The Latest Amazon Drama

The drama isn't just Amazon's though. Earlier this month, a series of bills were introduced in Congress that, if passed, could inhibit the power of several tech giants including Google, Apple, and Facebook, not just Amazon. 

Apple's already been in trouble for their conspiracy back in 2011 with five of the ten Big Six publishing companies in the U.S. Do you think they or anyone else backed down? Hell, no. Add in the shady shit Facebook was pulling in the last two presidential elections, plus more crap than I can list from the rest, and they've gotten the attention of the American politicians.

And not in the good way.

The following is my opinion, and just my opinion. So take it with a grain of salt, tequila, and a lime wedge.

A lot of my fellow indies believe Amazon is "too big to fail". They've gone exclusive with the company through the Kindle Unlimited program since Amazon has a rough 70% of the e-book market IN THE UNITED STATES. These indies really don't look at the rest of the world. It simply doesn't count.

If the U.S. government forces Amazon and the rest to split up like they did with Ma Bell in the '80's, we have no fucking clue what the outcome will be.

Other indies are seeing the writing on the wall and diversifying--both their genres and their retailers.

I've been diversifying as well. As much as I love urban fantasy stories, the genre was overrun years ago. Plus, a ton of writers jumped into BDSM romances after the success of Fifty Shades of Grey. It's hard to get any eyeballs when all the lemmings are writing the same shit.

But hey, I was told I didn't understand writing to market. Except what my fellow indies were doing was writing to trend. Then there were those indies who grouped together and decided what the new hot subgenre should be and would write it to death. Hell, recently someone suggested I join in and write Paranormal Women's Fiction, the latest "it" subgenre. I smiled politely and said I'd think about it.

I'm not going to. I like my supers and my sword and sorcery stories for now, though I'm dabbling with what is essentially a paranormal domestic comedy with the Soccer Moms of the Apocalypse series.

But does any of this sound familiar? Yep, we indies are repeating the same damn mistakes what is now the Big Five are doing.

That's not a good thing.

Anyway, if you're a writer, keep an eye on these bills. Whether you are trad, indie, or hybrid, they will affect you if they are passed. So start making some preliminary plans, and start saving your pennies.

Keeping in Contact with Your Readers

You're just reading the title and I can already hear your skull popping like a corn kernel as your brain explodes.

It not a terrible thing. In fact, it's something that can be fun if you use a methodology you enjoy. But like the snail mailing lists of yore it can be highly valuable in the long run.

There's always social media, such as Twitter, Facebook, et al. Some writers love them; some don't.  And if you don't, you're not going to engage which makes the whole exercise pointless.

Also, which one you use really depends on your market. Adults hang out on Facebook. Teens and college-age young adults tend to  hang out on Instagram and Snapchat (aka fewer old people). Since I write for adults, I'm going to focus on those avenues.

Overall though, don't just hawk your books. Actually talk to your readers. About the weather. About books in general. About your favorite TV shows and movies. (Seriously, Alter Ego got a lot more hits on her turn on a recent multi-author giveaway on Facebook because she included a certain comic book character t-shirt in her grand prize bag.)

A prime example of the "BUY MY BOOK!!!" phenomenon is Twitter. I unfollowed a bunch of people because that's all I saw. The other issue I see is writers following other writers, then getting pissed when the followed writers don't follow in return. This was bad advice in 2011; it's worse advice now. Add in Twitter's tweaking of its algorithm and charging for top placement, and you have an unviable situation made even worse. It's gotten to the point my interaction on Twitter is practical non-existent.

A lot of writers swear by Pinterest. I'm not doubting their results, but I have extreme reservations about using it thanks to its original, draconian provisions that stole picture copyrights. Supposedly, this have been rectified, but that kind of heavy-handed tactic makes me leery about using them.

While DH made a fan page for "Suzan Harden" on Facebook, I rarely use it. I have more personal friends checking it out than readers.

The only social media I truly and regularly use is Alter Ego's Facebook account to interact with readers and other romance/erotica authors. Alter Ego has participated in a couple of giveaways. While neither resulted in a ton of sales, it allowed me to introduce myself to new readers, and kept Alter Ego visible during the two years of no new releases.

Then there's the good old fashioned mailing list. There's numerous ways to do this--MailChimp is one of the most popular. Alter Ego sends out a quarterly newsletter (or tries to) and attaches a free short story. There's a ton of other ways to handle mailing lists. Look at what other writers do, and choose the method that works for you.

While the ultimate goal is to sell more books, you can do so by treating your readers like real people. In doing so, you're already miles ahead of the traditional publishers.

Writers and Social Media, Redux

There's a myth going around writer circles, egged on by trad editors and agents, that a writer HAS to do every, single type of social media available, and if you don't, then your writing career will fail miserably!

(Say that sentence all in one breath. I'll have an oxygen tank waiting for you.)

No, you don't have to do every single one. (Hold the mask to face and inhale.)

There's no measurable, predictable way to know which social media will work for you specifically. None. What worked for Amanda Hocking or J.A. Konrath or Bella Andre may or may not work you.

Why do I say this?

Because Suzan Harden DID everything and couldn't sell shit for her first year. Alter Ego did NOTHING, she had no plans to do so either, and sales took off in the second month.

Why did Alter Ego's sales take off with no social media? I published her first novella the month before everyone and their grandmother went apeshit for Fifty Shades of Grey. And that first novella happened to be a BDSM romance. So all those ladies needed a fix until Book 2 in the FSoG series came out. It all came to down to luck and timing.

As for the Suzan Harden books? Well, frankly, I burned myself out trying to do a zillion marketing things everyone insisted HAD to be DONE in order to be successful. And they didn't do jackshit for me.

So how do I decide what social media to engage in? I go where I am having fun.

Blogs

1) Alter Ego has a blog, but it acts as a surrogate website with announcements of releases, a mailing list sign-up, catalog of available books, and buy links. She doesn't anything more than that.

2) Suzan has two blogs. One is publishing business and other things she finds cool (i.e. the one you're reading right now). The other is for readers, where she posts short stories and samples from current wips. She also comments on the blogs of other folks actively involved in indie publishing.

Facebook

1) Alter Ego has a very active FB account. She loves talking to readers and other writers!

2) Suzan thinks FB sucks. Her husband insisted on creating a fan page. She tries to post something funny once a day, but often forgets. Even then she gets nasty messages from people she doesn't know (and sometimes from people she does know) who think she sucks. She'd chuck it all if a handful of fans hadn't started visiting the page this year.

Twitter

1) Alter Ego gets on Twitter once in a while, but for the most part has her FB posts going to her Twitter account.

2) Suzan has given up on Twitter because the only folks who follow her are other writers hawking their books and third party vendors trying to sell her their overpriced services for indie writers.


Yep, that's it. That's all I do. This isn't a slam against other social media you might enjoy.

Well, wait. That's not true. I won't do LinkedIn because they have a very bad habit of harvesting e-mails from your address book. (Or they did. I'll retract that last statement if someone can prove to me they've stopped.) I also won't do Pinterest because they made a blatant rights grab in their original terms of service. If that's changed, send me the link. But I refuse to go back to their website because they seriously pissed me off the first time.

The big thing you need to remember to BICHOK, aka Butt In Chair, Hands On Keyboard. (If you don't use a computer, then change the fucking acronym!) The best publicity/marketing is putting out a new story. All the promotion in the world won't help you if you do gain fans, and there's nothing else for them to buy.

Which means I need to get back to work!

Flogging Social Media to Death

Once upon a time, a writer could use social media to connect with her readers, build a fan base and sell more books.

What's the key words in that last sentence? Trust me, it's not "sell more books."

Today, I don't even get on Twitter anymore. No one talks. Every single tweet screams, "BUY MY BOOK!"

Something a lot of writers don't seem to understand is that following other writers, then demanding the other writers follow them back IS NOT BUILDING AN AUDIENCE. It becomes one ginormous echo chamber.

Even worse, half the new followers on my Twitter account are companies trying to sell their "special services" to indie publishers. Sorry folks, I know how to format, and I already have editors lined up. And I'm sure as hell not paying four-to-five figures for someone with no internet marketing experience to promote my books.

(Though if anyone can recommend a good fantasy digital artist, I'd love to hear about them.)

Facebook isn't much better. With the company going public, the shareholders are pressuring Zuckerberg to show them the money. Over half of posts don't show up on my family and friends' feeds, much less my fans. I'm sure as hell not paying $20 bucks to contact my family! And I don't trust Facebook's analytics for advertising when they keep telling me I need to improve my love life by joining a dating website, and I should earn my degree in medical transcription.

Oh, and I need to increase the size of my penis.

(Seriously, dudes?)

MySpace is officially dead. YouTube's become a joke since Google took it over. And Google+ is selling what info they can collect about you to any scam artist willing to buy it.

(Guess what? My penis still does not need to be enlarged. Thank you very much.)

If I haven't responded to you LinkedIn invite, I apologize. What do you mean you didn't send me one? Didn't you realize they mined your entire address book?

Instagram, Tumblr and Pinterest simply don't appeal to me. I write. I don't take pictures. And I really don't want Pinterest reselling pictures of my adorable beagle around the internet.

So for now, I'm sticking with Blogger. Hey, I'm a writer, so why not write?

Or I will until Google takes all my blogs and uses them as evidence of why a middle-aged mother of a teen needs her penis enlarged.

I'm Not on Facebook

Currently reading - Vampire Mine by Kerrelyn Sparks (MMPB)

The reason for this quick Summer T-day post is that I've been asked by quite a few people lately how to find me on Facebook.  At this time, I am not on Facebook.  I simply don't have the time to deal with another social networking site.  I'm barely keeping my head above water with my blog and Twitter.

That's one of the bummer things about being a writer--juggling my time.  The writing has to come first.  Without the writing, I have no story.  No story means no product to sell.  No sales means no money to support the family.

There is a Suzan Harden on Facebook who's a high school guidance counselor down Ft. Myers, FL.  After what happened with Ellora's Cave author Judy Mays, I'm little worried her students and parents may think she's me.  Hopefully, she has a good sense of humor if someone asks her when the next Seasons of Magick novella is coming out.