More children at home = less writing time and less time to blog about the nonsense I like to blog about.
Here is today's smorgasbord. (Mmmmm... smorgasbord...)
Both SF Revu and Locus have reviewed Shimmer #14, saying things like "unsettling little tale" (Sam Tomaino, SF Revu) and "I am not entirely convinced that there is anyone actually alive in this world. Except the bugs and worms." (Lois Tilton, Locus) about my story, "This House was Never a Castle". I'm not sure the bugs and worms are even alive--at least for long (the children eat them, you see).
Morpheus Tales has collected a "best of" issue and included my story about fungus gone wild, "A Most Unfortunate Gaffe". You can check out the always disturbing cover art and buy a copy here.
And finally, Echoes of the Dead hit some sort of milestone yesterday--I've never had a sales burst like this for one of my books before, even after going free. Maybe it's a little instant karma for the pirate/plagiarism bullshite? It's sales rank was around 7K when I woke this morning. I'm no "J.K. Patterson" (all sarcasm intended), but I'll take it.
Have a great weekend, folks
new posts in all blogs
Blog: The Other Aaron (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: reviews, Best of, Shimmer, Morpheus Tales, Echoes of the Dead, Add a tag
By: Aaron Polson,
on 2/3/2012
Blog: The Other Aaron (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: free fiction, Echoes of the Dead, Free Book, Add a tag
By: Aaron Polson,
on 1/30/2012
Why is this important?
I don't have survey results or any scientific data to back this up, but plenty of anecdotal experience and reports from other authors: the vast majority of wannabe writers pen fiction. All of these books--now readily available because of digital publishing--are the too many buckets in my title metaphor. The water? Book buyers.
If only 33% of the purchases made by "avid" readers are for leisure/entertainment (and not all of that 33% must be fiction) and the majority (by far) of authors write fiction... Yesh.
No wonder it's so damn hard to break through.
What does this have to do with pirates?
Well, if most wannabe writers write fiction and it's damn hard to make it, maybe some pirate/resellers are just feeding the urge to put their name on something.
Hell, I don't know.
What I do know is I don't mind giving away my stories if I'm doing it. I'm not going to crawl under a rock and hide from the basement-dwelling morlocks who'd do such things. I'm not going to stop writing because of this crap. I'm not going to change a single bit of my behavior just because other people don't want to play nice.
For the next two days, Echoes of the Dead (the thieved book) is free at Amazon. Take that, J.K. "Fake-Name-If-I've-Ever-Seen-One" Patterson.
Blog: The Other Aaron (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Contest, Cover art, Smoke, borrowed saints, thoughts on writing, In the Memory House, Vengeful Spirits, thoughts on marketing, Echoes of the Dead, Add a tag
By: Aaron Polson,
on 12/3/2011
Instead of In the Memory House. Sometimes I need a little more market research. I tend to be too much of a gut guy. You see, In the Memory House is also the title of Howard Mansfield's book of essays about New England culture and history.
Yeah. Not my book at all. Mine features a living house which tries to make friends by killing people. Think of it as a house with Asperger's on steroids.
So maybe Echoes of the Dead has a little more zip. The word "Dead" lands hard, at least. It does deliver the message directly, and I've found that is a key piece of marketing any book. And yes, the paperback is still coming.
And then I've nixed Smoke and replaced it with Vengeful Spirits. Again, I think the new title lands harder and sends a little more of a direct message about the book's content. I've also tweaked the cover with new font and image:
This poor puppy has been through a number of changes, originally starting as Borrowed Saints. Like I said, I'm a gut guy. My heart and mind need to arm wrestle before the next book skitters into the wild.
Congrats again, Mary. And good luck, my dear books. I will try to do you better in the future.
Viewing: Blog Posts Tagged with: Echoes of the Dead, Most Recent at Top [Help]
Results 1 - 3 of 3
Blog: The Other Aaron (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: reviews, Best of, Shimmer, Morpheus Tales, Echoes of the Dead, Add a tag
4 Comments on Reviews, Publication, Strange Happenings, last added: 2/4/2012
Display Comments
Add a Comment
Blog: The Other Aaron (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: free fiction, Echoes of the Dead, Free Book, Add a tag
I've been thinking about this pirating thing...
Especially in light of the 2011 Book Buying Survey presented at Digital Book World. Check it out.
Some highlights:
- 64% of "avid" book buyers are female
- 33% of book purchases are for entertainment/leisure
Why is this important?
I don't have survey results or any scientific data to back this up, but plenty of anecdotal experience and reports from other authors: the vast majority of wannabe writers pen fiction. All of these books--now readily available because of digital publishing--are the too many buckets in my title metaphor. The water? Book buyers.
If only 33% of the purchases made by "avid" readers are for leisure/entertainment (and not all of that 33% must be fiction) and the majority (by far) of authors write fiction... Yesh.
No wonder it's so damn hard to break through.
What does this have to do with pirates?
Well, if most wannabe writers write fiction and it's damn hard to make it, maybe some pirate/resellers are just feeding the urge to put their name on something.
Hell, I don't know.
What I do know is I don't mind giving away my stories if I'm doing it. I'm not going to crawl under a rock and hide from the basement-dwelling morlocks who'd do such things. I'm not going to stop writing because of this crap. I'm not going to change a single bit of my behavior just because other people don't want to play nice.
For the next two days, Echoes of the Dead (the thieved book) is free at Amazon. Take that, J.K. "Fake-Name-If-I've-Ever-Seen-One" Patterson.
6 Comments on Too Many Buckets, Not Enough Water, last added: 2/1/2012
Display Comments
Add a Comment
Blog: The Other Aaron (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Contest, Cover art, Smoke, borrowed saints, thoughts on writing, In the Memory House, Vengeful Spirits, thoughts on marketing, Echoes of the Dead, Add a tag
Fred, the envelope please...
Mary Rajotte is the winner of my 50/50 split of In the Memory House profits for November, thus continuing a fine tradition of Canadians winning my contests. Congrats, Mary. I'll be in touch to share the bounty.
Which might (or might not, who knows?) have been a bigger bounty had I started with this:
Instead of In the Memory House. Sometimes I need a little more market research. I tend to be too much of a gut guy. You see, In the Memory House is also the title of Howard Mansfield's book of essays about New England culture and history.
Yeah. Not my book at all. Mine features a living house which tries to make friends by killing people. Think of it as a house with Asperger's on steroids.
So maybe Echoes of the Dead has a little more zip. The word "Dead" lands hard, at least. It does deliver the message directly, and I've found that is a key piece of marketing any book. And yes, the paperback is still coming.
And then I've nixed Smoke and replaced it with Vengeful Spirits. Again, I think the new title lands harder and sends a little more of a direct message about the book's content. I've also tweaked the cover with new font and image:
This poor puppy has been through a number of changes, originally starting as Borrowed Saints. Like I said, I'm a gut guy. My heart and mind need to arm wrestle before the next book skitters into the wild.
Congrats again, Mary. And good luck, my dear books. I will try to do you better in the future.
2 Comments on We have a Winner! (and More Elective Surgery), last added: 12/5/2011
Display Comments
Add a Comment
Lots of reasons to be cheerful there, Aaron! Have a good weekend yerself.
Nice to have good reviews and antho inclusion! And the sales bump is good too. Maybe they are all related. :)
Sweet! You absolutely deserve whatever karma you can get after the bull crap you've had to put up with.
Congrats on the reviews.