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Audiobook milestone
Mar. 8th, 2017 04:01 pmSometime in the last week the Captive of the Red Vixen audiobook reached fifty sales. No bad I suppose for a three year old audiobook with zero advertising or word of mouth.
Poll: Moar Audiobooks?
Jun. 15th, 2016 07:56 pmOkay, it's been a bit over a year and a half since the release of the Captive of the Red Vixen audiobook. I'm going to be honest here, I don't think I've got another Kickstarter in me. Running it the last time was a stressful experience that I'm in no hurry to repeat, especially since realistically any future funding would be to the tune of $200 per hour of audio. That said, I might consider doing it again, or perhaps a GoFundMe campaign to pay for another book, if the demand was really there. Hence the poll.
[Poll #2047369]
[Poll #2047369]
Review: Paradigms Lost, by Ryk Spoor
Mar. 7th, 2015 04:37 amSummary: It's 1999 and Jason Wood is a private information analyst, working through the Internet and with advanced photography enhancement software to aid private clients and the police. One of his police assignments gets rather weird though, as a corruption case against a politician hinges on a photograph of him taking a bribe from a man who can't show up on film...
Shortly thereafter Jason and his love interest (and minor psychic) Sylvia Stake [1] find themselves, er, neck deep in the supernatural, as they uncover ancient vampiric drug dealers, a werewolf infested resort town, a boogeyman, and the return of magic to the world...
( Cut for Length )
Shortly thereafter Jason and his love interest (and minor psychic) Sylvia Stake [1] find themselves, er, neck deep in the supernatural, as they uncover ancient vampiric drug dealers, a werewolf infested resort town, a boogeyman, and the return of magic to the world...
( Cut for Length )
Sales Report: December
Jan. 1st, 2015 12:51 pmSummary: Decidedly meh sales month. Not the way I'd wanted to end the year, though the New Year is starting a bit brighter, with four sales already this morning. Sales of the audiobook continue to be lousy, with only one at the beginning of the month. I need to figure out how ot promote it better I think.
Things to Do: Still working on Shadow of History and The Red Vixen at Sea. I've also begun a new For Your Safety short that might lead to some big changes in that universe.
Sales Report: KDP/KOLL
Captive of the Red Vixen: 4/3 (1/1 UK)
CotRV Audiobook: 1
For Your Safety: 3/0
Good Landing: 5*
I Fought the Claw & the Claw Won: 3/0
Mimsey's Tale: 1/0
Prisoners of War: 2/1
Shadow of Her Sins: 2/0 (1/0 UK)
Shadow of the Red Vixen: 3/0 (1/0 UK)
The Dragon’s Companion: 1/0
Total Sales: 20/4
Things to Do: Still working on Shadow of History and The Red Vixen at Sea. I've also begun a new For Your Safety short that might lead to some big changes in that universe.
Sales Report: KDP/KOLL
Captive of the Red Vixen: 4/3 (1/1 UK)
CotRV Audiobook: 1
For Your Safety: 3/0
Good Landing: 5*
I Fought the Claw & the Claw Won: 3/0
Mimsey's Tale: 1/0
Prisoners of War: 2/1
Shadow of Her Sins: 2/0 (1/0 UK)
Shadow of the Red Vixen: 3/0 (1/0 UK)
The Dragon’s Companion: 1/0
Total Sales: 20/4
Sales Report: October
Nov. 2nd, 2014 09:32 pmSummary: Average month for sales, at least of the ebooks. But the really exciting event of the month was the release of the audio book of CotRV. Seventeen sales total for that one, though I doubt I'm going to be doing that well with it for November, it was still heartening. Now if I could just get some reviews of it posted.
Things to Do: Getting my writing mojo on for Shadow of History. I'm going to try to get at least 500 words a day done on it, hopefully completing a significant chunk of it before the ed of the year, if not completing it.
Also I need to get the remaining rewards out to my Kickstarter supporters. Been falling behind mostly due to Life and trying to get the formatting fixed for the non-Kindle format ebooks.
Sales Report: KDP/KOLL
Captive of the Red Vixen: 7/3 (1/0 UK, 1/0 CA)
CotRV Audiobook: 17
For Your Safety: 4/0
Good Landing: 4*
I Fought the Claw & the Claw Won: 2/3 (1/0 UK)
Mimsey's Tale: 2/0
Prisoners of War: 2/1
Shadow of the Red Vixen: 1/ 2 (1/0 UK)
Shadow of Her Sins: 1/3 (1/0 UK)
Total Sales: 36/12
* Free ebook
Things to Do: Getting my writing mojo on for Shadow of History. I'm going to try to get at least 500 words a day done on it, hopefully completing a significant chunk of it before the ed of the year, if not completing it.
Also I need to get the remaining rewards out to my Kickstarter supporters. Been falling behind mostly due to Life and trying to get the formatting fixed for the non-Kindle format ebooks.
Sales Report: KDP/KOLL
Captive of the Red Vixen: 7/3 (1/0 UK, 1/0 CA)
CotRV Audiobook: 17
For Your Safety: 4/0
Good Landing: 4*
I Fought the Claw & the Claw Won: 2/3 (1/0 UK)
Mimsey's Tale: 2/0
Prisoners of War: 2/1
Shadow of the Red Vixen: 1/ 2 (1/0 UK)
Shadow of Her Sins: 1/3 (1/0 UK)
Total Sales: 36/12
* Free ebook
Audiobook, Sales
Oct. 15th, 2014 08:28 amWell, so far the audiobook edition of Captive of the Red Vixen has been on sale for about a week and doing pretty well. Above and beyond the promo copies I've handed out to my Kickstarter supporters, I've gotten 14 sales (counting a personal copy I bought for myself instead of waiting for my promo code).
Working the numbers that's:
13 sales via Audible Credits and just bought outright, plus one from me at the discount price available to Audible subscribers.
$14.95 x 13 = $194.35 + $10.46 = $204.81 x 0.4 (Royalty Rate) = $81.92.
So in about a week I've almost twice as much as my best month selling ebooks. Small change all around compared to pro authors, but significant for me. Assuming I hadn't had the benefit of Kickstarter to pay expenses, I'd be about 1/5 of the way towards paying off production costs. Go me.
On the downside, the metrics ACX provides to show your sales really suck arse. I get total sales, but no information on how many are selling per day, and nothing like KDP's almost hourly updates. Instead the information seem to lag two to three days behind actual sales, and it fails to tell me exactly how much I'm earning, again unlike KDP. Hopefully at the end of the month more substantial information will be provided, but for now I'm not overly impressed.
Working the numbers that's:
13 sales via Audible Credits and just bought outright, plus one from me at the discount price available to Audible subscribers.
$14.95 x 13 = $194.35 + $10.46 = $204.81 x 0.4 (Royalty Rate) = $81.92.
So in about a week I've almost twice as much as my best month selling ebooks. Small change all around compared to pro authors, but significant for me. Assuming I hadn't had the benefit of Kickstarter to pay expenses, I'd be about 1/5 of the way towards paying off production costs. Go me.
On the downside, the metrics ACX provides to show your sales really suck arse. I get total sales, but no information on how many are selling per day, and nothing like KDP's almost hourly updates. Instead the information seem to lag two to three days behind actual sales, and it fails to tell me exactly how much I'm earning, again unlike KDP. Hopefully at the end of the month more substantial information will be provided, but for now I'm not overly impressed.
At long last the audiobook version of Captive of the Red Vixen, my sci-fi romance, is NOW AVAILABLE from Audible, for the low price of US$14.95 for non-members, or US$10.46 if you have an Audible monthly subscription!
This has been a pretty exciting ride for me, starting with the Kickstarter campaign in August and the creation of the audiobook itself through September. I'm really proud of the result and hope many of you will take the time to purchase and enjoy it as well!
This has been a pretty exciting ride for me, starting with the Kickstarter campaign in August and the creation of the audiobook itself through September. I'm really proud of the result and hope many of you will take the time to purchase and enjoy it as well!
AKiCiF: Large File Transfers
Oct. 1st, 2014 04:22 amOkay, my audiobook project is on the verge of completion, thank goodness. I've just got one problem:
I haven't the faintest idea how I'm going to get it out to my Kickstarter supporters as their reward. It's going to be a BIG series of files overall, and I have to find a method of handing it over to my supporters in a way that remains secure so it doesn't go out onto the wider Internet outside of Audible's website.
Any suggestions?
I haven't the faintest idea how I'm going to get it out to my Kickstarter supporters as their reward. It's going to be a BIG series of files overall, and I have to find a method of handing it over to my supporters in a way that remains secure so it doesn't go out onto the wider Internet outside of Audible's website.
Any suggestions?
CotRV: The Audiobook Cover
Sep. 28th, 2014 07:29 pmNeed to set this as my new default icon. I may end up Kickstarting a graphic novel adaptation if I could have it done in the same style...
Captain of the Red Vixen - Audiobook Cover by MegSyv on deviantART
Captain of the Red Vixen - Audiobook Cover by MegSyv on deviantART
Audiobook Update
Sep. 26th, 2014 12:26 pmLast week I got the final revisions on the audio files from David Dorse, and it all sounds terrific. At the moment the bottleneck is with the new cover art which Audible requires. I'm waiting on Meg Sveryud to complete it, then I can add it to the files and send the whole kit and kaboodle to Audible for a technical evaluation, whereupon it should go live within 10 days to three weeks.
In the meantime I might publicly post the sound file for the five minute audio sample, so everyone will be assured this isn't vaporware.
In the meantime I might publicly post the sound file for the five minute audio sample, so everyone will be assured this isn't vaporware.
The last of the corrections have been made to the audiobook edition of Captive of the Red Vixen and I've sent payment to David Dorse for his work. At this point all that needs to be done is for the new cover art to be provided by Meg Syverud and a technical evaluation to be done by Audible.
So now seems to be a good idea figure how much I'm going to charge for the darned thing. The problem is four and a quarter hours it's a novella, not a full novel, so I can't really justify going too high on it. On the other hand, going less that $14.95 might be foolish, since I might lose the people who have Audible monthly subscriptions and pay that much per month for any of the books they get on their monthly credits, and might not want to waste it on something cheaper.
Opinions welcome...
[Poll #1982715]
So now seems to be a good idea figure how much I'm going to charge for the darned thing. The problem is four and a quarter hours it's a novella, not a full novel, so I can't really justify going too high on it. On the other hand, going less that $14.95 might be foolish, since I might lose the people who have Audible monthly subscriptions and pay that much per month for any of the books they get on their monthly credits, and might not want to waste it on something cheaper.
Opinions welcome...
[Poll #1982715]
Audiobook Update: Halfway there.
Sep. 10th, 2014 09:20 amReceived Chapter Six last night. It's the one with the singing bit in it, and I'd told Daniel he could chop it down to the first stanza if he wanted, but he went ahead and sung out the whole thing like a trooper. We're now halfway through the production and I sent him the first half of his fee last night. Once I get the new cover from Meg there shouldn't be any reason not to release it on schedule.
Audiobook Update
Sep. 8th, 2014 09:59 amReceived Chapter Three for approval from Daniel Dorse last night. There's as lot of emotional heavy lifting with the characters in Two and Three, with Rolas and the Red Vixen going back and forth with each other as she gradually pulls his family's story out of him. Dorse comes through with flying colors, bringing an intensity to the whole thing that has been leaving me with a grin on my face. Chapter Four should be a blast with Rolas' reactions to his "Cabin Boy" outfit. :)
CotRV Audiobook Update
Sep. 2nd, 2014 07:54 amDaniel Dorse has started his narration of the story and sent the first fifteen minutes last night for approval. Which I did readily. The story snaps along as he reads and it's a blast seeing my world brought to life.
CotRV, Audiobook Afterword
Aug. 24th, 2014 04:15 pmFinally completed revisions on the audiobook script for CotRV, including the new afterword included below. Now I just need responses from a couple of backers to get their names correct in the listing of supporters at the end, and to get the funds transferred from Kickstarter, and I can send the whole shebang to David Dorse to begin production.
* * *
* * *
Afterword to the Audiobook Edition
Books are not made in a vacuum. Though writing is one of the most solitary of creative acts, when a story is completed and released into the wider world, it becomes not just the author's work but the reader's as well, subject to their unique interpretation and analysis. The success of the original ebook edition of Captive, and especially the positive reaction of its readers, inspired me to attempt to adapt it to an audiobook format, using Audible's ACX production and distribution system to create it, and Kickstarter's unique crowdfunding system to pay for it.
But that would not have happened without the urging of professional author Ryk Spoor, whose praise let me believe my own amateur efforts were worthy of greater attention, and that of self-published author M.C.A. Hogarth, who's guide From Spark to Finish: Running Your Kickstarter Campaign, and other private advice, led me to believe I could truly get this accomplished.
In the end though, it was the readers of Captive of the Red Vixen, and other supporters, who made the audiobook you have just heard possible. Their contributions to the successful Kickstarter funding campaign paid for its creation, and they deserve to now be counted.
Royce Day, August 2014
And at $601 dollars we have just hit the goal for the campaign! Everything from here is gravy!
Sales Report: July
Aug. 1st, 2014 07:58 amSummary: A very good month, both in sales and the progress thus far on my Kickstarter campaign to fund an audiobook of CotRV. It’s been a success so far and we’re less than $50 away from the $600 funding goal, which I’m hoping to hit by this weekend.
Also someone in Germany decided to read through a lot of my collection (waves to Claudia).
Things to Do: Still waiting on the cover for Blooded with Nez getting some unfortunate delays due to creative burnout, other projects, and Ramadan. I also need to run through the manuscript for CotRV to get rid of some minor edits that need to be addressed before David Dorse starts reading through it.
Sales Report:
Captive of the Red Vixen: 10 (1 DE)
For Your Safety: 3 (1 AU)
Good Landing: 5*
I Fought the Claw & the Claw Won: 6 (1 DE)
Mimsey's Tale: 1
Prisoners of War: 2 (1 DE)
Shadow of Her Sins: 3 (1 DE)
Shadow of the Red Vixen: 4 (1 DE)
The Dragon's Companion: 2
Unexpected Diversions: 2 (1 DE)
Total Paid Sales: 33
* Free ebook
Also someone in Germany decided to read through a lot of my collection (waves to Claudia).
Things to Do: Still waiting on the cover for Blooded with Nez getting some unfortunate delays due to creative burnout, other projects, and Ramadan. I also need to run through the manuscript for CotRV to get rid of some minor edits that need to be addressed before David Dorse starts reading through it.
Sales Report:
Captive of the Red Vixen: 10 (1 DE)
For Your Safety: 3 (1 AU)
Good Landing: 5*
I Fought the Claw & the Claw Won: 6 (1 DE)
Mimsey's Tale: 1
Prisoners of War: 2 (1 DE)
Shadow of Her Sins: 3 (1 DE)
Shadow of the Red Vixen: 4 (1 DE)
The Dragon's Companion: 2
Unexpected Diversions: 2 (1 DE)
Total Paid Sales: 33
* Free ebook
Kickstarter Update
Jul. 23rd, 2014 04:50 amOne week into the campaign and I've managed to raise $206 out of the $600 I need. After the initial excitement of seeing the numbers go up, we're in the Long Game now. Monday I didn't get any donations and yesterday I got just $5.00. At this point I'm going to HAVE to get an average of $17.00 a day to meet my goal.
Keep your fingers crossed, and please spread the word.
Keep your fingers crossed, and please spread the word.
Kickstarter Update
Jul. 18th, 2014 04:31 amTwo days in and we're 24% funded. WooHoo! Keep it up guys! I just need $16 worth of pledges a day at this point to make goal, but I need y'all to make it happen!
My only nitpick at this point is figuring out who is sharing the campaign with others on FB. It's been shared twenty times, which is great, but I've got no idea of knowing who's doing it to thank them.
My only nitpick at this point is figuring out who is sharing the campaign with others on FB. It's been shared twenty times, which is great, but I've got no idea of knowing who's doing it to thank them.
Kickstarter Update
Jul. 17th, 2014 04:15 amWowsers. Less than 24 hours into the campaign and we're about 19% funded. Of course it helps that my funding goal is relatively modest, but it's still a heartwarming amount of support. Thanks guys!
