Another Thank-You…

It’s August first, my friends, and that means a couple of things. First, it means I’m going back to work so soon it almost makes me want to weep. Second, it means my birthday is in a mere 24 days (I am accepting Amazon.com gift cards). And third, it means the monthly Kindle sales for Other People’s Heroes have once again been tallied up.

As you may remember, the June sales more than tripled the May sales. I wasn’t expecting a performance quite that good in July, and I was right, but July did continue to improve on June, increasing sales by a little more than 35 percent. Again, it’s not money that will make me rich, but it will definitely come in handy. My goal, for the time being at least, is for each month to improve on the previous month. If I can keep that going, I’ll be happy.

Hopefully, I’ll have a second novel to add to that tally very soon. My graphic designer (hi, Heather!) has gotten the software she needs to really cut loose, and as soon as she’s got a cover for The Beginner I’ll be tossing that your way as well. In the meantime, thanks to everyone who has supported Other People’s Heroes, and I hope you’ll be there for The Beginner, the upcoming Kindle Single The Restless Dead of Siegel City (the Halloween-themed follow-up short story to OPH) and the already-available A Long November and Other Tales of Christmas. By the end of the year, I intend to have at least those four products available in every eBook store.

And in 2012, even more.

Every Way You Can Get OTHER PEOPLE’S HEROES

Well, friends, for the last few months I’ve been deluging the hell out of you with each new announcement about the myriad ways you could get your hands on my novel, Other People’s Heroes. I’m very happy to announce that, as of today, it’s available in every conceivable format a person can experience the original novel. I’ll have nothing new to announce for OPH until somebody backs a truck full of money up to my house to make a movie about it. So let’s review…

• If you’re old-school… if you prefer to get your books on paper, you can order the print version from Amazon’s Createspace. The print version will cost you $15.99, but it comes with my undying affection.
• If you’ve got an e-reader, you have several options. Those of you with an iPad or iPod, you can just turn on your device, cruise to the bookstore, and do a search for the title or my name.
• Owners of the Amazon Kindle can get the book in the Kindle bookstore.
• If you’re the proud owner of a Barnes and Noble Nook device, the book is available in your store.
• And if you have any other e-reader, you can click on over to Smashwords.com, download the book in your preferred format, and upload it to your device. Oh — and ALL of the e-reader versions, no matter your format, cost a measly $2.99. You’re paying more for that for coffee at Starbucks, people.
• And finally, let’s say that you like your books in audio format. Let’s say you’ve got a long commute and you like to listen to books on the road. Cool. As of July 13, OPH is available to you as well. Cruise to Podiobooks.com and subscribe to the audiobook version of OPH, read and produced by yours truly. Oh yeah — and the audiobook version? ABSOLUTELY FREE.

So that’s it, right? We’re done? You’re never gonna have to hear me pimp my books again?

Oh, friends. Don’t you know me better than that?

At the present, I’ve got not one, not two, but four fiction projects in various stages. So here’s what you can expect in the future, probably in the order that you’ll see them become available.

1. The Beginner, my second novel, is completely finished and edited and ready to go to eBook and print. The only thing I’m waiting on is new cover art. I’d really like to get that done before I go back to school, but that’s up to my graphic artist (a.k.a. my sister, Heather.)
2. Lost in Silver, my fantasy novel for young readers, has been sent off to beta readers for their thoughts and commentary. Once The Beginner is done, my publish-fu will be dedicated to getting that in shape to release.
3. 14 Days of Asphalt, the sequel to Other People’s Heroes, has been in the works for a long time. As of last night, I have finished work on the second draft. Once LIS has gone through the beta process, I’ll be asking for betas again to take a look at that one.
4. And finally, my new year’s resolution back in January was to write or revise one of my fiction projects every day. With 14 Days finished, I need something else to start working on today, because I’ve hit it every day so far. So today, friends, I begin work on a new project. It’s actually the sequel to Lost in Silver, the continuing adventures of Linda Watson and her friends, and the continuing exploration of the strange worlds of Evertime. I’ll give you the title to chew on: The Light Man.

Damn, I’m busy aren’t I?

In case you hadn’t heard…

Well, it’s back to reality for me. Erin is home and as great at last week was, I’ve got a thousand things I’ve fallen behind on that need me to step up and get back to work. So while I do still owe you guys the traditional photoblog and post about our visit, that will probably wait until tomorrow.

Today, before I dive back into the other things I’m still working on, I thought I would throw out a newish plug for a newish version of Other People’s Heroes. Last year, before the book came to the Kindle or the Createspace store, before there was any way to sit down and read it except shelling out for a used copy, there was still a way to experience the story. Listen to it. I sat down beginning last summer and recorded an audio version of the book, which I released (more or less) weekly in a podcast form. But that was never intended to be the “permanent” edition of the audiobook, if for no other reason than I didn’t do the sharpest job on editing out flubbed lines.

But earlier this summer, I went in and cleaned up the audio and presented the new version of the audiobook to the good folks at Podiobooks.com, the site that also released my Christmas novella A Long November as an audiobook. After just a little tweaking, the book was accepted and added to their slate, so beginning on July 13 you’ll be able to download the audio version of A Long November. You can download all of the chapters at once, or you can set up your podcast software (such as iTunes) to download an episode at a time with whatever frequency you want.

Oh yes — and it’s free.

You’ll get the entire unabridged text of the novel (not the two bonus short stories, though) for absolutely nothing beginning this Wednesday! So tell your friends, spread the word, and if you’ve got a Facebook account (I know ya do), you can even attend the launch “event”! (You don’t actually have to go anywhere, don’t worry.) Just go to the Other People’s Heroes launch page at Facebook and say you’re attending! And tell your friends!

A very sincere thank you to Other People’s Heroes readers…

One of the many features I like about Amazon Direct Publishing is that you can get realtime, up-to-the-minute numbers about how many copies of your book were sold in the Kindle store in any given month. And ever since I put Other People’s Heroes in the store back in March, I’ve kept a close eye on those numbers, hoping against hope to see them skyrocket. And while saying they’ve “skyrocketed” would be an exaggeration, they’ve most definitely been going up.

I launched OPH in late March. There weren’t many days left in the month and sales were… let’s say “modest.” In April, when it got to sell for a full month for the first time, they were less modest. And in May, when reviews started to appear on the many, many book blogs I submitted to and begged for a review, numbers rose a bit more. Still not huge numbers, but bigger. My goal in June was to do better than May. Just one more than May, I decided, and I would be satisfied. So I was surprised when I matched May sales on June 15.

And the rate of sales kept going up. Wonderful, I thought. I may actually double my May sales before the end of June.

But checking the final June numbers, I see that doubling didn’t happen.

The numbers tripled.

Let me say that again. May. Times. Three. Plus a few more.

It’s still not “quit the job, start writing full-time” money, don’t misunderstand me. It’s far from that. But it keeps getting higher, and that’s a remarkable feeling. And what’s more, the numbers have reached a level where I can no longer dismiss it to myself by saying, “It’s just people I know.” Don’t get me wrong, I love you guys, but selling the people reading this blog today books at 3 bucks a pop isn’t going to make a career. I need to spread out, I need to expand, and that seems to be happening. And I truly, deeply believe I have all of you to thank for that.

So thank you.

But it’s not over yet.

I’m going to ask you again, humbly, hat in hand, to help me keep spreading the word. If you know someone with an e-reader, tell them about the book. You know a comic book fan? Point them towards the print version. Put it on your Facebooks, your Twitters, your Google+ (whatever that is). And on July 13, when it hits Podiobooks.com, let people know that they can download a free audiobook version.

And stay at the ready, my friends, because very soon I hope to add the new version of The Beginner to your eBook library as well, and I’ll be asking for this help all over again.

Lest we forget, here are the ways you can get Other People’s Heroes right now:

• Amazon.com Kindle Store
• Barnes & Noble Nook Store
• Smashwords.com (For every eBook format)
• Also available in your iPad/iPhone/iPod bookstore!
• And available in print from CreateSpace!

Have a great July, my friends! And thanks again!

I don’t mean to brag, but…

As of today, I have sold more than twice as many eBooks of Other People’s Heroes on Amazon.com in June than I did in May, and I’ve still got over a week to go.

I matched the May sales exactly one week ago.

Each month it’s been available has done better than the previous month, and in the three months and a couple of weeks since the book has been available, I’ve sold more copies than I did in the seven years it was with its previous publisher.

Someone tell me again that e-publishing is a bad idea?

Now while I don’t claim to be an expert on electronic publishing, I have been making an effort to explain to people what I’ve learned. My third column on the subject went up over at CX Pulp.com earlier today. Check it out!

Accessing the Infinite Library #3: Entering the eBookstore

And in the meantime, here (once more) are the links to all the places you can get Other People’s Heroes in its various forms:

• Amazon.com Kindle Store
• Barnes & Noble Nook Store
• Smashwords.com (For every eBook format)
• Also available in your iPad/iPhone/iPod bookstore!
• And available in print from CreateSpace!

Other People’s Heroes-Where Things Stand

As you may have heard in yesterday’s post, I’ve finally got Other People’s Heroes back in print, so those of you who haven’t got the eBook because you don’t have an e-reader like a Kindle, Nook, iPad, Kobo, Blackberry, Blueberry, Schnozzberry, or Frankberry can finally get yourself a copy. You’re welcome!

So where does that leave the book, then?

Well, there’s really not much left for me to do with it. At the moment, I’m currently going through the audio files I recorded last year, fixing some errors (if you listened to it, you probably noticed the occasional flub or repeated line, especially as I got close to the end and got tired). Once that’s done, I’m going to upload those cleaner files to Podiobooks.com so that they’ll have a permanent home among the greatest free audiobooks on the web. And after that?

Well, until a producer comes to town with a big ol’ check to make the movie version, my work on OPH will be officially done.

Fortunately, it’s not the end of Siegel City. I’m working now on the sequel to OPH, 14 Days of Asphalt, and this October I’m going to release the Halloween short story The Restless Dead of Siegel City as a Kindle Single. After that, I’ve got two other works in progress set in the world of Siegel City — the tentatively-titled Cross Purposes and The Pyrite War. And I’ll get to those eventually. I swear. Consarn it.

And in the meantime, here (once more) are the links to all the places you can get Other People’s Heroes in its various forms:

• Amazon.com Kindle Store
• Barnes & Noble Nook Store
• Smashwords.com (For every eBook format)
• Also available in your iPad/iPhone/iPod bookstore!
• And available in print from CreateSpace!

Other People’s Heroes is BACK IN PRINT!

You’ve asked, I’ve listened. My first novel, Other People’s Heroes, is now back in print thanks to Amazon.com’s CreateSpace program. This afternoon I got the final proofs in, I checked it out, and I have given it the thumbs-up. So all of you out there who haven’t got an e-reader and haven’t checked it out yet, now you can get the paperback version.

This is not, I caution you, the original paperback version. The text has been edited. Scenes have been added. Nothing has changed so much that it feels like a different book, but there are tweaks, all made for very specific reasons. What’s more, this new edition also includes two short stories not included in the original version: the Christmas story “Lonely Miracle” and the story “Inciting Incident,” which tells the origin of Photon Man.

It’s a pretty hefty book, too — with the two short stories, the length is beefed up to 448 pages. Unfortunately, that meant it had to cost a little more than I wanted in order for it to be available in all outlets: $15.99. Of course, that’s still cheaper than the original edition was all those years ago, and you’re definitely getting more for your money.

“Okay, Blake,” you’re saying, “How do I get my hands on a copy of this magnum opus?” Well, soon it will be available in Amazon.com or for retail stores and libraries to order. But “soon” in this case means “six to eight weeks,” at least according to CreateSpace. But fear not! You don’t have to wait! You can order it right now from the Other People’s Heroes CreateSpace Page! Just between you and me, I prefer if you order it this way. It doesn’t cost you any extra, but sales through the CS page give me a larger percentage of the royalties. So, y’know. If you’re gonna order a copy anyway, that’s really the way to do it.

But for those of you who do have an eReader, such as a Kindle, Nook, Kobo, iPad, or any other such device, fear not! The book is still available in electronic form for just $2.99! Wow! WHAT A DEAL! Buy two!

• Amazon.com Kindle Store
• Barnes & Noble Nook Store
• Smashwords.com (For every eBook format)
• Also available in your iPad/iPhone/iPod bookstore!

Finally, let me just say a heartfelt thank-you to everybody who has read this book in all its various incarnations, listened to the audiobook version (a cleaner version of which I hope to add to Podiobooks.com in a few weeks), read the eBook, and asked for the print version to make a return. I do believe, wholeheartedly, that electronic books are the wave of the future. But I’d be lying if I didn’t say I felt a bit of a thrill when I tore open the box with this paper proof sitting there, waiting for my approval.

Hope you enjoy the book!

Other People’s Heroes — almost back in print

So I’ve finally figured out the intricacies of Amazon’s CreateSpace program and have uploaded all the necessary files to make Other People’s Heroes once again available in print form. The files have to pass Amazon’s file-vetting process to make sure I did everything right, but assuming I didn’t screw up somewhere along the line, the book could be available as early as the end of the week.

It’s going to be a nice 5.25×8-inch trade paperback, clocking in (and I was shocked by this) at a chunky 448 pages, with the bonus content added in. The pricing did briefly cause me a dilemma. I wanted to make this as affordable for you as possible, but at the same time, I also wanted it to be available in as many venues as possible. The way CreateSpace works, royalties are calculated differently depending on if you’re buying the books through Amazon itself (the easiest way), through my personal CreateSpace page (the way that I get the biggest chunk of the profits) or if you order them through retail stores (the way I get the smallest chunk). The chunk through the retail stores is smallest because Amazon has to have the highest markup in order to turn a profit through them, and in fact, the price point I wanted was too low to even make it available to retail stores. I almost let it go, figuring that the bulk of my audience will be fine ordering online, but then I noticed something else — the retail pricing also applied to libraries. And damn if I wouldn’t like to see OPH turn up in some more libraries. So I sucked it up and added an extra dollar to the price. Bottom line, this thick book will cost you guys $15.99 to get in paperback. The eBook edition, of course, will remain at the ultra-reasonable $2.99 where it’s always been.

I’ll let you guys know as soon as OPH is once again available.

Other People’s Heroes-An update

A quick update on the work of returning Other People’s Heroes to print, friends. The process is turning out to be both easier and more difficult than I expected. Typesetting the work turned out to be a simple matter of pasting the text into a template. However, some of the stupid formatting issues that cling to Microsoft Word screwed up the template every time I tried. Eventually, I figured out a fix. Next, working out a way to turn the cover I have into the cover they need…

My summer work: the next project

In addition to continuing the work on 14 Days of Asphalt (the sequel to Other People’s Heroes), this summer may bring with it a little work on Other People’s Heroes itself. While I’m perfectly happy having the book available as an eBook (in the Amazon Kindle Store, the Barnes and Noble Nook Store, in various formats at Smashwords.com, or fire up your iPad and look in the iBook store) several people have indicated to me that they wish they could buy a traditional paperback copy. Fortunately, we live in an age where that sort of thing is possible. I’m going to spend some time this week navigating the waters of Amazon’s CreateSpace program, which essentially will allow you to order a print-on-demand copy of the book. It’s basically a much cheaper (for me) alternative to self-publishing. I don’t quite know what a copy of the book would cost at this point, but I do promise that I’ll keep it to a minimum — my markup will be no greater than the (about) $2 per copy I make on the eBook, and if it’s more expensive than I’m thinking, I may make it even less. I also don’t know how long such a thing will take, because it will require me to do some work typesetting the book and putting together a back cover and spine, none of which is stuff I’ve ever really done before, and I don’t know how difficult it’s going to be.

But if you really want OPH on paper, sit tight. I’m trying to make it happen.