What a difference a year can make…you’ve heard it from nearly every corner of every clique and cliche-ridden mouthpiece willing to spout off about what was, what is, and what shall be.
But this time, the cliche holds true. This coming year could be the year for change — on an all-consuming level. Social, political, economical … you name it, and change is just within reach. There is, however, one looming question on the horizon:
Will that change be for the good?
I could go on and on about the kinds of changes that I see as necessary (more compassion/less hatred, more intelligence/less ignorance, more union/less separation), but I want to first center what kinds of changes will be coming to the thing that brought you here in the first place — my writing.
First and foremost — more writing, less promoting. That is my goal for 2015. Yes, promoting is one of the ugly truths that goes along with being a writer — and it’s one you simply cannot avoid. And truth be told, I’m not terribly good at marketing (hence my lack of a BS, BA, MFA, or PhD in Marketing). In fact … I loath marketing (it makes me twitchy). With that said, I plan on dedicating less emotional and intellectual property to the task of pimping my wares and more on wares themselves. I have a very busy publishing calendar for the up coming year, and I’ll need every bit of spare time and energy to get those works out.
What is that calendar, you ask? Well, it looks a little something like this:
- Control (Release date — Jan 1st)
- Reunion (Release date — Jan)
- Zombie Radio 2 (Release — Jan)
- The Seduction (Release — March)
- Sequel to Klockwerk Kabaret (Release date — April)
- Sequel to Among You (Release date — June)
- Fry Zombie Fry (Release — August)
- Sequel to The Last Casket (Release date — Oct)
- Frankenstein Theory (Release — Nov)
- Screampark Sequel (Release — Dec)
Take a look at that list. Go on, I’ll wait for you. Seriously … I’ve got time.
Tick. Tock. Tick Tock. It’s 10 books long. I’m not 100% sure I can pull it off, but I will give it my best. Of that list, the only entries that hold any guarantee are: Control, Reunion, Zombie Radio 2, and the sequel to The Last Casket. Those are set in stone. Everything else is subject to change — hopefully nothing will.
I am also working to build an on-line store that will allow readers to purchase my books directly. That will most likely go live in March (when all of my full-length titles are out of Kindle Select). Being out of select (by choice), means I will also be distributing to all of the various retailers, instead of locking myself into only Amazon. Why make that move at this point? Simple … sort of.
Amazon has done so much for authors in the way of helping us make our work available. However, in the process they have done certain things which have slowly started to virtually “bankrupt” the majority of indie authors. How, you ask? Kindle Select was a great idea — as was Kindle Unlimited. Most digital media must go the way of the subscription service or die. Thing is, the indie author is getting a very short end of an already short stick. The short stick being Amazon pays a majority of the KU funds to the heavy hitters (such as JK Rowling) and then, what’s left, divvy up to everyone else. At the moment, the KU payback is on a trajectory to reach under $1.00 per book. So most every full-length novel associated with KU now loses money. Because of this, a great many indie authors are opting to pull out of KU. This has the end result of leaving a lot of Kindle Unlimited subscribed readers with far fewer titles to read. This will mean fewer KU readers.
That ouroboros will dine upon itself until there is nothing left but dust.
As you can see, the reason for pulling out of KU is not so simple. I will be leaving my novellas and serials enrolled in KU — but full-length novels will be gone. If Amazon decides to reset the payback clock and offer authors a more sensible payment for unlimited titles, I’ll re-enroll (unless book sales on Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and the rest of the booksellerverse pick up).
Other plans for 2015 include:
- More audiobooks (I already am working on a 50 book deal for the State Of Horror series)
- More interaction with readers and fans
- More conventions (already planning on attending Mid South Con and Imaginarium)
- Lining up more band collaborations
- Expanding Zombie Radio
It’s going to be a busy as hell year and I am ready to rock it. So hop onto the dark hayride and let’s see how fast we can get this bitch moving! \m/
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