"I Got a Golden Sticker"

Having a digital image of an award is one thing, but getting non-digital proof is a whole different ball game.  It's also a nice, in-my-face motivation to finish the second book in the series!

If you're new here, please check out more about the book at http://richsamuelsauthor.com

Short Stories and Tumbleweeds

In the year since I published my first novel, "My Life at the Bottom of the Food Chain," I've been experimenting with a range of marketing approaches.  I've held a couple of book giveaways on Goodreads, pushed out a series of press releases when appropriate, and tried, the best I could, to encourage reviews on the various online sites where the book is sold. Though I'm working under a modest budget, I've also advertised on a limited basis, and I've given away dozens of promotional copies.

Independent reviews (those I haven't personally recruited) have been everything I could have hoped for, and the recognition I announced here yesterday (see Good Timing: My Book Wins an Award) was a great morale booster for my team (me!).

One particular experiment has been especially frustrating.  As I've been working on the sequel to "My Life at the Bottom of the Food Chain," I thought it would be important to keep my online bookstore active with a possible series of ebook-only short stories based on characters from the book. The first in the series, "Why Do You Think They Call It a Ghost Town?" was released on the traditional sites for 99 cents.  It's a fun story (I think) about Alexander's adventure visiting the real-life ghost town of Bodie, California.

The result was something akin to many ghost towns:

Tumbleweeds.

To be honest, I knew that this was a risky proposition. This is a niche short story, aimed at an audience which may not read short stories, and wouldn't necessarily look for them online. Even so, I must admit, I haven't received a single review on any Amazon, Goodreads or anywhere.

While I'm far enough along the road now that I can say I'm satisfied with the story itself, I remain intrigued the lack of reaction. Good? Bad? Indifferent? I have no idea!  Since "Food Chain" (and it's upcoming follow-up) are really in-depth comedic character studies, perhaps the short story format doesn't work in this "world." Or, perhaps short stories, by their brief nature, don't generate a drive within readers to actually spend the time to create a review.

I had considered the possibility of creating an illustrated version of the story for an actual physical (paper) edition, but now I'm undecided.

Still, even without responses, I'm happy to have a second title available as I continue my quest as an author. I didn't want to disappear for a year and a half, publishing-wise, as I wrote the second book.

Tumbleweeds, after all, aren't obstacles after all. They might be annoying, but you can kick them out of the way pretty easily.

Good Timing: My Book Wins an Award!

"My Life at the Bottom of the Food Chain" has been awarded a "B.R.A.G. Medallion," a reader-curated recognition for independently-published novels in numerous genres.

Reviews, recognition and acceptance, of course, is always appreciated, particularly by a first-time novelist like myself. Recognition from B.R.A.G., the Book Readers Appreciation Group, is particularly meaningful. It represents a direct connection with readers at large, which is one of the greatest joys I've found in this experience.

This recognition comes along at a great time, too. I'm in the latter stages of writing the (as yet unnamed) follow-up to "Food Chain" (with a launch date, hopefully, sometime this fall).  This is naturally a great marketing tool as I work on the next volume in Alexander's tale.

B.R.A.G. is a great resource. It comes with a number of advantages, including a social media campaign, an active website, interview opportunities, and more - if you're an author, or a reader that would like to contribute your services, it's worth checking out. They also have a Facebook page.  I intend to take full advantage of the program.

Marketing has been the greatest challenge in bringing "Food Chain" to an audience. I've been experimenting with a variety of approaches over the past year. I've had good reaction to the book, but I haven't found the "breakthrough" approach to push it to a larger audience.

I keep in mind my friend Lynette Privatsky's suggestion that marketing "Food Chain" will be a slow burn.

Onward!

Follow Friday - and Why!

Twitter's "Follow Friday" concept, where users post a small list of their most appreciated followers, tends to be annoying after a while.  Some, if they're mentioned in a #FollowFriday post, will retweet that post, thereby sharing all others on the list as well. If just two or three followers repost, everyone else on the list is flooded with multiple notifications.

I thought I would try something that might provide a little more value in the spirit of Follow Friday. Instead of simply listing users in a tweet, I'll tweet a Follow Friday link, and bring any interested Twitter users here, where they can see not only who I'm recognizing this week, but why. For all concerned, this might be a more productive approach to sharing and generating followers.

So, here is my list for Friday, March 28, 2014 - along with their Twitter Profiles - and a comment or two from me!

@wyld_stallyn
I make short movies promoting animal shelters because it's the badass thing to do youtube.com/CountyofSDDAS
[My nephew and partner in RoadTrip crime - and a writer of award-winning screenplays]

@TheBookScrubber

I edit, therefore I am. thebookscrubber.com

[My niece and owner of this editing/proofreading service - without her, my book wouldn't have seen the light of day!]

@SymposiaBooks 

Hudson County's last & only bookstore! We sponsor community events and buy/sell used books. Our space is available for rental. Support our mission

[I'm on the other side of the country from SymposiaBooks, but I appreciate that they will retweet my book news!]

@TheKindleWhispe 

#USAF Vet, Ret #EMS, #indieuthor of Trauma Junkie, #scifi Shades of Amber, Screenwriter & Future #showrunner, Join KM & I will tweet the SH&T outta your books.

[Another faithful retweeter of my book news!]

@RashaGoel
Entrepreneur, veggie food junkie, and owner of Bollywood Step Dance! Kinda nice, sorta naughty!

[Good Friend, has appeared in one of my documentaries, and sometime collaborator]

@FloresFamilyFun

We are on Youtube at youtube.com/user/TammyFlor… youtube.com/user/coolas781

[The Flores Family provided some great feedback as I wrote my first book! I call them my Canadian Contingent]

@ChristinaKenway

Author of the middle grade novel, The Dragonlord's Heir, and the Ascalon Trilogy. Cosplayer, gamer, and lover of all things Batman.

[I think I last met Christina when she was about a year old. Thanks to Facebook (and her grandmother), I can follow the emergence of this YA author!]

@andymooseman
Managing Editor of The Stinger magazine, Co-founder of Pierless Music, Radio DJ, vlogger, blogger, music lover, ex-Drummer, blah, blah, blah.
[Resident of Hastings UK, I first met Andy during a Santa Monica YouTube meet-up in 2010, and caught up with him in Hastings in 2013]

@kenrg
Just a guy who spends too much time online  kengoldstein.ca
[We go WAY back. I could tell ya stories. An old high school friend and YouTube/social media veteran]

[I keep threatening to make a documentary about a certain Florida family that's dedicated to YouTube - here they are!]

@HappySuuz

People know me as FUR's mom - But I make videos too! :) Love GOD, my family, YouTube, the Keys and Disney!  youtube.com/HappySuuz

[The Mom. These kids have incredibly cool parents that fully support YouTube madness- one of the reasons I'd still like to make the documentary]

@Fur24

I'm FUR! Yes, MY NAME IS FUR! :) I'm a 16 yr old who shares my life and personality making content for YouTube - so... WHAT THE FUR!?! - JOIN ME! :) youtube.com/FUR

[Aspiring filmmaker, writer, and dedicated YouTuber]

@AntinnyWorld

I am me, you are you, and we are in my world now. Welcome to My World!

Look behind you  ·  youtube.com/AntinnyWorld

[YouTuber, Musician - and he wrote a fantastic review of my book. I quote him]

@DrewDudeTV

I LOVE making Youtube videos, playing video games, doing art, watching TOBUSCUS, CRUSHING ON JENNIFER LAWRENCE, Spending time with God and my family! :)    youtube.com/DrewDudeTV

[11 years old, emerging YouTubers - and he bears a striking physical resemblance to Alexander, the main character in my novel - if I can afford to get down to Florida, he just might be in a book trailer...]

Short Story Ebook Published: Now What?

As of today, my ebook-only short story Why Do You Think They Call It a Ghost Town is available on Amazon sites worldwide (including the US, UK and Canada). It's already available from other popular ebook retailers, as well.

While this short story helps me to establish a slightly larger presence as a writer - one of my prime objectives as I continue to work toward completion of my second novel, I'm still considering how I might promote this work.

This short story is simply entertainment - it doesn't pretend to be anything else. While "My Life at the Bottom of the Food Chain" addresses aspects of bullying, and the second book in the series will address self-image issues, Ghost Town places Alexander in a real-life ghost town of Bodie, California for a creepy little adventure. It developed out of visits my nephew and I made to Bodie a couple of years ago.

Here are a few questions I'm pondering:

1. How can I promote short, light entertainment?
2. How can I encourage readers to port reviews for a short, light entertainment? 
3. Since my primary audience are likely to be middle-grade readers (extending to about thirteen or so), how can I reach that age group effectively - and, will they be interested in this sort of short fiction?
4. Should I consider a fully illustrated physical edition of this book, perhaps offered in time for Halloween? It might prove to be a major undertaking, but could be an attractive platform for this particular story.

Meanwhile, I continue work on my second novel, obsessively check my Amazon and Bookbaby stats, experiment with promotional tools, and contemplate my path forward as a writer.

As always, your feedback is welcome and encouraged.

Follow me on Twitter, @rickflix

Short Story Eyeballs

I'm still waiting for Why Do You Thing They Call it a Ghost Town? to turn up on Amazon - though BookBaby's stats show that it should be showing up any moment now. In the meantime, I remain puzzled as to how to effectively promote a short story. While there are extensive resources online to help an author promote a novel or  non-fiction book (resources I haven't yet learned how to use too effectively, by the way), I haven't yet discovered a strategy to raise awareness of my short story.

Of course, this short story doesn't have the same "heft" as "My Life at the Bottom of the Food Chain." The novel is about Alexander's wildly outlandish fears of bullying, while Ghost Town is, really, a simple tall tale about Alexander's experience in a wild west ghost town.  While I think it's fun, (though I'm still waiting for reviews - insert serious-face emoticon here), I'm really not sure how to encourage readers to purchase a short story. To be perfectly honest, I've rarely purchased a short story online.

Actually, selling the short story was never the primary objective. Since the follow up to "Food Chain" has taken longer than anticipated, I wanted to make certain I maintained some level of creative output as I build my presence as an author. I also saw the idea of creating a series of "Alexander's Shorts" as a good way of cross promoting the "franchise." Ideally, I'd like to be publishing a new story every couple of months, and a new book every year.  To reach that goal, I need to find a way to build awareness and readership.

Alexander needs eyeballs.

Remember, you can follow me @rickflix

Short Story Rising

As I write this, "Why Do You Think They Call it a Ghost Town?" is rolling out across all of the tradtional e-book sites. This is the second publication I've released online, and the first short story I've distributed.

I handled "book" (it's only 35 pages or so) differently than my novel. I designed the book. The cover, with the exception of the "Alexander" icon was my design, and I created the e-pub file without professional involvement.  With "My Life at the Bottom of the Food Chain," I submitted the manuscript to BookBaby (for the ebook) and Createspace (for the paperback), paid for design services, and simply reviewed the finished product. In this case, I was hands-on, beginning to end.

The process was a bit tricky at first, but the learning curve was pretty shallow, thanks to some good written and YouTube tutorials. My first attempt at submitting to BookBaby wasn't successful, due to some illegally named photos, but that was an easy fix, and I was able to make the fixes right away and send them back for final approval.

I didn't try to edit or proofread, however, and hired the good folks at http://thebookscrubber.com to maintain professional standards. Needless to say, the only obvious typo I've seen so far is on the copyright page, which wasn't submitted for proofreading (word to the wise - proofread Everything!). I'll likely do this again for future short stories; I won't likely attempt this for a novel. There's too much to track, and my attention span won't allow a precise job to that extent! 

 

As I said in my previous blog, I'm waiting with anticipation to see how my short story - in particular, a short story for middle grade readers - will fare in e-book form. I'm also curious to see if it does effectively cross-promote "My Life at the Bottom of the Food Chain," which is, to paraphrase from the comic book world, Alexander's origin story. 

The standard description, by the way - the short description that appears on the sales sites - doesn't mention the book directly. Though "Why Do You Think They Call it a Ghost Town" features characters from the novel, it's designed to be a standalone story. My hope is that readers will be entertained enough to check out the book, which is mentioned on the final page. 

I apologize for the cliche, but "The Adventure Continues."