Messages

1

Writers' Corner / Re: Writing Tips and Tricks

« on: May 22, 2020, 05:12:10 PM »

Showing is also important in character building. If all you do is tell the reader what their characteristics are they'll quickly forget. Your characters will be bland. Showing your characters in action is much more memorable. As an example, look at Joffrey and the baker boy in A Game of Thrones. Instead of telling the readers that Joffrey is an entitled, cowardly bully, GRRM wrote a scene that shows the reader who Joffrey is.

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Writers' Corner / Re: Writing Tips and Tricks

« on: May 21, 2020, 04:33:32 PM »

On the subject of loose vs. tight prose, I agree with peat. The prose should evoke the feeling you want the reader to experience during the scene. Tight prose is great for fast paced action or stories that need consistent pacing in order to work. Loose prose works better for personal character stories where you want the reader to slip into the character themselves, rather than simply observing the character as the story progresses.

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Writers' Corner / Re: Writing Tips and Tricks

« on: May 21, 2020, 04:17:51 PM »

I see show as action. Tell is a statement. So, in cupiscent's example. Showing would have a scene where the queen is crying because she saw a child that reminded her of her own lost child and the lack of a new heir. Or something similar where you see the queen acting sad, rather than simply stating that the queen is sad.

Showing is about creating a scene where the reader infers the point you're trying to make from the action of the character.

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Fantasy Book & Author Discussion / Re: Nominations for June 2020 Bookclub: mythology

« on: April 23, 2020, 03:43:44 PM »

I recently finished Goblins at the Gates by Ellis Knox aka @Skip . I really enjoyed it. Great writing style. Loved the characters. And a good story to boot. I'm not sure if it fits Mythology, but it's kind of close being alternate history with roman gods as a part of the culture. I think you guys and gals should consider it for June.

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Self Publishing Discussion / Re: Amazon Ads

« on: April 06, 2020, 04:20:11 PM »

Haha. Yeah, it's hard not to throw more money at the ads when you start to see sales and page reads pick up.

My experience with ads is that Amazon tends to lead to more page reads than sales. Facebook ads get more sales than page reads. I've also found that Amazon tends to cost more per click, but that might be because I had some poor targeting in the beginning that caused relevance issues.

BTW, I've started Goblins at the Gates and I'm really enjoying it. Great character building on your part.

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Self Publishing Discussion / Re: Amazon Ads

« on: April 05, 2020, 04:44:42 PM »

I understand that, but I don't write a series. I write books all set in the same alternate world, but I don't have a series. I'm not going to write a series just so I can sell more books. That's not my goal. I tell the stories that I have to tell, then I do the best I can to promote them. For me, it's the stories first, the sales second. I don't mean to imply any criticism to choices made by others. It's just how my writing goes.

I totally understand. I firmly believe you should write what you want to write then find your audience. If you only want to write stand alone books in the same universe a similar approach to writing a series could work for you, although it will be a bit harder. I'd recommend that you only advertise one book at a time. There are a lot of readers who will read everything you write, especially in your niche of alternate history. So, if you only advertise one book keeping the cost per click low you'll spend less on advertising, but still get reads on your all of your books. With a series it might take 3 books to get profitable, with stand alones it'll probably take 4 or 5.

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Self Publishing Discussion / Re: Amazon Ads

« on: April 04, 2020, 10:31:29 PM »

@Skip the secret is to only advertise books that are a first in a series then hope the read through to the next few books in the series gets you profitable. It's really tough to make a profit on a stand alone book. If you had a three book series the very rough math would look like this (I'm using your sales and page reads as an example as if it's the first book in the series).

Ad spend: $255.84

Net Sales: $102.86
Page Reads: 7100 x .0045 (approximate per page read paid) = $31.95
Sales plus Page Reads: $134.81

Net Loss on book 1: 255.84 - 134.81 = $121.03

If 90% of people who read book one went on to read book two you'd get your 121.03 back ($134.81 x .9 = 121.33).

It's not likely that you'd get 90% read through. Most authors say they get somewhere between 50% and 75%. So, you'd probably need three books in a series to start making money. But every book after that in the series would make it more profitable.

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Fantasy Book & Author Discussion / Re: Not Aye again and other overused words

« on: April 03, 2020, 05:10:04 PM »

Is the word Aye overused by author’s?

Aye.

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Self Publishing Discussion / Re: I want to go back into self-publishing. But I don't know what to do.

« on: April 03, 2020, 05:08:11 PM »

I agree with @Skip. The harsh reality of the world is that your work won't get noticed unless you advertise. Amazon is a good place to start. FB is another place where advertising works. However, you really need two or maybe three books in a series to be profitable. The important thing is to only target authors and books that are very similar in style and plot as yours. Then keep the cost per click low (below 20 cents if you can).

Here's a FB group that focuses on advertising for books that might help: https://www.facebook.com/groups/393917614473395/?ref=bookmarks

On the topic of social media, it really isn't important for finding new people to read your book. But, it is important as a way to keep in contact with people who have read one of your books. You can use it similar to a newsletter, but for people who'd rather follow you on social media than get email from you.

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Fantasy Book & Author Discussion / Re: Whose your favourite Friendship in fantasy?

« on: February 24, 2020, 04:26:45 PM »

Tehol and Bugg

Oh yeah, one of my favorites.

@Eclipse I think we need a competition in a sports bracket style. 

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General Discussion / Re: I'm getting published in Romania

« on: February 24, 2020, 04:21:54 PM »

Congrats!

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Fantasy Book & Author Discussion / Re: Whose your favourite Friendship in fantasy?

« on: February 23, 2020, 07:52:04 PM »

Kind of a threesome: Fitz and the Fool and Nighteyes 

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[FEB 20] Empire of Chains / Re: Empire of Chains:Chapter 50-Chapter 62 LAST 20%

« on: February 10, 2020, 04:15:57 PM »

My favorite story line was Warrick. His mystery is interesting enough to make me want to read the rest of the books. @Ryan Mueller  deserves serious respect for thinking up a character that keeps us guessing/thinking about good and evil and how much context matters when we judge it.

I'm with @Eclipse on the random action scenes. But, this could be my personal preference too. I like books that rely more on the characters than the action. I'm currently reading book 5 in Peter V. Brett's Demon Cycle and he has a lot of gratuitous action too. Again, probably just me, but I think an action scene should move the story forward in some way or show how a character is growing (either in knowledge, personality, or power). Action fans will probably love all of these scenes.

A few of you have mentioned that the writing was utilitarian. To me it was much like Brandon Sanderson's style so I was fine with it.

Overall, I thought it was good solid writing based on a really cool concept for the villain and the world. I give it 4 stars.

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[FEB 20] Empire of Chains / Re: Empire of Chains:Prologue-Chapter 14 FIRST 20%

« on: February 04, 2020, 03:56:51 PM »

Note: I read this a couple of years ago so I'm commenting after refreshing my memory rather than a full re-read.

Mostly enjoyed the first 20%. Marcus is my favorite character up to this point, although Ryan does a good job building the other character stories.

Unlike @isos81 I like seeing a lot of Warrick from his own perspective. In fact, I love the idea of books showing the intentions of the villain along with the hero's. So far, Warrick is my second favorite story line (if it can be called a story line).

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General Discussion / Re: The Fantasy Faction Food Thread

« on: February 03, 2020, 04:14:50 PM »

Went for a Korean dinner and had Ramen. Absolutely awesome, I'm a vegetarian and still love a spicy miso soup base with peppers, onions and mushrooms, There's place near work which has similar and I love it.
 

Looks delicious... except for tofu, But I'm sure you already knew that. Haha.