Sunday, February 22, 2015

Writing, Editing, Promoting Ideas and Such

Hi all, and as always, thanks for stopping by and saying hello. Hope you all had a great weekend! I thought I’d share a few things I’m doing in the world of writing, editing, and promoting. Sorry, no wormholes today.

Breakthrough Trilogy Remix: As I wrap up Salem’s Daughters and begin writing a new MG series, I’m concerned the breakthrough trilogy will ride off into the sunset and fade away forever. I'm not ready for that to happen, so I’m going to try something new. 

I’ve noticed a number of trilogies packaged together as a Trilogy Digital Box Set these days and the authors are running various promotions. They’re using daily emails from BookBub, BookSends, eReader, The Fussy Librarian and such and social networking while discounting the cost to a range of $0.99 - $2.99. I’ve seen many of these sets break into the Best Sellers in Kindle Store. And most are self-published or with a very small publisher. 

So I’m Taking The Plunge: As I combined the three MSs into one over the weekend, I soon realized how much formatting I need to correct. Time for a Breakthrough Trilogy makeover. I’m getting real good at this and will have everything ship shape this week. I’ll have to take a new picture of the three books together. The common image is three physical books in a cardboard case (even though they are ebooks), such as Susan Kaye Quinn’s The Mindjack Trilogy

As of Sunday afternoon I checked the Top Paid 100 and The Billionaire's Obsession: The Complete Collection Boxed Set was at #73. This is one of those smutty slutty romance series that can make a sailor blush. No, I haven’t read them. The David Chronicles: Boxed Set (Historical Fiction) is at #4,000 as of this writing, but was #75 last week. This is also a self-published series. And there are many more similar success stories like this and I aim to be one of them. 

Salem’s Daughters: I’ll be getting my final edits back early this week and can’t wait to go through and do the accept/reject thing. I’ll do the query thing but am not afraid to go it alone. Along with Breakthrough, Opening, Escalation and the Breakthrough Trilogy Collection, Salem’s Daughters will be my fifth book. 

New Publishing Company: I’m a busy man these days. I also started a new publishing company. Name to be announced in a week or so. Nothing fancy. I just feel it’s time to have a publishing name for my nooks as it looks a little more professional. 

Daily Emails: Speaking of BookSends, eReader, The Fussy Librarian and other daily emails (BookBub turned me down) I'll be promoting Breakthrough and Escalation this week. I'll let you know how this worked and if it was worth the small cost.


Finally: Sign-ups for the 2015 A to Z Blogging Challenge are already under way. As of this post there are exactly 200 participants! If you have done it before, you know how much fun it is (good for you!) and if you have not, this is your chance to give it a try!

32 comments:

  1. That's really interesting the work you need to do just on the image to package a trilogy. Good idea to start your own publishing company if you have the technical background to do it. Awesome that you are getting so much done.

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  2. I can see the advantage of having the books as a trilogy set. I know when I'm reading a book as part of a series, it would help keep continuity to have the next one right there and ready to read when the other one is finished. Good luck with it! Seems like you have lots ofn your plate too with writing, your new publishing company etc :)

    betty

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  3. Yes, those trilogy sets are so popular. I've read some of the Billionaire's Obsession and they're not too slutty smutty. Keep you hooked that's for sure. Sounds like there's a lot of work involved for you. Go Stephen!

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  4. The good news is I'm wrapping up pre-posting for A to Z. I'll wrap that up this week too.

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  5. No, man, there are 713 people signed up for this year's challenge so far.

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  6. Wow! You've been super productive. Hope your boxed set does well.

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  7. You've got a lot going on! Good luck with the trilogy.

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  8. Bookbub are so stick up their bum about who they let in now. Before it wasn't so bad, but now that they are so high and mighty, not so much. A set seems to be the way to go these days

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  9. That would be cool to put your books together in a set.
    Two hundred for the reveal and over seven hundred signed up for the Challenge!

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  10. Oh yeah this is a very busy week. I'd better stock up on the coffee. Maybe a couple bottles of wine too.

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  11. I see today another boxed set called Hearts and Kisses is $0.99 and currently at #567 on the Amazon Best Sellers Rank.

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  12. Good luck on that boxed set. Lots of work, but hopefully worth it.

    And holy good grief! Look at the size of that sign up list.

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  13. Starting up an official publishing company does look more professional.

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  14. Wishing you success for your trilogy! :) Sounds like it has indeed been busy. I can relate (it's why I've been MIA these past few weeks in the blogging circuit).
    Starting an official publishing company sounds like a great idea!

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  15. Can't let the Breakthrough series fall by the wayside. It's good stuff. I'd like to see it get film treatment. I think it's definitely worthy for the big screen.

    Arlee Bird
    A to Z Challenge Co-host
    Tossing It Out

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    1. Lee, funny you should say that. I'll be pitching it soon enough.

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  16. You are really busy. I'll be really interested to hear how the box set goes. I have a friend who did that will a group of writers and they've been doing really well.

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  17. Great post Stephen, still undecided on a theme as I am busy moving.......on Wednesday.
    Perhaps after all the hustle and bustle is over I can think about my theme though I have a few ideas.

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  18. Good thing I have some extra time this week to do all this. Havr to balance some home cleaning and improvement projects along the way too.

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  19. Formatting a trilogy does not sound fun, but it sounds like a great idea.

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  20. Definitely good to give the readers the opportunity to get all the books in a bundle. And true we keep need to promoting older books even as we push ahead with new stuff. It's a balancing act!

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  21. I can totally see your books doing well as a trilogy. They are a hot commodity now a days! :)

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  22. Good luck, I can't wait to start reading it.

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  23. I think the box set is a good idea. Good luck with your promotions.

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  24. You definitely sound busy! Good luck with edits and with the release of the trilogy. Also, good luck with the promotions!

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  25. Congrats on your new company! And have fun with those final final final edits. :)

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  26. Hi Stephen - you are doing a lot that's great. I don't think Breakthrough should be forgotten - so I'm glad you're checking out the opportunities ... everytime there's a big snow-storm on the Boston skyline - I think of Chase Manhattan and his Antagonist .... Looks like you're learning lots and writing loads ... good for you - cheers Hilary

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  27. I hope the trilogy packaging works well for you. It's a good series.

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  28. I think the Stuffed Bird Company is still up for grabs so maybe you could use that as a name for a publishing company. You might want to check that it doesn't conflict with the stuffed dog company.

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