A Life in Words

No More Free For Me

~ ChanAtkins ~ 10 Comments

There are many decisions to make about your book when you are following the indie route, and what to price it at is one of the big ones. When my first novel The Mess Of Me was about to be released in 2013, I made my decision regarding the price, by looking at similar books in the genre and also looking at the other authors who were with the same indie publisher. This helped me get an idea of how to price my debut novel. I didn’t want to make it too expensive and put anyone off purchasing it, but I also fully intended to make some profit after spending so much blood sweat and tears on it! I was also extremely serious about finally following my dream and making a living out of writing, and this was the first step on that journey. So never, in a million years did it occur to me to give my book away for free.

In fact, back then, as an indie newbie, I hadn’t even really heard of books being given away for free. I didn’t have an ereader at that time, and the way I bought books always involved parting with cash. It was quite a surprise to me that so many authors were giving their books away for nothing. Didn’t they want to make any money? Okay, not loads, no one should be in this game just to get rich. But didn’t they want some financial reward for all their hard work? Didn’t they at least want to break even after paying out for editing, formatting, book covers and promotion? Were they all nuts? It seemed like it to me.

I was a bit snobby about it for a while. I decided I would never do it. My books were worth more than that! I’d slaved over them, devoted my life to them, and they were good, damn it! Why the hell would I just give them away? People don’t choose a coffee and then walk out without paying for it, do they? You don’t do your food shopping and then waltz out the door without parting with your money. I mean, when did this whole free thing even begin? Where else does this happen??

So, I ignored it. I priced my books sensibly for a newcomer. Sometimes I reduced them a bit, especially if they had just been released. And all the time I was seeing this utter madness unfold around me on social media. It was everywhere I looked. Authors screaming FREE! FREE! MY BOOK IS FREE! GRAB IT NOW WHILE IT IS FREE! It was like they were all saying their own book was not worth paying for.

At the same time, I noticed another strange phenomena. The authors screenshotting their high rankings and declaring themselves bestsellers because they had entered the best sellers ranking with their free book. I found this really, really odd! But was this the reason they were doing it? To be able to call their book a bestseller, even though it had been given away? Or was there more to it than that?

Of course, I soon began to understand what was going on. The whole thing was a minefield. A quagmire of indies screaming and drowning and waving at the same time, and the ones shouting the loudest were all shouting FREE! ITS FREE! I’M A REALLY GOOD AUTHOR COS ITS FREE! But the truth is, what they were really saying behind the lines was something like this;

Look, in all honesty this indie author lark is not as easy as I first thought. I’m not selling anything and even my close friends and family don’t seem to give a shit! I need to be seen, I need reviews to get me noticed. I need someone to give me a chance! Once you read it, I know you’ll love it and then you’ll quite happily pay for the next one, plus you will review me and recommend me to all your loved ones! So just this once, just for you, just to lure you in and let you experience my genius, I will put my book for free.

And yep, you’ve guessed it, before long I was doing the exact same thing myself. I did wait at least a year and a half though, and then I went for it. I had nothing to lose. I was selling a few here and there, and I was getting great reviews, and people were going on to read the next books, but it didn’t feel like enough. Maybe making a book free would help?

Well, yeah, initially. It was exciting to watch The Mess Of Me sky rocket up the rankings in the week I made it free. Oh my god, all those people downloading my book! At last! This was it! Surely this would be it! Al those people would read it and review it and then buy others, and I wouldn’t ever have to do this again, would I?

Ah, what a dismal flutter back down to earth when the promo was over. How depressing to watch the book plummet back down to its usual position. And then came the waiting game. How many reviews would I get? It would be worth it, wouldn’t it?

Well no, because generally not that many readers bother to review! (And that’s a post for another day believe me) I had some lovely messages. I had some new followers. I had someone message me on my Facebook author page to ask questions about the book and tell me how much they had loved it. I asked politely for a review and they agreed but never left one. I am sure now that the majority of people who downloaded it never even got around to reading it.

I tried the same thing with two other books, and the same thing happened. Dizzying heights followed by depressing plummets and all for one or two reviews if I was lucky. My then indie publisher even tried to warn me. Free books don’t work like they used to, he advised. The time has passed.It’s not a great promo tool anymore, and he was very right.

Since then, I’ve released more books, grown my following, tried many other promotional routes and had my indie publisher go bust on me. I am now properly self-published and loving it. I am actually doing better than I was before. I’m not talking thousands of copies of course. I’m just saying things are heading in the right direction.

Will I ever give my book away for free again? Yes, but only to the right people. You see, here is the thing. Who is more likely to reward the freebie with a review, a recommendation and another purchase? Someone who is already interested in you. In other words someone who has subscribed to your email list, or someone who is interacting with your social media pages, keen to see what you come up with next.

So from now on, those are the people who will be treated every now and then to a freebie. A competition on my Facebook page, or a free ebook attached to my email newsletter. I know there is a higher chance they will leave a review and help me on my journey. Personally, I think it is time for the free ebook on Amazon to die. Readers should be happy to pay something in recognition of the authors hard work and dedication, and the only way they are going to place value on a book is if it costs them something to purchase it. Too many free books force other writers to lower their prices to compete, or to place their own as free, adding to the problem. I think 99p/99c is cheap enough, and from now on, this is as low as my books will go, and this will only be for countdowns and odd promotional days. After all, if I don’t value my own work, who else is going to?

What do you think about free ebooks? Please feel free to add your comments below. Is it time authors stood up and said no to free? After all, like a popular meme on social media points out, people are more than happy to pay a few pounds for a coffee, so why not a few pounds for a novel that had taken someone years to write? Has giving your books away for free helped you progress? If so, comment away!

 

 

 

 

Have You Got What It Takes To Go Indie?

~ ChanAtkins ~ 12 Comments

Life as an indie writer is not easy. It is a hard slog, full of ups and downs. It is a journey often plagued by a gnawing self-doubt as well as the added burden of feeling like you constantly have to prove yourself. Not only do you have to make all the key decisions about your book, with regards to editing, front cover, and how to market and promote it, you also sometimes feel like you have a shadow hanging over you. You have to fight harder to be seen, try every trick in the book to prove yourself, and all with the nagging question that just won’t seem to go away. Are you really good enough?

Sadly, since I started my own journey in 2013, I’ve seen indie author’s announce they are quitting on a regular basis, stating that they just can’t do it anymore. There are just so many of us out there now, all searching for the same thing. The Holy Grail. How to succeed as an indie writer.  It often feels like a step forward, followed by two steps back. Many give up when their books refuse to sell. Many become disenchanted when they fail to find an audience. Many become exhausted by the endless choice and costs involved in promoting their books.

So what does an indie need to survive? What sort of person to they need to be to get through the inevitable highs and lows? I believe survival comes down to four main things, four personality traits you are going to need in bucket loads, if you are going to stick with the indie life and not give up when the going gets tough.

You need to have an immense passion.You must believe in your stories. You might be good at writing, but you are going to need more than talent to survive the bumpy road ahead. Never mind your writing abilities or creative talents right now. Ask yourself this; do you truly have a passion, a deep and possessive passion for the stories? Do these stories keep you up at night? Are these stories begging to be told? Do they plague your daydreams and interrupt your ordinary life? Do you have something you desperately want to say and share? Is this idea driving you crazy? If yes, then you‘ve got the passion. But that is only half the battle. You have to keep that passion, especially when times get tough, as they inevitably will. It helps to have a lot of unwritten material sloshing around inside of you. A host of characters chattering away, urging you to get on and give them their turn. A desire to get it all out,whatever it takes, to keep writing and writing, no matter what.  The passion to write is perhaps the most important thing you will need. It will ensure you keep writing, because you have to write, because absolutely nothing is going to stop you.

Self-belief. In truth, for any writer, self-belief comes and goes. There are times you have lots of it and feel genuinely proud of your last paragraph or your final, finished product. But there are equally as many times when a first draft is anything but perfect. In fact it is ugly and clumsy and utterly different to how you envisioned it in your head. Quite simply you think you should give up and never write another word. This is quite normal, and I’m sure even the most successful and well known writers are regularly plagued with bouts of crippling self-doubt. There are days you just can’t write properly, nothing comes out the way you want it to, you compare yourself to others and feel you fall woefully short. This is all fine. But in order to succeed as an indie writer you need to have a rather solid foundation of genuine self-belief.You may not want to brag about it or declare it to the world, but deep down inside you must believe that you are good. You must believe that you can write. You can tell a story and make it work. You can make people care. You deserve this and can hold your head up with the best of them. Otherwise, the hurdles to come are going to knock you off course pretty quickly.

Hope. I think this applies to the indie more than any other writer. The indie needs passion and self-belief, in order to get that idea down on paper. They need talent and determination to edit, rewrite and perfect that work until it is ready to publish. They need to become an expert at marketing, promotion, an entrepreneur even, and in many respects a businessperson. But they also need to be an optimistic and hopeful kind of person in order to survive. Why? Because hope keeps you going through all the hard times, through the low sales and no sales, through bad reviews and no reviews, through feeling totally alone and out of depth and not to mention being penniless! You have hope that you‘ll become a better writer, that you will get better with every new thing you write. You have hope that your small following will continue to grow,and that fans will spread the word for you. You have hope that you‘ll one day land a nice big, traditional publishing deal, (if that’s what you want, and let’s face it, most indies would love to hand at least some of the control over to an enthusiastic professional!) You have hope that you‘ll make it. You‘ll succeed and realise your dreams, and achieve whatever level of success you are aiming for.

And finally, I believe you need to be a realistic dreamer. By that I mean, you need to dream big and aim high, but at the same time, you need to keep your feet on the ground and be realistic. I think perhaps too many writers jump into the indie game with their expectations too high. I know I was guilty of just this at the start of my journey. I sort of expected things to just take off. I thought all my friends and family would buy and love my book, would leave plentiful glowing reviews, and would then encourage all of their family and friends to do just the same, and my book would somehow just tumble forward, picking up speed until I made it! Oh how that makes me laugh now! No, I’m sorry, it’s just not going to happen like that. In my experience, people mean well, but when they say they will read or review your book, it does not always happen. People are busy. They have their own lives and interests, and they may not want to read your book for fear of offending you if it’s not their kind of thing. in truth, many of them are just not going to be interested at all. The indie journey can therefore be a lonely one at times, not to mention frustrating. Expect too much, and you are going to get disappointed. Be realistic. Recognise that it is not a race, but more a journey of development and discovery. The fact is, you will get better at all of it. You will get better at writing, and at marketing, and you will realise you don’t need your family and friends to push you forward. You need to find your own audience, and finding them, is quite simply part of the package you sign up to. Getting reviews and exposure, gaining readers and fans, winning awards and so on; all of these things are down to you.

I believe that if you have enough passion, self-belief and hope, you will be able to maintain longevity as an indie writer. Keep your feet on the ground and your expectations realistic, while not ever giving up on the dream. They may all get dented and bashed about from time to time, but as long as the reserves are deep, you should be able to keep going. Who knows what is around the corner as long as you don’t give up your dream?

My Author Newsletter!

~ ChanAtkins ~ Leave a comment

This is just a quick post to let my followers know about my new author newsletter. This is something I have been meaning to set up for quite some time. It’s one of those things that gets put onto every week’s to-do list and then gets added to the following week, and so on. Well, I have finally sorted out an account with Mailchimp, in order to send out regular author newsletters.

Subscribers to the email newsletter will receive the very latest news from me, including new releases, sneak peeks, exclusives and freebies. As I do not intend to give my books away for free anymore (might blog about this decision another time!) the best way to get freebies, if you want them, is to subscribe to the newsletter, where you will receive special treatment! Rather than make my books free to the whole world, I would like to reward my loyal and eager readers with free books every now and again. There will also be short stories and character bio’s, early blurbs for future books, alternative endings, competitions and so much more! Everything you receive in your newsletter will be exclusive and not available anywhere else.

I am hoping to get the first one out next week. It’s all in place; I just want to allow a few days to see if I change my mind about anything! Subscribers will get an exclusive short story which is related to my next novel The Tree Of Rebels. In fact, it is essentially a mini prequel to the book. This story will not be published on here, Wattpad or anywhere else.

I would really love to build this email list up and get as many as you involved as possible. So, if you think you might like to receive special treatment, free books and short stories, sneak peeks into future projects, including character bios, blurbs and more, then please click on the link below!  Many thanks!

http://eepurl.com/bVVbGD

Author Interview; Ashley Rice

~ ChanAtkins ~ Leave a comment

Welcome to my latest author interview! Today I would like to introduce you to Dallas-based author/illustrator Ashley Rice. Ashley has created several popular illustrated books, including You Are An Incredible Kid, Girls Rule, and You Are A Girl Who Totally Rocks. Ashley’s latest release is Make Your Dreams Come True. Ashley’s mix of artwork, poetry, songs, real life experiences and positive messages are loved by tween and teen girls (and boys!)  worldwide. Her work also appears on her bestselling line of greeting cards, as well as bookmarks, fridge magnets and so on. It was a pleasure to speak to Ashley, who is a dog lover like myself!

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1) Who are your books aimed at, and how would you best describe your books?

Most of my books are written for tweens (9-12 year olds) and, more specifically, with tween girls in mind… but I also have a book called For an Incredible Kid, for example, which could be for anyone. I’ve also gotten messages and emails from older girls and women who will tell me how one of the girl power books helped them out in some way, so really the books are for anyone and everyone who finds that, in their own way, she or he can get something out of them.

2) What first inspired you to write these sorts of books?

I’ve always believed that a girl in the world could do anything, and, as I was growing up, and more specifically when I was older and actually got out into the “real world,” I was surprised whenever I would meet someone who wasn’t aware of that fact — whether it was a male friend or acquaintance who hadn’t gotten the message yet about the “girl power” movement, but especially when it was a girl who wasn’t aware of all the possibilities that were waiting for her out there that she hadn’t yet discovered. You have to believe in those possibilities and in your own personal sense of empowerment before those possibilities can turn into real, solid opportunities that can work for you in your life. So I thought it was important to reach girls like that — or, really, just to get the word out to let all girls know just how talented they truly are. And how amazing their lives will be if they keep on believing in the beauty of their dreams. That’s why I wrote the girl power poems, which were then turned into books.

3) How do you decide on the theme for each book?

Sometimes this is an idea that I think of, other times the idea will be based on a suggestion from my editor.

4) Do you often get feedback from children and if so, what do they say to you about your books?

I do get feedback from girls from time to time. Usually when they contact me it’s to tell me why they liked one of my books. Sometimes they will share with me something personal such as how that book helped them to better deal with some specific problem they were having. Those kinds of letters touch me the most and really mean a lot to me!

5) How do you promote your work?

I haven’t really done much in the way of promotion in the past but am starting to do things like interviews now. I do have a blog on my goodreads author page where I’ll post an update whenever something significant happens to me — like whenever a new book of mine comes out. I also have a web page. It’s at http://www.ashleyrice.net.

6) What are you working on right now?

I’m working on some new poems for girls on different “rules” they can make for themselves to live by, and how they can then use those principles they relate to the most to help guide them in their lives.

7) Where do you see yourself and your work in 5 years time? 

I plan to keep on writing and illustrating books along with doing my greeting card line. I have a new calendar coming out next year… hopefully many more books, etc. will follow after that! All I know is that, whatever happens, I’ll keep on writing, illustrating.

8) Did you always want to be a writer/illustrator?

I always wanted to be a writer (since I was 7) and I always drew characters and other things – mostly just doodling — but I didn’t think I was talented or skilled enough to work as an illustrator. I just illustrated my first original poems (which I was turning in to my greeting card publisher to be published as possible greeting cards) as a way to show my employer what types of images I thought could look good alongside my poems if they in fact decided to make those poems into cards. I thought they would then have a “real” artist copy my drawings — or adapt them, really – using their own, professional style. It surprised me when my publisher said they liked my artwork and planned to publish the designs I’d made as-is.

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9) What advice would you give to young people who wish to follow in your footsteps?

Work hard, believe in what you do, know that anything is possible for you if you are true to yourself, but most of all: never give up! (Even when it’s hard).

10) What inspires you to write/draw?

I get a lot of ideas from browsing articles, etc – whether in bookstores or on the Internet. But I tend to get ideas from anything, really – when I’m walking my dogs and just thinking while surrounded by nature something might come up in my mind that makes me want to write the words down (which is why I always carry my phone with its electronic notepad with me anywhere I go!)… thoughts and ideas can happen that way, or can be inspired by doing something like watching a movie.

11) Tell us three interesting facts about you

I live in a historic neighborhood (with arts and crafts style houses mostly houses built in the early early 1900’s)… and I really love that!

Before moving back here (to Dallas) I used to live in a community in Boston that was all artists’ lofts, and which had originally been a giant piano factory. You had to have two different artistic recommendations to get in, which meant that your neighbors were artists too (so you could help each other out, etc). That made for an interesting time! Also, to live there, we had to paint the outside of our front doors in a style that we liked a lot – mine was hot pink with a hand-drawn blue flower on it, for example. It took like seven hours for me to do though!

I often volunteer at an animal shelter during lunch… but sometimes it’s too hard for me to leave my own dogs at home to go and do that so I just skip it… but on the days when I do go I have a lot of fun and it feels good to help some other animals out… mostly the work involves “socializing” the dogs and cats at the shelter… which basically means playing with them a lot!

12) Who are you inspired/influenced by?

Shel Silverstein, Dr. Seuss, Todd Parr, Adrienne Rich, to name a few.. along with all of the other writers and artists who also work for my publisher and are amazing!

Thanks so much for the interview Ashley! Good luck with the latest book.

You can find out more about Ashley’s inspiring work on her blog/website ashleyrice.net

Look out for another interview coming soon!