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This week, we welcome indie author Robert Chazz Chute to the Self Publishing Round Table.
Robert is the author of Suspense and Dark Fantasy novels, and has won eight awards for his work, to date. The most recent, from Writer’s Digest.
We’ll chat with Robert about the business of being an author, why it sometimes sucks, and will remind you to keep your business hat on.
Things change in publishing all the time…So quit whining, and go with the flow!
Robert has lots to say on exclusivity with Amazon, how he’ll be using KU this year, and how you’re going to have to keep an open mind if you want to be a successful indie author.
7:00 PST/ 10:00 EST
–Michelle
Who will be the first lurker tonight? We need to come up with a prize. 🙂
writerwade Lurk, lurk lurk…
See you guys tonight! 😀
CateMorgan writerwade
writerwade CateMorgan Cate Morgan, you win the Golden Lurk!
writerwade it’s not really tonight yet, so I feel good about my chances 😉
Time to get ready for this thing…. so can I get any of you c****s a drink?
Carl Sinclair Pour me one. I missed the delivery truck with my copy of Sixth Cycle. Now I have to drive the whole 2 blocks to the post office in the morning. I need a drink!
Carl Sinclair just a cornetto, thanks
Yay CateMorgan is here!
Good evening!
michelleread Hiiiiiiiiiii!! 😀
Carl Sinclair Wait, isn’t that the same pic from last week? And the same comment…? Are you a robot posing as Carl?
Carl Sinclair Hate to break to you, oh Drunken Bearded One, but my bottle of vodka can beat up YOUR bottle of vodka. Also, it is IRISH.
Hey everyone!
CateMorgan Carl Sinclair Irish for the win – everyone kiss Cate
michelleread Carl Sinclair Also, did I mention shipwrecked? The vodka, not me. Because all good booze must come with a good story.
The boys are talking sports in the pre show meeting….. 0.o
michelleread Shall I throw my Golden Lurk at them?
Man michelleread won’t leave me alone. Wants me to come here and be all on time for a change :p
BatmanErica michelleread !!! : ) It worked though, didn’t it?
michelleread I’m almost finished watching an anime…
CateMorgan michelleread start talking about periods then 😛
http://chazzwrites.com
Here’s Robert’s blog that we’ll be referencing.
CateMorgan michelleread yes please!
BatmanErica CateMorgan michelleread Erica! Done
michelleread The other option is I can ask about the rules of cricket so you can make good your getaway. I’ll keep the engine running for you.
michelleread and cramps and babies
Hi everybody. Starting in a minute!
CateMorgan michelleread (and she bows) thank you
OMG michelleread said something!
Hey folks!
BatmanErica michelleread won’t happen again
RChazzChute Damn. I forgot to bring zombies. Anyone?
Demelza Carlton RChazzChute Hi Demelza!!
Thought writerwade said ‘sex’ but it was ‘sucks’… accents 😛
BatmanErica writerwade See Wade, I TOLD you you have an accent
michelleread Demelza Carlton RChazzChute G’morning!
Is Xavier going to pose again? (See? Question.)
They both support http://www.amazon.ca.ayeeee
CateMorgan It may just happen.
writerwade michelleread xgranville I have a question for Robert. I see that he has full seasons up on Amazon, but not the individual pieces. Is this because he bundles when the season is complete and removes the individuals or does he release the whole season instead?
Question for those in Kindle Select. Are you happy with December’s $1.43 KU borrow rate? Please also say why / why not 🙂
Yo
Robert is so right. Sometimes is all too easy in making writing a full time job (and a successful one) that sometimes we can lose sight of why we started writing in the first place.
BatmanErica I’ll ask that – and the other one…..are YOU happy with it Erica?
RolandDenzel hi Roland!
BatmanErica Yeah, loved it. Getting quite a few borrows and the rate is fair. Love KU so much.
michelleread Yip, cause it’s more than I estimate each month so I get even more money 🙂
RolandDenzel Hey Roland
There you go, Erica 🙂
RolandDenzel ROLLOUT!
I made it thanks Carl Sinclair for twitter reminder
rdavis Carl Sinclair Hello there! 🙂
BatmanErica If you think about it this way. I’ll make about 60 cents more on a sale, however, someone has to drop down money for that. There is way less resistance free in KU, so I get more borrows. Those people aren’t going to drop 2.99 anyway. I think it’s a great price right now.
Carl Sinclair yeah I’m happy with the pricing for the borrows. More people are giving my books a shot 🙂
BatmanErica Carl Sinclair Me too – I really like it.
Another question: Did he link to the next book in the backmatter? Is this a problem with all genres that aren’t romance, as romance seems to be doing well with serials.
Robert: Are serials still a popular/viable thing, or have you found interest in them dropping off in favor of having the entire season in one go?
Howdy all
Scott.Richards There he is!
BatmanErica How do you find a serial?
You guys have good questions tonight!
RolandDenzel you can include it in keywords, put it in the blurb, shout it to the world!
BatmanErica RolandDenzel I haven’t had good luck when looking for them. People say they are popular, but I can’t find many if I go to Amazon.
michelleread Scott.Richards HOOP! There he is! Say, HOOP!
RolandDenzel I think it’s dominated by romance. But people really need to include it in their keywords for those who are looking specifically for serials.
CateMorgan Were they every really popular? or did readers just think they were something else to read? Were people searching for them. or just accepting of them when they found them?
michelleread your welcome 😛
xgranville michelleread Scott.Richards That and smashmouth in the meeting – you win, sir!
Question for Robert: what is the current state of zombie genre? Where or what do you think will happen to it?
BatmanErica Good question. I’ll add it to ze Q.
xgranville I like your praise :p
I’m cooking while I listen; pardon the noise
BatmanErica RolandDenzel Romance ones didn’t seem to do that well. Amazon forced their Montlake authors to do them and then pulled the pin as the sales were shitty. I don’t think any short works sell well to be honest right now.
Carl Sinclair RolandDenzel I meant with indies. There are quite a lot, HM Ward is a big name that still serialises her work (or her ghostwriters do/will).
Carl Sinclair BatmanErica RolandDenzel that’s my belief. The popular serial is mostly myth. Like the sasquatch. Not too many left
Scott.Richards Hey you
xgranville almost thought you said they ‘fart’ instead of sparkle…that would be more interesting and would appeal to young boys.
I’m putting the questions in for the boys as fast as I can – any more? CateMorgan do you still want me to have him answer the serials question?
BatmanErica xgranville Write it.
BatmanErica Carl Sinclair RolandDenzel I thought she stopped doing that?
xgranville I’ll add it to the bottom of the list. Maybe I’ll seriealise it and include zombie porn 😛
RolandDenzel there is sasquatch porn. That’s a thing 😛
BatmanErica Carl Sinclair RolandDenzel She lost about 70% of her sales in KU. Think she’s had some improvement, but she’s falling away.
Scott.Richards Garett Robinson’s sidekick in the house!
WILDCARD!
Scott.Richards xgranville !
Question for Robert: What do you think the next BIG thing will be? From Amazon or across the board.
Scott.Richards My card…it’s just…too wild!
BatmanErica RolandDenzel I’ll trust you…
Carl Sinclair do they have jelly tip ice creams in Australia?
xgranville Scott.Richards I think my card needs more cowbell to be quite that wild…
BatmanErica Carl Sinclair No 🙁
Carl Sinclair should I eat my jelly tip ice cream now or during the after party so you can watch? 😛
Don’t bother with serials. It just doesn’t work anymore, even less so if you ignore KU as an option. Just look at the rankings of any serials about who have decided to be clever and go wide. It doesn’t work.
Just write good quality novels and keep on with it. Readers want novels.
BatmanErica Carl Sinclair Now. Because that is mean.
xgranville it’s a play on cake or death 😛 success or die!
BatmanErica xgranville Little red cookbook, little red cookbook!
Carl Sinclair so you’re saying I should just stop writing?
So this is a question for you all. What do feel the initial endeavor should be for a would be author? Writing a novel with the initial attitude of getting THAT novel published and expecting it to be a success, or writing a novel for the fun of it? If you do do the fun of it manner, do you feel it’s a bad idea to post chapters of it on sites or blogs to see what people think of those chapters?
BatmanErica Carl Sinclair No. You’re writing a specific genre that is mostly exempt from that rule. But you probably should just write novels 🙂
warrius Should always write because it’s fun, not to make money.
Carl Sinclair it would be nice, but I’m not interested in taking that long to write a book.
Carl Sinclair warrius unless you want to make money 😛
Do you think we’ll see all the authors who came in for the get-rich-quick finally drop off in 2015?
BatmanErica Carl Sinclair warrius If you wanna make money then writing is probably the wrong job. Some people make money, most don’t.
BatmanErica Carl Sinclair warrius Sshhh 🙂
warrius depends. And everyone will give you a different answer.
ArmandRosamilia Yes. Already happening. Against my much better judgement I was reading kboards yesterday. A few threads with people quitting, walking away and several agreeing with them. Mainly KU and some Amazon algo changes have finally weeded out the rubbish.
ArmandRosamilia That’s a great question!
https://www.wattpad.com/signup
Here’s the link if you haven’t heard of it.
warrius If you have fun writing it, it’s going to come through and, quite possibly, capture the imagination of your readers. So my rule is it HAS to be fun. If it’s not fun, you’re probably doing it wrong. 😉
Good answer from Robert on Wattpad. There is almost a 0% chance of selling up on Wattpad. I’ve seen people with thousands and millions of views that couldn’t even get sales on 99c sequels. They’re the ultimate free seekers.
*slides in late*
Oh, hai people.
S.M. Butler 🙂
I meant more or less, “Purely for the fun”, versus for fun and profit thinking you can make a profit it.
S.M. Butler hi
warrius it’ll probably take more than one book to make profit.
Carl Sinclair do they have hokey pokey trumpets in australia?
S.M. Butler G’morning 😀
Gone with the wind, the one where he rapes her?
BatmanErica warrius For most people, yes.
don’t say bad about Casablanca, X…
BatmanErica Carl Sinclair NO 🙁
BatmanErica Carl Sinclair I had one in December when I flew in for a few days though.
RolandDenzel One of my favorite films, sir! Seen it a good hundred times.
Carl Sinclair should i eat that during the after party? 😛
BatmanErica Carl Sinclair what is this thing?!
michelleread BatmanErica Carl Sinclair icecream. like a cornetto
michelleread ice cream
Carl Sinclair michelleread but better
BatmanErica Carl Sinclair yum
yum yum
yum yum yummmmm
BatmanErica Carl Sinclair michelleread about the same
xgranville RolandDenzel Xavier, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
RolandDenzel xgranville gheeeey
RolandDenzel xgranville Play it again, Roland.
BatmanErica Carl Sinclair WHAT? They’ve taken them off the market again?? I’ve seen them here…
Again for everyone: Do you feel it’s better to come up with an entire world and setting, or to come up with a basic premise of the world around the story ideas you have. I’ve done work with the former to come up with ‘hooks’ that allow me to write, but I’m not sure if I’d ever be able to write a full cohesive novel from that matter versus a glorified collection of short-stories with that model, and I’m interesting in finding out what others think on that.
And a separate one from that: Do you think that Urban Fantasy market is over-saturated?
Carl Sinclair RolandDenzel xgranville Ugarte…
Smart man this Robert. Often indies get tied up in the indieverse and think something is important, when there is zero real evidence to suggest there is.
Like the ‘author page likefest’ the other week. Ridiculous.
Same as things like verified reviews. Makes no difference to a real reader.
Does Robert find it difficult to turn off his “internal editor” when he’s reading or watching TV/Movies?
Carl Sinclair Amen.
Carl Sinclair Amen.
michelleread Carl Sinclair Jinx.
Carl Sinclair Wow. You should drink more often
xgranville are you saying you want us to be attracted to you?
S.M. Butler michelleread Carl Sinclair I can’t talk til you say my name! Sold 🙂
BatmanErica xgranville Are you not?
BatmanErica xgranville I think my job is done.
Carl Sinclair I’m liking your author page, just for that. Teehee.
warrius I’m getting to it – please hold 🙂 Waiting for a lull…..
xgranville but you’re canadian…
CateMorgan Carl Sinclair haha! take that
michelleread S.M. Butler Carl Sinclair MICHELLE. I said your name when I replied to you anyway. Besides, Jinx works backward for you. It means you can NEVER stop talking. EVER.
BatmanErica xgranville No point, everyone is already attracted to me.
warrius let me know if this hits it for you 🙂
Yes, that’s more or less what I was asking, Michelle.
Worldbuilders disease is a real illness and must be stopped.
Carl Sinclair I thought you had that?
warrius woo hoo!
michelleread Carl Sinclair I do. It’s horrible.
michelleread ooer 😛
So, in other words, know the ending of your movie else you’re Uwe Bolle? Duly noted. o_O
CateMorgan He has Nazi Gold. His ending is secure.
xgranville Well, that explains a lot.
I knew it! writerwade is a pyro and he has other people in his head. maybe they told him to do it…
CateMorgan xgranville Yeah, I thought the same when I found out he had those old connections. It all makes sense.
So George RR Martin and JK Rowling have something in common: detailing meals the characters eat.
I knew I liked Robert!! The Princess Bride for the win.
xgranville My initial thought was something to do with aliens.
michelleread yay William Goldman!
Afterparty anyone? Let me know your email here.
michelleread I’d like to try, please – if my daughter permits me
michelleread rdenzel@gmail.com
michelleread me please!
michelleread Oh gawds, I wish, but I have to report to the salt mines first thing in the a.m.
CateMorgan michelleread nooo!!! 🙁
Great interview as per the usual!
Armand Rosamilia
michelleread If I’m ever off on a Friday, tho, I’M TOTALLY THERE. With VODKA. And possibly a fiddle. Don’t judge, it’s an Irish thing.
ArmandRosamilia Thank you for coming!!!!
ArmandRosamilia Thanks Armand!
michelleread Warrius@Gmail.com
Everyone say hi to Carl’s Mum…
Glad I’m memorable, writerwade
michelleread ArmandRosamilia I follow Robert around like a puppy dog online…
michelleread If you have room, afterparty me.
S.M. Butler michelleread There’s always room for you!
thank you for having us
michelleread me?
warrius michelleread We sent you an invite – it’ll be in your gmail.
ArmandRosamilia michelleread I can see why! Put in a good word for us and maybe he’ll come back on 😉
michelleread ArmandRosamilia I doubt he’ll come back on. He spent the night after the interview crying in the fetal position…
ArmandRosamilia michelleread Well to be fair, so did I. The sign of success, I think.
michelleread ArmandRosamilia I also cried but I did it standing up, which I consider a victory…
BatmanErica Carl Sinclair That is fair enough. BUT. That is the market. It depends on what you want to achieve. If you write novels, chances are you are more likely to succeed and make a living. There just isn’t a market for shorter fiction.