How long is too long between books?

I’m wrapping up the last bits of the first draft of the follow-up to Chasing Filthy Lucre. It’s been a long process, with stops and starts. I think I’ve written close to 40,000 words on one version that will never see the light of day. It’s good stuff, but not right for this book.

I never intended to go this long between books. I have all three of the remaining books loosely plotted. It’s just finding time to write them all that’s hard.

Anyway, I got to thinking about this the other day and wondered if I’d missed my window. Have I waited too long between books? Is any momentum I had built gone at this point? We are looking at a little more than a year between releases.

So I turned the question over to the people who follow my author page on Facebook. They gave me some great answers, but I’d love to hear from all of you here, too. Here’s the question. Answer in the comments. I’ll respond.

When reading a series, how quickly do you want the next book to come out? Assuming that immediately is not an answer, what's the right amount of time between installments?

What if that series is not a serial, meaning that the next book doesn't continue the story started in the book before it, but features a recurring main character?

The post where I grovel

UPDATE: Sold two copies last night. Only six more needed to make the monthly goal. 

It's time for the end of the month begging post.

In the past I was shy about sharing numbers. Part of me was embarrassed. The other part was proud. My sales numbers have never been great. I'm OK with that now. They are what they are. I'm a virtually unknown writer. I didn't have an online following because of short stories. I didn't have a previous three-book deal with a publisher. I'm just a guy trying to make a go of the writing thing in a changing writing world. It was foolish to think they'd be anything other than what they are.

I added all my sales up earlier this month before I released REUNION. It's been nine months since I released CHASING FILTHY LUCRE, and it has sold 130 copies. Those aren't stellar numbers. I was hoping for more. I was hoping that it would take off. Go great guns. Out of control. But it didn't. Still, it's averaging more than 10 copies a month and that's not bad. I know there are authors out there who'd love to be able to say that. And I've met some great people and gathered some great reviews. Nothing less than four stars. That makes me happy. There are people who truly enjoyed the book. That feels good. Perspective. Perspective. I'm not doing that bad.

All that said, I did call this the begging post. So far this month we've sold 12 books total between REUNION and CHASING FILTHY LUCRE. I'd love to sell eight more before the end of the month. That would bring us up to 20 for November. For anyone who also earned a liberal arts degree, that means, basically, selling eight books on November 30. Is it possible? Absolutely. Eight isn't a big number. It's more than I've ever sold in a day, but not impossible.

If you are among those who haven't read either of my books, then help me out and buy one. If you've already read one, then buy the other. They are definitely different books, but I guarantee that if you liked one you'll like the other.

I've got all of your e-reader needs covered. You can find both books at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and at Smashwords. And there's even a print copy of CHASING FILTHY LUCRE at Amazon if that's more your speed.

Sample Sunday: Chasing Filthy Lucre

I haven't participated in a Sample Sunday in a long time. Here's a little something from Chasing Filthy Lucre. Hope you like it. If you do, leave a comment. If you really like it then buy a copy. It's in all the usual spots. For direct links click the "Where to read me" tab at the top of the page.

 There was an older gentleman who spent his nights sitting in the lobby watching the people pass on the street and reading a book. He couldn't sleep and he'd rather be downstairs than up in his apartment. At least he told me that’s why I always saw him when I came in at night. A nice guy. Never said more than a few words to me.

“Good evening, Mr. Rexall,” he said when I’d come in late.

“Please,” I’d say, “call me Weber.”

“Sure thing, Mr. Rexall.”

That was it, our entire exchange. It always made me smile. He was there when I got home that night carrying my haul from Raul’s.

I climbed the stairs to my apartment. I sat the bags down in front of my door and fished in my pocket for my keys. Inside, I sat the bag from Raul's on the kitchen counter. If this were a few years earlier, I would have plugged in as soon as I was inside my apartment. The port in my arm would have itched, would have begged me to put it to use.

There was a wire straight from the wall, added as a convenience years before I moved in. Easy data access for anyone with a terminal. I’d had it converted to my own personal hot jack. Plug in. Heat up. Pass out.

Plugged into the feed, I could forget about life for a few minutes. The experience started as a tingle near the port where the wire connected to my arm. It started like something crawling under your skin but quickly turned to a burn that rushed across the entire body. For a few minutes it was uncomfortable. You wanted to pull off your skin. But, if you could wait -- if you could push through the hurt -- your body would settle into the rush of data that was assaulting every last nerve. You would calm. You couldn’t hear anything. You couldn’t think anything. You just were. For your time on the wire you didn’t have to deal with life in the present or remember life in the past. All of those things you’d seen or done were gone. They weren’t affecting you anymore. That was the appeal. That’s why so many soldiers were the first to abuse the technology.

When someone said they were "on the wire," the wire referred to was the one that ran from your port to your brain, not the one from the source to your port, although that’s what most people thought. It was an understandable confusion.

It was a technology developed by a team of Dutch doctors and scientists. Exactly how it worked I couldn’t tell you, but it’s made up of three parts.

There’s the port. It’s typically inserted into the arm, but really it could go anywhere. The older a person was the more discrete the location of their port. The younger, the more visible. Many kids were opting for a port in the neck. The thinking was that the shorter the distance from the port to the brain, the more intense the sensation. How much more intense the experience needed to be, I wasn’t sure.

The second element was the wire itself. It’s a fine piece of microfilament that ran from the port to the brain and the third element, the net.

A net, also made of microfilament, was woven into the different parts of the brain. The digital came into the port, ran along the wire, and then spread across the net and into the user's head.

The original applications were military. Soldiers were given their mission details with the port. They’d plug in at night and wake the next morning with their orders and all pertinent background information.

The original ports came with a governor that controlled the flow of data to the brain. Hackers cracked those soon after ports were approved for commercial use.

Mine was a military unit, first generation. I had it cracked in a small computer shop two blocks from base as soon as I was discharged. Done by a hack in a back room. Me laying on a table and him plugging a beaten up laptop into my port.

He punched some keys and I laid there and felt the flush of digital for the first time. It started with a tingle that ran up my arm and into my shoulder. It crossed over to my neck and then into my head. It became an intense heat that left me dizzy and light headed.

From my head, it ran down my chest, past my waist, and into my toes. For the first time I felt my head tip back and my mouth drop open. I could no longer think. Nothing was in my head. All the things I’d seen and done had been replaced by the heat of the data.

After thirty minutes and twenty bucks I was on the wire.

Autographed print copies available

I finally set up everything needed to sell autographed print copies of Chasing Filthy Lucre. It's the box over there at the top of the right column. So if you were waiting with bated breath, wait no more. Click on the "Buy Now" button. I'll send one your way.

A modest request

I need your help. I'm very close to a sales goal for this month. It's not a big goal, but one that I'd love to meet. To do it I need to sell four more copies of Chasing Filthy Lucre by the end of the day tomorrow. It doesn't matter what kind of copy it is. Could be an e-book. Could be a print copy. Just as long as I sell four I'll make my goal.

I debated on whether or not I should share the number that I'm shooting for. The private side of me says no. It's a personal thing and in the end doesn't really matter. The prideful side of me also says no. It's a pretty small number. Almost embarrassingly small. So I've debated and my private side and prideful side have lost out. I'm going to do it. I'm going to share the number. It's 20. If I sell four more copies this month I'll hit 20 sales. And this will be the best month I've had since the spring. Even though it pales in comparison to many other authors, I'm excited.

So can you help? Can you buy a copy? Already have your copy? Then tell someone else about it. Help me make my modest goal. Needed links are below.

For a print copy click here: LINK
For a Kindle copy click here: LINK
For a Nook copy click here: LINK
For every other e-reader version, or a PDF, or a Word file click here: LINK

UPDATE: Two sales yesterday. Just need two more by the end of the night tonight, to make the goal.

UPDATE UPDATE: One more sale needed to hit the goal. Help me out, folks.

A price change and an update

I've been thinking about doing this for a while, but Monday I'm going to do it. On Monday I'm raising the price of Chasing Filthy Lucre to $1.99.

I'm doing this for a couple of reasons. One, is I want to see if a price change, even on that's an increase can't boost sales a bit. Hopefully people who would buy at 99 cents will still buy at $1.99. I think they will. And maybe people who see the 99 cent price and associate that with low quality will take a chance on Chasing Filthy Lucre if it's a little more expensive.

The bigger thing, though, is that I feel like Chasing Filthy Lucre is underpriced for what it is. When I launched the novella in March, there weren't nearly the number of short stories available as there are now. Most of those stories range in length from 3,000 to 10,000 words. They are priced at 99 cents, just like my book. Difference is my book is twice as long as the longest short story. That says to me that I'm underpriced for what's out there now. Could I be wrong? Absolutely. If I am then I'll readjust the price back down. One of the nice things about doing this all myself is that I can experiment with price like this.

I'm telling you all this so you can grab a copy at 99 cents if you've been thinking about it but haven't done it yet.

UPDATE
Now a quick update about what's coming up at the blog. Look tomorrow for an interview with Neal Hock. He's a book reviewer and editor. He gives us some insight into what makes someone want to edit books. Then next Friday we talk with SM Reine. She's a writer, and just recently, a book publisher. She's running Red Iris books. She'll tell us about her new venture and a little about herself.

The soundtrack to New Eden

I don't know why it worked this way, but when I was writing Chasing Filthy Lucre I'd play music in the background. Usually through Pandora. I created a station around a couple of groups -- Little People and RJD2. They are electronica/trip hop/acid jazz artists. To me, this is what New Eden would sound like. This is the music you'd find there. Not sure what those artists sound like? Click on the videos below.







I had this Pandora channel on almost every time I wrote on Chasing Filthy Lucre. I've got it on now as I write this post and work on the Lucre follow-up, And the Signal Fell Silent.*

That may be the first time I've mentioned the title to the second book. What do you think?

This isn't music I ever listen to outside or writing. And I honestly can't tell you why I'm listening to it now. It's not usually my thing. More of a rock/pop guy myself. But these bands and this music help me be productive. I don't know if they put my head in the right place to write these New Eden stories or what. But I'll keep listening as long as I keep being productive.

Complete second draft on Scrib'd.

I posted a completed second draft to Chasing Filthy Lucre on Scrib'd. It's here. Read it. Let me know what you think.

First draft revisions complete

Last night I finally finished the last of the revisions on the first draft of Chasing Filthy Lucre. I think what was holding me up was the fact that I had to add a section that amped up the tension in the third section. When it was all said and done, after all the adding and taking away of words I wound up with just over 21,000 words in length. Translated to actual print pages it comes out to just over 70 printed pages. That's not bad, and if I stick with my pricing plan in the beginning, seems like a fair value at $1.99. Now, consumers could disagree. In that case I'll have to make some adjustments. But that's one of the nice things about doing this on my own. I can make those changes on the fly.

I am getting ready to print the second draft in a little bit and get a jump on the second round of edits. I am eager to keep with my internal deadline of an early December release. Like I'd said previously I'd like to be out before the holiday and possibly get a few nice reviews up before all those people open their e-readers on Christmas morning and go looking for something to populate them with.

I am still working on expanding my Consider Us Even piece. And the plan I mentioned for it earlier involving Smashwords is changing some but still in the works. Hoping I can get that done soon too. Again, a pre-Christmas launch would be great.

So, that's what's happening here. Things are still trucking along.

Oh, and before I go, I mentioned previously some plans I was making for more regular content. That's still bubbling. Still thinking on that. But you have seen one thing I want to do already show up. I am going to try and do writing quotes regularly. I like them, but if you happen to think they are a waste of time let me know. Could change my mind.

Chasing Filthy Lucre: Excerpt 5

And we keep on rolling. Here's part five. Hope you all are enjoying this. If you missed the previous sections find them here:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

Chasing Filthy Lucre: Excerpt 4

Excerpt the fourth. Tell me what you think, good or bad.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Chasing Filthy Lucre: Excerpt 3

Here's Part 3 of Chasing Filthy Lucre. Again, if you like it let me know. If you hate it let me know that too. Just do it gently. If you see something that needs to be fixed I also want to know that.

In the past I put up Part 1 here.
And Part 2 here.

Chasing Filthy Lucre: Excerpt 2

Here's the second excerpt from Chasing Filthy Lucre. Our two heroes get to know a little more about each other.

In case you missed it the previous section is here: Excerpt 1

Chasing Filthy Lucre: Excerpt 1

Wanted to share a bit of the first part of Chasing Filthy Lucre. Thought I'd serialize the first section on the blog while I still try and get things ready to publish. These will be longer than the previous excerpts. I didn't write this in chapters, so the lengths may vary. Here's the first. I'd love to hear what you think, both good and bad.

So, about that plan

I suppose it's not so secret if you looked at the cover I posted last week. You read the words on the cover and you get the idea of what I have in mind. I am going to put my story that I used to call Getting Even up for download with a preview of Chasing Filthy Lucre inside.

Obviously, I am calling it Consider Us Even now. I like the way it sounds better. No other reason than that. The plan is that people will read the story and read the excerpt of CFL and be enticed to read more. Whether it works I won't know until I release the novella. I'm hopeful, though.

Originally I'd planned on selling the release, but thought better of it after talking to some folks over at Kindle Boards. I proposed the idea to the writers there who have much more experience at publishing ebooks than I do. They alls aid the idea of a short with a teaser was a good one but that they'd offer it for free. Their arguments were persuasive. So, when I get everything formatted and corrections made to Part One of CFL -- the section I am using as a preview -- then I'll post to Smashwords and we'll see how it goes. I am shooting to have it ready in the next couple of weeks. At Smashwords you can get regular updates on how many folks are downloading your books. I'll keep an eye on those numbers and keep you posted here.

I have a plan

I have a plan. It involves this cover. I'll explain more later. But for now, what do you think of this? And yes, it looks like the other one for a reason.

CFL first draft finished

That's it. We're done. Told you we were close. I wrote the final words tonight on the first draft of Chasing Filthy Lucre. I already know what needs to be fixed, but I can't tell you how happy I am. And a bit proud, to be honest. This is easily the longest thing I have ever finished. I've done a few things that are about half this long, but nothing like this.

I think I have a good story on my hands and I am ready to get back into it and make it better. But for now, for tonight, I am going to sit and enjoy that my 20,000 word little piece is finished.

What's next?

I'm getting very, very close to having the first draft of Chasing Filthy Lucre done. Very close. Like we are probably only a few days away. That's not say I am done with it. Far from it. There are a couple of scenes I need to add in previous sections that will beef up a storyline that's underwritten so far. I also need to go back and add some conflict to my climax. Right now it's just too easy for them to get done what they need to get done. I like my characters and they have been through a lot so far, but this needs to be harder for them. Sorry, guys and girl.

Even though there is still work left to do on the first book, I am already thinking about the second one. Have given it a little thought today and think I may know the climax already. So that's exciting. Now I just need to figure out everything that happens up to that. And that's not as exciting.

Chasing Filthy Lucre: Part Two on Scribd

I've uploaded the second part of Chasing Filthy Lucre to Scribd. You can read it here. It's the ramp up of the story. There's a big action scene and the tension rises. At least I hope it does. Read it and let me know.

An update on other numbers from Scribd. I am nearing 400 total reads. I am hoping that Part Two will get me past that number by the weekend. It should. Part One is nearing 250 reads. The super short Make it a Double is nearing 150 reads. I am happy with those numbers.

Please read Part Two. Give me feedback. I want this thing to be the best it can be.

Another unedited excerpt

Here's a bit of what I've been working on. It's from the beginning of Part Four. I don't think it gives anything away. No specifics, anyway. But some might consider what's included here as a spoiler, so I'll warn you in advance. This may be a bit of a spoiler. And this is unedited writing that's about ten minutes old so be nice if there are typos or grammar mistakes.

The steps to my apartment seemed longer and taller that night. It felt like I was on the top of Everest by the time I made it to my door. I fished in my pocket for keys and, once inside, I collapsed into the chair in the middle of the room and rubbed my arm. It had been a few days since I’d been on the wire. I told myself that I wouldn’t plug in until we’d finished all of our business.

Out the window I could still see the flames coming over the tops of buildings and I could hear the crowds of people gathered down at the docks, either to help or just to watch the destruction.

I plugged the feed into my port and felt the warmth over take me. From my elbow up to my shoulder. From my shoulder down my back and up my neck. Then down to my toes. Everything went fuzzy and the red from the flames became and orange mess as I slowly faded away.

I woke the next morning with a pool of drool on my chest and the sun beating on my face. I tried to pull my left arm up to my face to check my watch, but I couldn’t lift it. I’d over done it and my arm was dead. Not literally, but for a few hours it was useless.

I stumbled out of the chair and went through my morning routine one-handed. Toothpaste on the toothbrush. Shampoo in my hair. Making toast. All of it just a little more difficult. But that was OK because we’d taken care of our business. We’d made what happened to Carroll right. Made it all square.