What Makes a Writer Happy?
(Ranking Reader Feedback, 1 to 9)
My Quora posts just went over 500,000 views recently (Jan 31, 2024). That seems like an accomplishment of sorts, though writing about it feels a bit self-centred (i.e. blowing your own horn). But I don't own a cat or dog, and my son is grown up (waiting on grand-kids, hint, hint, Scott), so funny pet and cute child content is not currently possible. Thus I will brag about this instead.
But in order to make the bragging more palatable, I will write about the various types of feedback that my writing (and my wife’s) have received and give some indication of how they differ. I will rank them, because ranking is fun and people often like that sort of thing. It also helps to frame matters, which helps to develop the content of the essay. So here goes.
Note that this all applies to internet channels for sales and other feedback.
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1 – Selling Print Book(s)
I know it is a bit old-fashioned, but there is still something special about selling a print book, via Amazon (or some other on-line business) that is pretty cool. I think it has to do with the idea that someone out there will pay a higher price than you charge for the ebook and that he/she will wait around for your book to arrive in the mail.
On a few occasions, I have had readers get in touch with me, desiring a print copy of an ebook. They might want that because the book will make a nice gift or they might have a collection of books on that subject. My book about military engineers in WW2 fell into that category, as did my book about working one summer on the railroad. In the case of the WW2 book, it turned out that the reader’s uncle was in the same unit (Royal Canadian Engineers, 12 Field Company) as my dad. So, symbolically, it felt a little bit like getting old comrades together.
The fact that someone went to some trouble to get a print copy of your book is flattering and the idea that you are helping some person out in this way is very rewarding.
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2 – Selling ebook(s)
This one is great, too. In the Amazon marketplace, we tend to sell a lot more ebooks than print books (about 20 to 1 ratio, I would say). Perhaps that makes it seem a tiny-bit less special than print books, but it still is a great feeling.
There are two possibilities here: the regular ebook and the Kindle Unlimited (KU) read of an ebook.
The latter (KU read) actually lets you see how well your book was received, since you are paid by the page. Most of our books have good completion rates, which is very nice. In some cases, non-completions are understandable. In the case of non-fiction such as a travel book, the reader may have just wanted to get a general sense of a subject or a potential trip, without spending a lot of time on details. With fiction, it may be that it is just not that reader’s thing (i.e. preferred genre or subject matter). Also, for a long novel, such as some of my wife’s, you can make more money than on the royalties for the same book.
In the case of a regular ebook sale, you can be happy with making some money and supplying a reader with an enjoyable few hours (you certainly hope so, anyway).
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3 -Running Successful Promotions
Promotions can be giveaways (they can be run for 5 days of every 90 day period) or time-limited price cuts. The former gives you some new readers, as does the latter, along with some money.
If you are lucky, money is not your main reason for writing, so you don’t worry too much about the “missing money”. You are just happy to know someone is (hopefully) enjoying the fruits of your labor. It could well be that the person is on a tight budget, so you feel good about helping out such a person, even in this rather small way. My wife often mentions that.
Every now and again, one of your promotions will go viral. Suddenly you will notice a big uptick in downloads. Over the next few days, that can turn into a flood of downloads, which is rather exciting (e.g. in the 100s, 1000s or more if you are an exceptionally lucky person). You get to see your book on the “Top 100” list for free books, at least in some sub-category. Of course you have to keep your wits about you, and your ego in check. After all, a free promotion is still a free promotion. But it is nice.
There is really no (obvious) rhyme or reason to viral promotions. We have had books go viral, long after they were first published, that have languished up until then. Other times, they have gone viral right away, then languished. Often it isn’t the book that you consider your best writing (stylistically) or your best story (fiction or non-fiction). You think about the cover, or about the title, or about the summary that you wrote for it.
“Aha – people like covers that feature water!”
“Aha – people like abstract covers with cool fonts!”
“Aha – people like short, clever titles!”
“Aha – people like long, wordy titles, that telegraph the content of the book!”
“Aha – people like short, pithy blurbs and summaries!”
“Aha – people like long discursive summaries that explain every chapter!”
But, in reality, these things have a logic all of their own. As a famous Hollywood producer was reported to have said “nobody knows nothing”.
One other thing about promotions worth mentioning, is that they can lead to later sales or later concurrent KU reads. I have seen this on many occasions. I think of it as a little touch of karma – the universe gives you a small reward for being generous with your books.
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4 -Getting Reviews or Reader Ratings
Naturally, every writer likes a nice review or a high rating.
Some people think that most of the reviews are plants or friends, but that isn’t often the case, at least as far as I know. I mean, honestly, who has that many friends? Well, maybe big publishers can get up to these shenanigans, but that’s out-of-scope for most (all?) Indies.
Even a not-so-great review is valuable if it is sincere, and if it is clear that the reader has actually read the book (or at least enough of it to render a valid judgment). For the writer, it can be valuable feedback. For the potential reader, some less-than-stellar reviews will provide reassurance that the reviews are organic and not rigged. And some potential readers may read something like “I don’t like books that feature paranormal events” and think “actually, I love books like that”. You just never know.
Here are a few things that I have learned about reviews and reader ratings:
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you can generally expect one review/rating for every 50 to 100 books
sold or downloaded in a promo. Sometimes more, sometimes less, but this one percentish rule seems to be quite consistent.
- the Goodreads scale and the Amazon scale are a bit different, so bear that in mind when comparing your reviews from these sources.
- writers love to get reviews and reader ratings, so don’t be shy, even if you can’t give a 5-star review in all sincerity.
- a bad review stings for a while, but you get over it.
Social Media
I try to do some blogging or equivalent social media content (as you must know from reading this). It provides an outlet to share ideas, exercise one’s writing muscles and promote one’s “real writing”.
6) Quora
As the beginning of this blog indicates, I post fairly regularly on Quora. This is a social media site run by Google, whereby people ask questions and others answer them. These often tend to be of a somewhat academic nature (informally so), where people can share their knowledge and expertise. Most of my posts are in the area of statistics and data science, since that is my actual profession, or “day job” as writers say, perhaps tongue-in-cheek.
Getting views, comments and upvotes on Quora is a nice lift. It is also nice to think that you are doing some service in the world, by sharing your hard-won knowledge with people who are interested in such things.
In principle, you can make money on Quora, though I doubt that it would amount to much, even with half-a-million views. I don’t mind sharing my knowledge for free. I suspect that’s how most people treat Quora. That said, I might put together some of my best Quora stuff in an ebook at some future time.
It seems like most of the Quora numbers are legit (not bots), though I can’t be sure of that. However, I am suspicious that the big companies (such as Google) are mining Quora for content to feed their voracious Large Language Models (AI like ChatGPT).
7) Blogger
A blogging site gives one a chance to just ramble away on any subject (like I am doing now) and to promote books (like I will do at the end of the blog). Blogger is pretty old now; Substack is more cutting edge. Maybe some day I will try that. But I am used to Blogger, so I suppose that I will stick with it, as long as it’s around.
Like Quora, you can make money posting on Blogger (in theory, i.e. advertising). I suspect that it would be pennies per year, so I don’t see any point in doing so (ok, maybe dimes).
Blogger stats can be rather dubious. I am not sure about recent years, but in the past bots could be a real problem. The 1000 readers that you thought you had last week, might mostly have been the result of an overactive bot or two. Having said all that, it is still nice to see your Blogger views stats go up. You just have to take it with a grain of salt.
Does blogging drive book sales? Maybe marginally, but it is way oversold by social media mavens as a way to sell books (“you must have a blog with rich content, comrade!”). I have occasionally had a blog that had a lot of reads that also ticked up sales of a book that I featured at the end of the blog. But we are talking 1 book for every 1000 blog reads, or ratios like that. So, basically one just blogs for love of writing.
Also like Quora, I suspect the LLMs (large language models) scour blogger and the like for content. So, while you may not be making money for yourself, you might be making money for Google. Hmmmm.
8) Facebook
Facebook is mostly good for family stuff, in my experience. Dogs, cats, children – maybe we should reverse the order.
There are Facebook pages for businesses. We have a Dodecahedron Books Facebook page, but I don’t use it as much as perhaps I should. Unfortunately, in my opinion, the Facebook business page user interface has become such a dog’s breakfast that it is difficult to navigate. Which is too bad, because readers have sometimes contacted me via that route. So, I do try to keep active, at least for their sake, but it is hard.
The regular Facebook user interface is somewhat better than that of the business pages. But, even they have become so plugged-up with “sponsored content” and the like, that it is rather discouraging. But, I check in, when I can, and will try to keep doing so. The fact that you can keep in touch with family, friends and ex-workmates from across the country, is rather charming.
X, formerly known as Twitter
Well, you can blast Twitter posts advertising your books. Maybe they do some good – I’m not sure. If so, the effect is, shall we say, rather limited. But, hope springs eternal.
But X is still good for a laugh, as long as you don’t sink too much time into it, and you don’t take it very seriously.
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As promised above, here are some book plugs:
Kati of Terra Book 1 – Escape from the Drowned Planet
Amazon U.S: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00811WVXO
Amazon U.K.: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00811WVXO
Amazon Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00811WVXO
Amazon Germany: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B00811WVXO
Amazon Netherlands: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B00811WVXO
Amazon Italy: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B00811WVXO
Amazon Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B00811WVXO
Amazon Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B00811WVXO
Amazon India: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B00811WVXO
Amazon Spain: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B00811WVXO
Amazon France: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B00811WVXO
Amazon Mexico: https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B00811WVXO
Amazon Brazil: https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B00811WVXO
In saving her small son from alien abductors, a 24-year-old Earth woman, Katie, finds herself abducted instead. She awakens from a drug-induced coma on a spaceship, in a room full of children, both human and alien, and two other women, younger than she is. The young women adapt to the situation as best they can, keeping the youngsters calm and entertained. But, when a drugged alien man wearing a uniform is added to the captive cargo, it becomes clear that this is an intergalactic slave operation.
She finds herself on a strange world, with a somewhat deranged personality, quite possibly a killer, in her head, and partnered with a man from an advanced civilization who abhors killing. He is a Federation Peace Officer, captured by the slavers while attempting to bring them to justice. His task is complicated by the fact that he has sworn to avoid the taking of sentient life during the performance of his duties. He can and does, however, make vigorous use of non-lethal weaponry. Since, before leaving the ship, Katie had promised to help her co-captives gain their liberty, she and the alien peace officer find that they have a common cause.
But first they must find their way off the primitive planet and get to the Federated Civilization, avoiding the slavers who have been left on the planet to re-capture them. Their flight is complicated by the fact that the planet has had a global warming catastrophe some centuries back – the locals refer to it as the Drowned World. This has forced the inhabitants to revert to a pre-industrial state of development; however, they are a wily and resourceful people, mostly helpful, but they can also be dangerous.
Kati (to mark her escape, she adopts a slight name change) and Mikal seek a Federation beacon, which had been hidden on this planet ages ago, to aid in situations such as this, (in accord with a longstanding Federation policy for fringe worlds). They must embark on an arduous trek across two continents and an ocean, seeking the temple that holds the beacon. They travel on foot, by cart, by riverboat, by tall sailing ship, and on pack animals, always pursued by the dangerous slavers.
They must rely on their wits, guile, charm and acting abilities to avoid recapture, while their chasers have advanced technology and ruthlessness on their side. Fortunately, they are able to make many friends who help them along the way, and their quest becomes a series of adventures, both frightening and funny, and involving a cast of engaging characters.
To complicate matters, Kati finds herself falling in love with Mikal, the strange, handsome and amusing alien. He seems to be reciprocating, though they both struggle against an untimely romantic entanglement.
Will Kati and Mikal escape from the Drowned Planet? Can they ultimately bring the slavers to justice, as Mikal has sworn to do? Can they free the remaining captives of the slavers, as Kati has promised to do? Read this book and the rest of the series to find out all.
At about 200,000 words (equivalent to a paperback of about 400 pages), the book is an excellent value.
The Sappers' War: 12th Field Company Royal Canadian Engineers, Oct 1943 to Sept 1945
What follows is a review of the history of the 12th Field Company, Royal Canadian Engineers, primarily relating to the time that the company was in the Italian and Northwestern European theatres during World War II. Though the book focuses on the experiences of a particular company of Canadian military engineers, it also discusses some of the wider issues of the second world war and how it affected the people who lived through the era, civilian and military. Among those are my father (a sapper or military engineer) and mother (a war worker in wartime Britain and ultimately a war bride).
Thus, this is meant to be an informal and unofficial history of the company, written by an interested party in an effort to understand what these men went through during this period, and how that experience affected them and other people who lived through the war. The military aspects of the company's history are there (e.g. fighting, building bridges, detecting mines, maintaining routes), as are the cultural factors that influenced them and their times (e.g. the movies that they watched, the drinking they did, the many diseases they faced, their interactions with the Italian, British and other civilians that they lived among, their worries for the future). Some focus on life on the British home front is also given, via the experiences of my mother and her family.
Since many people had family and relations that lived during this time, it is my hope that the account will be of general interest to them, and to any that have a particular interest in this critical interval in history. Also, though the text relates specifically to Canadian sappers, I believe that many of the experiences will be common to the soldiers and loved ones of other nations who lived through the war, especially Americans and those from Britain and the British Commonwealth.
The primary sources of this document are the 12th Field Company War Diaries and related orders, with some material from The History of the Corps of Royal Canadian Engineers, Volume 2 as well as various official histories by the Department of National Defence. Various other published sources are used as well, especially when discussing the wider issues of the war or the army experience (e.g. Churchill’s history of the war) , or conversely when relating very specific episodes of the war (e.g. Popski’s Private Army in late 1944). Personal accounts of my father’s or mother’s stories also augment the narrative. I have tried to fit those in during appropriate time periods, though some stories are more general and have therefore don’t necessarily relate to the time period being discussed. Nonetheless, they do help capture the essence of “being there” during the war years.
The War Diary is a day by day account of the primary activities of a given unit, as recorded by personnel in the headquarters staff of that unit, and signed off by the commander of the unit. As such, it is an official record, though the writers often brought a bit of their own character into the document. Naturally, as a relatively brief document it can’t hope to capture the complexity of the individual stories of 280 or so men, so the family lore generally has no corresponding entry in the War Diary, though there are sometimes tantalizing hints and near-verifications of these personal accounts.
There are a number of other sources for the book, from official histories to popular history books. I include quotations and references from these works (an eclectic mix), as I believe that they also shed light on different aspects of this period of time, and besides that, are just interesting accounts, in and of themselves.
U.S.: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09HSXN6Q2
U.K.: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09HSXN6Q2
Germany: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B09HSXN6Q2
France: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B09HSXN6Q2
Spain: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B09HSXN6Q2
Italy: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B09HSXN6Q2
Netherlands: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B09HSXN6Q2
Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B09HSXN6Q2
Brazil: https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B09HSXN6Q2
Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B09HSXN6Q2
Mexico: https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B09HSXN6Q2
Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B09HSXN6Q2
India: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B09HSXN6Q2
A Summer Working on the Railroad
What follows is an account of a few weeks one long-ago summer, when I was 19 and was working for the Canadian National Railway (CNR) on a railroad construction gang, in the wilds of north-central British Columbia, Canada.
The journal is in the form of a letter, that was never sent. Decades later, I think it has an interesting historical resonance. At times I come off like a callow youth – I plead guilty as charged. I swore a lot more in those days than I do now, but in places the writing is surprisingly good, at least in my humble opinion. And the story has a compelling narrative arc.
There were a lot of interesting and dramatic events that occurred – a number of industrial accidents being the most serious. There were also some colorful characters on the crew, which resulted in some dramatic and at times amusing conflicts and altercations. I perhaps flatter myself by including myself in that number. Or perhaps I condemn myself – I’m not sure.
So, if you want to be reminded of one of those summer jobs that was kind of life-changing, read on. My story may just kick-start some memories of your own.
The memoir/journal is about 9,000 words, a length that can usually be read in an hour or so. It is priced at 99 cents U.S. (equivalent in other currencies) and is free on Kindle Unlimited. Periodically, it will be offered as a free promotion.
U.S.: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CN661P8Z
UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CN661P8Z
Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0CN661P8Z
Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0CN661P8Z
India: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B0CN661P8Z
Germany: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0CN661P8Z
France: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0CN661P8Z
Spain: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B0CN661P8Z
Italy: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B0CN661P8Z
Netherlands: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B0CN661P8Z
Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B0CN661P8Z
Brazil: https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B0CN661P8Z
Mexico: https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B0CN661P8Z
Three Love Stories
Here are three stories, all dealing with the theme of romantic love. They encompass the feelings we all recognize from our experiences of love: lust and desire, jealousy and betrayal, confusion and certainty, forgiveness and reconciliation, loss and rebirth. They even suggest that love might get a little help from those mysterious realms beyond our normal, everyday life. Love is, after all, one of the most magical of all transformations that we mortals can undergo.
Three
Love Stories
Amazon
U.S.: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BLVSZ2G
Amazon U.K.: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01BLVSZ2G
Amazon Germany:
https://www.amazon.de/dp/B01BLVSZ2G
Amazon France: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B01BLVSZ2G
Amazon Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01BLVSZ2G
Amazon Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B01BLVSZ2G
Amazon Italy: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B01BLVSZ2G
Amazon Spain: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B01BLVSZ2G
Amazon Netherlands: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B01BLVSZ2G
Amazon Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B01BLVSZ2G
Amazon Brazil: https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B01BLVSZ2G
Amazon Mexico: https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B01BLVSZ2G
Amazon India: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B01BLVSZ2G
It should be noted that these three stories have been previously published, but we wanted to bundle them together, for a number of reasons.
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Firstly, they are thematically connected - they all concern the joys, pains and triumphs of romantic love.
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Secondly, the first two stories are connected by plot and character - Love at the Lake: Part 2 (published separately as “A Mid-Summer Morning’s Dream at the Lake”) tells the story of what happens later to the characters embroiled in the jealousy and betrayal of Love at the Lake: Part 1. Characters can sometimes take on a life of their own, and insist that the writer tell their whole story - that’s just what happened here. Love and Rebirth on the Prairie follows different characters, but they too are searching for love within the complexities of family drama with a history of (possible) betrayal.
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And finally, this bundling gives us a way to package the stories in a more economical and convenient form for our valued readers - three stories for one low price. In the future, we hope to add even more to this collection of love stories!
