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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Canderous and Cade's Crazy Cantina: a shiny new fanfiction social thread!

Discussion in 'Fan Fiction and Writing Resource' started by Commander-DWH, Aug 31, 2012.

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  1. Dantana Skywalker

    Dantana Skywalker Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Apr 7, 2002
    I'm not enjoying my day so much. So far, I've had a tech support person imply I'm an idiot who can't remember their password. The problem is that there's something funky with the connection to my e-mail server, in which my mail client can't connect to their server to authenticate, but I can log in with my unchanged password to their webmail interface. If the password were one I'd forgotten or changed, why does it work to log in on the web mail?

    ETA: And, oh, look, without me changing any settings on my end, my e-mail is suddenly working for the first time in three days. I KNEW it wasn't something on my end. Stupid tech person.
     
  2. moosemousse

    moosemousse CR Emeritus: FF-UK South star 6

    Registered:
    Oct 3, 2004
    Nice! Thanks for the tips!

    Also *hugs*! Hope you get better quickly!
     
  3. TrakNar

    TrakNar Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 4, 2011
    I hope I feel better soon, too, as I have a diary to update and right now, I lack the energy to do anything. Woke up with a fever of 101, and it's been pretty steady since. Sore throat is worse, and I'm getting chills often, and my neck is stiff. Blargh. May end up spending tomorrow in bed, again.

    Note to self: When others are sick and I'm not, don't ever do that display of hubris again. Karma has a knack for coming back and kicking me right in the ass.
     
  4. Ceillean

    Ceillean Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Nov 13, 2001
    I was going through the pros and cons about self publishing this morning and then I asked myself: how's the best way to promote your book? You have to make yourself known somehow.
    I think Facebook is a pretty good way to start. And then blogging maybe and definitely become a member in various writing groups.
    Any other ideas?
     
  5. Iverna

    Iverna Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Feb 20, 2008
    I know a fairly successful self-published author who's had a really good experience with making the first part of her story available for free. It's not a complete novel, it's more like she broke an entire novel into a few parts and published them separately as she went, sort of like we do here I guess. She made the first part available for free, it got popular, and people bought the rest then. Not everyone, but a reasonable amount. So that's a thought, I think. People love free stuff, especially on the 'net, it's a great promotional tool. Mind you, hers is YA vampire romance stuff so that's probably another reason why it's doing well.

    The writing groups thing honestly never made much sense to me. For improving your writing and getting tips, sure, and for networking with other writers and help give each other exposure, sure, but I still think that if you want to sell books, you should focus your promotion on readers and interacting with people who are interested in what you write.

    Honestly, I think the free stuff approach is probably the single most effective one. When you create something good and give it away for free, oftentimes people will pay you for it anyway. My word tracking spreadsheets are free, but people love them, and I opened up donations a while back and people immediately started sending me money, so yeah. Same thing with webcomics and stuff like Red vs Blue. They're free online, but people will buy the hard copies. It works. As long as you've got quality stuff that people are happy to pay for, they will pay for it - not all, but enough.
     
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  6. moosemousse

    moosemousse CR Emeritus: FF-UK South star 6

    Registered:
    Oct 3, 2004
    That is so true. I got into two authors because they had a free book and I really liked it. One does an ongoing space opera type thing and the other paranormal stuff. It's good because I wouldn't have tried them if they weren't free, and if I hadn't liked them then I wouldn't have bought their other books.

    And yeah, RvB is great and I'd love to get the DVDs so I can watch it whenever. I also backed a kickstarter for a webcomic I love and I want the books of other webcomics too.

    If you publish it only with KDP you can offer your works for free for a week. People will get it because it's free and it'll climb up the charts so others will pay for it when it's not free. Well, that's the theory at least. I've yet to see how it works out.
     
  7. Dantana Skywalker

    Dantana Skywalker Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Apr 7, 2002
    It works well! I did that with mine, and got over 4000 downloads during just three days of promo. (You get five days total.) And now I've sold over 100 copies just on Amazon.com. I've sold a bunch more through the UK and Canada sites. Even a couple copies in France. I'm currently at, like, #20,000 overall on Kindle books.
     
  8. Briannakin

    Briannakin Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Feb 25, 2010
    If I ever publish either this novella I just finished, or an actual novel, I'll probably go that route. Make it free, then if lots of people are getting it, make it like $0.99 or something. But I haven't written or edited any original fiction lately. My paper on biblical enviromental history is consuming all of my time. Is it April yet?!?!
     
  9. Dantana Skywalker

    Dantana Skywalker Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Apr 7, 2002
    I'd make it more than $0.99, really. 'Cause you only get a percentage of the sale. I'm not sure what the percentage is for Canada, but anything not on Amazon.com is 35% and through Amazon.com is 70%. So the most you'd make from each copy would be about $0.74. I've got mine priced at $4.99, and I make between $1.75 and $3.64 per copy.
     
  10. DarthIshtar

    DarthIshtar Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Mar 26, 2001
    Okay, Briannakin, I would really actually like to read the paper on Biblical Environmental History. It looks cool.
     
  11. Goodwood

    Goodwood Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    May 11, 2011
    Would that fall under the Applied Mythology degree program, then? ;)
     
  12. Briannakin

    Briannakin Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Feb 25, 2010
    Thanks for the advice, Dantana, though it'll be awhile before I'm selling books.

    It's for a Environmental History class. We have to write something on how humans have either impacted or thought about the enviroment. It's actually quite an interesting class and subject to research. My thesis is that, like all other 'communities', Christians did not advocate for environmentalism until an enviromental crisis occurred affecting the entire community, dispite verses in the bible that promote enviromental stewardship ethics. And I have 3000 words to do this. It should be fun, though i have to have the bibliography done by next week.
     
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  13. DarthIshtar

    DarthIshtar Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Mar 26, 2001
    Hmmm. I'm very curious now, if nothing else, about the bibliography.
     
  14. Dantana Skywalker

    Dantana Skywalker Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Apr 7, 2002
    Just sharing what I've learned. :) I don't know how well lower-priced books fair, but I have noticed a trend that if you price it too low, people don't value it as much. My dad hasn't sold many, his book is priced at $2.99. My friend Janine, who has a book series that reached #3 on Amazon's top 10 this summer, is priced around $7.99 (off the top of my head, that's what I paid for it), and she was only beaten by the Hunger Games books and . . . something else really popular. Can't remember. . . . I don't know what my point was with that. My brain isn't totally up to speed tonight.
     
  15. Briannakin

    Briannakin Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Feb 25, 2010
    I have most of my sources. Of course I'm using the bible, a couple of bible commentaries from the 16th-19th century (those were really interesting), and some more recent works from when climate change started to hit the media, I just need like 2 more from 1970 or 80.

    Edit: Wow, Dantana. That's really great. I'll keep that in mind if I ever self publish.
     
  16. Goodwood

    Goodwood Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    May 11, 2011
    Briannakin: Humor aside, I was genuinely interested in the subject of your piece (as you've no doubt guessed, I'm an atheist). I'd be interested to know if you're pursuing a degree in the sciences or if this is for some other major.

    As for the general topic at hand, I too have written an original fiction novel (WWII historical fiction, to be precise) and have entertained the idea of publishing it via Amazon.com's e-book service. I had a go with a literary agent some years ago when the novel was less refined, and though it didn't get placed, a number of publishers were interested in it. I'm thinking about having another go (possibly with a different agency) before resorting to Amazon.
     
  17. DarthIshtar

    DarthIshtar Chosen One star 10

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    Mar 26, 2001
    I've got one magic-based story that is part of a 5-book series and the retelling of Swan Lake that has a sequel. Both written, needing to query more. Not going to self-publish for a very long time. Can't take the "It's out there. Why am I not getting more downloads?" path.
     
  18. Briannakin

    Briannakin Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Feb 25, 2010
    This is for a history major. I'm hoping to get my undergrad in history and my masters in Library and Information Sciences.

    Personally, I dont think it's a bad thing to try the traditional publishing route first. The worst is that you either get a bunch of rejection letters or you waste a few months for replies that will never come. Amazon is great, but you never know if you'll be that one lucky newb author success story.
     
  19. Dantana Skywalker

    Dantana Skywalker Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Apr 7, 2002
    Yaaaay, I just finished a 'fic I've been working on for ten years! Woot! Very pleased with myself.
     
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  20. TrakNar

    TrakNar Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 4, 2011
    I have absolutely nothing of any worth whatsoever to contribute to this current topic. Unless you want to count a Wushu campaign that I've been working on as of late, or my current obsession with playing Phoenix Wright.

    On the sickness front, the infection is now on the fast track to my lungs. Swell.
     
  21. Dantana Skywalker

    Dantana Skywalker Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Apr 7, 2002
    That sucks, I'm sorry! I hope you get better soon.
     
  22. TrakNar

    TrakNar Jedi Grand Master star 5

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    Apr 4, 2011
    Eh, it will just be two weeks of coughing. Nothing that I'm not already used to.
     
  23. Goodwood

    Goodwood Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    May 11, 2011
    As do I.
     
  24. Dantana Skywalker

    Dantana Skywalker Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Apr 7, 2002
    Whoa. Deja vu. I just noticed you guys have the same guy in your icons.
     
  25. Goodwood

    Goodwood Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    May 11, 2011
    Not the same bloke, actually. Trak has Zuckuss, while I have Tuffass.
     
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