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 these monsters up.

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!

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

Freely Love Valentines eBook Giveaway, Hands Sea, and Fortunes

Okay, so you have exactly 14 days to get these eBooks free. That’s right. Download these books until February 28, 2013

Here are the coupon codes for each book-NOT CASE SENSITIVE(clicking on the books will take you to their respective pages on Smashwords, or  title links below.

The Prayer Monologues CODE: MQ73Y

Sea of Iron Hands CODE: AV35Y

Mark of Fortune (does not need a code. Free forever!)

Read ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Promise’ and you’ll give it five stars too

Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Promise Part 2 by Gene Luen Yang

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Nicklelodeon’s The Promise, a continuation of Avatar Aang’s adventure as the Avatar is as colorful and captivating as the show itself. This book was downloaded from Netgalley as an eBook so I had to enlarge and scroll to each section of the picture. It truly was a joy to read this book which is broken down in three parts.

The Harmony Restoration Movement
Avatar Aang and FirelordZuko is trying to push for harmony in Yu Dao in the Earth Kingdom. This means kicking out the fire nation to restore balance. The problem is that citizens of Yu Dao have mingled and intermarried with each other, so you have new people with earthbending ability but who wear the fire nation colors! Such as Kori, whose father is fire Nation and mother is from the Earth Kingdom. I thought that was truly unique but it causes Zuko to debate within himself—again. Why should he kick his own people out for a movement? He consults with his father Ozai about this.

The Promise
In the beginning of the book, Zuko asks Avatar Aang to promise him something Huge. It is enough to destroy their friendship and all the Aang believes in. This is the hinge of the entire book.

Overall Reaction
My overall reaction to the book is that it was absolutely gorgeous storytelling. Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru done an excellent job with the written story and artwork and I look forward to more on this series. A perfect book for all ages!

*The end leaves room for more books to come, hopefully.

This book was received for my unbiased review for Dark Horse Books courtesy of Netgalley

View all my reviews

How much is too much promotion for your book?

Image courtesy of Microsoft Word

Recently I read a blog post by culture watcher and writer Mike Duran. In summary he speaks on how there are ways writers turn off their readers by doing such things as “overtweeting”, “Over Facebooking”, mentioning their own books, recommending their own books and doing giveaways…

Of course I plugged in my two cents, but will expand it more. How much is too much shameless promotion and should this bother most writers and readers?

Let’s look at one aspect of marketing: Social Media. Social Media encompasses those communications involving platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Emails, MySpace, and other avenues that allow you to send links, photos, one line comments, feedback and chat. Now Google+ has jumped on the bandwagon with Hangout, chats, free phone calls from emails, hashtagging(such as on Twitter using the # sign).

Remember traditional methods of marketing? Flyers, business cards, newspapers, word of mouth, radio, and other functions that have not died out are still really good to use.

How does the author factor in all of this?As an author(doesn’t matter what kind), you want your book, your baby to be out there, make it known to the world. This is the least you can do for your work and its fun playing promoter-some days I suppose. But it teaches you the business and new ways to bring in readers interested in your genre.

For example, I published Mark of Fortune this Spring and although I would have loved to market it in a huge way using radio promotion, web promotion and videos- I think it would have been too much for just a free short story. My hope is that I can just tweet about it once in a  while and perhaps mention it here or on Google+ as way to talk about it. Oftentimes, people crawling the net will eventually find eBooks anyway if its listed on the web. So in this case, my goal is for readers to know what they want and seek it out, I am only to help steer them to my book, not bombard them with it.

Could that be what people mean when they say “Don’t spam others or “Don’t over promote your book”? For my two book of poems also listed on Smashwords, I would like to do heavy promotion for those and even locally just so people can see it and make a choice if that is their thing. Poetry isn’t dead but it’ll be harder to promote than genre fiction like, say, witches, vamps, and wolves, or Steampunk.

So should Tweeting and Facebooking, etc. be a turn off for readers? My answer is no. I think the only ones complaining are those writers who probably have a good, decent following of fans already and are just very picky. I mean, let’s be honest- It’s marketing. Advertising using social media. Why keep it a secret? James Patterson(an awesome writer by the way) had a commercial on every month I think and I think that was great, although he is pretty much known to many as a commercial mystery author.

Is there a well-balanced solution? I am not you and you are not me, so your way of thinking and of promoting your work is a unique adventure, but here is what I am learning as I go about promoting my own works:

• Tweet, Facebook, or +1 your book every so often. This means maybe once or twice a week post your book, share a link, the photos, or other things dealing with your book.  However you choose to do this is fine. For those who go about the traditional way, try going to places you haven’t been before to market so you won’t bother the same people/establishments. Try parks, retail stores, carnivals, church. the only time you go to the same places is if you have interested customers.
• There is nothing wrong with giveaways. As a book reviewer, this is the time readers can give a book outside of their liking a chance- for free. Or to win a book in the genre they do like and you as the author/blogger gain a following. For those who have a problem giving away items- don’t do it. I believe in sharing.
• Cheap pricing for books are not turnoffs. They are keen turn ons because no one in this economy wants to spend $25.99 for a hardcover book when they can get it for $9.99 as an eBook or cheaply priced print book  found on publishers’ website. Some readers actually would purchase high priced books if they truly are believers in the author and their words and there is nothing wrong with that.

I know that with everything there is a catch, so of course you don’t want to spam folks, over tweet, or do nothing but giveaways. That is why I am offering the well-balanced way to do things that doesn’t “hurt feelings” or cause you to want to go overboard.

You’re welcome

A clip from ‘Mark of Fortune’ , the kindest person on the planet, or something else?

 

shikhalifestories.blogspot.com

 

She picked out a book bag with enough deep pockets to carry her soap and toothbrush and she picked up a few wash cloths and some pearlescent peach colored lotion.

Next, Stone watched her gather some notepads, notebooks and pencils and pens. Finally he grabbed up some soup and bread.

            When they got into the self checkout line, Stone pulled out his credit card, swiped and helped with her bags. He saw how she watched him through narrow eyes. Perhaps she was careful because nice guys could be murderers, rapists, con artists.

He was neither.

Although she should still be careful…

            “Ready?” He carried all of their bags, not wanting her to strain herself at all.

            Once he popped the trunk and put everything inside of it and closed it. Samosa tapped him on the shoulder.

            “You are,” she began slowly shaking her head, eyes wide in disbelief. “The kindest person on the planet right now. I never-” He saw her eyes water up and she promptly went to the passenger side and got into the car.

            Stone looked around him. People were everywhere. Shopping. Carrying babies. Playing with their siblings. It seemed that even though they had bad times, all Samosa would see are their good times.

            Her time would come soon enough, if only she would let her guard down a little more. Stone got into his car and they drove in silence. Samosa’s thoughts were so loud he shivered. Not that he was a mind reader. He knew of one, but he could tell by her body language, her scent, the few words she did speak, that she would be a tough shell to crack and has been damaged beyond human repair.

            He knew Samosa’s breath would be taken away after the hour drive, only to be standing in front of his massive home.

            “You live here?” She asked very surprised.

            “Yeah. It’s okay,” he smiled at her and took the bags from the trunk. He hit the car alarm from his key chain and did a quick intake of air through his nostrils. He had to do this for safety reasons. To scope out enemies.

They walked up the circular driveway which was neatly paved but well lighted. The garden smell of the ground was fresh, even the stairs had been cleaned.

**Copyright 2012 by Erica Jean Smith

A note on “Mark of Fortune” snippet:

Why did I include this scene in a short story involving a Jinni/or Genie? This particular scene picks up from Samosa leaving school with a handsome stranger and her bypassing staying the night in a shelter. When I go to Wal-Mart I look around and I wonder where people are going and what internal conflicts are inside and I imagined that perhaps we all have a guardian angel who may not be so angelic that helps us when we are at our lowest, but at what cost?

The book is available for free download at: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/174324

Free eBooks weekend: A look at ‘Dunamis Sanctum’ from ‘The Prayer Monologues’

Church in Vienna at Night from Microsoft Images

Dunamis Sanctum

Daily, I watch the way of people,

Observing and finding flaws so openly hidden.

They do not know what I know.

Some call me shy or fearful

When I avoid their eyes and

Am slow to speak- but they don’t know what I know.

My power comes from abstract dreaming and imaginings

Which doesn’t happen often. Night visions from God

For the appointed time-secrets told in due time.

My smile fazes you,

My praise astounds you, and all the while,

The Holy Spirit slices you from bone to marrow…

***

My Note on why I wrote this poem: I wish I can say I was only inspired by the Bible, which is part truth, but the other half of it involve how I feel about people’s personalities in the church and how we all worship God in our own unique way and should never rely on others’ worship as a model for our own.

For instance, I have been to a church where if you don’t jump around or shout with tears flying around everywhere- then you must not have the Holy Spirit. In other churches, Westernized churches, if you don’t dress in a starched suit or take off your hat when you go inside you are disrespecting the Lord.

This is also not true.

So one day I found some words, either by reading or doing actual research- I don’t remember which and discovered dunamis sanctum- which in Greek means sacred power.  I prefer secret power, but it communicates who I am because I am typically a quiet person everywhere I go but God has deposited unique gifts in me as well and traditional churches can not manipulate that.

In the poem here I highlighted a few choice words and phrases. “Openly hidden” is an oxymoron although juxtapose to one another to convey a point about me. An oxymoron is a figure of speech that combines contradictory terms. How can something/someone be open and hidden? Well that’s me. A box of conradictions.

At Night is the hour/time I had dreams which were potent enough to manifest the next day or three days later. This doesn’t happen often though. I captialized the N in night because it is an important hour for me.

Finally, the last phrase, “The Holy Spirit slices you from bone to marrow” is just a comeback of what could happen to those who judges others. Learning God’s Word and languishing in His love while still doing kindly to our enemies who judge us is what heaps coals upon their heads. I put a different spin on it though.

That’s my explanation for this particular poem but you can enjoy the entire eBook for free at: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/20106

IMO: Nook may be failing but only to the least devoted…

Barnes and Noble

I’d like to start  by saying: “I pledge to read the printed word.”

However, that does not mean I do not own an e-reader and see its many benefits. However, the Barnes and Noble Nook, which I currently own, could have some economic trouble.

Recently,  Paidcontent.org put out this statement:

A holiday sales spike following the launch of the Nook Tablet in November 2011 hasn’t been enough to sustain the Nook business. And despite the launch of the front-lit Nook e-reader in April 2012, Nook business revenues are flat compared to this time last year.**

The entire article can be found here: “Why the Nook is Failing”, but after reading it I find I can condense it a little better to show you exactly what is happening with Nook in comparison to other reading devices. Four reasons for its failure according to the article is: 1)E Reader problems, 2) falling prices, 3)international delays, and 4)slowing eBook sales.

The first problem is due more to comparison of features. Nook  released the Nook Simple Touch last year(I did not know this) and Amazon will be releasing its front-lit tablet this Fall. B&N’s Simple Touch without the glow light had “such poor sales” that filling orders for the Simple Touch with GlowLight just didn’t happen and Amazon may pick up where it left off. IMO(in my opinion): What is up with this GlowLight stuff? Look at the picture below of the soon to be released Amazon front-lit eReader:

The Illuminated Kindle engadget.com

This Illuminated Kindle will allow readers to “tap and slide” on the screen causing a soft light to appear that doesn’t hurt the eyes. Sounds cool! However I am a newly converted Nook fan and if I want to dim the lighting I can from the tablet.

The second issue with Nook sales seems to be its falling prices. IMO: So of course the sales records will reflect that but as a consumer I enjoy the low prices and quality I get at the same time. With other eReaders, like these  may you get low/medium quality for cheap prices. Although some are great.

The third reason why Nook may be failing is international delays.  Nook is just now considering overseas sales of its device in the U.K through its storefront. IMO: I do think Barnes and Noble should have thought ahead on international sales as Amazon done two years ago. But as I said before, I enjoy my Nook and slowing prices and international delays could be detrimental to their bottom line…we’ll see how things turn out.

The final reason for falling prices of the Nook is its growing app and digital content sale more than eBooks sales. IMO: The Nook does need apps for most things than I realized before. I can’t access a dictionary without going to one my eBooks and I found I needed an app for PDFs and organizing, etc. Well, the PDFs I just read in the reader like normal but anyway if B&N is doing good on apps and not eBooks, they should really seek out what that means. I am not a publisher or  behind the scenes as to what is happening, but I can tell you that personally some of  B&N’s books are priced higher  than Amazon’s or Smashwords and so I download from those sites more than B&N- but then again I really hadn’t shopped for B&N books in some time now.

Alright so those are my “uneducated” opinions about the Nook’s failing sales. To many this is not that important, but for others who seriously read eBooks all the time and downloads  the apps and other content, this could mean something more.

Teach yourself to write your own stories without so much critique-isms

As I conclude one writing journey  and begin the next one I ask myself: Where to? Who should I have trained under? Do I need a critique group? Am I too sensitive to have a critique group? Well, let’s see…

Keep in mind the source of each comment during the workshop and weigh the feedback accordingly. When critiquers have work that is already published, I always listen more attentively to the criticism[from 4 Ways to Make the Most of a Critique Group by Jane Friedman]

I’ve never been to a critique group, but I have had my writing critiqued and I think its wonderful to have that gem of a feedback. However, there are other ways to get critiqued and learn without purposely joining groups. The human input will come regardless, but until then, here are two things I’ve learned.

1. Creating short stories and fanfiction is a great way to go. People may not be reading your full length novel yet or they are reading your fanfiction based off already solidified premises, but at least they now have your voice . Your writing and creating free(hint, hint) short stories have unleashed the pin and have exposed your talents to the online and print world. I never knew this before, but fanfiction was almost like a creative exercise tool for me and the feedback totally helps!
2. Just like sitting at the feet of philosphers before us by reading their words, so is learning about writing through books can pass as a course in itself. Soon I will be venturing to Francine Prose’s “Reading Like a Writer” to learn even more from a great literary genius. There ar emany others as well. Just heading to your local library or on your tablets can bring you a wealth ebooks about writing to help with your own journey. I also suggest reading  “The Marshall Plan for Getting Your Novel Published: 90 Strategies and Techniques for Selling your Fiction”

These books and many more can be your tools as plan of action for writing. I am an advocate for self- teaching because I have seen and reaped the benefits. Do yourself a favor. Teach yourself to write and sell your own stories!

Guardians and Avengers, are you ready for more in the ‘Halflings’ world?

Heather Burch/Zondervan

If you have not read Book 1: Halflings yet, read the mini preview below and then I can get down to the “new” news featuring brand new book covers for Book 2: Guardian(Available this Fall) and Book 3: Avengers(Available April 2013)- Yay! Also, the mini graphic book ‘A Halflings Rescue’ will be available as a FREE ebook later this month!

_______________________________________________

After being inexplicably targeted by an evil intent on harming her at any cost, seventeen-year-old Nikki finds herself under the watchful guardianship of three mysterious young men who call themselves halflings. Sworn to defend her, misfits Mace, Raven, and Vine battle to keep Nikki safe while hiding their deepest secret-and the wings that come with.

Mace, Raven, and Vine have a mission: Rescue Nikki Youngblood.  What Mace doesn’t realize is that Nikki isn’t just beautiful, she has studied karate for six years, is a gifted artist, and doesn’t realize just how special she is to him. He got a first glimpse of this while watching her run and face down some hounds from hell. Raven, declared as the “bad boy” of the group, finds himself wanting to be near Nikki as well, but perhaps for different reasons involving his very own soul. Vine, the youngest isn’t falling for any girls yet but during the book he consumes gummy candy all the time and may actually be wiser than his other two brothers at a mere 15 years of age.(Read more on Examiner)

*Click on either of the bookcovers to go to the Halflings Network. Read! Join! See what’s happenin’!

Heather Burch/Zondervan

Heather Burch/Zondervan