The new book is out! Yay!

It’s only on Amazon! BOO!

Yeah. Unfortunately, I’ve had to take a hard look at my business and I just can’t afford not to be in Amazon Select any more. I totaled up the sales on all the other platforms combined and it amounted to just under 6%. Even paperbacks have generated more revenue than that. I started re-evaluating the market and came to the realization that I just don’t know what’s going on. I need more data.

So, I pulled the books in the middle of September and enrolled everything (except Light in the Dark) in Select. The page reads more than offset the income from Kobo, iBooks, and Nook combined already — by a factor of ten. I’ve got a marketing plan that will include running some promotional activities, buying ads, and developing audiobooks in addition to podcasts.

I’m giving it six months and then we’ll see if I stay with Amazon. The Nook marketplace is probably going to die. The iBook store is next to useless. In a year there I sold as many books as I sell in a day on Amazon. Kobo was only slightly better, but they’re trying to give Amazon a run. I’d love it if Kobo could become a contender in the rest of the English speaking world. So far, I’ve been unable to gain any traction with them. Google Play isn’t accepting new titles and until they solve the “random discounting” problem, I’m unlikely to list there anyway.

I hate to boil it down to money, but I also have to be realistic. When Select offered nothing of use, I could afford to ignore it. My thinking was that the secondary markets needed time to develop and grow, and that I needed to be in them to grow with them. My ratio of sales in the secondary markets is not growing. It’s shrinking. And now Select is offering new revenues that – at least for the moment – offset those secondary market sales in a huge way.

In the end, it comes down to money. I was willing to leave a bit on Amazon’s table to get into a wider global marketplace, but things have gotten way beyond “a bit” and I had to make a decision that – frankly – I’m not happy about.

But the bottom line is: I have to make a living at this or I have to get a day job.

The next book out should be the first in the new Smuggler’s Tales. It’s due at the editor’s desk November 1 and I’m still fumbling for the story line. Nothing like a good deadline to get my fingers moving.

The next Seeker’s Tale is due at the editor’s on December 1, and a new Smuggler on January 1.

Between the new titles, the changes in market, and the new promotional activities, I’m hoping that I’ll be able to keep writing.

Stay tuned!

“The time has come,” the Walrus said…

I’ve finished the first draft of the next Ishmael Wang book. It went to beta readers last week and to the final copy editor today. It’s slotted in for production in September and publication sometime in October.

Yes, I plan to narrate it and put the audio up, but that’s down the road. I need to get more stories moving in the pipeline and it takes a month to produce an audio version. I want to write while the words are flowing. I can record when I’m dry.

August was a trial month for me. I’ve established a writing schedule and it worked very well for me and my family. The goal is to produce one rough draft per month for the next five months. That will give me six new books in the pipeline. The nature of the beast is that – even if I succeed – that doesn’t mean six new books in six months for you.

I’ve reserved four slots with my editor, one is already in use. The next availability is November and I’ve asked for one each in November, December, and January. Since she has no openings in October, that gives me an extra month to get ahead of her schedule. That means each month I’ll have one book in production, one book being written, and one book waiting for editor. While that last one seems like it’s wasting time, the reality is that it gives me some elasticity in the process so if I get really stuck for a couple of weeks, there’s slack that won’t get in the way of my editorial slots. I’m hoping to publish a new book every other month starting in October. Any faster than that and I’ll be short-changing the production or the writing or both.

The next book is tentatively titled From Ashes Born. In the book, Pip returns, hijinks ensue, and Ishmael solves a silly problem. It’s the first volume in what I’ve been calling “Seeker’s Tales From The Golden Age Of The Solar Clipper.”

Which brings me to the book I will be working on this month: Book 1 of the parallel series in the “Smuggler’s Tales From The Darkside Of The Golden Age.” This is a new cast and crew telling the stories that the CPJCT doesn’t want you to think about. There will be some cross over between the two trilogies and my plan is to merge the two story lines into a new series when these complete.

In other related news, I’ve got 30k words into Cape Grace, the sequel to South Coast, and have some ideas about what I need to do with that one, too. I’ll probably drop back into that story sometime in the next few books just to wrap up that branch of the canon.

And with all of that, I’m still planning to revisit Tanyth Fairport and the world of Korlay. I just don’t know when.

August has been a good month. Here’s hoping September is even better.

Shayne Pruyne contacted me some time ago about the possibility of making a board game based on the Trader’s Tales. I’ve had lots of poeple ask, but – so far – Shayne’s the only one with a working prototype.

If you’d like to play test it, he has the game up on GameBoardGeek: http://boardgamegeek.com/article/19942703#19942703

And if you try it? Let me know how it works for you.

Thanks, Shayne. This looks hella cool.