Linking Worlds

I have a database of story ideas that I keep adding to each time I'm struck with a new idea. I started it about 12 years ago and it has grown to about 90 story ideas now. I probably won't write all of them, but it is fun to read through it every now and then and remember stories I came up with years ago.

These stories re-enter my mind all the time, they come back into the forefront and dance around for a while, sometimes spawning brand new book ideas. The old ideas gets developed during this process and I add more details to my database. My one sentence premise turns into paragraphs of dialogue or descriptions of a few clear scenes in my mind.

I am so glad I started doing this, because as my writing has evolved I've been able to link my stories. Rather than having a database of 90 separate story ideas I'm beginning to see ties....and I'm loving it. You see, I get a little bored writing the same thing all the time. I like variety, so that's why I have so many stand alone stories floating around in my head, but I've quickly concluded that ties can be made between these books and I think that's pretty cool.

Betwixt was originally a one-off story, but people loved Dale and Nicole so much that I decided to include them in my upcoming series - The Masks Series. I'm so glad I made that choice. I love Dale and Nicole too and it's nice not to have to say goodbye to them yet.

As a reader, I love seeing old favorites pop back into stories. One of my favorite series of all time for that is The Chesapeake Bay Series by Nora Roberts. Four novels each following one of the four main characters, in a sense they can stand alone, but reading them together gives you this amazing world and lets you see the characters you loved from the first book grow and change in the background throughout the rest of the series.

I've really taken this concept on board and through this thinking have decided to develop a series of stand alone novels that will all make sense individually, but will also let you see the characters from previous stories having a background role. I've entitled it the Songbird Series. The first book, Fever (due for release in June 2014), I've had planned for a long time now. Originally I was just going to make it a stand alone novel, but then I went back through my book database and I found 9 other stories that all had a musical thread running through them and it sparked an idea. What if I created a series and linked all these stand alone novels together. I could give each book a soundtrack! I jotted down all the stories I thought would fit and easily found links and connections and so a one book novel has now turned into a 10 book series with the possibility of two novellas to go with it. I am so super pumped about this idea and I can't wait to start putting it together. I plan to release 2-3 Songbird books a year, so this is a really long term project, but it's going to be so fun to work on.

As a reader, do you prefer reading series or stand alone novels?
As a writer, do you think it's better to produce series or stand alone novels?

Indie Life - It's All About the Sequel

I'm very excited to be part of The Indelibles Indie Life series. These posts run on the second Wednesday of every month and include ideas and articles from a wide variety of indie authors. Check out the links below to learn more about INDIE LIFE.

I have been published since 2011 and it has not taken me long to figure out that in this game, writing series and sequels is the way to go. I have seven books published now with another one due for release in August and looking back over my stats, my trilogy is the strongest seller by far.

It makes sense though, doesn't it? Readers invest their time in these characters, get to know them, fall in love with them. Of course they are more likely to buy another book involving these people. It's a great way to develop a lasting readership or build a fan base. Speaking as a reader, I don't like saying goodbye to characters I fall in love with and it's fun watching them grow throughout a series.

From a writers viewpoint, it's great business. You can put the first book on sale, or free, and this leads to subsequent sales for the rest of the series. I have found this to be hugely successful for me, which is why I decided to go for rapid fire releases with my second trilogy. The first two books are already out - Unknown in June and Unseen in July. The 3rd book - Unleashed - is due out in August. I am then going to spend my marketing budget in September. That's when I'll run some sales, pay for some advertising, do a blog tour, etc. Once the readers can access all three books quickly. I have never done this before and am really interested to analyze it all at the end and see how it's paid off.

If you're anything like me, you have a million stories in your database and new ideas constantly popping into your head. Writing series takes staying power. I am always tempted to keep releasing new stuff, stand alone stories, but I am curbing that desire for now. Sure, I'll still do the odd stand alone, but from the results I've seen in my own writing, they will never take off as well as my series.

How Much Should A Book Cost?

YA writers and bloggers unite each week to share their thoughts on what it's like going indie in today's publishing world.

I have just released my latest novel - Unknown - so YA Indie Carnival's discussion today is quite timely. I had to ask myself this very question as I uploaded my book the other day. 

How much should this book cost? How much is it worth?

It saddens me to realize that a book's cost and worth are two very different things. When I think about all the hours I've poured into my novels and the money I've spent on editors to make sure they a quality reads, I cringe to think that I may only sell them for 99c.

But the thing is, there is no point putting in all this time and effort and publishing it online then not selling one single copy. So pricing is a very important consideration.

When it comes to pricing, I try to think like a reader. I don't mind spending up to $5 for en e-book. I'll even spend up to $8 if it's an author I really love. Now I don't know any indie authors that would price their stuff that high. Most of the authors I know price their books at either 99c or between $2.99 - $4.99, which I am always happy to pay. It's WAY cheaper than the $25+ I used to spend on paperback novels.

Personally, I would love to charge $3.99+ for all my books. They are all over 60,000 words long, they are a decent read and I feel like they are worth that much, but from a marketing stand point, I choose not to do that. I am trying to find a happy compromise. 

So - my very first book (the first of a series) is permanently free - Golden Blood. The next two books in the series are $3.99 each. Some people don't like this, but I figure I'm giving them one book for free, so they're picking up an entire trilogy for just under $8, which really isn't bad. My two stand alone novels are $3.99 each and my latest release (the first of a series) is $2.99. 

By making $2.99 my lowest price, I am able to benefit from 70% royalties on Amazon and it also gives me room to move with specials. I try to run some sort of special every couple of months on my books. I don't mind dropping the price to 99c for a short period of time. It's a great boost for my rankings. I tend to only do this with first books in a series though.

Now I don't know if I have it right. I still have much to learn about marketing, but this strategy seems to be working for now.

How about you?
What do you think books are worth?


If you'd like to find out what the other carnival goers think, you can follow the links below. 
And don't forget to check out our latest news on our YA Author Club site.

1.	Laura A. H. Elliott	2.	Bryna Butler, author Midnight Guardian series
3.	T. R. Graves, Author of The Warrior Series	4.	Suzy Turner, author of The Raven Saga
5.	Rachel Coles, author of Into The Ruins, geek mom blog	6.	K. C. Blake, author of Vampires Rule and Crushed
7.	Gwenn Wright, author of Filter	8.	Liz Long | Just another writer on the loose.
9.	Ella James	10.	Maureen Murrish
11.	YA Sci Fi Author's Ramblings	12.	A Little Bit of R&R
13.	Melissa Pearl	14.	Terah Edun - YA Fantasy
15.	Heather Sutherlin - YA Fantasy