Why I Unpublished my book, and What is Next

You know, I'm getting a bit sick of all the tra la la las. Things folk are saying, advice they are offering, and its the same shit all the time. Here's one I hear a lot.

if Stephen King wouldn't do it, I won't do it

Okay, in actual fact, I've never heard that, never with King's name anyway. But peeps keep floating in comments about how a trad pubbed midlist author doesn't do certain things. So Indies shouldn't, cause it makes us look professional (if'n we don't).

Personally, I call that a crock of shit.

Trad pubbed midlisters (TPMLs from here on) have rules to follow, like Never Piss off a Potential Customer, and so on. And if they did, they'd get their asses chewed by their agents and editors and everyone else. It's why so many TPML books are formulaic, and it's why so many readers love the originality and personality in indie novels.

Shouldn't we let some of that originality and individuality shine out of our asses, too? Sorry, I meant shine out of our blogs.

So what makes indie's look professional? Well, great books, great covers, great storylines, good editing. Those kind of things.

I'm not saying you should be like the monkey at the zoo and fling your shit at people, but I am saying with no one breathing down on indie's backs, its refreshing to be honest, and up front, and just be yourself.

I've noticed indies can be a bit "defensive" about certain things, like there are rules

• don't talk about money
• don't bad mouth other indies
• don't bad mouth the trad publishers
• act like you've got a big stick up your jacksie

Some of that's just pish. Here, look, I'll break some rules and the world won't end.

INVICTUS

I published Invictus on Smashwords on Sept 10th, 2010. I put it on Amazon a month later. It is now the 16th of February and I have to date sold (oh my God, don't reveal your sales figures)

50 copies

Yep, that's all.

40 on Amazon, 10 on Smashwords.

Amanda Hocking I aint, huh?

So, what went wrong? Well, it was actually quite a lot of things.

For one, the cover. I like the cover, but it is very plain, very bland. Invictus begins in medias res and never comes down. I want the cover to reflect something of the story, whether it be the airships or the demons, the revolvers or the clockwork robot assassins.

For two, the pacing. Invictus, as I just mentioned, is fast. Very fast. It races from attempted royal assassination to the sinking of the Titanic, setting fire to half of London and crashing an airship along the way. The pacing needs to be reconsidered, and one or two slower moments introduced.

For three, the editing. Which will be a post all on its own.

For four, the marketing. I released Invictus in October, separated from my wife in November, and am just returning to my book in February. All the marketing Invictus had was word of mouth, and that didn't happen much. Not surprising, with the points addressed above.

The End is Nigh

Or so the scare mongerers would have you believe. Are the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse really riding down the Winds of Change towards their distant goal of Paper Eradication? I'm all for saving the Trees. I'm very Environmental (and not just because its "cool"). Yes, I quoted cool, thusly proving how gloriously uncool I am.

Is the death of the Printing Press on the horizon? Will the future of books be electronic data exchange.
Em, no.

I could be completely wrong, but I don't think I am. The Kindle could be the best thing since monkeys invented the wheel, but I doubt it.

Books are lovely. Gadgetry is not.

The Publishing World fears the Publication of Dan Brown's next multi-million pound making wad of toilet paper will change the publishing world forever, because it is being published in paper and electronic formats on the same day.

So, the Pros and Cons of both formats. Well, you don't need to leave the house to download an electronic book. Or to collect your parcel from Amazon. So, that's 1-1.

Well, you can take your book in the train. Your kindle, too. 2-2. You can take your book on the aeroplane... does anyone know if kindle's are allowed. I'm being serious, here. I haven't heard, but you're not allowed mobiles, right? Or is that just during take off and landing? I'm not sure.

Anyway... you can take your book to the seaside. Your kindle, too, if you don't mind getting sand inside it.
You can take your book in the bath. I wouldn't recommend it with a kindle.

You only need to pay for the book. You need to pay for the kindle and the e-book.
A shelf of books in your home can be a lovely thing. A kindle isn't.

You can loan a book out, and still read a different book. If you loan your kindle out, you loan all your e-books out.

The bookshop staff won't come to your house and rip pages out of your book.

Books are kicking the kindle's ass here.

Right then, so much for the pro's and con's. Next we can look at the AUDIENCE FACTOR.

The people who make up most of the Dan Brown reading group are the sometimes. They might read on Holiday. They might read in the Sun. But they don't really read often enough to consider buying a kindle. These are the people who buy books because everyone else says they're fantastic.


Finally, we should probably consider Piracy.


Piracy is difficult when you hold a book in your hands. Someone would need to steal a pre-print copy and then PRINT IT on a printing press. Because we all have them in our spare rooms. Yeah, right.

Pirating a computer file is easy enough.

Finally, we (the book buying public) have a choice and in the end it comes down to this. Books are comfortable, stylish, simple to use, don't hurt your eyes and, in most other ways, are just BETTER.