what I do, which feels a little sad to me. So, I might be quiet or starved for human contact next weekend. Hard to tell where the wind is going to blow.
So, what are the goals?
- Finish editing Derailing Bedlam
- Post the sections through December.
- Continue submitting to openings.
- Laundry, cooking, and cleaning.
- Possibly start editing War of Nytefall: Rivalry
- Get back into biking.
- Try to do something that makes next weekend’s goal post more interesting.
Legends of Windemere 
I think sales are suffering from about one million new indie books published in the last 12 months. Can you say glut? There are only so many eyes and they are reserved for those books which have a lot of hype. I have said it before and will say again if you don’t have at least $10,000 bucks to spend on a launch you will never have a sustaining business. Blogs and Twitter do not sell books. Paid advertising does sell books. Unless you have a fan base and a well-known name it is hard to keep rolling.
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Has it really been that huge of an influx? I’ve been seeing so many people quit during the last two years that I thought it was the opposite. Too true on the money and name recognition. Honestly, the money seems to be more essential these days.
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Go lotto
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That seems to be a more likely chance of success.
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I’m seeing the same thing you are with book sales. One here and there, spread across the whole spectrum of my books. Usually the paranormal stuff moves a bit in October. I didn’t do a ton of promo this year. I did some earlier in the month, your place next week, and one push on Halloween.
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Did you see any boosts with the promos?
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No. The Halloween one cost me $8 so we’ll see if that does anything. Halloween is almost too late, but for $8 I took the chance.
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That is a good price. Doesn’t feel like anything has worked this year.
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The company I promoted Hat with did well by me. I want to do something similar when Lanternfish comes out. We talked about new gatekeepers setting up shop, and I’m convinced that’s happened. Don’t mind small spending, but I’m not dropping a fortune on promotion. It would be nice if a few coins were left over for me.
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I’m with you on the fortune dropping. I think people who send out thousands upon thousands of free copies to garner reviews are finding success too. Throw enough bait into the water and you’re bound to catch some fish.
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The dynamic has changed. It’s sad about someone needing their cut before we can test the market.
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Think it will ever go back to the old days or the field will thin out a bit? Sometimes, I worry that the only way to bring attention to a book is with another medium too. Run into so many people who won’t read a book unless it has a game, TV show, movie, or graphic novel as well.
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There is no doubt we are competing with other media. That and short attention spans. We’re still the place for connoisseurs though. Maybe someone wants to explore fantasy beyond Game of Thrones, etc. I think the field is already thinning, but new folks are showing up too.
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It is odd how big series like GoT don’t draw people into the overall genre like in the past. Fans seem to grab a series and stick to it these days.
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Fine if it’s your series. I kind of like solo stories, and might have to change that.
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It is interesting to read your post, Charles, and the comments from John and Craig, maybe people are just moving away from reading – a frightening thought.
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I’ve had that same thought. With so much being audio and digital, it wouldn’t be surprising.
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Sigh. I’m sorry about the reduced sales and your spam folder incident. I’m still hoping for a turnaround.
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I’ve got my fingers crossed too. Thanks.
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Sorry about what happened with that eMail that went to spam. Things like that are why I check my spam at least once a day.
Great that you managed to get some editing done. Hey, it may not be your usual pace, but any progress is good progress.
Hope this week is going well. sorry I was so late in here this week.
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Hope you’re doing well. I have to get into a ‘progress is progress’ mentality. It’s hard with everything else going on and all the waiting.
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Yeah, it’s a hard mindset to get in to. Hard to stay in that mindset too. But it helps if you can get in to it.
I’m doing good right now, thanks. This time I wasn’t around properly because I was busy with some offline stuff, not because I was in hospital. It made a nice change. 😉
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Time away for non-hospital stuff is always good. 👍
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