Audio Books

One of the last bits of reluctant advice I received from one writer was to have my books adapted to audio. "Audio books often outsell my ebooks," she told me.

So, one of the first things I did after that was look into the process. Very little effort was involved with it, once the task of conceiving, plotting, writing, and editing the novels (that's always a lot of effort). I did as she had told me and after figuring out how it works I jumped in, both feet.

I've been lucky landing excellent voice talent to read my books. Five have been done, with one having been held up in production for some reason and has yet to be released. Beyond that one glitch, it has been a relatively easy process, and sales have generally been better than I had figured.

Here is a listing of the four books that have so far been completed and released. (Still awaiting the approval of DEADLOCKED).

In no particular order they are:

FOUR FROM MANGROVE, my collection of four short stories of high fantasy, all set within the mythical city-state of Mangrove.

 

THE COALITION Zombie Trilogy. My three novels of the tales of Ron Cutter surviving in his post-apocalyptic world of zombie pandemic (now under one cover).

THE EMISSARY: A Novel of Fantasy and Horror. Set in Elijah, in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina, Martin and Amy Braun find themselves surrounded by hatred manifesting itself as lycanthropy. All while trying to protect a mysterious foster child who may be an herald for that event, or somehow there to save them from it.

WORKING CLASS HERO: The Autobiography of a Superhuman. An affliction has struck a tiny few of humanity, giving them superhuman powers. The government steps in and recruits each of them as protectors of large urban areas around the nation. Once your powers manifest themselves you either work for Uncle Sam, or Uncle Sam puts you away. This is the autobiography of one such hero, Billy B; in his own words.

Advertising.

I talk with a lot of other writers. We always ask one another about advertising and various methods of promotion. Some of the authors I converse with over this topic claim that they do well with advertising on Amazon.com. It makes some amount of logic, as Amazon is very close to becoming a publishing monopoly. They do seem to control access to the marketplace in all other ways, so why not advertising, also?

However, after years of trying out various advertising campaigns at Amazon I have never encountered a situation wherein I profited from putting my money there. That is, no ad campaign returned to me even as much money as I put into it. The opposite was almost always true. If, say, I put $400 into an ad campaign I might get $150 or $200 in cumulative sales over the course of the campaign. Only once did I squeak out a tiny bit of profit from an Amazon ad push, and only by a few dollars.

So, for me, advertising on Amazon is a complete waste of my money, my effort, and my time. My last bit of money spent there advertising my work was, in fact, the last money I will ever spend there for that purpose.

That is all.

I'm not sure why, but my COALITION: Zombie Trilogy is the best selling of all of my books since I republished a number of my titles after regaining publishing rights from a former imprint. It has done well in ebook format, but dollar-wise is doing even better in audio book sales. WORKING CLASS HERO has the edge in total ebook numbers, but the audio of that book isn't nearly as high in sales.

Sales.

As I figure out the details of promoting books online I find that I have learned a few tricks that push my sales up a bit. One line of advice that I got from another writer was to use a service that adapts your books to audio without having to spend any money for production. All you do is audition voice talent, pick the person best suited for the job (there is an amazing amount of voice talent in the pools) and the production is out of your hands other than delivering the manuscript and approving the audio versions. After that, the audio is passed through another round of professional editors who clear it for audio publication.

I have been surprised at the sales of the audiobooks. All I have to do is promote my novels as I normally do, and the audiobooks tag along, sometimes outstripping the ebooks in dollar sales, if not actual numbers (since audiobooks are more expensive than ebooks).

It's part of the massive learning curve of having to promote my fiction rather than leaving it up to a traditional publisher who might be incompetent at the task, or who doesn't care (sometimes both). I may not be great at promotions at this point, but I'm better than I was at it, I'm still learning, and I definitely do care.

****

Here's a question and answer bit I did at a website concerning my superhero novel, WORKING CLASS HERO. I'll be adding the second book to that series very soon, and have plotted a third book. If sales and/or my desire to continue warrant, I'll be doing more in that series. I like the characters and I enjoy the act of creating new stories in that world.

Q&A for my novel WORKING CLASS HERO.

Yeah, baby.

STORY BUNDLE!

Best selling author and publisher Kevin J Anderson, and founder and tech writer Jason Chen have been putting together book bundles to sell as a way to create author promotions and charity donations. I was happy to have my first WORKING CLASS HERO: The Autobiography of a Superhuman as part of his Superhero book bundle. I get to be a part of an effort to aid a good educational charity, and to join with a group of other fine authors all spinning yarns about super-powered people.

So, if you want a way to land a whole lot of excellent reading, plus help out a good cause, all at a super-bargain price, grab one (or all) of these book bundles!

Explanation and link below.

THE UP, UP AND AWAY SUPERHEROES BUNDLE

The Up, Up and Away Superheroes Bundle - Curated by Kevin J. Anderson

If reading is your kryptonite, I've put together a superpoweredStoryBundle—thirteen books with marvelous heroes, supervillains, secret identities, mutant powers, and extraordinary gentlemen (and ladies).

In curating this batch, I included my novel Captain Nemo—one of my favorites—the life story of Jules Verne's fictional friend, who fights pirates at sea, is marooned on a mysterious island, finds a passage to the center of the Earth, crosses Africa in a balloon, and builds the extraordinary sub-marine boat, the Nautilus.

Dean Wesley Smith presents a brand new book featuring his popular and unnaturally talented character Poker Boy. Heroes comes in all shapes, sizes, and personas.What makes a hero super? Mark Leslie's collection Nobody's Hero contains seven stories that explore what makes a hero.

A power she doesn't want. But everyone else does.In Robin Brande's Dove Season Marnie has a secret she's been able to hide from the world for years. But now she's been exposed, and her worst fears are coming true.What does the government want from her? To use her as a spy? A weapon? A warrior? She's not made for any of those.But Marnie can't resist the forces who are after her, any more than she can resist using her power.

Matt Forbeck's Brave New World: Revolution: In a world in which supers either work for the government or are thrown into prison, the legend known as Patriot is finally caught and will soon be executed for his crimes — unless his friends in the rebellious Defiance can break him out!

In Jon Mollison's Overlook, nothing's more dangerous than an invisible man… Matt Ward's Cynetic Wolf: An immortal government, half-human oppressed masses, and a young hybrid whose existence threatens everything the cyborg overlords built since the world ended.

In Lucas Flint's The Superhero's Test, seventeen-year-old Kevin 'Bolt' Jason must learn how to control his newly discovered superpowers to protect his family from asupervillain who seeks to destroy him.

What happens when you find out that you suddenly have super-powers is that Uncle Sam makes you an offer you can't refuse. That's Working Class Hero by James Robert Smith. In Fid's Crusade by David Reiss, we see that in the end, it may take a villain to save the world from those entrusted with the world's protection.

The Enlivening by Ashlyn Frost—She's his Frankenstein and now it's time to pay. Tina Glasneck's Hellbent features a hammerless Thor, a devious plan, and a destiny to thwart. And in Jeremy Flagg's Morning Sun: Before joining the Nighthawks, thirteen outcasts fought alone. Their paths should never have crossed. As the Children of Nostradamus come into their own, they have to ask: does having superpowers make them heroes?

You'll read these faster than a speeding bullet. (Sorry, the groaners just write themselves!) – Kevin J. Anderson

* * *

For StoryBundle, you decide what price you want to pay. For $5 (or more, if you're feeling generous), you'll get the basic bundle of five books in any ebook format—WORLDWIDE.

•             Captain Nemo - The Fantastic Adventures of a Dark Genius by Kevin J. Anderson

•             Cynetic Wolf by Matt Ward

•             Working Class Hero by James Robert Smith

•             Dove Season by Robin Brande

•             The Superhero's Test by Lucas Flint

If you pay at least the bonus price of just $15, you get all five of the regular books, plus eight more more books, for a total of thirteen!

•             Playing a Hunch by Dean Wesley Smith

•             Fid's Crusade by David Reiss

•             The Enlivening by Ashlyn Frost

•             Nobody's Hero by Mark Leslie

•             Morning Sun by Jeremy Flagg

•             Overlook by Jon Mollison

•             Hellbent by Tina Glasneck

•             Brave New World Revolution by Matt Forbeck

This bundle is available only for a limited time via http://www.storybundle.com. It allows easy reading on computers, smartphones, and tablets as well as Kindle and other ereaders via file transfer, email, and other methods. You get multiple DRM-free formats (.epub, .mobi) for all books!

It's also super easy to give the gift of reading with StoryBundle, thanks to our gift cards – which allow you to send someone a code that they can redeem for any future StoryBundle bundle – and timed delivery, which allows you to control exactly when your recipient will get the gift of StoryBundle.

Why StoryBundle? Here are just a few benefits StoryBundle provides.

•             Get quality reads: We've chosen works from excellent authors to bundle together in one convenient package.

•             Pay what you want (minimum $5): You decide how much these fantastic books are worth. If you can only spare a little, that's fine! You'll still get access to a batch of exceptional titles.

•             Support authors who support DRM-free books: StoryBundle is a platform for authors to get exposure for their works, both for the titles featured in the bundle and for the rest of their catalog. Supporting authors who let you read their books on any device you want—restriction free—will show everyone there's nothing wrong with ditching DRM.

•             Give to worthy causes: Bundle buyers have a chance to donate a portion of their proceeds to the Challenger Center for Space Education!

•             Receive extra books: If you beat the bonus price, you'll get the bonus books!

StoryBundle was created to give a platform for independent authors to showcase their work, and a source of quality titles for thirsty readers. StoryBundle works with authors to create bundles of ebooks that can be purchased by readers at their desired price. Before starting StoryBundle, Founder Jason Chen covered technology and software as an editor for Gizmodo.com and Lifehacker.com.

For more information, visit our website at storybundle.com, tweet us at @storybundle and like us on Facebook.

Thirteen great superhero novels!

Book Promotions.

Back in the days when I sold my stories and novels to publishers of various sizes, my major responsibility for promotions was something akin to press assists and not much else. I'd send out some review copies, do Q&A with reporters, chat up the books to journalists and magazine editors, and do author appearances in bookstores and libraries. But that was pretty much the extent of my involvement.

The way I saw it back then (and justifiably so), it was up to the publishers to promote and advertise the stories, scripts, and novels I had spent so much time creating. As I like to paraphrase, "I'm a writer, not a salesman, dammit!"

These days, of course, I have to promote and advertise. All on my own dime. And I have to do a lot of experimentation, because by and large other authors who know how to do this will not share such information in a market that is already packed beyond capacity and highly competitive. (Writers some years back ceased to consider fellow writers as colleagues and see them now as competitors.) So a huge learning curve has ensued.

I have had to learn where to advertise and how to do it. I won't belabor the finer points but even when you find a good spot to advertise you have to tweak the parameters of what is advertised and how to utilize various codes to ensure maximized results. It's not easy and even though I've figured out how to get positive results, I'm still not skilled at it. But what I have learned over the past few months is where to put my ad dollars and how to pull an ad when it's not generating more income than the cost of the ad campaigns. Fortunately, the two methods I now use most often do give me that option. I can edit, or pause, or completely halt an ad campaign if I'm not making more than it's worth.

Disappointingly to me, most of my sales--in fact about 90%--come in the form of ebooks. I never have become accustomed to reading ebooks, but I reckon it's because I'm too conservative to have ever given my reading habits over to that format. I do read more ebooks than I once did, but I prefer to buy print books. I will be purchasing more of my books in print format to sell at convention and library appearances in future and hope to see those gain a larger portion of my overall sales.

At any rate, the books I've been pushing most of late are titles that I've gotten back into print since retrieving the rights from a former publisher. All three have been rewritten, re-edited, and graced with new cover art and contain my preferred texts. So grab one or all of them if you want to spend some quality time living in another world for a few hours. All books are now also available in audio book versions.

WORKING CLASS HERO: The Autobiography of a Superhuman.

THE COALITION Zombie Trilogy. The three original titles all contained under one cover as a single volume. In audio book, ebook, and paperback!

DEADLOCKED. My first zombie novel back in print in my preferred text with many added and restored sequences. Three formats: audio, ebook, paperback.

THE COALITION ZOMBIE Trilogy. Ebook, paperback, audibook!

Some time back one of my previous publishers commissioned a zombie trilogy. So I penned my Coalition series and set it in my then-hometown of Charlotte, NC which was also at that time a major banking center (not so much anymore, even with the overbearing presence of Wells Fargo).

  When the publishing rights were returned to me I assembled all of the books to be published under a single cover. I rewrote some sections, re-edited the entire manuscript, and restored plot developments and passages that had been excised by the former publisher. So, for the first time we have the author's preferred text of the entire Coalition Zombie Trilogy present as a single book (at one low price!).

THE COALITION ZOMBIE TRILOGY from Last Hemlock Press, available online as an ebook, or from your bookseller of choice as a paperback. In addition, the audiobook is now also available for purchase.

 

THE COALITION Zombie Trilogy by James Robert Smith.

Elk and Mountain Panoramas

It had been over ten years since I had hiked to Charlie's Bunion in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Having hiked all around that Park, the Bunion remains one of my favorite places there, and still at the top of what I consider the finest views there.

Andy wanted to go to the Smokies to try to see some elk. Our original intention was to stay at a hotel in Maggie Valley which would give us easy access to Cataloochee which provides the surest opportunity to spot lots of elk. However, after I'd made the hotel reservations I discovered that Cataloochee is still closed off due to various factors which include road construction just outside the Park. There's another route in to Cataloochee, but for their own reasons the Park Service has also blocked off that route. I can't imagine why, unless they just enjoy not having pesky tourists around.

So, we altered our plans. Instead of a hike to see old growth trees in Cataloochee, we opted for the hike to the Bunion, and a stop at Oconaluftee to try to spot some elk since it's supposed to also be a reliable place to see them.

As things turned out, we had great weather for the hike, and we managed to spot elk at Oconaluftee. We had a final tally of five elk, but the opportunity for good photos were not as good as I'd hoped. Still, since I grew up in a South where there were no elk remaining at all, seeing even one is a treat.

Mount Kephart, which must be climbed to reach Charlie's Bunion from Newfound Gap.

The trail that goes around the Bunion is not for those who are afraid of heights.

The aptly named Sawteeth. If the Bunion is too crowded (as it was this day) you can head over to the Sawteeth which are just as spectacular, and usually without any people.

I took this from the top of the main summit of Charlie's Bunion. You can see people down below on the sub-peak.

They're not kidding.

The first elk we saw on Monday.

The last elk (a doe) that we saw as we were heading out of the Park.

Yum! Grass!

This doe was pretty big. In the early days of the reintroduction they all had radio collars. Now I see more elk with no collars. I've been told the herd is now in excess of 200 animals.