Since I don't have a new chapter for you today, I hope you'll find this compensation sufficient ;)
I really like the bamboo forest in this cover! Random fun fact: there's a famous bamboo grove in Arashiyama, Kyoto. You've probably seen photos of it, because it's very popular!
Anyway, this cover is so cool!
- Kate
PS.: We'll be back to posting chapters next week. And we'l...
2020-07-04 13:58:18 +0000 UTC View PostJust a reminder if you've missed Tao's earlier announcement that he is on holiday this week. No internet.
None. I doubt he even has cell reception.
That said, I don't have an edited chapter 5 for master class & higher tiers. We'll skip this Saturday, then resume updates when Tao gets back and edits new chapters. We will probably do a double update or an extra update during the w...
2020-07-02 16:38:13 +0000 UTC View PostRealised I forgot to mention something while working on the promotional side that is important (mostly on a tactical level, though some strategic understanding is required).
The Rule of 7
That is, the Rule of 7 (or 20 or 5) for ads. Specifically, the idea that you need multiple interactions or views with an advertisement or brand before an individual will take...
2020-07-01 17:00:00 +0000 UTC View PostHi guys;
So, I'm nearly at 70k words (or 60k if you take out world notes) on the manuscript. That doesn't mean I'm close to ending, it seems I'm ssomewhere in the middle, maybe 60%? I know roughly the plot points I need to cover, and the next few will take up a bit of time. So, we'll see where get to. There are complications that wll be arriving soon....
Today is an editing da...
2020-06-26 16:04:56 +0000 UTC View PostLast week, I talked about the minimum tools you needed. I'm going to start naming a few other tools I make use of and the various main promotional options. I'll cover each briefly, but realise that most of these require significant amount of time to get right. Again, remember, each promotional center below will touch people at different areas in the sales funnel, so figuring out where and when ...
2020-06-25 02:00:01 +0000 UTC View PostThis thread is for people who have finished reading the book.
It's a little bit of a different kind of book, hopefully not boring. I had a ton of fun with writing it and it's easily the largest book I've written at 126k words.
So, feel free to comment, discuss, etc.
PS:
I just got the proofread copy back, we're in the midst of doing up PDFs/etc and will hav...
2020-06-19 16:30:45 +0000 UTC View PostOur last two posts have been on the theoretical side of marketing promotions, the tools that you need to have a proper promotional strategy and the kind of things you need to build out the promotional calendar.
This week, we're going to talk about what I think should be the core part of any promotional toolbox.
Author Website
Firstly, you need a pla...
2020-06-18 01:59:59 +0000 UTC View PostHello, Kate here.
You might've noticed the Epilogue of Stars Asunder was posted for master class & above today, or maybe you've noticed the series table of contents post says "completed".
No worries if you have a different tier, you'll get the rest of the chapters on the usual days: Saturdays & Tuesdays and will be able to read the Epilogue chapter before the book comes out ...
2020-06-16 12:19:34 +0000 UTC View PostLast time, we talked about a very theoretical concept; which was the line. This week, I want to talk about some concepts and tools I recommend you start thinking about.
Sales Funnel
Pretty sure I've talked about it before, but when you're building out your ...
2020-06-11 03:59:59 +0000 UTC View PostHi all the new patrons and resubscribing patrons;
I know I don't say that often enough, but hi everyone. Thanks for subscribing and sticking around for my constant flow of random chapters and business musings and... all the rest.
Went into a small rant on r/litrpg (reddit) 'cause an author used marketing instead of promotions (and not even that). *sighs* I know I'm quite often inexa...
2020-06-09 16:13:44 +0000 UTC View PostHello!
Kate here. I've sent all of you messages earlier about you benefits, but you might've not noticed it, so here's this post, because Tao wants to do right by you :)
Audiobook (Audible) codes for everyone who can see this post:
- A Jinn's Wish
- Rebel Star
Please let me know either in the comments or via message if you haven't receiv...
2020-06-04 14:36:57 +0000 UTC View PostI swear, I'll get around to finishing that marketing plan post. I actually have 3 others (all promotions) written, for the next 3 weeks. And then, the world went to hell - or was always in hell and things just got brought to the surface - and well. Here we are. I'm doing a slightly different blog post.
Author Brand
I talked about author brand before, how certain aut...
2020-06-03 15:00:36 +0000 UTC View PostJust did a writing update:
https://www.mylifemytao.com/writing-life-and-protests/
While off-line I've been cooking and baking.
- pineapple tarts
- banana bread (mostly done by th...
2020-06-01 20:34:16 +0000 UTC View PostThis is an extract from a reply where someone was discussing Show vs Tell in another FB group. I figured I'd repost it here with some minor edits to make it make more sense as a blog post.
The example given was how a book had 'an old man in a library that he swiped his pass card through'. And that was all telling vs showing.
One thing to consider is that the discussion on Show vs Te...
2020-05-29 21:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostSo, Patreon is putting on sales tax. I'm not going to edit it, but basically, I've already gone in and edited the basic tiers. In some cases, the full amount of the tax won't be applied since some of it will be marked as 'general support' while other parts will be taxed.
The exact amount is going to vary a lot, depending on where you are located, what the tax amount is, etc. But, roughly,...
2020-05-29 04:05:51 +0000 UTC View PostSo, marketing promotion is a HUGE area. Like, there are literal advertising agencies that focus on a single area of promotion. Expecting me to cover everything in a single book or post or series of posts is impossible.
Instead, I'm going to play with some basic overall concepts for people to consider.
Firstly, let's talk basic concepts. That is 'The Line' in Promoti...
2020-05-28 04:00:00 +0000 UTC View PostAlright, since I'm up at 5am today, unable to sleep; I figured I'd start out with one of the pieces of reality for me.
I'm one of those chronic pain sufferers. Those who have met me in-person at Dragoncon or otherwise might have noticed my limping and the constant twitches I have, rotating my neck / shoulder / wrists.
I have some congenital issues and a bunch of things that cropped ...
2020-05-26 12:54:41 +0000 UTC View PostSo, been thinking of whether I should post more personal stuff. Not personal personal, but stuff that I think about in the publishing industry, my own musings about the writing process, personal stuff that affects my writing or things like that.
Oh, and occasionally, food. :) Because food is always fun.
2020-05-26 02:36:12 +0000 UTC View PostIt's finally done. Just one more!
PDF: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DmcmWgdo1UQGywx5dxMzfPrIC27V08Ga/view?usp=sharing
Mobi: https://drive.g...
2020-05-22 18:12:43 +0000 UTC View PostSo, working on the second expedition. Trying for shorter chapters here, which means I'm now at Chapter 4, just 'cause doing 7k chapters is incredibly annoying when it comes to editing. It seems the rhythm of shorter chapters works here anyway, so we're looking at 3k chapters on average.
I haven't edited any of them as yet, and I'm dictating due to the tendinitis. That's subsided, since I ...
2020-05-22 02:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostWe talked about Products before in the previous post, about the various ways you can and should consider how your product can be created.
Now, here's something else to consider.
Product Line Management
Remember how I had a whole post on the Growth Sh...
2020-05-21 01:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
I thought I'd get a different artist to do Asin. I wanted something a little more Manga. This was a little too cute for my taste, but it's still kind of cool. Been debating if I want to pay out for a bunch of line art / manga art and then redo the entire
Do people like this artist? If so, should I continue doing art with him for all of AoB? Or do another series with them?
Or s...
2020-05-15 01:23:12 +0000 UTC View PostStars Asunder is out at editors. Not expecting to hear much for a bit.
Took yesterday off mostly, no real work. Today was spent editing another piece of work, so no new words.
I'm playing around with the story for A Thousand Li (since that seems to be major vote) in my head. I am trying to figure out the opening, and the major plot points a little more before I write. Might no...
2020-05-15 00:07:56 +0000 UTC View PostShifting away from marketing to do a very, very quick and basic post about finances and accounting. I'm seeing some issues with the way people calculate profits and/or forgetting to ask the right questions. Or just bad use of terminology.
So, I'm going to try to tackle that today. Let's start with the basics. Realise this is incredibly simplified since it doesn't include things like poten...
2020-05-13 21:00:01 +0000 UTC View PostAND DONE! Star's Asunder is finished and on its way to the editors.
Some statisics:
28 Chapters. 1 Epilogue.
134,591 with my world notes
126,842 with normal backmatter (without frontmatter)
122,265 without backmatter (glossary, etc). Basically, the book.
Two aching tendinitis hands.
One pooped Tao.
And one poll. What should I do next?
2020-05-12 20:26:42 +0000 UTC View PostHello~
Kate here. I've just re-uploaded all currently available chapters, so feel free to check them out for some extra foreshadowing ;)
As for the schedule: I'll update with ch13 tomorrow for Master class & above and all the other tiers will unlock one new chapter, as well :) Look out for the TOC-update to keep track.
We'll continue with the Tuesday...
2020-05-08 16:20:32 +0000 UTC View PostHello!
Kate here. Tao did a lot of work already, so I've updated chapters 1-7. Feel free to check them out again, since some foreshadowing has been added ;)
Tao continues to fix chapters day by day, so I'll update whenever he is done with the next batch. Right now, the latest chapter available for the highest tiers is chapter 12. Once we reach that, updates will resume. I'l...
2020-05-06 18:28:59 +0000 UTC View PostOne thing I recently ran into, and I realised people might not realise is the value of contracts. To put in a short way, a contract is only as useful as your ability and desire to enforce it. Otherwise, it's just a piece of paper.
Enforcement
Let's say you decide to sign a foreign publishing deal with someone in Mongolia. They promise to ...
2020-05-06 17:00:00 +0000 UTC View PostAs mentioned, I have no idea how long books get. I cut out a few things, because they didn't fit the ending that John decided to make. Or me. Hmmm.... I can't blame John for this ending as much, he mostly listened.
Mostly.
Anyway, I just typed 'The End' on the 1st draft. Current word count - 117,718.
I expect it'll go up more. I need to fit in a bunch of foreshadowing, some ot...
2020-05-05 00:08:07 +0000 UTC View PostGood Morning Everyone!
Kate here. I know you all love Tao's books and insights about the publishing industry and you're just as excited for Stars Asunder (book 9 in The System Apocalypse series) to come out as Tao is, writing it!
While we prepare for the July 1st launch date, he thought of a fun way to spread the System- I mean, love for the series to more people: every wee...
2020-05-04 09:20:31 +0000 UTC View Post