Over the last few years, I've resolved to do this, or set out to do that, as the calendar turns from the old year to the new one. You can look back at my archives for them.
As we enter 2018, I resolve to do none of that. Instead, I look toward hope.
I'll be honest: 2017 was a rather mixed bag for this author. I was successful in several ways. I achieved my resolution of publishing two books during the course of the calendar year, which is usually an assurance from me; accomplishment, sure, but when I'm doing two and sometimes three books a year, it gets to be old hat. I had a successful Plastic City Comic Con at the end of July, where I sold 20 books, many to local friends who had never bought a book of mine before. And I think I prepared well for it. I found several new readers, all of whom I hope I'll keep as 2018 winds it way toward 2019, and so on.
Where did I fail?
How much time do you have?
Many of my failings occurred due to my financial situation. As a freelancer sportswriter, my income is dependent on the amount of stories I write, as well as the newspaper's budget. If the weather sucks--hello, potential Snowicane later this week--and games get cancelled, I'm out X amount for that day. If the paper doesn't have anything for me, then I don't work. And I only work for one paper now exclusively, plus two one-hour appearances on the local radio station. The radio money helps, but it's not enough to devote extra funds toward making my publishing business as successful as it can be.
I'm also responsible for a certain amount of the bills/expenses here. Let's just say that with our expenses, none of which we can really cut, coupled with a limited amount of sports stories and subpar book sales (only 400 this past year, down from 2016 by about a third), I wasn't able to do everything I set out to do publishing-wise last year.
Buy artwork for covers in order to freshen up the backlist? Couldn't do it. The Obloeron Saga, Royal Switch, Scollay Love, and the Furball and Feathers children's series remain ebook only for the time being, and Furball and Feathers are on the shelf until I can get the money for new covers.
Advertise more? Couldn't do it. Reclaim my audience? You're having a laugh.
With certain entities such as Kindle Unlimited/KDP Select limiting single copy ebook sales (I refuse to go narrow and exclusive, as I have fans that use Nook, Kobo, and Apple), as well as Facebook limiting organic reach on my posts (and with Facebook doing more to limit organic reach in 2018) and Twitter sending me emails every day to spend money to advertise with them, sometimes I feel like I'm pretty much yelling into a funnel cloud when it comes to everything marketing-related. You have to spend money to make money, yes, that's a given... but you can't spend what you don't have. Without large amounts of money coming in the door, I'm just treading water.
So...
I hope to get what I didn't get done in 2017 done in 2018. This isn't a resolution, per se. If I get it done, fantastic. If I can't, well... there's nothing else I can say except for people reading this to buy books, review them, tell people about them, buy them as gifts, and keep buying them, since my outside fiction writing income isn't growing by any stretch of the imagination.
But there's plenty more that I hope to accomplish in the next 364 days and some change roll on.
* I'm in the midst of a new men's adventure/historical romance series--the Glorious series--which I'm planning on releasing under the D.L. Boyd pen name. It's Outlander-esque, but not as long-winded, I hope. I'm about 17,000 words or so into the story, and I suspect the first book will take me until the end of March to write. Of course, I'm trying not to rush the story, so I'm writing about a page or so a day (because the early portion of the series is slow-going, too, and I want to make sure it's right; plus my time has not really been my own, between re-learning how to balance my time after this past fall, as well as dental issues which kept me away from my manuscript). I'm also trying to be careful of minutiae, while utilizing a different voice for the story. If all goes well, book one's first draft, like I said, will be done by the end of March. That's three more months. Book two will take me until the end of July/early August, while the third book should take me through the end of the year. Again, if everything goes right. The release schedule is a little more complicated, but we'll see how everything falls into place. Of course, I could get all three written rather quickly, but I doubt that will happen. Just going by the last couple of years.
* If there's time, I hope to get a few other projects revised and out for human consumption, such as a currently not published princess piece I wrote a few years ago involving my cousin's daughters. They are a little older now, so I want to give them something a little older, and possibly edgier. I need a solid cover for it, too... which involves money.
* With that type of schedule planned, plus all of my other commitments between sportswriting and radio commentary (planning the garden, actually carrying out the garden, taking up a great deal of time and preparation, I may be biting off more than I can chew when I say that I want to do other things writing-wise. I would like to plan out the third Ricky Madison novel, and I'd like to write an erotic thriller, like the old Skinemax late-night flicks of the 1990s (don't lie, you watched them, too). Those two thoughts may get pushed to 2019, dependent on how I do with the Glorious series and other projects.
Definitely on the writing/publishing agenda in 2018:
** Write the first Glorious novel, finishing the first draft in late March
** Publish Scouring Agent: A Thriller in mid-to-late February
** Write the second Glorious novel
** Publish the first Glorious novel (fall)
** Write the third Glorious novel
** Possibly publish the second one by the end of the year
Anything outside of that plan, I'm going to consider gravy.
It's a lot, and I hope I and come out of 2018 happy and accomplished.
Happy New Year, 2018.
www.seansweeneyauthor.com
Showing posts with label Jack the Ripper. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jack the Ripper. Show all posts
Monday, January 1, 2018
Thursday, December 28, 2017
Happy Book Day (A Little Late)!
This week has been such a whirlwind that I didn't have time to write this blog post until today. Two days ago marked Book Day of Persuaded By The Reflections: A Thriller, my 27th novel.
Think about that for a second. Twenty-seven novels, done and dusted. Twenty-seven opportunities for readers to be entertained.
And in about two months or thereabouts, we'll have novel No. 28--the next Jaclyn Johnson novel, the ninth overall--available for readers to sink their teeth into. Imagine that.
Anyway...
So how did Persuaded come about?
Easy.
My father's cousin Anne had read The Long Crimson Line: A Thriller during a family trip to the Caribbean last summer, and she gave me great feedback on her return. She also wanted to see the storyline continue--which was interesting to me, because I hadn't plotted out anything beyond Ricky sitting at that Causeway Street bar with Amanda Kovack. The Long Crimson Line, to my eyes, was a standalone.
However, after thinking about it for a few weeks--and knowing how standalones don't really sell, looking at my sales numbers for that particular book, which is a shame since TLCL has some of my best writing--and after getting more feedback from other readers, I came up with the storyline I put forth in this novel. TLCL is now the first book in a potential trilogy, currently a duology. I have a potential third book involving Ricky percolating in the back of my mind, and more than likely would write the book in late 2018-early 2019. We'll see, depending how the Glorious series evolves.
(And I'll tell you more about Glorious when I feel a little more confident about the story.)
One of my pre-readers and good friends Ted Flanagan called Persuaded "gritty." I liked that. He also called the setting--Worcester, Mass., a place I visited in Model Agent: A Thriller--an underutilized resource. It's quite possible I will use Worcester again. I don't know how, but I may.
And so, Persuaded is in the wild, and we're having a great launch so far. I hope you'll give this book a shot.
It's like nothing I've written before.
Think about that for a second. Twenty-seven novels, done and dusted. Twenty-seven opportunities for readers to be entertained.
And in about two months or thereabouts, we'll have novel No. 28--the next Jaclyn Johnson novel, the ninth overall--available for readers to sink their teeth into. Imagine that.
Anyway...
So how did Persuaded come about?
Easy.
My father's cousin Anne had read The Long Crimson Line: A Thriller during a family trip to the Caribbean last summer, and she gave me great feedback on her return. She also wanted to see the storyline continue--which was interesting to me, because I hadn't plotted out anything beyond Ricky sitting at that Causeway Street bar with Amanda Kovack. The Long Crimson Line, to my eyes, was a standalone.
However, after thinking about it for a few weeks--and knowing how standalones don't really sell, looking at my sales numbers for that particular book, which is a shame since TLCL has some of my best writing--and after getting more feedback from other readers, I came up with the storyline I put forth in this novel. TLCL is now the first book in a potential trilogy, currently a duology. I have a potential third book involving Ricky percolating in the back of my mind, and more than likely would write the book in late 2018-early 2019. We'll see, depending how the Glorious series evolves.
(And I'll tell you more about Glorious when I feel a little more confident about the story.)
One of my pre-readers and good friends Ted Flanagan called Persuaded "gritty." I liked that. He also called the setting--Worcester, Mass., a place I visited in Model Agent: A Thriller--an underutilized resource. It's quite possible I will use Worcester again. I don't know how, but I may.
And so, Persuaded is in the wild, and we're having a great launch so far. I hope you'll give this book a shot.
It's like nothing I've written before.
Saturday, November 18, 2017
Persuaded By The Reflections, now available for pre-order!
The day we've waited for is here--the day Persuaded By The Reflections: A Thriller, my 27th novel, is available for pre-order. Let the balloons and streamers fly!
But seriously...
I'm incredibly proud of how this book came out. Between David's striking cover--I've gotten plenty of comments of how it has drawn readers in--and the work my team and I have done to make this book tight, this might be my best work to date. (Well, until Scouring Agent comes out in February. But we're just arguing semantics here, aren't we?)
Now: I've been rather vague about what this book is about. That ends today.
The blurb:
Det. Ricky Madison is back in this pulse-quickening, gritty sequel!
Now suffering from PTSD following the events at the end of THE LONG CRIMSON LINE, Ricky returns to Worcester, Mass., the city where he was once a police detective; he’s undergoing therapy in both solo and group settings, and in his first session, he meets a young lady struggling to cope with her love life’s tribulations—she’s a cutter, and he offers her his ear whenever she needs it.
When elements of past crimes he had investigated creep back into the present, Ricky is brought back into the fold of Worcester Police to help link the crimes together—even though the one in charge of the investigation isn’t thrilled about his presence.
Together, the two comb through the facts and similarities of the respective cases until Ricky discovers the one responsible for everything.
Just screams bestseller, doesn't it?
So it's available now for pre-order, and I want you to pre-order this wonderful book as it's only 99 cents from now until Christmas Day (consider it my Christmas gift to you). Release Day is Dec. 26, so on that day, the price goes up to $2.99, its usual price. You're getting a steal and a half here!
Here's where you can pick up your copy:
But seriously...
I'm incredibly proud of how this book came out. Between David's striking cover--I've gotten plenty of comments of how it has drawn readers in--and the work my team and I have done to make this book tight, this might be my best work to date. (Well, until Scouring Agent comes out in February. But we're just arguing semantics here, aren't we?)
Now: I've been rather vague about what this book is about. That ends today.
The blurb:
Det. Ricky Madison is back in this pulse-quickening, gritty sequel!
Now suffering from PTSD following the events at the end of THE LONG CRIMSON LINE, Ricky returns to Worcester, Mass., the city where he was once a police detective; he’s undergoing therapy in both solo and group settings, and in his first session, he meets a young lady struggling to cope with her love life’s tribulations—she’s a cutter, and he offers her his ear whenever she needs it.
When elements of past crimes he had investigated creep back into the present, Ricky is brought back into the fold of Worcester Police to help link the crimes together—even though the one in charge of the investigation isn’t thrilled about his presence.
Together, the two comb through the facts and similarities of the respective cases until Ricky discovers the one responsible for everything.
Just screams bestseller, doesn't it?
So it's available now for pre-order, and I want you to pre-order this wonderful book as it's only 99 cents from now until Christmas Day (consider it my Christmas gift to you). Release Day is Dec. 26, so on that day, the price goes up to $2.99, its usual price. You're getting a steal and a half here!
Here's where you can pick up your copy:
Remember that those who have Kindle get the book at 8 p.m. on Christmas Night. So after the kids are asleep, you can fire up your Kindle, sync it up, and Persuaded By The Reflections: A Thriller will be at the top of your reading list!
And a reminder of the cover:
If you haven't read The Long Crimson Line: A Thriller before now, you don't have to read it to know what's going on. Persuaded is its own story; I do reference material that occurred in TLCL. So read it anyway, and the links to buy are in my bookstore.
Christmas is coming.... and so are Ricky's demons.
I can't wait to show you the book.
Monday, October 30, 2017
A First Look (Kind of): Cover reveals for Persuaded and Scouring
One of the things I promise readers who sign up for my newsletter is a first look at everything--and that includes cover reveals.
Earlier today, I sent out three.
Wait, what?! Three?! What do you mean by three!
Yup, three.
In continuing the story of Det. Ricky Madison in Persuaded By The Reflections, which is coming soon and if you're on the mailing list, you'll be among the first to know that it's available, I would need to update the cover to his first book, The Long Crimson Line. That'll brand any future Ricky story (and quite possibly there will be a third), and will give David a template with which to work.
So without further ado, here are the covers to Persuaded and TLCL:
The hope is that I'll get everything--the new cover, ebook and wraparound for the TLCL trade paperback, as well as Persuaded's ebook and trade paperback--uploaded by Thanksgiving. And just so you know, you'll see Facebook ads from me in the next two weeks giving away The Long Crimson Line in .mobi and .epub format in an attempt to grow my newsletter coffers.
Of course, if you want to buy it, I wouldn't be offended.
And that brings us to the third cover reveal for Scouring Agent, the next Jaclyn Johnson thriller. The plan is to release Scouring in the first quarter of 2018. It's at third draft right now, and it's a tight novel.
So... who's ready for some releases?! They are coming soon.
www.seansweeneyauthor.com
Earlier today, I sent out three.
Wait, what?! Three?! What do you mean by three!
Yup, three.
In continuing the story of Det. Ricky Madison in Persuaded By The Reflections, which is coming soon and if you're on the mailing list, you'll be among the first to know that it's available, I would need to update the cover to his first book, The Long Crimson Line. That'll brand any future Ricky story (and quite possibly there will be a third), and will give David a template with which to work.
So without further ado, here are the covers to Persuaded and TLCL:
The hope is that I'll get everything--the new cover, ebook and wraparound for the TLCL trade paperback, as well as Persuaded's ebook and trade paperback--uploaded by Thanksgiving. And just so you know, you'll see Facebook ads from me in the next two weeks giving away The Long Crimson Line in .mobi and .epub format in an attempt to grow my newsletter coffers.
Of course, if you want to buy it, I wouldn't be offended.
And that brings us to the third cover reveal for Scouring Agent, the next Jaclyn Johnson thriller. The plan is to release Scouring in the first quarter of 2018. It's at third draft right now, and it's a tight novel.
So... who's ready for some releases?! They are coming soon.
www.seansweeneyauthor.com
Monday, August 22, 2016
A Look at my post-Convention Progress
Three weeks ago, I posted a blog about my restructured goals for the next 11-plus months, and how it was just part in parcel of rebuilding
my audience and all that good stuff.
Three weeks later, I’ve made considerable progress. Let’s
take a quickie peek at all I’ve done in just 21-plus days.
Everything needs to be in print
This was first for a reason, as you read in that blog post.
In the first few days after I typed it, I started formatting all of my work for
paperback. It was tedious and time-consuming. I had to make sure every single book had
the proper formatting, things that needed centering were centered, etc. Within
three days or so, I had everything formatted.
I also needed wraparound covers. The first three Jaclyn
novels all had Trish’s covers on their paperbacks, and as I’ve explained, the newer ones
David created follows the branding from Spring 2014.
So how am I doing on this goal? So far, so good on this one:
a week ago, I uploaded the following: Model Agent (new wraparound, second
edition prose), Rogue Agent (new wraparound), Double Agent (new wraparound),
Promises Given Promises Kept, as well as Zombie Showdown for print. All are now
available on Amazon, and you can always access Amazon via my bookstore.
That being said: the entirety of the AGENT series is now
available in print.
There are still a few wraparounds that need doing, but we’ll
get to them in time: I need wraparound art for the Obloeron novels, which will
cost a little bit of money. Not a lot, but more than I have right now. I’m
waiting on a few others, but like I said I’m not too worried about this until late
November and the start of the Christmas season.
More ebook bundles
I took care of one series recently. On Sunday, I uploaded
the three-book Small Town P.I. series to Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and iBooks (the
last through Draft2Digital), with a nifty cover that I did, with 3D work done
by David. I’m just waiting on iBooks to publish before I make the formal
release announcement.
(Quick aside: That is a hint. You can search for my name and
the Small Town P.I. series at your favorite ebook retailer, unless your
favorite ebook retailer is iBooks.)
As for a Jaclyn box set, I’m working on it. I’m thinking
about penning a novella to throw on the front of it, with stuff that happens
before Model Agent. Just to give readers bonus material.
A new series
I may have come up with an idea for a set of stories over
the weekend. It would be a series of romances set in Colonial Boston (because
of course it has to be Boston; why else wouldn’t it?) under the D.L. Boyd pen
name. Of course, I’m thinking time travel, inspired by Outlander—but trying to
not make it like Outlander. I don’t want it to be an Outlander rip-off (and if
you think I’ve written the word Outlander three times and now a fourth for the
Google hits, you know me too well). You get what I mean? I hope so.
A new action/adventure series is still up in the air for me,
but I’m not stressing about it right now. I surpassed 12,511 words in The Long
Crimson Line’s follow-up today, in the middle of chapter three.
Getting Furball and Feathers out with new cover art
I’m hoping to take care of that when I can breathe. It’s
fourth on my to do list for a reason.
Convention prep
Rome wasn’t built in a day. I’m not planning on doing any
conventions until next year at the earliest, and convention season is starting
to wind down. During free moments, I’m thinking about certain items, and what I
want to accomplish. I have a whole list of things that I need to take care of.
Tuesday, December 29, 2015
A look back at my 2015 blogs
I'm going to come right out and say this wasn't my original idea. No, my pal Jim C. Hines came up with this idea the other day, and I thought, "If it's good for Jimmy, then it's good for me." And notice how I get all my excellent ideas from Jim?
Anyway...
In 2015, I wrote 38 blogs prior to this one. I did a hodge-podge of books and food, as well as a trip to Cape Cod. Which ones were the most popular? You'll be surprised.
10. The Obloeron Re-writes: Back at it (69 views)
We can't escape Obloeron! This blog from late June--right after the end of Chemical Agent's first draft and the release of The Long Crimson Line--tackles the start of the second stage of the Re-writes.
9. Inside Travel Agent (72 views)
I answer a few questions about the contents of the sixth full-length Jaclyn Johnson novel.
8. Recipe Wednesday: Crock pot Pork Chops (79 views)
A blog post unrelated to books! I know, it's a miracle. Getting hungry re-reading this particular piece.
7. Cape Cod pictures from Ballston Beach in Truro (84 views)
A nice little photo spread of our trip to Truro back in April.
6. Cover reveal and pre-order links for The Long Crimson Line (86 views)
Pretty self-explanatory. I revealed the cover design--which was much better than my original idea, which was a rear view of a leggings-wearing woman holding a knife--for The Long Crimson Line, and gave folks to opportunity to pre-order it.
5. Sample Sunday--Travel Agent: A Thriller, Chapter 1 (94 views)
Again, pretty self-explanatory: Chapter 1 from what was the newest Jaclyn Johnson novel, Travel Agent.
4. The Obloeron Re-writes: A snippet of change (106 views)
One of the blogs I wrote back in January--OK, a few of them I wrote in January--dealt with the first stage of my re-writes in The Obloeron Saga. This particular blog showed how I improved one particular passage in The Quest For The Chalice.
3. An author, re-assessing his business plan (121 views)
In what was my longest blog post of 2015, I rambled about the current state of affairs in book-selling, as well as how I'm going to tackle it. I really still haven't tackled it, but we're getting there.
2. Have you pre-ordered The Obloeron Saga yet? (127 views)
Our second most popular blog came in late October. And while you can't pre-order it any longer, it is still available at 99 cents... for now.
1. Coming soon--The Long Crimson Line: A Thriller (156 views)
Amazing: my most popular blog was a snippet of Chapter 1, and it came on my birthday, to boot! Happy birthday? HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
And there you have it: A look back at my 10 most popular blogs of 2015.
Will I match my blog output in 2016? Will I surpass it? You'll have to come back next year to find out. Keep reading.
www.seansweeneyauthor.com
Anyway...
In 2015, I wrote 38 blogs prior to this one. I did a hodge-podge of books and food, as well as a trip to Cape Cod. Which ones were the most popular? You'll be surprised.
10. The Obloeron Re-writes: Back at it (69 views)
We can't escape Obloeron! This blog from late June--right after the end of Chemical Agent's first draft and the release of The Long Crimson Line--tackles the start of the second stage of the Re-writes.
9. Inside Travel Agent (72 views)
I answer a few questions about the contents of the sixth full-length Jaclyn Johnson novel.
8. Recipe Wednesday: Crock pot Pork Chops (79 views)
A blog post unrelated to books! I know, it's a miracle. Getting hungry re-reading this particular piece.
7. Cape Cod pictures from Ballston Beach in Truro (84 views)
A nice little photo spread of our trip to Truro back in April.
6. Cover reveal and pre-order links for The Long Crimson Line (86 views)
Pretty self-explanatory. I revealed the cover design--which was much better than my original idea, which was a rear view of a leggings-wearing woman holding a knife--for The Long Crimson Line, and gave folks to opportunity to pre-order it.
5. Sample Sunday--Travel Agent: A Thriller, Chapter 1 (94 views)
Again, pretty self-explanatory: Chapter 1 from what was the newest Jaclyn Johnson novel, Travel Agent.
4. The Obloeron Re-writes: A snippet of change (106 views)
One of the blogs I wrote back in January--OK, a few of them I wrote in January--dealt with the first stage of my re-writes in The Obloeron Saga. This particular blog showed how I improved one particular passage in The Quest For The Chalice.
3. An author, re-assessing his business plan (121 views)
In what was my longest blog post of 2015, I rambled about the current state of affairs in book-selling, as well as how I'm going to tackle it. I really still haven't tackled it, but we're getting there.
2. Have you pre-ordered The Obloeron Saga yet? (127 views)
Our second most popular blog came in late October. And while you can't pre-order it any longer, it is still available at 99 cents... for now.
1. Coming soon--The Long Crimson Line: A Thriller (156 views)
Amazing: my most popular blog was a snippet of Chapter 1, and it came on my birthday, to boot! Happy birthday? HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
And there you have it: A look back at my 10 most popular blogs of 2015.
Will I match my blog output in 2016? Will I surpass it? You'll have to come back next year to find out. Keep reading.
www.seansweeneyauthor.com
Monday, June 29, 2015
Happy Book Day: The Long Crimson Line now available
Edit: Nook is up; link below.
Happy Book Day to me, Happy Book Day to me, Happy Book Day, Happy Book Day, Happy Book Day to me!
(And to buddies Daniel Arenson and David McAfee, too.)
Well, it's here. The Long Crimson Line: A Thriller has finally been released on all platforms. Novel No. 21, in all its bloody glory.
This novel pushes the envelope far beyond anything that I've done before. The amount of description in the murders detailed--the second to last murder, especially--will make the reader smell the blood, even on an eReader.
I'll be working this week to get the paperback copy up, and right now we've had a good launch thanks to pre-orders. Will it continue?
Oh, I hope so.
US Kindle
UK Kindle
Nook
Kobo
iBooks (coming soon)
Smashwords
www.seansweeneyauthor.com
Happy Book Day to me, Happy Book Day to me, Happy Book Day, Happy Book Day, Happy Book Day to me!
(And to buddies Daniel Arenson and David McAfee, too.)
Well, it's here. The Long Crimson Line: A Thriller has finally been released on all platforms. Novel No. 21, in all its bloody glory.
This novel pushes the envelope far beyond anything that I've done before. The amount of description in the murders detailed--the second to last murder, especially--will make the reader smell the blood, even on an eReader.
I'll be working this week to get the paperback copy up, and right now we've had a good launch thanks to pre-orders. Will it continue?
Oh, I hope so.
US Kindle
UK Kindle
Nook
Kobo
iBooks (coming soon)
Smashwords
www.seansweeneyauthor.com
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Starting off summer with a bang--a Book Bang
A lot of things to cover in this start of summer blog:
1. On Friday, I finished the first draft of CHEMICAL AGENT. All told, the first draft checks in at 100,243 words. I still have the little matter of the subplot, which shouldn't take me too long to write later this fall. That needs a little more percolation, as the intention is for the subplot to irk Forrister a little. I shouldn't need more than another 10,000 words, but we'll see.
2. As of this morning, I'm 17 books away from 10,000 sold in my career, and that's between ebooks, trade paperbacks, and audiobooks. It feels like molasses, this journey right now; I need to stop obsessing over this! Sure, 10,000 doesn't sound like a lot. There are plenty of authors who are doing better than I am, sales-wise. There are some, though, that aren't selling as much as I am (some who really should be selling better than I am).
3. In addition, MODEL AGENT has been downloaded for free on Kindle and iBooks (as well as few other entities) more than 102,500 times. I'm absolutely humbled by that number: add in the paid books, my novels and short stories have been downloaded upwards of 112,500 times. That is simply astounding to me. If I didn't make MODEL free, would I have 10,000 book sales right now? No. Not at all. I would probably still be struggling to get to 5,000.
Of course, the question now is how much longer am I willing to let MODEL stay free? I'm not getting many downloads on Kindle any longer, but I'm still getting loads of downloads on Apple. This is one of those "cut your nose off to spite your face" kind of deals... and I really don't know how to approach it.
4. I am taking a few days away from the writing in order to get a few things done: weeding the garden, mowing the lawn (I usually do it on Saturdays, but Jen and I went to the Cape this past weekend), and catching up on my laundry. But once I get that out of the way, I should dive into the final read-through of the entire Obloeron Saga. The plan is to put it out in one compendium later this year. Then, return to the Scollay Love romance, revise it, and put it back out under a new URL. It will stay under my D.L. Boyd pen name. Then, after all that is done, start writing the first draft of a New Adult Romance under the D.L. Boyd name.
5. And of course, we're six days away from the release of THE LONG CRIMSON LINE: A THRILLER. Pre-ordering is still going strong. Get your copy for US Kindle, UK Kindle, and Kobo at these links. June 29 can't get here any sooner.
www.seansweeneyauthor.com
1. On Friday, I finished the first draft of CHEMICAL AGENT. All told, the first draft checks in at 100,243 words. I still have the little matter of the subplot, which shouldn't take me too long to write later this fall. That needs a little more percolation, as the intention is for the subplot to irk Forrister a little. I shouldn't need more than another 10,000 words, but we'll see.
2. As of this morning, I'm 17 books away from 10,000 sold in my career, and that's between ebooks, trade paperbacks, and audiobooks. It feels like molasses, this journey right now; I need to stop obsessing over this! Sure, 10,000 doesn't sound like a lot. There are plenty of authors who are doing better than I am, sales-wise. There are some, though, that aren't selling as much as I am (some who really should be selling better than I am).
3. In addition, MODEL AGENT has been downloaded for free on Kindle and iBooks (as well as few other entities) more than 102,500 times. I'm absolutely humbled by that number: add in the paid books, my novels and short stories have been downloaded upwards of 112,500 times. That is simply astounding to me. If I didn't make MODEL free, would I have 10,000 book sales right now? No. Not at all. I would probably still be struggling to get to 5,000.
Of course, the question now is how much longer am I willing to let MODEL stay free? I'm not getting many downloads on Kindle any longer, but I'm still getting loads of downloads on Apple. This is one of those "cut your nose off to spite your face" kind of deals... and I really don't know how to approach it.
4. I am taking a few days away from the writing in order to get a few things done: weeding the garden, mowing the lawn (I usually do it on Saturdays, but Jen and I went to the Cape this past weekend), and catching up on my laundry. But once I get that out of the way, I should dive into the final read-through of the entire Obloeron Saga. The plan is to put it out in one compendium later this year. Then, return to the Scollay Love romance, revise it, and put it back out under a new URL. It will stay under my D.L. Boyd pen name. Then, after all that is done, start writing the first draft of a New Adult Romance under the D.L. Boyd name.
5. And of course, we're six days away from the release of THE LONG CRIMSON LINE: A THRILLER. Pre-ordering is still going strong. Get your copy for US Kindle, UK Kindle, and Kobo at these links. June 29 can't get here any sooner.
www.seansweeneyauthor.com
Wednesday, June 3, 2015
What is THE LONG CRIMSON LINE all about?
A very good question, Mr. Title!
THE LONG CRIMSON LINE: A THRILLER is my 21st novel, and it may just be my most daring, push-the-envelope novel yet. Here, take a look at this:
There is NOTHING you can do about the blood that's about to run through the streets of Boston. Absolutely NOTHING. The police can't stop it. The mayor, the governor. Not even the victims themselves.
However, there's one person in Boston who feels he can stop it, and that's Ricky Madison: a Washington Street florist and ex-cop from Worcester. With the help of Mary Ruggles, and old friend and fellow businesswoman, the pair go through the files, visit the sites where the murders took place--and discover that their killer may not be male.
Did you get that? The killer may not be male--meaning the killer can only be one thing...
They also discover, thanks to a note, that the killer is a devotee to a long-dead serial killer in his own right, one that terrorized the streets of London 130 years in the past.
Pre-order THE LONG CRIMSON LINE on Amazon Kindle US, Amazon Kindle UK, Kobo, and Smashwords. You can read a snippet of the first chapter here.
THE LONG CRIMSON LINE: A THRILLER is my 21st novel, and it may just be my most daring, push-the-envelope novel yet. Here, take a look at this:
There is NOTHING you can do about the blood that's about to run through the streets of Boston. Absolutely NOTHING. The police can't stop it. The mayor, the governor. Not even the victims themselves.
However, there's one person in Boston who feels he can stop it, and that's Ricky Madison: a Washington Street florist and ex-cop from Worcester. With the help of Mary Ruggles, and old friend and fellow businesswoman, the pair go through the files, visit the sites where the murders took place--and discover that their killer may not be male.
Did you get that? The killer may not be male--meaning the killer can only be one thing...
They also discover, thanks to a note, that the killer is a devotee to a long-dead serial killer in his own right, one that terrorized the streets of London 130 years in the past.
Pre-order THE LONG CRIMSON LINE on Amazon Kindle US, Amazon Kindle UK, Kobo, and Smashwords. You can read a snippet of the first chapter here.
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