More to follow.

Take the world we live in and add a device which can cure virtually any disease. This is the story of the near-future world of Cure and how Panacea I, a revolutionary medical device, came into being.

The Panacea Device is placed into the very capable hands of marketing executive Dylan Cross. The device, a robot smaller than a human cell, seems to be the answer to most of humanity’s social and economic problems. Without the need for expensive health care and without the existence of terminal illness, what sort of world could we make?

Innovation is not without its problems, and to what lengths might men go to control the secrets of the panacea, the cure, the future?

A Cure is coming soon. Look for it at your favorite retailer in March!

I’m not a full-time writer, despite the fact that I could be, and that brings me to my first point. Sales volume is an unpredictable factor in any business, and when you have a mortgage, a wife, and two children, your desire to maintain a steady paycheck–something that will always pay, like clockwork–is rather high. For now, I must maintain security instead of freedom, no matter how much Benjamin Franklin might have objected to such a sentiment.

I’m an outlier and a freak of nature in the publishing business. I’ve been working, writing, and publishing for a bit over two years, and I have sold more books than I would’ve ever expected. My first month, I made barely enough to cover my cell phone bill, and I was absolutely excited about that. I didn’t think it was possible for a high school graduate to write, publish, and earn on stories that hadn’t passed through the ivory towers and Ye Olde Halls of Publishing Mastery in New York. I was just a guy sitting behind a keyboard pounding out a story, and my fans were people just looking for something to read.

What began as a short story written for fun turned into a novel-length horror story, which I published in November, 2010. After releasing the third book, I pulled them all and decided to think about what I wanted to do with them. By then, I had written the first in my fantasy series, The Circle of Sorcerers, and my skill, knowledge, and craft had improved considerably. I don’t recommend that people go back and rewrite already-published books, but those really needed the work. I wasn’t ready then, but people somehow still enjoyed the stories and downloaded and purchased them by the thousands.

So, you couldn’t get a contract with New York?

Hey, stop being so judgmental! Contracts are only signed between those who are seeking them, and I am guilty of not seeking one. When I started writing, I wasn’t concerned with selling my books; I was just telling a story that I enjoyed in a way that I liked, careless of what anyone else might’ve thought. I didn’t care because I didn’t intend on selling any of it. Then, some folks told me that they enjoyed them, so I decided to try them out. I worked through them, edited them, hired proofreaders, and so on, and went to market. Would it have been possible five or ten years ago? Probably not. But Amazon’s KDP, Barnes & Noble PubIt!, Smashwords, and the rest of the distributors made it easier for me, a nobody, to put out a book and deliver it into the hands of eager readers.

Thus, I’m one of the people who circumvented New York, not one who tried to get in and failed. I submitted a query letter to an agent after I released my third book just to see what it was like, and afterward, I shrugged and started writing my fantasy series.

So, you would recommend this for everyone?

I would recommend self-publishing to those who have a lot of patience, a lot of courage, and a lot of will and resolve to work hard for little reward, at least in the beginning. Publishing is a tough business. Yes, I’m succeeding, but the road to this point was fraught with obstacles and hardships. It’s put my marriage to the test. It’s put me at my wit’s end a number of times. I’ve rode the natural high of the upswings and hit the bottom of the pit in the downswings. But I can tell you that I was glad to make the trip. It has paid off.

I don’t guarantee that it will pay off for anyone else. As the old wisdom says, write a good book, work hard on it, get an editor, proof it, and promote the heck out of it. During that process, start on the second. Then the third. Write the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh. And now, I’m writing my eighth with plans for a few dozen more over the next ten years. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. It’s not a get-rich-quick scheme. If you want to get rich quick and you have the skills, lots of authors need people with strong technical abilities, like formatting, cover art, editing, and proofreading. Above all else, be professional and run your business like a business.

What have you done to be successful?

The question should be: what haven’t you done to be successful? I’ve tried nearly everything. Review in the local paper? Check. YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit? Check. Giving away copies for review? Check. Guest posts, book bloggers, advertising, publicity, promotion, and the rest? Check, check, check.

Does luck play into it? A little bit, but not in the way you might think. Luck is the blamed cause when the unprepared reaches astounding levels of success. Some who reach those levels of success don’t know why or how they did it, but only that they did. The luck comes into play when the lucky cannot find any other likely cause. I’m not saying that it’s not a valid explanation, but I am saying that those who only claim to be lucky simply cannot spot the reason. There is a reason, and here are a few of the possibilities:

1. Readers spreading word of mouth.
2. Good reviews in the marketplace.
3. Good reviews in high traffic areas (of the Internet, media, or wherever).

And the next natural question is, “How do we get those things?” The only formula that works, time and time again, is:

1. Produce a good book. Focus on entertaining people, provoking thought, provoking emotion, and provoking a reaction.
2. Make the people, places, and experiences in the book feel alive.
3. Edit and proof until it shines. Those itching, burning problems you recognize in the manuscript will be noticed by others. (Fix everything that you see.)
4. Get a good cover. Professional covers sell books.
5. Find a promotion method you like. If you enjoy Facebook, set up a fan page. If you like making podcasts, get on YouTube or distribute podcasts relative to your subject. Like blogging? Get WordPress or Blogger. (And even if you don’t like blogging, get a website. It’s like an online business card.) If you hate Facebook or Twitter, don’t use them. People have bought books for years even if they couldn’t connect with their favorite authors in a nanosecond. It’s okay. It’s not mandatory, and a tool that isn’t used is only going to waste your time.
6. Write the next book in between Tweets, Facebook posts, blogs, and podcasts. Move to step one and repeat.

Notice that the first four points are about making your book stand out? Yes, that is the most important thing. All of the promotion and advertising in the world can’t sell fecal matter in a to-go box. Well, the kind of advertising that a self-publisher can pull off won’t do it.

To conclude, it’s all about the little things.

A kilogram of matter is made up of one thousand grams of the same matter. In other words, a thousand little things put together can equal one big thing. For those new to publishing, this idea is critical to casting off the veil of obscurity. It takes more time, but doing lots of little things can pay off the same as one big thing, or even more. For instance:

One Book Review on the New York TimesViewed by millions of people, the NY Times review could rocket you into the spotlight. Of course, the entry requirements are quite steep, and the chance of getting there is slim.

One Thousand Book Blogger Reviews
Each blog might pull in a small readership, from a few dozen to a few hundred, but the exposure adds up. With 1000 guest posts/book reviews spread across the Internet, you could be exposed to thousands–perhaps tens or hundreds of thousands–of people, and book bloggers are friendly, approachable, and more accepting of self-publishers. Check submission guidelines prior to submitting, of course.

Every little bit counts. Until next time.

Also wasn’t able to get anyone trained for the assistant formatter position, so that has been a factor in the decision to hold the service. Just not enough time in the day to watch all of my own pots, let alone somebody else’s casserole.

Past clients can contact me about new work, and any work currently in the pipeline will be finished during this week (12/3/12-12/10/12) so everyone already in will be ready to go by Christmas.

The fact that the author of the article is a self-published writing is a little… I’ll let you draw your own conclusions.

So, let’s get to it:

• Huffington Post article writers post the content for free. It doesn’t get much more devaluing on the written word than that, right?
• $0.99 books are probably worth their price. This used to be a price point that people used to gain an audience, and for those finding success, it is used by a loss leader by those with higher-priced items down the line. It is also common to use the price point for shorter works.
• The work is worth what the market will bear. Apparently, Huffington Post believes that news and commentary is worth $0.00. My local newspaper thinks that the sum total of its weekly Sunday issue is worth $1.50. People read both.

The article also quotes the Guardian, which said, “Despite the splash caused by self-publishing superstars such as Amanda Hocking and EL James, the average amount earned by DIY authors last year was just $10,000 (£6,375) – and half made less than $500.”

I don’t know about you, but $10,000 is a lot of money, especially in this economy. One of the main reasons I got into writing and publishing was to add to my income, not replace it. My books have tripled my income this year while my salary has remained the same, which would be way beyond my expectations. But if it hadn’t, the extra money helps when raising two kids, paying all of the bills that simply won’t go away, and every once in a while, doing something fun for myself.

Even $500 is decent money. It’s not going to be something you can retire on, but maybe it is enough to tip the balance in your favor. Maybe that extra $500 is enough to pay for the rental car for your vacation next summer. Maybe it is enough to bail you out of a mortgage payment that’s overdue. Maybe it will put clothes on your kid’s back or your own. Or maybe you can go out on a few dates with your significant other.

If $0.99 is your plan, then it’s your plan. It doesn’t devalue writing. The big publishers prove that readers are still willing to pay $10 or more for an eBook if it’s from an author they really like. (No, don’t worry; I won’t be boosting my prices anywhere near that high for a single fiction book.) It’s about the writer, not the word count or the price per sentence.

I do have common ground with the article’s writer, though. Writing isn’t a get rich quick scheme. It takes a lot of work, and it is as hard and tough a business as anything else. Another thing we agree upon is:

And lastly, nasty reviews from other authors with the sole purpose of driving down customer ratings.

Yes, that is a problem. A severe, industry-wide problem? Anonymity makes it difficult to tell, but it’s been proven before. Unfortunate and sad every time. But, the green monster has been seen in every industry; jealousy is a personal issue, and people that try to destroy others might be surprised how much they could accomplish if they focused on their own work instead.

Until next time.

1. The Circle of Sorcerers:
– It is recommended to delete the ebook from your account on Amazon.com.
– Go to the Circle of Sorcerers Amazon sales page (click the cover on the right of this page).
– “Buy” the free ebook again, then deliver it to your Kindle.
– You may have to add the book to your archive on the Kindle, then download it again.
– Updates include the maps and the chapter header graphics that, for some reason, didn’t work in the old edition.

2. The Consuls of the Vicariate and The Immortals of Myrdwyer:
– Go to Manage My Kindle in your Amazon account settings on Amazon.com (or your Amazon website).
– Browse to the entry for each book.
– Immediately after the book’s title (on the left side of the screen), mouse over “update available” and download the updated copy.
– Updates include the maps, chapter header graphics (the ones that didn’t work), and a few formatting fixes inside the text that I found. (Strange characters, etc.)

And that’s it! Your copies will be updated. Everyone who purchased after about mid-August should be okay and should have the correct versions of the book(s). If your book(s) didn’t have a map, you need the updates–they add so much more to the experience.

I have a science fiction book that I must write before I consider the next fantasy series. My current hope is to write and release books basically under this format/schedule: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Fantasy, and so forth. Perhaps a horror novel mixed in somewhere if the inspiration really strikes me, and there will likely be a roleplaying game and its supplements somewhere in between the novel releases.

So, the Mages of Bloodmyr series is complete; however, the world of Bloodmyr, the Sorcerers of Bloodmyr, and the Azuran church… well, things are just getting started. Lots and lots of tales to come, both in our fantasy world and in the universe at large.

Ebooks – Amazon

Sales by Month (sales – month/year):
18 – 11/10
287 – 12/10
732 – 01/11
1306 – 02/11
929  – 03/11
711 – 04/11
774 – 05/11
758 – 06/11
471 – 07/11
508 – 08/11
289 – 09/11
84 – 10/11
284 – 11/11
344 – 12/11
158 – 1/12
70 – 2/12
153 – 3/11
357 – 4/12
548 – 5/12

Since beginning to May 2012, ebooks: 8781 paid sales on Amazon

Barnes & Noble PubIt!

Sales by Month (sales – month/year):
9 – 02/11
15 – 03/11
13 – 04/11
20 – 05/11
37 – 06/11
25 – 07/11
42 – 08/11
52 – 09/11
27 – 10/11
30 – 11/11
27 – 12/11
35 – 01/12
45 – 02/12
27 – 03/12
27 – 04/12
23 – 05/12

Since beginning to May 2012, ebooks on B&N PubIt!: 454

Print Sales (All Channels)

Sales by Month (sales – month/year):
9 – 12/10
295 – 12/11
23 – 05/12

+ 32 print sales personally

Since beginning to May 2012, print books: 347

Up to the Second (as of posting this blog entry):

Included all small channels here, too, such as Smashwords.
9434 amazon + print to this second.
+ 17 June Nook
+ 13 Smashwords 2010
+ 80 Smashwords 2011
+ 21 Smashwords 2012 to June 1st
+ 454 PubIt! All-Time
___________________________
10,031 total to this second

Wow, just wow. I owe it all to the readers, proofers, editors, helpers, reviewers, and friends and family for reading, proofing, editing, helping, reviewing, and all the support and encouragement along the way. No man is an island, and none of this could have been possible simply on my own. Thanks for everything. Look out, 50,000! It could take me another decade, but we’ll get there eventually!

Also, sorry for the lack of updates around here. I’ve been busy lately, and I think that you guys don’t mind that. You’d probably rather read the books than some old blog post, anyway.

- Brian

When first looking at the PDF Editor software, I thought to myself, “Interesting. It looks as if someone has written a word processor backwards.” Basically, the Infix PDF Editor software allows you to work in two different workflow methods, either from a blank document forward to a finished PDF file, or from a PDF file imported into the software and back into a PDF (or a few other file types). Since I’m all about desktop publishing, I requested a copy of the software to review when the opportunity revealed itself.

To review the software, I have to put aside my biases and my prior experiences. I have to consider them, but I have to consider them relatively with the product I’m reviewing. I’ve used Adobe products for a long time, and they do PDF production very well. (They invented the thing; they ought to be good at it, I suppose.) As such, Adobe products are all suites of software designed to do virtually everything that you can imagine for the purposes for which they are designed. That’s fine. For those who use Adobe products, you’ll probably not find much new in the Infix PDF Editor, but that doesn’t mean that this software doesn’t have a place in the desktop publishing world.

In other words, if you use Adobe and love Adobe or you have a word processor that spits out perfect PDFs, you won’t need Infix. If you hate Adobe, can’t afford it, or want to try something else, the Infix PDF Editor could be right up your alley.

Let’s get on with it.

What the Infix PDF Editor Does Well

There are several tiers of the PDF Editor, and the pricing is rather competitive, in my opinion. From the free PDF Form Filler–which allows you to fill out PDF forms not optimized for filling-out–this is a great option. For those needing either basic or advanced functionality, there are two different options offered at reasonable prices.

Aside from that, two unique features that I, personally, haven’t seen in a PDF editor are:
- Tools for translators: make translations of a source document, and the software does its best to fit the translated text into the formatting of the original. This could save lots of time and money in reformatting a translated version of a document.
- Find/Replace and Fit in Original Formatting: like the translating tool, you can find/replace words, phrases, or even entire sentences, and the software will try to fit the text as best it can into the original document. This isn’t perfect, but it can still save a publisher time and money when changes need to be made after building the PDF file (such as quick proofing prior to submission).

Things I Didn’t Like

In playing with the software, I discovered a bug. The problem lies in importing PDF files produced by certain third-party software. Since I work in a number of programs when making my finished products, I pulled in a PDF export of one of my books which was finalized in Open Office. Even though the fonts had been imbedded in the exported document, Infix PDF Editor either couldn’t or didn’t import the fonts in the local environment or it isn’t setup to recognize modified font names. Basically, Open Office had renamed fonts, and the Infix editor had trouble with that. (To illustrate, I had an Arial font with italics, and that was exported as a special, stylized font file unto itself called something like “ArialItalicsNormal” instead of just “Arial”. This caused havoc on the editing process.)

I could still edit my file, but I had to set the fonts correctly first. I cannot confirm if this occurs in any file other than an Open Office PDF export, so you may be fine pulling in documents from other programs. I’ve let Infix know about this bug, and I’ll post an update here if they tell me about a fix later on.

Note: This isn’t a huge issue for me, and it shouldn’t be a biggie for most users. Besides, they’ll probably issue a shiny new patch to deal with the problem in due time.

The Final Verdict

I would give the Infix PDF Editor a 4.5 out of 5 stars. The half a star is knocked off only for the aforementioned problem and for the fact that it’s not, generally, a revolutionary idea. The software, however, is quite good at what it does, it’s stable, and it should be very useful for users unfamiliar with Adobe or other PDF-exporting word processors. If you’re looking for another option to Adobe, Open Office, or Microsoft Office, you may want to give the Infix PDF Editor’s free trial a whirl and see how you feel about it. For some users, simplicity trumps features, and Iceni Technology’s editor is nice and easy to use with plenty of tutorials to help out new users.

Who Would Benefit From This Product?

• People who dislike, cannot afford, or cannot figure out Adobe’s (or other’s) PDF products.
• People who don’t want to buy extremely expensive software packages to make updates to PDFs post-production. (i.e. Authors who receive PDF versions of their formatted books from their freelancers.)
• Anyone looking for an easy to use word processor and PDF editor who don’t have a word processing suite of choice already (or those looking to switch).

Until next time!

The paperback and hardcover release for Consuls of the Vicariate will be soon. I’m working on the compositions for the print files as we speak, and I hear that the audiobook version won’t be too long after. I’m confident that the audiobook for Circle has earned enough to fund Consuls, so it’s just a matter of getting the funds from Amazon and hiring the wonderful Justin Torres once more.

Also, Immortals of Myrdwyer is forthcoming. It’s a little slower than I would like–what, with work being very busy lately and the time in the hospital–but it’s coming along. I’ll chatter a bit more later, but it’s late and the bed calls.

After taking a deep breath, I said, “If Joe Konrath can post dollar signs, why can’t I?” So, here it goes…

$12,000.00.

A very special number, the number–after all the W2′s were input and totalled–that came in from my little stories. Of course, being the first full year of operating, most of it has been reinvested back into the business, into equipment, and into publishing the books themselves. It may not be the gigantic money that some outliers are reporting, but it’s tidy. More important than that, it keeps the next projects funded, and it keeps the stories coming.

I merely wanted to share the news with my friends here and say ‘Thank you.’ I’ve had people write before wanting to talk about the business and whether or not it’s worth it, and I think you can make up your own mind. It may be worth it for some, but it may not be for others. Keeping you guys happy is a lot of work, but I try my hardest. Through mistakes, hiccups, and obstacles along the way, we’ve arrived together, and I look forward to going ahead with my head held high.

I may be forced to hold off on the audio book version for a short while. The audio book has done quite well, but I have to figure out exactly how much it’s earned in order to know if it will be capable of financing the second release. If it cannot finance the second, I’ll either hold off on the audio book until the pot has grown a little more or utilize a little bit of crowd sourcing (Kickstarter or something like that) to get the last bit of money it needs to go into audio book format. I love the audio book from the first in the series, and I really want to continue making them.

Just wanted to update you guys. Thanks for all the support, and if you haven’t started the series, you can learn more at The Circle of Sorcerers home page.

Origin Stories

I first want to thank Brian for hosting us on his blog. He was one of the first people to welcome me to Kindleboards almost a year ago. At the time, he shared a bit about how he started writing – a topic that has always fascinated me. These tales are like superhero origin stories, “how I met my spouse” stories, or any other coming-of-age experience that both shapes who we are now and describes how we were then. There are as many origin experiences as there are writers. In the spirit of fair exchange here is mine.

Many authors came to writing later in life. They took a creative writing class in college. Or they experienced a major life change. Or they had a baby (redundant with the second, I know). I fear I’m one of those annoying folks who always wanted to be a writer. I can’t imagine wanting to be anything else.

That doesn’t mean my early efforts weren’t terrible. The imagination was there. The ability to put it on the page in a form recognizable as a story to anyone not on hallucinogenic substances? Not so much. That would take decades – yes, with an s. You have no idea how undisciplined and impatient I was at the beginning of this journey.

Cut me some slack. I was 9.

It began when I discovered Choose Your Own Adventure Books. Do they still make these things? Back before video games had moved past Pac Man and Adventure, these books cast the reader as the protagonist of the story and allowed him (or her) to make critical decisions along the way. Depending on those choices, the book could have a happy ending or (more often) a decidedly unhappy ending. These things were red hot – the post-modern movement of children’s literature. They became more advanced by the year until some clever person decided to add a character sheet, some dice, and a simple conflict resolution mechanic (i.e. “rules that tell us what the dice mean”).

I loved those hybrid “pick-a-path with dice” books so much that I set out to write one. I got as far as researching monsters of mythology and legends before losing focus. I didn’t end up with a finished book, but the experience ultimately exposed me to Dungeons & Dragons – still a win, as far as I’m concerned.

For the next few years I explored D&D, read fantasy and science fiction voraciously, and played ever more elaborate games of pretend with my three younger siblings. Those three things, plus some amazing English teachers who emphasized creative writing, were all critical to developing a storyteller’s instincts.

Games of pretend? Really? Absolutely. In fact, the fantasy places that developed out of those games of pretend are the seeds from which the world Matt and I write about sprang.

The seeds of Kingmaker were more his than mine (and he often takes out the baby pictures from when we were in high school and posts them on our blog). Lesson of the Fire, though, had a very simple and childish origin in those elaborate games of pretend. My family had a big back yard (about 3.5 acres), and when it rained, parts of it would get very soggy. At the center of one of those soggy patches was a pile of sand that served as our sandbox and, in games of pretend, base of operations. When it rained, we imagined that it was our home in the middle of a monster-infested swamp, and we had to brave the dangers of the swamp in order to find food. Of course, sometimes the monsters would attack our home, and we’d have to drive them away.

Those games are present in Lesson of the Fire only as echoes of echoes, but I can still point out some of them. As with so many linguistic relics, place names often betray the history. Why is the capital city Domus Palus? That was our parents’ house on the first map I drew of our swamp world. “Domus” is Latin for “house” (“palus” means “swamp,” but that came later). The town of Rustiford? On the old map, it marked the place where my parents’ old Ford van had been, um, put out to pasture – literally a rusty Ford.

Silly, yes? You’d never think those games would turn into a book about an idealistic wizard-dictator’s violent rise to power and descent into madness as his ambition threatens to destroy the very nation he hoped to lead to a golden age. But then I’m not 9 anymore.

I have always felt it is important for readers to see the humanity of their favorite authors. Sure, I don’t want to read a bunch of rough drafts, but it can be quite illuminating to see a bit of an early draft next to the finished product. I guess I find the creative process endlessly fascinating, and hearing a “where I got this idea” story or seeing a scene evolve from revision to revision is the next best thing to being present in the author’s head when it’s happening.

I’ve also maintained that it is important for a writer to remember what it was like to be new and barely able to string sentences together. The reason Matt can talk on our blog about how Kingmaker evolved from an artless but earnest action story about princes, ogres, and thieves is because we kept every first draft, revision, rewrite, reimagining, and rework of that story seed from the last 20 years (16 versions of it, in all). It look like we’re on course to it 11 versions of what has become Lesson of the Fire. Those old manuscripts remind us of one of the most important lessons we have learned as writers:

No matter what your origin story, writers are not born. They grow. And they should keep on growing.

Thanks for coming by and sharing with us, Eric! You can visit Eric Zawadzki’s website or purchase Kingmaker on Amazon, or simply learn more about the author here.

It is with great sorrow that I share  ~ We lost one of our own last night. Our beloved and lovely lady, Linda Evans succumbed to her battle with cancer.

She fought this disease like a tiger. A lady tiger.

Linda was always kind and generous with her time. She was never too busy to help a friend or respond to a fan. She guided many newbies and held the virtual hands of many old-timers.

Her daughter Jenny will be taking over the promotion of her mother’s books. It would be wonderful if we could support the sales of LC Evans delightful novels to help defray her medical bills. If you are so inclined please post Linda’s bookcovers and links whereever you can.

I have a feeling Linda is watching us right now.

We love you girl!

If you know anyone who reads romance or wants to try it out (or if you’d like to yourself), Linda could spin a tale unlike any other. The proceeds will go toward her medical and final expenses and to her family in this most difficult time. You can look at all of her works here.

When I think about the inevitability and the long, unknown eternity ahead of each of us, I wonder if I will be remembered. Yes, yes, I will be remembered by my close family and friends, and even by some acquaintances, but it is a sneaking thought that creeps up every time something like this happens–will anything I do now matter to anyone after I’m gone?

In looking over the body of comments on the Kindle Boards post and glancing at Linda’s books on Amazon and the reviews, I can clearly see that she will have no problem with this. She will live on, not only through her family and close friends, but through perfect strangers who have enjoyed her work and told others about them. Those little mentionings and whispers across libraries, book stores, coffee shops, and whatever other medium–Linda will live in those forever, a testament to her skill as a writer and her beauty as a person. How many people have been touched by this storyteller, and how many more yet will be touched through the perpetuity of her body of work? More than we can ever know.

Some additional links in remembrance of L.C. Evans:

- The World Has Lost…[a truly talented author, LC Evans] – written by the editor of her final book, Lynn O’Dell.
- L.C. Evans’ Author Central page
- Kindle Boards: LC Evans (announcement)

Thank you for remembering Linda today.