#lordbobbins

[seanpatricklittlewriter]

Looking for a book?

This is out now. Be nice if you bought a copy. Maybe review it?  No pressure. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36567703-lord-bobbins-and-the-romanian-ruckus?from_search=true

[seanpatricklittlewriter]

Six Days...

Six days and counting until I show up at Mystery to Me to promote LORD BOBBINS AND THE ROMANIAN RUCKUS, LONG EMPTY ROADS, and the future TeslaCon books.

I am starting to hit that point where my nerves start kicking in. I like that feeling, that jittery, intense, "pre-stage" feeling, but because my brain is a hateful beast, it starts kicking out worst case scenarios into my consciousness. Like, for example, having no one show up.

When I published my first book, I did it through iUniverse because, at the time, they had a deal that would put books into Barnes & Nobles. As part of that deal, I got to do my very first book signing, and that signing was that the Barnes & Noble in Rochester, Minnesota.

That was a good day for learning lessons, I think. I showed up, the manager put me at a tiny table in the corner of the store, and for four straight hours, I was ignored by all who passed by. No one talked to me. No one bought a book. No one did anything but pretend I was furniture. It was a humbling day, but it did put realistic expectations of book selling into my head forever. Now, I never expect any sales, therefore any sales I do get are simply gravy.

The full day of no sales/signings has happened several times to me. I participated in the Minnesota Book Festival years ago. It was $60 to buy half a table. I did, I went, and sold nothing. However, I spent the day meeting other independent authors and I traded books with them. It wasn't a complete loss, but almost eight hours of sitting at a table and selling nothing taught me to never purchase space to sell my books. Madison Author Daze is coming, and I received an invite to that, but they want $125 for an author to set up a table. I'd never see that money again. I'll stay home, probably sell the same amount of books, and not be out a buck-and-a-quarter. I've learned, over the years, that if you have to pay to sell your books, it's probably not going to work out for you.

I did the Southwestern Wisconsin Book Festival in its first year of existence. Their deal was that the table was free, but you had to give them a $2 or $3 cut on every book you sold. They had a central register and all sales went through them. Easy enough for the writers. I spent the day sandwiched between a Christian romance novelist and a woman who wrote serial novelizations of a long-dead TV show. It was an interesting day. We were all generally ignored by everyone. Very few people attended the festival. It was an almost ten hour day of staring at my computer screen (because thankfully, I'd wised up enough to bring along work by this point). Toward the end of the day, some of the writers were so frustrated with the lack of attendance and sales, that they started going around trying to pitch their books to the other writers. I learned that day to not do that. It was really obnoxious. If the sales are there, fine. But, realize that they will most likely not be there. That's just the nature of the game.

Writer Louis Leung, on Twitter, said that if you start thinking about the bottom line, you're not a writer, you're a businessman. Businessmen make horrible writers. Write the book you want to read, and if you're lucky, other people do, too.

That's all I do. That's all I have ever done. It's hard not to dream of pie-in-the-sky when you get an email from a production company in Hollywood that says, "Hey, we're interested in optioning your book for a potential movie or series," but I've learned there that those conversations almost never go beyond the initial contact. So, here's my advice to writers: set your bar low. As low as you can possibly set it...and then lower it another twenty feet. That's a realistic expectation to being a writer.

I know that some people will show up to the event on Friday, and I will be forever in their debt. Anytime you put yourself out there like this, there is always the potential of no one showing. Even if you're a traditionally published author. (I went to an event not long ago where only myself and one other person showed up.) Until I actually see people there though, my brain will keep showing me loops of me sitting in the corner of the store, covered in dust, while spiders spin webs around my motionless form.

In other news: one of my favorite teachers ever, one of my college professors from UW-Whitewater, died of cancer this past week. Dr. Tremblay was the director of WSUW, the campus radio station at Whitewater where I spent most of my time. I loved being on the radio. It was what I wanted to do. I spent a lot of time around Dr. T. He was a New Englander with a very distinct hitch in his speech. Myself, being an incorrigible mimic, used to do an impression of him on the campus radio station. One time, I went off on a tangent during a show, doing my Dr. T impression. After we went back to music, the station phone rang. (It was a college station--the phone RARELY rang.) My buddy John answered it, then held it out to me. Tremblay had been listening (of course). "Listen, Mr. Funnyman," he said. "Where's that sense of humor in your assignments?" So, after that, I had to be funny in his class...or else. When he was giving tours of the stations to people, if I was there, he would make me imitate him.

He was a good dude, and a great teacher.

See you on the other side, Dr. T. The Patriots still suck.

--Sean

[seanpatricklittlewriter]

A January Update

I had hoped to have a cover for LONG EMPTY ROADS to show you by now, but Paige has run into issues with her Photoshop program. --When you absolutely need something screwed up, use a computer. They will find a way to let you down every time.

The hard copy version of LONG EMPTY ROADS won't be ready by Feb. 2, sadly--but as long as I can get a simple flat done, the eBook version should still be on time. Given that hardly anyone bought a hard copy of the book, this should not set many people back.

Speaking of hard copies--My friend Maddy Hunter's new book SAY NO MOOR is out now. She will be doing an event on Sunday at Mystery to Me in Madison around 1:00pm, I believe. If you're in the area, please consider stopping in to say hello and grab a copy. Maddy is a heckuva writer and her books are very funny.

In other book news, Alex Bledsoe announced that his forthcoming Tufa novel, THE FAIRIES OF SADIEVILLE, will be the final in the series. This is a happy and a sad announcement. It's always nice to have completion, and to have an author be able to finish a series on his terms is always a good thing. It's better to finish something before it jumps the shark, so to speak. However, the Tufa novels are easily in my top five favorite book series. The characters are alive and breathing. The prose is crisp. The stories are wonderful. We need more books like the Tufa novels. I will be sad to see them end. Alex will keep writing other books, though. I will be very interested to see what he churns out next.

If you haven't seen the commercial Jack Quincey did for LORD BOBBINS AND THE ROMANIAN RUCKUS, you should give it a play. Jack's got too much talent to be kept down for too long. I've known the guy for 14 years now. (Sheesh, time flies...) He makes commercials and does some seriously good marketing for Everything Hobby in Rochester, MN. Follow their Instagram account for Jack's puppetry. He puts out a new video almost daily. He's doing marketing right.

After a brief thaw here in Southern Wisconsin, we are back into the teens. January typically gives a brief respite from the cold, but February is traditionally the coldest month. We had two weeks and change of subzero temps in December and early January, so getting back up to 45 was delightful. I hate the cold. I keep wanting to move to a warmer climate. I've been applying for jobs in the south, but I don't foresee myself ever leaving Wisconsin. As much as I loathe the cold, the rest of the year is pretty nice here.

I'll keep you posted on the new book. In the meantime, I think I'll be at Mystery to Me on Feb. 2 to promote LORD BOBBINS AND THE ROMANIAN RUCKUS. If we can get a bunch of people there in Steampunk gear, all the better.

-S

[seanpatricklittlewriter]

Winter Writing=Cold Fingers

Writing in Wisconsin in the winter adds a new dimension to the challenge of putting down a daily word count: cold fingers. Even now, as I am ensconced in my favorite booth at the Sun Prairie Culver's, it's hard to type. My fingertips are very cold. As I'm getting older, the blood doesn't flow to the fingers like it used to, and it is complicating life. I've stopped wearing my wedding ring because my recent weight loss and declining circulation made my fingers shrink. I find myself stopping to blow into my fists often to try to heat up my hands. I am not a fan. I keep looking for jobs in the southwest. I think moving someplace warm would be a good thing now. I could stand some heat. I'm tired of winter and it hasn't even started.

It's been a month since LORD BOBBINS AND THE ROMANIAN RUCKUS came out. After a great initial sales rush at TeslaCon, the book has stagnated badly. I mean, really badly. Steampunk is a very niche audience, and even the major steampunk authors don't have great sales, so in a way, this was expected. I was excited to write the third book in the series, but now I'm questioning it. As of right now, it does not feel like this book is going to take off as I hoped it would. A few dozen positive reviews might help its exposure, but it would need to accumulate at least 50 reviews for Amazon to even start including it in their promotional materials, so it might be awhile, if ever.

The sequel to AFTER EVERYONE DIED is on track, though. It will be out on Feb. 2. I play to have hard copies at Mystery to Me before that date, and the Amazon pre-order for eBooks will be up by mid-January. LONG EMPTY ROADS became the story I hoped it would be. Like AED, it has a unique structure and is atypical of standard novels. And it is strangely hopeful, I think.

I have already started the process of worrying and fretting about the story. I hope people will like it. I hope as many people will buy it as did AED. There tends to be a drop off on sequels, though. I just need the right person to read it, though. Doors can be opened. I will remain hopeful, but at this point it feels like buying lottery tickets--you get hopeful, but inside you know you're not winning.

Paige Krogwold is working on the cover, and I hope she will be able to reveal it sometime in the next couple of weeks.

In the meantime, I continue to look for jobs. I continue to write. I continue to watch too much television.

--Sean

[seanpatricklittlewriter]

The Second-Pressing Books Arrived

The second run of LORD BOBBINS AND THE ROMANIAN RUCKUS has arrived. All orders that weren't picked up in person are in the mail, and all is right in my little corner of the steam-verse.

I checked the initial sales figures, and after the wonderful start at Teslacon and then a very good opening day for the Kindle version, sales have pretty much fallen off the table, but that's to be expected. This is why posting reviews is so important to the life of a book. Basically, a book will not even begin to be noticed until it has at least fifty reviews. Here's to hoping the reviews start to trickle in and boost the signal on this little guy.

I have a couple other promotional things working right now. Juggernaut Productions LLC is going to possibly be doing an audiobook version of it. And I think Jack Quincey, the Master of Disaster himself, is working on a promotional video(s) for it. All will be posted to all the regular networking if and when they become available.

In the meantime, I am beginning work on a third LORD BOBBINS book, and I've just completed the sequel to AFTER EVERYONE DIED. It will be called LONG EMPTY ROADS, and I'm shooting for a February 2 release. I'm already penciled in to speak at Mystery to Me that night, so I'm hoping I can make it a two-book launch. If you can join us that night, that would be amazing. If you can dress in your steampunk gear, even better!

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[seanpatricklittlewriter]

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https://www.amazon.com/Lord-Bobbins-Romanian-Ruckus-TeslaCon-ebook/dp/B077948WFL

[seanpatricklittlewriter]

The Shine is off the Apple

Well, the shine has definitely fallen off the apple of the past week.

It was exciting to launch a new book at TeslaCon. It sold well at TeslaCon and people seemed really excited to read it. It was exciting to finish another book and really start getting to brass tacks on that one. It was exciting to put the TeslaCon book out on Kindle, and for the first day, that book jumped into the top 50 Steampunk books for a whole glorious day. When it started out, it was somewhere around #350 in Steampunk. On Kindle, it climbed all the way to #47. Sadly, it's fallen again and is now dwindling somewhere around #180.

Alas.

Book sales are long, tedious enduro-marathons, though. Not sprints. It takes a long time to build sales on a new product or a new series. We can't just leap into first place.

I met with Eric Jon Larson on Friday morning to talk about the future of the book series. LORD BOBBINS AND THE DOME OF LIGHT is already done. I'm about to start work on a third LORD BOBBINS book. He also has some other, smaller novella-length projects in mind that I hope to get off the ground sooner than later. There could be a long and interesting future for these books if the audience can find it.

I just hate the waiting process. Waiting is why I don't have hair any more.

It also reinforces how important it is for people to post reviews, tell friends, and use social media to really push books they like or books they want to succeed. Without everyone's help, these things are dead in the water.

I'll keep writing. I keep trying to quit, but I just can't. I will keep putting out books, even if I can only release them as Kindle ebooks and nobody reads them--I'll still do it. It's the same sickness that makes standup comics do their set in empty bars or makes struggling actors monologue in their living rooms. We can't stop. We have to do what makes us happy.

It's just better when others come along for the ride.

Perhaps I should do some live-streaming or something like that. Read a chapter or two, or something. I know I've talked to Randall Stewart of Juggernaut Productions LLC about possibly doing some YouTube videos of chapters, or maybe some audiobook stuff. We'll have to see how that goes. And I hope to gem up some new promotional material in the near future.

If you're not following writers on Twitter, you should. I'm on there. Most of the rest of the writers I know are, as well. You kind of have to be nowadays, although it is not my favorite social media.

Fingers crossed, all.

Let's hope the good luck keeps rolling.

--Sean

[seanpatricklittlewriter]

The New Books are Out!

LORD BOBBINS AND THE ROMANIAN RUCKUS is now out in both hard copy and eBook. Initial response has been positive. Given that there aren't a ton of #steampunk books out there, and given how dedicated the steampunk and #teslacon fanbase is, it is encouraging to see the first couple of days be a step in a positive direction.

It makes me anxious to work on the next books in the series. I have to finish the sequel to AFTER EVERYONE DIED, first. I think the name of the sequel is going to be changed to LONG EMPTY ROADS to stick with the three word title motif. It's nearly edited on my front. After I edit, I will send a hard copy to an editor and have her look it over. Paige Krogwold is excited to work on the cover. (She hasn't told me this...Paige is just an excitable little gnome...) Right now, we're going to aim for a February 2 release date. I've already been penciled in for a speaking engagement at Mystery to Me for LORD BOBBINS on that day, so I'm going to try to combine it to a two book launch day. I really hope people will come to it. I would like to pack the bookstore to an uncomfortable standing-room-only capacity

I'd like to take a moment to remind people that much like Blanche Dubois, I depend on the kindness of strangers. I don't do a ton of promotion for my books.

Actually, I do almost nothing. I post stuff on my various social media accounts for better or for worse. I rely on people to retweet, to share links, and to make their own posts. It's not the best method of achieving sales and interest, but there are only so many hours in the day.

So, here's a helpful list of things you can do to help promote LORD BOBBINS AND THE ROMANIAN RUCKUS and the Survivor Journals:

1) Post reviews. I cannot emphasize how important this is. When AFTER EVERYONE DIED hit fifty reviews on Amazon, it started getting wedged into promotional emails from Amazon and I saw my sales triple. It helped the book really take off in Australia (of all places) and helped it become a much, much bigger success than I could have even hoped. When it got to 100 reviews, it ended up hitting Amazon's best-seller eBook list for a week or two. That was amazing.

2) Ask your local bookstores to carry it. Ask your local library to get a copy. More exposure means more readers which translates to more demand. People can't read it if they aren't seeing it.

3) Post about the books on your own social media. If you enjoy the books, tell friends. It makes a difference.

4) If anyone has any venues for promotion like blogs, website, podcasts, etc... Let me know! I'm happy to call in to radio stations or podcasts. If you're within two or three hours of me, I'd probably drive to you to guest on a podcast on my own dime. I'm a little demented that way. If you have a blog and want content, I'm happy to throw a few hundred words your way.

5) Fan art, cosplay, etc... This is invaluable, both for my own enjoyment as well as a promotional tool. If you post it, link it to me. I'd like to see it as well as share it.

I can't do what I do without your support. I'm grateful for everyone who has liked the book so far. I hope many, many more follow suite so that we can do the second, and possibly third books in the series even bigger.

Fingers crossed.

All the best, --Sean