Well, had an ambitious goal (since this past weekend involved an out-of-town meeting), and didn't quite make it, but got a bit more produced than I have in recent weeks...so I'll call that a win.
Results for the week:
1. 1250 words on "Downtrodden"
And now the goals for this week:
1. Complete a first draft for "Downtrodden"
Aston West
novels
short stories
writing goals
31 July 2012
27 July 2012
SFFS: Yet Another Snippet from "Genesis"
Welcome to another installment of Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday on the blog. Thanks for all the feedback you give on my snippets, but be sure to go visit all of the other writers through the SFFS link above as well.
As mentioned last week, I'm slowly bringing out snippets from "Genesis," a story that I'd written long ago. So, if you didn't catch the previous snippets, here are a few links to get you back up to speed.
Snippet 1 from Genesis
Snippet 2 from Genesis
And then, head on in for today's snippet:
Be sure to come back next week for yet another installment. Again, I always enjoy your comments!
As mentioned last week, I'm slowly bringing out snippets from "Genesis," a story that I'd written long ago. So, if you didn't catch the previous snippets, here are a few links to get you back up to speed.
Snippet 1 from Genesis
Snippet 2 from Genesis
And then, head on in for today's snippet:
“I don’t have a clue,” I said with a sigh, turning my stare back inside.
A single counter stretched along the left side of the building, from about the center of the room to the far corner, with a small pass-through at the far end. A handful of round, four-place tables were scattered around us, while tall stools were fixed to the floor just this side of the bar.
We almost had the place to ourselves at this late hour. A lone bartender polished glasses behind the bar, while an old mine worker sat on one of the stools with his gray-haired head passed out next to a black, dented helmet. A half-empty bottle was loosely gripped in his hand, with his dirt-covered face turned in our direction, eyes closed.
A trio of other mine workers sat at a table in the corner, and were the only others present. Unlike the old man at the bar, who seemed a feeble one, they were big burly beasts covered with fur. They’d removed their helmets earlier, which now rested on the floor next to them. Their voices were quite loud for such a confined area and occasionally, the group would erupt into raucous laughter, beefy guttural sounds to throw off an otherwise peaceful evening.
Be sure to come back next week for yet another installment. Again, I always enjoy your comments!
24 July 2012
Weekly Goals - July 24, 2012
Technically, these are goals from two weeks ago, but who's counting...and actually, I decided to shelve my story "Hidden from View" because I just couldn't make it work in a way I'd be comfortable with. SO, instead, I spent some time this past weekend and came up with a new story idea. This weekend may be a bit tricky to get something started, but I'm willing to give it a go...
Results for the week:
1. None (and story shelved)
2. Formed a plot for a new short story
And now the goals for this week:
1. Complete a first draft for the new Aston story.
Aston West
novels
short stories
writing goals
Results for the week:
1. None (and story shelved)
2. Formed a plot for a new short story
And now the goals for this week:
1. Complete a first draft for the new Aston story.
Aston West
novels
short stories
writing goals
20 July 2012
SFFS: A Snippet from "Temptation"
Welcome to another installment of Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday on the blog. Thanks for all the feedback you give on my snippets, but be sure to go visit all of the other writers through the SFFS link above as well.
Apologies for breaking into the "Genesis" snippets, but I'd like to pop in and announce the release of my latest (and long overdue) Aston West Triple-Shot, featuring my short story "Temptation" (which was previously previewed over here) and two other stories. Read this snippet from the feature story, and if you enjoy it (and even if you don't), be sure to check out the full book, which is available exclusively over at Amazon for 90 days. As a special bonus, it's available this weekend for FREE on the Kindle. So, pick up a copy while you can! And enjoy the snippet:
Again, I always enjoy your comments, and don't forget to pick up your FREE copy of the full Triple-Shot over this weekend!
Apologies for breaking into the "Genesis" snippets, but I'd like to pop in and announce the release of my latest (and long overdue) Aston West Triple-Shot, featuring my short story "Temptation" (which was previously previewed over here) and two other stories. Read this snippet from the feature story, and if you enjoy it (and even if you don't), be sure to check out the full book, which is available exclusively over at Amazon for 90 days. As a special bonus, it's available this weekend for FREE on the Kindle. So, pick up a copy while you can! And enjoy the snippet:
But changing my luck was at the forefront of my mind, and I wanted to find out her intentions. “And how’s that?”
She sat on the adjacent stool, clasping her hands on the counter, her gloves matching her dress. “I need some...services, and am willing to pay handsomely.”
I probably should have figured out what these services were beforehand, but the magic word ‘pay’ was what drew my attention most, and rightfully so. “How much do you consider handsomely?”
She broke her hands free from their hold on one another, and ran a smooth gloved finger up my jacket sleeve. “Not to worry, I have access to vast supplies of credits. You will not go away wanting for anything.”
I suppressed a shiver.
Again, I always enjoy your comments, and don't forget to pick up your FREE copy of the full Triple-Shot over this weekend!
19 July 2012
Sales Update - July 2012
It's been some time since my previous sales update, so I figured now would be as good a time as any to pull out some more statistics. To recap the previous figures, here are the stats from that previous post (as of October 30):
Heroes Die Young (released September 2008) had sold a total of 260 copies (print and e-book total).
Friends in Deed (released January 2010) had sold a total of 66 copies (print and e-book total).
Seeker (released December 2010) had sold around 50 copies (e-book only).
Dead or Alive (released in print, February 2011) had sold 22 print copies and 6 e-books.
The Cure (released in e-book, July 2011; in print, September 2011) had sold 29 copies (print and e-book total).
Friends in Deed has sold a total of 81 copies (print and e-book total), which means that 15 copies sold in the first quarter of 2012. So, with around 30 months under its belt, it’s roughly selling 30 copies per year. There are two main items I think could be contributing to this divergence from the first book. One could be that people are trying the first book (since it’s a series), not enjoying their purchase, and deciding to pass on the second book. One other thing is the difference in covers. The first novel has a far more enticing cover, in my opinion, and I often wonder if people even know what the image on the front of the second novel is. One never really knows for sure, though.
Heroes Die Young (released September 2008) had sold a total of 260 copies (print and e-book total).
Friends in Deed (released January 2010) had sold a total of 66 copies (print and e-book total).
Seeker (released December 2010) had sold around 50 copies (e-book only).
Dead or Alive (released in print, February 2011) had sold 22 print copies and 6 e-books.
The Cure (released in e-book, July 2011; in print, September 2011) had sold 29 copies (print and e-book total).
I’ve received the royalty statements from Champagne for the first quarter, but not yet for the second. ResAliens has supplied my royalty information for both quarters. In addition, two outlets I tend to sell a lot at (Kobo and Barnes & Noble) have not yet supplied any data through Smashwords for the month of June. However, I did find my initial royalty statement for my first book, so I’ve added those numbers into the total here. So, given all of those caveats, let’s get to the new stats:
Heroes Die Young has now sold a total of 390 copies (print and e-book total). As before, this includes copies that were previously sold, but not yet paid for by the vendor (such as Amazon). This also includes 100 copies of the book that were on my first royalty statement (covering about 3-4 months in 2008). Taking that into account, I’ve sold about 30 copies this past quarter compared with 29 copies in the previous three months. Taking the total number over the course of just shy of four years, that comes out to nearly 100 copies per year.
Heroes Die Young has now sold a total of 390 copies (print and e-book total). As before, this includes copies that were previously sold, but not yet paid for by the vendor (such as Amazon). This also includes 100 copies of the book that were on my first royalty statement (covering about 3-4 months in 2008). Taking that into account, I’ve sold about 30 copies this past quarter compared with 29 copies in the previous three months. Taking the total number over the course of just shy of four years, that comes out to nearly 100 copies per year.
Friends in Deed has sold a total of 81 copies (print and e-book total), which means that 15 copies sold in the first quarter of 2012. So, with around 30 months under its belt, it’s roughly selling 30 copies per year. There are two main items I think could be contributing to this divergence from the first book. One could be that people are trying the first book (since it’s a series), not enjoying their purchase, and deciding to pass on the second book. One other thing is the difference in covers. The first novel has a far more enticing cover, in my opinion, and I often wonder if people even know what the image on the front of the second novel is. One never really knows for sure, though.
Seeker has now sold around 72 copies (99-cent e-book only), so about 22 copies have sold since the last update, compared to 8 copies over the previous three months. The book has been out for about 20 months, so averaging just over 3 copies a month. One interesting statistic is that I began selling copies of Seeker via a new outlet this past quarter (OmniLit), and unfortunately, have only sold 1 copy there. Amazon is still the major sales outlet, tripling the sales from Smashwords. Was it worth it to add another sales channel? Time will tell.
Dead or Alive benefited from an extended period where the e-book was on sale for 99 cents. It has sold has now sold 70 copies, so 48 copies sold over the past six months, compared to the 3 listed in my previous update. The book has been out around 18 months, so running about 4 copies a month.
The Cure has now sold 55 copies (print and e-book total), so 26 copies have sold since my past update, compared to 16 copies during the previous update. Like Dead or Alive, this one benefited from a price drop down to 99 cents. This book has been out around a year, so these 55 copies per year is running almost double what Friends in Deed has achieved, but about half of what Heroes Die Young has done. Sales have dropped off a bit at the now-higher price point, though.
The Cure has now sold 55 copies (print and e-book total), so 26 copies have sold since my past update, compared to 16 copies during the previous update. Like Dead or Alive, this one benefited from a price drop down to 99 cents. This book has been out around a year, so these 55 copies per year is running almost double what Friends in Deed has achieved, but about half of what Heroes Die Young has done. Sales have dropped off a bit at the now-higher price point, though.
Death Brings Victory was released back in March, meaning this will be the first status I’ve given. As of now, 26 copies have sold, putting it right on par with The Cure for this past update period (but unlike The Cure, it’s been at the higher price point the entire time. This book has a bit going for it, though, in that readers who enjoyed the first two books were (most likely, even if it’s a guess on my part) already lined up to pick up a copy. 26 sales out of nearly 400 for the first book is still a bit disappointing, but time will tell.
My first Triple-Shot collection was released in November 2011. 21 total copies have been sold, meaning 13 copies sold since my last update (which sported 8 copies). I’ve just recently come out with my second Triple-Shot, so we’ll see how that goes. One thing I’m trying with this newest selection is whether the KDP Select program is of any benefit. My next update should be right around the time my 90-day exclusivity agreement expires, so an analysis will definitely be done then.
Now for the analysis of this latest period:
As I’ve mentioned on more than one occasion, sales have drastically increased when I dropped the price from $2.99 to 99 cents. The royalties suffer, though, so it’s sort of a crap shoot. I was speaking with Lyn Perry from ResAliens press about price points, and he brought up the idea of pricing them even higher, to project the idea of the books having more value. I’m considering some plans to find out which theory holds more water. More to come…
Since my latest update (February), I've sold 202 books (not counting the extra 100 found on my missing royalty statement) for an average of just over 40 books per month. This compares to the 75 books (and 25 books per month) from the previous update. I also added an extra book in this past update period. Again, this bolsters the idea that putting out additional titles helps boost sales figures. Time will tell if my latest Triple-Shot contributes to additional sales in the next update.
I notice that most of my books (other than Friends in Deed) are selling around 20-30 copies every quarter. An interesting statistic, if I do say so...
One other thing that can’t be garnered from the raw statistics, but something I should keep in mind for myself. I often feel, when watching sales numbers and sales rankings day-by-day, that all of my efforts are for naught. It tends to lead one to get depressed about writing and publishing. However, when I pull together these statistics, it gives me hard numbers to look back and say “it was a pretty good update period,” especially since the numbers are trending upward. These aren’t stellar numbers, of course, because I’d really like to be selling hundreds or thousands of copies per month…but 40 books per month is nothing to sneeze at. I’ll take it, at least.
My first Triple-Shot collection was released in November 2011. 21 total copies have been sold, meaning 13 copies sold since my last update (which sported 8 copies). I’ve just recently come out with my second Triple-Shot, so we’ll see how that goes. One thing I’m trying with this newest selection is whether the KDP Select program is of any benefit. My next update should be right around the time my 90-day exclusivity agreement expires, so an analysis will definitely be done then.
Now for the analysis of this latest period:
As I’ve mentioned on more than one occasion, sales have drastically increased when I dropped the price from $2.99 to 99 cents. The royalties suffer, though, so it’s sort of a crap shoot. I was speaking with Lyn Perry from ResAliens press about price points, and he brought up the idea of pricing them even higher, to project the idea of the books having more value. I’m considering some plans to find out which theory holds more water. More to come…
Since my latest update (February), I've sold 202 books (not counting the extra 100 found on my missing royalty statement) for an average of just over 40 books per month. This compares to the 75 books (and 25 books per month) from the previous update. I also added an extra book in this past update period. Again, this bolsters the idea that putting out additional titles helps boost sales figures. Time will tell if my latest Triple-Shot contributes to additional sales in the next update.
I notice that most of my books (other than Friends in Deed) are selling around 20-30 copies every quarter. An interesting statistic, if I do say so...
One other thing that can’t be garnered from the raw statistics, but something I should keep in mind for myself. I often feel, when watching sales numbers and sales rankings day-by-day, that all of my efforts are for naught. It tends to lead one to get depressed about writing and publishing. However, when I pull together these statistics, it gives me hard numbers to look back and say “it was a pretty good update period,” especially since the numbers are trending upward. These aren’t stellar numbers, of course, because I’d really like to be selling hundreds or thousands of copies per month…but 40 books per month is nothing to sneeze at. I’ll take it, at least.
13 July 2012
SFFS: Another Snippet from "Genesis"
Welcome to another installment of Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday on the blog. Thanks for all the feedback you give on my snippets, but be sure to go visit all of the other writers through the SFFS link above as well.
As mentioned last week, I'm slowly bringing out snippets from "Genesis," a story that I'd written long ago. So, if you didn't catch the previous snippets, here are a few links to get you back up to speed.
Snippet 1 from Genesis
And then, head on in for today's snippet:
Be sure to come back next week for yet another installment. Again, I always enjoy your comments!
As mentioned last week, I'm slowly bringing out snippets from "Genesis," a story that I'd written long ago. So, if you didn't catch the previous snippets, here are a few links to get you back up to speed.
Snippet 1 from Genesis
And then, head on in for today's snippet:
I shook my head and interlaced my fingers above the table. Duff would definitely think of his stomach at a time like this. Myself, I was worried about the fact we had no way to pay for more fuel for our ship, which currently sat idle at the local spacedock. We wouldn’t have enough to get ourselves anywhere unless we found a way out of this predicament.
I turned and looked out into the darkness, through a nearby window half-covered with snow. The spacedock could be seen off in the distance, a mess of steady and flashing lights, as ships came and went at random. Rief, the city in the foreground, was dimly lit in comparison, its citizens mostly asleep, warm and comfortable in their beds. Duff and I had made our way here through the blizzard just to have a place to sit around for daybreak, since running the heat in our ship would have lasted only half the night, before the fuel ran out.
Duff rested his dark-skinned forehead on the table, while his blonde hair remained plastered to his head. “What are we going to do?”
Be sure to come back next week for yet another installment. Again, I always enjoy your comments!
10 July 2012
Weekly Goals: July 10, 2012
Finished one story, but didn't even get started on the other goal...
Results for the week:
1. Completed the first draft of "Crossfire" (and finally figured out a title)
2. Not even started
And now the goals for this week:
1. 1000 words on the Aston story "Hidden from View"
Aston West
novels
short stories
writing goals
Results for the week:
1. Completed the first draft of "Crossfire" (and finally figured out a title)
2. Not even started
And now the goals for this week:
1. 1000 words on the Aston story "Hidden from View"
Aston West
novels
short stories
writing goals
06 July 2012
SFFS: A Snippet from "Genesis"
Welcome to another installment of Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday on the blog. Thanks for all the feedback you give on my snippets, but be sure to go visit all of the other writers through the SFFS link above as well.
I'm diving back into the archives again today, with "Genesis," a story that I'd written long ago. My hope is to bring several snippets from this one over the next few weeks. So, hopefully you'll enjoy them and bring your wonderful comments along:
Be sure to check back again next week when I continue this story. Again, I always enjoy your comments!
I'm diving back into the archives again today, with "Genesis," a story that I'd written long ago. My hope is to bring several snippets from this one over the next few weeks. So, hopefully you'll enjoy them and bring your wonderful comments along:
“Surely there has to be something,” insisted my companion.
He was always a little slow to believe me. “There’s no money left, Duff, nothing at all.”
“How did this happen, Colin?”
I tried not to roll my eyes, though I’d warned him many times about this very situation. It wasn’t as if he’d listened. Instead, his spending had continued, regardless of the fact neither of us could remember our last job.
“Money goes out, but nothing comes in,” I muttered.
“We don’t even have enough to eat?” He tilted his head and trained his sad, brown eyes on me.
Be sure to check back again next week when I continue this story. Again, I always enjoy your comments!
03 July 2012
Weekly Goals: July 3, 2012
Things are still moving along at a good clip. Hopefully I'll finish a final draft of a story soon. Until then, will keep working on the drafts and see what sticks.
Results for the week:
1. Completed the first draft of "Supply and Demand"
2. 500 words on a (still) untitled Kasey Reynolds story
And now the goals for this week:
1. Complete (and hopefully title) the Kasey Reynolds story
2. 1000 words on the Aston story "Hidden from View"
Aston West
novels
short stories
writing goals
Results for the week:
1. Completed the first draft of "Supply and Demand"
2. 500 words on a (still) untitled Kasey Reynolds story
And now the goals for this week:
1. Complete (and hopefully title) the Kasey Reynolds story
2. 1000 words on the Aston story "Hidden from View"
Aston West
novels
short stories
writing goals
02 July 2012
Smashwords Summer Sale
If you've been wanting to try out my novels, head on over to Smashwords where you can get the following titles at a significant discount (just utilize the coupon code listed on the book's page):
So, enjoy these titles at a discount...but make sure to pick yours up soon, because the sale is only for the month of July!
 |
| Death Brings Victory, 50% discount |
 |
| Seeker, FREE! |
 |
| The Cure, 50% discount |
 |
| Dead Man's Forge (Triple-Shot #1), FREE! |
So, enjoy these titles at a discount...but make sure to pick yours up soon, because the sale is only for the month of July!
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