Category: Short Stories

Should I keep it free?

My first three ebooks have been available for free for several months, and I’m happy for all the attention they’ve received, but I’ve got mixed feelings now about keeping them free indefinitely.  Downloads have more or less bottomed out, and they aren’t really driving any interest in my other work, so part of me wonders if I shouldn’t just raise the price to $.99.

If I could, I would love to give away all my work for free.  However, I also want to make a living as a writer, so that isn’t really practical.  Granted, I don’t expect to make much selling these stories at $.99, but from a business side of things, I need to get at least some kind of recompense for my work.

What I really want to do is have the readers set the price for these stories, so that you can pay what you feel is fair.  If finances are tight or you just want to try me out, you can download them for free and that’s great.  If you’ve enjoyed my other work and want to support me, that’s great too.

Right now, Smashwords is the only place I know of that has that option.  If there aren’t any strident objections, I’m going to do that and make these stories $.99 at every other outlet.  I’ll keep them available for free at least until November, though, so if you haven’t already picked them up, feel free to do so now.

I also want to do this for the experiment: how does raising the price from free to $.99 affect sales?  I think the “free train” has more or less run its course, so it will be interesting and useful to see where the new equilibrium ends up.

Part I of Star Wanderers is finished!

That’s right–I was up until about 2 am last night finishing it.  Man, time goes by fast sometimes.  This is probably just the first part of a much longer novel, but I hit a good stopping point so I’ll probably put it on the back burner for now while I finish Edenfall and do a final polish for Desert Stars. 

What I really want to do is submit this first part to Writers of the Future, since it falls just under 15k words.  I might be a little biased, but I think it’s got potential. 🙂 It’s going to need some work, though; the story literally sprung out of my head one day, and while that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s bad, it’s probably missing a couple of scenes and needs some work with the transitions.  Also, the tone completely shifts midway, from a happy go lucky space adventure to something much more serious.  Not sure what to do about that.

So yeah, I’ll probably set this story aside for a little while so I can come back at it with fresh eyes.  It’s not too long, so the revisions should be pretty quick; hopefully, I’ll have it ready to submit to Writers of the Future before January.  If it doesn’t make the contest, I’ll shop it around the short markets for a year while I finish the novel-length version.  At some point I’ll probably epublish it, but I’m not sure when.

In other news, my short story “Decision LZ1527” just went free on Amazon, so if you want to pick up a copy or tell your friends, go right ahead!  It’s right around #200 in the Kindle free category now, but for some reason hasn’t hit any of the lists.  Hopefully that’ll change before the ranking drops back down.

“Decision LZ1527” first appeared in the December 2009 issue of Leading Edge, and was my first traditionally published short story.  Basically, it’s about a college freshman working up the courage to ask out a girl he likes, as told from the perspective of the little men inside his head.  Like Star Wanderers, the story just sprung out of my head one day.  It was a ton of fun to write, and I’m glad that so many others seem to enjoy it too.

In other news, I just got back the edits for Sholpan, so I’ll hopefully have that up on Amazon and other eretailers over the weekend.  More on that as it happens, but it’s happening soon.  I’d also like to put together a blog tour for Bringing Stella Home and Sholpan both, so if you’d like to have me on as a guest blogger, shoot me an email at joseph dot vasicek at gmail dot com.  More on that later as well.

And that’s just about it for now.  Take care, and I’ll see you around!

My first 1 star review

Well, I went through a significant rite of passage over the weekend: I got my first one star review on Amazon. 

The review was for “From the Ice Incarnate,” which doesn’t really surprise me because it’s currently my lowest rated story.  The biggest complaint seems to be that it feels more like a vignette than a complete story, which is a fair criticism.  I’ve tried to make it clear in the description that this is an excerpt from a larger work, so hopefully it doesn’t feel like a bait and switch.

I wish everyone loved all of my stories, but of course that’s not possible.  And although it’s easy to dismiss readers who complain about free ebooks, any book takes an investment of time and emotional energy; no matter what the price, the writer has a responsibility to deliver the best story they can write.

This is the reality of the new system: readers are the new gatekeepers, and rankings are one of the major ways that they give feedback.  It’s a lot more public than a rejection letter, but ultimately I think this is a much better way for stories to grow into their natural audience. 

Every writer gets one star reviews from time to time; writing is so subjective that it’s inevitable.  My object isn’t to please everybody, but to do my best and to be constantly learning. 

In the meantime, I’ll keep writing.

News, a correction, and an awesome AvB remix

Today I was supposed to finish the second draft of Sholpan, but I moved apartments this weekend, so everything got thrown completely out of whack.  I’m all moved into my new place now (with some awesome Quarkie roommates), but Sholpan is going to have to wait until Monday.

Fortunately, I’ve only got a couple of new scenes to write, then touch up the rest to make sure it fits the novella storyline.  I got in touch with my copy editor, and he should be able to have them for me by mid-September.  If all goes well, I’ll send it out to a couple of my first readers to give it a pass, make the fixes, and then send it out to Josh and have it up about a month from now.

I’ve gotten some amazing responses for “Memoirs of a Snowflake” in the past week, and it’s gotten almost 2,000 downloads on Amazon so far.  Not bad!  However, while rereading it, I noticed an error: in the author’s note, I said that I wrote the story in December of 2008, when really it was 2007.  I must have been thinking “winter of 2008” when I wrote it the first time.  In any case, I’ve made the corrections, so it should be up on Amazon in 24 hours, and all the other sites before the end of the month (since I distribute to them through Smashwords).

Also, another piece of encouraging news: the boss at the temp job I’ve been working the past few months wants to hire me!  If that works out, I should have steady work at least through into 2012.  I’m hoping they’ll let me work part time, since that would help me juggle the writing career a lot better, but this is their busy season so I might have to work 40+ hour weeks for a while.  Still, it’s better than starving.

Which reminds me: my first royalty check from Amazon comes in next month, and to celebrate, I’m going to crack open that bottle of Martinelli’s from Charlie and throw a small party.  More on that later.

Finally, I found this the other day while trawling youtube for good trance tunes.  It’s a remix of “Are We Human?” by the Killers, done by Armin Van Buuren.  Everything Armin touches seems to turn to gold, and this is no exception.  Check it out!

Breaking the Top 10, and a big thank you

As I’m writing this, “Memoirs of a Snowflake” holds the #8 spot in the Kindle Store for the general short story category — #150 overall.  Almost 1,000 people have downloaded it since it went free over the weekend, and it’s already garnered some fantastic reviews!

All this positive attention makes me want to thank all those who have taken the time to post reviews of my work, so I thought I’d do that here.

Specifically, I’d like to thank L. Christensen for the early 5-star review of Genesis Earth, and her very favorable reviews of my other work.  Full disclosure: L. Christensen is one of my first readers; however, I did not solicit any of her reviews–she posted them on her own.  Also, I’d like to thank Katie Armstrong for the other 5-star review of Genesis Earth–I have no idea who you are (well, a vague idea maybe), but thank you!

Another reviewer who’s been very kind is EA Younker over at goodreads.  She’s posted some glowing 5-star reviews for “Memoirs of a Snowflake” and “Decision LZ1527” on that site, as well as a more critical but still encouraging 3-star review for “From the Ice Incarnate.” Thanks for taking the time to read my work!  I’m glad you enjoyed it.

Over on Smashwords, Ernest Winchester posted a nice 5-star review of “Decision LZ1527,” only a couple hours after I uploaded it.  More recently, Michelle Glorioso and Annie B posted some extremely gratifying reviews of “Memoirs of a Snowflake.” Thanks so much!

Of course, not all the reviews have been glowingly positive. “From the Ice Incarnate” has garnered some criticism from readers who feel that it was missing something, either sufficient character depth or a satisfying ending.  I appreciate the feedback; short stories aren’t my forte, so I’ll be sure to keep that in mind as I work on my short form.  Also, Genesis Earth has garnered a couple of critical yet well-reasoned reviews, most notably from the review site Science Fiction Addiction.  Once again, thanks for taking the time to respond so thoughtfully.  And thanks to all the other generally positive reviews which I haven’t mentioned specifically here.

So far, Bringing Stella Home hasn’t gotten any reviews, so if you’ve read it and enjoyed it, I would appreciate it very much if you would take the time to do that.  In the meantime, thanks for all your support!

“Memoirs of a Snowflake” is now free!

So I come back from my camping trip, and what do I find?  Amazon has made my short story “Memoirs of a Snowflake” available for free–and it’s at the #16 spot on the fantasy bestseller list!  Awesome!

Camping was fun, as was the road trip down there.  The stars out at Huntington Reservoir were absolutely amazing–man, when I have the money, I’m totally going to take up astro-photography as a hobby.

Didn’t write a whole lot, but now that I’m back, I should be able to get some work done today.  But first: time to shower!

Should authors respond to reviews?

In the last six days since it went free, “From the Ice Incarnate” has had almost 2,250 downloads, and with so much attention, reviews are starting to trickle in.  Amazon has a very elegant system, which not only allows other readers to vote on whether a review is helpful, but to comment and start a discussion.

This raises a question, however; when is it appropriate for an author to respond to a review?  I’ve seen answers that go all over the board; some readers love it, while others are adamant that writers should never respond in any way–that to do so would be consummately unprofessional.

From an indie writer’s perspective, this is especially tricky.  On the one hand, we want to engage with our readers, since that’s a crucial part of making this into a viable career (Seth Godin makes some excellent points on that subject).  On the other hand, because reviews are so subjective and judgmental, there’s a very real danger that any discussion involving the author could turn very nasty, very quickly.

Whenever anyone posts a positive review of my work, I want to thank them.  If I only respond to positive reviews, though, that could make me look like I’m ignoring the critical ones.  But if I acknowledge the critical reviews that are thoughtful and well reasoned, what do I do with the inevitable one star reviews written by someone who’s just plain crazy?

The last thing I want is to be forced into taking a reactionary position in a public discussion.  While I’m confident I can keep my ego in check and avoid outright argument, that’s not the only danger I foresee here.  Besides, I believe very firmly that the story should speak for itself, and for that reason I think it’s better for the author to be as invisible as possible.

At the same time, I really do want to thank those who take the time to post a glowing review.  Perhaps the best option is to acknowledge them here or on twitter instead of Amazon?  I’m not sure.  And sometimes, questions arise that aren’t related to the story, where responding directly to the review is the most efficient way to handle it.

In any case, I’m going to be cautious for now, at least until I find a position that makes sense.  If you have any suggestions for how I can balance these concerns, please let me know.

And for those of you who have posted kind reviews: thank you!

Holy Amazon rankings Batman!

So about 24h hours ago, Amazon noticed that I was giving “From the Ice Incarnate” away on a number of other sites, and decided to drop the price down to free.  What happened next was INSANE.

Almost immediately, the downloads started pouring in.  Within a matter of hours, it cracked the #1,000 spot in the Kindle Store rankings, breaking into the top 100 for horror.  By noon today, it was at the #14 spot for Horror and #256 overall.

Holy crap!  That’s a jump of three orders of magnitude from where it was in the rankings before–more ebooks downloaded in just a matter of hours than I’ve sold across all platforms since April!  The really cool part is that it’s driving some interest in my other stuff.  Not a whole lot at this point, which is fine, but more than I was expecting, especially in my other short stories.

One thing I’m a little worried about, though, is that it seems to be selling with a different crowd than my target audience. “From the Ice Incarnate” definitely has some prominent horror elements, but it’s essentially a science fiction story.

I changed the category in KDP and republished the ebook, but I’m worried that the act of republishing will set the price back to $.99.  I like having it free; I’m hoping it will generate more interest in my novels, which is where I hope to make my bread and butter.  To jump off the free train right now, just as things are starting to take off…

…well, it wouldn’t be the end of the world.  Still, holy cow!  It’s a wild and crazy ride!

In other news, I recently did an interview over at my cousin Angela’s blog.  Angela is a mom, a writer, and an all-around awesome person, and she publishes a bunch of poetry on her blog, both her own and by others.  The interview covers why I feel drawn to science fiction, themes in Genesis Earth, and how studying political science influenced my writing.  Good stuff; check it out!

Fighting for a Homeland

For the past few weeks, I’ve been brainstorming ideas for my next big novel project.  One of the ways I’ve been doing this is to by trawling tvtropes and putting together a mashup of the story tropes I’d like to play with.

By far, the one that’s struck me the most is Fighting for a Homeland.  This is basically when a band of displaced warriors is wandering the Earth, trying to find their own promised land.  There are a lot of examples of this on the tropes page, but the coolest one is probably this from real life:

The first Czech legion, after World War one. Their country was then merely a province of Austria-Hungary, who started the war and teamed up with the Germans. The Czechs had very little reason to fight for them, and surrendered to the opposing Russians whenever they could. Through a lot of political scheming, the Russians were convinced to raise a Czech legion of 60,000 men to fight against the Austrians.

Then the Revolution broke out, and with the peace treaty between Russia and Austria, and the vicious warfare and politicking in Russia, they would not get their goal, an independent Czechia, so they turned to the western allies. They could not leave the country through the western side, so the allies chose to rendezvous with them in the port of Vladivostok, on the other side of Russia.

They crossed the country in three years, using the railways that they hijacked, joined with the Russian White Army (anti-communists) and the allies, stole the Tsar’s gold, traded it for free passage to Vladivostok with the advancing reds when they lost, and safely sailed home, to the newly founded country of Czechoslovakia.

Isn’t that friggin awesome?  What’s even cooler is that I might have ancestors who fought in the legion.  My great grandfather emmigrated from Moravia right around that time, perhaps a little before.  Man, if I ever write a historical novel…

But yeah, the trope almost perfectly characterizes Danica and her band of mercenaries, who feature prominently in Bringing Stella Home.  Their homeworld, Tajjur V, was fighting for independence right before the Hameji conquests began, and the New Gaian Empire put down the rebellion rather forcibly.  Later, when the system fell to the Hameji, their homeworld was bombarded and slagged into oblivion, leaving them with nowhere to call their own.

Long story short, the story of the Czech Legions and their epic journey across Siberia has totally inspired me for this next novel.  I’m going to make Roman (Danica’s NCO) a major viewpoint character, bring back the old mercenary team, throw in a few new ones (including a character from Desert Stars)…man, it’s going to be AWESOME!

In other news, “Decision LZ1527” and “From the Ice Incarnate” are both available for free from Diesel Ebooks.  Genesis Earth is also up there too, so if you feel inclined to post a review, I would certainly appreciate it!

Also, if you REALLY want to help, drop by the Amazon pages for “Decision LZ1527” and “From the Ice Incarnate” and fill out the little form where it says “tell us about a lower price.” I’m trying to get Amazon to offer my short stories for free, but the only way to do that is to make it free somewhere else and get Amazon to price match.

Hopefully, by making them free it will get me more exposure and drive more interest in the novels.  Moses Siregar did a guest post on that just this morning.

Also, I think I’ve found a new template that might work well for this blog.  What do you think?  Obviously, I would tweak the background and header (and possibly the color scheme as well). The main thing is that it has multiple sidebars, which will make more room for my books.  But if you have a better suggestion, please let me know.