What up, folks. I thought I would let you know about some exciting things in store in the next month or two.
I'll eventually be publishing the Peter stories on a variety of ebook platforms. Definitely the Kindle and the Nook, plus several others. At some point, the books will also be available in print.
No, I don't have a publishing deal. It's just little ol' me going it alone.
What I plan is to do is to publish PETER AND THE VAMPIRES (Dead Men thru Swamp Monster) first. It will probably be for free, although I don't know that for sure.
Then I'll publish PETER AND THE WEREWOLVES the month after (Mannequins thru Werewolves). I'll probably price it between $0.99 and $2.99, but again, I haven't made up my mind yet.
I'll continue to publish the stories after that until I've reached the current book, which is PETER AND THE MUMMY (Helpers through the next story after Boogeymen).
There's some changes that will be going along with that.
1) This blog will eventually go away. In fact, I'll probably start deleting the posts before BOOGEYMEN fairly soon, but I'll keep the comments (I want to keep those in place as a sort of record - if for nothing other than to memorialize "What a guy"). I will, however, finish out BOOGEYMEN at the very least, and maybe the next story. Don't know yet.
2) I'll shift more daily blogging, just about 'stuff,' over to www.DarrenPillsbury.com (which will be much improved over its current state). I definitely hope everybody comes and checks that out, and that I'll see all of my regular commenters (and "long-time-readers-first-time-posters," hint hint) over in the new blog.
Now, some of you are asking, "HEY! What does this mean for ME the reader?!"
Wellll...there's a small minus, but a mighty big plus.
The minus is that you'll have to start paying for the stories.
(For those of you shouting, "I don't have a Kindle or a Nook!", never fear: you can download a free Kindle app for your computer and read ebooks on your desktop or laptop.)
The big pro is that, after a four month hiatus while I publish the first four books, the stories should start coming a LOT faster.
Right now you guys are getting stories at (roughly) the rate of one page per day. 365 pages a year, give or take. That's about a book every 9 months or so, on average. (By the time we get to the end of Book 4, it will be almost 3 years since I started this blog.)
If I can make some good bucks at this self-publishing route, I'll be turning PETER into my day job.
Which means I hope to be cranking out a book's worth of stories every 3 months.
So, potentially, you'll be getting 3 times as many PETER stories per year...for the paltry sum of $2.99 per book (at most - maybe $0.99 per book).
I haven't worked out all the details yet, but that's what I've got going on in my head right now.
Why the seismic shift, you ask? I'll go into it more in a later post, but there were some pretty massive shake-ups in the past year - not only in my life, but in the ebook industry as a whole.
The Kindle has become the best-selling item on Amazon...EVER. Ebooks now account for over 10% of book sales, even with the relatively few numbers of e-readers out there. And a handful of first-time authors are making enough money off their works that they're able to write for a living.
And I can do this without having to go through a freakin' agent and traditional publisher.
It seems that now is the time to strike. Start to bring PETER to a larger audience, and try to achieve my lifelong dream of being a writer whose day job is to...wait for it...write for a living.
Anyway, we're probably a month or two from the beginning of this scheme, but I thought I'd give you a heads up.
Let me know your thoughts in the Comment section!
And the next pages in BOOGEYMEN will be arriving in the next day or so.
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22 comments:
I think that's great, mostly.
I still can't figure out why Kindle is popular, but that's less important than you being able to write for a living. I don't suppose a subscriber site in addition would make sense?
Well, I have to say I'll miss the clockwork nature of the updates (most reliable web novel EVER), and most of all I'll miss being able to comment directly on the story and do predictions and start fan nicknames and stuff...but I totally get why you'd want to do this.
Being able to keep up with the stories is well worth $2.99! You can count on me to patronise you...
Antre = Italian word, meaning an artist's 'big break' - the word has now been expanded to include any creative medium. May your antre into ebooks go well!
I'll buy every book you come out with.
Go for it!
I'll admit, I'll miss the daily updates on this site. But I'm so glad that you're following your goals. You're an amazing author, Mr. Pillsbury, and I can't wait to buy your books! :D
I has nook, will patronize.
I know I'll miss the updates and the fun commentary. But if you go famous from e-book sales, that would be totally wonderful!
vw: Undedly: Any word that disguises itself to be completely harmless, until it is put in with other words, then it becomes extremely deadly to the page and all the other words are eaten.
Rubberduck already said pretty much what I wanted to - I'll really miss getting the regular updates and, especially, all the entertaining interplay in the comments - people's guesses on how the story will go, the word verification game, etc.
But conversely, more stories are always a good thing, and I certainly support your desire to make a living from writing! I just wish there was a way to combine both things...
I'll certainly try to keep up with your stories in the new format, though I don't have any sort of e-book reader and I don't know how much patience I'll actually have for trying to read an entire book on my computer. But I suppose I'll have to try.
WV: bryotora: a rare disease contracted from contact with certain species of briar rose, characterized by narcolepsy, a peculiar green tinge to the skin, and a growing obsession with fairy tales.
I love clicking this website to see an update every day, but I love my Kindle and I'd love the opportunity to show your work to other people who don't use the internet regularly and such. So all in all? Two thumbs up!
What MissLynx said! Your stories are awesome, Darren! Will definitely miss the comments section, but I'd pay to read more!
I don't have a Kindle or whatever either, and am not sure that I want to figure out how to get Kindle apps working - how viable is Todd's suggestion of a subscription-only site? Or paying to download a word-document/PDF or something that can just be read normally on any computer?
It'll be awesome if you can make money from your writing, and thank you so much for sharing for free what you've written so far! I love checking your site and reading new installments, and you update so regularly it's fantastic. Good luck with everything.
WV: bessneb. A highly-trained individual who sacrifices everything, up to and including their life, to protect endangered animals from poachers. They go through intense training to prepare them for the rigours ahead and to equip them with the techniques they will need. Spiky punk-like hair is an asset when hiding among certain types of vegetation. What guys!
I'll miss getting the updates and getting to "chat" with everyone.
But I look forward to having a hard copy to buy one day.
Thanks to everyone! I appreciate your support!
Todd -
Hmmm...your suggestion has a lot of support, I'll see what I can do.
Rubberduck -
Well, I appreciate the EVER part - hopefully even though I've gone to posting every 2 or 3 days, the 3+ page posts make up for it...
Michael Beck -
Awesome! I couldn't ask for more than that!
Anonymous -
Thank you. (blushes)
Hoboe -
Is looking forward to it!
And I promise, I'll still have a regular blog going, no matter what.
MissLynx -
Yeah, I'm going to see what I can do about trying to keep things going on some level...
Kelly -
Thanks! Anytime you can introduce more people to my stuff, I OWE YOU. Big time.
Cat -
I'll definitely look into the idea, but trust me, the Kindle program is super easy to download and use. I used 'app,' but that's kind of a misnomer, since people associate it with the iPhone or cell phones.
I'll post an easy tutorial at some point, with pictures and such, so that you can read away on your computer.
Mary -
Hard copies will definitely be coming at some point...my guess is about 6 months after the initial Kindle/Nook versions.
Darren,
I'll definately miss the daily posts and comments, but I'll definately try to support your writing dreams. I'm not a big fan of e-books and I only consider getting an e-reader when I have to move my extensive library collection. Ironically, I don't like reading books on a computer etc. so kindle programs aren't a match for me.
I do like real books and look forward to purchasing yours. Can I get my copy personally autographed? Will you be taking pre-orders?
So, how is this going to work? Is this book going to be a collection of stories?
What payment methods are looking at? I'm distrustful of credit card info being on the web; too much incentive for some hacker to break in. I'm hoping you'll accept Paypal or similar.
Finally, how often do you think you'll be publishing? You do write so fast, after all ;)
PS. Good for you for following your dreams, Darren!
Jennifer -
Thanks! I figure I'll offer print versions of the books about 6 months after the Kindle versions come out.
I'm aiming for sometime in April for PETER AND THE VAMPIRES, so maybe in October the print version will be available. Then hopefully the other print versions will follow every couple of months after that.
Of course, this is largely speculation and dependent on things going very well...and there are always hitches along the way.
I'll see what I can do about autographed copies, but I can't promise anything. Unsigned versions should definitely be available through Amazon.com.
Um -
Yeah, it'll go like this:
PETER AND THE VAMPIRES
Dead Men, Vampires, Changeling, Swamp Monster
PETER AND THE WEREWOLVES
Mannequins, Trick-or-Treaters, Carnival, Werewolves
PETER AND THE FRANKENSTEIN
Frankenstein, Gingerbreadmen, Doppelgangers, Yeti, Morgue
PETER AND THE MUMMY
Helpers, Mummy, Grownups, Boogeymen, one more story
And then the following book after that will probably be PETER AND THE WITCHES with four or five stories/episodes in it.
Well, whatever payments Amazon takes, and I think Paypal is one of them.
If I sell autographed copies...which I'm not promising to...but then I'm sure Paypal would be the main one I use.
Lessee...hopefully VAMPIRES will appear in April, WEREWOLVES in May, FRANKENSTEIN in June, and MUMMY in July or August.
After that, I'm hoping that I can put out a book every 4 months. Might be a bit longer than that...but I think 4-5 stories every four or five months will be about right.
Great Idea, always thought you books would do well if published in ebook format.
If I was doing it I would definitely try pitch the price lower and go for volume. At a lower price point it is easier for new readers to join up and existing ones to continue purchasing. That said good idea to offer the first few free so readers can get into the series and see the story before having to start shelling out, definitely a winner here.
Off topic my friend didn't like ereader's and didn't see the point. he got given one for Christmas and later tried it out and now says it is the best present he has recieved in his life. It reads the same as a paper book (uses real ink electronically aligned) but also allows you to carry a basically unlimited number of books everywhere you go, auto bookmarks everything he is reading, through the internet he can find any book that he wants regardless of print availability or local bookstore stockage (big point in New Zealand) and get new books as soon as they are released without going to a store. Not to mention he can stop building book shelves in his house and double shelving them, and then organising them so he can find a book he is after easily.
My kids and I are definitely looking forward to more stories! And I would gladly purchase to read them via Kindle (I currently read e-books by .pdf) as well as buy hardcopies of them.
Also, thanks for the volume titles through the next unwritten volume! Long live Peter! (...and Dill ...and GF ...and "What a guy", etc!)
Thavieus -
Thanks for the vote of confidence!
Yeah, I figure lower is better to try to get more people introduced to the series. I even considered giving away the first book for free, but there are three things arguing against it:
1) I want me some money!
2) I have read that it is problematic to list books on Amazon for free, although that may have changed since I read it.
3) I think it is a fundamental flaw of human nature NOT to value what we get for free, so I'm afraid if I give the book away for free, people will just download it and not read it ("Oh, I better read this ebook I paid $9.99 for first...I'll get to the free one later"). This is apparently a phenomenon where people buy scads of ebooks for cheap and don't read them. (Same with DVD's.)
However, I plan to offer 1/3rd of the book for free as a sample, so hopefully that will be inducement for many. I think I'll stop the sample right in the middle of Peter's final showdown with Mercy.
And yeah, I've played with a Nook, and they're pretty awesome. People tend to say, "Oh, why do you need an ereader?" until they actually read some on one. They're sweeeeeet, as Dill would say.
Kyle -
Cool, thanks! Hahaha - yes, I believe Jax will have to make an appearance in a future story, and Dill will HAVE to utter, "What a guy..."
Question for your kids: what do they think of the last two stories? Were they bored by GROWNUPS? Is BOOGEYMEN too dark?
I've been reading for awhile and I think I would buy the books for $.99 each. If it was more I probably couldn't do it for awhile... not sure what platform I would use either.
But yeah, I've known that I'd be willing to pay for your books eventually. The price just determines when for me.
Greenglass -
Cool, thanks for the input.
For others in Greenglass's position, just think - you could purchase every single thing written so far in the PETER stories for less than $4.00. That's over 800 pages so far.
Try buying a 300 page paperback for that.
Hi Darren,
You might also want to list your ebooks on the indie author site http://www.smashwords.com/
In their own words:
Smashwords is an ebook publishing and distribution platform for ebook authors, publishers and readers. We offer multi-format, DRM-free ebooks, ready for immediate sampling and purchase, and readable on any e-reading device.
Might be worth a look even though not close to as big as amazon.
Kurt -
Thanks, man. It's already on the agenda! When I get the books formatted for Kindle, I'm also going to get them formatted for Smashwords.
Appreciate the tip!
Most of the E-reader apps are bloated and slow, and on netbooks perform very subpar. If you make an HTML download version available, it will work much better for many people.
Just throwing that out there.
Can't wait to re-read all the great stories.
Cheers! Best of luck Darren. I'll be buying the books, even the one's I've read already. Thanks for all the stories :)
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