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Post by papaof2 on Oct 16, 2016 21:42:47 GMT -6
I'm still a bit amazed at the reception "An Accidental Family" has received. Today is the 16th and it's sold more than 400 copies so far this month. That will probably drop when the revised version is published and the price goes up.
I got the preview version of cover art today. It needs a few tweaks but the artist has promised completion tomorrow (the 17th) so it seems that my revised version will be up immediately after the weekend. It's a different cover for a post-apocalypse book but it's also a different story from most post-apocalypse writings.
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Post by papaof2 on Oct 18, 2016 19:16:15 GMT -6
The revised version is now working its way through the Kindle publishing process with a new cover. Possibly not what you expect on a post-apocalyptic book, but it does represent the setting and it will be a standout in a group of PAW books. And a new price. $2.99 when it goes live - that's typically 12 hours for English and 48 hours for other languages. My best market outside the US is Australia with 16 sales so far. Total sales passed 550 Monday and I still find that hard to believe so I'll say "Thank you" again to all who encouraged me along the way. When the "60 days after sale" time to get payment has passed, I will have royalties to take my wife out for a nice steak dinner - although I may need help cutting my steak. I've been dealing with arm and shoulder pain for some months. Originally diagnosed as a problem with the biceps tendon, the lack of progress with physical therapy got me an MRI and the orthopedist showed me the full thickness tear in the supraspinatus plus a partial tear in the biceps tendon plus some bone spurs. That sounds like it needs a new or rebuilt unit instead of repair, doesn't it? I'm now scheduled for outpatient rotator cuff surgery the week of Thanksgiving (4th week of November). The recovery is long and I've already cautioned my wife that I'll be hard to live with when I can't "do" anything (if you think that sounds like Abby, you'd be correct). My right arm will be in a sling and I'll have near zero use of it for 6 weeks, followed by 6 weeks of passive physical therapy and almost no use, followed by weeks of strengthening physical therapy (total recovery time is 4 to 6 months). I'm already annoyed that I can't install the solar system I designed for the lawn equipment shed or finish the "lawnmower engine plus GM alternator plus inverter" 12 volt DC and 120 volt AC generator I have the parts for (if you read "Deep Winter" they made good use of this design; plans and piece parts are available at theepicenter.com/emergency-power/homemade-generators.html ). Doing physical work is difficult when picking up a cordless drill (or a glass of water) is painful and carrying solar panels up a ladder just isn't possible ;-( More on the saga of the old man and his book as it happens ;-) I'm sure typing will be much slower when I can only use one hand - and the "wrong" hand at that. Maybe I should dig out the microphone for Dragon Naturally Speaking? It works OK for smaller files but don't try to edit an 800 page novel with it ;-)
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Post by 9idrr on Oct 18, 2016 20:03:43 GMT -6
Glad to book is sellin' well and even gladder you're lookin' at finally gettin' some relief from the shoulder misery.
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Post by papaof2 on Oct 19, 2016 16:08:36 GMT -6
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Post by papaof2 on Oct 21, 2016 20:01:59 GMT -6
I expected a large drop in Kindle sales when the price went from $0.99 to $2.99. Although sales have dropped, they haven't dropped drastically.
Being on Pam's Pride Recommendations again this week and getting another 5 star review today probably made the difference. I'll know more next week.
Amazon has started a beta paperback print-on-demand program for KDP authors. There's no cost to get in the program and the royalties are acceptable. The printing costs are much more reasonable than any of the others who offer that service.
Before I join the program, how many of you would be interested in paying in the range of $6 to $10 (plus shipping or free shipping with Prime) for a paperback copy of "An Accidental Family"? I'll have to do the math on cost based on the number of pages (800+) to get an exact price. It might be a good stocking stuffer for a budding prepper - if it's not too big for the stocking ;-)
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Post by kaijafon on Oct 30, 2016 10:18:58 GMT -6
I rarely buy "real" books anymore since my eyesight is not what it was. It is hard for me to see the words anymore. On the kindle I can make them bigger. sorry
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Post by papaof2 on Oct 31, 2016 19:26:38 GMT -6
Maybe a paper copy isn't so much for yourself as for someone you'd like to "nudge" into the world of prepping? Not exactly a subtle nudge if they read the cover but as one reader described the story: it's 'not "gun porn"'. Be aware that an 800 page paperback might only fit in a *large* Christmas stocking ;-) I'm still thinking about the POD (Print On Demand) program. If Amazon can produce a large paperback for $5.99 plus shipping (free with Prime) I may go that way - just need to do a little more research. I think I want to have a "physical" copy of the book - even if it's the only one they sell ;-) Again I must thank all who encouraged me along the way. Sales for October hit 800 today. When I had a question about a report, the authors forum response to my initial 90 sales was "Tell us how you're marketing the book" so I'm guessing this is an unusually large sales volume. I don't know details on any other authors, but you can compute a book's place in the Kindle sales by determining how many total books are in the Kindle store and subtracting the number of free books from that figure to get the number of paid books (takes 2 searches and some subtraction). The last time I did the calculation, there were 4,698,653 paid books in the Kindle store - yes, that's almost 5 million. If you scroll down through a book's page at Amazon, you'll find this line Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,228 Paid in Kindle Store If you divide the rank number there by the total number of paid books, you get that book's rank in sales (re-computed every hour). Remember that smaller is better - you want to be #1 ;-) As I write this, the rank is 8,228. Dividing that by 4,698,653 gives 0.00175 or 0.175%. I don't think that it can last but right now "An Accidental Family" is in the top 1% of Kindle ebook sales. All the people who said it was good enough for publication were right! I keep writing about the publishing process in hopes that some other authors here will put that little bit of extra polish (an index is good and a bio of the author) plus a pretty cover on their stories and get them before a wider audience. I'm a novice at publishing but I'll be glad to share what I've learned and point you to the resources that helped me. Generic covers are easy with Kindle Direct Publishing's Cover Creator but there is very little for PAW stories. fiverr.com has a number of artists that will do an illustration from a text description - starting under $20US. I wanted a simple cover and looked at samples from several artists. After a little back-and-forth (getting the people where I wanted them and the cast on the correct arm) I had my $20 cover art. I added the text with a graphics program I use for annotating photographs. The artist is used is Nilkamal Solanki. You can see samples or start a dialog here: www.fiverr.com/nilkamalsolankiIf you want a full size image of the cover, just click on it. As usual, my answer overwhelms the original post ;-)
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Post by papaof2 on Nov 11, 2016 16:42:11 GMT -6
Just sharing my joy with others. "An Accidental Family" got another 5 star review today. That makes 2/3 of the reviews 5 stars.
Thank you again to all who encouraged me along the way.
I'm giving serious consideration to producing a paperback version. The number of pages makes production expensive so the Amazon price will be $16.99. Don't know how well it will sell at that price but we'll know in a few weeks. I'll post the link here when the formatting is completed and the paper version is available. Considering the number of people on the forum who had some part in the process, all the aunts, uncles and godparents should be notified when the new arrival gets here ;-)
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Post by papaof2 on Nov 22, 2016 15:06:50 GMT -6
Back home after spending the morning in outpatient surgery at Northside Hospital in Atlanta. Rotator cuff repair (supraspinatus), biceps tendon repair and removal of some bone spurs. Surgeon said it all went well. My right arm is in a big sling + pillow contraption - I can only get close to the table if I sit with my left side to the table. There's a pain pump for the nerve block, so no oral pain meds needed for 12-24 hours - if I can deal with the tingling in my fingers for that long... Probably 6 weeks in the sling with some passive physical therapy (therapist moves arm, not your muscles), then 6 weeks active PT (5 lb limit) then strength training for an unknown length of time.
I won't be doing much writing or editing for a while :-(
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Post by 9idrr on Nov 22, 2016 21:06:08 GMT -6
Glad to hear you've gotten that behind you. PT ain't all that much fun, but I'll bet the day comes when you realize that you're back to doin' everything you used to. As for typin', I'm sure I ain't the only one who thinks that as good as your writin' is, we'll wait as long as it takes for you get comfortable at the keyboard again. Besides, by then you'll probably be bustin' with new ideas and stories. Take care, and it's good to know your surgeon thinks it was a success.
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Post by bretf on Nov 24, 2016 9:17:59 GMT -6
I feel for you Papa. It sounds like you had about the same thing I did. It was tough, but now that everything is healed, I'm glad I had it done.
Looking forward to you getting back to the keyboard.
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Post by kaijafon on Nov 28, 2016 19:07:47 GMT -6
sending hugs and lot's of good thoughts!!!!
(which will be a cold comfort during PT, lol!)
(bad Kellie)
seriously, I do hope it all goes well and as painfree as possible
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Post by papaof2 on Nov 30, 2016 11:28:27 GMT -6
Had my first post-op visit yesterday (Tuesday). The incisions are healing fine and X-rays indicate the internal repairs went well. The other bit of good news is that I'm now allowed to shower ;-)
I start passive physical therapy tomorrow (Thursday) - I lie still and the therapist moves my arm. That PT will run about 5 weeks then the active PT starts with my muscles doing the work. Still having some pain - but they did use a drill and a hammer for part of the procedure.
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Post by 9idrr on Dec 1, 2016 20:39:48 GMT -6
Hope the healin' continues with no problems. Drill 'n' hammer, huh? Come PAW they'll be doin' that with a brace and bit and a single jack.
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Post by papaof2 on Dec 2, 2016 11:41:28 GMT -6
If you're curious, there are several youtube videos about rotator cuff surgery - from simple animations to actual arthroscopic surgery with drill, hammer, and what sounds like a Dremel rotary tool for trimming away bone spurs...
There's a reason they do a nerve block for the surgery and send you home with a pump to depress the nerve activity for the next 48 hours or so.
Now the next painful part - I started physical therapy yesterday.
On the positive side, I was back in bed last night instead of sleeping in a recliner - although with a couple of wedge pillows for the best sleeping angle and extra pillows beside me so I don't roll onto the repaired arm.
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Post by kaijafon on Dec 3, 2016 19:27:15 GMT -6
Had my first post-op visit yesterday (Tuesday). The incisions are healing fine and X-rays indicate the internal repairs went well. The other bit of good news is that I'm now allowed to shower ;-) I start passive physical therapy tomorrow (Thursday) - I lie still and the therapist moves my arm. That PT will run about 5 weeks then the active PT starts with my muscles doing the work. Still having some pain - but they did use a drill and a hammer for part of the procedure. Yay!!! ya get to shower!!! (was wondering about that smell.... hahahaha! joking!) Seriously, I'm so happy for you that things are going on track and well!!
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Post by papaof2 on Jan 29, 2017 9:38:34 GMT -6
Tuesday will be 10 weeks since surgery and physical therapy is going well. At the 6 week follow-up visit, the surgeon was very pleased (and a little surprised ;-) at the range of motion I had. Maybe I'm just determined to get back to doing for myself? On a literary note, I finally got the paperback edition of "An Accidental Family" formatted (helps to have most of my arm function back, even if I am limited to lifting only 2 lb) and it's available for on-demand printing www.amazon.com/dp/152019398X . The paperback publication is more to have a paper copy for myself ("See, I'm a published author!") than for any great number of sales. I don't know how many people will opt for a $20 paper book (I get $1) over a $2.99 ebook (I get $2). Basic on-demand printing cost is more than a penny a page, which makes an 814 page book almost $11 before Amazon's middleman fees are added in :-( That's probably cheaper than the old "vanity press" publishers - and there is no minimum order of 500 or 1000 books ;-) Amazon doesn't have the linkage between the paper and Kindle formats as yet; I'll be exploring why later today.
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Post by kaijafon on Jan 29, 2017 19:05:33 GMT -6
thanks for the updates!!!
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Post by papaof2 on Feb 15, 2017 15:48:39 GMT -6
Someone prefers a paper book over an electronic one! The first non-vanity copy of the paperback version of "An Accidental Family" was purchased this week.
Guess I'm a bit surprised that anyone other than a vain author would cough up $20 for a paperback when the Kindle version is $3 ;-) Of course, I'm also very pleased that readers of paper still exist.
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Post by lostchild on Mar 4, 2017 1:26:27 GMT -6
Congratulations.Your book is a great family oriented read that I enjoyed!
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Post by papaof2 on Mar 4, 2017 1:31:55 GMT -6
Thank you.
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Post by papaof2 on Jun 13, 2017 18:30:01 GMT -6
An update on being published on Amazon. With an estimated 5,000,000 titles available in Kindle format, having a rank of "#367,376 Paid in Kindle Store" (in the paid books as opposed to free books) means "An Accidental Family" is in the top 8% of sales. 367376 / 5000000 = 0.0734 or about 7.3% of all paid books. Not bad for a first novel from a new author in a niche market.
Thank you to all my fans who've now purchased more than 1500 copies.
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Post by gipsy on Jul 2, 2017 13:35:44 GMT -6
Just sneaking to give my belated well done. Thanks for the great story.
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Post by papaof2 on Jul 2, 2017 17:50:58 GMT -6
Just sneaking to give my belated well done. Thanks for the great story. Glad you enjoyed it.
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Post by papaof2 on Oct 1, 2017 21:00:06 GMT -6
For those with an interest in publishing via Kindle, the review rate on "An Accidental Family" is about 2% (32 reviews on 1500 copies sold). Please review any book you purchase on Amazon. Amazon has added a "Rated By Customers Interested In" section where the ratings are divided by the buyers' interests.
Interest Rating Science Fiction Books 3.9 of 5 Religion & Spirituality Books 4.6 of 5 Romance Novels 3.9 of 5
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