eBooks: Do longer or shorter books sell better?

Recently, Smashwords’ blog revealed a survey showing what could help you as an eBook publisher, sell more of your books. I was particularly drawn to the section on longer books versus shorter books. Here is a snippet of what the survey found and then I will explain:

The top 100 bestselling Smashwords books averaged 115,000 words.  When we examined the word counts of books in other sales rank bands, we found the lower the word count, the lower the sales.

Now consider how authors can use this finding, combined with the knowledge of the power curve, to make smarter publishing decisions, and to avoid poor decisions.  Often, we’ll see an authors with a single full-length novel break the novel into chunks to create a series of novellas, or worse – they’ll try to serialize it as dozens of short pieces.  When you consider that readers overwhelmingly prefer longer works, and you consider that bestselling titles sell exponentially more copies, reach more readers and earn more money than the non-bestsellers, you can understand how some authors might be undermining their book’s true potential.

Young adult literature has gotten heftier.

Okay, so it seems the chunkier the book the better the sell. I see evidence of this with current YA titles in Walmart or the library. Back in the day young adult books were roughly 150-300 pages long(maybe more, maybe less). But as I pick up a popular teen book now…whoa! I mean, it is like holding the Holy Scriptures- almost 700 pages of hefty goodness is disseminated to readers and of course the teens who we think hate to read are gobbling up these monsters.

I did my own digging…

So, with this survey it is saying that the longer the works, the more it will sell. Serials are a no-no.  I took the liberty of finding this out on my own, so on Smashwords I searched the bestselling category. It did not matter about genre or subject matter.

The search spit out hundreds of eBooks that sell really well and with four or five star rating…and guess what? Many of them had words of 80,000 or more- so Mark Coker is right on that particular aspect.

Don’t be discouraged however, because I have published a really short(but free) story on Smashwords and have received both five star reviews and over 350 downloads and a couple of one star reviews. The one star reviewers said, “This book was too short”. Which is all well and good because at least it was free and not a waste in dollars for them.

Why don’t readers like short books?

I can only venture a guess, but as a reader myself, if a book is in a genre I enjoy, I really don’t mind the book being lengthy. Other factors include:

• The author’s writing style
• Falling in love with the story/character/plot
• Needing to be entertained a little longer
• Enjoyable subject matter

Can you think of more reasons why big books are so exceptional?

What can writers do about this and can short books sell well?

After the “bestselling” search, I went on and selected “bestselling” and “fewer than 20,000 words” and found something interesting: There were books less than 9,000 words selling for anywhere from $1.00 and up and with good ratings and good sales! I don’t think I paid attention to genre although the categories ran anywhere from African American to Nonfiction to Fantasy.

Here are some things I have done and witnessed concerning selling short fiction:

• My short fiction “Mark of Fortune” began as a short story and I placed it on Smashwords as such. It got a lot of readers, but I am now labeling it as “Prelude to Mark of Fortune series” this should let readers know that “Hey, this isn’t a full length book but will lead to one slightly longer or much longer than it.”
• Research on what a novella versus a novel is. For now, I know that a short story or flash fiction is 1,000 to 20,000 words. A novella is about 17,000 to 40,000 words. There are different opinions on this from both scholars and readers alike and if you’d like more clarity please visit this hub: “The Difference Between a Short Story, Novellete, Novella, and Novel“
• Try writing a novel. As a poet and short fiction writer I choose to write in small verses and chunks, but I delight in reading a novel and I have full length books brewing in my mind to write. It could be that the stories come up short when you have not planned well for them.  Two simple exercises can remedy that: 1) Try the Star Point System for Writing a Novel or 2) Grab up your favorite novel in the genre you like to write and pour through every page- take notes on the writer’s voice and style, characters and plot.(Will blog on this really soon).
• Try writing short fiction pieces for magazines and small presses. Head over to pw.org to seek out databases of folks who’d love to read what you’ve written.

I’m not saying this will cure all your ills but at least you don’t have to be something you are not. If you are an expert at writing only short fiction then stick to it, because if it’s good-

It’s good

If you found this post helpful to you, please reblog it, or share it on your social networks. I also welcome comments as the feedback helps me know what I am doing right and wrong.

Thanks!

Samosa and Stone’s bizarre union continues in ‘Kiss of Stone’

View this document on Scribd

Genies, passion, faith, and sacrifice…

Samosa and Stone try to live together as a normal couple but quickly learn that is not quite possible. Stone is a genie and Samosa is a divorcee trying to complete school.  Their sensuous relationship brims over into something that can  kill them both. Samosa’s ex, her own unnatural cravings and Stone’s secrets  prove to be stumbling blocks.

Kiss of Stone is the continuing saga of  a human and a genie and the obstacles they must overcome in order to survive.

Kiss of Stone will be available May 2013.

Review of ‘Collateral’ by Ellen Hopkins- what happens when a soldier comes home

Click image for more info

The affects of war,

Are hard to ignore.

Okay forget my amateur poetry for a second but “Collateral” by Ellen Hopkins, her second adult novel to date is a stunning story told in verse poetry. If there is an appropriate message I can get from this book is that military wives suffer just as greatly as their soldier boyfriends and husbands. Their war is a battle of hope. Grief. Mental anguish.

Ashley loves Cole. Cole is a Marine- the type Ashley swore she would never go out with. But how can she ignore his golden eyes, sweet poetry and the fact he is the most sensual/sexual person she has ever been with?

Soon, Cole must go off to war in Iraq and Afghanistan and slowly…little by little, a piece of who he is to her chips away. Hopkins does a beautiful job having Ashley’s voice within the pages and Cole’s poetry scattered throughout. In defense of Cole, what he has seen and done begins to color his poetry and perspective over the course of five years. In the book there are plenty of clues not voiced in the free verse as to his fidelity and how much damage he has really done to his “collateral”-a.k.a Ashley. (Read more of my review on Amazon)

Interview with Heather Burch; interesting tidbits on the titles and the characters

Heather Burch/Zondervan(Book 3 in the Halflings series)

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of posting up my recent interview with Heather Burch, the author of “Halflings”- in this interview we discussed everything from time management in writing, to Nikki’s choice in young men and finally, will there be more in the series? If you are at all curious, you may wish to read the rest. Here’s a clip:

NCFE: In the ‘Halflings’ series Mace is the leader type and he is sensitive to Nikki’s abilities and her feelings-sometimes. Raven, the “bad boy” unleashes the wild side of her prompting her to new heights, helping her let go. In your opinion, which boy would be right for Nikki and why?

Heather Burch: In many ways they are both right … and wrong for her. I loved introducing this dynamic because we get to feel every emotion right along with Nikki. I’ve had many reviewers say they ALWAYS know which boy is the right one. But not with the Halflings Series. Either one could be right. Or wrong. I love involving readers. I love it when they have to sit back and say, “Hm. What do I think of this guy? Is he right for Nikki?”

NCFE: I simply love the titles in the series. Tell me, how did you come up with them? (Besides the obvious first book in the series, LOL!)

HB: In the very beginning, the first three books were titled, Pure, Dark and Risen. Of course, it was still the Halflings Series. It never occurred to me to title book 1 Halflings. That came from my fabulous publisher. (They’re so much smarter than me.)

NCFE: Have your books been compared to other teen series(Christian or not) and if so how do you feel about it?

HB: Halflings gets compared to Twilight often. I think the love triangle factors in on that. Also, book one has a little less action than two and three. I love it when people compare. It means they’re thinking about it, considering it against other YA books.

NCFE: At first the Halfling girls did not accept Nikki and I felt bad for Nikki, however one Halfling girl has her eye on Raven. Will we see more of his story unfold in future books?(Read more on Norfolk Christian Fiction Examiner)

Review of ‘Glass’ proves Kristina did not learn her lesson…

Glass by Ellen Hopkins

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I guess Kristina did not learn in “Crank” about what crank, a.k.a. The Monster is really capable of. So much has happened here so I’ll be brief and leave out some really juicy parts.

In “Glass”-the follow up to Crank, Kristina has a beautiful baby boy, named Hunter Seth and he looks like his father(the handsome lifeguard from “Crank” who forced himself on Kristina). She lives with her mom and her step-dad and brother. Her sister Leigh lives with her partner, Heather.

All seems to float easy on the surface…but we are privy to Kristina’s internal dialogue:

“So it will come /at no surprise to you that lately/I have been hearing the plea/of the monster, distant/at first but creeping closer…”(Hopkins,2007, p.20: Glass).

She gets a few sniffs, some puffs, smokes and finds herself leaving behind baby Hunter in the wake of her trysts with The Monster and the monster brings along a few “friends”: Brad, Trey, and a few faces she never thought she’d see again.

She falls for Trey- hard. He is everything to her and he walks around with the monster. He says he loves her too, but what Kristina will learn is that loving someone and caring for the person you love are two different things…even when they should not be.

If you liked Crank, Glass is another important book about the power of addiction.

View all my reviews

Three little gogyohka: Ice cream, light, and letters

Image made by Lee Jordan for Flickr.com

Churning like warm butter

Churning like ice cream

hands quicken

my fragile

breath…

*

A day, an hour

drew fine points of light

in a fine memory

of

Wedding Bells ’08

*

Cutting deeper

are your words

no longer pensive

sharp pencils

jabbing your forgive me letters

*

Feedback on this blog enables me to be sure I am putting out the right stuff for you, so comment, share, email, whatever. Let’s chat.

Young adult books: Is the genre getting stale?

So, what’s the slug in YA genre? Someone on Goodreads posed a good question: Is there any originality out there? There seems to be molds every writer is trying to fit into. Let’s name two popular  molds:

The Twilight Mold

The Hunger Games Mold

The Twilight mold has a basic plotline like this:

Girl meets boy

Boy turns out to be supernatural

Possible love triangle?

The Hunger Games Mold:

Dystopian present

Dystopian future

Fighting for survival(some supernatural slant possible)

I can not fault authors who write within the paranormal or dystopian lines. Their storylines are basically original and the characters are unique so I can not be mad. However if teens are feeling as if their reading choices have become stale,  what can we do to shake it up?

I crawled around on Examiner.com and Amazon to find some unique reviews. I will list some of the books here that will hopefully wake up your enjoyment to YA reading again.

Just Listen by Sarah Dessen

Crank by Ellen Hopkins

Halflings by Heather Burch(Twilight fans will love this, but at least it has the faith factor for Christian Readers)

River of Time Series by Lisa Tawn Bergren

The Bluford Series-recommended to librarians and schools)

Monster and other great books by Christopher Pike

I hear that another book, Divergent is swinging on the mountain of success as well.

*If you have read any of these books, please share here.  Feedback on this blog enables me to be sure I am putting out the right stuff, so comment, share, email, whatever. Let’s chat.

Review: ‘Crank’ by Ellen Hopkins

Crank by Ellen Hopkins

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What an interesting book! Fiction told using verses.

Kristina seems to be the Speaker/Protagonist in this work. She comes from a pretty normal family but in spared words tells us: her sister is a lesbian and her brother is too young to be a confidant and her mother is more focused on her looks and writing her books and her boyfriends.

Eventually, she spends a few weeks with her dad and she finds his neighbor is a hot looking guy named Adam but people call him “Buddy”- so she hooks up with Adam and he introduces Kristina(who calls her alter ego, “Bree”) to crank. A.K.A. crack or cocaine. She begins a downward spiral drinking beer, smoking cigarettes and eventually moved on to something more hardcore towards the end of the book. But all the while, Kristina-“Bree” is battling more than one Monster: her hormones, her thoughts, the boys,and her family.

The subject matters tackled: Teen drug use. Teen abuse. Family matters. Sex. Certainly a book worth reading.

As I understand it, “Glass” and “Fallout” are the sequels to this very powerful book.

View all my reviews

*For an in-depth review of the Crank story and how men play a vital role in Kristina’s life, please head to “Crank Review” on my hub

‘Ring of Stone’ Update: A Verse… “Sad(new)Creature”

40s Beauty by Jan Farthing for Flickr.com

From Samosa’s POV: Samosa appears in “Mark of Fortune” which is the prequel to Ring of Stone. Ring of Stone is underway right now, until then, these poems will be clues to Samosa and Stone’s new life together; it will be as dramatic and as sensual as the first!

Sad (New) Creature

You made me hungry with

and enticing, sugary kiss

and I was made to know you

on that velvet night-

you set me free

and now I stand

a part of you

apart from you

a new creature who smiles

for no reason

and who is catty with her remarks

concerning you and

this is new

even Mom is afraid of

what have you done to me

Stone?

I am now a mirror of

my own bad habits left off

from something whittled off

a stump.

*If you would like an exclusive peek and free download of the first chapter of “Ring of Stone” when it becomes available, please sign up to subscribe to this blog

Bless You!

Review of Avatar: The Last Airbender-The Search Part 1, Who can you trust?

Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Search Part 1 by Gene Luen Yang

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

If you have not read “The Promise”, you should read it then begin The Search. These adaptations to the “Avatar: The Last Airbender” series are following a smooth order which ultimately leads to “The Legend of Korra” which aired last year on Nickleodeon. It is a fun way to learn what happened to Team Avatar all those years before Korra drops on the scene.

In Avatar: The Last Airbender-The Search Part 1, the novel starts immediately with a flashback to Hira’a- the Fire Nation land from many years ago. This was the year of Ursa(Zuko and Azula’s mom) falling in love. Not with Ozai. But with a childhood friend named Ikem. Unfortunately her parents allowed Firelord Ozai’s father to marry them because he was much richer and more powerful than Ikem. It is a tale too sad to bear but we must press onward to more mysteries in this book.

Read more of my review on The Norfolk Animation Examiner.

*Book received for my unbiased review from Netgalley.

View all my reviews