The Usual

Just realized it's been two months since I blogged anything here and just thought I'd give everyone an update.

The biggest news of course is the Facebook page.  Just search on Verdan Chronicles, you can't miss it. Or just go to this link Verdan Chronicles Facebook Page

It's been an interesting experience through trial and error.  Of course the Facebook people are happy to help you market your page, but it's not free.  So I spent a little on promoting the page and now I have 400+ followers.  That's actually very cool, but I'm less sure how to maintain that.  Facebook will encourage you to post more and then promote those posts.  That actually does work if you're willing to continue to spend money.  In the meantime though, the more you post some people will feel you're cluttering their facebook page and they may unlike or stop following you.  It's all a balancing act.

So to help launch the Facebook page I used it to promote a giveaway on Goodreads.  I think that worked very well with over 1600 people entering the giveaway and I now have over 1000 people on Goodreads that have added my first book to their "to read" list.  The only problem there is that many people on Goodreads are avid readers (duh) and have hundreds of books on their list.  They're also constantly adding more books to their list and the odds they'll actually ever get to your book are small.

I've actually been on about 500 "to read" lists for the past seven months and I think about 10 people have actually read the book (including Giveaway winners).  The good news is that I have a total of 8 ratings on Goodreads with an average score of 4.5 out of 5.  It's a small sampling, but it does mean that if you read my books there is an actual chance you might like them.  It gives me hope.

On the Amazon front I've run a couple of Kindle giveaways over the summer.  Sales are still slow (very slow), but at least some people are getting a free copy of the book.  Are they reading it?  Do they like it?  Can't tell from absence of feedback.  But to other authors out there, there is one side benefit.  Since you have to purchase the books you use in the Amazon giveaway it does count as a sale and your book will move up the sales list.

The ninth book in my series was published this year and thus far has sold 1 copy on Amazon.  It ranks around 3.2 million and something in sales.  With all the giveaways this year my first book ranks around 1.2 million in sales.  So I now know two things.  First, The Fourth Age sells better than over 2 million other books on Amazon.  Second, there's a whole lot of published authors out there who don't sell many books.  In other words, if you're going to get into publishing your books, I wish you the best of luck.  You're going to need it.

In my case it doesn't really bother me.  I got into this because I had a story to tell and I had friends that wanted to read it in a published form.  I did it first and foremost for me, and then for them.  Everything after that, even if it is only a few dozen people is a bonus and a very positive one at that.  So thank you to everyone who's given the series a chance and thank you to those who have given me positive feedback.

What's next?  Between work and promotional efforts there hasn't been much time for actual writing the past couple of months and I miss that.  I final got back into it last weekend.  Mostly I had to reread what I wrote for volume 10 earlier in the year, get in the right frame of mind and then I actually wrote 3-4 new pages.  I'm hoping there's much more of that in the coming months.  I'm commited to getting the 10th book published at some point next year.

Oh yeah, Amy is very busy on the cover to the 10th book.  People have responded very positively to her art (as well they should) and anyone who's a fan of Fernol on the cover of Volume 1, you should like his grandson, Rowtan, who will adorn Volume 10.  Rowtan will play a very instrumental role in the future of the series.  In fact, the role of dragons in the history of my universe will be unveiled and things will never be the same.

Next time I'm going to write a companion piece to Celecia and introduce readers old and new to Dakoran, the other half of an amazing team.

Celecia

Let's take a break from the publishing and marketing discussions and talk about the Verdan Chronicles for a bit.  The Facebook page is picking up new followers every day, so I'd like to do an introduction to the series through the perspective of one of the main protagonists of the Verdan Chronicles, Celecia.

When we first meet Celecia, she's a 17 year old young lady.  She has brown hair, brown eyes and is considered quite attractive.  At the age of 2, her father took her and went into self-exile within a small village in far western Falmead.  It's the only home she's known.  Her father never fully explained why he went into exile, but she believes it has something to do with her mother's death.  Her father, Arakon, was once considered the greatest wizard in the land, but he stopped going on adventures when he came to this village and focused on raising his daughter.

Celecia is also a wizard.  She's still young and learning, but she's been learning from one of the best wizards in history.  She loves her father very much and besides her training has taken on most of the household chores.  Her father may not look it (wizards age more slowly than most), but he is almost 100 years old.  He's been very careful in his training of Celecia, and in her opinion has advanced her studies more slowly than she'd like.

Life in the village has been relatively quiet.  There are few others of Celecia's age, thus everyone knows everyone else.  One of Celecia's closest friends is Dakoran.  His father runs the inn next door to her home and she feels comfortable around him.  His closest friend, Mriccon, is the son of a rancher.  He's more brash and outgoing than Dakoran.  She considers both boys handsome, but on those occasions she fantasizes more intimacy, it is with Mriccon.

Of late, Celecia has been having disturbing dreams.  In those dreams she hears an unknown voice insisting that she needs to leave her home and return to her birthplace to defend freedom and stop a great evil.  And thus, she is not surprised when an injured knight arrives in town and requests that her father return to his homeland.  Over her father's objection she insists on joining him and thus her adventure begins.

Throughout the series you will find Celecia to be a determined and resilient young woman.  She will uncover hidden truths about her past and bear more than her share of tragedy.  Yet she will also be a beacon of hope and optimism.  Relationships will change and she will also find joy in life.  In the end, she is as strong and inspiring as any character (male or female) in the series.  Yet there will also remain a little bit of a girl in her that I hope some may find relateable.

So that's Celecia.  If you follow her story you'll be following the heart of the Verdan Chronicles.  I think you'll enjoy it.

Follow the Magic (Reprise)

I've mentioned it before, but it's a phrase i've been using on occasion when promoting the Verdan Chronicles.  I think it's appropriate because of the huge role magic plays in the storyline and how the ebb and flow of wizards and the strength of the mystic energy field influences the course of Verdan's history.

I'm also using it today as another "Welcome" to anyone new who may stumble across this website.  Yes, this website has existed for several years at this point.  However, it has never been widely promoted (still isn't), so it's almost an accident if anyone stumbles across it.  What's changed in the past few days is that I've created a Facebook page for the series. (Shameless Promotion - Check it out @VerdanChronicles on Facebook).  I will likely add a link to this site to the Facebook page and that might result in a few more hits.

It's also no secret that if you go to the "Discuss" tab that no one has volunteered to be the first to post a comment or question.  I think Facebook may be an easier place for that to occur, so I'm seriously considering deletion of that tab.  My current thoughts are that I will use Facebook and to a lesser extent twitter to promote my books, but continue to use this site as a place to store material and blog about my experience as a self-published author.  Who knows, someone may find it useful.  If not, it's still a nice place for me to capture my thoughts.

You may also have noticed that I really haven't been blogging any more about the history or details of Verdan.  Well, until there is actual interest, it seemed like a waste of my time.  I will certainly get "back to it" if readers want to know more.  I think my first task is to find some readers.  (Actually, it's the second task.  The first task was to finish the series and capture the story as I wanted it to read.  I consider the first task a rousing success.  The second task is partially out of my hands.)

So welcome new readers (and old)!  I am planning a second Goodreads giveaway for softcover copies of my book to begin on August 21 and end on September 17.  Goodreads has approved the promotion.  My first giveaway was coordinated through my publisher (Lulu) and cost me $499.  Doing it myself will cost me at most a third of that.  So yes, prospective authors, promoting your books will cost you time and money.  Unless you're both extremely talented and somewhat lucky in which case you may find a publisher to help with that.  I've talked to other authors and even that path has its pros and cons.  Unless of course you're already famous, in which case you have a built in audience and publishers may seek you out.  That's not a complaint, that's just reality. 

So, if you do find the facebook page or website, I hope you give the series a shot.  I really do think you'll enjoy the story.  Just "follow the magic".

Summer Daze

Summer seems to be flying by.  I'm sadly not getting a lot of time to write, but that doesn't mean I'm not busy.  Lulu is a really good publishing partner, but be warned that you still have to do a lot of the work yourself.  They're not perfect and occasionally make mistakes.  If you don't catch them, it'll cost you later if you want it fixed.  If I have one complaint, it's that what they deliver is what you get and if something is missed, that's on you.  Case in point.  With Volume 4 I failed to note that the title of the series was printed vertically on the spine.  It was horizontal on the first 3 volumes.  It was a mistake I didn't catch until I lined up all 4 books side by side on my bookshelf.  By the time I realized the error, I had already approved the final draft of the book, so any subsequent changes would be at my expense.  Since the error has no bearing on the quality of the written material, I let it go.  But it is annoying every time I look at my books lined up side by side.  

Second case in point:  For some reason, when Lulu listed my 9th book on their site they put a semi-colon after the book title and then listed the name of the series.  Like below.

The Fifth Age; Verdan Chronicles Volume 9

For all other books they used a colon, like below.

Blood and Magic:  Verdan Chronicles Volume 8

Again, it's not something you really notice until you see all 9 books in a list.  And nowhere on the book itself is the the semi-colon used, so it has no impact on the end product.  It's just annoying.  When I pointed this out to Lulu they sent me instructions on how to correct it, but as far as I can tell it involves creating a whole new revision to the book and republishing it out to all the Retail sites.  For such a simple fix, they kind of make it seem scary, as if a dozen other things could go wrong making the correction.  And thus I'm letting it go, once again annoyed.  I don't think Lulu understands that these things tarnish the quality of their entire product line, which is really good overall.  And thus I feel compelled to offer warnings along with any recommendation and cannot bring myself to give them outstanding scores on their surveys.

Enough of that and on to some more productive stuff.  I've given away 40 copies of The Fourth Age so far this year and 5 copies of Dark Passages.  Most are kindle giveaways.  In return, I'm up to a total of 6 ratings for my books and 5 reviews, all are either 4s or 5s out of 5.  That doesn't mean everyone likes my books, but it does mean that some readers are enjoying them.  Sales continue to be very slow at about 1-2 books per month.  

So I would warn any prospective author that trying to get self-published work noticed is a lot of hard work and persistence.  And the return may never equal the cost, so do it if you like it, but don't torture yourself if you never see the results.  It's very humbling on Amazon to note that your book sales lag behind over 2 million other titles.  The enormity of available reading is staggering.  So if anyone sacrifices the time needed to read your book, that's quite an accomplishment.  I try to treat every reader like a precious jewel, because that's how I feel about them.

So for now I'll probably do another giveaway or two on Amazon for Kindle versions.  It's all about getting my book into the hands of as many readers as possible in as economic a way as possible.  You hope some of the winners actually read it and that a few might actually like it enough to seek out the other volumes.  And if you can pry some reviews (hopefully positive) out of someone, that is also a great accomplishment.

Alright, so that's what's happening.  Oh yeah, I'm also working on a Facebook page.  I have literally no experience setting up a page and every little addition seems to be a research challenge.  I'm sure it will be nothing special, but I do hope to launch it next weekend.  We'll have to see if it generates any traffic.

And as far as Whispers in the Universe goes, i think about it a lot.  I'm really excited to tell the next chapters in Verdan's story.  Now I just have to find the time.

End of Journey

Sort of.  Almost 40 years ago I started dreaming about a world of dragons and wizards.  I wanted to play in that world, but life had other things in store for me.  But that world was never far from my thoughts, just a little dormant.  I'd dust it off now and then, but then it would go right back into hibernation.  

About ten years ago I became serious about writing the story.  It's not that I had to see how it would end.  I knew how it would end forty years ago and time did nothing to change my mind on the end.  So this week I send my final approvals to Lulu for Volume 9.  Technically, its out there.  It just isn't made public until I receive a final review copy and approve it.  After all the reviews done to date, the changes I won't approve it are pretty miniscule.  

It may take another week to ten days for me to get that copy.  But once I do I expect to sign off and have the softcover available on Lulu within minutes.  So if you're looking for an enjoyable read this summer, might I recommend the Verdan Chronicles?  I don't think you'll be disappointed and it may surprise you a few times along the way.  So far The Fourth Age has five reader reviews with an average score of 4.6 out of 5.  This week I got my first reader review on Dark Passages and it was a 5 out of 5.  I understand not everyone will feel the same, but stick with it and I dare you to name a more epic serices.

So enjoy the summer.  I will likely blog again when the ninth book hits retail outlets.  And as for that "sort of" comment.  Well, while the first nine books constitute the entire story I wanted to tell, I've come up with some new adventures for the heroes of Verdan.  I've currently finished the first four chapters, but with my crazy schedule this one might not be done until next year.   In the meantime, I will plan to preview the first chapter or two on this site.  Look for it towards the end of the month.