Plans for print

I've signed up for my first sci-fi convention. It's in a few weeks and I'm excited. It's a convention that's much more literary than what they put on in San Diego every year. It's much more literary than the conventions that are put on around here every year. At least that's the impression I get. One of the local newspapers called the convention one of the best annual book functions in the area. It should be fun. I should get to meet some cool people who are fans of sci fi. These should be my potential readers.

I am going to do what I can to meet folks and network since I won't be the only writer there. I'm also going to do what I can to hand sell my book. I've planned to have some postcards made up that will include the Chasing Filthy Lucre book cover on one side and information on how to buy the ebook on the other.

I'm also going to have hard copies. I'd never planned on putting out  a hard copy of Chasing Filthy Lucre. It was just too short to make it worth while, or so I thought. But this convention got me thinking about selling a small number of hard copies. So the plan is to have some hard copies printed and carry them with me in a bag. If talk to someone and they want to buy a copy then I can go to the bag. I'm expecting to see a proof from the good folks at Createspace in the next few days. If it looks good, I should be able to order some hard copies in time for the convention.

But doing the work on the print edition made me think a little more about possibilities and I've got some ideas. Exciting ideas, at least on this end. It'll involve print editions, autographs, selling books through the blog and, potentially, a personal web site. The plan still isn't fully developed but right now I'm thinking there will be limited first editions copies that will be available for a little more cost, second and third editions that will be a little cheaper. And overall they will be cheaper than most self-published print books. That was a goal when I started putting these print editions together. I wanted to be able to sell them for less than $10.

One of the problems I've always had with self-published print books is the cost. For the author to make any money they have to charge a price that most people aren't willing to pay. Chasing Filthy Lucre, though, won't be that. I'm keeping the profits low in the hopes that I can move more books, make it almost an impulse purchase.

I'll go more into my print plans as they become a little more set in stone. But I'm excited about what's coming up, and wanted to let you all know.