Tag: writing

My #Marketing Ideas

I have been an independently published author now for nearly four years, and not until 2010 did I really do any kind of promoting/marketing for my novels, mostly because I had no idea where to start. Since about late 2009, there have been all sorts of assorted experts in the field all over the internet who have popped up with a book on the subject, and if you buy their book, they’ll tell you what the secret is to selling thousands, or millions even, of books. I think what works for one author doesn’t necessarily work for another, so if you’re willing to waste $2.99 or $4.99 or $6.99 for someone to make money off of your naïveté, then go right ahead, since I was one of those people who has done that more often than I’d like to admit.

When I first published in 2008, it was suggested by iUniverse (now I go through Createspace, best money I have ever saved!) that authors create a website to promote and market themselves. So, I found Geocities, created a very basic site, posted the novel cover, the description, and the link to purchase, then forgot about it. When I finally remembered I had it, Yahoo apparently had shut down Geocities, so I searched for another server. Eventually, I came across Freewebs.com, now known as Webs.com, and that’s where I now have my website hosted, and trying to build my “brand,” whatever that really means. Since then, I’ve gone from idea to idea, gimmick to gimmick trying to promote and market my novels. Some have worked, and some haven’t, but here are my top 10 ideas. Your experience may vary.

1) Websites/blogs — With a website, you should know some html, or you can plug in whatever others have built for such a need, and then you can customize it to your heart’s content. You can add videos, pictures, links, etc. The suggestion from across the vast wasteland of the internet is to do SEO (search engine optimization), build back links, trade links with others, or pay for thousands of hits so that your Google Ranking will bring people to you. Let me tell you, that’s mostly nonsense, your site will be listed in Google, Yahoo, and Bing within a matter of days, but you can submit to directories, but I’ve never actually seen a hit from one of those. Only hard work on your part in promoting yourself will people begin searching your name, names of your novels, or similar sounding names before you notice hits to your site. As for a blog, if you want to keep it updated every day, you can submit it to RSS feed sites and link up with others who have sites. With some blogs, like Blogger, your feed will be seen on the side panel of the blog (if they’re on Blogger) that you’ve linked to. A website/blog is good for having a place for readers to come to find out what you’re up to, or if you have a new novel on the market. Plus, if you’re in the market for a job, it’s something potential employers will see, showing them that you have some skills and creativity (or, so I’ve been told).

2) Social Networking — What did we do before Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, and all of those other social sites? To be honest, I don’t remember! ha ha. Anyway, I do know that if you join every forum involving writing, e-books, and marketing, you’ll never write, you’ll just be talking about writing, and getting to know other indie authors who are also talking about writing. Facebook is useful for authors in that they give us the ability to have a page for ourselves and our work. Thousands, and maybe even millions, of users can eventually come across your page, they can like it, and even share it with anyone in their social circle. Twitter used to be useful in my opinion, but there are way too many voices out there now, and one can get lost in the “noise.” My best advice for social networking is to do it in moderation, otherwise, you’ll never get that next book written.

3) Press releases — I use free sites like Prlog.org, which is good for visibility, but I really don’t know if it results in sales. Doesn’t hurt to try though, and it’s free. If you want to pay for high visibility, try PRWEB, but it’s really expensive if you’re on a tight budget.

4) Libraries — I used to work in a library, so I know something about this. A lot of indie books go almost directly to the Friends of the Library Bookstore, even though the Acquisitions Librarian “promised” that your books will get on the shelf, eventually. Although, it could’ve been just the one I worked with, because he wasn’t too particularly thrilled with putting my novels on the shelf. My suggestion is to get to know the library staff, usually the poor souls stuck at the Circulation Desk. Sometimes they get to sort through all the donations, so if you let them know that you really, really want your book in the library, they will mark your book for the acquisitions librarian, who will set it up for circulation. Be patient, books arrive at the library from B&T and Ingram every day, so it may take months for your book to show up in the catalog.

5) Book trailer — You can do it yourself by downloading Microsoft’s Live Movie Maker for free. It’s fairly easy to use once you get the hang of it. Of course, if you want something like the “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” trailer, then you’ll have to spend a lot of money for someone else to do it or have taken a video course in college yourself. Once you’re done with it, upload it to Youtube and a few other video sites. Very useful in the fact that the reader may get your book cover and the idea impressed into their heads, and then might eventually buy a copy of your novel.

6) Guerilla Marketing — Basically, this is putting bookmarks or business cards in books at stores like Walmart, B&N, and maybe Half Price Books (if you have one in your area), or even at the library. I have also put bookmarks in those envelopes that have the paid postage from the credit card companies and other spam mailers, and sent it back to them. You can do this for everything you mail out.

7) Bloggers — There are bloggers who will post your novel, review it, help with a blog tour, or give you an interview that will be posted on their site. Some require you to pay for the exposure, and some are free. Even if you get no returns on it as far as sales, it’ll be on Google and other search engines for as long as that post is available. So when someone does a search, that’s another impression you get, and it might even get you some sales out of it.

8 ) Paperback book giveaways — When you first finish your book, have it uploaded, and then available on Createspace, you can then contact some bloggers, or go to Goodreads and post your book giveaway. With bloggers, they can target specific readers who actually want to read your novel. I’ve received a couple of great reviews that way. With Goodreads, people will sign up for the giveaway just because it’s a freebie, not really caring about the genre. I had one person return a book because they thought it was something else, and others who reviewed, who didn’t like that genre, and thought Goodreads required a review. Remember to be choosy about doing paperback giveaways if you want specific readers that are looking for a specific genre.

9) Free e-books — One way to get your novels seen is to give away free copies of your e-books, usually with a coupon from Smashwords. If you want it free on Amazon, set the novel free on Smashwords, distribute it to B&N even if you’re using their publishing platform, and then wait for Amazon to price match. You’ll get a few thousand downloads for a week or two, copies into hands of people who normally wouldn’t have known about you and your work, and possibly some good reviews out of it. You may also get hit and run reviews that aren’t exactly glowing reviews of your work, mostly on Amazon. These are usually 1 star, they question your writing skills, and sometimes even your IQ. The advice to authors is never to respond, be above it all, and have a thick skin. There are instances of authors responding to their critics, and it developed into a clusterfark. Never ever a good thing.

10) Ads — Unless you have a lot of disposable income, creating ads on Google, Facebook, Yahoo, and other sites is a complete waste of your time and money. But, if you get a free coupon for one of those sites, then knock yourself out. I have also advertised on Craigslist and other classifieds all over the States from time to time, and I get the occasional hit to my website from those sites, but I don’t know if they actually result in sales. Mostly, it’s about being visible, and that’s not really a bad thing.

Finally, marketing your novels comes down to hard work, time, and sometimes spending money to make money. There are times you may want to give up, but being persistent will get you and your novels seen, and you’ll see success. These ideas are only some that indie authors may or may not try to promote their books, and it’s really an experience may vary kind of thing.

Interview on 1st Author Interviews

Premium Interview with Cliff Ball Author of ‘The Usurper’

 

Brief summary:
Gary Jackson is raised to hate. Hate the United States, and everything it has ever stood for. His mission is to destroy the United States from within, allying himself with America’s enemies to accomplish the deed. He stops at nothing, and a small group of Americans decide they need to stop him. Will they succeed or will the US be relegated to the dustbin of history?

Excerpt:
“You know who is one of your enemies, Gary?” asked al Hussein.
“No, who?” the boy asked with a bewildered look on his face.
“One of your enemies is your mother. She doesn’t agree with the government controlling peoples’ lives, and she thinks terrorism to control the people is bad. What do you think we should do with her, Gary?” asked Putin.
“My mother is an enemy? But, she could be on our side,” Gary innocently protested.
“We’ve talked about this before, Gary, and you know what you must do,”
“But… but…. I don’t want to do this.”
“Yes, I know, but she will destroy all that we are working for, and all of your future hopes and dreams. Again, I ask you, what should we do to people like her?”
Gary sighed, gulped a couple of times, and said, “The enemy has to die as an example to others not to think for themselves to do what they want. If my mother is an enemy, she must die,”
“Correct response. We need to go visit your mother to see that she is no longer a threat. Let’s go, Gary.” ordered Putin.
A few minutes later, the trio arrived at the house Gary and his mother lived in. They went inside, where Ann was in the kitchen cooking dinner, she heard them come in, went to meet them, saw her son, and went to hug him, but, Gary didn’t hug her back, so she asked, “What’s wrong?”
“You are the enemy, you must be destroyed.” he said as coldly as possible.
Putin handed Gary a Russian made Tokarev TT-33 service pistol, and Gary aimed it at Ann, who was shocked, but knew that this day would come eventually, and thought about how her life had come to this in the brief moments she had left. Gary, who had no expression on his face, but did have hate in his eyes, aimed, and fired point blank at her forehead; giving his mother no time to react. Blood and brain matter spattered everywhere. Ann died instantly, her body falling to the floor with a thud. Gary handed the gun back to Putin, left the room, did his best to suppress any impulse he had to cry, and he was determined to leave this in his past, hopefully to never be dwelled on again.

THE INTERVIEW:
Why did you write this book?
I wanted to write a political thriller for a few years, and I’m into conspiracy theories, so I decided that around 2008 I would write a novel based on some of the conspiracy theories surrounding some of our politicians from about the mid-1960’s onwards. It includes such nutty conspiracies as truthers, birthers, and the idea that one all powerful man controls everything behind the scenes. I thought it would be interesting to see where the main character would go if given unlimited power to do what he wanted to the States.
How did you come up with the title?
I figured the main character pretty much usurps the idea of the American Constitutional Republic by becoming a petty dictator, so the title seemed to make sense.
How did you choose your genre?
Well, genre of Thriller makes sense for this particular novel.
What inspired you to be a writer?
When I was in elementary school, my parents bought me the whole Little House on the Prairie set (I guess because we watched the TV series), and I thought it was cool that Laura was a writer. So, when I was 10, I began writing.
Are you writing another book?
Yes, I am. It’s an alternate history, political thriller, science fiction novel. Basically, the US continues with the moon landings, and announces they’re going to Mars by the end of 1989. The Soviets decide to up the ante by building an interstellar starship of their own, but things go awry once they leave the solar system. In the meantime, terrorism against the US begins earlier than in our own timeline. Al Qaeda suicide bombs the State of the Union in early 80’s, and the new President sends an elite team of Green Berets to take out Osama bin Laden. That’s about as far as I’ve written, but I plan on having the US & Russians team up to launch a starship out of the solar system, where they find an anomaly, and find the long lost Soviet ship on a planet not previously known to humans. Unfortunately, the planet has some very dark secrets….. (vampires? zombies? ghosts? demons? dragons? I haven’t decided yet! lol)
Question usually asked from readers: Why should I read this? This sounds like what we’re going through now.
My answer: Sure there are similarities, but everyone only thinks they know this story. Sometimes, a book you normally wouldn’t read or are skeptical of, usually turns into something you enjoy a lot. Some of my reviews have reflected that. All I ask is that readers give it a chance.

Book Title: The Usurper
Publisher: CreateSpace
Author: Cliff Ball
Genre: Thriller
Amazon [Paperback]: The Usurper
Kindle: The Usurper
Smashwords: The Usurper
Author’s Website: http://cliffball.webs.com/
Author’s Blog: http://cliffball.net/
Author’s Twitter: http://twitter.com/cliff_ball

My sales for year so far

When I started self-publishing in 2008, I didn’t really have any kind of goals on how big of a number I wanted to reach. When I hit 100 sold by the end of 2009 without any promoting except for Facebook, I thought that was cool. When I managed to get a little over 500 sold last year, I thought that was awesome. Well, as of September 2011, I have now reached 2000 sold for the year so far, and I’m only 200 away from reaching 3000 sales.  Earlier in the year, around March, for some inexplicable reason to me, my sales took off on both Amazon and B&N at 400 combined a month mostly for one title, but, just as inexplicably, two months later, I went back to selling maybe 30 a month. I can’t explain that, but, boy, do I wish I knew how I manage to attract that many readers.  Well, anyway, here’s the totals as of right now, from 2008 until now, on each platform for each book. My paperback sales are listed under the publisher I used. Links to each novel are located at each novel’s page at the top of this blog or at http://cliffball.webs.com.

Amazon Kindle, combo of US & UK
Out of Time – 317
Don’t Mess With Earth – 703
The Usurper – 294
Shattered Earth – 260
Voyager and the Aliens short story – 1 (uploaded this week)

Barnes & Noble Nook
Out of Time – 53
Don’t Mess With Earth – 163
The Usurper – 49
Shattered Earth – 33

Kobo
Out of Time – 32
Don’t Mess With Earth – 5
The Usurper – 3
Shattered Earth – 5

Apple
Out of Time – 53
Don’t Mess With Earth – 19
The Usurper – 2
Shattered Earth – 62

Sony Reader
Out of Time – 4
Don’t Mess With Earth – 3
The Usurper – 0
Shattered Earth – 2

Smashwords
Out of Time – 32
Don’t Mess With Earth – 97
The Usurper – 160
Shattered Earth – 173
Voyager and the Aliens – 98

iUniverse, the original publisher of Out of Time
Out of Time paperback or e-book – 55

Virtualbookworm.com, publisher of Don’t Mess With Earth
Don’t Mess With Earth paperback – 62

Createspace
Out of Time – 7
The Usurper – 24
Shattered Earth – 20

and when I used Lulu.com for a couple of months:
Out of Time – 3
The Usurper – 1

To re-cap the grand totals:
Out of Time: 551
Don’t Mess With Earth – 1056
The Usurper – 532
Shattered Earth – 558
Voyager and the Aliens – 99

Sales numbers for February and $.99 ebook sale

First off, I have reduced the prices to all 4 of my novels to $.99 on all ebook formats for the month of March, Smashwords, B&N Nook, and Amazon US, and Amazon UK. I’m also happy to report that I’m nearing the 1000 sold overall mark, which, as of right this minute, I’m one away. So, a big thank you to anyone who has bought any of my novels.

Here are the sales stats for each title and what platform:
THE USURPER
sold 3 paperbacks
Amazon US: 24
UK Kindle: 2
B&N Nook: 6
Smashwords: 45
Was also featured this month on: Daily Cheap Reads, No Trees Harmed, Karly Kirkpatrick’s Bookaday, and Kindle in the Wind

OUT OF TIME
Amazon US: 14
Amazon UK: 15
B&N Nook: 9

DON’T MESS WITH EARTH
Amazon US: 21
Amazon UK: 8
B&N Nook: 10

SHATTERED EARTH
Amazon US: 7
Amazon UK: 1
B&N Nook: 4
Smashwords: 1

For a grand total of (drum roll please)… 174!

Thanks again to anyone who buys a copy, and please share with all your social networking pals… lol

18 Ways to Help a Book Author You Love

Reposted from http://hipriestess.com/writers-resources/

18 Ways to Help a Book Author You Love

Eileen Flanagan, author of The Wisdom to Know the Difference, wrote a blog post about a year ago telling friends of book authors how they could help the author sell more books. You can read her blog post here: http://bit.ly/9v5TgA.

I thought I’d include some of the highlights of her help list, add my own comments, and provide a few more ways that friends can help book authors to sell more books.

If you have a friend who is a book author, please use these suggestions to help them out. If you are a book author, please share this page with your friends (so they can help you out).

1. Buy your friend’s book. Encourage other friends to buy the book. Go to your local library or bookstore and encourage them to buy the book. Buy books as gifts.

2. Don’t put off buying the book. Don’t wait for the holidays to buy the book as a gift. First, the sooner you buy, the more confidence you’ll inspire in your friend. Second, media and other decision makers pick up on a book based on the momentum the book inspires. The more sales at the beginning of the book’s life, the more attention it will get from key decision makers, the media, and consumers.

3. Where should you buy the book? First choice: the indie bookstore nearest you (that will help your friend get her book into that store on a regular basis). Second choice: a chain bookstore like Borders or Barnes & Noble (if they start selling the book locally, they might buy books for more stores in the chain). Third choice: the author’s website (the author makes the most money when selling direct). Fourth choice: buy direct from the author. Fifth choice: Buy from Amazon.com (preferably from the link on the author’s website).

4. Recommend your friend’s book. If you like the book, recommend it to friends. Blog about it. Tweet a review or mention. Share a note on Facebook. Recommend the book to your book group. Review her book on Amazon.com, BN.com, GoodReads, Library Thing, and other reader social networks.

5. Tell your friend what you like about the book. Provide your friend with support by telling him something you like about his book. Was it a good read? Did it move you to tears or laughter? Did you learn something new?

6. Help your friend get speaking engagements. If your friend is comfortable speaking, recommend your friend to your Rotary Club, Jaycees, church, Friends of the Library, bookseller, garden club, school, etc.

7. Recommend your friend’s website. Link to it from your website, blog, Facebook page, etc. Tweet about it. When your friend writes a blog post, link to it. If your friend tweets something great, retweet it. Feature a quote from your friend’s book on your website. Or tweet the quote.

8. Create a Wikipedia page for your friend. While authors can’t create their own Wikipedia page, other people can. Every book author deserves a Wikipedia page, since a published book grants the author at least a modicum of fame. On the Wikipedia page, feature a short bio, a bibliography, a link to the author’s website.

9. Help your friend with the media. If you know of any newspaper editors or reporters, magazine editors, radio producers or hosts, TV show hosts or producers, columnists, bloggers, etc., send them a copy of the book or a note about the author. Or tell your friend about your connection, and introduce her to your contact.

10. Pray. Prayer always helps. Pray for your friend and his book. If you’re not into prayer, ask your favorite tree to help.

11. Ask. Ask your friend how you can help her. You may have some talent, connection, specialized knowledge, etc. that might be just the thing she needs. Or they might just need some of your time to help pack and ship some books or make a few phone calls.

12. Do a video review of the book and post it on YouTube and other video sharing websites.

13. Help your friend make some videos for the book. Every author needs a cameraperson, a scriptwriter, a producer. Again, share on YouTube and other video sharing websites.

14. Look for specialty retailers. As you drive around your own hometown or a nearby larger city, keep on the lookout for specialty retailers that might be interested in selling your friend’s books. Cookbooks in gourmet shows, do-it-yourself books in hardware stores, children’s books in toy stores, art or history books at museum shops. Make the contacts yourself or pass them on to your friend to follow up.

15. Look for other sales venues. If your friend’s book is about retirement, check out accountants, tax lawyers, etc. who might be interested in buying copies to give to their clients. Health books, children’s books, and cookbooks might interest doctor and dentist offices. Health clubs might be interested in exercise or diet books. Again, make the contacts yourself or pass them on to your friend to follow up.

16. Suggest catalogs, associations, and other special sales opportunities. If you receive mail order catalogs that feature books like your friend’s book, tell her abour the catalog. The same with associations, groups, corporations, etc. that might be interested in buying bulk copies of your friend’s book.

17. Help them sell rights. If your friend’s novel would make a great movie and you have a connection to an A-list actor or producer who might be interested in making the movie, introduce your friend to your connection. The same with TV producers, audio publishers, agents, etc.

January’s sales numbers

Here are my sales numbers for the month of January. Thanks to being on Kindle Nation Daily at the beginning of January, I surpassed my goals for the month. I sold 197 copies altogether of my three novels, and I was only expecting to sell maybe 100. Here are the stats from Amazon and B&N:

The Usurper, my thriller novel for $2.99 as an ebook, $9.99 as paperback
Kindle US: 104
Kindle UK: 4
B&N Nook: 13
Paperback: 1

Out of Time: a time travel novella for $.99 as e-book, $6.99 for paperback
Kindle US: 28
Kindle UK: 14
B&N Nook: 4
Paperback: 1

Shattered Earth, a science fiction novel $2.99 as ebook, $12.99 as paperback
Kindle US: 19
Kindle UK: 2
B&N Nook: 6
Paperback: 1

So far, this brings the grand total of novels sold to 800. My goal is to have 1000 sold by the end of March.

Character interview from The Usurper

Syria Evans asked authors to submit interview questions for their characters. I chose Gary Jackson, and he gave the following interview (re-posted from Syriasays.com)

Syria Says: How did you first meet your writer?

Gary: He was very persistent, I’ll give him that. He popped up in all sorts of places, and I kept refusing to be interviewed, but I don’t remember the very first time I met him. I do clearly remember that he finally cornered me on Air Force One, and since we were 30,000 feet in the air, he wouldn’t take no for an answer. I briefly considered having the Secret Service throw him off the plane.

Syria Says: Did you ever think that your life would end up being in a book?

Gary: Of course not. Everything about me is supposed to be classified.

Syria Says: What are your favorite scenes in your book: action, dialog, romance?

Gary: My favorite scenes are when people cower in fear of me, and I get to throw my weight around. I love my power.

Syria Says: Did you have a hard time convincing your author to write any particular scenes for you?

Gary: I had a hard time convincing him to show me in a good light. For some reason, he wrote me as this totally evil and cold bad guy. I’m just misunderstood is all..

Syria Says: Do you infiltrate your writer’s dreams?

Gary: Only to haunt him for turning me into such a bad guy. Wherever he sleeps, I will always be there.

Syria Says: What do you like to do when you are not being actively read somewhere?

Gary: I like plotting to take over the rest of the world.

Syria Says: Are you currently engaged in a relationship?

Gary: Yes, I’m married.

Syria Says: Are you happy with the genre your writer has placed you in? A political thriller?

Gary: Sure. At least it isn’t a non-fiction novel, because I don’t think anyone would seriously believe that all the stuff I did would happen in real life.

Syria Says: If you could rewrite anything in your book, what would it be?

Gary: I would re-write everything. I mean, the author portrayed me as an evil, cold, and power hungry bad guy, when I’m just misunderstood. I’m not that bad.

Syria Says: Do you like the way the book ended?

Gary: No, not really, but if you ask the protagonist, I’m sure he wouldn’t like it either.

Syria Says: Would you be interested in a sequel if your writer was so inclined?

Gary: I don’t think he would be so inclined. I’m sure I could convince a different writer to write a sequel that will tell my side of the story that doesn’t make me look so bad.

Syria Says: Do you believe that you are suitable portrayed in electronic books or would you rather be in paperback only?

Gary: I’d rather not be portrayed in any kind of format, but, if you insist on an answer, I’ll say electronic books. Who reads paperbacks these days?

Syria Says: Did you have any input into the book cover design?

Gary: No, of course not. Why would I get that kind of input?

Syria Says: What is the lamest characteristic your writer has attributed to you?

Gary: Lamest? Hmmm…. I was never such a cute little boy. I was properly trained from childhood to be who I am today, not the little wimp that I was portrayed as.

Syria Says: If you could give yourself a superpower, what would you choose?

Gary: Young lady, what a silly question. Does Lex Luthor have a superpower? I didn’t think so.

Moment With Mystee Interview

This is today’s post from the blog Moment With Mystee. It’s an interview I did with her:

As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?
Baseball player, track star, or writer. I lack athletic skills, having had asthma, so I went with writer.

What inspired you to write your first book?
One day when I was 15, during Spring Break I sat down at a typewriter and began to write a world war 3 kind of story. I never finished it, but something in me wanted to start writing a novel. So, I’m not sure what inspired it.

Do you have a specific writing style?
I don’t think I do.

How has your environment/upbringing colored your writing?
I was raised in a Christian home, and I’m still a Christian, so I would say it has colored my writing.

How did you come up with the title for your book(s)?
They just pop up as an idea, and I go with it.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
I find writing realistic dialog to be challenging, and everyone comments to me about how my dialog needs to be more realistic.

Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work?
I like Harry Turtledove, because I like alternate history. I first came across his work when I picked up Guns of the South, and I found it intriguing how he made the history seem real. From aliens invading during WW2 to a bunch of fishermen finding “Atlantis” in the Atlantic (which is the broken off eastern half of the US) before 1492, and then turning it into an alternate version of US history. I guess I’m a nerd, because I love to read that stuff.

If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?
Nice thing about an Indie author, I can go back and change a few things that I might be unhappy with. If I get a review pointing out something that seems to pop up in other reviews, then I can also go back and fix it.

Where do you hope to take your writing in the future?
I don’t have a plan, I just figured I’ll go with the flow.

What advice would you give to writers just starting out?
Make sure its something you really want to do, because it can take years for you to break through, or you could be lucky and be a bestselling author within months. Don’t quit your day job though.

Do you ever suffer from writer’s block? If so, what do you do about it? I definitely suffer from writer’s block. Most of the time, if I can’t think of anything to write next, I set it aside until something pops up in my mind, and then I go from there.

How did you deal with rejection letters? I’m an indie author, I don’t do rejection letters. With Kindle, Nook, Smashwords, Createspace, etc, you can completely bypass the old dinosaur media/publishers.

What, in your opinion, are the most important elements of good writing?
Grammar, punctuation, great dialog, and an engaging storyline.

How do you develop your plots and characters? Do you use any set formula?
I write down a plot, and try to flesh it out before I put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard. I develop the characters as I’m writing the story.

What tools do you feel are must-haves for writers?
Read anything you can on plot, structure, writing good characters, beginnings, middles, and endings, self-editing, and if you’re in a particular genre, read a book about the genre by a famous author of that genre. Orson Scott Card, for example, has a How To Write Science Fiction & Fantasy book.

How long does it take you to write a book?
It really depends. My very first novella took me more than 5 years to get all my thoughts together, and that was only 30k words. My 2nd novel took 6 months, my 3rd took about 4 months.

Can you share a little of your current work with us?
I’m working on an alternate history where the US elects a different president in 1976, he continues with the moon landings, putting a base on the moon in 1979. Then he wants a Mars Base by 1989, but, he gets assassinated in 1981 by terrorists because he reacts completely differently to the Iran Hostage Crisis in 1979. In the meantime, the Russians want to one-up the US, so they build an interstellar starship, but that ends up with problems of its own. I try to have history follow a slightly similar path. Instead of the WTC in 1993 nearly getting blown up, a cargo ship to Mars gets blown up, as its going into space. In 2001, the space station is attacked and destroyed. Eventually, the Russians and the US team up to build an interstellar starship after taking care of the problem with the terrorists, and head out of the galaxy. They find something interesting when they’re 2 light years out.

What is the last book you read? I’m pursuing a 2nd BA, so probably a textbook.

If you could be any character in fiction, whom would you be? Jack Ryan from Tom Clancy’s novels. He’s always put into these really interesting positions, from helping Rasmus defect with the Red October to being thrust into being the President of the United States after a plane destroys Congress during the State of the Union.

Tell us about one of your worst habit or quality?
I’m not focused enough, I get distracted easily.

How do you tackle stress and define stress?
When I’m stressed out, I get migraines. I try to de-stress out by playing a video game. I don’t know if I can define stress, but, I definitely know when I’m stressed out.

What would I find in your refrigerator right now?
Coca-Cola, Ham for sandwiches, and a bunch of frozen microwavable food. (I’m a single guy, what do you expect? lol)

If you could trade places with any other person for a week, famous or not famous, living or dead, real or fictional. with whom would it be?
I like being me, I don’t want to trade places with anyone.

What was the last movie you went to see?
I think it was Iron Man 2, or Toy Story 3. I know it was one of those! ha ha Now, I’d change that to “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader”

If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be?
I’d rather be the person who runs Watchtower in the DC universe, you can order the superheroes around.

Finally, you know there’s a HUGE work up on Vampires lately. So, Vampire Diaries, True Blood or Twilight and why?
Lame! How about Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She’d kick all those vampires butts, well slay them anyway, and say something sarcastic while doing it. I’d rather watch a 70+ year old black and white vampire movie starring Bela Lugosi than Twilight.

http://bloginterviewer.com/interviews/a-moment-with-mystee-author-interview-crescent-varrone

December sales numbers

I did this last month, so I figured I would do it again this month for December. This is for Smashwords itself, Nook, Kindle, and a couple of paperbacks. This is all without much in the way of paying for ads, or being on blog tours, just mostly from word of mouth across Facebook, Amazon, the Kindleboards, Nookboards, Mobilereads, and probably all the mentions I overdid with Twitter, and the occasional sponsorship such as Frugal eReader or Two Ends of the Pen, or interview on some blogs. I did pay for the Kindle Nation Daily sponsorship, and even though it was just yesterday, I did sell 50 on Kindle in that one day.

Sales for December:
2 paperbacks for The Usurper and Out of Time

Barnes and Noble’s Nook
The Usurper: 11
Out of Time – 15
Shattered Earth 7

Kindle US
Out of Time – 24
Shattered Earth – 12
The Usurper – 22

Kindle UK
Out of Time – 9
Shattered Earth – 2
The Usurper – 1

Smashwords
The Usurper – 6
Out of Time – 2
Shattered Earth – 1

This equals 112 sold. That’s almost double from November, and I’m trying to make it my goal to double my sales every month, or at least try to equal them. My total sales from 2008 to present currently sits at 25, 475. I’m hoping to break the 1000 sales mark by March.

Heroes & Villains – Part 5 – Article from Red Adept Reviews

This was posted on Red Adept Reviews site. Since I’m included in this particular post, I thought I’d share it on my blog, even though it was from a few days ago.

From the site:

For this article series, I asked authors the following questions:

Does your book contain a “Hero” and a “Villain”?

Are they based on yourself, someone you love/hate, or just from your imagination?

Is your hero perfect or flawed?

Is your villain inherently evil? Does he/she have any redeeming qualities?

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Consuelo Saah Baehr, author of Best Friends:

When we think of a villain, we think of the murderer or the thief or the mastermind of a deadly scheme. In my novel, there is an unlikely villain: Alden starts out as a psychological meanie who punishes his wife and child by being distant and cold. He deteriorates into a dangerous psychotic who goes haywire. Alden is not a charming villain and it’s hard to like any part of him. However he fulfills his dramatic purpose in the book brilliantly. If the characters have a destiny they must fulfill, they all need Alden to help them get there.

The most clearly defined hero in the novel is a little boy, Jeremy. He remains loyal and loving to a distant father (at great personal cost) and to his emotionally stunted mother and even to his captor. All of these people are from my imagination although the general plot is based on the few years I lived in a posh area where old money, old estates and their bizarre inhabitants were plentiful.

Readers will be left with mixed feelings about Alden. They will understand that his behavior is pivotal and appropriate to the plot and in that sense they will be satisfied.

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Cliff Ball, author The Usurper:

Does your book contain a “Hero” and a “Villain”?

Gary Jackson is the ‘villain’ in the novel, mostly because he was raised to be one from birth. However, as an adult, he is given a choice to continue with his mission, and decides to go ahead and keep doing what he was raised to do. He makes it his sole mission to destroy the US no matter what, even wanting to betray those who have helped him rise to power.

The hero is Dale Stewart. He is in the military, but, when the military is disbanded for the most part, he is forced to join the new version called the Civilian Defense Force. He follows orders without question for a while until he starts seeing stuff that is contrary to how the government is supposed to treat its citizens. He switches sides, and then supports the resistance movement.

Are they based on yourself, someone you love/hate, or just from your imagination?

Gary Jackson is based on fears of what would happen if the United States ended up with someone as a leader who wasn’t what they seemed, and his colors are finally shown when he is sworn into office. Not based on anyone in particular, but he and the hero are based out of my imagination.

Is your hero perfect or flawed?
Dale isn’t perfect, he just wants to survive and do what he’s told at first. Later, when he sees what blind loyalty will do, he makes a decision to resist.

Is your villain inherently evil? Does he/she have any redeeming qualities?

He was raised to be evil, at least from our point of view. I gave him no redeeming qualities, because I wanted people to dislike the character.

After reading your book, how do you want readers to feel about your hero and villain? They’re welcome to feel however they want towards either character. I would like them to see that something like what the villain does could be a possibility, or it might never be a possibility.

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Jasmine Giacomo, author of The Wicked Heroine:

Does your book contain a “Hero” and a “Villain”?

Yes. My villain, Onix Oolat, Hand of Power of the Cult of Dzur i’Oth, does not see himself as evil, but as a savior who is willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish his grand plans for the world. My heroine, known usually as Meena, but having many names throughout the eras of the book, is the opposite. She’s crotchety, irreverent, secretive and rude to authority figures, and doesn’t see herself as anything other than a cursed woman trying to balance the scales of history…by doing whatever it takes.

Are they based on yourself, someone you love/hate, or just from your imagination?

They’re entirely fictional and not based on anyone. I got all my Mary-Sue-ness out of my characters during the last millennium, and real life villains don’t deserve my free publicity.

Is your hero perfect or flawed?

Truly, madly, deeply flawed. Yet, as my heroine, she must struggle onward nonetheless.

Is your villain inherently evil? Does he/she have any redeeming qualities?

No. He used to be a fisherman’s son, just a common lad with common desires. Once he tasted the power of magic, and he learned of his homeland’s true legacy, he devoted the rest of his life–and the lives of countless innocent victims–to rising to power within the secretive cult and to restoring Shanal to the glorious seat of magical power it once was. He’s been altered, shaped unknowingly, by the many magics he has stolen from others, though, and there is barely any humanity left in him. As with most irredeemable villains, Oolat has within him the seeds of his own destruction.

After reading your book, how do you want readers to feel about your hero and villain?

Meena is brusque and manipulative, but also capable of caring about the fates of others. Oolat rules by fear and desires power, and does not care for anyone else. With that slim distinction, there is a lot these two have in common…except that they are on opposite sides of a centuries-old conflict. I would want readers to find that distinction, and see that Meena strives hard to hold to her humanity when she has many reasons to discard it, while Oolat has sacrificed his in pursuit of his goals, never recognizing its true value. The choices we make when the world shreds around us are what keep us human.