McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft

Admiral's Tribulation Went Live!

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The Deposed King:

--- Quote from: slrogers on April 22, 2013, 08:18:32 PM ---I'm sorry, I should have said that it's in the top 10 for Space Operas! I know amazon fluxuates a lot (their rankings are continuously updated) and being there at all is quite an accomplishment -- Congratulations. And since it also looks solidly placed in the top 10, I could say more but jealousy prevents me from praising you too much.  8)  Good job!

--- End quote ---

We're hanging onto that top 10 spot by the skin of our teeth!  But at least I now know what it takes to get an amazon 1800's rating your first day out of the box.  Also that rating should chop in half by the second day.  With about a third your amazon ranking or a touch more coming from your current day's sales, a third or a bit less is from your previous day's sales, and the rest is from you weekly, monthly and yearly totals, at least from what I've been able to divine from my year of watching things.  Not sure if your amazon ranking effects your placement on space opera or if both are just based on daily sales but I'm eager to find out!

Thanks for the congrats.  It can be hard some times, I know.

BTW - you wouldn't want to hear the things I said when I looked at Hegemony or Phantom Space Cadet when I was first starting out and those ***** got higher amazon ranks than myself.  Or what I still say now a days when I see, Poor Man's Fight or Terms of Enlistment shooting through the roof on the sales front.

Questioning their parentage is the least of it.  I've even been known to refer to them as the the wrong ends of a digestive tract.

Keep your chin up, it took me 2-3 months before my first book started to get sales.  Just keep on writing and if you must, go back and improve your first book.  You can always upload a new and improved version onto kindle with but a lot of work on your end and a click of a button on theirs.



The Deposed King

The Deposed King:

--- Quote from: trboturtle on April 22, 2013, 05:55:01 PM ---But you can point out the books you sef-pub and say, "this is an example of my work" They take a look at your sales and think "Maybe we can take a chance with him..."

Writers are falling into three groups -- Traditional, Self-pub and Hybrid (Has books both through traditional and self-pub sources). So, maybe it's not a bad as you think it is -- of course, the book must match Baen's standards, but I don't think that will be much of a problem....  ;)

Craig

--- End quote ---

Like many I started out with the dream of a traditional publishing route.

Then Kindle came along and after a bit, writing and authorhood eventually became a reality.  At first I looked at what I had written with Admiral Who and knew it would never pass through the editing process of a major publisher.  At least not at the point of first release.  Plus I just didn't have 6 months to dink around floating to the top of their professional slush pile only to be rejected.  I needed the money man!  As it was the money came too late and I had to spend 9 months in the usa away from my family regardless.

At this point I'm firmly in the Self-pub group spitting out my books as fast as I can write, review and edit them.  That said I think my work has improved, to the point I think I might be ready to survive a traditional publisher's editing process, at least after I go through my own little beta reading and editing process.  (did I ever mention that some guy once asked me if english was my second language and he actually meant it as a compliment?)

Nostalgia more than anything else I guess would be the reason to go traditional publishing at this point.  Baen books led the wave on e-books, they led the wave on interactive forums at Baen's bar and personally inspired me to believe that anyone could interact with an author, anyone could write and then in their fan-forum slush pile was instilled the belief that someday maybe I too could become a professional writer.

I think if I went traditional publisher, it would only be through Baen (unless someone from another house walked up and tried to actively recruit me) and not for the money (although that could sure lead me around by the nose if it started pouring out) but more out of a sense of giving back to the people who made it possible for me to dream and then through the help and tips of other hopefuls pursue that dream of becoming an actual real life author.  A person able to write the kind of books I enjoyed reading when I first started out and in point of fact still love reading today.

As recent as a year and a half ago I took a gander at the other publishing houses and they still didn't have anything to compare with the bar.baen forum as it results to giving readers actual contact with their house writers and an area where everyday people still just dreaming are given a place and the encouragement to chase that dream.



The Deposed King

Wordmaker:
Congratulations!  :)

My goal is to go from traditionally-published to hybrid. I want to write a lot of books and there's a limit to how much a single publisher will be able to invest in me in a given year.

The Deposed King:

--- Quote from: Wordmaker on April 23, 2013, 01:09:45 PM ---Congratulations!  :)

My goal is to go from traditionally-published to hybrid. I want to write a lot of books and there's a limit to how much a single publisher will be able to invest in me in a given year.

--- End quote ---

That works.  Or you could try to pull a David Weber, just keep writing and try to sell the new series (armagedon's reef) to Tor while you're still writing (honor harrington) for Baen.

Mix and match, match and mix.  I say just keep on spitting out the product, it'll find a home.





The Deposed King

Wordmaker:
Absolutely!  ;D

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