As shown in my post from a few days ago, I'm publishing my first e-book
on Sunday. I haven't been writing anything else in the lead-up to this;
getting
Jack Manley and the Warlord of Infinity up to scratch
has been my sole focus. I want to unburden my mind of it before I
embark on another novel, and to be honest I'm daunted by the idea of
working on something else. I just spent eight years working on and off
on the same thing, so it's a little hard to switch gears, you know?
The
process of getting the book ready hasn't been as difficult as I had
feared. I designed the cover myself, with a minimum of fuss and (most
importantly) no expense. I even designed the thing using MS Paint,
which has got to be against some kind of law. What can I say, it's the
only image manipulation program that I can wrap my head around.
The
editing process has been pretty time-consuming, I'll admit. Officially
there have been seven drafts, but in reality it's probably double
that. I didn't get the book professionally assessed, but I did get some
professional feedback from some editors after it won second prize in a
competition. Mostly I went with my own instincts based on that feedback
and the feedback of some trusted associates. The final draft bears
only a mild resemblance to my chaotic first draft, so at least I can say
that I put a lot of work into it, regardless of the final result.
I've
read in various places that an e-book writer should not design their
own cover, or do their own editing. I'd love to have gotten some
outside help, but unfortunately money has been very tight for me
lately. It wasn't an option, so I knuckled down and did the work on my
own. I'm also something of a control freak when it comes to my own
stuff; I'm actually happier to have done my own cover design, and I
think the result is great. I guess I'll know in a few weeks time if
anyone else agrees.
Aside from the writing, the hardest part of
the process so far was getting my tax sorted out. As an Aussie trying
to sell my wares through an American company, I am subject to the IRS
taking their tax cut from my earnings. I could have ignored it and let
the IRS take 70% of my profits, but luckily there's a tax treaty between
Australia and the USA that cuts this significantly. All I had to do
was fill in a form and apply for a US Tax Identification Number. Then
apply for the treaty. Two forms doesn't sound like much to fill in, but
I am a dunce when it comes to accounting and finances. It was hard
going, with a weeks-long before hearing back to find out whether I'd
filled out the damn things correctly. So far everything seems to be
legit, and I am clear to do business in the US. Still, there's always
that element of nervousness when it comes to the IRS...
The last
few nights I've been doing research on marketing and pricing. The
current consensus seems to be that $2.99 for e-books is the sweet spot,
so that is what I will probably go with. It's also the point where
Amazon's royalty rate jumps from 35% to 70%, which works in my favour.
As for marketing, my budget is zero. I'm okay with this, because what
I've been reading suggests that the effects of paid advertising and
publicity on sales is virtually zero. I always suspected that any sales
bump from paid advertising wouldn't be enough to cover the cost of the
ad, so I'm fine with ignoring that option. For the moment my promotion
will remain here, on Facebook and on Twitter, and I'll try not to spam
any of those too hard.
WHAT ELSE I'VE BEEN DOINGAs
my job affords me a lot of time on my own with a minimum of human
interaction, I listen to tons of podcasts and audiobooks. Since I
discovered
librivox.org
I've been getting through a lot of audiobooks, taking the chance to
sample some supposed classics. Currently I'm slogging my way through
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne.
I
say slogging, but that's not entirely fair. When the book focuses on
the mysteries surrounding Captain Nemo, and the efforts of the three
main characters to escape their captivity on the Nautilus, it's rather
good. The problem comes in the chapters that focus heavily on the
"wonders of the undersea realm". Beware any chapter that is named after
a sea or an ocean, because you're in for page after page of
descriptions of fish.
It reminds me of a story I wrote when I was
ten. When it came time to describe the Black Wizard's army, I
literally named every evil creature from the Dungeons & Dragons
Monster Manual. Terrible stuff, but I had an excuse: I was ten. I
suppose that Jules Verne has an excuse as well, because part of the
whole point of
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is an exploration of the awesome stuff that's in the ocean, exotic fish included. It makes for bloody tedious reading, though.
Moby Dick
was much the same. There's a lot of fascinating material in that book,
and a masterful command of language, but it often gets side-tracked
with the minutiae of whales and whaling. There's a whole chapter
devoted to listing the books that have illustrations of whales, and
discussing the accuracy of each.
The thing is, I can see where
all of this is coming from. People in 1850 didn't have TV (no shit
Sherlock). How would most of them know what a whale looked like? Books
would be the only possibility, and Herman Melville used that to provide
his readers with the most accurate depiction he could, pointing the
reader to specific volumes for the most accurate depictions.
Older
books and stories tend to have too much description and exposition for
modern audiences; just listen to the constant complaints about the
dialogue in Silver Age comics. Or my complaints about classic works of
literature. No doubt there are examples of stories that did exposition
badly even at the time they were printed. Just as some stories that
seem over-expository now were perfectly pitched for the audience back
then. I suppose the lesson I have to learn is to think about this
stuff, and where it's coming from, so that I can look past it and take
the good elements from those stories.
For my own writing, I need
to think about my audience and what needs to be explained and described
for them to understand the story.
Jack Manley is quite terse,
which is something I did on purpose. I didn't do long descriptions,
because I wanted the book to be about action. If it's not necessary to
move the plot forward, I cut it out. I took a similar tack with
exposition. Alternate universes are central to the book, but I didn't
bother explaining the concept. Modern audiences are savvy, they know
about these things. But if I was writing, say,
Moby Dick for a
modern audience, I wouldn't include the lengthy descriptions of whales,
or talk about books with whale illustrations. There are photos now, and
videos, and aquariums. I would keep all the stuff about whaling ships,
though, and harpooning, and how the whales are carved up once they've
been caught; chances are very high that a modern reader doesn't know
that stuff. So what I've learned today (and it's not exactly a profound
lesson, but it is an important one for any writer) is to know your
audience, and what they do and don't need explained.
OTHER TIME-WASTING ACTIVITIESWhat I'm ReadingDoctor Who and the Claws of Axos by Terrence Dicks
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
Marvel Comics circa 1964
What I'm Listening ToPhysical Graffiti by Led Zeppelin
What I'm PlayingHot Wheels: Beat That! on the Nintendo Wii
