Money. A discomfiting subject, crass and unsavoury, yet a necessary one.
The reason why money is on my mind (and I got my mind on my money) is that I'm trying to work out what the hell I ought to be charging for my first Novel (Crystal Eyes, now available at all good eBook retailers!).
There are several things to balance: how much do I think it's worth? What's the market rate? How low can I price it without seeming to devalue it? How high can I price it without putting people off?
There is no guide out there that says "Yes, this is the correct price!", you just have to try and make it up as you go. I'm guessing, in other words.
On the one hand, I want people to read and enjoy it, that gives me satisfaction, but on the other hand, I dream of making my living writing novels and a lot of work has gone into the creation of Crystal Eyes.
The thing is, away from the headline grabbers like Rowling, Pratchett and Martin, the marketplaces of the Kindle and iBooks are flooded with other authors just like me and we're all trying to get our books read and, maybe, if we're lucky, get some cash. It's a minefield and I have no idea what I'm doing. I have the horrible feeling that no one else does either, despite the number of Guides to Selling Your eBook that are available!
And all of this is before you get into the whole Amazon KDP Select business - I really don't know what to make of that. Not convinced it's a good thing for a little inde author like myself.
Also, my book's just gone live on iTunes, which I'm thrilled about, except iTunes seems to be entirely ignoring exchange rates - it's 99 cents in the US and 99 pence in the UK. This means that anywhere else that sells Crystal Eyes in the UK is effectively undercutting Apple and I have no control over how Apple set the price - it's sent to them through an intermediary company called Smashwords.
It's all terribly confusing so, rather than try to puzzle it out, I'm going to make a coffee and Baileys (mmmm) and play Star Wars: The Old Republic (short review: meh. Good, not great, doubt I'll sub to it)
I felt I had to write a blog post to celebrate getting my first reviews for Crystal Eyes on Amazon, both 5 stars!
The very first one was on Amazon US (and can be found here) and the reviewer got in touch via Twitter to mention it. It was a very gratifying and exciting moment; very satisfying to discover that I'd created something that someone had enjoyed!
It was a well written review and certainly made some very valid criticisms (his point about the first chapter being long and delaying the start of the story was one I wrestled with a great deal before publication - that opening section was deleted and added back in about four times).
His homepage is http://dlmorrese.wordpress.com/ and I think it would be well worth your time to check his work out.
The second review appeared on Amazon UK tonight (apparently left by one R. Rat...), and again it was 5 stars!
A huge thank you to both reviewers, and also to the one random sale I've had on the Spanish Amazon store. I don't know who you are or how you stumbled on Crystal Eyes, but gracias!
This has been a good day. And now, back to editing my NaNoWriMo novel
And it's name is Skyrim.
I bought it so my friend, who was coming for a visit, could have a game of it. In the end she never tried it, but I have now and I can feel it sucking me in.
Such a vast space, so many places to go and things to do - it reminds me of the first time I played Warcraft, that feeling of having a world to explore with no limits (other than getting killed by big monsters).
The problem is that I'm trying to do NaNoWriMo. I have fifty thousand words to write. I'm currently on 19,200, about a day and a half behind schedule. I do not need to be pulled into a vast virtual world with monsters to kill and phat loot to gather up!
DAMN YOU, SKYRIM!
And don't even get me started on Uncharted 3.
(In case you're not aware, Skyrim and Uncharted are new video games. They're both great, though, and you should totally get them. Unless you're trying to write)
Just a quick note to anyone who bought the ePub format version of Crystal Eyes off Smashwords.
First of all, thank you, you're a beautiful person, and secondly, you may have noticed the contents page was a bit messed up. This has now been fixed and a new and improved version is available for download from the link below.
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/99280
The clock ticks down, hearts race, eyes stare at a blinking cursor on a virgin page, and across the world thousands upon thousands of fingers hover, poised like hawks over waiting keyboards.
It's NaNoWriMo time!
It's amazing to think about all the people across the world doing this, all the love and hate, the joy and pain, the laughter and tears, being transformed into (almost) uncountable words.
I'm proud and humbled to be a part of this wonderful thing. My only sadness is that I'll never be able to read everything that is written.
My apologies for the purple prose!
Anyway, good luck, fellow NaNoWriMoers, may your fingers fly fast and true!