Flaws! Oh, Teh Flaws!

I realise that the version of Spinward Fringe Broadcast 9: Warpath that's out there has spelling errors. This is my mistake - I sent the formatter the pre-corrected version of the manuscript, and I apologise if this breaks immersion.

It will be at least a couple months before the corrected version gets uploaded to your devices (for free) in an update because I'll have to pay to get the formatting done again, but, trust me, it'll get done as soon as I can afford it because it's worth doing.

This is sometimes one of the drawbacks of one-room-operation publishing. The author has to keep a lot of plates spinning at once during release, and sometimes one hits the ground. With a situation like this, it's a pretty easy fix, it's just going to take some time. 

Again, I apologise.

Twitter, Facebook, and Other Things I Should Really Ignore

There is a TMI* Tsunami taking place right now, and I'm realizing that my life and my work suffer whenever I go near it.

Twitter, Facebook, and blogs about writing sucked up a massive amount of my time during September, October and especially November this year and I didn't realize until the first week of December how much it hurt my writing.

Twitter and Facebook don't seem to take up much time, but a minute here and another minute there add up, not to mention those intermittent distractions break up work flow without providing any real breaks. You feel like you stepped away from your desk sometime, but really, you went no where and didn't do anything of any importance. I found myself checking Twitter in the middle of chapters instead of focusing on transporting myself into a character's shoes, as I normally do while writing a passage.

Blogs on writing and publishing wasted a lot of my time as well, as I mentioned earlier. My opinion on most of them are the same as a dog chasing its own tale. Cute, and entertaining for a short time, but generally useless and dizzying. Sure, there are a few articles and blogs out there that are well informed, but when it comes down to it fiction writers all have their own creative process.

As for blogs on the publishing industry, well, that's a space that's even worse. eBooks are changing a lot, but in the end, people are still reading, Publishers, publicists, book stores and agents are still sucking up massive percentages of the average published authors income (over ninety two percent on average). That hasn't changed, in fact, the independent writers are having a better time than ever connecting with their audience and reaping more rewards than ever. Some signs point to publishers changing or perishing, others are pointing to the eventuality that publishers are going to swoop in and take it all away from the Indies again. Basically that's what hundreds of industry blogs are saying and arguing at length. It's all the same thing over and over again without any redeeming knowledge. Once you know the argument and watch for REAL news, you can ignore the hundreds of blogs that discuss that sort of thing at length.

That is why, dear readers, I don't talk about the how-to of self publishing. There are plenty of sites about that sort of thing and this site is for you, it's about the fiction I've produced and you (hopefully), enjoy. I'd much rather announce progress in my latest book, survey you for your opinion, or raise interesting questions about the story than preach about getting to the top 10 on Smashwords or Mobipocket.

My whole point is that for a few months I produced less than half of normal and found new ways to interrupt my work but now that's over. Twitter and Facebook may occasionally get a nudge or a wink, but I won't be browsing to either one during the work day. Blogs about writing and the publishing industry won't be getting so much as a nod or a further thought. I'm too busy writing for your entertainment to stop and consider my navel along with all the others who like to tell others how it's done.

Now, back to work.

RL

[If you'd like to contact me in a public forum, feel free to visit me on the KindleBoards where I have my own conversation thread.]

*TMI = Too Much Information

I Do Not Pay For Publishing Services!

Today was the last straw. Another future independent author has emailed me asking; "wut company do u pay to publish you?" Further into the email he asks; "how much does mobi charge to keep ur books so high?" [I didn't edit or change the language he used to ask the questions, those are direct quotes].

Here's the skinny on how much publishing online costs me. NOTHING.

My books are in the top 10 in the Science Fiction category on Mobipocket because the readers enjoy them, rate them, spread the word and people continue to purchase and enjoy them. I'm very fortunate.

I do not pay Amazon a fee to get my books registered with their Kindle reader or in print on their site. I use Createspace's free service for print and Mobipocket's distribution network to list my eBooks. I do order print copies for myself, but that's the same as anyone ordering a copy from Amazon (except for my massive discount), they don't charge a dime for publishing.

Lulu.com offers all their services for free, and they're very happy to have me.

Any place you see my books you can rest assured that they didn't charge me anything to put them there, in fact, they listed them because they see that they're selling elsewhere, mostly on Mobipocket. They want to bring that success to their retail outlets as well.

I don't pay for marketing services either. I use Twitter, my Blogs, Facebook, and most of all people who I have a connection with to to get the word out. I also frequent other blogs, comment on them as often as I can, participate in online events and put a lot of hours into guerrilla Internet marketing. Oh, and don't email me with a "get 15,000 followers in one month" or another "make sure you're heard!" marketing scheme. I don't care about reaching 15,000 random people, I'm interested in reaching people who are interested in what I do specifically. I also enjoy connecting with people who are interesting, which doesn't happen often with mass join scams.

I also don't pay for advertising. Effective Internet advertising is an art form and to be honest, I'd rather use online social networking. There's more feedback and it's a lot more fun.

For everyone whose ever asked me how it's done; I don't have any magic trick. I don't pay someone to do the work for me, and vanity presses are expensive money pits. I work about 10 hours a day between writing and marketing.

I've received many calls from these vanity presses that call themselves publishers, they all start the conversation with; "We'd like to publish your book." The first thing I ask them is; "how much will it cost me?" If they answer with a dollar amount I hang up.

I'll never, ever pay someone else to publish me. In fact, I won't take any offer on the rights to my work from a publisher that comes with an advance under four figures. I'm fortunate enough to have a number of readers who enjoy my work. I do my best to entertain them and in return they buy my work in the format that is most convenient for them. I should never have to pay anyone to publish my work because those retailers and publishers are going to make money from selling my books. It's bad enough that I only recieve a 30%-35% royalty on most titles as an independent. That sounds like a lot to some of you, but you have to consider that I don't sell the volume that published authors do, no where near. (Less than 5% of what a non-best selling author sells).

That brings up another point. I can't afford to pay for publishing or marketing services! Being a successful self published author to me means making enough money to keep writing, to keep entertaining readers. I live a happy, simple life where I get to work the trade I prefer without frills.

I'd like to end this post on a positive note by thanking the readers, who have been very supportive. I've said it before and I'll say it again; they keep a roof over my head, the lights (and Internet connection) on, and food on the table. I thank you and hope that you continue to enjoy my work enough to remain a reader and spread the word.

RL

[Where do you want my books to appear next? Leave a comment!]

Incoming Price Drop On Amazon.com

That's right, these are hard times and I'm willing to acknowledge that. It's one of the reasons I love being independent, the ability to control what happens with my work and counter bad market trends.

There are no plans for Amazon.com or their self publishing imprint Createspace to offer mass market paperback sizes. Why is that a big deal? Well, it's simple: Mass market paperbacks (also known as pocket book size), are cheaper, about $6.99-$9.99 in the US and $9.99-$12.99 in Canada. The currently offered Trade Paperback (measuring a much larger 6"x9" and featuring better quality paper), averages between $19.99-$29.99 in the US and between $24.99-$39.99 in Canada. By rights, if I were following the trends set down by the big publishing companies I'd be charging those prices.

I don't think so.

I like my readers and am willing to take a massive hit in order to offer Trade Paperback books for a price closer to that of a mass market paperback. In short, you get big, glossy, 6"x9", high quality books for nearly the price of those cheap, corner store quality newsprint paperbacks. US customers will also be eligible for Super Saver Shipping. Here's a list of the price drops:

First Light Chronicles Omnibus: Was $17.99 Now $14.99
Spinward Fringe Resurrection & Awakening: Was $15.99 Now $11.99
Spinward Fringe Triton: Was $14.99 Now $11.99
Spinward Fringe Frontline: Will be $14.99 when I can afford to cover the cost of shipping a proof copy from California to Ontario.

To be honest I'll be making $3.00 or less for each book I sell but I'd rather ensure that people can afford them than make more money for each one sold. These books are made to be read, enjoyed, and for that to happen they have to be affordable.

I've also run into a number of Canadian readers who are leery of buying from Amazon.com because they'd rather keep their money in the country. Sadly I don't have any print distribution in Canada. Don't wait for me to get any either; thanks to market conditions in this great country there's no telling when or how distribution will happen. So, if you're in Canada and want copy of my books, please order from Amazon.com. You're still putting your money in the right place; in my hands so I can keep writing full time.

As a side note, if you're a publisher in Canada and you'd like to acquire the print rights for my work in this country or any other, drop me an email with your contact information please. It's still early enough in the game to get the lion's share of the sales in North America since I've sold fewer than 20 books through Amazon.com.

I'm currently working with a publisher in the UK to offer my books in print in that end of the world and I hope to have more news on that soon. Those rights are available as well.

Thank you very much for your support so far everyone! I hope this makes it much easier for you to obtain printed copies of my work and spread the word to friends who don't read EBooks just yet.

On my end I'm hoping to see more than 3 books a month sell through Amazon.com (That's the current average). I love Mobipocket but I'd like to have a secondary source of income and more exposure in the US and Canada.

If you'd like signed copies of my work, send me an Email. I'm sure we can arrange something!

I aim to entertain and hope to increase my audience so I can keep working for you, my readers!

RL

SomaCow Interviews Randolph Lalonde

I'm a regular live listener to SomaCow, I'll admit with no shame (okay, maybe just a little), that their fearless humour and many of their opinions fit right in with what I really enjoy in a talk radio show.

Ross, Geoff and myself had talked about doing an interview, but I was really just calling in to say; "hello, merry Christmas and a happy new year." Geoff, being the effortless pro that he is, picked up the unplanned call and just peppered me with questions about self publishing, being and indie writer, about the crazy cold weather us Canucks were having that night and it was great fun.

I've done interviews before (years ago), and as always there are a few things I look back on and think; "God, I really should have said this, that, or added this or the other to a particular statement." That's natural, and thanks to SomaCow and their generosity I may get another opportunity to talk to Geoff and the guys (that would be J, Mickey and Ross), but none of the blanks I think I missed really need filling in, except for one.

There's a point in this interview where Geoff asks about what kind of advice I have for budding indie writers. My response is correct, except for one thing: I actually forgot to mention that the most important part of any budding writer's career is to continue improving your craft. There are other points that pertain to independent and represented writers, and they're mentioned.

Go on over and listen to the interview, I'm sure there's something in there for you to enjoy! Sadly, I didn't get to talk to J so much...

RL

Oh, and when you're finished, take a moment to leave a comment.

Night by Night: Finally, an explanation on the name of this blog.

There was a time, a very long time, when all my best work was done after dark. Creative work has always come naturally to me after the sun is down and the lights are dimmed.

I like taking my chosen challenges on when everyone else is asleep, whether I'm writing, working or playing hard online with friends. I miss working creatively at night, to be honest. It's one of the reasons why I left World of Warcraft, dropped a call center job last year, but we don't always get to work on our own projects when we'd like.

These days I work at night, the money is better and frankly, it's not as busy. The challenges I face at night are totally different. I've been doing customer care for over ten years, backing many different companies selling and supporting many different products and services. Going back to that in order to pay the bills is nothing more than an economic venture, so showing up for every shift and doing my best is a massive challenge. I can say for an absolute certainty that I wouldn't be there if I didn't need the money, and frankly, money is a low motivator for me.

This article and this site aren't here so I can complain about where I am and what I'm doing, however. Millions of people dislike their jobs, and millions of people show up every day for decades until they retire, IF they get the opportunity to retire. If I were truly unhappy I would be looking for other work or maybe trying harder to market the books I'm self publishing.

In short, Night by Night is a fitting name for my own blog because throughout my adult life my greatest challenges are undertaken during that time. Just as important is the fact that my job, my writing and other creative pursuits are all tests of endurance. Nothing is completed in just one night for me, no objective is won based on one evening's effort.


I take it one night at a time, whether it's just showing up for work regardless of how I feel about being there, taking pleasure in working on a new book or spending time with friends.

Hope that answers your question, Mr Anonymous.

RL