The goals for the year ahead

Usually around this time of year, I take a moment to breathe: I’ve cleared my desk of certain projects that have lingered for the time being, and I’m doing a bit of a cleanse, shall we say. I also take a moment to take stock in what I have accomplished in the year, and I also re-assess the goals I have set for the next 12 months or so.

(You can take a look at what I’ve said I would do in past years here and here. Some of it, I've followed through. Other stuff, not so much.)

We are slightly halfway through 2016. I’ve attended my first convention, and I’ve released two books so far. Through seven months, I’ve sold 459 books. Sixty-six books a month is a decent average, but not outstanding; to compare, my friend Daniel Arenson announced this morning that he sold “tens of thousands” of books in July. While I am incredibly happy for Daniel’s success, I want to have that success, too. I am desperate for that success.

In addition, my mailing list, after a thorough cull of spam accounts earlier today, is at 37 subscribers. In all, those are not great numbers.

The crazy thing about this: I know I can do better.

I am determined to do better.

That said, here’s what I’m planning to do over the next year:

First, everything I’ve written needs to be in print, via the old fashioned ink-and-paper delivery system.

As I explained Sunday, I had hesitated in bringing a great variety of physical product to the convention, not knowing how much I would sell, for starters: I didn’t want to be burdened with loads of stock, and I didn’t want to feel like the old “self-publisher selling books out of the trunk of his car” adage. But when I was asked, “Where’s the rest?” by several attendees on realizing I have 24 novels out, it makes me look inward and say, “maybe I really should have had more of a variety with me.”

The problem is this: the first four AGENT novels have the old covers on them, not the newer covers from two years ago. Also, The Lone Bostonian and several other books are not in ink-and-paper. Why? For me, my thinking over time is that I’d make them available if there’s a demand for them. I’ve only sold 180ish ink-and-paper books, and only 16 ink-and-paper books in 2016; most of my sales come via ebook. Suffice to say, there hasn’t been much call for ink-and-paper books.

But if I want to do more conventions, if I want to get out and meet more people—more potential readers—I need to have the books on hand, and in order to do that, I need to dedicate time and energy to making sure the books are formatted for ink-and-paper, and are formatted properly. I also need to release single versions of the books in The Obloeron Saga in both digital and ink-and-paper, and those need covers. I also need second-edition AGENT paperbacks for the first four books, a second-edition for Zombie Showdown, and I need to put the novella in print, too. I need all of this done by November, in time for Christmas.

Secondly, I need more ebook bundles.

I’m seeing loads of authors having success with ebook bundles. Right now, the only ebook bundle I have is for The Obloeron Saga, and that is six novels with three short stories woven into the prose. I need to get the Small Town PI mystery series into an ebook bundle, as well as the first seven Jaclyn novels into an ebook bundle. That needs to be done ASAP.

Third, I need to write a new series.

At present, I just don’t know what that new series will be. My next book is a follow-up to a book I released last year, The Long Crimson Line (ebook and ink-and-paper, and hopefully we’ll be in audio soon), and I plan on starting to write that book next week or the week after. That will make TLCL a duology instead of just a standalone. I’m going to try and stay away from writing standalones for the foreseeable future; they just don’t sell, at least not for me. That gives me a few months to come up with something, another series, before I start plotting out JJ9.

I’m also considering writing that new series under a pen name. I did it with Jaclyn under my real name after sales under the John Fitch V name slumped.

Fourth, I need to get Furball and Feathers back out, with new cover art.

This one isn’t as imperative as the others, but one I need to exercise patience.

I’m not the best artist in the world. I admit that. I did sketch out and color the horse cover for the third book in that series, but it needs a massive overhaul, art-wise. I bought a sketch pad a few weeks ago, and I’m hoping to ferret some time away to design a whole new set of colorful covers. I miss that children’s world!

And finally, do better convention prep.

Better signage, a Square credit card reader, book stands… and more product. Yes. My next convention will be better.

Simply put, I as an author need to be better.

You as my readers deserve better.

www.seansweeneyauthor.com

Happy Book Day--Remembering the last 13 years of Obloeron

Update: The Nook link is at the bottom. -- SMS


When I was in the closing stages of this renewed edition of THE OBLOERON SAGA, I had promised myself that I wouldn't cry. I didn't cry when I finished the final edits (both times). I didn't cry when I finished the first drafts, save the first one--and there were plenty of emotional moments during those two-plus years, let me tell you. I don't cry often (at least that's what I tell you here).

So you may be a bit shocked to hear that I cried the other day. Yup. I did.

I was in the office upstairs, getting everything finished and nice and tidy for you. I had all of my files, all four of them, formatted. I had inserted Deborah Levinson's wonderfully written Foreword into all four files. I had the blurb and all the details about the SAGA ready. The cover? Ready to go.

I uploaded to all four simultaneously (Nook, however, wouldn't process until this morning). Kindle and Kobo went straight to publishing for pre-order.

Smashwords... ah, Smashwords. It was while Smashwords' famed "Meatgrinder" went about its business of getting the book out there that all the memories of the last 13 years came whizzing through my mind......

The memory of wanting to write a simple story about a halfling. I had percolated in my mind for a few months while I sold cell phones at the mall. I then recall sitting down in my bedroom on Jan. 4, 2003, my first Gateway computer fired up. I had named the initial file YanosKingsfoil.doc. The first four chapters came formed, and I wrote them in a few weeks. I had the first line of what was then chapter five written... and then I stumbled.

I eventually finished chapter five some six months later, in between dad's funeral and his burial.

Dad, I hope you're watching. I hope you're proud of the author I have become. I did it.... and I miss you.

I had put those first five chapters on the shelf afterward and let the story marinate a bit. It wasn't until I heard R.A. Salvatore speak at the Westminster Public Library a year or so later did I decide to return to the novel--I had told my mom as we left the library that I would finish that book after I heard Bob say that "There is no such thing as writer's block." Less than a week later, I had my brainstorm about Krampel Paddymeyer. It was just an idea and didn't come fully formed at the time. I pressed myself to write those last 80,000 words or so in THE QUEST FOR THE CHALICE; I celebrated hard when I made it to 100 pages of manuscript.

I had wept Christmas Night 2004, when I thought I had lost the entire manuscript (friggin' 3D models of the save icon). I breathed a sigh of relief when I had recovered it.

I worked and worked and worked until I had my manuscript. I got right to work on book two.

I wrote book two a little faster than book one. I wrote book three, and I had my trilogy. After a few other books, I started writing my prequel stories. I wrote a series of short stories in 2009. I remember family of friends taunting me for my weird-sounding character and places names.

I published the original trilogy shortly thereafter. I felt so proud of what I had done. I did the same with more books, and more books. My skills improved.

I recall re-reading it in 2013 and discovering that it was crap. I shelved it. I removed it from sale.

I didn't want it to see the light of day again.

And then... I decided, with my present skills, to return to Obloeron. It was time. I took the short stories I had written and figured how to weave them into the story. There was a question of taking one and attaching it to the end of the third--then unreleased--prequel, but instead I decided to use it as a connecting piece. I took another, polished it up, and attached it to the start of my first novel from nearly 13 years ago.

I started re-writing the novels where they needed re-writing. That took a few weeks, before I started to salvage (and as I've already noted, that was a good thing).

I let them sit for a while. I returned to them in July of this year, then again in September.

And now... they're back. Six books, including the previously unseen third prequel novel, KRAMPEL'S REVENGE. Happy Book Day, Sean. Happy Book Day.

If you pre-ordered the box set, thank you. If you're thinking about buying it for only 99 cents, know that you're buying a project that has touched my heart and my life more than any book series ever should.

If you're new here, enjoy the ride.

At the moment, this is the only available edition of Obloeron: On Friday, I took down the two existing individual prequels for the time being: I need to update the covers and re-brand, and right now is not the time, financially-speaking, to do that. Besides, you're getting all six books for .99 cents instead of paying $2.99 each. Doesn't exactly make sense to have them all up right now, does it?

Here are the links:

US Kindle
UK Kindle
Nook
Kobo
Smashwords

***

And now, a quick word about the future of this particular world:

The last short story in this series was intended, in 2009, to be the jumping-off point for a sequel series; obviously, I took the George Lucas approach with this entire saga, writing the second three books first, then go on to write the first three books second, then drop the series entirety. It was completely unintentional.

Once I started writing the AGENT series some seven months later, I put the sequel series of Obloeron on the shelf. I started enjoying a great deal of success as a thriller author (I still do), but there is a part of me which would love to go back to that world and cause a little damage. And seeing that I'm currently in the first draft stage of an unrelated fantasy novel (more on that next week, I think), there is a desire in my heart to go back to Obloeron and write a few new books in the world.

But--and this is a pretty huge but here--I will only do so if there is a call for it. If the SAGA sells well and it is well-received, I'll start brainstorming next month. We'll get a cover made, and we'll get the book out.

Only if there's a call for it.

Let me know.

www.seansweeneyauthor.com

Kobo doing it again with a 50 percent off sale

I've mentioned before how we authors are a pretty obsessive bunch, especially when it comes to our book sales. I won't re-hash it, but you can find my obsessive-compulsiveness in my archives.

This weekend, coupled with the release of THE OBLOERON SAGA and the need to increase the pre-orders in the days prior to Monday's release, the good folks over at Kobo are going to have me and many other authors doing a frantic F5 every waking minute over the next six days or so: they are running another 50 percent off sale on all books published through Kobo Writing Life, and thankfully, I'm one of those authors who do this, and only use Smashwords for iBooks and other reading entities; I upload to Kindle, Nook, and Kobo separately.

This means that for you Kobo users out there--you can pre-order THE OBLOERON SAGA and get it for something like 48 cents.

Read that line again.

Really? Six books plus three short stories for only 48 cents?! Seriously? My other books from $1.50-$2 each? I have two words for that, ladies and gents, and that is LEGAL THIEVERY.

And I love it.

So go on, Kobo readers, go on and do it. STEAL MY BOX SET. I double dare you to. Do so for half the price this weekend, using these coupon codes at checkout:

Canada users, from Oct. 28-Oct 31: CA50SALE
United States/Australia/New Zealand users, from Oct. 28-Oct 30: GET50SALE
United Kingdom users, from Oct. 30-Nov. 2 (RELEASE DAY!): UK50SALE

Here's the link to all of my books on Kobo. HAVE AT IT!

www.seansweeneyauthor.com

Have you pre-ordered THE OBLOERON SAGA yet?

We're just under a week away until the triumphant return of THE OBLOERON SAGA to all eTailer shelves, and I just have one question--have you pre-ordered your copy yet?

You haven't? Oy, vey, what am I going to do with you lot?

Yup, you guessed it. I'm going to inundate you with a bunch of links.

For those of you with Kindle, click here and simply fix the URL to your particular country/Amazon shop. For those of you with Kobo, click here. I don't have a link for Nook's placement yet, but you can always sideload on Nov. 2 through Smashwords, or you can wait for Nook's placement to pop up; in related news, Nook should allow for pre-orders. It will only cost you a measly--A MEASLY--.99 cents for six books, plus three short stories which tell you the full story of the goings-on on Obloeron.

Not only that, but remember--the prose has seen a bit of an upheaval, too. I've embedded two other short stories into the existing prose to beef up the story a bit, to give a little more additional context to it. You may have read the TRILOGY before. You may have read the first two books in the prequels.

You don't know the entire story.

In one week--Monday, November 2, 2015--you totally, totally will. It's almost here. Pre-order today.

www.seansweeneyauthor.com

COMING SOON--THE OBLOERON SAGA

When one man puts aside a great destiny, it falls on another to pick it up.

This is the full, six-book THE OBLOERON SAGA bundle, which first appeared in 2009 under my old pseudonym, John Fitch V. The first five fantasy novels were published before 2013, and now the series comes together with the previously unreleased third novel, KRAMPEL'S REVENGE.

In addition, there is previously unseen prose in the form of three short stories the author has weaved into the tale, and gives the full look at some previously unanswered questions from the original three novels.

Starting with the short story The Creation of Flad-rul, the SAGA tells of Krampel Paddymeyer’s journey from that of slave to bounty hunter, from bounty hunter to war hero. Then the original trilogy picks up with Krampel’s grandson, Grumpet, his heir, as well as the tale of Radamuck Rosar’s journey with these two great men. Add in a halfling with a warrior complex, a bit of love, and plenty of orcs, and you have a fantasy story set to stand the test of time.

The Saga includes:

The Creation of Flad-rul (short story/prologue)

The Rise of the Dark Falcon (prequel one)

The Shadow Looms (prequel two)

Krampel’s Revenge (prequel three, previously unreleased)

Krampel’s Flight to Kayiko (short story/interstitial)

The Quest for the Chalice (original one)

The Return to Lowbridge (original two)

The Fall of Myrindar (original three)

Grumpet’s First Day (short story/epilogue)

Coming SOON to an eTailer near you! Join my mailing list (the form is at the top of the blog) to find out when it's available!

www.seansweeneyauthor.com

The Obloeron Re-writes: Dark Falcon done, on to The Shadow Looms

The last third of The Rise of the Dark Falcon took me about three hours to read through and fix Thursday morning; there was a little bit to fix, and when it was all said and done, I had removed about 2,000 words--needless words--from that book. I feel the book is better now.

(*gulp* I hope.)

After a little bit of a break and some errands, I started work on The Shadow Looms, the middle book in the prequel series and the second book in the series proper. I did a little re-writing in the opening page, as I felt that it didn't flow properly.

Of course, why didn't I realize this three years ago?

I really don't have an answer. Consider this as author-ly maturity on my part. Really.

In all, I did about 16 pages--the first two chapters in this book--before I called it a day and settled in for the Patriots game. Back at it this morning? You bet. I figure that I'll get a third of the way through the novel (about 45 2/3 pages, so about 29 pages today) by the time I have to eat and leave for my football game--high school football coverage starts tonight; on Saturday, I may get in a couple of hours work done in the late morning as I have a soccer game to cover in the afternoon, as well as a hay and grain run before that. Ponies have to eat, too.

Sunday, though... Sunday I should get quite a bit done, maybe to the two-thirds mark, while I have soccer on in the background before I settle in and watch football. I figure that I'll finish up The Shadow Looms before I head to my afternoon soccer game on Monday, which means I'll be a third of the way through The Obloeron Saga in just less than a week.

Exciting stuff over here.

www.seansweeneyauthor.com

The Obloeron Re-Writes: Finishing up Dark Falcon

This morning, I plan to get started on the final third of The Rise of the Dark Falcon. It's a wicked big deal, folks.

So far, I've spent the last two days removing passive voice I had missed during the last edit, as well as tightening certain sections and deleting extraneous phrasing that, as I see it now, is either redundant or unnecessary to the story.

The hope is that by 1 p.m. this afternoon, I will be done with Dark Falcon and can move on to The Shadow Looms. 

At least that's my plan.

Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Moving right along.

www.seansweeneyauthor.com

The Obloeron Re-Writes: The best laid plans, they need a-changing

I think the title of today's blog says it all.

*looks up*

OK, maybe not. I'll explain.

As you read Tuesday, my whole plan was to get started on the final read of The Obloeron Saga. I was pumped and ready to curl up with my Kindle and get reading, all to make sure that the entirety of the book is ready to go in time for its Nov. 2 re-release. Reading it in September means I have a month to fix it if it isn't ready.

However, not everything goes to plan, and my second emotion from yesterday reared its ugly head.

As I laid in bed reading in the air conditioning--yes, it is friggin' hot here in Massachusetts--I had a legal pad next to me as I jotted down some notes regarding changes for the first chapter in The Rise of the Dark Falcon. I got through the chapter relatively unscathed, until I found some dreaded passive voice lingering in the tail end of the chapter.

Wait, what? Didn't I take care of that this summer? Apparently, I missed a bit--and yes, this time, it's on me. I'm a little upset and a little frustrated, but I'm persevering as I put my nose to the ol' grindstone.

In addition, as I sit here a third of the way through yet another draft--what is this now, draft No. 10?--I had to clear up some befuddled sentences in the next few chapters. I chose to speak some parts aloud to make sure they make sense. Again, I hope that with this full look-see is done, all 811 pages or thereabouts, it will be DONE. Complete. Finito.

I also realized something yesterday. Obloeron is, without a doubt, my personal Dark Tower series, ladies and gents. Much like King, you'll find that this is the defining series of my early career, and it will, I'm sure, read like an early career series. My hope is that when it is all said and done, you will feel a mishmash of early and now as you read it.

More reading on tap for today, another forty pages or so. Can't you feel my excitement?

www.seansweeneyauthor.com

Summer of Edit 2015, done and dusted

Over the course of the last seven-plus weeks, when I wasn't headed to Cape Cod or busting my rear end in our vast vegetable garden, I've been at my computer doing what I call "The Summer of Edit 2015." As it is a rather big deal, allow me a few moments of your time to explain.

Earlier this summer, I wrote about how I'm in the process of reviewing my business plan and, at the same time, altering it. Starting some time this fall, I'm going to take out Facebook ads and possibly even Twitter ads. When I wrote the business plan blog, I explained that I had given away upward of 103,000 copies or thereabouts of Model Agent, but when it came to selling through the rest of the Agent series, I had only sold about 7,000 copies of the others up through the end of June. Some of the newer books, which have great writing if I do say so myself, hardly sell save to my die-hards. I've come to the conclusion that either a. Some people didn't like the story and have since abandoned me (which is completely in their purview), b. Some read it and liked it, but didn't look for more books (which is, again, in their purview, but it may be my fault, too), or c. Some people read it, liked it, but are now in a different position in their lives and don't have the same amount of time with which to read like they did a few years ago. It's an either/or situation, I think. Who am I to truly say what the situation is?

The Facebook ads, I hope, will help build my mailing list as well as reclaim some Model Agent/Rogue Agent/Double Agent readers that had liked the story, but didn't know about the other books. The ads should point people in the direction of my bookstore, where readers will find that, indeed, I have plenty more books out there, and that I haven't gone away. Now...

Some of those books, as you'll know by the painstaking edit work that I did of The Obloeron Saga earlier in the year, were supposedly edited by a grad student prior to publishing a few years ago. As I've said, they weren't. And some of the other books that I had also released, such as Scollay Love and Zombie Showdown, were also supposedly edited by this particular person. Again, they weren't. Shame on me for not checking their work, and shame on them for screwing me over.

If I'm going to alter the business plan and reclaim readers, I had to make a hard choice: There are some who think I should just let the older work stay in its older form, letting the stories speak for themselves. I'm not doing that--and I haven't. This was something that I need to do if the readers are going to take this indie seriously as an author. I'm going to be here a long time, and there are plenty more stories in me. I just need readers, keeping my fastball tuned so the readers stick with me. That meant I had to go back into my files and do some revisions to these stories and bring them in line with my current skill level. It was time-consuming, but I stress that this was needed. I've improved as a writer to the point where passive voice no longer infiltrates my writing from the get-go. Meanwhile, the older stories, the supposedly edited ones that weren't, had tons of it.

That is no longer the case.

In the past few weeks, I've worked on cleaning up Zombie Showdown, Scollay Love (under my D.L. Boyd pen name), Cold Altar, and Voir Dire. I've cleaned them up--in the case of ZS and SL, I've re-written a few parts to improve on the story and have deleted some lines to tighten the story--re-formatted, and I've now re-uploaded them to Kindle, Nook, Kobo, Smashwords (with the exception of Scollay Love), and now to Google Play. These were solid stories, but didn't really sell: that may be due to what I see as sloppy, amateurish writing/editing. And with me about to go back into the world of Alex Bourque--Cold Altar and Voir Dire are in his world--later this week, those two books needed to be sharp without any serious dilution to the story. The passive voice, which the editor should have taken out, is now gone.

The question, of course, is how much left is there to do? I will be re-reading The Obloeron Saga in October; I do not foresee any additional changes to that series, and it will be re-published on Nov. 2, 2015--two years to the day that I took it down. The Agent series continues as my best-selling series, and there are no changes to those existing books scheduled. The stories are solid, the writing crisp. The same with the recent stories of Redeemed, The Long Crimson Line, and The Lone Bostonian. Royal Switch, I may look into changing up a little (the opening is slow, but it serves a purpose), but probably not this go-around. The John Fitch V books of Turning Back The Clock, One Hero A Savior, and A Galaxy At War, no, I'm not going to change those.

It is my hope that if you do take a chance on me from this point forward, I will have gained a reader that appreciates my writing, one who knows that I have now put forth an impeccable effort--one better than I had before. I also hope that the reader will join the mailing list and keep picking up my new books.

And speaking of that, I must dash. I have a new book to write.

Take care.

www.seansweeneyauthor.com

The Obloeron Re-writes: Done, Done, and DONE!

When I finished the first draft for the manuscript that became The Quest for the Chalice in early February 2005, I remember a weight seemingly leave my shoulders. The manuscript was, I thought at the time, completed. I had just finished writing my first novel, and the emotion of the moment took over my body. The fact it took me just over two years to write that particular novel and all the issues surrounding it, dealing with writer's block and not knowing where to take the story a few times (and then discovering my backstory in Kayiko), dealing with the death of my father and life without him, and then nearly losing the entirety of the manuscript in a Christmas 2004 disk problem, and then typing those two little words... yeah, you can say I was a little emotional that evening.

And while I've felt the finality of writing novels in the last 10-plus years--the weight leaving, the feeling of "Oh, thank Cthulhu that's over!" and then following that up with "OK, what do I do now?"--I've grown to the point where there is no need for tears when I finish writing a book. It's my job now, and there is no crying at work.

On Sunday, I didn't cry when I finished this read-through and revision of The Obloeron Saga, even though I felt a bit of an emotional tug around 1:30 p.m., when I saved the file to The Fall of Myrindar.

Yes. After 12 years, six months, and 15 days after I first started writing about a little halfling known as Yanos Kingsfoil, I can safely say that Obloeron's six-book saga is now completed.

There have been some changes, as I've mentioned before. I've tightened the story from front to back. Passive voice is gone; it littered my writing a decade ago. I've deleted whole sections that slowed the story down. I made a few character changes to fit continuity and canon. From what I can see, the story, as a whole, reads much better than it did two years ago. It simply feels better, in my opinion.

Of course, there are some spots where it drags a bit; the whole exposition coming back from Statuary Tower at the end of Quest... there's not much I can do, and I really cannot cut it; it's just a really boring section, the action done. The exposition builds up to the ending, where Grumpet tells his Jessica that he must go south with the dwarves. But the rest of it is pretty darn good; seriously, I still get chills at the end of Fall, when Aidan Rosar makes his first appearance in a while--and I wrote that scene in 2006!

Now, the next thing to do is to compile the multiple book files into a single compendium and read it again, this time on my Kindle. I'll do that in October, right before it's time to re-publish, as well as upload the finished files of the single books. And yes, there may be a few tears, too.

I can tell you that the final quarter of 2015 will be pretty darn exciting as I say good bye to Obloeron one last time.

www.seansweeneyauthor.com

Authorial Labels--The Good, The Bad, The Why Bother?

Over the course of the past few years, I've met some really great people who just happen to have a knack for creating fantastic worlds, intriguing characters, and plot lines that just drag a reader into the prose by the throat and hold them there until those two little words--THE END--reach the eyes. One of them is my dear, dear friend, Allie Burke. Allie is a California girl, and when she's not goofing off with calf-high toe socks and writing her name, graffiti-style, with sparkly spray paint, she writes romance novels that are absolutely kick-ass. Before you read on, go onto Amazon and grab her titles--that's TITLES, you perverts--to make the red-headed nerd a happy girl. Anyway....

Allie recently penned a blog that came to my attention, and I have the feeling that it came about after she had mentioned earlier this week that she was just about at her breaking point when it came to people with the first name "Author" friending her on Facebook. Completely understandable. The blog she wrote and posted to Doubleshot Book Reviews noted that she is tired of the label "Author," too. And while I agree with most of her blog--I, too, despise some of the marketing tactics of authors who'll follow you on Twitter, then when you follow them back, they DM Bomb you with a link to either buy their books or follow their author page on Facebook; which is kind of ridiculous, if you think about it, and why I don't do that--I have to say I like the label that my friend dislikes. She says she would prefer to use the term "writer," and again, I understand that. She writes. I write. Loads of people write.

But there's a difference here, gang: While writers write, authors just happen to be read--by readers. Allie is read by multiple readers. I am read by multiple readers. Loads of authors are read by multiple readers. We are authors, hear us roar in the form of violently typity-typing on our keyboards!

Meow. But I digress...

What I do hate regarding the labels in this business is the way some readers--and in a way, some authors themselves--differentiate authors/writers, and please note that this is not a whiny post: I'm a little perturbed over the label of "traditionally-published author" and the "self-published author."

We all know here that I am self-published, or as some like to say, "indie." I wear loads of hats in the game, beyond the conception and actual writing. There is nothing wrong with that, and as many have realized, the self-publishing stigma is gone with the advent and the continuation of the digital revolution. And with the revolution as it stands, I've had the opportunity to be read by readers--just like the authors are, the ones who go through New York and don't wear all the hats of the business like I do. My pal Rich Meyer has called me, "a bloody indie superstar." There are "traditionally-published" authors who I am proud to call friends in this business, and I can say without a doubt that they are just as happy for my success as I am. As they always say, and I completely agree with this, it's better to make money with your work self-publishing than just having your manuscript sit in an ever-growing slush pile with no guarantee that a publishing company intern is going to read your work and pass it on to their higher-ups.

I personally don't like those labels. Why not just call us authors--or, like Allie desires, writers--and be done with it?

The day that comes about, without labels, will be a fantastic day indeed.

www.seansweeneyauthor.com

Raise, or Hold: The Publishing Poker Game

Ever since the start of the Amazon vs. Big Six/ebook pricing war back in mid 2009, my full-sized books have been priced at $2.99. Some, well after their run, have been bumped up to $3.99. My AGENT series books, which have been my perennial best sellers, remain at $2.99 even after being on the market for nearly three years. I've pretty much done that for one simple reason: we were in the midst of a crap economy (thanks, President Bush), and the thought of building an audience by charging an arm and a leg for a book while people were trying to find a way to put food on the table, gas in their cars, and keeping the lights on rankled me. At $2.99, I was (and still am) at the bottom end of the 70 percent royalty. A book sold equaled two bucks in my pocket.

When MODEL AGENT hit the virtual shelves in February 2011, sales went well at $2.99. I sold quite a few in the first few days that my dear friend Deborah Levinson, in a message, told me to bump the price to $3.99.

I balked. I remained at $2.99, and still sold quite a few books.

A few months later, I tried an experiment. For one week, I had priced ROGUE AGENT at $3.99 after selling well at the $2.99 price point.

After that one week was up, I brought it back down to $2.99. I hadn't sold a single copy in that time. It made me wonder--and still does to this day--if I as an author could command a price higher than $2.99 and have it sell at a rate that would allow me to put food on the table, gas in the car, and keep the lights/cable on. Would my die-hard readers, the ones who have been with me from the start of this journey, appreciate a jack-up in price?

It's the question that has plagued me and so many other authors struggling to find "the sweet spot" when it comes to pricing our books. $2.99 has been mine. I know several other authors who have gone to $3.99 and have been successful. I had the TRILOGY at $4.99 and I still managed to sell a couple copies a month before I took it down in November for a complete re-write (which I still haven't gotten to do yet). Still... a couple copies at $4.99 isn't enough to pay for lunch.

But now, after a blog came out recently, I'm wondering to myself if it's time. Am I truly low-balling myself? Is my work worth more than it is right now? Can I make more money by charging a higher rate for my books? My work has improved; fellow author Rich Meyer called me, "A bloody indie superstar" on Facebook last week. Surely if this were true, my sales would be higher than they are now.

So... what to do about this conundrum? It's like I'm playing a poker game: Do I raise the prices (and, in poker parlance, the stakes), or do I hold? Do I risk alienating my base at the risk of more profit, or do I remain where I am to keep the readers I know I have happy? Do I turn off readers who I haven't reached yet, or do I try to reach the level of the big boys and girls and see what happens?

Decisions to make--all of which are tough ones.

www.seansweeneyauthor.com

An Author Who Hated Reading--For A Time

This blog has been a long time coming, and I'll tell you why.

Once upon a time, in a small city in north central Massachusetts called Fitchburg, there was a teenager named Sean. Sean was your average, run-of-the-mill teenager. He liked sports and girls, listening to music on the radio, and watching his favorite television shows. One of the things he didn't like, though, was reading.

There was one good reason for that. He had nothing to read that interested him.

Oh, of course there were the books that his teachers at Fitchburg High School force-fed him, books that are so-called classics. Books from a long ago age, with what he considered dull writing that didn't seem to spark any interest in him. Books that his teachers needed to pull his arm off and beat him over the head with it in order to get him to read it. He shrugged, didn't read them, failed his English courses, and somehow still went on to become a fantastic author and sportswriter.

Hmmm, you're saying to yourself. How can that be? How can one be an author if that person doesn't like to read?

The answer is simple.

He found books that he liked to read. He found books that interested him. He found books that fostered a love of reading within him. He found books that reached out and pulled him in with excellent writing, writing that brought him to other places.

Sean was about 15 or 16 when he and his mother walked into his local WaldenBooks store, a store where he would later meet a local author named R.A. Salvatore and put him on a path toward writing his first novel. You've probably heard of him. Anyway, Sean's mother was in the romance section on this fine Saturday. Not wanting to see his mother pour over the bodice rippers, he moseyed over a few feet to the Science Fiction/Fantasy section. Sean had been a fan of the Star Wars movies growing up, and his father had handed him The Hobbit when he was 11. He liked it enough. Lo and behold, as he peered those shelves, he found quite a few Star Wars novels. There weren't many.

If books had voices, they called to him, begging him to ask him mother to buy them.

"Hey ma," he said, turning to her. "Can we get some of these Star Wars books?"

Hand to Cthulhu, Sean's mother walked over and swiped them all into her basket. And suffice it to say, he traveled to that Galaxy Far, Far Away many times, gobbling up those books--and soon waited for more.

But what else could he read, that would hold his attention, while he waited?

Enter John Grisham. Books like The Firm, The Runaway Jury, A Time To Kill, The Pelican Brief. Stories about law with an interesting plot (and a little sex, too). But once the new Star Wars came out, he would get it, bring it home, and devour it. Books--Star Wars books--soon became his drug of choice. He didn't find those books boring. Far from it.

From there, he found other great authors and turned into a rather voracious reader. He finally read Lord of the Rings, reading the three books in less than a month. He's moved on to find great authors like Michael Connelly, and Jim C. Hines, and Mario Acevedo, and David Forbes, and Kevin J. Anderson. He discovered Vince Flynn in the remainders section ten years or so ago: when Flynn died last year, Sean felt as if a member of his own family had died.

Nowadays, he's writing his own stories--he's currently writing his 20th full-sized novel, and he's written a few children's books and short stories, too--but he still has a love of reading that carries him through the days. He rarely watches television. He reads great fiction that entertains him, fiction that doesn't lull him into an absolute stupor with dry writing--much like the books he was supposed to read for school. He has Kindle practically everywhere he goes, and it's not out of character for him to read a bit before a ballgame. And what is he reading now, you ask? Star Wars: Scoundrels by Timothy Zahn.

So you see, teens of today: there's a lot of symmetry between you and your elders. Yes, they were forced to read the same books you're being forced to read today (it's the case for those of you at Fitchburg High School; hello, Wuthering Heights). But when someone says for you to do some independent reading, you shouldn't say that it's "mad boring as shit." You need to find the book that--like it did for me some twenty years ago--grabs you by the throat and pulls you in. There is a book out there that will do it for you.

I guarantee it.

www.seansweeneyauthor.com