The Going Price for Lawn Service (and E-books)

Read KV Taylor's brilliant post about pricing to understand my inspiration.

Back in the summer of 1988, my brother and I started a lawn service. He'd taken care of several lawns when he was in high school in the late '70s/early '80s, and figured I needed a job. I was fresh out of seventh grade and wanted a Nintendo (original 8-bit variety).

Our base price? $5 a lawn. The going rate at the time started at $10. Of course we charged more for bigger lawns, but never more than $15. We worked together. He mowed around trees and did the trimming; I tackled the big, wide-open spaces. It was hard work. By mid July, I had my Nintendo.

Why charge less than competitors?

Volume, I guess. At the apex of our business, we managed something like 35 lawns a week.

Here's the e-book connection: volume = more readers. More readers means more potential fans. More potential fans means more potential "built-in" sales for your next book.

I've just released Borrowed Saints at $2.99. It's a YA novel, right around 50,000 words, and I spent plenty of time polishing it. Sales have been weak. Very weak. Sure, I need to so some more promotion, etc. Whatever one wants to argue about value and how much a consumer should pay--I believe e-book readers have come to expect $0.99 books from Indies. I didn't start it, and I sure didn't make it happen by myself.

Let's look at the math:

One e-book at $2.99 nets the author around $2 at 70% royalty rate. An author would need to sell six times as many books at $0.99 cents (35% royalty) to make (roughly) the same amount of money.

The math seems to argue for the higher rate, right?

But I think something else is going on, something more important. Even if you only make four sales at $0.99 to each one at $2.99, you've quadrupled your readers (or potential fans). Yes, less money now, but more potential money in the future. Like an investment, right?

When VT managed The House Eaters I sold one e-book at $4.99 in two months. Since they folded, I've sold more than 30 in a month. And yes, I'm only selling it for $0.99.

Volume can work wonders, even at very low prices.

Victorine E. Lieske has sold more than 100,000 copies of Not What She Seems at $0.99. That's a success story I'd take all the way to the bank. Granted, I don't write in the same genre and Victorine has spent a good amount of time marketing her book. But wow.

So what will I do with Borrowed Saints? What do you think I should do?

(Well, I did redo the cover. It will take a while to show on Amazon.)

Write Hard: Writers Who Inspire Me

I've been meaning to start this "meme" for a while now...no time like the present.

The rules are too simple (I hope).

When you win:

1. Post the picture above to your blog. You can link here if you want. It doesn't have to become part of the permanent clutter of your sidebar. Goodness no.

2. List at least three writers who you feel live up to the "write hard" spirit. Think: writers who work at their craft, writers who never give up despite the odds, writers who constantly turn out quality work. Writers you admire. Optional: explain why you think they are awesome.

3. Include these rules or a link to them.

4. Notify said writers of their victory. Ask them to pass on the torch.

5. Continue being awesome.

So who do I list to kick off "write hard"?

1. Cate Gardner - The original definition of awesome. Cate's been knocking out great stories for years and taking it all in stride. Big things loom over the horizon for her (did you hear about her forthcoming book from Hadley Rille (Theatre of Curious Acts)?). Amazing things.

2. KV Taylor - The genius behind Red Penny Papers and fellow Belfire Press author. KV's novel Scripped is coming this summer, and you know what you'll be reading.

3. Barry Napier - Poetry, novels, short stories, comic books...what hasn't Barry tried? Get ready for The Bleeding Room from Graveside Tales next fall.

4. Mercedes M. Yardley - All you need to do is follow Ms. Yardley for a short while and you'll be inspired. Whimsical Horror indeed.

5. Milo James Fowler - I couldn't help but give a big shout out to a fellow teacher. I expect Milo's future to be quite bright. (Maybe not as bright as Captain Quasar's smile...)

That should get the ball rolling...and if it rolls no further than these five, it has known some pretty awesome folks.

Beautiful Things

Thanks KV Taylor for staring a beautiful meme.

1.

2. Read Al Sarrantonio's "Boxes". Oh man, the imagery and word play.

3.

'nuff said.

Oh, How Delightfully Sensational!

If you don't know about KV Talyor's The Red Penny Papers yet, it's time you gave it a gander. Not only is the artwork to die for, The Red Penny Papers is where you will find my serialized novella, Black Medicine Thunder and the Sons of Chaos, this fall.

Sensational, you ask?

Well, yes. Therein you will find:

• undead buffalo
• deals with the devil
• all manner of facial scars
• necklaces made of human teeth
• and a mean ol' bastard named Reaver

...not to mention a cameo (or two) by characters from Loathsome, Dark, and Deep.

Excited? I am.

WIP Wednesday: Reading Well and (Hopefully) Being Read Well

It's been a long week at my house. Poor Owen has struggled with asthma, allergies, and now a "secondary" infection (bronchitis). He coughs most of the night, keeps his parents up with worry, and looks as pale as a the back of a pre-licked postage stamp.

Thus, my biggest work in progress has been reading from Ellen Datlow's new anthology, Darkness: Two Decades of Modern Horror, in the wee hours of the night. This book, in many ways, was the inspiration for yesterday's post.

Some may remember my thoughts upon reading Peter Straub's lost boy, lost girl. All in all, I was unimpressed. Straub's entry in Darkness, "The Juniper Tree", is nothing short of brilliant. The prose is tighter in the short story, the imagery more startling, the narrative voice dead on. I felt more uncomfortable reading "The Juniper Tree" than any bit of lost boy, lost girl. (When one reads dark fiction, one should feel at least a little uncomfortable, right?)

"The Pear-Shaped Man" by George R.R. Martin is also a stunning short piece of horror (winning the Stoker Award back in the day). Some stories in the book are less inspiring--maybe just a matter of taste. I don't always agree with Datlow's definition of "horror", but maybe it's the word "horror" which sells books. The writing is all solid. And that's just it. One doesn't find prose like that of "The Juniper Tree" in novels very often. From my limited experience (having just read two of his novels), Straub doesn't write his books with the same pen.

When I titled yesterday's post "Why I Will Never Earn a Living as a Writer", I didn't intend it as a bleak surrender. Quite the opposite: I meant it as a rallying cry around the art of writing, even in "horror". If I could write one story, just one, with the brilliance and efficiency of "The Juniper Tree", I'd die a happy writer. That's my goal, folks. That's the dream I will not surrender. It may not make much money or even be read all that widely (compared with the oft-mentioned in yesterday's comments section Twilight)--but I will gladly die trying.


On another, semi-related note, Necrotic Tissue #10 landed in my mailbox yesterday. There's a delightful little ditty ("Hostile Takeover") by KV Taylor, a short-short by Jeff Strand, and yes, "The Distillery" by yours truly. Hop on over and grab a copy (or subscription). Happy reading.

Faith at Every Day Fiction

...and yes, I've realized there is a misused word in the last paragraph. Yes, adsorbed is a "real word". It just doesn't mean to permeate the skin.

So, if you can stomach a little vocabulary infraction and some Nyotaimori, read "Faith". Let me know what you think. The story came about after reading a random news bit about the "dish".

Today, dear NaNoWriMos, investigate your protagonist's deepest beliefs. These will bubble to the surface in times of trial, either crushed by circumstance or strengthened.

The Tibetan prayer flags are in honor of K.V. Taylor's wonderful entry, "Boudha" in Grant's Pass. Have a lovely Saturday.

Splat...

...go my thoughts, spraying every which way.

Firstly, two great contests find themselves in full, um, gear. KV Taylor asks what nasty (fictional) villain or other undesirable you might bring to a Halloween party. Barry Napier wants recommendations for quality, online dark fiction at his blog. Try 'em out. You might win something fun.

Secondly, Cate Gardner will be cheering on our NaNoWriMo suckers friends. I'll be there, too, bringing the pictures (each post in November will have an "inspiring" photo). My Friday flash might even have a NaNo theme. Time will tell.

Thirdly, 52 Stitches will change its look a little this Saturday (Halloween). I'm running a poll for font/background color suggestions. You can also use our newly purchased url: http://www.52stitches.com/ (which redirects to the blog). Yes, I've given up--the "official" name of the site is 52 Stitches (in numeral form, not word). If you don't know what I'm talking about, that's fine. I'm not sure I do, either. (I tried sooooo hard for Fifty-Two Stitches to stick...but the url is sooooo much easier this way. Ease=more memorable.)

Finally, I'm thrilled that "Inked" will find itself in this year's Every Day Fiction anthology. Of the four pieces I've had in EDF, "Inked" was the one which received the most derisive comments. Go figure.

Happy Monday, everyone.

The Post Without Words

meme instructions

Why I Begin with the End

Barry Napier planted the seed with a post about deus ex machina ("god from a machine"), KV Taylor watered the garden with a a nod to Hitchcock, and now I add my nickel's worth to the discussion. (it was two cents but inflation kicked in)

Why I Begin with the End

Two things need to happen before I write a story:

1. The seed, the spark, the idea. This usually involves a character and a conflict.

2. A resolution for that conflict--somewhere I'm going with the story. This resolution often changes as I write, but I must have a destination. I need an end to the story before I begin writing.

As a teacher, I plan backwards. I have to know what is on the test before I design the lessons. If I want students to be able to do skill x, they need to be taught skill x and have time to practice before they are assessed on their ability.

The same is true (for me, at least) in writing. A seed idea is fantastic, but if I don't know what kind of "plant" it will produce (how much space it might need to grow in the garden...how much sunlight...how much water), the story has no future. How long will the story be? How many characters are involved? How will I help my protagonist out of her/his problem?

If I start a story without an ending--a general destination at least--I might fall into one of the traps common to writing...the bad twist-ending (good twists can work, but only in the hands of master craftsman) or the deus ex machina. I'm using the definition of deus from The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms here:

The term is now used pejoratively for any improbable or unexpected contrivance by which an author resolves the complications of the plot in a play or novel, and which has not been convincingly prepared for in the preceding action...

Key words: improbable (reader goes WTF?), contrivance (i.e., wonky invention that doesn't fit with the logic of the story), and convincingly (the reader believes that the event is possible)

No author, even those able to pull off the best twists, uses improbable, contrived, and unconvincing endings. Period. The end of the story must fit the world you've created in the story. If it doesn't, it shows...like a bad make-up job on an organ-grinder's monkey.

Do I change my endings as I go? Most of the time. Stories often surprise me. But I have an ending in mind as I start to provide a sense of momentum to the story, a sense of the "knot" (or initial conflict) unwinding as the reader progresses. And the protagonist must be involved in the untying of the knot. I believe this is true in all good fiction (at least fiction I want to read).

O. Henry made a name (a pseudonym, har) by writing stories with ironic endings...but stories such as "Gift of the Magi" are set up by their beginnings. The ending doesn't come from "left field" or is lowered into the story by a machine. It works because the story moved toward that inevitable, even if unpredictable, conclusion through the actions of the characters.

I can't begin without an ending in mind. What about you?