Finishing a First Draft

It's coming... really.

Let's just say, I've got a sketchy track record of completing first drafts. When I first wrote Multiples of Six, it took me 5 years, on and off, to complete the first draft. But, during that time, I also managed to crank out a 63,000-word YA fantasy in a matter of 6 months (not published). So, when it came time to put together the first draft of Multiples follow up, Divisible by Six, I was feeling pretty confident. So confident, that I made promises of 6-10 months. That was obviously a mistake. Two years later, I'm finally finished with the first draft. Yeah, I might've oversold it by 18 months or so. My bad.

So, what is it about the thrillers that bogs me down? Well, right off the bat, it's a much more complicated plot scheme. Multiples had 2 distinct plot lines. Divisible ramps it up a notch with 4. Four plot lines that have to intertwine and come to a resolution (of sorts) by the end of book 2. It was a first for me. Most of the other stories I've written have been fairly straightforward linear plots from the perspective of 1 or 2 characters, tops. Four was a pretty big jump.

But, the mere complication of the plot wasn't what slowed me the most. You see, and it shames me to admit it but, I'm a lazy writer. Not in the sense of form and function, but in the sense that I need someone to stand over me and crack a whip. I'm too easily distracted and even more so when the writing doesn't come easy. I overcame this recently by finding a group (which I detailed in a past blog) to act as my whip. It's just a group that meets to sit and write, but it was exactly what I needed. It gave me two islands of time during the week in which to focus solely on my writing and it accelerated my completion time immensely.

Writing a novel is as much about story creation as it is about putting one word after another until it's finished. You can have brilliant ideas pouring out every orifice in your body, but unless you take the time to crank out the words, all you have are ideas that might be good stories. I definitely envy my colleagues who can regularly crank out a novel every six months. Maybe I'll get there some day. For now, I'm just content with the good things I've got going on. I'm looking forward to getting Divisible finished up soon and the trilogy's finale, Power of Six, started.

Have you struggled to finish that first draft? Would love to hear about your experience.

Multiples of Six Audiobook Giveaway!

Enter to Win!

Free Audiobook!

I'm giving away two copies of the recently release audiobook version of my suspense thriller, Multiples of Six! Narrated by the very talented Eddie Frierson, he adds a whole new life to the story. These free copies will be available through Audible.com. While no purchase is necessary, you will be required to create an Audible.com account to receive the free copy. I hope you'll check out the giveaway page over on Facebook. Thanks!

My Book is Becoming an Audiobook!

And, I have to say, I'm pretty geeked about it. Back when I first published Multiples, a few friends joked around with me that they'd buy it when it was available in audio format. I never thought they'd have to follow through on that promise. Creating an audiobook even just a few years ago cost serious money. But, as technology has become more accessible, so has the process for creating an audiobook.

I am book, hear me roar!

ACX.com is a division of Audible.com which, in turn, is a subsidiary of Amazon.com. They've essentially created a place for authors, narrators, and producers to come together and make audiobooks. As an author, You simply sign in with your Amazon account and create projects based on your books. You upload a sample that you want to have read and, eventually, you may receive an audition or two. You can also browse through auditions from their library of narrators and request to have them work with you. The best part, at least from the indie author perspective, is that it can cost as little as $0. With their 50/50 contract, and exclusive distribution through Audible, Amazon, and iTunes, you can have your book narrated for no cost at all to you.

I recently received an audition from a career voiceover actor and was absolutely blown away. I had uploaded my Prologue several months ago and had sort of given up hope of ever hearing back from someone. And, to be honest, I hadn't really put much effort into finding a narrator. It seemed like a superfluous thing to have. I mean, it's not like every book has an audio version, right? Well, after listening to the audition, I think I'm changing my tune. Get the right narrator and your story takes on a whole new life.

It was both terrifying and exciting to listen to my own words come back at me, acted out as I had heard them in my head. He had really nailed the intended voice, which made me feel pretty good about how I'd written it. I can only imagine what it must be like for someone to watch a movie based on their book. Listening is one thing; watching is a whole other story. It's still early yet, but I hope to follow up with more details and perhaps a sample chapter.

Have you used ACX, or are you considering it? Would love to hear your thoughts!

To Select - Second Free Run Results

A few weeks ago, I decided that, given the success of my first free run with Amazon's Select program, I'd give it another shot. Being a bit of a pessimist, I was more than a little apprehensive about doing it again. I'd had pretty good success on my first run, but would lightning strike twice for the same book? I learned a lot from my own experience and those of my fellow authors who keep a running thread of stats over on the Kindleboards. There's enough statistics on going free over there to drive you up a wall and back down. My first run had been a single day and was on a Saturday. This meant that the magical 2-3 day post-free sales bump occurred between Monday and Tuesday. My theory was that a free run that occurred on a mid-week day would then land the bump on the weekend, closer to the time when I figured more people would be buying.

I scheduled my second free day on February 22nd. I notified a slew of websites over a week in advance. There are really only two that matter; pixelofink.com (POI) and ereadernewstoday.com (ENT). POI and ENT are bastions of freebie-loving readers. Each site has 200,000+ loyal followers on Facebook and their legend among indie authors grows. They post free books throughout the day on their blogs and Facebook. To be included in these posts can mean the difference between giving away 1,000 and 10,000 copies. And, that can mean the difference between selling 2 dozen copies post-free and selling 200. In my first run, which was only a day, I only managed to have one site mention me, but it was still all I needed for a great 1-day total. I thought, this time, I'm much more prepared. But, there was still the unknown element of going free with the same book for a second time. I'd not heard any results and had no evidence that it would be as successful as the first time.

When I woke up on Wednesday morning, I was a bit dismayed. At 7 AM I had apparently only given away 5 copies. It was more of a slow start than I'd expected. Of course, being home sick from work that day (really!) was of no help...as I was able to watch the numbers on an almost constant basis. By 3 PM, the numbers were respectable and actually better than my first run at the same time: 1181 "freeloads" in the US. My UK and DE numbers were much weaker this go round. I have no explanation for that, except that maybe the Brits and Germans keep their book buying for the weekends. I got picked up by ENT that evening, but by 8:30 PM, I knew my day was not going to be as successful as my first run: 2722. At that point, I had yet to break into the Top 100 Free books on Amazon, something I had determined to be an important milestone. I made an executive decision that night. I was going to add another day and remain free through Thursday. By Friday morning at 3 AM ET, when the switch back to paid should have occurred, I'd given away 6970 copies and stood at #90 in the Top 100 Free. I'd actually been as high as #57 earlier in the day, but the onslaught of new freebies had pushed me down. I was satisfied, but not really thrilled that it had essentially taken two days to do what one had done last time. The best moment had been the realization that someone in France decided to download my book for free; a first for me to have anything from that store.

Now, the last time I'd gone back to paid status, the sales came in fairly quickly. There was no lag. I didn't see a flood of sales, but it had moved along nicely that first day (a Sunday) before really picking up between Monday and Tuesday that week. I made it as high as #742 on the Top Paid list at one point and finished consecutive days in the 800s. Well, I watched my sales number throughout the day and got scared. It barely moved. One sale...maybe two. I thought, the magic is gone. I had been a one and done. The Amazon algorithms had changed and I'd just given away 7000 books for nothing. Then, I took a deep breath and reminded myself that patience was a virtue when it came to this game. Saturday came and all was right with the world. By 7 PM Saturday evening, I'd sold 60 copies and had 5 borrows. On Sunday, I climbed to my highest rank of #1,831 overall paid. Not as high as last time, but not too shabby. It stinks being in a category like Suspense. Lots of competition...lots of good competition (on any given day, the worst book in the Top 100 in Suspense is #1400 overall in the entire store; other categories, some of the more obscure ones mind you, can have folks who are ranked as high as #20,000).

Not sure if this is legible as is, but it's supposed to show my last month of sales activity. Click to enlarge.

It's now Tuesday night and I've been back to paid for 5 days. I've sold a total of 169 copies and had 13 borrows in the US. I've had no paid sales in the UK this time round and saw very little action at all in the German store. Nowhere near as successful as my first attempt, but I still consider it a success. Still sold more books in five days than all of last year, so there must be something to this. I've now sold 377 copies of my book in the month of February and have 73 borrows. That follows up 201 and 12, respectively, in January. 578 and 85...not too shabby. Sure, I had to give away 14,000 copies, but c'mon!

Things I've learned:

1. A POI or ENT mention is critical to success. It's as simple as that. Yes, you might reach a few thousand "freeloads" without them, but to really get the big push, you need their quick access to heavy firepower. Hundreds of thousands of readers all itching to pick up free books...even if they never intend to read them. I think POI needs upwards of 3 weeks' advance notice now...and even that may not guarantee you a spot. I've given them 4 weeks for my next free day.

2. Reaching the Top 100 Free is a necessity. If you're close and you were only going free for a day, book a second day so you get there. If you're already there on your first day, keep going! The higher you climb free, the more you'll get into the Amazon algorithms and, subsequently, the more you'll be seen afterward.

3. There is little you can do to control what happens on your free day. Just roll with it. What happens happens. It's not a personal affront to you or your book...really. Deep breaths. Remember, you have 5 free days and after 90 days, you can get out of Select if you're really not that happy with it.

4. There is nothing more addicting than having the ability to see your sales updated in real time. It's an awful, wonderful, horribly fascinating and terrifying thing, but you already knew that.

5. Everyone has a different experience. Some folks have gone free and struggled to give away 500 books one time, then turned around and gave away 5000 their next. It's a process. Give it a chance. Be patient with it if you can. It can and has worked for many.

So far, I'm happy with the Select system. It's worked for me. I think it's the ideal mechanism for promoting a first-in-series book. But, at the same time, I don't think I'll be enrolling books 2 and 3 in the trilogy. We'll see though. Now that I have two runs under my belt, I'm trying to apply everything I know for the last free run of my first Select 90 days. I'll keep you posted. ;)

To Select or To Not Select, That's the Question - Revisited...Again

BEWARE! LARGE AMOUNTS OF STATS AHEAD! Ok, so you might have perused my previous post on the subject of Amazon's new KDP Select program. Well, I folded and joined the club. Here's my experience...

I decided to use a single day to test the waters. You might remember that being part of Select gives you 5 every 90 days of exclusivity. My intention was to pad my readership with a freebie day prior to releasing the sequel. Then, once the sequel is ready, I would have free days with the first book 4 more times to help move the second book. After reviewing many results on one of my favorite online haunts (kindleboards.com), I was a little wary about going free for only one day. The results seemed to be a bit of a mixed bag. But, I figured, if things weren't going as planned, I could always jump in and add an extra day.

So, let's lay some pre-free groundwork. On the evening of January the 27th, my book was approaching a ranking of #300,000 in the Amazon store and had sold a whopping 5 copies for the entire month of January. What's worse is that those 5 copies were sold in the first week. Oh, and no Select members had borrowed my book. Yeah, not so hot.

The book went free at ~3 AM EST on the 28th.

I woke up late and checked my numbers:

10 AM EST
Amazon US
Best Sellers Rank: #1,861 Free in Kindle Store
#57 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Genre Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Thrillers > Suspense
274 "sales"

Amazon UK
Best Sellers Rank: #351 Free in Kindle Store
#25 in Kindle Store > Books > Fiction > Crime, Thrillers & Mystery > Thrillers > Suspense
75 "sales"

Amazon DE (Germany)
Bestseller-Rang: #395 Kostenfrei in Kindle-Shop (Siehe Top 100 - Kostenfrei in Kindle-Shop)
Nr. 5 in Kindle-Shop > eBooks > Fremdsprachige eBooks > Englisch > Krimis & Thriller > Thriller > Spannung
14 "sales"

I was pretty geeked to see that some German customers had picked up the book. Though I've had a couple sales in the UK in the past, I'd never touched the German market. I was also kinda surprised to see that almost 300 people had picked up the book. Not that I was being a pessimist, but I had tried desperately to keep my expectations in check. There were stories about people giving away +10k in a day, that were only slightly tempered by the stories of folks who'd only managed to give away 500. I think that was the goal in my head. 500 additional readers is nothing to sneeze at. It was hard to not check throughout the day, but I won't bore you with too much minutiae (postscript edit: I lie...minutiae to follow). My numbers climbed steadily throughout the day at about 100 copies per hour. By 5 PM, this is what it looked like:

Amazon US
Best Sellers Rank: #298 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)
#18 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Genre Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Thrillers > Suspense
918 "sales"

Amazon UK
Bestsellers Rank: #182 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)
#13 in Kindle Store > Books > Fiction > Crime, Thrillers & Mystery > Thrillers > Suspense
188 "sales"

Amazon DE
Bestseller-Rang: #384 Kostenfrei in Kindle-Shop (Siehe Top 100 - Kostenfrei in Kindle-Shop)
Nr. 3 in Kindle-Shop > eBooks > Fremdsprachige eBooks > Englisch > Krimis & Thriller > Thriller > Spannung
23 "sales"

Not too shabby. As you can tell, it doesn't take as much to climb the UK and DE ranks, as there aren't as many transactions happening in those stores. So, at this point, I was pretty darned happy. I'd given away almost one thousand copies of my book. I hadn't seen nothing...anything...erm...you know what I mean. Lightning struck. One of the more popular websites that lists free books sent out a Facebook post with my book as their "cover" image. They have over 170,000 followers on Facebook just waiting for freebies. I suddenly went from 100 copies an hour to ~26/minute.

• 6:00     2498 copies
• 7:00     3186
• 8:00     3919
• 9:00     4466
• 11:30   5788

This was the last time point for which I recorded the ranking:
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #46 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)
#6 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Genre Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Thrillers > Suspense

It might have gone higher, but I wasn't that desperate to stay up to record the data. Which is why, at this point, the data gets a bit fuzzy. According to Amazon, the final number for the 28th was 6681 freebies given away. However, the free promotion doesn't necessarily turn off at 12 AM on the dot. So, the numbers to start on Sunday are a bit fuzzy.

When I first woke up (time unknown), I picked up my phone and checked my ranking (not my sales). Just as I had expected; I had returned to my previous ranking before going free...plus some. Yep, I was at 340,000. YIKES! Quite a let down from the excitement of the day before. I rolled over and went back to bed. By the time I motivated myself to check my numbers, I was pleasantly surprised. The total number for the month of January at 9:30 AM on Sunday morning was 6733, which meant there were some phantom numbers in there that may or may not have been sales. At least a couple were paid sales because my ranking climbed to #40,000 overall in the hour or so since I'd checked. I'd also received my first returns! I assume that these were people who had clicked a link to my book, figured it to still be free and only found out afterward that it wasn't. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I then waited for the slow dropoff. The agonizing slide back to where my book "belonged"; wallowing in obscurity in the 100,000 to 200,000 ranking range. It was not to be. Sales came in steadily throughout the day on Sunday; 33 to be precise. It pushed me up to a rank of #2,948 Sunday night.

Ok, then perhaps Monday would prove to be the day of fade. No such "luck"; between Sunday night and Tuesday morning, I sold another 51 copies and got my first Select borrows! The most I had ever sold in one month was ~50. I'd now managed that in one day.

As I post this, early on Wednesday February 1st, a full 72+ hours after going free, I have sold 180+ copies and 15 Select members have borrowed the book (which I'll be compensated for). The book's current rank is:

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #967 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
#82 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Genre Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Thrillers > Suspense

I'm there, hanging with the likes of Dean Koontz, Lee Child, and John Locke, even if only for a moment. If there was ever a time for the book to really take off, it's got the best chance it's ever had.

Obviously, in the short term, the results look good. I'm now eclipsing the number of books I sold all of last year (5-1/2 months on sale), in a matter of days. Did I give away a lot? Yep. But, I look at the freebies as going to people who never pay for books. If my gift to them helps me get the book into the hands of folks who are willing to pay the $3, I have no problem with that. And, if perhaps I can get a percentage of those 6700+ freebie folk to actually purchase (God forbid!) the sequel, well...I can dream, can't I?

I'm sure I'll revisit this topic. For someone who has seen just brief glimpses of sales success in the past, it's a potentially strange new world to venture into. I already consider it a large success. I've got pretty lofty goals to be able to call it an overwhelming success, but stranger things have happened. ;)

To Select or To Not Select, That's the Question - Revisited

Last month, you might remember that I wrote a post debating the merits of getting involved in Amazon's Kindle Select program. I hemmed and hawed about it, but eventually fell victim to a sense of "missing out." So, I pulled my book from B&N and Smashwords (which had, combined, generates <10 sales over the last 3 months) and enrolled it into the Select program. On Saturday, January 28th, I'll be taking advantage of the program's biggest draw; the ability to sell my book for free. I get 5 days out of 90 to do so and I'm testing the waters with a single day this weekend. If you've considered buying my book in th epast, well...now is your chance. No buyer's remorse here. Heck, you don't even have to read it! Just picking up the freebie will help me out immensely. As always, it can be found here on the Amazon US site (it will be free on all Amazon sites, though, so those in the UK, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain will have a fair shot as well). Obviously, the hope is that the "sale" of freebies will propel the book into the upper rankings and result in added real sales when it comes off of free. That's the hope. ;) So, spread the word and pick up a freebie. If you like it, the sequel isn't too far away. After my free run, I'll probably gather some numbers and report on my take on the process next week.  

Price Drop! Aisle Six!

I'm cheap, not easy...there's a difference.

In preparation of my upcoming sequel release in January (Divisible by Six), I've lowered the cost of my debut book to the bargain basement price of $0.99 on Kindle, Nook, and more. That's right, you can now purchase my entire novel, all ~70,000 words of it, for about the price of a pack of gum. Full of substance with absolutely zero calories and no chewing required. So, if you've been on the fence, jump off and lay down your dollar. I promise, it's worth a Washington.

Remember, you don't have to own an ereader to buy an electronic copy. Both Amazon and B&N provide downloadable apps for either your smart phone or PC. Or, click on the "more" link above to go to Smashwords where you can download it in PDF form.

Featured on The Frugal eReader today

Multiples of Six is featured over on The Frugal eReader today. Be sure to stop by and check out some of their other offerings.

 http://thefrugalereader.com/2011/10/27/multiples-of-six-trilogy-of-the-six-book-1-andy-rane-2-99/

Sales Boost

Had to throw out a quick shout out to the Kindle Lovers blog (http://thekindle3books.com/). There had been some comments over on the KindleBoards regarding this site, so I decided to try it out. They were offering a free posting in return for a link to their site. Fair enough, right? So, I posted thir link (in the left sidebar I believe) and sent them my info. No response, but I didn't think anything of it. Recently, I had some issues with my Kindle Publishing account, so I wasn't checking my numbers. Finally had it resolved last night and went in this morning. I thought it was a glitch! I had been having a horrible month. Somehow, I'd sold 34 copies in 24 hours...and was ranked at #4134...

My highest ranking ever to date, and by far the most I'd ever sold in a day. I then went over to the UK site and found this...

Sweet, right? My UK rank actually improved during the day as I sold 1 more copy there. My US ranking has since slid, which I knew it would, but what a rush! I've got a paid position coming out tomorrow and I'm thinking it couldn't have been timed better. If I do well enough, I might actually push into the top 100 in suspense/thriller, which is not an easy feat. I think I need to get down below #2k though. Lots of competition.

I've since heard that they are backlogged for the moment. No surprise. Once word hits the streets that something is working, it isn't unknown for long. ;)

"Awards", 7 Things About Me, and Month 2 Sales Figures

I've got a lot to say tonight, but none were worthy of their own separate post. ;)

"AWARDS!"

I received two blogger awards (buttons) today from the lovely Jessica Therrien. Be sure to swing by her blog and show her some love. She's taking part in Rachel Harrie's Platform-Building Campaign. If you didn't already see my flash fiction piece, it was written for the Campaign.

The first of the two awards I received is the dreaded...I mean...the lovable Liebster Blog Award. This blog award goes to awesome writing bloggers with fewer 200 followers (it's NOT a sign of failure...really).

As a recipient, I now get to spread the loveable Liebster to a few of my commendable colleagues. Therefore, I bequeath the Liebster award to the following 5:

1. S.B. Jones

2. Marina Scott

3. Jacques Antoine

4. J.R. Tomlin

5. Brent Nichols

Be sure you swing by and show them some like/follow love.

Awardees, don't forget to:

1. Show your appreciation to the blogger who gave you the award (that's me) by linking back to them.
2. Reveal your five picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
3. Post the award on your blog.
4. Bask in the camaraderie of the most supportive people on the internet—other writers.
5. And best of all—have blog­gity fun and spread the love.


The second is the "Versatile Blogger" award!

I am passing along this award to the following 10 cool writerly bloggers (in no particular order):

1. Tiffany Lovering

2. Sarah Wedgbrow

3. Jocelyn Rish

4. Kristan Hoffman

5. Alyssa Rose Ivy

6. David M. Brown

7. Jen Kirchner

8. Ty Johnston

9. Cheney Giordano

10. Katie Dodge

Awardees, don't forget to:

1. Thank the person who gave you the award (that's me again) and link back to them in your post.
2. Share 7 things about yourself (see mine below).
3. Pass this Award along to 10 recently discovered or favorite blogs and let them know about it.

7 Things About Me

1. My pseudonym, Andy Rane, is a combination of my middle name (Andrew) and my last name (Mulraney).

2. I played the lead role in a musical, Trial by Jury, in college. I was originally the understudy, but had to step in when the lead quit with two weeks to go.

3. I studied creative writing in college with Pulitzer-prize winning poet, Stephen Dunn.

4. My wife and I were born on the same day, same year (should have been same hospital, but my mother's doctor was an hour away).

5. I'm a senior copy editor for a pharmacetical advertising agency.

6. I have an irrational fear (ie, phobia) of lightning.

7. I experienced night terrors (not to be confused with nightmares) as a child; from 6 months until the age of 14.

Month 2 Sales Results

Well, it was bound to happen. Month #2 for most new writers tends to be a bit slower, as you move away from all of the purchases from people you know and you start relying on...well..."real" buyers. Combine that with a relatively slow ebook month (from what I've heard) and my sales were pretty slim.

Amazon US - 8
Amazon UK - 1
Amazon Paperback - 3
Amazon DE - 0
B&N - 2
Smashwords - 0
Total - 14

So, yeah...14 is a bit of a drop off after 40 the first month. But, I've seen nothing but good reviews so far and it's not a sprint...just have to keep reminding myself of that. There are a few things I see happening over the next couple of months that should drive sales one way or the other. On October 1st, I'm taking part in a book festival. I'll be selling autographed paperback copies of my book and advertising my ebook at the Collingswood Book Festival in Collingswood, NJ (just over the river from Philadelphia, PA). If you're in the area, be sure to stop by and check it out! The holiday season is also coming up and it's expected to be the biggest year yet for new ereader owners. I'm hoping to have my sequel to Multiples ready by the time all those new owners are tearing the wrapping paper open on Christmas day. If not that soon, then shortly thereafter. I've got a lot of work to do.

As always, be sure to stop back by the blog on Mondays and Thursdays for my feature, The Same Six Questions, where you get to meet independent authors of all types!

Sales Results After 1 Month

With the 1st Month Anniversary of my book launch upon us, I thought I'd throw out some numbers from the last 30 days. As an indie author, I know I've always been curious to see how others are doing, even before I was published. Now, I'm equally curious (and sometimes jealous) to see where others stand.

Let me tell you, it's been an emotional 30 days. There is nothing quite like putting your heart and soul (ie, book) out into the public eye. So far, Multiples has received great reviews (AMZ: 3 US, 1 UK [all 5 stars]; B&N: 1 [4 stars]) and many inquiries into the whereabouts of book 2 (Divisible by Six, which is set to launch by mid-January at the latest). Because it's so easy to track sales, I must admit I've become a bit obsessed. I'm trying to ween myself down from checking every hour, but it's so darned easy! Curse you Amazon! However, despite some authors' totals I've seen in the past, I have not been so obsessive to write down a daily tally.

Here are my totals as of 8/17 at 7:30 AM:

Amazon US: 27
Amazon UK: 1
Amazon DE: 0
Amazon Paperback: 1
B&N: 8
Smashwords: 3 paid, 39 free

Grand total: 40 paid, 39 free.

The freebies through Smashwords were part of a giveaway done through LibraryThing.com in an attempt to garner reviews. I made 50 ebook copies available and had ~75 people sign up. I had a review appear on LibraryThing today due to the giveaway and though it's 5 stars, I'm not sure I trust the source. It's certainly not one I'd wish to see on Amazon (it's vague and full of typos). But, exposure is exposure, right? ;)

So, what does this all mean? Not much, really. I know the majority of the folks who have purchased my book, as I'm sure happens with most first-time authors. But, I've been really surprised by the response I've had from folks I don't know personally. I must be doing something right 'cause folks seem to be entertained by my writing. And that's all I've ever really hoped for.

Now, I've got to put this launch behind me and focus on book 2. Folks seem much more keen to purchase a book that already has a sequel out than otherwise. A lot less waiting.

If you haven't already, be sure to check out my autographed paperback copy giveaway on GoodReads.com!

Win An Autographed Copy of Multiples of Six!

Would you like a signed paperback copy of my new book? Just swing on by GoodReads to sign up! If you don't know what GoodReads is, then you're missing out on a wonderful community of readers and writers.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Multiples of Six

by Andy Rane

Giveaway ends September 30, 2011.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

eBook Launch Postmortem

Having just completed a full week of having Multiples of Six available online, let me give you some more epublishing tips.

1. Read, read, and re-read your book before you post it. If you've read it X times, read it one more time. One day will no make or break anyone. I know it's an exciting thing, but errors are turn-offs to readers who are used to well-polished traditional books.

2. If you're expecting friends and family to propel your sales, you'd better have a lot of both. Instead, try and find your true audience. That's not to say that friends and family aren't, but you need to seek out readers of your genre. Writers tend to cling to one another like popularity might wear off or trickle down. And, though it's good to have other writers/authors to bounce ideas off of, they also have an agenda of their own (sell their book).

3. If you can handle the monotony of formatting your work for Smashwords, it'll pay off for when you upload to B&N and Amazon. It took a long time to go through and do all of the necessary style changes to get it through Smashwords' Meat Grinder, but the product I was left with made it all the easier to upload to the BIG 2. If you find that you are unable to get it done on your own, there are people out there who will do it for you...for a small fee. Oh, and don't leave this till the last minute. It can be time-consuming no matter how easy you find it and the last thing you want delaying your publication is a formatting error.

4. Make sure your cover looks good at every size, large or small. I've noticed the font on my cover gets a little pixelated at the smaller sizes. But, there are two very important things I can do when it's that small: (1) read the title and (2) read my name. You wouldn't believe how many ebooks I've seen where you can't distinguish either when the cover is 1" x 2". The reason the phrase "Don't judge a book by its cover" exists is because that's exactly what we do...even if we shouldn't! Rest assured, there are readers out there doing just that when they see yours.

5. Don't cry when the sales don't start flooding your Amazon stats. Realize this: your book has no expiration date. There is no point at which it will "sell out." You've got time on your side. If you haven't marketed your release, make a plan to do post-launch marketing. It doesn't have to cost you anything. There are plenty of web sites and blogs out there (this one included) that will post your content for free. Now, whether or not it generates sales is another story. Just remember that you get out what you put in. If your work is good quality, it will eventually gain traction on its own merit.

6. The writing doesn't end when you click "upload." If you're writing a series, it's time to get cracking on the next book! A week in and I've already had several people ask when the sequel to Multiples will be out (tentatively titled Divisible by Six). Folks don't like to wait years for their favorite authors to publish their next book. And, as ebook authors, we have the ability to provide a much more rapid response. I'm hoping to have my sequel out in time for Christmas, but a lot has to happen in order for that to happen.

Good luck with your own book. I'll definitely keep you up to date with how Multiples is doing.

Happy Birthday to My First Book! Multiples of Six Release Day!

Start spreading the news!

There is something both inherently exciting and frightening about letting your story go out into the world. As a writer, it's the ultimate moment of exposure. Until now, I've limited the readership to my debut novel to a trusted few. But, the time has come to let go of its hand and see if it can walk on its own.

I am very proud to announce that my suspense/thriller, Multiples of Six, is now available through most ebook retailers. It's been a long time coming, as the initial idea for this story began in 2004. Phew!

It's just over 70,000 words and I've had a lot of great feedback on it so far. I hope you'll give it a chance and let me know what you think if you do.

For Nook owners, the book can be found at Barnes & Noble.

For Kindle owners, you can click on the link below:

For all other formats (Sony, Apple, Kobo, PDF, etc), please check out Smashwords.com.

Next week, I'll have a new post regarding the final steps to publishing. In the meantime, I'll have a new edition of my indie author interview feature, The Same Six Questions every Monday and Thursday. Make sure to stop by and check it out. You never know, you might find a new author to read (besides me, of course)! ;-)

Release Date!

Hi! Sorry for the lack of posts! Things have been rather hectic. New job, busy weekends...I know...excuses, excuses. But, while I've been slacking off, my beta readers/editors have been hard at work. Therefore, I'm very excited to announce that I have an official release date for Multiples of Six! Friday, July 22nd! Mark it on your calendar! Or, just like my Facebook page and I'm sure I'll bombard you with promotional reminders. :)