Category Archives: Publishing

One picture, a thousand words, and a few dollars (more?)

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In preparing Master of the House for digital publishing, I am beginning to look at what a reasonable price for an e-book would be.  I figure that my potential audience for this sort of thing would be the best place to pose the question.

So, there are a few options for this and a few things to consider.

This particular book is done in two distinct parts.  As a consumer, would you rather…

  1. Pay a small amount, $3 to $5 for Part 1 and then later $5 to $7 for Part 2.
  2. Pay a set amount, like $5 to $6 per portion of the complete work.
  3. Pay upfront for the entire thing at $8-12.

Each option has its merits.

Option #1 allows you to explore the world and perhaps decide that this story is not for you at a low over all cost.  The higher price of Part 2 would compensate for that.

Option #2 allows the buyer to avoid feeling like they were put into a “gotcha” kind of situation.  You’re paying for what you get outright but you may pay a little bit more overall if you decide to stop after Part 1.

Option #3 is more the “support the artist”, “I liked the concept so I’m all in” kind of purchase.  You may end up saving a dollar or two in this instance.

Please leave comments and opinions below.  Thanks!

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Status Update

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As of today, my second planned work has surpassed the 30% mark for completion.  I have a tentative title for this book:  Children of the New Potential.  That title may have to change because there’s a real chance it’s too long.  I don’t mind.  One thing that will not be too long is the actual length of this book.  After the initial difficulty I found in getting Master of the House to market, I have carefully plotted the length of my follow up work to ensure it is what those in the industry refer to as a “marketable length”.

I really only quote that because it seems to apply only to first time authors.

Soon enough I’m going to have to open up some new space on this site and begin outlining this new book in the same way that Master of the House is cross referenced.  Tomorrow will mark 21 days since I started working on this second book.  40,000 words in three weeks has left me very tired if I’m honest.  I did not even notice that my pace was moving along this quickly until my buddy told me not to burn myself out. (Hi Rob)

Gotta keep moving while I have the time to do so…

I will be posting a preview section of the new book tomorrow.

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120 Thousand Words or Bust

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I never thought the problem facing me would be having too much content.

As I read more about the industry and what it takes to bring a book to market, I find that almost anything written over 120 thousand words is considered to be unmarketable.

With my first efforts coming in at twice that, I am left with some decisions to make.

The first option is to edit the book down, essentially cut it in half.  The second option is to split it into two different books.  The third and final option is to forgo the traditional publishing route and publish to the digital market.

If I’m honest about this and what I’ve written so far, the first option is right out.  The narrative works, the characters grow and are completely realized by the end of the work, and the story leaves nothing unfinished.  Gutting a considered work merely to bring it under an arbitrary standard will play out either by removing characterization or by requiring logic leaps on the part of the reader to get from one point to another.  I’ll have none of that.

Splitting the work down into two separate books is a viable option.  It’s not really the way I had planned for the story to unfold but it could be made to work.  Very close to the mid-point in Master of the House is a point of strong rising conflict and resolution that sets the stage for the final act.  With some reasonable editing and a slightly reworked ending to Chapter 9 of the book, I think this is a possibility.

Digital publishing is a topic I’ve discussed recently.  It’s an area of possibility that becomes more and more appealing the longer I look into these kinds of things.  Setting aside the “Is it good for your career” discussion, I feel that we’re on something of a digital frontier.  It seems that the time is right for embracing a new marketplace.  The way I look at it is like this…When was the last time you went to your home encyclopedias for information?  When was the last time you went to Wikipedia for the same information?  The digital realm  takes a lot of heat from older methods of doing things but when there’s a legitimate platform to work from, the field of possibility opens itself.  If I ever move towards digital publishing it will be to give myself more options, not as a means of retreat.

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Digital Publishing?

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One question that has begun to turn over in my mind s that of whether or not to publish in a digital format prior to traditional publishing.

This is something that I can do right now.  My first book is completed and ready to go.  I suppose I need to pull some cover art together if I decide to go this route, but I could have it ready in a matter or two or three weeks.

For those that don’t know, there’s been a stigma associated with any form of self-publishing in the past.  It can prevent an agent or publisher from picking you up later.

Or so I’ve heard.

But there’s a growing number of other voices saying that time has passed.  Publishers have evolved and accepted the digital market and that it’s not a problem any more.  I am going to simply need to make a call on this one day.  Right now, I’m leaning towards putting the book up on Amazon.

I have no doubt at all about the narrative or the prose of the book.  It’s good.  The issue is possibly the length.  At 250k works, it’s twice as long as what I understand publishers will take on for a first time author.  I’d roll my eyes at this, but I have no idea about the validity of such claims.  When I sat down to write the book, I just wrote.  I took the space necessary to tell the story.  There’s not a lot of fluff or cut-able content before you can begin punching holes in the plot.

Digital publishing offers me the opportunity to put the book out there without the over-head costs.  I’ve even considered putting it in the market in two parts.  There’s a very good point at which the book could be split.  It’s a lot to consider honestly.

With so much being made of creating a platform for your work and building a reader base, I can’t help but see the digital publishing format as an option I may look a little more carefully at.

That leaves the question for anyone reading this, what is the break point in terms of cost that you will or will not spend on a digital book?

How many of you even have eReaders or tablet PCs?

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