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Done!

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Thank you, NaNoWriMo. Today, I finally wrapped up Jefferson’s Road: God And Country. I have to admit, the ending didn’t quite go down the way I thought it would. I’m a little concerned that it might be too anticlimactic, at least in its present iteration. That being said, I’m done for the night, at least.

I’ll let it simmer a day or two and then take a look. Maybe I’ll spy some other way to conclude this particular chapter. I know so many of you are so invested and hooked onto the story, I don’t want to disappoint!

There are only two books left after this (yes, I know exactly how the series ends), and I’m reasonably confident I can get there in time. But for whatever reason, this book just feels… done.  I don’t know how else to describe it. The major conflict of the story is resolved, even though there are some loose ends that will carry over into the next book – and even form the heart of the plot line there.

At present, however, it’s the first book in the series not to end with a major hook. I haven’t decided if that’s good or bad. In the meantime, though, I’m going to bed. I have work in the morning, and then a lovely weekend home with the fam.

Later!

Ow.

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So I was spending the afternoon painting the front of the house, trying to get the last bit in before the weather turns to cold for it (below 50°), and I’ve been using my children’s old play set as a scaffolding. Probably not the brightest idea I’ve ever had, but certainly not the dumbest.

I know this for a fact.

The dumbest idea, of late, is stepping out on the side beam of the “scaffolding” to reach that last little bit of siding – a space about two feet long by one foot tall. The beam was held together by a pair of drywall screws through the thinnest part of the wood, not the big old lag bolts that tied the rest of this structure together.

Did you catch the past tense there? Oh yeah. Those screws aren’t doing a bit of good now. Mercifully, the pine bush broke most of my fall, so I didn’t completely bash my skull in on one of the concrete drainpipe receptacles we’ve got at every the corner of the house. No, not completely. Just a little bit. Torqued my shoulder pretty good, too. And tore some skin off my, ankle, and back.

What fun.

So here I am, cleaned up and polysporined half to death, sick and tired of the ice packs on the back of my noggin, and assuring the family that I don’t need to go to the hospital, ’cause there just ain’t no cure for stupid. At any rate, I hope to get some writing done. But if it stops making sense, it might be a signal that I should go to urgent care. Not my idea of a good way to spend the evening.

At any rate, that’s my day so far.

Recovering From Some Changes…

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So after a major life change in my family, I’m back to writing again. Two pretty large events totally threw me off pace this past September. Even mentioning them in the context of writing feels a little out of place, and I don’t want you to think that I don’t regard these events as highly significant. The first was the passing of my mother-in-law. It was expected and yet unexpected. She’d been suffering from a debilitating disease, and yet when the time came, it took us all by surprise.

Naturally, I didn’t do any real writing during this time. Just a couple hundred words or so when things settled in the evenings, and there wasn’t anything better to do.

The second event was a new job, which I am just now starting to settle into. I’ve been promoted to an assistant manager of a new house. Actually, it’s a new house with new guys and new staff: Yikes! My company rarely does this, but this was a special opportunity. Nevertheless, it’s been marvelously chaotic as we learn to adapt to new responsibilities and new routines. Finally, this week, my work schedule seems to have settled down to a dull roar, and we’ve grown more comfortable with the new guys to not be quite so stressed out as before.

Still, this morning met the third day when I have successfully reached my 2k word goal. I’ve had to let go of two projects–Nicholas and the next Jonathan Munro Adventure, both of which were falling behind as it is. Nicholas, being a Christmas story, is better released next October. And since the second Jon Munro book, The Elixir of Life, hasn’t come out yet (November!), it’s okay to hold on to it until we reach the new year. This does put me back a bit on those projects, however.

On a positive note, however, this does mean I should be able to finish the remaining four books in plenty of time, even going over my typical word count if need be. Jefferson’s Road: God and Country, Descent, A Glass Half-Empty, and The Blood-Eater Coven are all past 40k words and still climbing. I have hope that, maintaining the 2k word goal, I’ll have these books done, perhaps in time for Christmas.

200,000

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Okay, so this post is a few days overdue. Sue me. On September 5, 2013, I broke the 200,000 mark for the first time in a single year. I’d love to say that was 200,000 books sold, but it ain’t. It’s my word count since February 15th. The actual count (as of this moment) is 204,644, with another 1200 words to go to make this evening’s quota.

Of those 200K words, more than half were written since July, when I knuckled down and started trying to crank out 2k words per day. My actual average is around 1500, but better to aim for the moon than for the streetlight. At this pace, I should easily be able to write and finish between six and seven novels per year. Naturally, I’m hoping for more.
My six WIP’s are all closing in on 40K words (half done). The average is 37,400. I don’t think I’ll actually finish all six this year, but there’s a real good chance of knocking four of them out of the park.

The only one that sorta befuddles me on that point is Nicholas. Since this is a Christmas story, I’d sorta like to have it done by November at the latest, but it doesn’t look like I’m going to make it. I’ll finish it regardless, but it’ll just have to wait until next Fall before I release it. Probably right around the time you first begin to see Christmas sales going up.

In the meantime, I’ve worked out a schedule for next year’s books. I’m going to do the fifth Jefferson’s Road book, another Janelle Becker novel, and the second book in the New World Order series. I’m also going to work on a set of three novels that comprise a new series called “The Issachar Initiative.” These will be spy-thrillers about an off-book black ops organization responding to problems around the world. I’ll tell you more about it once I begin work on the project. I hope to cannabalize one of my half-written books for this purpose, and retask an outlined book for the same, and then write a third one as I’m working up the first two. I’ve never tried to write three books in the same series at the same time before, so it should be interesting. Regardless, I expect to release them rather close together.

At any rate, you can look for Jefferson’s Road: God And Country, Descent, A Glass Half-Empty, and The Blood-Eater Coven (Book 2 of The Dragon’s Eye Cycle) sometime early next year. I’ll also be wrapping up a third Jonathan Munro Adventure, as well as Nicholas for the 2014 schedule. And, of course, the second Jonathan Munro book comes out from Ellechor this November.

Okay. Enough updating. Back to work!

Of Cliffhangers, Free Books, and Cheap B*stards…

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I posted this earlier on AuthorCulture, and thought it worth reposting here:

This isn’t at all the post I imagined I’d be writing, but it’s weighed on my mind for the past two days so heavily I haven’t thought of much else in my spare time.

Recently, I made the first book in my Jefferson’s Road series permanently free. I am told by many on kboards.com and other kindle-centered sites that this is a particularly effective marketing strategy employed by many authors to entice readers into trying a series. And indeed, nothing sells quite like free. Since going free, my book has been downloaded almost six hundred times (not just Amazon), and I’ve seen an uptick in sales of the other books in the series. And everything was going along swimmingly, until I received the following review:

I get it. Authors write books to sell and make money from their sale. This author can not be blamed for his effort, his writing abilities, or his product. I very much enjoyed the partial book I just finished but his total overt intention was for the readers to buy the next partial book, the next partial book and the next and so on. Most writers do this but Kindle editions are becoming less than desired due to this process. This partial book would have received 4-5 stars except for the presentation of the alleged ending. Sadly, the author’s interest was more in selling his next book than providing enjoyment. I will not fall for it by buying the entire story.

He left me 1 star.

1 star?!! On a book he so clearly believes deserves a 4 or 5?

What really incensed me is this term “partial book,” as if somehow, I did not bring Jefferson’s Road: The Spirit of Resistance (shameless marketing plug and link inserted) to a full, complete, and satisfying ending.

Which is simply not true. Now, this is what I wrote in response:

Partial book? Seriously? You get a book for free, and then complain because why, the rest of the story isn’t free as well? I tell you what: go to my website and contact me directly through the contact form. I will GIVE you the next two book in the series. But don’t call these partials. It’d be like calling the first season of a TV show incomplete because they wanted to make a second season. Book one can and does stand on its own, but the story can and does continue on from there.

The thing is, the Jefferson’s Road books are cliffhangers. Each one is designed to end on a massive plot hook that carries you into the next installment. That’s the point of the cliffhanger. It is a completely legitimate and rather ancient art form, dating at least as far back as Scheherazade in 1001 Arabian Nights. Now, in Scheherazade’s case, she wasn’t employing a marketing strategy or trying to sell anything. She was simply trying to stay alive one more night. Her goal was to live one more day, and over time, to make the all-powerful sultan fall in love with her.

Frankly, as a writer, I’m doing the same thing. I’m trying to survive one more day in the cutthroat world of fiction, and hoping to make the all-powerful reader fall in love with me. I don’t want the reader’s money (per se: because let’s be honest, I am trying to earn some dough) as much as I want the reader’s heart.

My goal is simply to make the reader say, “I read all six books practically in one sitting, and I simply could not put them down!” as has happened a few times already.

I believe this reviewer would not have given me 1 star if I made the rest of the series free as well. The books each run well over 300 pages, and they take some time to write. That’s why I haven’t released it as one single, massively long narrative (who am I? George R.R. Martin?). If I had, I seriously doubt I’d have as many readers as I do. Think it has something to do with short attention spans, or people not wanting to give that much time commitment to a new, unheard of author.

Which means, to me at least, this reviewer’s chief complaint is that I dared ask him for a couple of bucks, as if selling books is somehow distasteful. Actually, that’s not right, either. I didn’t ask him for anything. I made a book available for free, which he chose to pick up of his own free will. And he liked it, too. But now he wants the rest free as well? Maybe some day, when I don’t need book sales of a single series to help me make my grocery bill, I can offer the entire thing for free and just let the readers enjoy. But for now, I just want to scream,

“Hey buddy! Amazon is a BOOK STORE, not a LIBRARY!”

Just a dip on the weekend…

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After a slight dip over the weekend, it looks like Jefferson’s Road is back out on top again. Here’s the rank:

This is essentially where we were on Friday, going into the weekend. I had suspected there’d be a drop off. Now we’re back to where we were. I don’t know whether or not we’ll keep on climbing, but I hope so! 🙂

We’ve given away almost three hundred copies since going free. I’m sure that’ll keep climbing as well, but it’s good to know the readership is growing.

I hope you guys like the series!

Moving Forward

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I don’t know if it’s because of the weekend, or if it’s due to the initial climb plateauing and starting to fall, but the book appears to have levelled off in the rankings, with a slight decline down to #1655 in overall rankings, #6 in Political and #55 in Action & Adventure.  Nevertheless, I’m not concerned. Like I said, I’m looking for real readers here, not just people stuffing their kindles with freebies. I’m not complaining either way. Frankly, it’s nice to know people give my book the time of day, and I appreciate all those who’ve downloaded a copy.

And people are still dowloading it. Some others may be climbing faster, but that’s okay.

In the meantime, I’m still working on all six WIPs, and they have each crossed the 30K threshold as of this afternoon. Here’s the latest breakdown of my word counts:

Descent 33,902
God and Country 31,261
The Blood-Eater Coven 30,700
A Glass Half-Empty 30,252
Nicholas 30,165
The Music of The Spheres 30,063
 

Total All Six Books:

  

186,343

So, as you can see, I’m making serious progress. And for those who’ve grabbed the first three Jefferson’s Road books already, have no fear: the fourth will be out soon (likely end of the year, or early 2014).

And still… climbing!

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Final post of the evening for The Spirit of Resistance.  The book is still climbing in the rankings without me doing a thing to promote it. Here are the latest stats from Amazon:

As you can see, we’ve put a serious dent in the rankings over all, let alone for the Action & Adventure and Political genres. As of this evening, I’ve also recorded my first follow up sales (or what I suspect are follow up sales) for both Patriots and Tyrants and The Tree of Liberty. I now show purchases both at Amazon and at Barnes and Noble. I’m confident Apple may have something to report as well, but they haven’t shown up just as yet.

The book, of course, is perma-free, so it will either climb or drop in the rankings on a day to day basis. I may, from time to time, give it a little boost through a facebook post on one of the many “Hey my book is free!” pages (and there are a ton of them!), but my main goal, of course, is to acquire people genuinely interested in the story (ie: readers, not just kindle stuffers), who will continue with it through the next five books in the series, which is why I have not done any real promotion other than to make the first book free. And yes, I will get my butt in gear and work hard on finishing book 4. I’ve passed 30K words now, so still not half done, but better than a third, at least.

For now, at least, it looks like the strategy is working. And that feels pretty darn good.

Still climbing…

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It is now almost 5:30 pm EST. The Spirit of Resistance is still climbing in the rankings. Again, I’m doing no promotion (except mentioning it here, of course).

Here are the latest stats:

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,014 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)

Anyone clicking on the links at the end will be taken to the “Top 100 Paid” sites. You’ll  have to select “Top 100 Free” right beside it to find my book in its respective categories.

I’m wondering if I can break the Top 10 in Action & Adventure.

Still climbing the rankings

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Again, outside of the post I made yesterday, I’ve done no promotion or marketing for The Spirit of Resistance. I’ve only made it free on Amazon. As of 12:30 this afternoon, I am now #6 in Free Political Fiction and #3,721 in Free overall. See below:

Not too shabby, all things considered. I’m still hoping and praying that those who grab a copy and like it will pick up the rest of the series. And I’ll probably make some announcements on the free facebook sites I know of soon. But for now, it’s interesting to watch the returns.