Tao Wong

Author SEO - All You Need

 For the vast, vast majority of authors, search engine optimisation (SEO) is not needed.

Want to know if you need it? 

Run a search in icognito for 'your name author' or 'novelist' or 'writer'. If your page shows up on page 1 (preferably spot 1, though goodreads, FB & amazon might show up higher); you're good.

Do the same with your series names.

If they are...

Quick Update

At a writing workshop as mentioned. Can't provide details just yet, but overall, happy and learning a lot.

I'm likely going to adjust my writing schedule (again!) but it's not in a bad way. I am still writing Stars Asunder which is on it's 2nd chapter right now. A bit slow since I've got all the workshop going on, but I'm slowly adding a few hundred words here and there to it. Once it's d...

Paperbacks - All about It

Let's start talking about paperback sales.

I'm currently testing out a bunch of paperback sales on Ingram Sparks. Specifically, I'm creating / have created:

- 6 x 9" paperbacks

- 6 x 9" hardcovers

- 6 x 9" paperback large print (only for LitN right now)

These are all distributed on Ingram Sparks, so it's available for 'wide' distribution. 

I'm noticing a...

System Apocalypse Issue 4 Comic!

Guess what? Issue 4 of the Comic is out.

Here's the link to the MOBI (Kindle) file:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FsAPsuAuv_B7Y0W65TMeD4WWFY42PU3t/view?usp=sharing

And this is the EPUB version:
2020-02-19 18:06:54 +0000 UTC View Post

Update - Change of Writing Plans

So. While First War gets updated; I meant to edit another piece of work.

I've decided against it. Way too much work. 

So, I'm probably going to just get started on Stars Asunder. I have little bits of Chapter 1 done; but amusingly, I'm having the post-book blues again. Even if I didn't write / finish anything.

Maybe it's post-project blues? 

Whatever. Suffice t...

Incomplete(ish) Story

So. Remember I said I had some shorts, etc. Still waiting to get some of them sorted, but this is the novel that I wrote a while ago. It's basically a fan fiction based in the World of Darkness system that I wrote... 20 years ago.

I tried ripping it apart, removing all the IP stuff. Got about 3 chapters in, realised that I couldn't do it. Not just because the IP is quite deeply embedded, ...

Picking Suppliers

This post coming to you after dealing with another bunch of rubbish in my (finally) fully closed business.

I've been picking and working with suppliers / contractors / employees for a long time. There are signs that people will not work, and if you ignore them, there is a lot of issues that come from it. Due to pressing timing and circumstances (and not having full control of the process)...

Are you ready for a sneak peek?

Drumrolls please; look at this fantastic cover of Book 9 in the System Apocalypse series! Isn't it gorgeous?

What are you most looking forward to in book 9? 

Publishing Goals- deciding what you want

So goals.

I'm not talking about money goals though that can be part of this. I'm talking about  the goals that you have as a writer and as an individual. If you're going to be writing, you have to decide why you are doing it and why you are publishing. That's two different things.

You can write all you want inside a notebook, and never show it to anyone else. Y...

Writing in a Series - Numbers

So, I realised my earlier post about breakeven analysis & timelines for ebooks & audiobooks might have been a little pessimistic about the life of a self-published a...

Format Unit & Revenue Percentage Charts

Alright, let's start out with three big charts.

Firstly, these are % charts off one the...

Quick Updates

Hi all!

The System Apocalypse Short Story Anthology Volume 1 has released. 

I've messaged everyone I believe who should get the code. In some cases, I need to verify if you are in the US or UK before I send the code ove...

The Unspoken Requirement

One of the greatest unspoken requirement of having a career as an in the author is probably the biggest, most important requirement as well.

Being able to write an interesting and compelling book.

Craft matters.

All too often we talk about things like marketing, advertising and cover design, about strategies and longevity, but we ignore speaking of this requir...

Updates on Writing

Currently at 75k words on First War. I'm at the final scene(s)? so a couple more chapters before the big conflict is resolved. I expect a couple of scenes after that... so this book might be a little shorter than normal at around 85k.

There's a reason why I swear, I can't tell how long my books are. I thought it'd be 100k plus, but nope. Seems to hit less. Wu Ying and co. decided to do so...

Pricing - a business perspective

I very regularly hear a lot of people discuss pricing of ebooks. Now, I'm going to ignore KU in this stage and discuss pricing from the basic business perspective.  Generally, the complaint is when books are too expensive for how many pages there are / books are too expensive.

One of the biggest complaints was that anything over $3.99 is way too expensive. Obviously, I disagree with ...

Writing Process (Craft)

Someone asked me to write about my writing process. I pointed out that everyone has their own way of getting words down, so my process is probably of no use. But, since they insisted... here we go.

I've gone through three stages of writing thus far - hobby, part-time and professional. I'll discuss what happened in each, just so that maybe something can help.

Hobby 2020-01-12 17:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post

Business & Publishing Resources

Figured I should start creating this. Splitting this into a few areas. One is generic business advice, the other is more publishing.

Before you read this though, realise that I have a general business degree and a marketing degree. I also ran a business for 12 years. 

I have read a LOT of books, many of whom were just meh to me - because they reiterated what I knew with a nugge...

Business Expenses 2019

Spent most of yesterday getting my statements sorted out. I ended up deciding to create a pretty little pie chart of my business expenses. 

Sadly, I wasn't smart enough to break up my revenue by revenue sources, so it's impossible for me (without redoing the entire sheet) to work out my various revenue sources. Not that it would make a big difference since the majority of my revenue ...

Hi Everybody New!

Glad to have you all on-board.

Posts should be coming. One advantage of the new dictating / writing method is I'm actually editing as I go along, so you're getting close to 'final' product. Outside of potential areas for foreshadowing that I might miss, this is close to what you'll expect to see in the book.

Also,...

Questions, feel free to send them along. :)

For those ...

Quick Update

Hi guys;

So. I've decided to make some minor amendments. 

1) Discord now has a direct link. So depending on where you support, you get to link yourself up with shiny new colours on Discord.

2) The $1 tier has been edited slightly to remove business postings for future posts. I'm not going to go backwards and remove the other post, but new business related posts won't show...

Missed update - sorry!

Hello Everyone,

I'm sorry for the late chapter - it was supposed to be updated on Tuesday and I thought I had it scheduled but didn't. One more chapter is available now for everyone and the next update will be tomorrow as it's supposed to be.

Thank you for your understanding and sorry again about this.

(Kate - who posts the preview chapters for Tao)

Publishing in Series

This is something I came across from another writer - Patty Jansen in her Indie Writer Unboxed Series that I thought was very smart. It's something I intend to make use of in future planning for series writing.

The idea is really simple.

When starting a new series, have multiple drop-off points in your serie...