Alright, I'm writing a new book of sorts. I did this as a presentation and wanted to explore what we do as a business to manage multiple series. At this time, I have 11 different series across four or so genres. All of them with massively different profit profiles. Because of that, we need to work out how to manage all these series, how to make use of the resources (time and money) most efficie...
2024-03-06 16:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostLots to update, so I'll get right into it.
A Thousand Li
A Thousand Li: the Fourth Stage released on March 1, 2024. For those who are patrons, the next book is already releasing and about 3/4 done on release to patrons. I just finished editing it, so it'll be going to the editor later in the ...
2024-03-05 14:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostYang Mu sensed the explosion of energy, the twisting of a thread and the connections that bound her to all those around. She felt one particular thread, one she had kept close attention to fading, slipping away. Almost, almost she turned away from what she was doing, but controlled herself.
She would not fail him, or those that relied upon her. She would trust that Wu Ying would manage to...
2024-03-05 14:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostViolence was an inevitability the moment the Wei’s treachery had become apparent. That so many lives had been wasted on the attack before just to test the Shen spoke of opponents who valued little but their own objectives. Any impediment was but an obstacle to be removed, even if said impediment might be a relative or something more illusory - like honor.
The only question in Wu Ying’...
2024-03-01 14:00:15 +0000 UTC View PostMost of you who read this probably got an idea about what I'm going to discuss, but for those slower; this is a discussion about the backend of publishing, sales numbers and the reality of completing a hit series.
The Background
Some of you (most?) probably know that I had/have a hit series called 2024-02-29 15:04:17 +0000 UTC View Post
You might have noticed there are some new support tiers along with a renaming of the current ones.
With the start of a new year, I did a reevaluation on the membership tiers. It's been quite a few years since starting Patreon and I haven't updated since then.
Majority of the tiers are staying the same - no changes to rewards or pricing. They are just getting updated with new names...
Two days. It took them two days before they were willing to meet again. The missives from Cai had grown in number and ever more strenuous in their demands for a meeting before a final ultimatum had been sent. They would meet and continue the negotiations today, or the Cai would leave.
Given no other choice, the allied nations had chosen to meet.
“All of us,” Wu Ying muttered, lo...
2024-02-27 14:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostA wide swath of destroyed earth and a slurry of decaying vegetation was all that was left behind. In the early light of dawn, as the sky slowly lightened, the desolate land that still smoke could be seen. The stench from the rotting and poisoned area rose upwards, contained through the use of multiple daos. Standing far back, pink and green dust from groundup pills were being spread by apotheca...
2024-02-23 14:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostThey came when Wu Ying was asleep. Whoever it was that was in control of their opponents, they chose to pursue their objectives when the cultivator was resting. The hour of the wolf, the hours just before dawn, when hope for a new day’s arrival was at the greatest and the physical mind and body was the lowest. When doubts and the darkness of the evening extended, till there was nothing but sh...
2024-02-20 14:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post**Author Note: Preview chapters are rough/first drafts. These chapters have not been edited, expect that there may be errors - however, feel free to point out consistency issues!*
They had a feast of course, when the hunting party arrived with all the meat. Fresh meat, fresh spirit deer meat after so much preserved food was something to be valu...
Alright, so at the start of February, I visited Dublin and the Author Sustainability Conference. I have to say, just having a chance to go to Ireland and Dublin City itself and some of hte surroundings was a ton of fun. I wish I had more time to actually explore Ireland properly, just grab a car and drive around but with only a few days free; I chose to make the most of it in the city itself be...
2024-02-14 19:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post
Mo Meng is reminded of that fact once again, as the Nameless Restaurant faces a new challenge. Magic and its old wielders are returning to the world. For the restaurant, wards of anonymity and camouflage are fading, leading to the arrival of new customers. And some older friends.
What started as a way to pass the decade...
2024-02-13 20:00:27 +0000 UTC View Post“Elder Long. Or do you prefer your title, Verdant Gatherer?” Lord Shi Mu, uncle to the First Prince of Wei, brother of the queen and thus a man of great importance and no importance at all. A portly older man, one who rode his magnificent steed with all the grace of a country bumpkin. A man who, if Wu Ying was to listen to the rumors around him, was both a strategic genius and a man who’d...
2024-02-13 14:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostTrue to Wu Ying's projections, the hunt itself for the first four hours had been monotonous. The cultivators had ridden out with great fanfare, promising to bring back meat and edibles, but had soon encountered the unforgiving reality of their environment. After over a week of constant hunts, the majority of the wildlife in the surroundings had either been killed and consumed or fled for furthe...
2024-02-09 14:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostLet's talk about writing in series and standalones. Now, we've talked repeatedly about how writing in series makes it much easier to market your work. While I don't have any definitive numbers (not sure anyone does); but my experience has been that you get:
After the third day, Wu Ying grew adept at declining challenges. After all, there was only so many times he could do battle with the various members of the Cai vanguard before it was clear that he outmatched them all in skill of arms. Within the bounds of the rulesets and the challenge, they could not match him.
They, of course, grew creative. Insisting on a variation of weapon styles, of...
2024-02-06 14:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostThey met, later that evening, to discuss all that they had learnt. There were many such things to discuss, from their progress in their negotiations to what the duellists had learnt. Wu Ying and Yin Xue were not the only ones challenged that day, not even the only ones challenged in the ring. Elder Hsu had his own fights, though his hand occurred much earlier in the morning, as the man had appr...
2024-02-02 14:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostSo, some of you might have noticed that we have multiple translations. To do them, we've used two different services and done translations ourselves direct. Babelcube was who we started with.
What is Babelcube
Babelcube offers a 3rd party website where they allow authors / right holders to put up books for translation. Translators then bid and send in sample work to...
2024-01-31 15:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post"My apologies, that the delay is taking so long, Cultivator Long," Colonel Lang said, bowing a little to Wu Ying as he faced him across the other end of the stage they stood upon. It still smoked, even the stone having heated and remnant dirt and debris having caught flame. High above, Wu Ying could sense the last of the steam dispersing back into the environment, the updraft conjured from the ...
2024-01-30 14:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post"Will you honour us, with an exchange of pointers?"
Three days. Three interminable days, thankfully broken up finally on this day as the guards were reduced. The initial fear of betrayal had faded, the intention of the Cai seeming to truly be a negotiation in good faith. Oh, it did not stop them from manipulating the discussions such that Shen and Wei delegations spent hours long into the...
2024-01-26 14:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostHello All,
Thank you very much for your continued support while I write Wu Ying's new adventures!
Here is your complimentary e-book copy: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/2yb4c4wskz
**Please download/add the ebook to your library by 29th February! The link will go inactive after that.**
Here's your ...
2024-01-26 13:43:51 +0000 UTC View PostOne of the things that i do automatically, which I realised I've never talked about was how I evaluate promotional tools and tactics that come across my board, figuring out if they're worth it.
So, I guess it's time to talk about what I do in my head and how this might work for others.
Cost
The first thing you do when you come across a new promotional tool or ...
2024-01-24 20:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostThe next morning, deep bags beneath a lot of the younger cultivator eyes. The start of the negotiations that day happened faster, only simple announcements of those enterring this time, only for the most notable of personages. If they had to make formal announcements for them all, with the full list of titles and honors, it would never end. Too many hours would be spent on these things, and so ...
2024-01-23 14:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostThe conflict began that night, the first sally forth by the King of Cai successful. The argument was conducted quietly, behind words of veiled intention and careful insistence between tentative allies. Egos, grown rampant and watered by bureaucrats and courtiers over decades, now clashed as they sought to lay claim over gifts they considered theirs.
Even cultivators, supposedly wiser and ...
2024-01-19 14:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostWas asked about resources and information about non-Amazon Income and how to generate it. Wrote up a post in reply, so taking portions of it to rewrite them here. Let me start that I don't know if there's a lot of best practices talking about this in particular. When it comes to generating direct (or at least, non-retailer) income, I've put together a giant list already in a previous post...
2024-01-17 15:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostThe negotiating venue for the meeting of the three kingdoms was not an enclosed building of wood or a spirit instrument of temporary construction but an overly large tent, fields of force and strategically located fires burning along merrily within to provide warmth to the participants during the occassional cold spring nights. Chambers within the tent were partitioned away as necessary by stra...
2024-01-16 14:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post**Author Note: Preview chapters are rough/first drafts. These chapters have not been edited, expect that there may be errors - however, feel free to point out consistency issues!*
They met, long after the dawn had risen and departed, offering naught in its passing but a memory and early morning dew. The various government groups had to make a ceremony of their arrival, g...
This post is coming on the backend of the 2023 Year In Review Post. It's the entire discussion on year in review that had me thinking about what it is to define success and to review what we've been doing as a business. I'm going to write about defining success here in terms of an individual book and it's launch.
A Cost Based Approach
So, one approach to looking at ...
2024-01-11 04:00:01 +0000 UTC View PostA week to set-up the building that would host their negotiations, The massive building, the awnings and outdoor seating, the manufactured gardens that would allow the speakers to sit, speak with one another quietly as points of contention were discussed in non-official settings.
For Wu Ying, that week was a quiet, if tense one. He could not cultivate deeply, forced to allow the Dragon's B...
2024-01-09 14:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostBy the time Wu Ying had returned, barely an hour had passed and dinner had been served and consumed. The cultivators of the Shen had gathered once more, even the Patriarch of the Six Flags present at this time. Even with his august presence, it was the younger Sect Head that spoke and lead the meeting.
"Tomorrow, we shall begin the negotiations. There will be no meeting till the introduct...
2024-01-05 14:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post