tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4046712015614904810.post7007102970951777059..comments2023-06-28T03:53:33.517-04:00Comments on The Official Blog of C. Kevin Thompson: An Interview with Author Dan WalshC. Kevin Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12566154415200011816noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4046712015614904810.post-35912118939707669172015-04-24T09:51:38.176-04:002015-04-24T09:51:38.176-04:00I agree with you, Kev. In some ways, it comes down...I agree with you, Kev. In some ways, it comes down to what a writer's goals are. In my case, I'm writing fulltime. It's my livelihood. I still enjoy it, the writing especially. But now that I'm indie (which means I no longer have a guaranteed base income from writing contracts), I've had to look more carefully at how I spend my non-writing time. Meaning things like marketing, promo work, etc. I can't do everything I might enjoy doing on the internet (just hanging out, etc.). Hours can slip by. Hours I should be writing.<br /><br />Another example, I realized I could save $400 on the cover for my devotional Perfect Peace, if I did it myself. But then I'd have to learn how to use some new software. Turned out, it wasn't all that hard to learn, the cover came out great, and I spent about 8 hours on it overall. 8 hours saved $400 expense. But that wouldn't have been something I'd "want" to do. <br /><br />Last month I had to set up from scratch a fairly complex promo that wound up costing $415. It lasted for 5 days. That's a lot of book sales to just break even (since the promo was selling it for .99). But my projections were that it was worth it and hoped I'd just break even. I sold over 2,000 copies and made over $1,400. Plus, it put the book in a new place of visibility, so that even after it went back to $4.99, it sold way better than it did before. The Point? Taking risks, figuring things out on spreadsheets, etc. <br /><br />If you ask me is that something I'd "want" to do? No, not really. But it was a "major" and was well worth my time. And...now I know how to do something I didn't know before.<br /><br />These are the kinds of things I'm talking about.Dan Walshhttp://www.danwalshbooks.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4046712015614904810.post-11166472391283254412015-04-24T08:03:27.894-04:002015-04-24T08:03:27.894-04:00Hey, Dan, another other thoughts on this?Hey, Dan, another other thoughts on this?C. Kevin Thompsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16378208388182552010noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4046712015614904810.post-38237286664592386642015-04-24T08:02:56.299-04:002015-04-24T08:02:56.299-04:00That's not as easy of an answer as it might se...That's not as easy of an answer as it might seem, Barbara. With the ever-changing face of publishing, it seems the answer to that question changes every day. The majors, for me, all focus on writing. You can't stop writing and spend all your time "Pinteresting" & "Twittering." You must write, and you must put out GOOD writing. Without those two "majors," the other stuff matters little. Even popular people who don't write well may see a spike in dales because of their platform. However, the sales will fall flat if the writing isn't good. Glen Beck's "Overton Window" is a case in point. As for all the other stuff (blogs, social media, book.signings, virtual tours, etc.), you have to experiment. What works for one author may not work for another. Genre plays a part in that picture. If you write romantic suspense, then Pinterest is probably a good place to be. Probably not so much for the cyberpunk horror writer. So, youalso have to look for audiences and target them where they are. Hope this helps!C. Kevin Thompsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16378208388182552010noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4046712015614904810.post-15598519197524052372015-04-23T16:48:40.806-04:002015-04-23T16:48:40.806-04:00Love the great advice here, thanks for posting thi...Love the great advice here, thanks for posting this! What sticks out to me most is Dan's advice, "Don't major in minors." I think I get what he means by that, but I'm also wondering what are some of the majors that worked for you and some of the minors that didn't?<br /><br />There are things I like to do like blog or create Pinterest quotes, that don't always get the results. I'm releasing my first indie devotional next month, so any advice you've got would be appreciated. :)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07501218255039255655noreply@blogger.com