I’ve been told off and I am writing this from the naughty step.
Ebooks are not normal mainstream books and one of the best things I love about ebook publishing is the relationship between the writer and the reader.
The Undead series stands as testament to how readers can get involved in directly influencing not only the stories, plots, characters but also the way the works are delivered.
The Undead Day Sixteen was released and some changes were immediately noticed by a lot of readers who have given me suitable feedback in terms of the length, the price and the format of ending the book where it did.
Without you, the readers, there wouldn’t be an Undead Series and I read every single piece of feedback I get, be this in review format, Facebook comments, emails or comments on my website.
It does sting that the changes I made have been picked up so swiftly and generated so much discussion. I was reluctant to make changes but necessity dictated the circumstances. However, necessity can kiss my bum and sod off.
This is how the changes came about:
I work a demanding job and write this series around that job and my normal life commitments. That means every spare minute is spent at the computer writing. I love it and wouldn’t change it for the world but bugger me it can be hard work sometimes. I’m still learning and making mistakes and trying to work most of it out as I go along.
The price was put up because I was trying to get the attention of mainstream publishers and agents. I took out adverts in national magazines and undertook promotional work in London. All of that cost a wahuge amount of money. I was given advice from what I thought was a professional and reliable source (not the literary agent) that a price increase was the right thing to do. I hesitated and fretted when I was setting the price and in the end decided to go with the advice I was given.
I agree with your feedback and the price has been reduced.
The length of the book. Again I’m mindful that one of the biggest things putting publishers off was the varying lengths of the books. From 20,000 words up to 200,000 words. I want to write full time. My goal is to get published to bring in a source of income so I can write more, write faster and immerse myself in this world – so I had to take into account the incredibly strict guidelines given. I’m not established or anywhere near successful enough for publishers to take on with such varying word counts per book. That sucks arse.
The format – as in where the book finished was done simply because of the word count. I had to end it there if I want to be taken seriously and write to the required length – but there is still a story to be told and I’m the kind of person that wants to try new things, experiment and see what can be done, what can be changed, how to make things better.
Communication is the cornerstone from which everything else is built. You have told me the changes have pissed you off and I’m taking that in. I can’t take Day Sixteen off now and re-do it to another length as that would be uber confusing. So I have to suck up the criticism, learn from it and keep going.
All on me. My apologies. I will get Day Sixteen (part 2) finished and released when I can and the price will be as low as I can affordably set it.
Um…other than that….how’s the story? Any good?
Take care
RR Haywood
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