Steven Orlowski's Blog: Steve O's "So What?" Blog

Less a blog post, more a news item, I want to alert my readers that I've changed the title and republished "PILGRIMAGE" as "Pilgrimage: ALIEN 777". There are a couple of reasons.

One: Sales have stagnated. And while I am working on numerous other projects (of which I am expert at procrastinating) I thought I'd try repackaging this book and see if this new-ish title (it was in the running and could have been the original title) and previously used image (I used the current cover image for a while as "PILGRIMAGE") might jump-start sales.

Two: One of the books that is coming (eventually) is a direct follow up to Pilgrimage: ALIEN 777 which has a working title of Pilgrimage: AFTERLIFE. There is an image of a possible cover included in the collage of covers on the "BOOKS" page of this website.

Pilgrimage: AFTERLIFE includes several of the main characters from Pilgrimage: ALIEN 777 (for those that have read ALIEN 777 here's a bit of a teaser, the True Believer team has grown with a couple of the ALIEN 777 participants working full-time with the Jonathan and Julia Shipmate researching the paranormal and televising their findings) however I am not calling it a series, yet. I am looking forward to writing more about the characters in the Pilgrimage books, but for now only the second is in the works.

For the cynics out there here's the good news. If you bought "PILGRIMAGE" through Amazon before (and the same should apply elsewhere) you will not be tricked into buying it again as the ISBN and ASIN numbers (which track sales of the books in eBook and paperpack format) have not changed, just the title and the image have changed. Amazon reminds you that you've purchased the book before when you pull up the listing for it. And besides, I don't want accidental respurchases, I want new readers for ALIEN 777 and I want previous buyers to come back for the next installment and the other titles I am preparing to release.

But please let me know what, if anything, you think about the altered title and/or cover. I am interested in receiving feedback. As for future releases, the best is yet to come. And THE INTERVENTIONIST is on the way.

Welcome to AETERNALIS.

Ever since I was a kid I have been preoccupied with things like death, the afterlife, aliens, ufos, physics, cosmology, the mind, human psychology, religion, racism, and many other ism's, most of which are perfunctory none-sense.

So the other night I was watching Joe Rogan's new Comedy Central stand-up special and enjoyed it quite a bit. Joe seems to always be involved in some form of entertainment that I have had an affinity for, like stand-up comedy (he does it, I watch him do it), sitcoms (again, I watch and he appeared regularly on News Radio in the 1990's), weird TV shows like Fear Factor and Joe Rogan Questions Everything, as well as having an awesome gig calling fights for the UFC (MMA being the only sport I kind-of sort-of still give a crap about).

So leave it to Joe to intellectualize a bit during his comedy special and address some of the weird truth's about life on planet earth and the incredible ways we meat-monkeys justify our preposterous existence. I'll paraphrase him here but at one point he said something like "we live on a giant ball floating in space spinning at thousands of miles per hour revolving around a giant fireball a million times larger than the earth. We need the sun for survival but it is trying to give us cancer, but if it goes away we get sad and if we stare at it we'll go blind. And, according to Joe, "Nobody is fucking talking about it!"

Bravo Joe! Which brings me to my point. If that amount of craziness is happening right in our own celestial backyard then what could possibly be happening elsewhere in an infinite universe?

And since we know we don't know (we have barely more than a fucking clue), why do we insist on pretending that we do?

Listen people, I don't care what you do or do not believe in, there are no non-religious people on the planet, scientists, and democrats included. Oh, you can call yourself an atheist, because you believe that the universe just popped into existence from nothing (which is, as I understand it, a mathematical impossibility), but disbelieving a being that might exist and might have created the universe and and everything in it simply puts you in a different category of religion. You and your kinfolk are just part of a different club whose members simply espouse similarly unprovable beliefs (and drink the same flavored Kool Aid). Besides, don't you think that if there is a God it could outsmart you?

But you see, this so called "God" that maybe doesn't exist might exist because there is no evidence of its non-existence, just a lack of material evidence to support the claims of its existence, which for most atheists acceptable evidence would require that the Feds parade Jesus down Main Street in shackles. They'd then have to prove not only that he died but that he was resurrected and to do so with carbon-dated samples of his flesh (which I doubt that has been done on a living being before), both pre- and post-Crucifixion mind you (cause you gotta believe something changed during the exchange).

But you see, it probably doesn't matter which Grand Poobah you choose to bow down to (or not), because the real likelihood is that we're all going to have to permanently lose mortal consciousness in order to find out what the truth is.

Frankly, I don't care if L. Ron Hubbard is your god of choice, just don't shove it in my face (or down my recently severed neck). Who knows, if the human race survives another 2000 years LRH may have ascended to that most exalted throne of messiah anyway. Hell, maybe LRH was Jesus. and his second coming came and went without notice. Of course, if LRH was Jesus than Stephen Hawking must be the Antichrist.

I do have a theory about what's really going on in this here universe of ours, however I am saving it for a forthcoming novel, but for a moment forget Heaven, Hell, Hollywood or Halal, and let's focus on eternity (and no, I am not responsible for your universe).

Just think about an afterlife, God or no god, an afterlife where the manner in which you lived your Earth-bound existence was still going to determine what your life in eternity will be like? I mean, it must be easy to do bad things during our physical lives if we believe we're just going to end up as piles of dirt, or that a bunch of hot chicks are going to meet you there and they only have eyes (and other body parts) for you, so long as you killed enough innocent people during your earthly existence.

But seriously, what if the way you lived your life will be reflected upon you adversely if you were a bad guy or positively if you were good girl?

Would you continue on your current path or would you tweak things a little, so when you get there you don't end up on the receiving end of that machete, over and over and over again - "To Infinity and Beyond!"

So I just scheduled my Kindle Countdown Deal starting on June 7 for my book Pilgrimage.

When I'd done it previously, the last quarter of 2013 and the first quarter of 2014, my sales went up, but considering where I started from that was not hard to do. I still felt the overall impact was nil.

But starting in March the book began to sell well. I'm still in no position to make a living from my book sales yet, but my sales went up 700% from March 2014 to April 2014, and then increased another 250% in May.

Since it is now selling well I am wondering if the Countdown will be beneficial, if it is necessary and when (if ever) should an author shy away from running such promotions.

I'm going to run it, and it'll last for a week. I just hope the trend in my sales continues to increase or, better yet, accelerate. Anyone with experience with or an opinion of the Countdowns please let me know your thoughts.

Stephen King is one of my favorite authors. He has also written what may be my favorite book in any genre, On Writing.

It's a great look into the mind of a great writer. And it is more autobiography than it is reference material for wannabe writers.

Writing is a creative endeavor. And Mr. King leaves much of the technical writing considerations to the vast amount of other books on writing. He provides a more meaningful insight into the life of one of the greats of American letters.

So I hacked his book's title for this blog post. That's because I have recently come to recognize the need for authors to have editors.

My best friend was reading my novel Pilgrimage recently. When we got together last weekend he glibly pointed out several errors in the book. I don't mean to suggest he was happy there were errors; just that he was happy he found them.

The errors were nothing terrible, just basic oversights like misspelled words and misplaced punctuation. But that meant I had to go back through the manuscript once again. So as I work on completing my next book I am back to reediting Pilgrimage.

It's a bummer, but it needs to be done. I don't want readers to avoid future books of mine because of sloppy editing in the version of Pilgrimage they read (earlier versions had more errors. Unfortunately, as far as I can determine, Amazon does not automatically update the books on your Kindle with the most recent, revised edition. I hear that is coming, however).

Which brings me to professional editing. I think authors, being the creative minds that I presume we all are, tend to get lost in the story even when editing. It is too hard for us to look at the manuscript objectively, and therefore are prone to missing things that need correction.

But it is expensive to hire an editor. And I'm sure it is a challenge to qualify one unless the editor has been referred to you.

So for now I'll be reediting Pilgrimage myself. But it must be nice to have an editor like Stephen King does. To know that someone will be checking the manuscript for you before publication eliminates much of the worry and presumably allows the writer to focus exclusively on the story.

Someday. Someday.

Over the past few years the publishing business has been altered radically. A handful of very successful independently published authors have trail-blazed a different and better way of writing for a living.

Not only have they proven that some authors do not need an agent or a publisher to sell a lot of books, but they have also changed the way indie authors do business with mainstream publishers and agents.

A few authors have been able to sign publishing deals for hardcover and paperback book rights while keeping the ebook rights all to themselves. This was unheard of a few years ago. Hell, when I finished the first draft of my novel six years ago the standard advice was to not self publish. If the book didn't sell well, and even if it did I was told, a mainstream agent or publisher would not touch you or the book.

So the success of these indie authors is great news for all authors, some of whom are relinquishing their traditional publishing contracts in exchange for the control and freedom to publish their entire catalogs in perpetuity.

But what I find interesting, if not a little disturbing, is the focus on marketing, not writing.

I read a lot of blogs, websites, newsletters and watch videos published by indie authors. I want to know what works so I can market my books effectively. It is a necessary evil. But we all need to know how to do it.

I also read a lot of books. I download a lot of samples to my Kindle before I buy. Many indie authors are writing and publishing a lot of books. Some seem to believe the secret to success is to publish a lot of books as fast as possible.

Some of them are selling their books too. More books than I am in many cases. But when I read them, often just the sample, I am amazed at how poorly written so many of them are.

But when an industry changes as fast as the publishing industry has this kind of phenomenon is anticipated. It is not new, nor is it relegated to the book publishing industry. Frankly it can be witnessed throughout history.

The pendulum effect I speak of is this un-tethering of an industry from long held practices which opens the door, the prior "barrier to entry" as in the query letter process, to any and everyone who ever thought they might someday want to write a book.

So I am conflicted when I think about it, and I am as I write this post. As an author I am ecstatic that things have changed thus. When I finished Pilgrimage I sent out dozens of query letters. I got not one indication of interest.

I put Pilgrimage in the proverbial drawer (I just didn't open the Word document) for more than four years. It wasn't until I began reading about the breakout success of authors like John Locke, Colleen Hoover and Hugh Howey that I started thinking seriously that maybe I should self-publish also.

The problem I see is the tremendous amount of poorly written books. Now I haven't read John Locke or Colleen Hoover, but I have Mr. Howey, and I thought at first that Hugh was a great marketer so I watched him from afar to learn his secrets for months without reading anything he had written.

Eventually I did read the original Wool story, because I got it for free, and after which I paid for and read the whole Wool Omnibus. But that purchase only occurred because Hugh writes well. I'm not saying he is the next Hemingway, nor am I, but he cares about writing well.

But too many samples I download, by authors with decent rankings and seemingly genuine reviews, are quite poorly written.

And that is where the pendulum comes in. I suspect this publishing industry transformation is near the peak of the "writer as marketer" emphasis. I mean, I have watched podcasts and read interviews where the writers talk nothing about writing and all about giveaways and social media and other stuff. Yes, we all need to understand how to market our selves and our books but it should be secondary to the craft of storytelling.

I think the general reading public, not those of us who are both readers and writers, will begin to tire of low quality offerings and more and more book sales will begin to concentrate around the indie authors who have established a reputation for quality, not just quantity or effective marketing skills

The appeal of getting a book for free is fantastic. But if I have to spend hours of my life reading something that sucks the cost to me is far greater. I'd rather spend $10.00 for a great book than $3.00 for a mediocre one or $0.00 for a piece of garbage.

Speaking of $3.00 books, over the last month I've experienced a large increase in sales. For me that means selling books every day where in the past I could go weeks without a single sale.

Part of the influence is, I hope, the result of my book's reviews. I don't have many but they are all good, mostly 5 star, and all real.

I think, however, this recent increase in sales can be traced back almost to the day that I changed the cover for the third time.

One of my recent reviews was by a fellow Goodreads author who liked the book but hated the cover. He said the cover was boring and wasn't indicative of the story inside.

I already suspected that but his words motivated me to take action and change the cover again. I do all my own cover work, and it takes time, but I got a cover together and I am happy with it. And I think it has made a difference.

I am curious to hear from other authors who have had similar experience. Has the cover been that influential to your success? And what about quality versus quantity in indie publishing? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Steve

11 months after I self-published my debut novel in various (although now exclusively Kindle) e-formats, "Pilgrimage" is now available in paperback.

I'm excited. It is very cool having my book in physical form. Seeing Pilgrimage on my Kindle and in the Kindle store at Amazon.com is one thing, but feeling it's weight, having a front and back cover, turning the pages - it all adds another level to the feeling of accomplishment.

Plus I added some graphics to the front and back of the book. The original cover of Pilgrimage is now the first page of the paperback. I added two images to the back as teasers to upcoming books I plan on releasing in the late spring and in the fall of this year.

It's been inspiring too, that as I announced the publication of the paperback, I also started promoting the next book. I just put a couple of images on my Facebook pages. I was thrilled to hear from readers of Pilgrimage who are excited for the next book to be published. Repeat readers, huh? Do I have fans?

In conclusion, I will paraphrase the legendary and misquoted line from Sally Field at the 1985 Oscars "You like me, you really like me!" this way - "Someone likes me, someone really likes me!" And it feels good.

There's a whole lot of blogging going on in the "indie publishing" camp, most of it aimed at the monopoly in book publishing commonly referred to in the US as the Big Five...

For the record, I am a self-published author, indie if you like, because I couldn't get an agent or a publisher for my novel. And like most, I presume, I figured what the hell, there are a handful of writers making boatloads of money self-publishing, in many cases only eBooks and only at Amazon.com for Kindle, I might as well give it a go.

And I have sold far more books to date than I would have had I continued to pursue representation and a traditional book publishing deal - or have I?

And therein lies the quandary. Among the handful of authors making a lot of money self-publishing are a handful of authors who equally good or even better at marketing than they are at writing. I know because I've read their books.

And one way to succeed is to get everybody on your side, like they belong in an exclusive club. Make them believe that you and they are part of a team. "My success is your success"...

Is it really? Not quite, but I do not begrudge them their success. And I do thing some of the most successful indie authors who also happen to have volunteered to lead the charge believe they are doing so not just in self-interest but for the betterment of the publishing industry as a whole.

And this is normal. Many other industries have gone through similar tumult. But my advice for authors is to not get too far invested in the idea that in order to succeed today you need to self-publish, and to hell with the Big Five. The publishing landscape is changing as if it were perched on the San Andreas fault on a particularly volatile day.

History shows us that the pendulum of change often swings too far and then has to correct. In other words, there may end up being a lot of authors who naively bet their house on indie publishing that end up getting hurt.

The end result of this quantum shift in the publishing biz will be somewhere in the middle ground between the author/agent/publisher relationship of the past century or so and the free-for-all indie publishing bonanza of today.

I read an article recently about the cookbook publishing business. In that corner of the publishing market there was concern that the internet would have a big negative effect on cookbook sales because recipes by the gazillion are available for free online.

What they found, however, was while recipes were readily available for free online it was difficult to determine which ones were good and which one sucked. The recipes were not curated, and web-chefs found the effort needed to determine good versus bad recipes was significant enough that the internet has had practically no effect on cookbook sales.

I think world of fiction publishing has felt the impact but I think it possible that eventually the lack of "curation" will swing the pendulum back the other way.

So far, the indie publishing successes are such that they are manifesting great change in author relationships with agents (some don't have one) and publishers (print only contracts where the author retains all digital rights).

When I was a younger man I wanted to be a professional musician. Some would say I wanted to be a rock star, and I guess that's true, but I took my craft very seriously. I practiced a lot and worked hard and felt that I was a better guitar player than many of the players in the bands whose songs my bands covered.

Back then, before the internet, in order to get signed you had to play a lot of shows. Bands would also record demo's at their own expense and send them out to agents and record companies and radio stations in the hope that someone, somewhere would recognize your talent and sign you to a record deal.

These days if you want to be a rock star your best option is probably to post a video on YouTube and wait for an email offering you a deal. How many bands today are signed before they ever play a single live gig together?

Publishing today is in some respects like trying to become a rock star was in the Eighties.

You write a book, publish it at Amazon.com (at your own expense) and hope someone reads it and likes it enough to boast about it online and gets the mega-sales snowball rolling.

But in other ways it's also a lot like become a rock star is today. There's no need to write three of four books before you get published. There's no need to get rejected by some butt-hole agent or publisher. "F' the man" say the front-runners of the indie publishing revolution. Write it, publish it and write another, ad infinitum...

Here's why indie authors need to be cautious about flipping the bird at mainstream publishers and their agents - many of the indie authors are not that good.

Now, I am not saying that I am great (although I might be), but I've got a reasonable command of grammar, punctuation and the storytelling process - it's all about the fundamentals baby...

And I thank the god of publishing every day for the ability to download samples before buying a book. But I gotta tell you I am shocked sometimes at how poorly written some of the books are that are published by what appear to be successful indie authors.

And that is the force that will drive the pendulum.

Right now there are, I don't know, trillions of eBooks available on Amazon.com.

Does anybody really think most of them are good? Good is subjective, but I've bailed out on many books when the author demonstrated a complete lack of understanding as to the mandatory components of a SENTENCE (or misspell their own protagonists name on page 2)!!!!!

And then there are the ones where the story is just bad. I do not, for the record, think that these writers should not publish, I think they need to be a little more self-critical. And maybe I do too.

But similarly to online recipes, the indie publishing universe may become too flooded with books, many bad and not enough good, and readers might eventually find difficult and frustrating to determine what to read and what to avoid.

I don't know what this middle ground between the indies and the Big Five will ultimately look like, but do not be surprised when it occurs.

If you are serious about a writing career then I hope you continue to work at your craft. If you are not working at your craft it doesn't matter whether you are indie or trying to get a deal with a publisher, your career is not liely to thrive.

There have been more than a few flashes in the pan since the indie revolution started a few years ago; authors who succeeded despite their shortcomings and temporarily gave indie publishing a bad name.

Some are still here, some have disappeared. I'm happy to say a few of the front-runners today deserve their success, but not all.

Marketing skills will make a handful of writers financially successful in the short run. Good writing will keep even fewer around in the long run.

I certainly haven't broken out as an indie publishing success yet. Maybe it's my first book's topic (alien abduction). Maybe it's my marketing (I haven't done much, hoping my writing would get me there). Maybe it's my writing skills (or lack thereof).

If it is my writing, I'm not worried. I work at it everyday and I know I'm getting better. I just hope that my fellow indie authors are focusing as much effort on their writing skills as they are their social media and marketing skills.

Or maybe I should hope they don't...

Well, I've never written fan mail before, and I don't consider this to be that. But I think Hugh Howey, much to his good fortune, is becoming (if he's not already) the indie-writer model of success that other authors are watching and learning from, as I am watching and learning.

I've never met Hugh, corresponded a tiny bit via Facebook and email, but I don't think he knows who I am.

That's no matter at all. He's a good writer, a very good writer, and he seems like he's good guy. And quite clearly a major success.

I sent him this email after I watched Hugh on a webinar sponsored by Amazon.com promoting its "Amazon Worlds" publishing endeavor. There's a couple of ideas in it that other writers should find useful. And it might be mildly entertaining. It'll only take a minute. Read on.

01/16/2014

Greetings Hugh,

I was on the Kindle Worlds webinar today and I got a good laugh when you said that after you had published one of your earlier novels (you're first maybe?) you sat around waiting for Oprah to call.

I've been waiting for Oprah for almost a year now.

Before the webinar I read Michael Bunker's blog post "We're Not Competing, Part 2: Even With Ourselves" that you shared on Facebook. He wrote of the need to publish frequently. I commented to Michael that my heretofore slug-like publishing pace (one book since last April) has yet to pay off. He, and you, are on to something.

We all know Oprah is not the key to success. She is never going to call. Well, maybe you in 2014, but not any of us authors, like a pre-Wool Hugh Howey, that have yet to achieve any notable success.

On the webinar the host asked you what your single best piece of advice to other writers is and you seemed to reluctantly provide your answer, an answer that all writers should intuitively know: write good books.

I know the reason I have yet to publish my second book isn't because I don't have one, or because I don't think I'm a good writer, it's because I am waiting (semi-subconsciously) for my first book to become successful.

That's what I call "Waiting for Oprah". I want someone out there, not my wife or my best friend or my mother, ideally the wealthiest and most influential woman in media, to tell me I'm good.

Well, that's not going to happen and the strategy isn't working. I need to write more, and better, and earn the loyalty of the thousands readers I so desire.

And you my friend, you have not only a great talent for writing but also possess seemingly spot-on instincts for independent publishing success. I'd be a fool to not follow your lead.

Keep up the good work. You are an inspiration to many.

Yep. That's enough ass-kissing for today.

Best regards,

Steve

My goodreads pal Ellis Shuman sent me a message with a link to his blog and a post with the same name as the title of this one. You can find it here EllisShuman.Blogspot.com if you like.

I think the answer to the question is yes.

Ellis first asks his blog readers to comment on the influx of "friend" requests in his email from strangers on goodreads who apparently find him unbearably appealing as a potential acquaintance. It's how he and I became friends.

His number of friends has grown since the publication of the blog post: from 760 then to 815 today. But then he asks "Please tell me, where are all these friend requests coming from?"

Come on Ellis. All of our friends are listed right there on our individual goodreads pages. You know it, I know it, anybody who is an author on goodreads knows it.

And then he states he doesn't know what an "event" on GoodReads is, or whether or not you can post the same book reviews on GR as Amazon, since Amazon now owns it...why wouldn't Amazon let us? The more the merrier.

I think Ellis has a much better handle on how to use goodreads and self-promotion in general. It seems to me he's sold more books than I have as a result of goodreads based upon his self-reported statistics. And I have three-times as many friends. Shame on me.

The thing is I didn't have a clue what to do with GoodReads in the beginning. I suspect that's a common thing. My account sat latent for months while I forgot about it and my friend total of three stayed static for months (those three being my brother, a former neighbor, and I think my brother's dog...).

But here's the bottom line as far as I see it. Sure, there are some people here that are just readers genuinely interested in finding new authors and interesting books. But I think they might be in the minority. I am quite interested in learning the percentage of authors in the total population versus readers. I would be surprised if authors did not outnumber readers handily.

Whether it was intended to be so, goodreads is a portal for authors to promote their work. And with Amazon.com buying its value proposition as a means of promoting and selling books likely has risen.

Me, I've sold a few books as a result of making friends at goodreads. I've also read more than a few books from new authors I've discovered and/or who successfully promoted themselves to my awareness here as well.

Some were good, some were horrible. But that's what you get in the new wild, wild west of indie publishing.

In the meantime I'll continue to make friends at goodreads (I have more here than I do in real life and on Facebook).

I hope a few more people buy my book. Maybe a couple will be the catalyst for the proverbial "snowball effect" and I can finally leave my necessary career behind and live the life of a full-time novelist.

Did I mention my book is available at Amazon.com for Kindle e-readers?

It's really good. I'm not just saying that because I wrote it.

And it's only $2.99, less than a Grande Cafe Mocha at Starbucks. If you need to you can download a big chunk of it for free - you know, try it before you buy it.

Please. Anyone. Hello. Is there anybody out there...

If you're anything like me you probably don't respond well to overt self-promotion.

It's not that I don't think every book written by every writer on goodreads isn't utterly fantastic...

I know they aren't. But what's a writer without a big publishing house spending piles of money promoting his book to do?

You do what everybody else seems to be doing. You Tweet. You Facebook. You make friends on goodreads, you put your book on sale with a Kindle Countdown Deal and hope and pray that somebody, somewhere buys your book.

And you hope and pray even harder that someone likes it.

And then you pray a little more that they'll like it so much they write a glowing review, at Amazon and goodreads, and they Tweet about the book, and post it on Facebook they are so excited to have discovered the greatest new writer.

That's what I asked Santa for.

So Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanza, Happy Holidays, Happy Festivus, Happy New Year...whatever floats your boat.

P.S. - did I mention my book is on sale? At Amazon.com, 67% off for 72 hours, only $0.99. Check it out. It's good, very good. Please.