The Journal, Tuesday, 8/29

Hey Folks,

In the interest of “fair and balanced reporting,” via The Digital Reader check out David Gaughran’s “The Visibility Gambit” at https://davidgaughran.wordpress.com/2017/08/28/the-visibility-gambit/. Spoiler Alert: This is in favor of going with Amazon KDP Select, but be sure to read the comments too. Hey, whatever works for you.

To learn more about KDP Select (this feeds Kindle Unlimited) and determine whether it’s right for you, visit https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/.

Be sure to also read https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/A6KILDRNSCOBA?ref_=kdp_KDPS_faq/ and then click the link for KDP Terms and Conditions and read that.

I decided today to take a chance, though really it isn’t much of a risk on my part. I took down every Wes Crowley publication (10 novels plus The Wes Crowley Saga Parts 1 & 2 plus one short story) from both Smashwords and D2D.

In about a week, when I know those books have had time to clear all the vendors to whom Smashwords and D2D distributes, I’ll add them all to Amazon’s KDP Select.

I also changed the buy links on my website for those books to only Amazon.

Yep, I’m gonna give exclusivity a shot. I figure it’ll be a good test, given that western-genre fiction is about the worst selling anyway.

I know my (dismal) sales numbers from all the other venues, and I can still do double-digit math, so the comparison should be revealing in one way or another. Either a lot more sales through KDP Select or not.

Topic: Writing to Market

DWS always says fervently “Don’t write to market!” I’ve always followed that advice and simply wrote whatever came out of my subconscious next. It’s a little like shooting at a flea thirty yards away with a twelve-gauge loaded with birdshot.

But the guys I referred you to yesterday say writing to market isn’t necessarily a bad thing IF it’s in a genre you want to write anyway. To me, that makes sense.

I’ve written a lot of westerns. I have 10 novels, a 10-novel box set, two 5-novel sets, a novella and a slew of short stories. So if reader interest ever swings back to westerns, I’m pretty well positioned.

I’ve written several SF books and stories. But SF (either fiction or fantasy) is at the lower selling end of the market too.

But I also enjoy writing psychological suspense stuff. In that, I’m including mysteries, crime fiction and thrillers. And that’s where “writing to market” comes into play.

Those sub-genres — especially mystery — are selling near the top of the market.

So I’m gonna bend my mind in that direction for awhile. I have a few ideas for a psychological suspense series main character. Now all I have to do is be patient as I work through this time-off period and then write.

The point of all this — if you want to write to market, and if it’s in a genre you enjoy writing, go for it.

Today and Writing

Wrote all the stuff above, looked for my online workshop but the password isn’t up yet (see “Of Interest”).

I’ll finish readng To Have and Have Not (Hemingway) this morning, then check for the workshop again, then do something else.

Well, as you might have imagined, I read for the rest of the day other than checking to see whether the password for this week’s installment of the online workshop is up yet. It wasn’t.

It will be wonderful to write stories again when that time comes. It’s coming soon. I can feel it. But not yet.

Back tomorrow.

Of Interest

DWS is going through some sort of personal stuff. He said it’s not a big deal (see http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/some-issues/) but this is the first time I’ve seen him NOT post even the passwords for the online workshops in time. So something’s up. If you pray, you might send a few his way.

Fiction Words: XXXX
Nonfiction Words: 640 (Journal)
So total words for the day: 640

Writing of ()

Day 1…… XXXX words. Total words to date…… XXXXX

Total fiction words for the month……… 16642
Total fiction words for the year………… 379620
Total nonfiction words for the month… 16240
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 135350
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 514970

The Daily Journal blog streak……………………………………… 640 days
Calendar Year 2017 Novel Goal (15 novels or novellas)………………… 8 novels or novellas
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)………………………………………… 26
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)……………………………………… 4
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)……………………………… 181