Death Benefits Is Back on BN

Posted on May 31, 2012 by JenniferBecton

When it comes to book sales–and several other things, like calories and weight loss–I try to look at everything in terms of numbers. Numbers are not emotional; they’re not about feelings. They’re just numbers. Facts.

If I normally eat a 2,000 calorie diet and switch to a 1,500 calorie diet, I will decrease my weight by 1 pound per week. Looking at diet in terms of numbers takes out the emotional factor for me. It’s just mathematics.

I try to look at book sales the same way. If I sell 100 books at Store X and 1 at Store Y, I have reached more readers and earned more money at Store X. Therefore, Store X provides me both greater readership and more profit. As a result, I can either focus my attention on the profitable store or I can try to increase my visibility at Store Y.

Continue reading →

Posted in Death Benefits, Online Book Marketing, Publishing Fear Free, self-publishing, Smashwords | 2 Comments

Writing for Yourself

Posted on May 22, 2012 by JenniferBecton

One of the most difficult aspects of being a published author is remembering my audience and yet also writing to please myself. I always want to put out books that people enjoy reading, but if I think too much about that, then my brain seizes up and I can’t write a word.

That can’t be good.

So I am writing this blog post as a reminder to myself as I dig back into At Fault (SF 3) that the first draft is just for me. I can fill it full of mistakes and outrageous plot twists. I can write the most ridiculous comedy scenes, the most gratuitous love scenes, or the most violent criminal perspectives I want. I can even have Vincent shirtless for the entire novel if I want. Continue reading →

Posted in At Fault, Southern Fraud Series, thriller/mystery, writing, Writing Fear Free | 6 Comments

Algorithms: Insult Generating and Otherwise

Posted on May 18, 2012 by JenniferBecton

I’ve spend the entire week formatting the paperback ARC of Riding Fear Free, and that has made me a bit giddy. So when it came time for me to write my monthly post for Indie Jane, I just went with my zany mood and wrote about booksellers’ algorithms. What does this have to do with Better off Ted? Find out.

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Smashwords Responded

Posted on May 16, 2012 by JenniferBecton

On Monday, I received an email response from Smashwords regarding the fact that three of my books were placed on sale at Sony even though they had been unpublished in late 2011. The email indicated that Smashwords “cannot guarantee that errors will never occur as the take-down itself is in the retailer’s hands.” This would be a reasonable response if MONTHS had not passed between my taking them off sale and the retailer selling them again. In addition, this was the second time it had happened, and different retailers were involved both times. And there was no apology for my inconvenience, by the way.

As I said, I wasn’t expecting them to send flowers, but I have always appreciated their customer service in the past, so I was expecting something more than being told that accidents happen.

I had planned to delete my account, but I’ll give them one more strike before taking my business elsewhere.

Posted in self-publishing, Smashwords | 1 Comment

Smashwords Update

Posted on May 7, 2012 by JenniferBecton

Thank you to Smashwords for removing my books from unauthorized sale sometime between Friday night and Saturday morning. I appreciate that the correction was made within 48 hours of my original request.

However, I’m not fully pleased with the situation. I received no email response from either of the two people at Smashwords to whom I sent my complaint. I also checked their “Site Updates” page and their blog to see if they issued a general statement to others who might have experienced this problem: nothing. So far, I have heard no explanation for how my unpublished books were put on sale, and I also did not receive any acknowledgment of my request to close my Smashwords account after my final payment is sent.

I’m not expecting to receive flowers or anything, but this problem has happened to me twice, and I believe some explanation is due to all Smashwords’ customers. After all, how can any of their customers trust that their books are being distributed properly? If my experience tells me anything, it’s that files from as far back as six months could be being sent to retailers, and that means that the old book files may be going out to readers even though a more recent edition has been uploaded by the author. Or worse, books that authors have taken off the market may still be sold.

So thank you, Smashwords, for your prompt response, and I hope to hear from you soon.

Posted in Publishing Fear Free, self-publishing, Smashwords | Leave a comment

Smashwords: It’s Become a Problem

Posted on May 3, 2012 by JenniferBecton

Not so much.

Until December 2011, I published my books at four main venues: Amazon, BN, CreateSpace, and Smashwords, and I have recommended them all to my friends and fellow indie authors as good business partners. I’ve extolled the virtues of Smashwords’ Style Guide and their customer service, and until recently, my only real complaint with them has been slow reporting and payment.

But when I chose to enter my ebooks temporarily in the Kindle Select program, I was required to remove my ebooks from all other sales venues. Therefore, I took them out of all Smashwords’ distribution channels and also unpublished my books there completely. This should have been the end of the matter.

But that’s when my problems began. Continue reading →

Posted in distribution, publishing, Publishing Fear Free, self-publishing, Smashwords | 3 Comments

That’s Entertainment (with Apologies to Mrs. Gillham and Herman Melville)

Posted on April 25, 2012 by JenniferBecton

Entertainment is important; why else would people spend so much money on it?

I write novels that are meant to entertain.

There. I said it.

Actually, I’ve said something similar before in my post about comedies versus tragedies and their perceived merits in the literary world, and this entry is tangentially related. As part of researching various book markets, I read a lot of reviews on Amazon and BN, and I’ve noticed something that I find odd: many reviewers of entertainment-type novels feel the need to state that a particular book is meant for entertainment and then they write as if they feel guilty for liking it. They might write something like, “This book wasn’t a great literary work and was really just brain candy, but it totally sucked me in.”

Why do people feel compelled to write that? Continue reading →

Posted in Writing Fear Free | 14 Comments

Keeping up with the Book Business

Posted on April 20, 2012 by JenniferBecton

I’m over at Indie Jane today blogging about the current state of the book world, including fun and fascinating discussion of business practices, agency vs wholesale model pricing, and lawsuits. Fun, fun, fun!

Posted in publishing, Publishing Fear Free, self-publishing | Leave a comment

How to Write Heroines

Posted on April 19, 2012 by JenniferBecton

Last week, I had the privilege of posting on Nancy Kelley’s blog about How to Write Heroines. I got to unleash a bit about one of my biggest writing pet peeves: out of context historical characters.

Nothing ruins a historical novel for me quicker than a character who is so far ahead of her time that she is more representative of modern thought than a product of her actual context.

Please stop by Nancy’s blog and share your thoughts on the matter!

Posted in novel writing, writing, Writing Fear Free | 2 Comments

Surprises in Writing

Posted on April 12, 2012 by JenniferBecton

So this is proof that Kevin Manus-Pennings, author of the excellent fantasy novel A Shore Too Far (Daughters of Damendine), knows me too well. (BTW, A Shore Too Far is only $.99 at the moment, so go buy it now!)

How much do I love this video? Let me count the ways. First of all, it begins all artsy. The photography is lovely, and I wouldn’t mind if my hair looked like that. Nice song too. And then wham! Surprise!

And then there’s a complete shift in attitude, which I totally dig.

I adore discovering videos, books, TV shows, or movies that lead the viewer or reader in one direction and then divert them from the expected outcome, but in an understandable, logical way. (I hate movies that pull surprise endings completely out of nowhere.) If you know of any books or whatnot that use this technique successfully, send them on.

Enjoy!

Posted in independent authors, Writing Fear Free | Tagged , | 1 Comment