Piracy to any indie or traditionally published author it is a total P.I.T.A. (pain in the butt*) when you find your book is listed on a site that is obviously a nefarious ne’er-do-well front.
As a side note… I’m totally cool with people sharing my books. I’m not okay with people passing my stuff off as their own and making money off of my work.
As of late there has been an increase of pirate sites that are supposedly selling stolen eBooks for a low low price.
So, $0.99 is too much to pay on Amazon but a person is willing to buy the book off of some sleezy site for $0.01??
Um. Wow. Okay then….
Let’s talk costs and why piracy hurts
It’s bad enough that the cost of publishing a book can be rather high ($200 if you’re lucky and all the way up to over $3000) but on top of that amount there’s the need to advertise.
Advertisement is necessary to hopefully getting some of your investment back and making sure that your book doesn’t fall into the pit of no return. No book ever should go there but sadly… they do.
However, let’s break down the costs of publishing…
Writing a book (the time spent to write it) – $60 for writing app & lost time with friends & family priceless
Late nights / Early morning = sacrificing time with your family and friends
Cost of the writing software – sure you can use the free stuff
Beta Readers – Some will do this for free but don’t abuse their good will and they won’t catch everything
Professional Editor – Depending on the type of edit from concept all the way to proofreading the cost will vary. The more intense the edit then the higher the cost. Timeline also affects the cost too. Don’t expect this to be cheap.
Book Covers – $100+ (you can get a cheap one… if you’re lucky)
Formatting – $50 a book and for each variations (paperback + ebook = $100 … does not include updates later on)
Proof copies of your paperback – As low as $5 and I’ve heard some pay as much $100
What’s the total?
If you’re lucky then you might be able to squeak on by with paying only $180 if you chose to go with a free writing app, AutoCrit for grammar checking, one ebook cover, formatting for one ebook and skipping the paperback edition.
However, you’re out of $180 bucks unless you sell your book to a lot of people.
How do you do that? Advertisement, my friend.
Yup, you need to advertise your book otherwise it will never see the light of day.
So you put aside a $20 / month budget (b/c that’s all you can afford) to advertise your book.
Even if you do everything right eventually you’ll run into issues.
Like your book being pirated and either being given away or sold for a super low cost.
Should you throw your hands up in the air and give up?
He suggests that you tell google about the DMCA infringement. Google will delist that site in a heartbeat.
Next contact the domain providers and hosting company about the a-holes. They’ll rip that site out like a bad weed.
Yet, here’s the sad part…
Your book is going to be pirated again… and again… and again.
It never stops.
The bright side of piracy
If and only if the site that is supposedly selling your book or giving it away for free is doing well then take that as free advertisment.
The more people who get their hands on your book will eventually lead to a review. Reviews can be tricky to get and so extra eyes on your stuff helps in the long run.
Seriously, are retelling of stories still absolutely one hundred percent still hot on the market?
If you’re just getting started and want to write in this retellings genre but are just aching to know if it’s worth your time then I gotta tell ya…
Yes, they’re still hot.
But not so burnie burnie hot hot.
If you look at the market then you’ll notice a pattern throughout the year on what genres become inflamed and which ones get ice cold.
Though if you’re brand spanking new then I bet no one told you to look for these patterns.
Well, I am.
Look for Patterns
Look for the patterns and you’ll start to see when it’s a good time to release certain genres and when it is not.
Though if you would simply prefer to skip all that homework and shell out some money then I would recommend K-Lytics (no, not an affiliate link… I happen to like their reports and find them intriguing & helpful)
What I have seen is that story retellings are HOT during April and slow down around June. But that’s my observation. You might have seen a different pattern.
The same for Academy books, which we’ll discuss later, has a pattern. They were HUGE last year and they’re still around this year…
… though someone asked me if they’re on the decline… maybe or maybe not. We’ll talk about that in another post.
What is a retelling?
A retelling is a retell of an existing story but with a twist.
I’m sure you’ve already seen them. There are tons of Little Red Riding Hood story retellings out there and lots of Cinderella.
Fairy tales Are Great For Retellings
Pick up a copy of Andersons or the Brothers Grimm fairy tales and select a story.
Read that story and when you finish it you need to ask, “What if?”
Why?
So you can put a spin on the story and come up with your own retelling of it.
Retellings are popular on Wattpad and a great way to get your feet wet to see if you want to try your hand at writing.
Not to mention that you can grow an audience over at Wattpad with your small retellings until you’re ready to do a grand retelling or an entirely new story world of your own.
Your fan base will follow you.
A Challenge for You…
Though whether or not retellings are still hot you should give it a shot on wattpad.
Wattpad is a great place to get feedback and to connect with fans and fellow authors.
That is the ultimate question that many authors are asking today, “Should it be free?”
Sure, like all people, especially Americans (USA), we’ve come accustomed to getting the best deal possible.
And when it comes to reading then we expect to get it free or next to nothing. Cause words come easy and it only takes a second to read stuff.
In the mindset of some readers the thought of effort that goes into stories, journal and even articles never crosses their mind. For the few minutes of entertainment the thought of paying for such reading material is unheard of…
Or so you would think…
I won’t lump you into that group. It would be unfair for me to say that you’d be one of the ones that would prefer to get all stories free–even Twilight.
No, you’re one of the good ones that knows how much blood, sweat and tears goes into stories and articles.
However, I get it that a $0.99 priced story or a tale for free can help those attain quality entertainment on a budget. Yet, I’m scratching my head trying to understand if authors are resetting everyone’s expectations on what is a fair price.
Pricing is a double edged sword
It goes with ALL industries. Trust me, it does.
When you’re new to the venue you charge lower prices so that you can break into an already saturated market. Then over time you raise your prices to what your work is truly worth.
However, the indie industry in the book publishing world does have a problem. There’s a TON of us and we’re all vying for YOUR attention.
All new authors do it…
So, what’s the first thing that new authors do to get you to read their story? They start out with free content or low-cost stories at $0.99 to hopefully get you to buy into their story realm.
If you like their stuff then you’re bound to stick around and ride the increasing cost for the next story. However, if you didn’t like it then it’s no loss to you at all.
But, this is where practically all people in the market for books, stories and articles is getting comfortable. With a plethora of stuff available for free on the internet they scoff at needing to pay more than a dollar to read the next bestseller.
Compromised thinking??
After reading this article, Have authors been compromised?, shared by my fellow author friends on whether or not we’ve been compromised.
I am going to half-agree that we indie authors have been short sighted on our goals.
Why?
We see other authors offering stuff for free and hear how much attention they’re getting so we want to do the same thing.
Rarely do new authors take a moment to ask, “Is this right for me? Should I be giving my stuff for free? Is this what my audience wants?”
It’s all about getting paid…
Freebies and low priced books is a good way of attracting a crowd but one needs to ask if it’s right for them and their author identity. Yet, we live in a society where we have to pay for things. No author wants to continue giving stuff away for free because producing a story costs moo-lah.
Yep, the same stuff that mortgage companies, student loans, utility bills and grocery stores ask for when you want something from them. They want money. And authors need to start asking for the same stuff for no reputable company is going to let you get nothing for free.
Limit the freebies to one or two titles…
Then charge for the rest.
Series are the best way to work the price point up until the books help pay the bills instead of vice versa.
What say you?
Considering that on average indie publishing can cost at least $300 (up to $4000)…
Does the cost of your morning latte seem like a worthy exchange?
For the hours of entertainment that the story or articles have entailed for you?
Reading books, watching shows and movies we all have that certain list.
Each seems to be never ending and ever expanding. LOL.
Oh and apologies for missing last Monday. I totally got sucked into playing ARK.
<3 that game. Who knew that capturing and taming dinosaurs could be so much fun??
So for this year how many books do you want to read?
Me? I want to read at least twenty titles by the end of this year. I know… not a high number but hey… gotta start somewhere, right?
Definitely waiting for more of the Mortality Bites series. I’ve heard from reliable source that new books will be out this year.
Not to mention those who’ve read Shattered Vows (by Jenn Mitchell and Ramy Vance), only available in The Heaviest of Burdens, should soon be treated to a spin-off series called Restless Gods featuring Bob the seagull… oh and Mary, the human detective, is there too.
If any of you follow Ramy Vance on FB then you know about the Bob the Seagull’s saga. If not then all you need to know is that the memory of Bob lives on in these hilarious and yet timeless stories…
I’m hoping later this year these stories will hit the shelves… but time will tell
There will be a few more stories coming out by our fellow Burning Embers Founders… I know that James has one, Maria and Rachel are a part of some anthologies and of course I have two.
Though right now I’m focused on writing the thirteen books for my adult series CLICK: Paranormal Hunters Series.
How about TV shows or must see movies list?
The Magicians is coming back again for a new season that I’m absolutely stoked about…
Are you a Magicians fan? If so let me know.
I’ve heard others RAVE about the show on Netflix called YOU…
I guess it’s about a stalker or some nefarious person… I probably should look into it since everybody has seen it… have you?
And apparently it’s back with a second season 😲 😲 😲
Then of course The Witcher…
IT. IS. ON. MY. LIST. FOR. MUST. SEE.
As for movies I am looking forward to seeing Marvel’s Morbius …
The movie does looks interesting and it involves bats / vampires and stuff…
Do you have any suggestions on other shows or movies that I should see?
Okay, so as we close on the LAST Monday for January 2020…
Do you have your goals set in order? If not checkout the previous posts on setting goals or how to deal with setbacks…
Got your reading list ready to go? Go make one.
How about your movie and shows? At least one thing above should have caught your attention… but if it didn’t then tell me what you want to see this year.
Have you ever set some lofty goals and experience set backs?
I have. I do it often but I can’t seem to learn from my mistake. Guess it’s the optimist in me that tries too hard to keep trying. Eventually I will learn something or get that goal done 😉
But yeah… lofty goals can be something that is your pie in the sky and would be awesome if you can get it done.
Mine was to write the last 18 chapters of one my books for this past week. Did I do it? Nope.
Why? Was it too lofty? Too ambitious?
Kind of… and kind of not.
For you see I know and have written over ten chapters in 1 day (that’s over 20k words) so I know that I could have done it for last week. However, there were a few factors that kept me from acheiving that goal.
One I didn’t have the setting right. It had been over a year since I last touched the book that I was writing. So I needed to re-acclimate myself to the characters, their manners, what was happening and what was to happen next.
Second, life happens. My partner lost her grandfather about a week ago. We attended his funeral this past Sunday. He was dear to my heart as well even though I didn’t know him as long as my partner had known him. Wonderful and gentle man. May he rest in peace.
So, dealing with grief and not being ready to write was my roadblock to attaining my lofty goal.
Yet, I am ready to try again this week and get back on track. I’ve done my research and have my notes ready to go as I tackle this awesome task to write the remaining 18 chapters of my book.
Setting goals each week helps drive me forward. Sure, I might not attain it but I do learn from it. How about you?
What kind of lofty goals and set backs have you had in the past? Are you experiencing one now?
I would love to know how you handle them.
Lofty goals are nothing like SMART goals. Don’t know what a SMART goal is? Then check out our previous post on SMART goals.
