tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post2516887237398685630..comments2024-02-12T17:59:33.534-06:00Comments on RAZORED ZEN: The Price of ThinkingCharles Gramlichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02052592247572253641noreply@blogger.comBlogger41125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-42424889416894521202012-03-22T09:53:34.208-05:002012-03-22T09:53:34.208-05:00Hi Charles, as you know, I write as Anonymous-9 an...Hi Charles, as you know, I write as Anonymous-9 and have been accused of genre-defying prose. (Maybe that's a nicest way possible of saying I can't make up my mind, not sure.) Anyway, it hasn't stopped me from getting nominated for awards or landing a publisher. So I say Go For It. I'm all for shaking up the norm a little bit, and I think if the voice and style holds your book together cohesively, then you can loosen up constraints on the genre-mix.EAhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11427618205516183976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-29592296066865550022012-03-19T19:56:55.365-05:002012-03-19T19:56:55.365-05:00Erik, yes, there are a variety of ways. Keep at i...Erik, yes, there are a variety of ways. Keep at it till I find something that works, I guess.Charles Gramlichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02052592247572253641noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-46877012902040632202012-03-19T16:35:46.210-05:002012-03-19T16:35:46.210-05:00I think it's a grand idea.
You could always s...I think it's a grand idea.<br /><br />You could always split them off again later and recombine with newer material. Whatever works -- it's all good.Erik Donald Francehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02332500850365598564noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-10199803653526620102012-03-19T11:42:24.903-05:002012-03-19T11:42:24.903-05:00Patti, cool. I'd like to see that display. I&#...Patti, cool. I'd like to see that display. I've seen some similar things. Very interesting.<br /><br />Randy, me too, as you well know.Charles Gramlichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02052592247572253641noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-7444791424939230582012-03-19T09:13:06.290-05:002012-03-19T09:13:06.290-05:00I have no problem mixing them. Sometimes that help...I have no problem mixing them. Sometimes that helps a reader in having a variety. There will always be those who read only SF, only crime, only horror. But there are many who like it all. I'm one.Randy Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16627907086811387527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-46191920414837541532012-03-19T08:41:29.944-05:002012-03-19T08:41:29.944-05:00I think an single author collection would work wel...I think an single author collection would work well-people like the diversity I think. Saw a museum exhibit this weekend, which made me think of you. It was in Nashville but it may come your way. It was called Fairy Tales, Monsters, and the Genetic Imagination and it was terrific. Here is some info about it. http://fristcenter.org/calendar-exhibitions/detail/fairy-tales-monsters-and-the-genetic-imaginationpattinase (abbott)https://www.blogger.com/profile/02916037185235335846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-59750998359779496572012-03-19T07:54:15.343-05:002012-03-19T07:54:15.343-05:00Sage, it's about 30 percent.Sage, it's about 30 percent.Charles Gramlichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02052592247572253641noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-7513884301408030542012-03-19T06:31:27.566-05:002012-03-19T06:31:27.566-05:00What is the royalty percentage on Days of Beer? I...What is the royalty percentage on Days of Beer? I have purchased a number of Nook books in the 99 to 2.99 range--I think I like the idea of three stories together. Combining two genres gives the reader a broader flavor of your writing style.sagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17499891950639742366noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-78430854917314520672012-03-18T16:25:18.581-05:002012-03-18T16:25:18.581-05:00Laughinwolf, yeah, kind of a "Razored Zen dou...Laughinwolf, yeah, kind of a "Razored Zen double." I like that!Charles Gramlichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02052592247572253641noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-32080542550061441892012-03-18T16:24:21.981-05:002012-03-18T16:24:21.981-05:00Bernardl, I'm leaning that way for sure. And ...Bernardl, I'm leaning that way for sure. And thanks for your great review of "Scorpions." I much appreciate it. I'm gonna continue to put the full length novels up with Borgo, but I'm thinking most short stories I write from now on will go up via ebook.<br /><br />Oceangirl, I like to think so. :)<br /><br />Prashant, I'm pretty intrigued as well. Travis had a great idea.<br /><br />Richard, a good mix is a pleasure for sure.<br /><br />Ron, I probably will try it every which way before I'm done with this ebook experiment.Charles Gramlichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02052592247572253641noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-22002777803041994582012-03-18T16:22:57.554-05:002012-03-18T16:22:57.554-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.laughingwolfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08873675614347328116noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-29359518808744503792012-03-18T16:22:55.620-05:002012-03-18T16:22:55.620-05:00'harm land'... bloody brilliant!
why worr...'harm land'... bloody brilliant!<br /><br />why worry about separate genres when you can combine?<br /><br />i recall some time back two shorter tales were combined into a single book, printed back to back, with one of them glued upside down... the book, not the tale... <br /><br />not possible with e-books, of course<br /><br />there are a number of groups on fb, some i'm a member of, with writers sharing their experiences and marketing/promotional/sales methods... perhaps worth a look?<br /><br />i hear there are a number promoting on 'twitter' and 'google +' as well... likely more i'm not familiar withlaughingwolfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08873675614347328116noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-38508956703679696472012-03-18T15:44:12.688-05:002012-03-18T15:44:12.688-05:00Maybe somebody already suggested this. Publish the...Maybe somebody already suggested this. Publish them as separates, but offer a deal on a purchase of both if you can. That gives the reader the choice.Ron Scheerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15357501069513854664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-77655662953497511742012-03-18T13:31:39.144-05:002012-03-18T13:31:39.144-05:00Charles mix it up. The great writers all did.Charles mix it up. The great writers all did.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-83153026091265600342012-03-18T12:26:36.552-05:002012-03-18T12:26:36.552-05:00Charles, I like the idea of combining the two coll...Charles, I like the idea of combining the two collections titled under two different heads. It certainly appeals to me. I, for one, would love to read it.Prashant C. Trikannadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16079354501998741758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-64710647560190306072012-03-18T10:15:57.716-05:002012-03-18T10:15:57.716-05:00Thinking is good, it sets the motion for action.Thinking is good, it sets the motion for action.Lisahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02399300464457820101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-10303021680534926442012-03-18T08:49:15.376-05:002012-03-18T08:49:15.376-05:00I would rather buy the collection for $2.99 like y...I would rather buy the collection for $2.99 like your splendid 'In The Language of Scorpions' , but most of the authors self-publishing on Amazon I know of are going for the 99 cent shorter offerings. They're marketing by giving away a bunch of free copies of one or the other, and promoting everywhere, banking on the name recognition excitement leading to sales on the rest. It seems to be working for them. <br /><br />I have five completed novels I'm still querying with two others in progress. I'm only holding off self-publishing some of them because I have no clue where the heck all of this is going. No matter what you decide, my friend, I hope you'll keep us posted about the results. :)BernardLhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09722619048888613647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-6785898894254030472012-03-18T08:36:51.062-05:002012-03-18T08:36:51.062-05:00Mark, yeah, I'm kind of intrigued with the pos...Mark, yeah, I'm kind of intrigued with the possibilities. I don't know it's really been done before with ebooks.Charles Gramlichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02052592247572253641noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-57199800092953555892012-03-18T05:33:06.638-05:002012-03-18T05:33:06.638-05:00$2.99 is not outrageous for an e book. As for the ...$2.99 is not outrageous for an e book. As for the other What rule say you can not have a two section book? All it takes is a separator/title page between the two. besides at that word count i think it would be interesting to go from spooks to noir. It would be a pretty quick read at any rate.the walking manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10058913927297370740noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-25449747263606589392012-03-17T22:54:10.682-05:002012-03-17T22:54:10.682-05:00Ivan, nix genres eh? hum, perhaps an idea whose t...Ivan, nix genres eh? hum, perhaps an idea whose time has come.<br /><br />Angie, good food for thought. I'm gonna set it up both ways (without covers), and see which way I like first before I make a final decision. I'll check out the link.<br /><br />Snowbrush, I don't know, the Gramlich name might kill the whole thing. :)<br /><br />Ty, another interesting idea. I noticed you did something similar with sever, slice, and stab, which was a good idea. More food for thought. hum.<br /><br />David J., the two parter has some aesthetic appeal to me. I do want to make money, of course, but I also want readers to get their money's worth. Lots of thinking to do.Charles Gramlichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02052592247572253641noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-26695106277431275602012-03-17T22:42:33.359-05:002012-03-17T22:42:33.359-05:00I do like the idea of a full collection with a new...I do like the idea of a full collection with a new title-but I can't argue with Ty's and Dean's logic-either way now that I have a kindle I'm more open to these tales myself.nephite blood spartan hearthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17092519999184585295noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-76711812767491587032012-03-17T22:28:24.362-05:002012-03-17T22:28:24.362-05:00I'm going to suggest something along the lines...I'm going to suggest something along the lines of what I've noticed DWS does ... do all three e-books.<br /><br />Do the "Whiskey, Guns and Sin" e-book, and do "The Gaunt" e-book, AND do a third e-book that combines both, maybe with an extra story or two or three to make the deal seem a little better to the reader.<br /><br />If you went that route, I'd suggest one of two pricing options: 99 cents for the shorter e-books and $2.99 for the longer one, or $2.99 for the shorter e-books and maybe $4.99 or $5.99 for the longer one.Tyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09192814826756623212noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-17327177641716632942012-03-17T21:56:09.556-05:002012-03-17T21:56:09.556-05:00They sound compatible to me, but if you have doubt...They sound compatible to me, but if you have doubts, I suppose you can just entitle them "The Collected Works of Charles Gramlich."Snowbrushhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00436087215476479042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-39556662785643721072012-03-17T20:45:36.177-05:002012-03-17T20:45:36.177-05:00Normally I'd say that three or four stories is...Normally I'd say that three or four stories is more than enough to charge $2.99, but it sounds like all the stories are pretty short. [ponder] Still, I'll bet you could do it. The price of e-books in general (among the small presses, where prices are reasonable in the first place) have gone up noticeably in the last 6-9 months. My publisher's shorts start at $1.99 now, and longer shorts (not novelettes, but stories between... I think it's like 5-10K words) are $2.49. And some indie authors are pricing two-story collections at $2.99.<br /><br />The data coming back indicates that the increase in per-unit income more than offsets the reduced unit sales.<br /><br />Along the same lines, RWA did a survey recently which showed that below about $5, readers start to significantly doubt the quality of the book. Given RWA's emphasis, I'm betting this applies to novels, but still, there's a floor below which a lot of mainstream readers -- not the discount readers who snap up every ninety-nine cent novel they see, but the larger body of readers who are willing to pay more for a book they think they'll enjoy -- will assume a book is probably badly written, badly edited, or otherwise flawed.<br /><br />http://www.rwa.org/cs/readership_stats -- scroll down to the second-to-last table.<br /><br />I think we can extrapolate this down to short stories, and there are indie writers doing so and having good results. If I were you, I'd publish the two collections as they are, price them at $2.99, and leave them for at least a few months. See what happens. You can always lower the price later, but give it a chance at the price that gives you 70%; no sense leaving money on the table if you don't have to.<br /><br />AngieAngiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11920578701763415331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-61185301863923336572012-03-17T19:30:59.359-05:002012-03-17T19:30:59.359-05:00Well, I think Kubric-Clarke could certainly meld r...Well, I think Kubric-Clarke could certainly meld religion with science fiction...And I also think about the movie, Vanillla Sky. Sure, you can mix genres...Whoops, I almost typed nix genres. ")ivanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05662075375182633162noreply@blogger.com