Just feeding the squirrels.

Just an update on what I’ve been up to for the last few days, besides feeding the squirrels.

First of all, ebook sales on my latest book “Viral Bound” have been pretty steady. Thank you very much, and the response has been awesome. If you have read the book and liked what you read, please if you have the time log into Amazon and leave me a review. It would be much appreciated.

I’ve been working on the next book “Field of Screams” as often as I can. I’m trying hard to get it out for you by fall. The story itself is one that I wrote about 8 or 9 years ago, so the story is done, but it’s rough, really rough. But, I love the story so I’m in the rewriting stage and hopefully it won’t be long.

I also will be getting back to painting soon. It’s been a while and I really miss it. I recently got some great shots of a wolverine and I always wanted to paint one, so maybe, just maybe that will be next on the growing list of things to do.

Help out an author!

Look at all the things you can do to help an author.

Click on photo to enlarge.

Thanks in advance!

http://www.amazon.com/Viral-Bound-ebook/dp/B00AH01GVA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1358039799&sr=8-1&keywords=viral+bound

Slow & Shambling or Fast & Furious?

I’m often asked my opinion on zombies…

“Slow & Shambling or Fast & Furious?”

     About four years ago I started writing Viral Bound. I had an idea that I thought was original enough to have a chance in the already flooded zombie market. I knew it had to be different, yet I still had to keep the classic zombie feel. Not an easy task since new zombie stories get published everyday.

     I read as many books as I could get my hands on over the years on the genre, and watched many of the zombie movies. Unlike others who credit the movie “The Nights of The Living Dead” as their start in the zombie genre, I just recently watched that film about 9 months ago. But there were others and the ones I thought were the most realistic were the slow moving zoms.

     In 2011, I played a zombie in the film “Zombie Apocalypse, Redemption.” I mainly did it for the experience. I thought it would help me on my book, acting with others as zombies. I even went to zombie school to train on how zombies moved, walked and yes, even ran. Little did I know that the zombies in this film were going to be the fast and furious kind and it didn’t help much at all, except make me dislike the fast zombies that much more. Even though I enjoyed being part of the film, and I like the film, to me it didn’t feel much like zombies, but rather some mad dog virus, that makes you mean, angry and act like rabid animals.

     To me, the only thing that makes sense is slow, shambling, zombies. They are decaying after all. They have died, and the only function that remains when they reanimate is the basics, just enough to get them around and feed. Their brains are dead and their animal instincts to survive, and feed is all that’s left. It takes brain-power after all to run, to think, to maneuver around obstacles and keep balance at high speeds. Brains that they don’t have.

    That is why I chose the slower zoms for my book “Viral Bound.” It just makes more sense to me. Maybe the faster ones should be called Super Zombies with incredible strengths. Hmmm

Happy Reading

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