Reader Question Day #26 – Maps, Paperbacks, and Book Sales
Ivy asks:
I am a fan I love everything I have read of yours. I am a Kindle user; my dad is a little more old fashioned but he would love your stuff. So is there any of your work in hard copy?
Thanks for the kind words about my books!
As for a paper edition, I would like to do some, but I don’t have plans to do any for the immediate future. I don’t think the demand for paper copies would justify the amount of work it would take to set it up – I only have a few hours to write (or work on writing-related stuff) every day, and I think it would be better to spend that time writing new books than putting out new editions of old books.
That said, if I can free up the time to do it, I definitely will.
Also there is a bible study type book written with a woman on the amazon store by a person with your name. Is this you?
That would be this book:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Bible-Minute-ebook/dp/B003VD21HI
I didn’t write (or illustrate) it, though I am mildly curious to know if that Jonathan Moeller ever a.) searches for himself on Amazon, and b.) what he thinks when he comes across my books – fantasy novels and Ubuntu Linux make for something of an peculiar combination.
Joe asks:
I would like to make one request. As I have read each of the books and the worlds within them have evolved, it has occurred to me that a map would greatly help in putting the geography into perspective. I would love to see that added to future books in both these series. I believe it would be an enriching addition, but even without it the books have been an excellent read. Thank you and I look forward to many more books in both series.
Thanks for the kind words about the books!
I’ve never really drawn a map for any of the books, since I’m not terribly good at drawing. And to be frank a map is somewhat limiting when writing, since you get locked into whatever the map says. So generally instead of a map, I’ll write up a few pages that describes the setting – Knightcastle is west of Castle Cravenlock, Swordgrim is north, Deepforest Keep is far to the south, and Arylkrad is far to the northeast.
Or for THE GHOSTS, Malarae is in the center of the Empire, Marsis is on the western coast, and Rasadda is southeast of Malarae, on the northern coast of the Alqaarin Sea.
Still, enough people have asked for maps that I might start including these geographic write-ups with the books.
John C. Wright asks:
May I link to this article from my page? I am so impressed with your persistence, I would not mind telling more people about your books. My wife is also thinking of following in your footsteps with her latest.
Link away! (The article in question is here.)
Marvell asks:
Why do you post about your book sales? Don’t you think that is bragging and makes people who haven’t had as many book sales (like me) feel bad?
I don’t do it to brag – there are people who sell as many books in a single day as I do in a month.
The reason I do it is because we live in a time of tremendous and far-reaching change, not just in publishing, but in everything. But writing and computer repair is what I know how to do, so that’s what I write about. Additionally, writers are the natural prey for all kinds of fraudsters, charlatans, and scam artists. I regularly get emails from this guy who will take your book and upload it to Amazon for $599. He won’t do the cover art or design, and he won’t edit it, but he’ll convert it to a MOBI file and upload it to Amazon for the low, low price of $599.
I’m sure he’s making an excellent living.
So the more information writers have, the better. Plus, there are people who argue that self-publishing is the path to riches (it’s not), or that self-publishing is destroying the fabric of literature (it’s definitely not). Hopefully my numbers will help people make informed decisions about ebooks and self-publishing.
-JM