Category Archives: Self-Publishing

Serialized Fiction: Our eBook Experiment

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Do you like to be left hanging?

Ever since I was a child, I’ve loved cliffhangers. My fascination began with a TV show called Cliffhangers, which ran for less than a season in the 70′s. The show featured three stories every week, one about a vampire, a mystery, and an Indiana Jones sorta adventure. Every segment left the hero hanging and questions lingering with a…

“to be continued…”

I hated having to wait a WHOOOOOOLE week. Yet, as each new episode drew closer, I grew more excited and eager to see what would happen next. And when it comes to serialized stories, it’s always about WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

Years later, I loved and hated other shows in a similar way — LOST, X-Files, Carnivale, The Wire, Deadwood, The Walking Dead, Battlestar Gallactica, Breaking Bad, The Sopranos, and too many more to name without coming off like a guy who never gets off the couch.

Though these shows span different genres, they have a few things in common.

They all have great stories, they all have storylines which stretch across seasons, and they all have flawed but memorable characters. And, of course, they always leave you wondering what happens next?

SERIALIZED BOOKS

While serialization has been around for ages, it wasn’t until Stephen King did it with The Green Mile in the 90′s, that I discovered it.

King managed to do what the best TV shows did – he kept me hanging from book to book, always wanting more.

It was the most awesome reading experience I ever had!

While I’d always dreamed of creating a serialized TV show, King showed me that I could do the same thing with books.

However, that seemed like a faraway dream as you have to be a pretty big name in order for a publisher to take a chance on a serial.

When I met Sean Platt, we decided to try serializing a story I’d been sitting on forever, Available Darkness. While it was a great experiment, our workload was too much at the time to give it its due. And though we had a nice response, most people asked the same question – when will it be available in book form?

Most people, I find, don’t enjoy reading on a website. Neither do I.

And to be honest, though we were serializing Available Darkness, it wasn’t a true serial. It was a book we were putting out in serialized format. A strong distinction, in my opinion.

You can serialize any book, I suppose. But I prefer a book which was meant to be serialized, designed from the outset as such, so it can be enjoyed as both a part and part of a whole. You know, like TV shows.

While we both wanted to do a serialized series, self-publishing print editions seemed too costly to deliver cheaply to readers. And delivering a cheap, but awesome read, is what we wanted to do, even if we weren’t yet sure how.

AND THEN KINDLE HAPPENED…

While Apple revolutionized the music industry, Amazon changed the way books will be sold. Forever.

Readers began adapting to the idea of eBooks, and were buying eBooks in record numbers, outpacing the sales of print books at Amazon.

Authors like John Locke, J.A. Konrath, Amanda Hocking, and a ton of names that will someday be household, found success on their own terms with eBooks. They didn’t have to go through publisher gateways to find readers. They didn’t have to worry about a publisher thinking their work was good enough to publish. They only had to worry whether readers would read their stuff.

And the readers have spoken with their wallets and purses.

Indie authors are celebrating the wall coming down because it gives them a much better chance of getting their books into the hands of readers. But there’s another advantage to this new age of eBooks. Publishers (including indie authors) can now experiment with different and more creative ways to deliver stories.

Two years ago, there weren’t too many publishers that would serialize a book if it wasn’t written by Stephen King or someone with a proven track record. It’s too risky an investment. But with eBooks, the risk is greatly minimized.

Sean and I saw our window to doing what we’ve wanted to do since we started writing together… create a serialized book series.

AND YESTERDAY’S GONE WAS BORN

Serialization is hardly a new idea, it’s been around for hundreds of years. But serialized eBooks is something I surprisingly don’t see too many writers doing.

We considered how some of our existing book ideas could work in the format, but decided against that. We didn’t just want to serialize an existing book, or even a book we are in the process of writing. If we were going to do it, we’d do it right.

Our series would be designed from the outset as a serialized book, paced just like TV episodes, with rising tension and killer cliffhanger endings.

We came up with the concept of Yesterday’s Gone, and then we each came up with our own characters independent of one another and said, “Okay, see what you can do with this premise and let’s see where it goes.”

Then we traded our chapters and began to flesh out the first “episode,” storylines, and then the full “season,” developing Yesterday’s Gone as writers would develop a running TV series. It’s the most fun I’ve ever had writing!

We released the first episode in August, and followed up with Episode 2 in September. Reaction has been great. Readers have emailed us to tell us they love the concept and the books, and also that they hate us for making them wait to find out what happens next.

But, just like me, they admit, they love having something to look forward to in the next episode.

I love email like that!

TWEAKING THE EXPERIMENT

While we originally planned to release new episodes every month, Sean convinced me that a month is too long. Voracious readers can get through our 100 page books in a day or two. Making them wait a full month is just too long.

For one, there’s many storylines to follow. Expecting readers to remember everything a month later is a bit much. And given that I, the co-author, can’t remember every little thing that happens from episode to episode a month after I wrote it, I can’t expect readers to.

So we decided to shake things up a bit — release all six episodes of Season One all at once – right now, along with the full season in one convenient and low-priced download.

Season One came out last week and we couldn’t be more excited to share the news with you.

We’ll be releasing Season Two in January, with episodes released on a weekly schedule, which seems a better fit for the serialized model. While there will still be a few months between seasons, I think the story flows a lot better in weekly installments.

If you like post-apocalyptic stories like The Stand, shows like LOST, or serialized fiction in general, I’d love for you to check out Yesterday’s Gone. You can buy Episode One right now for .99 and see if you like it, or just dive in and buy the full Season One for just $4.99.

We’re also posting the first episode online at SerializedFiction.com starting here, where we’re also posting some behind-the-scenes marketing stuff, our trailers, Yesterday’s Gone-related news, and more in-depth discussion about the story and our experiment.

You can click on the video to watch a larger, HD version at Youtube.

Are eBooks The Next Webcomic Bubble?

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In the summer of 2000, I had this genius REVOLUTIONARY idea… I would put a comic strip on the web!

Nobody was doing it (or so I thought) and I’d make a name for myself. Hell, I’d be the next Bill Watterson!

I loved comic strips. As a child, I used to get lost in the world of Peanuts. As a teenager, I loved the satirical wit of Bloom County. And then I discovered the magic that was Calvin and Hobbes.

So I created the comic Todd and Penguin, and waited for the world to take notice.

And not knowing anything about anything, I then spent a few years in relative obscurity. After a glowing review from Eric Burns at Websnark and getting picked up by Keenspot in 2005, the comic started to get some attention and a decent following.

But something interesting happened in that space of five years.

As hosting got cheaper, a handful of companies sprang up offering free webcomic hosting, suddenly ANYBODY could put a comic online. And it seems like almost EVERYBODY did.

Seriously, there were thousands upon thousands of new webcomics!

And HOLY SHIT, the crap floodgates had opened!

It was as if anyone with a scanner and a pen was putting a comic on the web and calling themselves an artist. And there were some awful, AWFUL comics out there. Stuff that made you cringe in embarrassment for the creator and cry just a little bit for the form.

Technology’s blessings are also its biggest curses.

Suddenly, people who never would have thought to draw a comic before suddenly think that they can. They see marginally decent artists getting acclaim without understanding WHY those artists are getting praised.

And they rushed into webcomics thinking they’d be the shit.

But for every 7,000 or so bad webcomics, there were also a few success stories—comic creators who were able to leverage an online audience for print deals. And still others, who said screw syndication, and bypassed the gatekeepers to make their own fortunes.

And their success caught the attention of some traditional cartoonists—the ones in the newspapers who made money. These “real artists” started to see webcomic artists as the enemy, devaluing art by (gasp!) giving it away for free on the web! They were feeling threatened.

Sound familiar?

EBooks are the new webcomics.

Thanks to technology, artists (writers) suddenly have the capability to bypass the gatekeepers (the publishing companies) and directly build and speak to their audiences with very little upfront cost. And some writers and publishers are feeling the heat.

Like webcomics, I’m sure we’ll see an explosion of bad books out there. Embarrassingly bad books.

But that’s okay.

Because good content (if you know your space and can build an audience) will rise to the top. And bad writers will either get good or give up. Just like a lot of the bad cartoonists.

THE ONE BIG DIFFERENCE

The biggest difference between webcomics of the last decade and eBooks now is a significant one. There is finally an infrastructure in place to sell to your readers.

This was not the case 10 years ago when webcomic creators were struggling to find a way to make money for their work. Sure, they could self-publish, create tee shirts, sell ads on their websites, or beg for donations, but those weren’t sustainable methods of making a living for most artists.

Thanks to Amazon, iTunes, and a few other players, readers now have a CONVENIENT way to download eBooks to their devices. And with Print On Demand, writers can also satisfy the diehard print fans.

While there are still some difficulties in easily formatting comics for an eReader, and the quality sucks on some of the devices, technology will change that, I’m sure.

WHEN THE WALLS COME DOWN

Remember how I said that everyone and their sister was suddenly putting out webcomics? And a lot of them were bad?

Well, include me in that number.

My first comics were horrible. Thankfully, I was blissfully unaware of just how bad they were.

But I knew enough to know they weren’t good enough.

(see the proof below)

A Todd and Penguin comic from 2001 - Click to see full size

A comic from 2008 - a bit better

Another from 2008

I didn’t compare my work with other crappy webcomic artists. I compared my work to the best on the web and in print. And I kept working at getting better. I was learning on the job, while also learning how to build an audience and interact with readers.

And eventually, I got good enough to get a job as an editorial cartoonist at a newspaper—remember those things?

ARE YOU READY TO DO WHAT IT TAKES?

So, yes, the competition for writers is going to increase.

And there’s gonna be A LOT of crap out there.

And maybe you (or maybe me) will be writing some of that crap.

But keep at it.

Don’t be afraid to experiment.

Don’t be afraid to learn on the job.

If you’re really new to writing, maybe you can try a pen name so you don’t do long-term damage to your brand.

The most important thing, though, is to keep writing. The competition is gonna be stiff.

Fortunately, a lot of writers will think they can just show up. They can mail it in. That it’s enough to simply throw a book out there, and magic will happen.

We know better, though.

We know if you want to make it as a writer, you treat writing as a job. You bust your ass and put in the hours. And you pay attention to what’s going on in your genre and the publishing industry.

That’s what the successful webcomic artists did. And that’s what successful writers are now doing…

Working. Hard.

Beyond eBooks: The Active eBook?

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J.A. Konrath has a great post up about the future of eBook technology.

Tech always changes and with those changes comes price drops and new features. While eBooks are a new delivery system, they aren’t yet bringing much new to the table. Konrath suggests a way in which that could soon change.

Most of the big internet successes of the last decade were because of users adding to the site.
And as I explained above, users are eager to add content concerning books. The want to do reviews and recommendations and talk to authors and even write fan fic.
All of this happens outside of a book.
What if it happened inside of a book?
What if you don’t join a social network to discuss books, but instead you joined a book that was a social network?

What exactly does Konrath have in mind? Nothing short of a revolutionary way to consider your story. Read the entire fascinating post at J.A. Konrath’s blog.

 

Is Your Website Keeping You From Being Published?

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The rules have changed.

It used to be that to break into the publishing business you not only needed talent, but you also had to know the right people, make the right connections, or sometimes, just be in the right place at the right time.

With the advent of blogging and social media, more and more authors are finding their way past the gatekeepers and finding their audiences—with or without publishers. With a bit of web savvy, moxie, and talent, today’s author has more power than ever to get their words into the hands of eager readers.

Yet, too many authors seem to be ignoring this relatively new path to publication.

Or worse, they are scaring away potential readers with awful websites.

You know that saying about not judging a book by its cover? While people may give some leeway to a book with a bad cover, not nearly as many people are as forgiving of a poor website.

Hideous wallpaper backgrounds, clashing colors, and frames with visible borders (ugh!) look about as contemporary as the fade in Kid ‘N Play’s hair styles. Whether the design is gaudy and stuck in the 90’s, its content impossible to navigate, or it is simply a static page (which is nothing but a glorified business card), too many writers are scaring away readers and relegating themselves to relative obscurity in today‘s digital world.

Considering how easy it is these days to publish content to a blog with a clean theme and a simple layout, there is no excuse for a bad website.

The Lessons We Can Learn From Good Author Sites

There are plenty of well-known authors with crisp, clean, and even gorgeous websites. Dennis Lehane and Stephen King both come to mind. However, many of the well known authors have websites designed by the best designers for publishers with deep pockets.

Yet you don’t need a fat advance to have a great website. Here are four examples of authors with sites, all with blogs attached, that are economical, while doing all the things an author’s site’s supposed to.

1. Give Your Readers What They Want

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Seth Harwood was one of the early adopters of the novel in podcast form. Along with fellow author Scott Sigler, Seth found early success through Podiobooks, by dividing his book and delivering it through a series of free podcasts.

This tactic eventually led Seth to a book deal for his crime novel Jack Wakes Up. Seth’s website is a great example of a layout that features everything a reader could want in an easy-to-find format.

Want to learn more about the author? Click.
Want to see details on any of his books? Click.
Want to listen to a choice of free audio downloads from any one of his books? Click and Save.
Want to buy the book in physical form?

Guess what?

Yup, a number of links to help a reader quickly purchase the book.

Something else I like about Seth’s site – he has photographs of his readers on the front page, using a simple widget linking to his Flickr account. Seth understands that being a successful author requires building a robust community. In addition to a clean layout and easily accessible information, Seth has built forums for his community, as well as a space devoted to fan art.

In short, Seth’s website is about as close to perfect in function as I’ve seen.

Follow Seth on Twitter

2. Engage Your Audience

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Scott Sigler IS the modern author. Sigler has helped to reinvigorate, if not reinvent, the world of publishing with the success of his first book, Earthcore, the world’s first podcast only novel. Much like our own Available Darkness, Scott released his book in serialized format, dividing the book into twenty episodes, then releasing it for free on podcast through Podiobooks and iTunes. He also has developed an active community with his forums and interacting with readers via social media.

Many authors have since followed the model, but Sigler’s early pioneering placed him at the vanguard of modern publishing.

His site is intuitive, with all his social media and podcast subscribe buttons located in the top right hand corner. They are neat and easy to read, with the tongue in cheek caption, Subscribe or die!

Like Seth, Scott understands that community is fundamental to an author’s growth and his site reflects that in every way.

Follow Scott on Twitter

3. Know Your Audience

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Artist, cartoonist, and writer Raina Telgemeier knows her audience well.

The artist of The Babysitter’s Club graphic novels has a website which is not only a big bag of eye candy, it succeeds in showcasing her impressive illustration talents, while also appealing directly to her target audience.

Raina regularly showcases her upcoming projects via blog posts. One of those projects is her soon-to-be published book, Smile.

The page devoted to Smile is a study in what makes a perfect landing page for a book. It’s warm and inviting, has published reviews along with all the relevant information, and links to help guide the reader on their way to a purchase. The use of color on this page, along with the beautiful book cover, makes me want to buy about four or five copies before I leave the page.

Raina’s site has style, personality and community with a clean, impressive layout.

Follow Raina on Twitter

4. Give it Away, Give it Away, Give it Away Now

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Three of the four authors we’re posting are notable in that they give their content away.

I’m sensing a theme.

Craphound.com is the home to Sci-fi writer, activist, journalist and blogger and Boing-Boing co-editor Cory Doctorow, who is practically synonymous with the model of giving your product away.

Doctorow believes the constraints of copyright belong firmly fixed in the previous century. And while many in the publishing industry balk at the idea of giving your product away and argue that there is no way to monetize “free,” Doctorow is proving them wrong. Time and time again.

Cory compares modern authors to the forerunners of rock n’ roll, saying that “the Internet makes the cheap, dirty and experimental possible.”

With several titles and legions of fans, Doctorow is the premier example of a modern author making full use of the “freemium” model.

Follow Cory on Twitter

By using WordPress and a premium theme such as Thesis or Frugal, an author can have their own website up and running for less than a hundred dollars. Of course, you could spend a bit more and have a professional layout that appropriately reflects the quality of your writing (hint hint – we do that).

The key to getting read is to build a community around you and your work.

Start a blog, get involved with social media, and get your book (or eBook or audio book) in front of as many eyes (and ears) as possible. Never has the world of publishing been so open to you.

So, what are some of your favorite authors’ websites?

What lessons have you learned from the good ones?

Thank you for reading. Click here for free updates to Collective Inkwell.

Spread it if you like it, link it if you love it.

6 People to Read and Trust in the World of Publishing

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people to trust in publishingWriting a book can be rough, seeing that book to print like a barefoot trip to the dentist over broken glass.

We’re in the dilated pupil of a publishing sea change. There are a lot of voices out there, many of them yelling. Knowing who to listen to, deserving not only your brevity of time, but your limited trust, is essential to maintaining your sharp focus and overall sanity.

Dave and I are getting to know more people in the publishing and self-publishing circles. These are some voices we feel are worth listening to.

Joanna Penn is an author, speaker and business consultant based in Australia, though, as she is quick to point out, she is in fact British. Joanna blogs at the Creative Penn with an interesting mix of interviews and posts which cover everything from writing tips to marketing and WordPress to podcasting. Like us, Joanna is intrigued by every step of the publishing process. Follow Joanna on Twitter.

Jonathan Fields is author of the WSJ bestseller, Career Renegade. Jonathan is always thoughtful and intelligent. Cool stuff falls from the dude when he walks. Jonathan recently launched, Tribal Author, a site designed to help modern authors navigate their way through the winding boulevards of a quickly changing landscape. He released the rather remarkable (and free!) guide for new authors called, The Truth About Book Marketing. Follow Jonathan on Twitter.

Booksquare has two taglines, and I can’t decide which I like more. Dissecting the publishing industry with love and skepticism or The whole truth and nothing but the truth, unless making it up is easier or funnier. Both are wonderfully charming and perfectly clear. Booksquare, for the most part, is Kassia Krozser, an opinionated, witty gal who loves to walk all trestles of the publishing industry. Kassia says, “Like a child who needs firm, corrective guidance, publishers and writers need Booksquare.” Follow Kassia on Twitter.

Christina Katz, also known as Writer Mama, helps mom writers get “Known Before the Book Deal” Christina takes her decade of experience writing and teaching, and creates successful strategies to help moms on their road to publication. Follow Christina on Twitter.

Kirk Biglione is the writer at Medialoper. Though Kirk analyzes the media in general, he has a specific focus on the transition from traditional to digital. Most of his content contemplates the impact the Internet on the entertainment industry at large. Follow Kirk on Twitter.

April Hamilton is self-publishing rights activist and founder of Publetariat. She is an author, blogger, and Technorati BlogCritic. She is a leading advocate and speaker for the indie author movement. Publetariat is a hub site, aggregating news and relevant posts from the self-publishing world, along with some original content. Follow April on Twitter.

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