A Quick Smashwords Update

The final numbers aren't in quite yet, but I wanted to take a quick second or two to talk about my Smashwords experience. Working with little publicity and relying on giving away stories for free, I "sold" more than 300 stories in the month of July. Now, "sold" isn't really the operative verb here. They count as sales on Smashwords, but I didn't make any money off those "sales."

I'm fine with that. A few people were even kind enough not to use the promotional code, which means I earned a few bucks (a few).

The Smashwords promotion concludes Sunday, but here's a look at the numbers up through the penultimate day:

Last Stand on Cyclonus Seven: 72
In Memoriam: 61
I Took Over the World for This?: 59
A Wing and a Plan: 58
The Stuntman: 52

I had set a (secret!) personal goal of 300 sales for the month under this free model. I'm pleased with the results.

I'll have the final numbers late tomorrow.

You can see my Smashwords short stories here.

Smashwords Experiment

A few weeks ago, I decided to put some of my short stories up on Smashwords to see how they'd do. With very little fanfare or advertising, I put five stories up on the site, set the price at 99 cents, and then enrolled in Smashwords' July Summer/Winter Sale, where the code SSWSF allows readers to grab a free short story.

Has the experiment been worth it?

I'm going to say yes. Sure, I haven't made any money off the 257 "purchases" readers have made on Smashwords. Without the promo code, however, would anyone have paid for one of my shorties (anecdotal evidence on Amazon.com suggests the answer to this is pretty much "no")?

This is not the final tally, of course, there's a little less than two weeks left to get one of my stories (well, actually, ALL of them) for free (shameless self plug site link HERE).

"Last Stand on Cyclonus Seven" is the runaway winner, with "In Memoriam" in second place and my other three in a dead heat. Here are the "sales" numbers:

"Last Stand on Cyclonus Seven" - 61
"In Memoriam" - 57
"I Took Over the World for This?" - 47
"Wing and a Plan" - 46
"The Stuntman" - 46

I set a goal of 300 sales for the month...and I'm getting close. The experience has been well worth it and I'm thinking about unleashing this upon the world:

This is Super, an anthology of superhero/comic book stories that includes 20 of my original works. I'm almost finished with the layout, although I'm going to have my beta readers look through it and there's that little matter of the story I still need to finish for it.

I'm wondering: does this interest anyone? Instead of getting a story for 99 cents, does 20 for $2.99 sound appealing?

Thanks to my fans in the UK....

The proof is right there on the Amazon UK Kindle Store. "Last Stand on Cyclonus Seven" is the #1-selling Kindle Book in the Kindle Store > Books > Comics & Graphic Novels > Superheroes sub-sub-sub-sub-sub section.

Champagne for everyone!

And if you're a US reader who wants to get in on that HOT "Last Stand on Cyclonus Seven" action, go here. To my United Kingdom fandom, go here.

Reader Mailbag, Take Two

Back in February, I brought you my reader mailbag, which featured a little Q&A session involving some "readers" and myself.

The tagline:

"Real questions from fake readers."

It was a fun little post, so I thought I'd do it again.

QUESTION: So, um, what happened to The Flying Trapeezius?

Logan from Ontario

ANSWER: Oh, it still exists (here's the proof), but it's more of an archive now. I've decided to concentrate my efforts on My Kingdom for a Novel (or a Short Story). It serves the same purpose, minus the "autumn vomited here" layout from TFT. For better or worse, all my old posts are there.

QUESTION: You keep trying to sell stuff on your website. Now you've got a "Matt's Store" tab on the blog. Why are you selling out?

Annie from Tatooine

ANSWER: Listen, I used to be shy about this whole writing thing. I didn't talk about it much and kept it like a secret identity. But if I really want to do this--and I do--I have to be my loudest and best advocate. I'm trying to attract readers. I don't post a lot of my fiction on the blog--and maybe that will change--but the best place for people to get a sample is to visit Smashwords or Amazon.com. I'm not going to pretend I'm not trying to turn this into a career.

QUESTION: You're doing it again.

Annie from Tatooine

ANSWER: That's not a question. Next question!

QUESTION: So if you're making so much money by posting your work on Smashwords and Amazon.com, why haven't you bought a yacht?

Steve from Brooklyn

ANSWER: Whoa, there! I never claimed to be making money. In fact, I said "I'm not going to pretend I'm not trying to turn this into a career." My Smashwords stories are free right now (just use the code "SSWSF" on the site). My Kindle versions are 99 cents. In royalties from both platforms, I've made $3.00 because a couple Smashwords customers didn't use the promo code. And some guy bought a story in the Amazon UK store.

QUESTION: Will you buy me a value meal with all the writing money you've reeled in?

Vito from Sicily

ANSWER: I don't know where you're getting your value meals these days, but I want in.

QUESTION: When you made the ABC's of Writing, did you realize you could've used a lot of other options? Like, instead of using "Agent" for "A," you could've used a real writing term like "Analogy" or "Alliteration?"

James from Riverside, IA

ANSWER: I had multiple options for every letter in the alphabet. I was just going for terms that meant something to me. I may revisit the ABC's of Writing with another series of posts because I had a lot of fun putting it together. I'll think I'll go the Bases Loaded route and call it ABC's of Writing: Second Season.



QUESTION: What's with all the meters? Shouldn't you have one with Ray Liotta?

Brian from Indianapolis

ANSWER: The Peyton Progress Meter tracks the development of a book or story from draft to submission. The Reggie Miller Writing Continuum tracks my word count for any given day. The Joey Votto Meter tracks my short story success rate.

Ray Liotta? I think this blog could use a little Ray Liotta.

QUESTION: What's the deal with self-publishing? Are you considering it?

Jerry from Manhattan

ANSWER: Hmmm. Well, considering I've already posted a few stories on Smashwords and Amazon, I would say I'm more than considering it. I've already done it. Do I have the confidence to try it with a novel? I don't know. I'll have to think about it. I had a full request for one of my manuscripts, so I'm keeping my options open.

QUESTION: Do you have any exciting things planned for the future?

Dwight from Syracuse

ANSWER: I don't have any big blogging series coming up to rival the ABC's of Writing. At least, I haven't thought of any yet. I am considering doing an ebook superhero anthology. If I go forward with that, I'll have more news in the next few weeks.

QUESTION: Are you reading anything right now?

ANSWER: I bought a Kindle a couple weeks ago (my thoughts here). I just finished the first book of Michael R. Hicks' In Her Name: EMPIRE series (a review is forthcoming). I also read Pentecost by Joanna Penn (if I get into the groove, I'll try to review that, too). On deck: Swarm by B.V. Larson and The Pharos Objective by David Sakmyster.

Smashwords vs. Kindle

Ever a foolishly enterprising fellow, I've been trying Smashwords and Kindle to learn more about the self-publishing thing. I don't know that I'll ever publish an entire novel, but I find the formats extremely satisfying for my shorter pieces of fiction.

I'm not giving up on the traditional route...but I'm also not short-sighted enough to see what can be accomplished in this new era of electronic publishing. Of course, about 10,000 people wrote this same post five years ago (I'm only half-kidding).

Anyhow, I have four stories up on the Kindle Store and five up on Smashwords. Both formats have their quirks in terms of ease of use.

Smashwords

Summary: I like Smashwords quite a bit. I'm new to the ereader/ebook thing and the website makes it easy to upload your work.

Of course "easy" is relative. You really should read through the Smashwords Style Guide because it will help you publish with minimal fuss. Still, the style guide takes a time investment that may worry or intimidate some writers.

I had a few issues with Smashwords when I first tried uploading, but I did find out the answer. It was, however, buried in the style guide and required a Google search to find.

Smashwords also has a lot of distribution channels. However, several of my fellow authors are probably feeling the frustration stemming from the lack of free ISBNs. Smashwords ran out on June 25 (I know this because that's when I first tried the website!) and hasn't acquired additional ones. An email update said they'd be available this week, but I haven't heard for sure yet. This is keeping potential readers who have Kobi, Nook, iPads, and Sony ereaders from buying my stories from those distribution channels. It's a frustration -- not a dealbreaker -- and I expect this to be fixed soon.

I've been satisfied with the Smashwords conversions, which match up adequately with other books I've purchased from the Kindle Store. When I noticed issues with my books, I was able to fix them quickly. The site, however, can get sluggish at times. I'm fortunate in that I did most of my work with Smashwords during the overnight hours, so it wasn't as big of a problem for me.

You also get a higher royalty cut than Amazon for your stories IF you're going for the quasi-magical 99-cent price point. So that's something to consider.

Pros:

*mostly easy to use
*flexible formats (epub, mobi, PDF, etc.)
*variable pricing
*changes take effect quickly
*variety of distribution channels (Nook, Kobi, Sony, etc.)

Cons:

*requires some homework
*some formatting quirks that aren't readily apparent
*fear that books are "cookie cutter"
*sometimes sluggish
*Free ISBN shortage limits exposure

Amazon's Kindle Digital Publishing (KDP)

Summary: Amazon's format is as tried and true as it comes in the world of ebooks. The company's Kindle is the best-selling ereader and Kindle has apps for PC, iPhone/iPad, and Android that give you the potential for a very large reader base (if you can find it, of course).

Amazon's interface is fairly simple (my full experience here), but it gave me the feeling that I didn't necessarily have complete control over my book and formatting. Most of this is a mental game and not the reality, however.

Unlike Smashwords, Amazon's KDP doesn't have a style guide. You're mostly safe with uploading an HTML file to the Mobi Pocket Creator and going from there. It's an extra step that makes it feel like you have to do a little more to get your book to the Kindle Store. The Mobi Pocket Creator is, thankfully, easy to use.

My biggest problem with KDP is the perceived sense of sluggishness I get from the platform. When you upload to Smashwords, BOOM!, your book is there, shiny and new and available. With Amazon, it takes a day or two before your book shows up. It's not a huge deal for the initial publication, but if you want to change something or upload a new version, that change won't be reflected for at least 24 hours (and 2-3 days in international marketplaces). Therefore, I feel I have less "control" over the Amazon offerings.

Pros:

*huge exposure base
*Security of having Amazon's power behind it
*Kindle Store easy to buy from
*more perceived quality control

Cons:

*lower royalties for $0.99 price point
*feels like you have less control
*changes are sluggish
*Mobi conversion feels like "extra" step
*"legalese" in uploading may turn off some

Conclusion:

Both formats have their quirks and I'm sure other writers have had different experiences (and therefore different opinions) with Smashwords and Kindle Digital Publishing.

But I'd advise all writers to learn both of them. And if you're not comfortable epubbing yourself, find someone willing to help.

Becoming a Kindle Millionaire (Yeah Right)

I wrote earlier about my Smashwords experience, so now I'm tackling the Kindle format.

Other writers have blogged about this and many of them will know more about it than me. I'm sharing what I'm certain is a very basic Kindle experience as it pertains to short stories. I have not formatted a full-length novel for Kindle, so this is the "baby steps" version of adding content to Amazon's behemoth of a platform.

I'm hoping this modest guide will serve as a brief "How To" for anyone intimidated by Kindle Direct Publishing. This is coming from someone who is not an expert and has slightly above average knowledge of tech stuff.

All right, first, head to kdp.amazon.com. You can use your existing Amazon account or create a new one. For better or worse, I've got my consumer account, author central page, and Kindle Direct Publishing account all tied to one email address. You can certainly choose to do it differently.

This is your home screen:

I have three stories on here already...if this is your first time, you won't have anything here. Hit "Add a New Title."

You'll get a lovely form to fill in:

1. Name - Title of your book. Simple enough.

Book is part of a series/series number - This is a checkbox for novels that are part of a series.

Series title/Series volume - If your book is a part of a series (or you plan to make it part of a series), this is where you input the title name and volume number (for a fake example: Circle of Life Series: Volume XVI).

Edition number - If you have plans to expand a story or made heavy revisions, this is where you can note that by numbering the book version.

Description - A summary of your book up to 4,000 words. Based on personal preference, I'm going to say the shorter, the better on this. I don't appreciate 4,000-word book summaries when I'm browsing for a new book. You can, of course, feel free to differ on this.

Book contributors - This is where you get to add your name and declare yourself the author. If you have a co-writer, you can note that. I would image you can also add various contributors if you're publishing an anthology.

Language - The primary language of the work. Pick Latin just for kicks.

Publisher - This is where you note who published the book. I've published my short stories while listing myself here. If I come up with a great name for a publisher, I'll use that instead. Maybe.

Publication Date - The date you want your book published.

ISBN Number - Ye Olde International Standard Book Number. If you've purchased one for your book, be sure to enter it here. You DO NOT need one to publish on Amazon's Kindle platform.

2. Publishing rights I'm going to assume you're not spamming the Kindle store by uploaded a poorly-formatted public domain book you copied off the internet. Select "This is not a public domain work and I hold the necessary publishing rights."

3. Target Your Book - You can select categories for your book, but only two of them. Be sure to choose carefully and try not to be overwhelmed by the sheer number of options available.

Search Keywords - This is optional, but I'd recommend it. This gives you more control over how people can find your book.

4. Upload Your Cover - Having a good-looking cover is a necessity. Make sure it has at least 500 pixels across and a max of 1280 pixels vertically. Right now, Amazon accepts only JPEG and TIFF formats.

5. Upload Your Book

Digital Rights Management (DRM) - You can set DRM or not. It's up to you. One offers piracy protection, the other doesn't. But know this: once you've made your selection, you can't go back (unless you unpublish your Kindle book, create a new version, and set the new book's DRM).

File - This sets which file Amazon will use as the source for your Kindle book conversion. The Kindle Digital Publishing site has a page with suggestions for formatting here.

SIDE NOTE: If you're a Word user, save your document (.doc) in the "Web Page, Filtered" format. And make sure you import that HTML file into Mobi Pocket Creator as Amazon suggests.

I tried skipping the Mobi step...and realized my books don't have covers. So, um, don't do that.

Preview - This is important. It gives you a pretty good taste of what your ebook will look like on the Kindle. I usually go through, screen by screen, to check for any strange formatting. I am NOT a pro at this yet. If you want a terrific primer on ebook formatting, head here.

Next: hold your breath, grasp the mouse firmly, and click "Save and Continue."

6. Verify Your Publishing Territories - Select "Worldwide Rights" or "Individual Territories." If this is your book and you know you have the rights to it, go with "Worldwide Rights."

7. Choose Your Royalty - You can choose 35% or 70%. IMPORTANT: Your book must be priced at $2.99 or higher to qualify for the 70% royalty. In addition, $9.99 is the upper limit of the 70% royalty. Go any higher, and you'll have to take the 35% rate.

You can also set prices for various Amazon stores, though I've been selecting "set prices based on US rate."

8. Kindle Book Lending - You can choose to opt in or out. If you say "yes," then someone can loan their book to another Kindle user for two weeks. If you say "no," then they can't loan your book.

Are you really sure you want to do this? Make sure to check the box next to:

By clicking Save and Publish below, I confirm that I have all rights necessary to make the content I am uploading available for marketing, distribution and sale in each territory I have indicated above, and that I am in compliance with the KDP Terms and Conditions.

Next: hold your breath, grasp the mouse firmly, and click "Save and Publish." Or, if you're skittish (and understandably so!), click "Save for Later" so you can work up the courage to put your work in the Kindle Store.

The whole process, by the way, took about 20 minutes.

Tomorrow: Smashwords vs. Kindle Store: Which is easier?