I missed the March 1 post because I attended the Smarter Artists Summit in Austin and hadn’t recovered. Since then I’ve been hammering away on Suicide Run. I just remembered to post this morning.
Status:
1. Suicide Run – finished first draft. I’m about a third of the way through a second draft.
2. Next Book: Home Run. I need to finish this up so I can free my brain up for By Darkness Forged.
3. I’m using some new techniques I picked up from the summit. We’ll see how they go.
4. Audio for Darkness will have to wait until I write it. I have no idea how soon that’ll get accomplished. If the new techniques work? Probably relatively soon – like before the end of the year.
Stay tuned
Any word on the audio for Milk Run?
Milk Run won’t see audio for a very long time.
At the moment it’s not even in play. I need to see how well the Tanyth Fairport books do before I can make a decision about the Smuggler’s Tales.
I need to get the paperbacks done, too. :/
Have you ever considered just writing and publishing via e-books? Wouldn’t that free you up to focus on writing more in lieu of all the other formats? Maybe that’s how you pay the bills I’m not sure. Over the past year of reading your posts it seems to be such a burden for you and doesn’t seem to let you focus on what is clearly your God given talent.
There’s only one of you and it seems your characters aren’t finished being them yet. I’d love to see them all finish their tales and will take it in whatever media format you choose.
I’m working primarily in e-book now. I get paperbacks out when I can and I’m outsourcing the audio so I’m not dealing with it any more.
You’re right, the characters aren’t finished with me yet. 🙂
Cant speak for everyone but my sister in law, the English teacher, says she likes real books better. She’s in her mid 30s so you cant really call it old fashioned. E-books are very good for starting out writers, and many continue that way for many good reasons. Plus it is not uncommon for people to read books from libraries from a writer or series to see if spending money for them.
I’m not sure I understand your comment, Robert. I don’t know that I ever called printed books – or the people that read them – old fashioned.
I also don’t get your reference to “starting out writers.”
The format – ebook, paperback, hardcover, audio – is just the box we put the story in. It has nothing to do with the stage a writer might be in their career. I do all of those and I’ve been at this for a decade, hardly makes me a newbie.
But the data for my work tells me an important thing. Regardless of what anybody else is doing, my market is ebooks. I sell the most units (something over 300,000 since 2012) in ebooks. Paper print books are a tenth of that. When we held the paperback until the ebook could be published at the same time, we still sold way more ebooks than paper. My audience is predominantly ebook. That hasn’t changed. I’ll accept the criticism that the paperbacks may not sell as many now because the paperbacks come out a very long time after the ebooks.
But from a business standpoint, I have to accept my own limitations. I have to choose where to spend my time and attention.
So, I can choose to spend a couple of weeks writing a new book or I can choose to spend a couple of weeks repackaging an old one into a new box to sell to a market segment that’s 1/10th the value of my bread-and-butter, the segment that paid off my mortgage, keeps the family in health insurance, and allows me to keep writing without having to take a day job.
Libraries are wonderful. I hope everyone uses them because most libraries are funded by the number of patrons.
But libraries are very hard sells for indie books. Indie titles are listed in a ghetto away from trad pubs in the library catalogs. Worse, as a market segment, they’re tiny. There may be a few tens of thousands in the US. Compared to tens of millions of readers. It’s just not a segment I can afford to spend time and attention to pursue. The odds are too long and the upside too small. It’s like buying a lottery ticket every week for a year and finally hitting a winning ticket on the last day – for $42 dollars.
I know there are people who will not read an ebook. I respect that choice. It’s not a choice I can make for myself. I’m too old to read print books any more. I have other things to spend my disposable income on, they’re a pain to deal with in terms of storage, and they’re never where I am when I want to read. Those aren’t drivers for other people but they’re my reality.
And as a business person, I can’t afford to prioritize repackaging over new production.
So paperbacks get short shrift. It’s got nothing to do with being old fashioned. It has everything to do with keeping my cash flow going, because my data has shown me that the most cost effective use of my time is to write new books and only deal with repackaging when I don’t have new stories pushing me forward.
I’m hoping – really hoping – that I can get my writing far enough ahead that back filling the paperbacks becomes a priority again while I’m scoping out new directions for my writing. I have two – maybe three – books still on my To Be Written list. Getting those out has to take priority. I have to keep paying my bills or I have to stop writing.
I’m sorry if you find this explanation unsatisfactory.
I am 64 and I prefer Kindle. That hardly makes paper-print old-fashioned. Kindles are lighter and are great at reading in bed at night without disturbing the spouse. BTW, I publish exclusively on Kindle (another ID).
At the end of the day, we all have to eat, even those of us who have creative pursuits that put said food on the table.
Thank you for a glimpse into the business side of what you do. It’s sometimes difficult to understand from the outside. The voice of the reasoning is vary familiar after re-listening to some of the earlier Solar Clipper books.
Keep pushing the words out, and thank you for doing so.
Beta read please? Oh, please?
Have you hade anyone express interest in writing a novel in the Solar Clipper universe?
Many times.
I kept a private area on the fan forums (mostly defunct these days) for people to write fan fic. I maintain one sector where they could play but I made it a point to never read any of them so I couldn’t be accused of stealing their ideas.
Every once in a while somebody wants me to join Kindle Worlds so they can license it but that won’t happen until I’m done with the universe myself. As long as I’m still active in the Golden Age, I plan on keeping it closed.
Awesome to hear the progress of Suicide Run! I have to admit I’m in withdrawals waiting for By Darkness Forged so I’m re-reading and re-listening to the entire series 🙂
Concerning Francis and ebooks. I wait for print copies or not at all. Just sayin’.
Good on ya.
Your patience will – eventually – be rewarded. I can’t prioritize paper backs because they represent a very small portion of my revenues. They’re basically a customer service effort rather than a serious income stream.
I’ve got a marked up galley of South Coast sitting here on my desk. I need to get Ashes, Fire, Milk Run, and now Suicide Run into paper. That’s about 2 months worth of work that I can’t farm out. If the writing goes well, I may try to get some of these caught up on non-writing days.
Years ago, I was a heavy consumer of paperback novels. That was where I found the authors and stories I really enjoyed. Ace science fiction (remember Ace doubles?) and then DAW and Baen.I had stacks of paperbacks everywhere. Whenever I moved, those stacks turned into boxes and followed me around the world.
But over the years, a couple of things happened that changed my reading habits. The cost of buying printed books kept going up, forcing me to stop buying as many and use the library instead. My wife was happy, because she didn’t have to deal with stacks of books everywhere. My wallet was happy, because I didn’t spend as much. But a lot of the books and authors I liked to read didn’t show up on library shelves. Mainstream speculative fiction is not the same thing.
The other thing that happened was the e-book revolution. I resisted for a while, because … the feel, y’know? But Baen got me on board with the minthly bundles, then Kindle Unlimited on my iPad and … I don’t have to go on; you’ve heard this story before.
The upshot is that I read a lot now, my costs are controlled, and I continually discover authors whose work I enjoy that I would miss if I were still buying paper. Of course, I start some that wind up in the bit bin, too. But that’s a lot less painful now, so I can very easily take a chance on something that I would have looked at and left resting on the bookstore shelf.
Add to that, I always have my iPad or phone with me but would only have a hard copy if I planned to read. Works out to a lot more opportunity reading.
So, Nathan, for my part keep the ebooks coming. I like the increased frequency ebook authors publish at. But good writing and editing does take time, so I’ll try to be patient.
I see an alternative universe Ishmael is selling Welkies. When I saw the line “Call me Ishmael”, in Glynn Stewart’s newest book I wanted to stand up and cheer. Despite being 6 decades old I still like to have heros. Ishmael Wang is one of mine. Your Solar Clipper tales resonate with me like the sailing ship books of my youth.
LOL read that too! Wondered if it was a salute, or serindipity.
Hey Mr. Lowell
Been listening to your books since I found Quarter Share on Podiobooks way back when. I have enjoyed them very much and still listen to them. I continue to look forward to your next book, whatever that may be, because I simply love the way you tell a story. I am also waiting for the audio for your last two Tanyth Fairport books, hopefully soon, but patiently waiting. I only have one issue and that is with the narrator, for what it is worth, his reading of your books seems too flat and his voice is quite harsh compared with yours. You may or may not want to take that into consideration for your next audio. In any case I will continue to listen to them even then. Thank you for continuing to create interesting stories.
He has already said he has decided on that. The Taynth novels are with someone else at this point, the Smuggler’s Tales are going to go with someone else. And IIRC nothing past the Seeker’s Tales (the current Ish trilogy) are not under contract to Podium.
Sorry, Tina, I saw that comment come through and then got side tracked with website issues.
The Tanyth Fairport books are in audio production now with a company I know and trust. They’ve found a great woman to read the books and I’ve just heard that they’re in post-production on the files for Ravenwood now. When it’s done, all of Tanyth’s books will be available on Audible.
I had no control over the narrator that Podium chose for the Share/Seeker’s tales. I still owe them the last book of the Seeker’s trilogy but it’ll be the same narrator.
As of now, the Smuggler’s Tales (as Tara Li noted) will probably not go to Podium. I’m waiting to see how Tanyth fares before I make a decision on putting those books into audio production – and where.
I read to much. Ebooks is cheaper and my bedroom no longer looks like a hoards hideout. I check at least once a week for a new book from Mr. Lowell in hope that one will pop up. This series is awsome and I do want the book out, I personally have been waiting for the next Shaman’s Tale.