OVERHAULING THE BOOKSHELF!

As of today, October 31, 2013, all of my novels have cycled out of Amazon’s KDP select.  I have re-enrolled one specific Novel – MURDER IN PANAMA.   The reason?  Simple -- It’s the first novel in a trilogy.  I’d like to be able to offer it for free from time to time. The other two novels in the series have had their prices lowered to $2.99.  My two LARGE novels are being priced at $4.99 each -- both 5 star reads of over 100,000 words.

The only other novels I plan on re-enrolling in the KDP freebie program are SHOOTER, my latest novel, and HALF-BREED, one of my period westerns.  The novel I am currently writing is the final book of the Curtis & RC series; UNTAMED & PARTNERS, being the first two of what will soon be a trilogy.  Once TRUST ME is published, perhaps I will enroll UNTAMED into the freebie program as well.

ALL MY NOVELS are being reduced in price.  Most carry a sticker price of $2.99.  The LARGE novels are $4.99.  The volumes remain the same.  All the other novels in my inventory are priced at $2.99. Do not expect any 99 cent sales from this author.  I refuse to discount my creative efforts to the price of a package of gum or a condom. 

Three (3) novels will be enrolled in the Freebie program; MURDER IN PANAMA, HALF-BREED, & SHOOTER.  You will see me promote these from time to time on a limited basis. 

Now, here is the BIG POLICY CHANGE! Most of my promotions will be tied to this blog.  If YOU ARE A MEMBER, send me an e-mail and you will receive a gift certificate for any of my novels.  Details forthcoming in a future blog – basically you may be gifted (or designate) to whom I gift the novel(s). (this offer for full fledge members, not just readers)

One of the advantages of being an indie author/publisher is that I get to decide. Failures or successes are hinged on my decisions – not others. The only real commitment I’ve made is the enrollment of three novels into the KDP program.  That decision in undoable for 90 days.  All else remains in flux…

Some of my work will begin appearing in other retail sites.  I’m also looking into purchasing my own bookstore site to take the middleman out of the picture. Also, I will soon be offering a very unique product – a novel and the adapted screenplay as one package.  There will be six (6) offerings in total.

 

The Top Two Percent -- Rule!

That’s right.  The top 2% in any industry, craft, or country, -- rule.  They do it by achievement and performance. And also by attention to details.

In the writing world, it’s a new game.  No longer are the large publishing houses controlling the industry. Neither are the brick and mortar retailers. But, unfortunately, the writers are still third tier elements in the business.  Only 2% seem to break out of the mire of our industry.  Unfortunately I am not one of those 2%.  The emerging power in the publishing industry is the on-line blog -- databases.  One in particular seems to be leading the pack.  The book-blogs are on my excrement list because they are nothing but parasites.  They produce nothing; they exist only because we as writers allow them to use our material to build their businesses.  I tried a few of them to see what they did for my sales.  I was ripped off by 2 of the lesser players and chastised by a third for my negative reaction to being cheated by their sister companies.

My contemporaries embrace these parasites and consider them an integral part of their business model.  They actually feel proud to be accepted and be given the opportunity to pay to advertise that their book is free of deeply discounted.  The leader of this hyena pack charges up to $300 per one time inclusion in their daily database post.  Many authors can’t ever recover the cost of the expenditure.  Those that do, have to continue advertising in order to sustain their presence in the market.

Two percent of these book-blogs will survive and make a decent profit.  They are all spawning a generation of freeloaders rather than readers.  It’s too bad.

My thirteenth novel was just published today!

I hope it’s well received by my loyal readers. I can dream for the top 2%.  We’ll see.  SHOOTER was started over a year ago.  The outline was finished in September of 2012. I was sidetracked and inspired in January of this year. I wrote and published TRES PIEDRAS in three months. I came back to SHOOTER in April of this year.  I’ve actually been writing this novel in my mind for the better part of my adult life.  I was twenty-one years old when Kennedy was assassinated.

Like most of my generation, the mistrust and backlash toward the government began with this event. The cover-up was so thoroughly transparent and inept it spawned a generation of rebels.  We could see the fumbling and bumbling on live television so we began to question everything.  Politics aside – it was a sad time and literally changed the world.

SHOOTER is around 65,000 words.  I encourage you to read the free sample on Amazon and post your remarks here.

39 AND COUNTING

What does that number represent?

It is the number of sequential ‘STOOD-UPS … NO CALL -- NO SHOW’ appointments I’ve experienced the last several months; specific to my memorization business. THESE RUDE PEOPLE, all bi-lingual Panamanians, were looking me directly in the eye and promising to meet me at a certain time and place.   

This is verifiable truth about Panamanian culture and manners.  If you want to be disappointed, try starting a business here in paradise.

The late, great, Vince Lombardi, once said.  If you’re on time for an appointment with me – you are already ten minutes late.

 I’ve always subscribed to that policy and it’s damned frustrating when attempting to deal with potential Panamanian employees. They seem to believe an appointment is just a joke.  The joke is on them.  They will hang at the edge of poverty until they learn that achievement is measured and created by performance.  By not being responsible these ‘no shows’ will be forever blackballed from my company.  Standing me up is stealing my time.  At age 71, that time becomes more valuable.  Therefore those people become felons in my mind. My company does not hire felons.

HERE’S WHAT I WAS OFFERING. 

Over the past forty years, I have been developing a method of learning/instructing – kinda outside the box.  It’s a memorization technique that has been fine tuned down to the lowest common denominator. The learning system can be used for any subject but I chose to tailor the system to teach English to Panamanians.

Two of the requisites of learning any subject are need and desire. If one doesn’t have either of these requisites, it’s an exercise in futility.  Just ask my high school algebra teacher.
So this course is designed around adults that have a desire to learn.  It is not expensive.  $7.50 per class.  Each class is two hours in length and there are 3 classes per week.($22.50)  The student only needs to bring a pencil and a notebook.  (No books, cd’s, video’s or the like.)  This is a very complex method taught in a simple form. It can be taught under a mango tree or in the back office of an employer. The instructor carries the course in a 3 ring binder.  Like I mentioned… this is a complex learning system delivered in its simplest form.

The course has been proven; time and time again.  A motivated, non-English speaking person can go from zero English to Basic English in six (6) weeks.

Late last year (20120 I formulated the business plan for my new company.  We had just finished the beta classes in Arizona and I was anxious to bring this new form of learning to the folks in Chiriquí.  My initial estimate in my conservative business plan was to employ thirty (30) plus instructors and twelve (12) salespeople by the end of the first year. I expected the work force in Chiriquí to embrace these opportunities. Some of the students appreciate my efforts; 12 months later, many Panamanians are now speaking Basic English thanks to my system.  However, all the selling and instructing has been done by yours truly. 39 potential instructors had the opportunity to come on board -- none made their appointment.
(photo on the right; students in Bangkok, Thailand.)

Attempting to recruit salespeople and instructors finally drove me away from Panama. I took the system to the Orient (via the wonderful world of electronics – Skype, e-mail and the like.) The course is now in Chinese, Thai, Korean and soon, Khmer, Japanese, and several of the Filipino dialects. (English students in Samrong Cambodia)
 

I don’t believe this is a business plan failure.  It’s more of a cultural condition that exists.  It’s prevalent in Central America but very pronounced here in Panama.  I have affiliates in Costa Rica and have had no problem.  I expect to expand into Nicaragua as well and don’t foresee any problems.

Here’s part of a promotional explanation we send to our interested affiliates.
(the photo on the right is an English Class in Samrong, Cambodia.)

To summarize;  the memorization course we teach takes a zero English speaking person and brings them to basic English in six weeks – 18 ( 2  hours classes).  An instructor is provided with all teaching materials and a sales force keeps the classes at their optimum; 10 – 12 students.   Instructors receive $3.50 per student per class.  A class of 10 will earn an instructor $35 per class (18 classes = $630.)   $600.00 for actual instruction time is 6-8 hours per week for 6 weeks.  Several instructors are teaching more than one class per day.   An instructor in the Orient is teaching three (3) classes per day, 6 days a week.   Her adult son is the salesperson and keeps the classes at their optimum.  Both people, the Instructor and Salesperson are on track to make in excess of $42, 000.00, annually.   Neither breaks a sweat; working less than 50 hours a week.  Their counterpart, the teacher in the public schools, earns $530.00 a month and works 60 hours a week for those meager wages. 

SHIFTING WINDS FOR THE BOOK INDUSTRY

I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings but I believe the wind has shifted in the book business again.  No longer is the e-book market the rising star.  Granted, it will continue to grow in numbers but it won’t bode well for the bottom line.

Amazon, authors, and indie publishers have spawned this shift by creating a generation of freeloaders rather than readers.  A CASE IN POINT:

An acquaintance of mine back in the USA, sent me a note the other day.  Here’s an excerpt.  Hatting, when are you going to offer EXPAT for free again?  I missed it because you close off the free downloads before we get ‘up and about’ here on the west coast. That’s not fair to us Oregonians.  If you offer for free – do like all the others.  Offer it for three days, not limited to 50 units.

You fine folks won’t see my reply to this arrogant freeloader.  I know for a fact he drinks and smokes. He probably spends more in a day on his bad habits than if he would purchase my entire inventory.

So, when you as an author, post your work for free, you are assisting in the creation new age of freeloaders like the guy above.   Also when you use one of these database blogs to advertise your FREE or discounted offerings, you are enabling these freeloaders to keep bolstering their reading material without spending a dime. In addition your talent and time is being used by these parasite blogs to build their businesses. Think about this from a different angle:  These blogs like BookBub have created a database of freeloaders they mail to everyday; they charge YOU the author up to $300.00 for a one time inclusion (feature) to tell every bargain hunter in their files that your book is free or discounted. Without your participation, they have nothing.  They don’t create anything.  They are leaches.

Now -- do the math.  Sure you may get more readers but are they buyers or vultures?  Will they lay in wait until you publish your next work?  Take look at your sales.  More effort – more expenses- but no appreciable net profit.

Yes, the heyday is over.  Two reasons; the freebie and the diluting. Everyone with a word processor has a book published.  Christ on a crutch!  There’s some really horrible crud out there and organizations like Amazon and Smashwords don’t care. Meet their format and you become a published author.  There is no screening of any kind.  The folks at these quasi publishing sites wouldn’t know a plot point from a popsicle. It’s diluted the market… just like adding too much ice to a drink dilutes the cocktail.  The flip side of this for those of authors who have a moderate readership, is that the newbie’s with their poorly crafted crud make our readers more loyal…eventually.

LEAD, FOLLOW, OR GET THE HELL OUT OF THE WAY!!

That’s the mood in my camp.  My big books are being printed and I’m taking my show on the road.  With 13 novels published I want to spike the guns of these one-book wonders. I cannot rely on the most of the retailers to do much more than download for a fee. One retailer is an exception. Most of my novels will be released from the Amazon KDP by the middle of November.  The majority will not be renewed and become available in ePrintedbooks.com and several other retail sites.

I’m always writing but am now refocused on expanding my Memorization course; taking it international. More on that later.

PS,  EXPAT is free today.

Reviving Knowledge

CATTLE BRANDS have been around for ages.  Since westerns have fallen out of favor over the last 30 years, many people of the younger set are not aware of the significance of brands.

I write in many genres.  One which I enjoy from time to time is period westerns.  I’ve written six… published 2.  One which I published a couple of years ago received a marked down rating from a reader citing poor proofreading.    I was surprised because that novel had been edited twice.  So, off it went to Melissa Gray. She is editing it as I write.   She is without a doubt the final word in editing among us Indie authors.  (Much more about her later).  Anyway, today she contacted me about how a brand was described in my novel.  She knew about brands but didn’t know about the terminology.  In this case it was the MR connected.  It’s difficult to describe without being able to draw.  (the right Up and Down of the M is connected to the only Up and Down of the R). See what I mean?  So I researched the internet and found some illustrations. 

I wanted to lift a portion (with permission) from a company that sells western items to kids but unfortunately my blog template won’t display the drawings. 

 Thanks for the permission to use, John Craighead. BTW, John, your explanation is very well written.  Although it’s meant to edify children, many readers of today need this knowledge presented in its basic form.  Yours is excellent!

CLICK THIS URL FOR A SHORT COURSE.  http://kidscowboy.com/history-of-cattle-brands