tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29109752791794032.post7494058511528222417..comments2023-11-17T01:32:25.790+00:00Comments on Aleksandr Voinov - Letters from the Front: Wake-up callAleksandr Voinovhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06583805228909693924noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29109752791794032.post-70597576404034991612014-11-05T19:20:54.772+00:002014-11-05T19:20:54.772+00:00Have you thought about trying Patreon for people t...Have you thought about trying Patreon for people to support you with a payment every month? Some artists use it to support ongoing projects. I must admit I don't know much about it, though. I hope your situation improves... hollis shilohhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04585509044252127013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29109752791794032.post-21142314874574846782014-11-05T18:05:21.390+00:002014-11-05T18:05:21.390+00:00Guess I'm out of sync with the market because ...Guess I'm out of sync with the market because I love novels, the longer the better. My biggest complaint with short stories and novellas is that they so often feel dashed off, with little thought to character development or a satisfying narrative arc.Nikkihttp://www.fridaville.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29109752791794032.post-9753592914386368512014-11-05T12:09:43.827+00:002014-11-05T12:09:43.827+00:00ETA: Shorts should be kinky though. BDSM sells wel...ETA: Shorts should be kinky though. BDSM sells well for me. Others have good success with dubcon, pseudo-incest, or monster-erotica. Pure Vanilla doesn't sell nearly as well.<br />Historical stuff also works well (Vikings kidnapping pretty virgins are very popular right now). Think bodice-ripper without the romance plot.Nony Mousenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29109752791794032.post-91899675830578694362014-11-05T12:06:26.597+00:002014-11-05T12:06:26.597+00:00My porny m/m shorts (at $2.99) make me enough mone...My porny m/m shorts (at $2.99) make me enough money to pay some bills. Interestingly enough my m/m shorts sell better than my m/f shorts. <br />The advantage is that they are quick to write and don't require the extensive research/plotting/editing that a novel does.<br />Right now I'm doing about one or two a week and my sales and borrows (especially the borrows) are continuously moving up and that without any kind of marketing. But, it is a short-lived market that constantly requires new material.Nony Mousenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29109752791794032.post-20114426549999619772014-11-05T08:43:06.005+00:002014-11-05T08:43:06.005+00:00Hi Clare - Yep, I think that makes sense. I'm ...Hi Clare - Yep, I think that makes sense. I'm curious to see how it all pans out in the end, but meanwhile, I'll be over here, frantically building my life raft. :) Aleksandr Voinovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06583805228909693924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29109752791794032.post-41161700480706304532014-11-05T08:41:01.949+00:002014-11-05T08:41:01.949+00:00Thank you! Thank you! Aleksandr Voinovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06583805228909693924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29109752791794032.post-19225572114748593422014-11-05T08:40:52.704+00:002014-11-05T08:40:52.704+00:00Sofia - It's absolutely possible people are re...Sofia - It's absolutely possible people are reading what they just one-clicked over the last year or two. Financial crisis dragging on even further doesn't help, of course. Some people are beyond the financial breaking point, and many romance readers read a LOT. Ah, well. Looks like we are, on a lesser scale, finally sharing the fate of our traditionally published colleagues. Aleksandr Voinovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06583805228909693924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29109752791794032.post-63599028208359621972014-11-05T08:38:18.695+00:002014-11-05T08:38:18.695+00:00Hi Kate - sorry to hear your sales are down, too. ...Hi Kate - sorry to hear your sales are down, too. And DWS speaks a lot of sense - though at least romance readers disagree violently on pricing with him. ($2.99 for short stories - though that's really Amazon's fault.) And good luck on the workshop - I'd be really interested to see how that goes for you.<br /><br />Re: porny shorts - that's interesting. I might give it a whirl.<br /><br />Good luck to you!Aleksandr Voinovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06583805228909693924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29109752791794032.post-12828885837341730212014-11-05T08:28:46.234+00:002014-11-05T08:28:46.234+00:00Thanks for your honesty. I'm starting that liv...Thanks for your honesty. I'm starting that living-from-writing situation too, as you know, but with substantially lower sales expectations than yours, even on new releases. That's not a moan, just a statement :).<br /><br />I'm not sure that the "tide rises/all boats lift" theory still holds true, at least not at the moment. All I can see is that a small number of titles/authors do extremely well - as always, and not always for reasons I can identify, though I don't begrudge them AT ALL - while the rest of us share out what's left. I can't believe people don't read as much any more - and that there aren't new readers joining the pool all the time! But maybe the balance is out of kilter for a time.<br /><br />I've made a deliberate strategy decision for the next year (at least) to write contemporary romance, novella length, as prolifically as I can manage, and to market the bejasus out of it. I'm interested to know where that takes me.<br /><br />And, unfortunately for me, I'm also looking at some extrenal work to subsidise me in the meantime. *sigh*Clare Londonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09392142798976142547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29109752791794032.post-78353972073399257052014-11-02T18:03:55.423+00:002014-11-02T18:03:55.423+00:00Hi there, I just bought two of ur backlist that I ...Hi there, I just bought two of ur backlist that I missed!! I hope sales pick up soon, and that you can come up with a plan that keeps you happy and paying the bills!<br /><br />xxoo from MOMiriyaphttps://www.goodreads.com/user/show/5200779-mirnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29109752791794032.post-3019038976748371162014-11-02T03:53:48.813+00:002014-11-02T03:53:48.813+00:00Pretty much all the writers I know are commenting ...Pretty much all the writers I know are commenting on reduced sales this year, so it seems to be an across-the-board phenomenon. Doesn't help though. I wonder if the e-market has reached saturation point? If books are so cheap that people are stockpiling, but not actually reading, then they will not seek out the backlist.<br /><br />I'm as keen as you to figure out a solution. Hang on in there!<br /><br />* hugs *Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29109752791794032.post-33103817911650719602014-11-01T14:20:10.364+00:002014-11-01T14:20:10.364+00:00I've also been scrutinizing my royalty stateme...I've also been scrutinizing my royalty statement this quarter and wondering how come it's a whole order of magnitude off! You're not alone. <br />According to the Gospel of St. Dean, it takes a backlist of about 40 books for the feed-back loop to kick in, where the word will start spreading and new readers will start discovering your backlist and recommending you onward. You're closer to that goal than I am, but I'd agree that diversifying genre is a good idea. <br />This being said, I'd say keep the name. Screw what anyone else thinks. Your sci-fi readers will read sci-fi. They may or may not read m/m, and vice versa, but if there's no connection, you're sort of killing the feedback loop, I think. <br />If you need the freedom of a pen name and it will help you be more productive, that's a different reason. I'm told pen names are really no longer important (although I do have one for PWPs :-). <br />I'm taking a "Productivity" workshop starting Wednesday with DWS, so let's see if that can help me get up to speed and do my intended 8 books a year, plus some short stories.<br />Speaking of short stories, a friend of mine has written a bunch of pan-sexual PWP short stories that earned her more cash on ARe than she's seen from serious, high-quality m/m novels published both through small press and through her own imprint. <br />It spurs the imagination some, doesn't it? Both financially and in terms of material. Just sayin'.<br />Hang in there. We can do this thing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29109752791794032.post-81502581915669993492014-11-01T12:50:49.973+00:002014-11-01T12:50:49.973+00:00Thanks! Right now I'll be licking my wounds an...Thanks! Right now I'll be licking my wounds and finishing a book that has very little chance of selling. And after that, I'll have to seriously work on a strategy that'll keep me housed and fed.Aleksandr Voinovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06583805228909693924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29109752791794032.post-83975256626178469162014-11-01T12:41:42.089+00:002014-11-01T12:41:42.089+00:00Hi Helen - Thank you. I'll see what I'll d...Hi Helen - Thank you. I'll see what I'll do about the pen name. Sometimes I feel a clean break might be good (no expectations), but I don't want to cut ties with the readers I do have. It's difficult at the moment.<br /><br />And no, of all things, I will most definitely NOT be writing straight romance. I'm already chafing against "the rules" in m/m romance, and from what I observe, those rules are worse in m/f. If anything, I might do a couple love stories, but mostly, I want to do speculative fiction without any of those constraints or expectations. I know the money is in romance, but I can't do justice to the genre or the expectations of its readers.<br /><br />I would have agreed that the genre is growing and the rising tide lifts all boats, but my tide just went down 40%. Whichever books the new people are reading, they aren't mine. And they are most definitely not fantasy, historicals or sci-fi.<br /><br />And regarding sales of the three Market Garden shorts. We're looking at vastly diminishing returns - sales numbers are down 30-40% from one book to the next. Plus all the negative reviews about how asking $2.99 is "way too much" for "just porn", I'll do my damned best to not write short stories anymore (not that I can help it). Novels are doing much, much better. People even seem to start disliking novellas. I sometimes get the idea that the ideal book is one million words for completely free. Oh, wait, done it. Still have to worry about my mortgage payment.<br /><br />And no, not waffling. I'm turning around and around in this trap I've set for myself and can't find a way out either... Aleksandr Voinovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06583805228909693924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29109752791794032.post-68206913441668028122014-11-01T12:34:18.712+00:002014-11-01T12:34:18.712+00:00The trade-off between traditional publishing (whic...The trade-off between traditional publishing (which for m/m at least doesn't exist) and small-press publishing is that you make roughly 5-8 times more per book in small-press. In this case, m/m is is so small, and my appeal within m/m so niche, that even the improved payscale doesn't compensate for it. I either have to write "sellers" in this genre (which I can't), or self-published books outside the genre that have a chance to sell more than 800 copies. <br /><br />The day-job thing - yes. The received wisdom is that your backlist (old titles) needs to make you enough to pay all your bills. In traditional publishing (and based on really awful royalties and contract terms), you could achieve that in about 10-15 years if you were prolific. I've had that chat with a couple big German literary agents. I was roughly at that point, but last month has cut those backlist earnings by 40%.<br /><br />There are quite a few writers who make a living in m/m, but they do contemporaries, and lots of them.<br /><br />And thanks for your support. Both those really help in terms of royalties. <br /><br />Regarding giving up: I've put everything on have on this card. I can't stop for financial reasons, at least until I've secured a decent day job again.Aleksandr Voinovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06583805228909693924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29109752791794032.post-72680701302388026402014-11-01T00:22:56.297+00:002014-11-01T00:22:56.297+00:00I have found myself pulling away from romance them...I have found myself pulling away from romance themed novels as of late. Not sure the reason but am so damn glad that my reading interests are pretty eclectic. I cannot fathom what it would be like to try and guess (educated or not) what I would be bringing home month to month. I DO certainly know what it is to live check to check but my checks come bi-weekly and average about the same each time. The genre I started with and keep coming back to is scifi/fantasy. I love me some myth and magic!! I am always on the lookout for strong women in the books I read so the fact that you are working on some is just a double bonus to me ;) <br /><br />As always, I am up for finding plot holes or just looking at something with a set of fresh eyes.<br /><br />Looking forward to seeing more of your work luv!<br /><br />*hugs*Kassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09985856663502841108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29109752791794032.post-22898985404563644062014-11-01T00:16:35.159+00:002014-11-01T00:16:35.159+00:00As said by Carole-Ann do let your current fans (li...As said by Carole-Ann do let your current fans (like me) know any other pen names. We will be the first to buy your books.<br />I am sorry to hear it is such a struggle for you. Especially you as an established author with good backlist.<br />I'm not sure about the strategy of writing straight F/M romance. Although there is a bigger audience your book will have far more competition so will enough new reader actually find it? Whereas with gay romance you already have an established reputation and when new readers discover such books they will be interesting in your backlist.<br />Something bisexual might be good - from a commercial POV. And, of course, I don't need to say that increasingly women more women are starting to read M/M romance so that is a growing market that you are established in. <br />You've gone over all that - if only there was a crystal ball.<br /><br />You know your figures for your actually books, ass a reader (who also is a self employed and shares your anxiety in my own life) I would have thought it would be commercially expedient to write short books like the Tristen/Jared Market Garden series. I read each one in next to no time and instantly bought the next because I wanted to know where their relationship was going. I was not at all worried that the first two were only 10/11k words. I have bought similar series (of short ish book) from other authors too. <br />I don't know if I am a typical buyer though, perhaps more people prefer longer books that take longer to write.<br />Sorry for waffling... xHelen JPhttps://helenjperry.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29109752791794032.post-31790049518658530322014-10-31T17:58:39.412+00:002014-10-31T17:58:39.412+00:00This is why I have a great deal of respect for ...This is why I have a great deal of respect for 'genre' authors! Even those 'mainstream' authors who write in Fantasy, SF, or PNR must have some worries about a 'new' series, even though they may have built a following with their back-list.<br /><br />But (nearly) every article I've ever read about writing and how to make money, has always mentioned the day-paying job. Living off one's royalties seems to be a fairy-tale (apart from those stock, popular writers); and it seems that TV or film options are what pay the most. Very few achieve that notoriety :)<br /><br />Unfortunately, "Respect" doesn't pay the bills, which is why I try to buy e-books (especially) at full price so the author gains as much as possible. That's all I can do, apart from urging someone like you NOT to give up!!<br /><br />So, PLEASE keep on writing! Let us know your "new" names, so peeps like me will STILL buy! and please don't give up. {{Hugs}}Carole-Annhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09709558554838594622noreply@blogger.com