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News, Fiction Updates & General MusingsWhat We Saw – Ebook and Paperback Now Available!
I’m delighted to announce that What We Saw, my debut novel, is now available over at Amazon in eBook and paperback forms, a few days earlier than planned.
Full purchase details are below. Also, find out how you can win a $25/£20 Amazon gift voucher in time for Christmas.
Kindle edition:
Buy on Amazon.com – $2.99 (Special launch price)
Buy on Amazon UK – £1.99 (Special launch price)
Paperback edition:
Here are a few details about the book:
‘If you stumbled upon a shocking mystery as a child, how would you react?
Secrecy. Friendship. Discovery. What We Saw is a nostalgic throwback to childhood days tapping into that innocent craving for mystery we all encounter.
It tells the story of a young boy, Liam O’Donnell, his cousin, Adam, and their experiences at their grandparents’ caravan site one summer.
The two have an insatiable childhood hunger for mystery, aided by the friendly, but suspicious old Donald. He lets the two of them gather clues in his company, and shares ghost stories to feed their hunger. When the disappearance of their dog leads to a terrifying discovery deep in the nearby woods, Liam and Adam are plunged into a very adult world of morals and decisions, and find themselves trapped in the dark clutches of secrecy and suspicion, far transcending mere mystery.
What We Saw is a funny, touching and thrilling British mystery novel that will have you hooked as the plot hurtles towards a shocking conclusion.’
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If you share this blog post via Twitter, you will be entered into a draw to win a $25/£20 Amazon gift card. Simply tweet something along the lines of:
I just bought What We Saw, the debut novel by Ryan Casey, and REALLY want that Amazon voucher. More info: http://bit.ly/VoUMdJ
If you enjoy the book, please do leave a review over at Amazon. Reviews are a great way for authors to reach new readers.
Hope you enjoy it! Thanks so much for the support during this journey.
Ryan
Twitter for Authors: Is It Necessary? And, What We Saw Update
Firstly, I’d just like to put it out there that ‘necessary’ is the one word I struggle with most in the English language. I just can’t get my head around the little bugger, no matter how much I’ve tried, so I think I deserve something of an applause for being daring enough to put it in my blog post title.
Okay, so I’m roughly half a year into my blogging and writing career and I’ve had a lot of changing views surrounding Twitter for authors, mostly due to the influence of others. I wrote some time back about a ‘rule of thirds’ social/useful link/own content rule I followed, and why it was beneficial for other authors to follow a similar approach.
Have I changed my mind since then?
For new authors, no — the best way to build a following fast is to share useful content, whilst not overkilling things and being sure to be social at the same time. The first stage of your Twitter career should probably consist of network and relationship building — in other words, establishing social karma.
James Parsons, a fellow author and friend, recently wrote about how Twitter is an essential tool for networking. And I’m inclined to agree, 100%. You see, where James hits the nail on the head is that Twitter isn’t about creating your author ‘brand’, or using it as a sales platform. Twitter is about being social, and connecting with people.
But is being social necessary for authors?
Again, round of applause for spelling necessary correctly. I got it right first time, I swear. But anyway, I’ve seen a lot of arguments against Twitter for authors. Some authors brand it a ‘waste of time’ with others saying that it ‘takes time away from the writing and does nothing to boost sales.’
These statements are probably correct. Social media is a waste of time if you don’t enjoy it and if you are looking for sales.
But for networking and making new connections? It’s essential, and enjoyable.
I’m not going to hide the fact that I have a big mouth, especially on Twitter. But I enjoy ranting about particular topics and sharing my views. I love connecting with new authors and friends too, so how is that a waste of time exactly? I still get my 1,000-1,500 words per day written. I still get two blog posts per week posted. And I still have time to do university work and have time for a social life.
Is Twitter for authors a necessary (damn, it got me again) part of marketing? Probably not. But if you have fun with it, why not use it?
Simon and Schuster: Vanity Publishing Disguised as Self-Publishing
Note: Updated What We Saw launch details at the bottom, if publishing talk ain’t your thing.
Even if you are only a passing follower in publishing trends, you’ll have seen the latest major piece of news: Simon & Schuster have opened a ‘self-publishing’ service, attempting to tap into what is evidently a booming market of independent fiction.
Alarm bells always ring when publishers launch these companies. Penguin’s massive acquisition of Author Solutions and their premium rate ‘steps to success’ pretty much proved just how out of touch the major publishers are with the self-publishing trends, but Simon and Schuster have taken things a step further in teaming up to form the Archway Publishing imprint.
A quick glance through the press release is enough to leave a sickly taste in one’s mouth. The ‘Basic’ package, which I’d imagine consists of very little marketing support and offers nothing more than a book launch through Simon and Schuster’s self-publishing imprint, starts at $1,999.
And the insanity doesn’t stop there. The highest end package costs a whole $14,999. I daren’t even read what the package offers because I know it will infuriate me.
Out of Touch
I really don’t know what to think of this move. Are Simon and Schuster completely out of touch? This is NOT self-publishing. It’s vanity publishing, pure and simple, and if that is how the major publishers interpret the self-publishing landscape at present, then their demise is closer than I first thought.
On the other hand, it shows a sense of fear. A sense of little research. A misguided attempt to trick the rich and uneducated into believing that the only way to publish a book without approval from a major publisher is to pay a bucketload for it. Not only is this wrong, it’s stupid.
Ebook Pricing: The Bloody Big Dilemma
NOTE: Some interesting debates developing in the comments section. Please let your opinion be heard!
In my five months of blogging and scouring other writing blogs, I’ve seen a lot of talk surrounding the topic of eBook pricing. It seems to be that one topic us authors simply can’t avoid doing a blog post about, simply because it’s still so up in the air that literally everyone has a different opinion of things.
Where do I stand on eBook pricing? Well, I don’t think it’s quite as easy as just answering the question like that. In an ideal world, we’d price our eBooks at the publisher’s standard of around $9.99, sell copies, and live happily ever after.
But it’s not an ideal world. Far from it, in fact.
I want to start at the lower end of the pricing spectrum. J.A. Konrath once split opinion when he suggested that $2.99 was the pricing sweet spot for novels. It brings in around $2 royalties via Amazon, and offers value — basically, the author and the reader both leave happy.
On one hand, I agree with Konrath. $2.99 is an attractive price point. It’s not so cheap as to suggest inferior quality, but cheap enough to warrant a few impulse purchases.
The problem with the $2.99 is that it makes things like novella and short novel pricing somewhat difficult. Say one person has written a 100k epic, and another a 30,000-word novella, both having invested in professional cover design and editing, how do they decide on pricing? If the 100k novel is priced at $2.99, then does that make the novella worth less than that? If the novella is a $2.99 book, then what is the 100k? I guess these price issues crop up in any system, but it becomes more difficult to manoeuvre with such a low pricing standard.
Personally, I don’t mind the $2.99 price point. I think it’s a great entry point for new authors. I don’t think it devalues the novel, because I don’t buy into devaluation as a concept, not really. That said, Konrath himself argues for higher prices now, and I am inclined to agree.
What We Saw Proof Copies: Proudest Moment of My Life…
This blog post might be short. Then again, it might waffle on. I’m not so sure yet, because I’m writing it as my hands still shake with excitement and an overwhelming sense of pride after receiving the physical proof copies of What We Saw.
I’ll talk about the process and all that another day. Today isn’t the day for a guide. I just want you all to know how amazing this emotion is. I want any aspiring writers with dreams of holding a copy of their book one day to know just how indescribable the emotion within is at seeing a physical version of your book.
Sure — anyone can have a book printed nowadays. But I’ve put so much into this. I’ve thrown two years of my life into it whilst studying at university. I’ve invested/gone broke on professional cover design and the very best editing from Brenda Errichiello. It’s the best book it possibly can be, and I’m so, so proud.
So, enough of the waffle — here’s some images. This is me with my book. The first shot was rather funny because initially, my friend took the photo and I was covering my name with my hand. I basically looked like a very proud man holding a random book.
There I am, looking very happy.
Honestly, I thought I was prepared for the emotion of receiving a book. I thought it would give me something of a buzz, but nothing like this. Does anybody sell this sort of buzz, legally? I want some if so.
There’s something weird about receiving an actual, tangible copy of your work. I can’t quite describe it, but it’s unbelievable.
Anyway, a few more shots. On a whole — Createspace are brilliant, the books are of fantastic quality. As my housemates said, “Woah, it’s…it’s actually a real book!” — I think that just about sums it up!
Thank you so much to everyone who has supported me on this amazing journey so far. To those who pre-ordered: your copies will be with you in a couple of weeks time. Everyone else — December 6th is launch date. 🙂
Apologies if there are any editing issues with this post. It’s all stream of consciousness, crazy stream of consciousness.
Now, I’m off for a celebratory drink or three. Have an amazing day!
KDP Select Free Promo: The Secret to Hitting the Top 100
I just re-enrolled Something in the Cellar for another three-month period of Amazon’s KDP Select programme.
For those of you who don’t know, KDP Select is Amazon’s exclusivity deal for authors. Basically, you pledge not to sell your digital book outside of Amazon for 90 days, and they allow you to promote your book for free for five of those days.
I’ve run a few free promos since launching my two short stories Something in the Cellar and Silhouette, to varying levels of success. I’ve experimented with different marketing techniques and different ways of spreading the word, but it seems I’ve finally found the one that works for me.
Note: I have written a follow-up to this post for writers considering KDP Select going into 2013. Consider it a belated part two – click here to read. I’ll remind you again after this post.
How I Hit the Bestseller Lists
At the end of October, I ran a Halloween giveaway for Something in the Cellar. I had two free days remaining, so I figured I’d get them used before my KDP Select exclusivity period expired. I was contemplating uploading to Smashwords at this point as as successful as the free promos were, they didn’t really boost sales afterwards significantly.
Over this two day period, I gave away over 3,500 copies of Something in the Cellar, hit the top spot in both the Horror and Short Stories charts, and peaked at #75 in the overall Free Charts. If I’d been able to run the promo for another day, I’m confident I would’ve broken into the Top 10 with the momentum the book was being downloaded at.
Interestingly, I ran another low key promo alongside this one. I gave away copies of Silhouette, but only managed to obtain around 200 downloads. Sure — that’s 200 more readers, but not enough downloads to acquire a new awareness of my book.
What did I do differently?
I promoted the sh*t out of Something in the Cellar.
Ask all successful KDP Select users how they consistently run successful free promos and they’ll tell you the same thing, over and over: you need to make as many big sites as aware of your free promo as possible.
I’m not talking about tweeting a few free promo sites on the day, or posting on the walls of four or five Facebook groups. I tried that, and it failed.
I’m talking about the hundreds of book promotion sites out there. In fact, the ‘secret’ in the title is something of a trick because there’s nothing secret about these places whatsoever.
I accidentally stumbled upon a free site when they listed my book without me notifying them. I noticed a spike in downloads of, let’s say, 10 per second, and this coincided with a listing over at ereadernewstoday. Imagine if I were to list my book with, say, ten sites with similar reputation… I thought.
Now, I’ve seen the rewards, and they’ve convinced me that KDP Select is the future, for the time being.
A word on KDP Select doubters: Not to patronise, but I have a feeling that the bulk of people who feel bitter about KDP Select are people who either 1.) don’t want to risk losing minimal sales over on Smashwords by going exclusive or 2.) have had a free promo go unsuccessfully.
My advice? Give it a shot, seriously. Like, a real shot. I love Smashwords and I really hope the other sites up their game when it comes to exposure as Amazon and KDP Select is miles ahead of the rest (see, I told you I still love them to bits in spite of recent hiccups).
To make things easier, here’s a five-step guide to ensuring the best Free promo possible. It’s the guide I follow, step-by-step, and it works for me. It will most probably work for you, but don’t burn my house down if it doesn’t or anything crazy like that. read more…