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Meri's Corner

~ A Writer's Thoughts and Reviews

Tag Archives: as a buyer

Happy Holidays!

26 Tuesday Dec 2017

Posted by MBenson in Personal Thoughts, Writing

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amreading, amwriting, as a buyer, balancing, books, creativity, discoveries, enjoy, fantasy, goals, inspiration, life, musings, online presence, original fiction, original work, possible wip, ramblings, real life, thoughts, update, what do, WIP, word count, writing

I hope that you’re having a happy and wonderful Holiday! No matter what you celebrate, this season is a time for family. Make sure to stop for a while and spend the time to enjoy some time with those you love, be they family by blood or family by marriage or chosen family.

This week’s blog is a little light, due to the Holidays. I’ve been celebrating with friends and family since Saturday. Yule, my annual Holiday lunch with my Aunt and Cousin, and Christmas with the family in town.

This week I do have off work, but I’m also taking some time to reflect on how this year went, and what goals I want to have for 2018. Which, honestly, will probably be next week’s blog post, at least some of it. (There’s also massive cleaning that needs to be done when not reflecting and planning)

Keep posted for my plans for 2018! They’re bound to be exciting!

Presentation: It’s not just about the Cover

24 Friday Jul 2015

Posted by MBenson in Personal Thoughts, Writing

≈ 3 Comments

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as a buyer, life, online presence, presentation, thinking before posting, thoughts, writing

Presentation is a huge thing for an author, and for their books. You always hear the saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” But in reality, that’s exactly what everyone does. If the cover is striking, or draws attention, people are more likely to read the synopsis and potentially buy the book. It’s the first thing that a buyer, a reader, sees in the bookstore and so we use it to gain attention. It’s the author’s version of the red carpet in a way, there are beautiful works, and sometimes there are the ones that leave people wondering what they were thinking.

It’s why cover artists pay so much for copyright free photos – in order to work their magic, and why cover artists, whether they draw their own art or use the copyright free photos are paid so much to create the covers. We, as authors, are hoping to have a striking visual that draws people in, that makes people spend those few extra seconds to pick up the book – or pause on it in the ebook store, read a little about it, and hopefully if we’ve done a great job, add it to their cart.

But it’s not just the cover that has to draw people in. The books don’t always sell themselves, and any good author and publisher know that you need to market. It’s our job to spread the word, by tweet, blog, radio or tv ad, booths at trade shows or craft shows that fit the genre, giveaways, etc. If you can use it to get more attention, all the better, and all the best for getting the word out there that this wonderful piece of fiction, or non-fiction, that you, the author, dedicated so much of your time to is out there for people to buy. This great shining thing that you want to shout about is now available, all your hard work paid off because it’s written, it’s edited, and it’s being published (or is published).

But you, the author, need to be just as polished in some ways, as the book(s) that you’re trying to put out there to the people of the world. If you really want people to think that your book is worth reading, then you while you market it and get the word out need to be aware of how you present yourself as well. If you are constantly not using punctuation correctly, or not grammatically correct in your sentence structure, or using ‘ur’, no (for know), r, etc. it DOES, at least in my opinion, hurt your chances of getting people to buy your book. If you in marketing your book and trying to announce to the world that this great thing you did is, or will be, for sale, can’t properly write that announcement, than how can I trust that the book itself will really be great? You’re presenting poor grammar, and poor use of slang as the author in your announcement.

For me, not only is it hard to read and wade through to understand exactly what you’re trying to say, it leaves me with no confidence that this book will be worth my time. I don’t need a book riddled with errors, and that really is what your presentation of the announcement leaves me feeling I will get.

Just like people who go to a 9-5 job, and have a dress code, we as authors need to have a dress code of sorts, but on a more literary level. You need to present your best face when making announcements about a new book, give people the confidence that your book is worth the read because what you say flows, is legible, and makes them want to pick it up, not switch to the next available offer.

Musings of the day

24 Tuesday Jun 2014

Posted by MBenson in Personal Thoughts

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as a buyer, book buying, books, life, musings, print vs digital, time, update, what do

Do you ever take a look at an author you follow, after a long break of reading their books because something in life just didn’t let you get to it, or you just have so many authors it takes a while to circle back to them and by the time you do they have a long list of books that you’re now sorely behind on? That’s me right now. I have so much going on at my 9-5 and at home that I haven’t been doing much ready, as you may remember from my last update. But also, I follow so many authors, and am trying to read/keep up with so many series that occasionally I let one slip. And I turn around and what used to be on book 3 is now on book 16. And I look at my bookshelf with it’s full stacks and no space and whimper because where am I going to find space for those 13 books, and how am I going to find the time to read all 13 books, and truth be told because it’s been that long I might as well call it 16 and start at the beginning in reading them.

It’s not just one author I’ve done this with either. I have several authors I paused in my reading when their books were in single digits and now that I’m looking at the series we’re into double digits.

Aside from finding the time to catch up on them, I have another serious question that I’m facing. Do I finish out my printed, sits on a shelf collection, and buy a new bookshelf in the process, or do I throw the feel of those pages in my hand to the wind and just start getting the series in ebook format? I’m torn on which to do because as someone that suffers from very, very mild OCD it really bothers me to not have the complete collection of things, and I like the feel and weight of books in my hand while I read, and there’s something awesome about the look of them on the shelf, all together and spines cracked because they’ve been well read. On the other hand, I’m running out of space in order to store my books and I am starting to fear the move if I ever need to go anywhere.

What are your thoughts on ebook verses print copies?

Pricing on the Kindle Store

20 Thursday Jun 2013

Posted by MBenson in Personal Thoughts, Writing

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Amazon Kindle, as a buyer, as a seller, books, pricing, self publishing, thoughts

I have to say that sometimes it amazes me how the pricing ends up on Amazon’s Kindle store. With Kindle Direct allowing authors to self publish instead of finding a publisher, it’s flooded the ebook stores with more material than ever. (Which is both good and bad.)

On the one hand, it means that authors don’t have to jump and compete with that very small market that is the big publishers line up, and they don’t have to deal with the hassles that can come from trying a small, specifically genre-d press, or bend their genre and style to fit that small press. However it also means that anyone can publish anything, and editors aren’t always used before publishing. (Though I’m starting to get a little off topic here since I wanted to discuss the pricing, aren’t I.)

A lot of the books on the store are $0.99 – especially when it’s a book one of a series, which I personally think is great. It gives you the ability to try a new author without really committing a lot of money at first, and if you like them and want to continue the series it’s usually $2.99. To me? That seems more than fair and more than a little awesome. It’s affordable as the reader, the author gets their stories out there, and while it’s not much they’re also getting at least a little money for the effort they’re putting into it.

What baffles me though, while I was cruising the Kindle store I came across an author who is publishing 4K stories and asking for $2.99 for them. In a see of chapter ebooks and lengthy novellas that are being sold for $0.99, this person wanted more. And I will admit, I haven’t gotten into self publishing my stuff yet, though I do have plans to in the near future, I don’t see how the author thought that would be a good business plan. Especially since said author states the word count in the description on the info of the book so you know you’re getting a massive short.

I won’t say that the author is wrong for charging that much as it’s her work and she has every right to charge as she pleases. What I’m wondering is, do people actually spend that much for such a small short? Am I just a little too wallet tight to spend almost a dollar for every thousand words?

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