The genre dilemma: urban-paranormal-fantasy? Para-urban-tasy?
Posted: April 30, 2013 Filed under: On the Isla's Inheritance trilogy, On writing | Tags: genre, Isla's Inheritance, paranormal romance, urban fantasy, writing 2 CommentsI commented a little while ago that ISLA’S INHERITANCE, my first novel, is either urban fantasy or paranormal fiction, depending how you look at it. I usually call it urban fantasy. On the off chance a clearer answer is actually out there, I decided to go to that font of everything: Wikipedia.
Wiki defines urban fantasy as follows:
“Urban fantasy is a sub-genre of fantasy defined by place; the fantastic narrative has an urban setting. Many urban fantasies are set in contemporary times and contain supernatural elements. However, the stories can take place in historical, modern, or futuristic periods, as well as fictional settings. The prerequisite is that they must be primarily set in a city.”
First sentence: check. Second and third sentences: check. Fourth sentence: … uh. Sort of.
It is set in a city. But the city is Canberra, which isn’t known as the bush capital for nothing. It’s a sprawling place with a population of several hundred thousand, and a lot of parks, reserves and other pockets of nature within it. For a story about modern-day faeries with an iron allergy, it’s pretty much the perfect setting.
But is it an urban city, in the sense people mean? No, not really. We don’t have a subway (or rail!) or lots of high rise buildings. New York it ain’t. Sydney it ain’t. Also, most of my scenes are set in the suburbs. I asked an agent on Twitter if that was okay, and got a resounding no. They quipped that it would have to be suburban fantasy.
Uh oh.
Okay, let’s look at paranormal then.
Uh oh again.
It seems that paranormal is only actually defined as a subcategory of romance, called (funnily enough) paranormal romance.
“Paranormal romance is a sub-genre of the romance novel. A type of speculative fiction, paranormal romance focuses on romance and includes elements beyond the range of scientific explanation, blending together themes from the genres of traditional fantasy, science fiction or horror. Common hallmarks are romantic relationships between humans and vampires, shapeshifters, ghosts, and other entities of a fantastic or otherworldly nature.”
My book has a romantic element, but that element isn’t the focus of the story. And it’s something that develops over a longer arc than is typical in your paranormal romance novels, where usually the characters lust after each other from pretty early on.
Of the two genres, I think my decision to call Isla’s Inheritance urban fantasy is right, because it has more of the hallmarks of that genre. For example, this one: “While several adult stories focus on professional heroes, many teen urban fantasy novels follow inexperienced protagonists who are unexpectedly drawn into paranormal struggles. Amidst these conflicts, characters often gain allies, find romance, and, in some cases, develop or discover supernatural abilities of their own.”
Have you struggled to categorise your work? How did you resolve it?
Interview: Summer Heacock, Women’s Fiction writer
Posted: April 28, 2013 Filed under: On writing | Tags: editing, Interview, writing 8 CommentsRemember how a while back I mentioned an amazing woman on Twitter who’d just drafted an entire novel in four days? (No, that isn’t a typo. FOUR (4)!) Her name is Summer Heacock and she kindly agreed to do this interview about her writing process.
I was completely awestruck when I heard you’d done the first draft of a manuscript in four days (I can’t even manage four months!). Tell us a little about Pineapple!
I have to be honest, I didn’t expect or plan that in the slightest! I’d been planning to write this story idea for a little over a year, but every time I sat down to write or plot, I was stuck staring at the screen, or writing out crap. I was actually coming to the point where I thought I would have to move on to another story because this one just wasn’t coming out!
Randomly, I happened upon a picture on Google at like 2AM on Friday night and thought the guy looked like what I thought the main fella in Pineapple would look like. The next afternoon, I was thinking certain parts of the book through, decided to sit down and scrap everything I’d written before, and damned if the words didn’t just start falling out.
For those who obsess on numbers like I do, how many words did you average a day? How many hours a day were you writing?
I averaged about 15,000 words a day. I still had to do real life, I’ve got kids and a husband, but for Saturday afternoon and most of the day Sunday, I was a total recluse and in the word zone. I totally need to buy my hubs a pony for the slack he picked up when I was pretty much ignoring life for two days.
I’d say I was writing 4–8 hours per day, depending on the day, and what else had to be done, like getting the kids ready for and to and from school, and so on.
Okay, I’m looking at that and it seems slightly insane… I swear, I’m aware my brain isn’t normal. I have these word binges where I’ll dump out giant word counts but then not be able to write anything for weeks.
Because I write so slowly, I do a quick edit of what I wrote in the previous session before I start drafting the next bit—mainly to remind myself of where I was up to. I’m guessing you don’t have that problem! What is your editing process?
Eek. Um. Well, I’m not sure I have a process. Outside of making sure I have Jelly Bellies and a playlist of music going, I just sort of dive in and hope for the best. But I’m utter crap at editing, so don’t strive to be like me, kids.
Are you a plotter or a pantser? Was Pineapple fully plotted before you started?
I’m both! I usually will have a scene in my head that inspires an entire story. Usually it’s something near the end of the book, so I have that in mind, and sort of just write out what happens to get to that point. With some stories, I have a more info, like multiple scenes that I piece together and fill in the blanks. I will do a rough outline with those scenes marked to get to, and the rest kind of pops up as I’m watching it all happen in my head.
I seriously hope other writers are as loony as I am…
What other projects do you have on the go right now?
I’m revising Pineapple now, and hoping to get it shiny and on point after my betas get through with it. I try not to work on more than one story at a time, but I have another MS that is waiting patiently to get started on after Pineapple is finished. It’s probably the most outlined story I’ve ever had before starting, and it’s quite different than my other Women’s Fic stories, so I’m intimidated and excited to see if I can pull it off when it’s time.
Until then, all the Pineapple! I have strong feels for this story, so I hope I can do it proud.
Tell us about yourself.
Let’s see. I am a writer, a mother and a wife. I am relatively badass at all these things. You will notice I did not say housekeeper up there. I suck at that. Like, hard. I am a writer of very strange characters that if I didn’t put word to paper would take over my brain, and who knows what would happen then. I write to SAVE LIVES, people.
When I am not donning my Super Mom/Wifey underoos, you will find me on Twitter or at my blog. I write Women’s Fiction and dabble in YA when I’m feeling froggy for it. You will find my fluency in profanity present in ALL THESE THINGS.
I am repped by the unfathomably brilliant Sarah LaPolla of Curtis Brown. I genuinely have no idea how I managed to snag someone so incredible as my agent, but I’ma run with it before she realizes she signed a crazy person.
Summer Heacock
Fiction isn’t just imagination: researching your novel
Posted: April 27, 2013 Filed under: On writing | Tags: guest post, research, writing 9 CommentsToday’s guest post is by the amazing Nicole Evelina, whose dedication to research is awe-inspiring. Don’t believe me? Check out her blog!
I’m a historical fiction writer, so I do a lot of research. But you don’t have to be writing in another time period to find research necessary when writing a novel. Sure, you can make up a lot, but chances are good that unless your characters have the exact same life experiences as you, you’re going to need to do a little fact-finding along the way.
Picture via Wikimedia Commons
Why research is important
Research can be as simple as getting the details of your character’s occupation right or accurately depicting a route through a city. Sometimes it’s providing realistic descriptions of places that your readers may have lived or want to visit after reading your books. Things like that may seem trivial when we’ve got plots bursting from our brains but, trust me, someone out there will know when you’re making things up, and they will call you on it, especially in the age of social media. Of course, no one can get everything right, but it’s up to us as professionals to try.
Research can seem daunting, but I look at it this way: you start broad and then narrow in on the details that will make your book ring true to readers. Usually this means doing background research first. This is the broad information that allows you to feel like you understand the world in which your character lives. For me, this means culture, history, politics, religion, law, dress codes, prejudices, etc. But in other genres, it may just be reading about what a private investigator does or how the myth of vampires evolved over time. Only you will know exactly what you need.
With my basic information in mind, I plot my book. Sometimes I do more detailed research before I write a first draft, focusing on those things I know will play a major role in my characters’ lives. Once I’ve got a draft that makes some semblance of sense, I fact check my details – usually even up to the last minute – because it’s those little things that make fiction feel like reality.
More than just going online
So, how do you go about doing your research, especially if you haven’t done any since college? Well, thanks to the internet, it’s easier than ever. Sometimes all you need to is search Google Maps or Google Earth to get what you need. Other times, you can find the information right on the web. But I recommend verifying anything you find online in some sort of established reference material, just to be certain it’s accurate. There’s a lot of misinformation out there, so it’s better to be safe than sorry.
I’m not a doctor, but I play one in my books
Nothing beats in-person research. Sometimes that means visiting a place in person to get a feel for the area and see its nuances for yourself. Or you could interview an expert or two. If you’re a method writer, you could take a class on your subject or even ask if you can shadow someone who does what you’re curious about. People are amazingly willing to help, especially if they know you’re doing research, so don’t be afraid to be honest with them.
Between the pages
But not everything requires you to go this in-depth. Sometimes good old fashioned book research will do just fine. Amazon’s catalogue and Google Books are great ways to see what books exist on your subject. Some you will want to buy, but don’t worry if you can’t afford or don’t desire to amass an entire collection. Your public library will quickly become your best friend. And even if your city doesn’t have the book you want, they can probably get it through the interlibrary loan system. You’d be surprised what obscure titles will come to you from colleges all around the country (or even the world) if you’re just willing to wait a few weeks.
It’s worth it
Research may seem like a pain, but most of us became writers because we love exploring other worlds, other lives. That’s exactly what research is. If it helps, think of yourself as an actor taking on a role—you’ll have to live your characters’ lives even more in depth and for a longer period of time than you would if you were playing them in a movie. Your readers will be inhabiting their lives for the duration of their time with your book, so you owe it to them to get things right. If you go into research with a positive attitude, you’ll not only come out with a better story, you’ll be a little wiser, too.
Nicole Evelina is a historical fiction writer from the Midwestern United States, represented by Jen Karsbaek of Foreword Literary. She’s currently writing an Arthurian legend trilogy. Her first book, Guinevere of Northgallis, is complete and she’s working on the sequel, Camelot’s Queen.
Finding time to write
Posted: April 18, 2013 Filed under: On writing | Tags: Thursdays Children, writing 15 Comments
Rhiann Wynn-Nolet suggested to me that a solution to my bouts of disillusionment about the growing pile of agent rejections (other than to write something else, which I’m doing) was to join the group of bloggers that do the Thursday’s Children blog hop.
It’s based around that old children’s poem:
Monday’s child is fair of face,
Tuesday’s child is full of grace,
Wednesday’s child is full of woe,
Thursday’s child has far to go,
Friday’s child is loving and giving,
Saturday’s child works hard for a living,
But the child who is born on the Sabbath Day
Is bonny and blithe and good and gay.
Thursday’s Children: we have far to go. For the record, I was born on a Sunday—Easter Sunday, in fact—although I don’t feel particularly bonny or gay (not that there’s anything wrong with that), and I’m only occasionally good!
Anyway, the theory is that we’re meant to blog about something inspirational on a Thursday. One Thursday, every Thursday, random Thursdays: it’s up to the individual blogger.
Here goes my first attempt at writing a post about inspiration.
Writing: if I can do it, you can do it.
I’m a single mum to a preschooler. I am trying to sell my house, so we need to maintain a display home level of tidiness, and I work thirty hours a week. All of that means not a hell of a lot of spare time.
But I set myself the goal of writing a minimum of a thousand words a week on my WIP, and (except for the week I was really sick) I have done that for the last year or so. Before that, when I was writing my first novel and was a bit more timid, my goal was five hundred words a week, but I usually wrote a thousand anyway.
I don’t always reach my goal in one sitting. I’m usually in bed by 9.30. But five hundred words, twice a week. That’s doable.
I know there are people in worse boats than me. People who work two or three jobs: the same situation but 60 hours a week or more. I’m blessed in many ways. I work with words in my day job, so I keep my grammar skills honed, and sometimes they send me on editing courses. And I get paid reasonably well for those thirty hours (although not that well; like I said, I am trying to sell my house).
But I thought I didn’t have time to write. Then I discovered that if I gave up computer games—especially those addictive Facebook-based time-wasters—and watched less TV, I had time to read and write again. At a thousand words a week, I won’t be breaking any land speed records. I heard about one amazing lady on Facebook who recently wrote an ENTIRE NOVEL in four days. She averaged twelve-to-fifteen thousand words a day. I’m in awe of her, believe me (she must cane NaNoWriMo!). But I can average a novel and a bit a year, and that’s not bad.
So. Whenever anyone tells me they have this great idea for a novel but they can’t find the time to write, I want to shake them till their teeth rattle. Because if I can, you can. Maybe that’s less inspirational than it is a goad to your ego, but hey: whatever works! Write the damned book. 😉
Click here to see this week’s other Thursday’s Children blog posts.
Interview: Natalie Miller, performer and writer
Posted: April 6, 2013 Filed under: On writing | Tags: Interview, scripts, writing Leave a commentOnce upon a time, a long time ago (let’s not dwell on how long), I went to school with a wonderful girl named Natalie. We shared the same interest in writing and drama—except where I went on to be a public service editor, she went on to be Australia’s top kids ministry performer. That is to say she is a ventriloquist who writes comedy scripts for a Christian and secular audience, for adults and children.
I know, right?! Words cannot express how awesome that is!
Natalie very kindly agreed to do this interview, where we focus on her writing process. I hope you enjoy it.
Natalie (on the right).
Which books have influenced your writing? Other than the Bible, I mean—that’s a given.
I read a lot of joke books—being a performer, the jokes are important, I also read comedy biographies—Tina Fey, Jeff Dunham, Steve Martin—which inspire me. One of my favourite “go to” books for creative inspiration is Twyla Tharp’s The Creative Habit. It’s awesome for
anyone creative working on a project: dance, music, writing, etc.
What is more fun to write: scripts for adults or for children?
They’re both so different. It’s very satisfying to have a joke that “gets” the grownups—being clever enough to make them laugh. But then seeing a kid laugh with their whole body over something ridiculous is also awesome. My favourite scripts are the ones that get both at once!
What’s your preferred way to write, your ideal process?
It really changes every time. Sometimes I’ll have an idea in the back of my head or scribbled in a notebook that could sit there for months and suddenly I’ll get inspired and sit down and get it all out in less than an hour. Other times if I’m “trying” to write I can sit for hours and write and it ends up being rubbish with just a few good lines. My most successful writing venture was when I disappeared off the grid for two days and went to a cottage in the bush with no internet to just write—I wrote non-stop and got ten GREAT scripts written. Obviously the clear space and serenity helped!
How do you deal with writer’s block?
Coffee. Chocolate. Repeat. If I’m really stuck, I’ll go do something else for a little while, go get a coffee or do something else; have a run. Sometimes I just have to leave what I’m writing for a few days and come back to it. It depends how “stuck” I am. The best cure is always to leave it and come back, though; otherwise I get frustrated and stressed and end up hating whatever it is I’ve written.
What is your favourite theme to write about?
I love writing about value – encouraging people that they are loved and important and have something worthwhile to offer the world, no matter where they’ve come from, what their history is. I love encouraging kids that they’re awesome just the way they are. There is so much negative media about image and self-worth; I feel privileged to be able to stand in front of people, make them laugh themselves silly and then through the way I’ve written a story or script end with something really positive that makes people not only feel like they’ve had fun but also been encouraged.
What are your current projects? Can you share a little of your current work with us?
I’m currently trying to work on a biography—or life story—of how I got to where I am. It’s 25 years since I started as a ventriloquist and it’s been a pretty big journey—not always pretty either, so I’m sort of trying to get my head around writing that. Not sure if anyone will want to read it, but maybe my kids can read it one day!
If you want to learn more about Natalie or her work, check out her website here.
Writing fight scenes
Posted: March 27, 2013 Filed under: On writing | Tags: muses, protagonists, writer's block, writing 3 CommentsI came a little unstuck in drafting my current work in progress last week. The WIP is an urban fantasy, like my last two, but this time it’s for adults rather than young adults. Anyway, I was working on a fight scene and, halfway through drafting it, I drew a giant mental blank as to what to do next. My muse basically stormed off to her trailer with a sassy flick of her hair and a rude gesture.
Bluebottle aka Portuguese Man-o-War. These things strike fear into the hearts of Australian children every summer at the beach. (Image from Wiki Commons.)
The problem I had was that I was working with a non-traditional bad guy (rather like an evil flying jellyfish), so its attack options were pretty much limited to striking out with its tentacles. And my leading lady, Melaina, wasn’t using any weapons either.
I had a whinge about it on Twitter and my tweep Pippa recommended I buy Rayne Hall’s ebook, “How to Write Fight Scenes”. I’m almost halfway through reading it (a lot of the chapters are about types of weapons, for example, so they are interesting but not directly relevant to my current scene). But it managed to get me unstuck.
I’d worked Melaina’s combat weakness into the book already, but emphasising it a little more in the scene established the stakes, which is important if I want the readers to be cheering for her as the underdog rather than having a little snooze. For example, in typical Hollywood fight scenes I tend to get bored and start thinking about something else—because the scene usually involves a lot of stunts but no real sense that it advances the story, and no real risk to the protagonists.
The other problem was that, given Melaina was fighting unarmed, I needed to have her use the environment. And my initial description of the place where the fight takes place built up the atmosphere but didn’t really include any features she could use as weapons. So last night I went back and added a couple more things that she could use—including the “weapon” she used to strike the killing blow.
She killed that flying jellyfish good! 😉
I think it’s easy for writers of speculative fiction—where their characters are magic users of one stripe or another—to forget that all magic needs to have a cost to the user. Otherwise, the magic users become overpowered demigods. And where’s the fun in that?
Knowing When to Follow the Rules and When to Break ’Em
Posted: March 23, 2013 Filed under: On writing | Tags: agents, contests, editing, guest post, writing 3 CommentsI hope you enjoy this guest post by Lori A. Goldstein. I first discovered her novel, BECOMING JINN, when she and I both entered the same competition. Needless to say, she did a little better than I did. So you should listen to her advice. :p
Hi, my name is Lori.
Hi Lori.
I’m a fiction writer, and I’m addicted to starting novels with a character waking up.
Nods, awkward smiles.
For those of you who are unaware, this is a no-no. Maybe the no-no. But I am not alone. Apparently, so many of us have this particular addiction that we’re the ones who’ve made it a no-no. Not necessarily for readers. My small, informal, highly unscientific poll shows that readers have no idea this is a common way of starting a novel, let alone so common that it has become an on-the-books writing “don’t”.
But agents know. And agents care. For many agents, starting with a character waking up is an instant turnoff. Rejection based on that very first yawn, stretch, or tossing off of a blanket.
Sure, The Hunger Games starts with Katniss stretching across the bed for Prim. The Road opens with the protagonist reaching for his sleeping child. Every Day begins with the words “I wake up”.
Again, readers aren’t aware of this. They don’t remember exactly how a novel starts by the time they finish it. Most don’t remember how it starts by the time they hit Chapter 3. All they know is they were sucked in.
As for why other authors “get” to start with their characters waking up and I don’t? The answer is simple.
You are no Suzanne Collins. You are no Cormac McCarthy. You are no David Levithan.
But that’s not the whole answer. Novels need to begin in the right spot. And whether it’s taboo or not, the truth is, sometimes that jackpot moment is the instant a character’s eyelids flutter open.
Yeah, yeah, defend it all you want but don’t expect to win.
When writing my first manuscript, I had no idea that this “rule” existed. The finished novel I queried ultimately did not begin with that character waking up, but not because I discovered the list of novel-opening gaffes. It changed during revision because it should have changed. Waking up was not the right place for that story to start.
I have no excuses for my second novel. I was well aware of the rule. Still, I wrote the opening with my character waking up and looking in a mirror. Double no-no. Before you shake the house with your shuddering, this made sense for my character and her story. Plus, I liked it. And maybe, just maybe, I wanted to defy the odds. I entered two contests and did not get chosen for the next round in either one.
I caved. I rewrote the start. I tried so many versions of my opening page and opening chapter that I had to create a second folder on my computer just to keep some semblance of organization.
Eventually, with a little help from my friends, more than a little patience from my husband, and a concession to myself (my character no longer wakes up on page one, but a mirror still worms its way in on page two), I had a new opening.
With my rule-following page one, I entered several contests. And you know what? My work started gaining traction. It got amazing feedback. It won contests where there were fifty entries and contests were there were five-hundred entries. It was the same character and the same story and the same voice, but it followed the rules. It led to me finding my agent.
So am I converted? Am I law-abiding writer? The answer is a resounding no. Because my rebellious tendencies do not just violate the rules of beginnings but they stomp all over the laws of endings too.
The advice I was given from other writers, websites and craft books was this: novels in a series should be standalone. Do not end with a cliffhanger. This too is a no-no. But apparently, it’s not the no-no. If that’s what’s best for your story, if it completes your character arc, if you have a fantastic rebel of an agent like I do, then breaking that rule can be a big yes-yes!
I guess if someone, reader or agent, has gone on the entire ride with you, ending with a bang can actually be a turn-on.
But to ensure you get there, don’t start with that character waking up. Yawn.
Lori A. Goldstein is a fiction writer whose YA novel BECOMING JINN is currently under representation. She is a freelance copy editor and can be found on Twitter.
Collaboration, not competition
Posted: March 18, 2013 Filed under: On Twitter, On writing | Tags: guest post, social-media, Twitter, writing 4 CommentsA guest post by Sharon Sant on one of the downsides of Twitter. I’d love to hear what you think.
I’ve made a lot of friends through writing. Many of these are in real life, through my university course and local writing networks. Many more have been via social media. It’s been a strange experience in many ways, particularly ‘meeting’ people virtually. Some of my online friends I’ve since met in real life and they’ve been every bit as delightful as they are in the ether. Some, I know I will never meet, and that makes me sad, because they are people I feel I have a strong friendship with, even a deep affection for, despite never having met them face to face.
In today’s writing world, I think there is no stronger tool than collaboration with other writers. In the days of ink and quill, writing was considered a solitary affair, but not anymore. In our rapidly shrinking world, we have so many ways to link up. We’re in constant contact every day, updating each other from across the globe about how many words we’ve done, when we’re taking a break, how our editing is driving us nuts. We participate in blog hops and Nanowrimo and virtual launch parties.
Some of us take these relationships, cherish them and build on them, because we understand that you can’t make it alone. People just like you are the people who will root for you, will retweet you, will send readers to your blog, will beta read for you and critique with the best of intentions, will give you heads-up on news, will egg you on when you flag. And you will do the same for them. In my opinion, that’s how it should be—a community based on mutual respect and collaboration.
But I have also encountered the flip-side of this. Take this example: a friend on twitter chats to a friend of theirs who has exactly the same interests as me, has other mutual friends, even writes the same genre. I follow that person, attempt to chat to them, and I’m ignored. I don’t understand why. Not for a minute am I suggesting that everyone has to follow me because I follow them, or reply to me when I mention them, but I fail to see the logic in not doing these things when we quite clearly have so much in common. We have all the necessary ingredients to make another strong link in the chain; why would you throw that opportunity away? Why would you actively set yourself apart from other writers like you? What does this achieve?
Sometimes, I admit, I feel envious of others I consider vastly more talented, successful or popular than me. But I fight those feelings because I think that life as an indie author is hard enough without negativity taking hold. I’d rather try my best to be happy for others, even when I have a down day and I don’t feel like it, than sit stewing in my juices. The writing journey is a much more fulfilling one when you can share it with people who understand each step.
Sharon Sant holds a BA (Hons) in English and creative writing and is currently researching a PhD in literary studies. She is a freelance editor and is the author of YA novels, “Sky Song” and “The Young Moon”. You can find her blog here.
On how you write and how you live
Posted: March 14, 2013 Filed under: On me | Tags: editing, writing 7 CommentsI like my books like I like my home: tidy, not too cluttered, and functional.
Over the past two weeks, as my regular reader will know, I’ve been getting my house ready to sell. That has involved packing away an inordinate amount of things we don’t use every day: toys (not all of them—I’m not that mean); ornaments; some pictures. And there has been cleaning. Lots and lots of cleaning. Oh, and weeding. Sweeping. Removing cobwebs.
Anyway, not to bore you with house stuff (“Too late,” she cried!), now that I’m living in this de‑cluttered house, it occurred to me that, while I like the space to move and how tidy it is, it does seem a little … sterile, without the detritus of life kicking around. Like living in an open home, which I guess I pretty much am till the house sells.
And then, because I’m a book-obsessed freak, it occurred to me that I like the prose in the books I read to be of a similar style to the environment I live in. Friendly but not overbearing. Decorative but not overly lush (or the writing equivalent of an episode of Hoarders). Functional but not Spartan. Working correctly. Always working correctly.
I’d like to imagine that’s how I write too, but I’ve learned that’s not the case. My original drafts are much messier. But that’s where editing comes in: it’s the dusting, vacuuming and weeding of the writing world.
The difference is that, to me at least, editing is fun! I will never EVER feel the same way about mopping.
This is Cassandra Page, signing off before I drive this metaphor any further into the ground… :p
Indie publishing: pricing your book
Posted: March 11, 2013 Filed under: On writing | Tags: guest post, self-publishing, writing Leave a commentThis guest post is by JC Emery, independent author.
Being an independent author is about more than having the freedom to do as you please, though that is a definite draw. After being underwhelmed by the traditional publishing process, I sought out other, scarier avenues. Being rejected by agents and publishers is one thing, but totally failing at not only writing but publishing was a terrifying prospect.
Now that I’ve released my first novel, Marital Bitch, I’m not any more certain of what I’m doing than I was before the book went live. I first set the book at $.99 so that it would be a no-brainer for readers who were considering taking a chance on an unknown author. I figured I could price future books at or above the $2.99 threshold. I intended to make the book free for a promotion just before Valentine’s Day, but quickly found out that it’s not so easy to make a book free on Amazon. In fact, you have to “trick” the system by reporting a lower price to get it to work and even then it can be difficult to get Amazon to re-price the title to charge when your promotion ends. So there I was, having submitted the price adjustment report to Amazon, thinking the sale would never go into effect.
Weeks passed and I totally forgot about it. Three days after the sale went into effect a friend contacted me and asked if I had meant to make it free. Well, I had, but then I also hadn’t. The first thing I did was to check out my sales. I hadn’t been doing too bad charging for the title and I expected some kind of spike since it had been free for a few days.
Sure enough, in the three days the book had been free, over five times the number of books I had sold in nearly a month had been downloaded. Not only that, but the number of reviews (mostly positive) had doubled on Amazon and Goodreads. I was in heaven and I started stalking my sales page like a madwoman. A few days later I had found Marital Bitch on the Top Free 100 list on Amazon, eventually making it to #1 in Women’s Fiction and #2 in Contemporary Fiction.
With over fifty thousand downloads in just two weeks, I feel Marital Bitch is a success. As a new author, my main goal isn’t to make money, it’s to entertain people by providing an enjoyable reading experience. Sure, it’d be great if the book was making money, but right now it’s generating something far more valuable and in higher numbers—readers. I feel that for now it’s the right choice to keep Marital Bitch free and hope that readers remember me and they’ll take a chance paying for my next book.
Not everyone is going to be comfortable offering their book for free—nor should they! Novels take hundreds of hours from start to finish and, like any other craft, the artist has the right to expect some return on their hard work. One day I hope to see some financial return on the investment of my time, but as an unknown author, reviews and happy readers are the best form of currency. I keep reminding myself that my career as an author is just beginning and that this is a marathon, not a sprint. I’m in it for the long haul.
JC writes adult, new adult, and young adult fiction. She dabbles in many different genres including science fiction, horror, chick lit, and murder mysteries; but she is most enthralled by supernatural stories—and everything has at least a splash of romance. You can download “Marital Bitch” for free here.
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