FREE e-books?

Have authors gone mad?

     I’ve noticed in trend in peoples reading habits lately; mainly my own. I have a lot of books and when I say a lot of books, I mean a lot of books. I’ve been collecting books ever since I was a kid. My book shelves are over-flowing with them. I have no more room for physical books. Two years ago I got a Kindle and it's been a godsend. But, the collecting didn’t stop there. I then started repurchasing a lot of the books I already had, but haven’t read, so I can read them on my Kindle. I continued collecting books everyday, mainly FREE ones. They just kept appearing on my news feed on Facebook & Twitter. "5 FREE e-books here, 10 FREE there." If I was the slightest bit interested in the title and it was free, it was mine, all mine, to read when? Over 2 years I have gathered thousands and thousands of e-books, more than I can possibly read in my lifetime. 

     What I found was this; even though I still collect all the free books I can get my hands on, I tend to only read the books that I pay money for. I’m not sure why that is? All that I can come up with is value. The old “cliche” “you get what you pay for” maybe embedded in the back of my mind. Even though I know it's not true. I'm sure in the sea of FREE books there are some good ones floating around out there. But, still, if the author doesn’t value his own work, how can he expect me too? 

     Being an author myself I see another side of the FREE ebook trend thats happening. I feel it depreciates not only the book that’s FREE, but all books in general. I ask myself, how in the world is this good for the industry? And, frankly and ashamedly I can’t see that its helping in any way. If authors don’t respect themselves or their work enough to put a respectable price tag on it, what kind of message is that spreading to our readers? That books have no value? Why should anyone buy another book when there is an overwhelming abundance of FREE ones readily available with just a click of a mouse? It’s gotten out of hand. 

“I'd rather have sales from people who want to read my words than have thousands of downloads from people who don't” ~ Kat Yares, author

     I Couldn't agree with you more Kat. I want my books to be read, not just stored away in a sea of lost ebooks on some computer or Kindle somewhere. Until I see a value in giving 3+ years of hard work away for free, I will continue to ask a small price for my labor of love. I hope the reader will get enough entertainment and/or knowledge out of it to say that it was money well spent. If not, my apologies in advance, we know we can't please everyone. Just be grateful that it didn’t cost you the price of a bad movie and/or popcorn, and thank you for giving it a chance and an open mind.

Happy reading.

Dan

I need your help with my next book!

You will remain anonymous, but your answer to these questions may appear in my book.

Say a cure for all Cancers was found. Immediately after the announcement on the News a facebook page appears under the name of "Cure for Cancer Found"  What if anything would you write on it's wall?

Also what would your tweets read on twitter, providing you tweeted something about it as well?(Don't forget tweets are limited to 140 characters.)

I need live comments and tweets for my next book, your name will not be used, but your posts may. Please comment below or message/email me with your responses.

Thanks for your help and support.

Dan Waltz

email: dan@danwaltz.com

Book Cover Art

I recently finished a cover design for

Gladius and the Bartlett Trial

by J.A. Paul

To see how I did a small portion of this cover

(the Dragon) from start to finish Click here.

To view more of my art demos click on the Art Demos tab above.

Another Look At Marketing

There are many different aspects to book marketing.  So many that it’s so hard to choose which one you should being doing first, second or even at all. One aspect that seems to get over looked more often than not is simply making your book marketable in the first place. There is lot’s to be said here, but for now lets concentrate on two issues, two very important issues.

#1 The Outside, the Cover: The old cliché’ “You can’t judge a book by it’s cover” may hold a lot of truth, but I have to say that it can certainly make or break your book when it comes to getting people to pay it some attention and buy it. I very rarely will pick-up a book with a poorly designed cover, let a lone give up hard earned money for it. I figure if the author doesn’t spend the time or the money on the cover to make the book look good, than I doubt they spent the time on the story to make it read well.  Maybe just my philosophy, but I do buy a ton of books so I am a potential customer and I don’t think I’m alone in this thinking.

Cover Tip: Keep it clean, use art instead of photos whenever possible, art sells more and will look like more time and money was spent than a simple snap-shot or stock photo. If you use a photograph, make sure it’s professionally done, stock photos look like stock photos, there is a difference. Keep the type style big, bold and legible for the title. (If you can’t clearly read the title of your book from15 feet away it’s not big enough.) Your name should be big too! What do you want the reader to remember? The title or who wrote it? I know, “BOTH,” but it’s so hard to remember author’s names so every little bit helps. Now I’m not saying to be as big and bold as KING or PATTERSON. Their name’s sell. Until you get known your cover art will have to sell for you. By all means, if you’re not an artist or graphic designer, hire one. It will make a huge difference.

#2 The Inside, your text:  Know your audience. Keep the language suitable to the subject and the characters. Keep in mind that most people’s reading level is eight grades or less. Learn the demographics of your readers. Do not publish a book with 8pt. type if your main audience is 45 years of age and older.  Older eyes simply like larger text. Reading is supposed to be fun and enjoyable. Straining to read text because it’s just too small becomes annoying, tiring and frustrating. Chances are, they won’t finish reading your book if they have to strain to read the text and they certainly won’t come back for more. Repeat customers are what writers’ strive for.  Also, use spacing to your advantage when laying the text out. Negative areas (white space) are just as important as the positive ones (text) when it comes to how your story flows. Adding pictures and/or illustrations help a great deal as well.

Making your book marketable should be your one of your first steps of your marketing plan.

Dan Waltz

author, illustrator, artist

Editor, Marketing/Resources

Author/Illustrator of Kornstalkers, Corn Maze Massacre, and Dragon • Fly, A Gnome’s Great Adventure. Dan has also illustrated many other children’s picture books. With over 30 years of graphic design experience Dan has helped many authors design and self-publish their own books.  Dan is currently working on two novels of his own and artwork for others. Visit Dan’s website for more information. www.danwaltz.com

Gnomeo and Juliet

I took my wife to see "Gnomeo and Juliet" last night. The five o'clock show was sold out, so we bought tickets then for the 7:20pm showing, also a sell-out. 

I didn't expect the crowd, especially since the trailers for the film were a bit on the corny side, but I was presently surprised seeing the film. The story of course, a similar one, one we are all familiar with (hence the name) yet quite different and very unique.  The animation was top notch and the music superb, if you like Sir Elton John that is. If you don't well it could be a painful film for you. It's geared towards kids, but certainly has enough going for it to keep any adult happily entertained.  It was definitely worth seeing and will find a place in my stack of DVD's when it's released.

I absolutely loved seeing the crowds interest in Gnomes as I have a similar story available in an illustrated paperback novel as well as ebook formats for Kindle and Nook.

If you love "Gnomeo and Juliet" you're sure to love my book
"Dragon•Fly, A Gnome's Great Adventure" as well.

Pick a copy up today! You'll be glad you did.


Click here for more information.

Zombie Apocalypse: Redemption

 Zombie Apocalypse:
Redemption

A film that I played a zombie in last year premiers March 31 in Royal Oak, Michigan, during Zombie Invasion. I can't wait to see the movie! It was an experience that I will never forget and one that I probably won't do again, but I'm glad I did it this time.


Here is a link to the event on facebook Click Here!

Marketing Intro

Made my first posting on the Pentalk Blog this morning. It's on Marketing your book.  Take a look if you like. Click here.

Repost from Pentalk......

You've worked hard on your story and it's finally coming to an end. For most of us we're succumbed by bittersweet emotions. Part of us happy the story has been told and part of us sad that it about finished. Writing the book is fun, laborious and tedious. It takes a lot of time, stress and most of all dedication. I hope you enjoyed the ride because your work has just begun.

"So, what do you do now?" Well hopefully you have already started marketing. If you have other books, then your marketing strategy should not have ended when the new book began, but should have simply rolled over into the new book even before you start writing it. It's never too early to start building up hype and letting your followers and readers know what you are up to, how it's coming along, and the joys and the struggles you’re having throughout the process. If you involve your followers/readers in part of the process, even if it's just responding to their comments, their more likely going to want to see and/or buy the final result.

"I believe in the book business you don't
just market your book, you market yourself."

There are many reasons why people buy and read books and it’s not just for the story, although a good story will help bring your readers back. One of the reasons why people buy books is because at one point in time they found you, the author, to be interesting. They'll want to know more about you, and they know there are pieces of you in every story you write. You maybe written clearly in the message or subliminally hidden within, and sometimes you are simply hidden in between the lines.

This is why it's so important now days to be involved in as many social media platforms as you possibly can, and there are plenty of them out there to choose from. Make sure you start with Facebook and Twitter, two of the best and they work hand in hand pretty well. Try and take advantage of all the free advertising opportunities that the World Wide Web (WWW) has to offer. In the past to be successful you had to advertise. Which meant huge advertising budgets. Not anymore. The Internet makes it an equal battlefield for competing against the big shots and best of all it can be FREE. Did I say battlefield? Maybe that’s not the best choice of words. I believe there is room for all writers and every book written and we all should help spread the word about each other’s books and successes. Word-of-mouth advertising is still the number one way to advertise and the Internet makes it so easy to tell thousands of people about you and your story with just a single post. Tell them who you are and what you're up to. They will eventually respond.

I will go into this and a whole lot more in greater detail in future posts. In the mean time go out and make friends, gather some followers, and create some hype. Remember, no one will sell more books than the author.

Believe in yourself and believe in your work.

Dan Waltz
Editor, Marketing/Resources