When Do Writers NEED Readers?

Question: When do writers need readers?

Are you laughing yet? I don't mean laughing like I said something funny, but laughing as in what kind of idiot would ask such a stupid question? The answer is obvious… ALWAYS.

Okay, so that was a silly question. But what I really want to know is, if the answer is so simple, why is it so hard for writers to find what they need the most? Why is it so complicated to get the masses to read our work? The answer to that question is simple; usually because no one knows who we are. If you don't believe me you should read the chapter "Why No One is Buying Your Book" in The Indie Author's Guide to the Universe. I hear the author knows his sh**.

Anyway, I've come up with a great way for all of you self-pubbed…. eh hem… I mean Indie Authors (with caps) to get noticed. And so far it's working. My new method is bringing in one new reader for every new author. That doesn't sound like much, but in the context of my method it is absolutely brilliant.

I love that word ~> Brilliant. Brilliant sounds so distinguished; especially when it rolls off the tongue of one of my UK pals. Anyway, I digress. Squirrel!

So what's the new method? What's the new marketing wiz kid come up with this time? Well, I'd tell you but I'd have to kill your neighbor. Why your neighbor? Because you'd be a suspect, and not me. And then you'd go to prison, because I'd fix it so all the evidence would point to you because I didn't really want to kill your neighbor in the first place. I just want to keep my marketing secrets private, not go to jail. Geesh.

Actually, I'm not like that. Actually, I'd only write about killing your neighbor, but I'd still tell you everything. LOL!

Okay, all jokes aside, I want you to know what I've come up with and why it's working. So now that I have your attention, I'm going to be serious for as long as I can stand.

The Marketing Blitz that I've constructed isn't new, but I'm using it in a new way. The tool is the writing contest I've initiated at The Kindle Book Review…. The Best Indie Books of 2012.

Here are a few ways this contest is going to help you sell your books:

• I've made it easy to be recognized. The contest is designed to weed out any books that miss the mark ~ poor editing, poor writing and story telling, etc. But it is also designed to recognize all of the books that make it through our initial screeners. Those who clear the screeners are entered as a "Semi-Finalist". So you can see how this can benefit you; your book gets screened, given a quality stamp, and you do not have to win. You can use the "Kindle Book Review's Best Books of 2012 Semi-finalist" title on your book page, giving you instant credibility. And in truth, if you make it past the screeners, you have accomplished a level of professionalism that your audience is looking for because our reviewers are avid readers and quite discerning.

•  We are Giving away Books. Freebies always grab reader's attention. Currently, we've received as many "reader submissions" to win the kindle and join our mailing list as we have author submissions. This is an excellent trend! This tells me that these folks are interested in indie books and viewing the books advertised on our site. Some have commented already that they are eager to find new authors. And that's what we all want. Isn't it?

• Most writing contests are strictly aimed at authors. This contest is aimed at both writers and readers. So not only can you follow the contest to see who advances, but so can readers. If you don't think our new mailing list followers aren't interested in who the best indie authors are, you are sadly mistaken. Kindle and Nook readers love buying books that are well written, and at indie authors prices (99¢-$4.99). And why shouldn't they when they can get equal pleasure from a quality indie author who sells for less.

• If you win, or at least make it to the finals, you will have some serious leverage working in your favor. Think of the glory. Think of the tweets! I can see it now... "Your Book Title ~ Winner of The Best Indie Books of 2012 - Your Genre!" Can you see the crowds swarming to your Amazon page? Okay. Slap, slap, slap. Wake up! It doesn't work like that, stupid. However, accolades and awards do help sell books.

So if I haven't convinced you yet, listen to this. We have made it easy to submit. We have made the process very simple. You'll need a Kindle formatted book. But if you don't have one, we've even provided a link to a site that can format your .doc file for free. We really tried to make this as simple and painless as possible. Never mind the fact that you could win a hundred bucks AND free advertising! We're also giving away a Kindle Fire, loaded with some of the best indie books out there. 

I truly hope you take advantage of this cross-promotional opportunity.

One more thing. PLEASE OH PLEASE, help us promote this contest with tweets, blog posts, facebook "likes" and shares. This contest is as "grassroots" as it can be and it will, in the end, help promote all indie and small press authors. So on behalf of all your fellow brothers and sisters in the indie author movement, and those registered in the contest, we thank you.

Jeff Bennington is the best-selling author of Reunion, Twisted Vengeance, and The Indie Author's Guide to the Universe.

How Ghosts Have Helped My Writing Career

The night crept upon me like a shadow. The house was quiet, and I felt the need to listen to ELO, a pop-culture group that dates me but that I’m proud to say I knew well. I slipped away from my family and headed downstairs where my oldest brother’s turntable sat, crying out for me to spin a sheet of vinyl under its melodic needle.

CREEPY is FREE Today (3/14/12)

I placed the album on the record player, gingerly trying to avoid discovery. If I scratched any of my brother’s albums, I would surely die. I knew that. I had learned the hard way. I had the bruises to prove it.

“Mr. Blue Sky” started drumming hip quarter notes, and I hid under big brother’s bed, feet tucked into sticky cobwebs and hands under my chin, basking in the glory of big bro’s collection of soul food: music from the seventies and eighties. The room was dark, of course. I had to keep a low profile, lest I be found out and quickly dragged outside where I’d receive a proper thumping. 

Our home was a typical tri-level from the seventies. I lay at the bottom, the rear, the caboose, the small room in the basementwith a convenient set of double doors, which frequently allowed us boys to escape late in the night.

I was in keyboard heaven, loving the solitude, taking in the soul food.

My eyes adjusted to the darkness that filled the room, and everything took on a navy-blue sheen.

Looking straight ahead, daydreaming as usual, something caught my attention. The adjacent room had been vacant and black. No one had entered or exited in the last twenty minutes or more that I had been down there … until the shadow moved.

I lifted my eyes to see a form step out of the darkness. A full-bodied figure silently walked in front of me, looking forward, and then abruptly turned to the right, staring down at me. There were no eyes, no face, no teeth glimmering in the darkness. The figure was made of midnight and quiet as the morning. It took another step, then its body faded into eternity.

I felt cold. My heart raced. I swallowed a lump of fear so thick I nearly choked.

The music continued. “Mr. Blue Sky” ended and was followed by “Turn to Stone,” which I did. I shivered as if I had been dumped in a vat of ice. I waited to hear the figure call to me, to come back, but it didn’t. It had already left my world.

I tried to make sense of what had happened. I tried to convince myself that it wasn’t real. But I couldn’t hide from the truth: I had seen a ghost, a real G-H-O-S-T. It had appeared out of and vanished into thin air, lost, as it were, between where it should’ve been and where I lay.

The realization scared the bejesus out of me, and I bolted out from under the bed, rounded the corner, and raced upstairs to where big brother and Mom and Dad sat in the living room watching a rerun of Three’s Company.

I plopped down on the couch next to my mom. The color returned to my skin, but my heart continued throbbing under my ribs. I never told a soul until recently. And now you are one of the privileged few.

• • •

Looking back on that day, I’ve concluded that experiences like this make writing enjoyable for me. Understanding fear allows me to communicate what my characters feel and, in some way, what I have felt during the creepiest of circumstances. I have a firm belief that what we see with our eyes is not all there is. If you don’t believe me, ask anyone who’s had the privilege of tasting the afterlife. There’s dark and there’s light. When I die, I want to see the light. I don’t think eternal darkness and wandering would be all that enjoyable.

All to say, it’s no wonder I’ve chosen to write about the supernatural. Doesn’t everyone see dead people? They’re everywhere.

• • •

What do you see? What has inspired you? What gives you the chills? These are the things that you should write about. 


Incidentally, Creepy, my collection of scary and true ghost stories is free today (Wed. Mar. 14th.) This post is an excerpt from the Indie Author's Guide to the Universe and is also taken from Creepy.

Jeff Bennington is the best-selling author of Reunion, Twisted Vengeance, and The Indie Author's Guide to the Universe.

What Writers Do Between Novels?

Jeff Bennington 

Have you ever wondered what an author does when he or she is not writing? Like most people, we have day jobs, house work, kids to cart around, and bills to pay. Some of us… (eh hem)...  I mean some authors drink a lot of booze, and yet we love those writers inspite of their self-medicating habits. Some authors write everyday, making time to connect with their characters and continuing their work at the expense of quality sleep; hense the coffee addictions.

We certainly are a varied bunch.

But have you ever wondered what an author does between novels? What are their habits? How do they prepare for their next book? How much time, exactly, do they spend in research? Where do they come up with their ideas? It seems like some authors race from one novel to the next, never taking a break. And some write one book and think that that's all is required of them. Honestly, I've never asked what other authors do between novels, so I cannot speak for them. But I can tell you what I do.

The last three months have been very busy for me. I released Twisted Vengeance and The Indie Author's Guide to the Universe simultaneously, without taking a break between production of the two books. So now that I'm feeling caught up with my writing, I'm ready for a rest.

Here's what I do between novels:

• I usually reward myself with a good movie in place of my writing/editing time--once. I used to relax on the couch and find something good on Netflix. But now that I have a new reclining "work" chair in my office and a kindle fire, I just find a good flick from Amazon movies and watch it with my fire burning.

• I also like to play a few extra hours of Modern Warfare on Xbox with my kiddies. Doing this puts my life in perspective (not the killing, but the time spent with the kids). And I do hang with them on other days… just more so when I've finished a book.

• After I've enjoyed my movie and Xbox (yeah, I watch that little TV) I find a really good novel to read. I do this to relax and to study. I've made a habit of choosing a highly acclaimed book to sharpen my skills. Currently, I'm reading The Last Child by John Hart. I've never read his work but he's an award-winning New York Times bestseller. As much as I love reading my fellow indie authors, I still read works from the very best.

• The third task on my post-production check list is to read one of my favorite books on writing. This month, I plan to read through Novelist's Boot Camp by Todd Stone, and to re-read a portion of Writing Like the Masters by William Cane. Both of these books offer a completely different perspective, but will help me sharpen my ninja writing skills.

• One of my favorite things to do when reading a master-novelists work, is to copy a few pages of their work by hand. This is the equivelent of having Piccasso hold my hand, teaching me how a brush feels when making the perfect stroke. When I copy a writer's work, it feels like I'm studying their every word through a microscope, getting an up close and personal feel of each word, each phrase, and the emotion that it takes to lay down the text that the author so carefully chose to compose.

• Through all of this, I spend several hours daydreaming. Yes, the thing my teachers in elementary and junior high criticised me for, is the one thing that has given me the greatest success both professionally and in personal fulfillment. I daydream about what I'm going to write next, making mental notes, imagining where my protagonist will take me. This is the time I begin to forge relationships with my characters and get to know who they are and what they want. By the time I begin writing I'm usually so full of excitement that I'm ready to explode into a million words. 

Well, that's what I do between novels? Would you like to know what I'm going to write next? I can't tell you exactly what it's about, but the book is called Henry Brooks, a pshycological suspense that's a cross between Forest Gump and The Village by M. Night Shyamalan. Interested? I hope so.

Incidentally, Creepy, my collection of scary and true ghost stories is going to be free on Wed. Mar. 14th.

Jeff Bennington is the best-selling author of Reunion, Twisted Vengeance, and The Indie Author's Guide to the Universe.

A New Way to Sell eBooks.

There's a new way to sell ebooks and it's very strange.

I've talked about giving your book away to get reviews in The Indie Author's Guide to the Universe. I've talked about the KDP Select program and how "freebies"are a great way to promote your book. But I think I'm going to pull all those ideas together and declare that giving your book away is now the new way to sell your book.

See? Strange. I told you.

If you're an avid reader and you've taken advantage of the many free books on Amazon, you've seen the "what". The books you get for free are "what" is happening in the book market. But if you're giving your book away, you're seeing the "why". The "why" is the reason you're giving your book away. The why is a free marketing plan, developed by Amazon, that has leveled the playing field, giving virtually unknown authors like myself a platform, a free commercial, a billboard if you will, in front of Amazon's world-wide audience.

REMINDER: You may have noticed in my previous post that I lowered the prices on all my books to 99¢ through today. This is part of my marketing plan as noted in my "Floatation Pricing Strategy" discussed in The Indie Author's Guide to the Universe. I won't divulge the details now for obvious reasons, but I will tell you my marketing plan.

I'm going to "sell my books for free" for the next 90 days. 

Huh? Yep, you heard right.

If you follow The Writing Bomb, you'll want to share my updates with your reader peeps because I'm going to be giving away one of my titles on Amazon every third day or so. These books are absolutely free and you do not need a kindle to read them because Amazon has free kindle aps for phones, computers, and practically any hand-held device.

Back to the experiment ~> I'll let you know on occasion which titles I'm giving away, but the best thing to do is follow my blog by email so you don't miss any "freebie" notifications and updates.

I'm also going to document some of the results of my "selling for free" experiment along the way, too. So if you are interested in my giveaway plan, you will not want to miss what's coming.


Today, I'm giving away my best work yet… TWISTED VENGEANCE. It's free today only (March 9th). Twisted Vengeance is a supernatural suspense about Detective Rick Burns' tortured past, his encounter with a powerful supernatural entity, his loose grip on the love of his life, and a creepy boy that holds the key to unlocking his past (yeah, it's all that). I have 17 reviews and a 4.5-star rating. It's free and I'd love if you could tell your peeps about it.

So far this month, I've sold 362 of my assorted titles and rented 58 books. These numbers do not include my sales in the UK and Italy (Yes, I've sold 4 in Italy). Of these sales, I've only sold 18 copies of Twisted Vengeance because it is my latest title and still gaining traction. These sales are ALL organic, meaning that they were not sold because of a "Free Promotion".

So will you get a copy of Twisted Vengeance? Like it? Share it? Read it and review it? Let's make a deal, you read for free and I'll keep on writing.

Thanks for joining me on the ride. Watch for my next post where I discuss the "author's new drug".

Jeff Bennington is the best-selling author of Reunion, Twisted Vengeance, and The Indie Author's Guide to the Universe among other suspense/thrillers.

eBook Pricing is Driving Kindle Readers to Indie Authors!

If you think that indie authors are just driving down the price of ebooks, think again.

What's really happening is that 99¢ and $2.99 ebooks are driving readers to INDIE AUTHORS.

I recently read a newsletter from Steve Windwalker, the founder of Kindle Nation Daily where he listed the results from their annual survey. If you're an indie author or a reader, you'll want to listen up because Steve discovered that ebook pricing is changing the habits of kindle readers… in a good way. 

If you love facts and figures, you'll love this article, especially the full report. But if numbers make you cringe, I'll try to give you a few of the highlights, although I just can't do the report justice with a short post. 

In a nut shell, Steve sent out his Kindle Nation Citizen Survey to his many followers and 2,360 readers responed. I don't know how much you know about statistics but 2,360 is an impressive response by any scientific standard. So please do not shrug off these results; they could be very important to you. 

Below are a few of the results of this survey. These results show the current trends in ebook pricing and reader preferences regarding what they are reading. And just so you know, I'm a huge proponent of the 99¢-$3.99 price point strategy and I tell you why in my book, The Indie Author's Guide to the Universe. I also tell you how to use a pricing strategy I call, Floatation Pricing. This method is very helpful in not only getting you a higher ranking, but could get you closer to Amazon's Top 100. 

I'm also a huge believer in the Amazon KDP Select program. I believe authors have a unique opportunity to reach the Top 100 thanks to the Select "free promotion", so this report is also valuable in understanding where you should spend your marketing time and resources.

After reading this report, you'll want to find out what I think about ebook marketing. I've written a clear, and so far, effective marketing plan in The Indie Author's Guide to the Universe, so I am glad to report that my ideas about promoting books are in line with the results of this survey.

Here are a few snippets that might interest you…. 

Survey Results: 
(taken directly from the newsletter)

Statement #1:

"Higher prices for new releases from big publishers have driven me to try more and more indie authors, and I like what I have found.

Results:

61% agreed with that statement, and only 14% disagreed. Just to make sure, we also flipped the statement.

Statement #2:

Higher prices for new releases from big publishers have driven me to try some indie authors but I haven't found much quality there so I have gone back to paying higher prices.

Results: 

Only 7% agreed with that statement, and a whopping 65% disagreed."

That's good news for indie authors! We are making a difference. But don't stop working hard; we still have 35% more to go!

Here are some other results…

"Among our survey respondents, sources such as newspaper, magazine book reviews, and mentions on the electronic media are less and less influencial. Just 8% of our respondents are driven to buy ebooks once a month or more from these influences. How about brick-and-mortar bookstores and libraries? You see a book on display and download the ebook, right? Not so much. Only 9% of our respondants are driven to buy ebooks once a month or more by these influences."

~ 11% of the respondents buy ebooks once a month or more based on the influences of friends, colleagues and relatives.

~ 17% say they buy ebooks after noticing them on the best-seller list! 

WOW! That is important news for indie authors; not only in how readers view us, but also in helping us plan our attack. There are more stats, but these really stuck out in my mind. 


I highly recommend you read this article. 


But before you do, I suggest grabbing a copy of my newly released book, The Indie Author's Guide to the Universe so you'll know how to apply these statistics and what they mean to you as an author. The survey is the "what" and the book is the "what now?"

Jeff Bennington is the author of Twisted Vengeance, Reunion, and Creepy
The Indie Author's Guide to the Universe is only $3.99 on Amazon for a limited time for my readers!