Wednesday, August 17, 2011

ROW80: Oh, Snapple.

Ha! Finally out the other side of the time-suck gauntlet. Football has slowed down to the more manageable single practice a day schedule. School starts again pretty soon. We have our first game this Friday. It'll still be a struggle to get my writing done (energy is at a premium in-season), but it becomes more about motivation than time. (Which is why I have y'all and ROW80, right?)

Here's a quick look at the goals:
  • Publishing Lesson Learned: Sony and Apple are trying hard to increase ebook presence.  More on why this is important after the list.
  • WIP Pages: 6.  On target.  Just barely squeezed this one in.  I want this number to start going up a bit as I near the end of the WIP.  I'm hoping to have it done by the end of the month so I can get it to editors and give us time to perhaps hit Christmas.  That may be an ambitious goal, though.
  • Blogging: This makes 4/3 for here with one fiction post.  3/3 with one fiction post at the WoW Blog.  Goal exceeded.
Another good week.  It got a little dicey early on, but I pulled it out.  My "side-goal" of getting my WIP done this month is going to be rough for me.  On one hand, I would really like to get it done and out for editing.  On the other, I don't like to rush myself.  The book business is still my second job, not my first.  As such, I need to be sure to keep the other areas of my life in balance (and take care that I don't "burn out").  Still, I'm hoping that as I get into some of these end scenes, the words will flow a lot easier.  That's usually how it happens.

With regards to the publishing lesson, I mentioned that Apply and Sony are trying to shake things up a bit.  Apple, by disallowing in-app purchases, is trying to drive people to their iBookstore.  Amazon has countered with a web-app, but the intent is there. 

Sony announced that they're going to be selling readers pre-loaded with the Harry Potter series come Christmas.  Want to know a sure way to entice new customers to pick your reader?  Two words: Harry Friggin' Potter.  Since each device is tied to its own store, look for the Sony store to perhaps see some more significant sales numbers.  Kindle and Nook are still tops, but it's good to be poised to take advantage of new markets.  If you're an Indie Author and you use Smashwords, you should already have this covered.  Check your Distribution Channel.

It was nice to get a comment from Nadja last week on my fiction post, so thanks for that.  Those are sort of my practice area, and I just try to have fun with them.  I have a definite story in mind, but it's pretty flexible.  It's good to hear what works, or what people conjecture about what's happening.  In this case, Nadja's comment is on the right line, which lets me know I'm laying the proper story foundation (without completely giving it away).  Now I just need to hit some action...

As always, I'll finish with Word Counts:
  • Since last check-in: 6,481
  • Fiction: 2,056
  • 32% New Fiction
  • Grand Total for the challenge: 39,072

8 comments:

Em said...

Brilliant word counts and your grand total for this challenge is amazing!

I hope now your football schedule has eased off you can use the added time (and energy!) to write. Good luck with your WIP.

Matt said...

Thanks, and I certainly hope that's the case!

Marie Andrews said...

Congrats on all of your accomplishments! Great job on those word counts :) I hope the rest of your week is productive. WOot!

Marie

Matt said...

Thanks. I always feel like I wish I could write more, faster. Get more books out. But slow and steady is good. It's not a sprint, it's a marathon.

Gerhi Feuren said...

Yes, Smashwords should have it covered. I'm still working through there formatting guidelines. It horrifies me that anybody chose .doc as a standard format but what can you do.

In the end I think more variety and division is good, as long as you can get your book into all channels.

Matt said...

Agreed. Though there is some danger to splitting your sales with respect to trying to crack bestseller lists. It's a dance of exposure against convenience. I tend to side for convenience, as that is better for the reader.

Robin M said...

Great job on the word counts. Yep, I'm at bit miffed at apple on the in app purchases thing but will get over it. Best of luck with finishing your wip this month. I'm shooting for the same thing but isn't going to happen since going on vacation next week. Have a great rest of the week.

Matt said...

Thanks! It's probably not going to happen for me either, but at least we're getting close :-).

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