All the nit-grits of Publishing

[Sammael Bard]

I want to publish something big.

You know, the long-story-type with multiple characters, multiple plot lines and all the complicated shit that you can think of right now. It has a long way to go and isn't complete by any means, but I'd rather prefer to be geared up than face a disappointment later.

My questions are:

1. Is there a place where I can get all the details of self-publishing, from the submission right down to the payment, under one roof?

I'm tired of being served by the generic opinion on the numerous websites. I'd rather see something more detailed by authors who themselves are published, or the publishing houses.

Someone threw the word around that Smashwords is providing a free copy (FREE!!) of a detailed instructions and stuff like that. I'd appreciate it if you can provide the link to it, if there's any.


2. How much moolah should I expect to rake?

Before the counters go "Ka-chink", can I expect at least a thousand from what I write? That'd be more than enough to boost my already inflated ego. If not, what can I do to reach that mark?

What I know is, I have to be a regular writer to make my mark. New books keep flooding in, and readers sometimes dig the older books blah-blah-blah...

I'm more of the opinion that building a fan-base for my particular story will be enough for me, at least. If I somehow manage to have a substantial fan following, a portion of them may be the ones I can expect to buy the next book that flies off my keyboard. I might be wrong. I can't say. It's like counting eggs before they hatch, but hey, there are no taxes on daydreaming, right?


I've written for newspapers, magazines...mostly unedited batch. They later edit the crap out of it and it ends up looking like a cheaper version of what I actually said. I'm supposedly good at writing short pieces, but my grammar falters at the longer ones.

Writing is a therapy for my hyperactive imagination. And I want to capitalize on it. I'm not going to dole out a tale of how piss poor I am, because I'm not. I'm not starved for money, but extra cash is never a bad idea for anyone. I want to see some of my serious works sitting on the e-book stall making money, than sitting here.

Any ideas/help on this is always appreciated.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

1. - Smashwords books on publishing...

Smashwords Book Marketing Guide

The Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success

2. - With all mine, which have been for sale for quite sometime, I have made well over $1,000.

Also, read the books by Mark I linked above.

To build even a fan base, you need to keep adding new stories. A person in the eBook market only becomes a fan if they come back and buy another book. Otherwise they are one purchase and out.

Hey writing for me is that I like to read the stuff I write and as far as I'm concerned nobody writes it better then me. It may be crap to others , but I don't care, I like it. I publish it and people buy it. Just yesterday someone bought 9 of my eBooks. 9 all at once. To me that's a fan.

 

[lovecraft68]

To build even a fan base, you need to keep adding new stories. A person in the eBook market only becomes a fan if they come back and buy another book. Otherwise they are one purchase and out..

This is very true, new books always lead to new sales on old books. Its kind of like building a fan base on lit, more stories, more readers.

SW has a bookmark feature similar to how people fav an author here and you can see how many people faved you which is cool.

A lot of how much you make factors...on a some luck, you can write a hell of a book edit the crap out of it, get a lights out cover and....still watch the dust collect while someone who wrote "Kelly fucks five dobermans" makes a killing....

In 2013 around October Amazon decided to stop letting people put mother or step mother dad in the titles therefore 'hiding' the best selling erotica on amazon which is step incest(and before that it was real incest)

For most of 2012 and 2013 I was making over a Thousand a month just on amazon, but most of it was step stuff, now I see maybe a third of that and with a lot more titles.

Amazon is the biggest platform...somewhat. If you sign up for unlimited that means you cannot publish anywhere else, you'll go to the front of their searches, but can't sell anywhere else, not worth it at all.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

...
A lot of how much you make factors...on a some luck, you can write a hell of a book edit the crap out of it, get a lights out cover and....still watch the dust collect while someone who wrote "Kelly fucks five dobermans" makes a killing....

Speaking of Kelly...

When did SM start taking bestiality? I thought that was a no-no with them?

 

[DirtyAllie]

Speaking of Kelly...

When did SM start taking bestiality? I thought that was a no-no with them?

I heard amazon does not take it either but see a lot of it there

 

[lovecraft68]

Speaking of Kelly...

When did SM start taking bestiality? I thought that was a no-no with them?

Beats me, but its all over the place, this girl has it down pat.

http://www.smashwords.com/books/search?query=doberman

and there's plenty more of it, guess they don't allow it the way amazon doesn't allow it

 

[R. Richard]

Speaking of Kelly...

When did SM start taking bestiality? I thought that was a no-no with them?

There is no specific prohibition of beastiality in Smashwords that I can find. Underage and visual depictions of nudity are prohibited.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

There is no specific prohibition of beastiality in Smashwords that I can find. Underage and visual depictions of nudity are prohibited.

There is that single line about being unlawful.

Bestiality is unlawful in all the states of the union as far as I know. It might be one of those blue laws that isn't enforced but it's still against the law.

 

[Sammael Bard]

Yo!

Thanks a lot for the links. These books are actually great for numbnuts like me. Gave me a lot to think about, really.

I'll see where this goes. One point that got across was patience and a lot more patience. I really don't expect to make a break in one day, but the prospect of the books sitting on a slow boil is alluring nonetheless.



On a separate note,

I was curious about book covers; their making and the stuff related to it. Do you make your own covers, or do you hire professionals?

Someone told me about a program that helps in creating covers. That's all I know.

Also, can I buy a cover art from someone? If yes, where do I find the authorities?

 

[Sammael Bard]

Amazon is the biggest platform...somewhat. If you sign up for unlimited that means you cannot publish anywhere else, you'll go to the front of their searches, but can't sell anywhere else, not worth it at all.

Mark Cober said never to sign up for that shit. Limiting factors like this are never worth it.



Hey, I actually remembered something from the book!

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Mark Cober said never to sign up for that shit. Limiting factors like this are never worth it.



Hey, I actually remembered something from the book!

His name is Mark Coker ... no worries though.

As for covers: I make my own. They may not be the best, but I try.

There are any number of places that you can get stock photos/graphics from, some at very low prices. Some are even free. Most are royalty free.

Some of those include:

Dreamstime.com
123rf.com

I use these. There are many others. Try a google search of Stock Photos.

I haven't seen a cover creation program except over at Amazon and it's very rudimentary, two tone cover background and text...no pictures or graphics.

 

[Sammael Bard]

His name is Mark Coker ... no worries though.

As for covers: I make my own. They may not be the best, but I try.

There are any number of places that you can get stock photos/graphics from, some at very low prices. Some are even free. Most are royalty free.

Some of those include:

Dreamstime.com
123rf.com

I use these. There are many others. Try a google search of Stock Photos.

I haven't seen a cover creation program except over at Amazon and it's very rudimentary, two tone cover background and text...no pictures or graphics.

Whoops..sorry Mr. Coker. Please don't sue me.


The software I heard about was GIMP. Free to use. That's all I know.

I heard about Shutterstock and Dreamstime before. 123rf is new... You're talking about picking ready-made photos, right?

Do you know where I can go for a custom-made cover-art? Most of the things I see aren't something that I have an affinity for. I'd like to know about this particular option too, just in case.

 

[R. Richard]

Do you know where I can go for a custom-made cover-art? Most of the things I see aren't something that I have an affinity for. I'd like to know about this particular option too, just in case.

Boruma publishing does custom made, real quality covers. However, they want real dollars for their work.

 

[sr71plt]

I go with e-publishers who do all that work for me (including putting them out on seven or more distributors and multiple platforms and even as paperbacks if they have enough wordage) thus leaving me free to write and be able to offer a new work quickly--which also helps with the synergy of sales. You have to share profits, but the publishers I use swallow all of the costs up front and by not having to do all of the setup and sales work I can put more works into the market--thus more total profit back to me and no up-front risk).

To research e-publishers go to a distributor like Amazon, Allromancebooks, or Smashwords, find other books like what you want published, and check the admissions guidelines, via their Internet pages, of publishers of these books.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Whoops..sorry Mr. Coker. Please don't sue me.


The software I heard about was GIMP. Free to use. That's all I know.

I heard about Shutterstock and Dreamstime before. 123rf is new... You're talking about picking ready-made photos, right?

Do you know where I can go for a custom-made cover-art? Most of the things I see aren't something that I have an affinity for. I'd like to know about this particular option too, just in case.

No, I don't know and it would probably cost what I would make on any given book.

I use stock photographs to create the cover I want by combining them together.

I use Corel Paintshop Pro to do that work. I have Gimp and it's an okay program, I just haven't taken the time to learn all of it's ins and outs.

Recently, I have been using Sketchup to create 3D models of some of the elements of my cover art. My Warrior One book uses a 2D image of the 3D model on the cover.

 

[lovecraft68]

Boruma publishing does custom made, real quality covers. However, they want real dollars for their work.

They are worth it, the woman who makes them os fantsstic

Get what you pay for

 

[Glaze72]

Amount?

They are worth it, the woman who makes them os fantsstic

Get what you pay for

Lovecraft:

Trying to reach out to Boruma right now. Can you tell me what I might expect to pay for a cover?

 

[Sammael Bard]

Boruma publishing does custom made, real quality covers. However, they want real dollars for their work.

I'm fine with paying in dollars or pounds, as long as they do the work and the price isn't something outrageous.

Now that I think of it, I have a few old friends who are really good at artwork. I'll talk to them and see if they do something like cover art for books. If their answer is a yes, then half of my initial problems are solved already.

I go with e-publishers who do all that work for me (including putting them out on seven or more distributors and multiple platforms and even as paperbacks if they have enough wordage) thus leaving me free to write and be able to offer a new work quickly--which also helps with the synergy of sales. You have to share profits, but the publishers I use swallow all of the costs up front and by not having to do all of the setup and sales work I can put more works into the market--thus more total profit back to me and no up-front risk).

To research e-publishers go to a distributor like Amazon, Allromancebooks, or Smashwords, find other books like what you want published, and check the admissions guidelines, via their Internet pages, of publishers of these books.

Yes, that's a good point. Doing all the grunt work will eat up valuable time, so it's best to leave them to the publishers.

I've researched Smashwords. Allromancebooks is next. I'm familiar with Amazon, but their T&Cs are so bullish. Just a look at their exclusivity strategies leaves a bad taste.

No, I don't know and it would probably cost what I would make on any given book.

I use stock photographs to create the cover I want by combining them together.

I use Corel Paintshop Pro to do that work. I have Gimp and it's an okay program, I just haven't taken the time to learn all of it's ins and outs.

Recently, I have been using Sketchup to create 3D models of some of the elements of my cover art. My Warrior One book uses a 2D image of the 3D model on the cover.

Making a custom art for a short stroker story doesn't sound viable at all, but I think it might work for longer series. The investment will be definitely worth it.

Coral Paintshop Pro and Sketchup - Are they free or do I have to pay to use them?

 

[Learin]

Limiting oneself to one retailer is never a good idea. Amazon used to control a huge chunk of the market. Exclusivity with Amazon may have sounded like a good idea a few years ago, but not today.

Good luck, and send me a free copy when you're done.

 

[Sammael Bard]

Limiting oneself to one retailer is never a good idea. Amazon used to control a huge chunk of the market. Exclusivity with Amazon may have sounded like a good idea a few years ago, but not today.

Good luck, and send me a free copy when you're done.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

...
Making a custom art for a short stroker story doesn't sound viable at all, but I think it might work for longer series. The investment will be definitely worth it.

Coral Paintshop Pro and Sketchup - Are they free or do I have to pay to use them?

I'm retired, the time it takes me to make a cover is less than a day, sometimes only an hour or so. Beats paying someone big bucks for a cover.

Paintshop Pro cost real money. Skecthup has both a free version and a purchased version. It is available via the Google app store. It will download an install program which will install a stand alone program.

The latest version is Sketchup 2015 - it may also be called Sketchup Make.

Here's a little something I made with it for a book I'm working on....

http://connorgmadison.com/thumbnails/EdiriLightRover.png

 

[Bramblethorn]

The software I heard about was GIMP. Free to use. That's all I know.

I heard about Shutterstock and Dreamstime before. 123rf is new... You're talking about picking ready-made photos, right?

Do you know where I can go for a custom-made cover-art? Most of the things I see aren't something that I have an affinity for. I'd like to know about this particular option too, just in case.

I use Gimp; it's powerful but not terribly user-friendly, so expect to spend a while looking through tutorials before you can make stuff with it.

For my books on Smashwords I decided to go with simple, abstract covers (pinched the idea from Penguin Classics). It makes them visually distinct from the stock-art covers; my intent was to make picky readers think "this one's different, let's check it out" but I have no idea whether that worked.

 

[sr71plt]

I've researched Smashwords. Allromancebooks is next. I'm familiar with Amazon, but their T&Cs are so bullish. Just a look at their exclusivity strategies leaves a bad taste.

My suggestion was to look at these distributors to see the e-publishers publishing works like the ones you want published--I wasn't suggesting to look at these distributors as full-service publishers.

 

[lovecraft68]

Want a real laugh with amazon? Check out their "Guidelines"

Pornography
We don't accept pornography or offensive depictions of graphic sexual acts.


This means is they chose to they could wipe out every erotica title on their site and claim they violated their guidelines even though they allowed the tens of thousands of them their in the first place....

This is he best

Offensive Content
What we deem offensive is probably about what you would expect.

So in other words they can block your account for offensive material even though they never gave you what is or is not offensive...


I mentioned my amazon sales have declined, however in that time frame my B/N sales have doubles as have my sales on SW's main site and I'm doing very well on Google Play where as last year I was making crap

So the good news is for us is two fold, not only is the ever unethical amazon no longer the only place to make good money, but the pricks are losing money with their games because readers looking for erotica are getting tired of having to look so hard to find it.

 

[Sammael Bard]

I'm retired, the time it takes me to make a cover is less than a day, sometimes only an hour or so. Beats paying someone big bucks for a cover.

Paintshop Pro cost real money. Skecthup has both a free version and a purchased version. It is available via the Google app store. It will download an install program which will install a stand alone program.

The latest version is Sketchup 2015 - it may also be called Sketchup Make.

Here's a little something I made with it for a book I'm working on....

http://connorgmadison.com/thumbnails/EdiriLightRover.png

That looks pretty good, although makes me wonder what book ye be writing.

Thanks a lot.

I use Gimp; it's powerful but not terribly user-friendly, so expect to spend a while looking through tutorials before you can make stuff with it.

For my books on Smashwords I decided to go with simple, abstract covers (pinched the idea from Penguin Classics). It makes them visually distinct from the stock-art covers; my intent was to make picky readers think "this one's different, let's check it out" but I have no idea whether that worked.

Speaking for myself, when I'm out on a book shopping spree, the abstract ones are the first to catch my attention. And usually they are the ones that turn out to be more than good.

If I ever make a cover, it'd be something inspired by the angel on my AV. I'm a big fan of these type of covers (I'm not sure what other readers would think, though)

My suggestion was to look at these distributors to see the e-publishers publishing works like the ones you want published--I wasn't suggesting to look at these distributors as full-service publishers.

Ah, my bad. Got it.

Want a real laugh with amazon? Check out their "Guidelines"

Pornography
We don't accept pornography or offensive depictions of graphic sexual acts.


This means is they chose to they could wipe out every erotica title on their site and claim they violated their guidelines even though they allowed the tens of thousands of them their in the first place....

This is the best

Offensive Content
What we deem offensive is probably about what you would expect.

So in other words they can block your account for offensive material even though they never gave you what is or is not offensive...


I mentioned my amazon sales have declined, however in that time frame my B/N sales have doubles as have my sales on SW's main site and I'm doing very well on Google Play where as last year I was making crap

So the good news is for us is two fold, not only is the ever unethical amazon no longer the only place to make good money, but the pricks are losing money with their games because readers looking for erotica are getting tired of having to look so hard to find it.

Your situation sounds like the "slow-boil" Coker mentioned. Book gathers good reviews and ratings over a period of time and then it breaks.

IMO, if I belt out short pieces of stroker erotica that have no special connect to my heart, Amazon KDP(?) would be the programme I'd select. The titles do good, as someone said, and I can expect one or two sales every day without me doing any of the grunt work like promotion. Amazon sort of "punishes" the authors for not going exclusive with them by making their titles obscure.

Note: This piece of advice coming from a rookie is worth as much as Lit's registration fees.