So here we go folks. The paperback versions of The Gate 2: 13 Tales of Isolation and Despair is now live and ready to be purchased over at the 'Zon. Click here to head over there and pick one up! Also, it's time to strap in and get the words flowing on the The Summer Son: The Rift Book IV. I'll be starting tomorrow (March 4th), and the goal is to write 10,000 words a week over twelve weeks, which would put the second draft as being finished before the first week of June. I'll be posting updates every Saturday night to let you all keep track of my progress. So here's where we stand right now:March 3: 9,828 wordsI'll be seeing you next week at this time, if not sooner.Peace, gentle readers.RJD
This is your new blog post. Click here and start typing, or drag in elements from the top bar.
Here we are, everyone. May 1st. This date means something very special to me, so I thought I'd post about it right here, right now. The Fall first went live in paperback on April 21st, 2010. That means that Jesse and myself ave been going at this little thing called publishing for a year now. This is as good a time as any to get everyone up-to-date on how the experience went for us.As I said, we released the first book on April 21st. In the last nine days of that month we sold 15 copies of the book - exclusively to family and friends. I watched our rankings drop and thought, "well, this is how it's gonna be. We're a hit!"Then...reality struck.Sales dropped in May, and we saw little to no movement. In that time I decided we best get into this burgeoning ebook market. On June 5th we released The Fall on the Kindle, and again I thought things would just take off. I sold a grand total of 5 ebooks that month. However, this slow progress didn't deter me. I kept plugging away at other projects while constantly updating our books with new corrections and edits. I started my review blog, "Journal of Always", in July, and started to gain some exposure. By the time October rolled around, when I took part in Amanda Hocking's "Zombiepalooza", her dedication to Halloween, things really started to take off. In November we broke 100 sales in a month for the first time, along with releasing "The Gate: 13 Dark and Odd Tales". We were on our way.So here we are now, with three books out there and one more to be released this coming June. Our sales have been relatively consistent and we've made some more-than-significant progress. Reviews have been (mostly) good and the reception has been greater than I would've hoped.I know some people only believe numbers, however, so here you go. This is how our books - The Fall, Dead of Winter, and The Gate - have fared over the last year: The Fall: The Rift Book IPaperbacks Sold - 65Ebooks Sold - 2783Total Sold - 2848Dead of Winter: The Rift Book IIPaperbacks Sold - 19 Ebooks Sold - 1276Total Sold - 1295The Gate: 13 Dark and Odd TalesEbooks (and Total) Sold - 1254Overall Sales for TRO Publishing, our little baby here:5397Boo-ya!Peace, folksRJD
Here is where we stand right now when it pertains to the two separate projects we have going on right now:
#1 - Dead Of Winter
Yes, the final round of edits for the second book of The Rift are now finished! The manuscript has been sent off to our first editor to look over. When it comes back, it will be sent to yet another editor. By the time it comes back to us complete, it should be a pretty spit-and-polished final product - unlike the many versions of The Fall in which the mistakes we (I) made cost me a ton of money and will not be repeated.
Jesse is also hard at work putting together the cover and interior illustrations. When he's finished, we'll be putting it all together, producing the paperback and hardcover, and then it's up to me to format and upload a version for the Kindle, Nook, and iPad. Yes, it's still a lot of work to do, and many more sleepless nights. But in the end, it's all worth it. This is going to be a fantastic book, better than the first, and will hopefully please those looking forward to following the exploits of Josh, Kyra, Colin, and a host of new and interesting characters. And yes, our release date is still tentatively scheduled for around December 15th.
#2 - The Gate: 13 Dark and Odd Tales
This is a special - and now collaborative - project. I have collected nine of my best short stories, and gathered contributions from a few great writers I know - David Dalglish, Mercedes Yardley, David McAfee, and Daniel Pyle. These shorts will all be gathered in this 50,000 word tome. It will be released at first for the Kindle only, again with Jesse's artwork adorning the cover. Then, after we put finishing touches on Dead of Winter, we will go about creating a digest-sized paperback, complete with sketches from the fabulous artist himself based on the stories included.
There are a wide range of tales in here, everything from straight horror to science fiction to slipstream. It's quite exciting for me, and all the stories (even mine) are good. Look out for this to be released by the middle or end of this month. Here is the table of contents in the order I have them right now:
1 - The Gate
2 - Sullivan Street
3 - Container of Sorrows (Mercedes M. Yardley)
4 - The Sins of the Father
5 - Blight (Daniel Pyle)
6 - Feeding the Passion
7 - Dispatch #337
8 - Exhibit A (David McAfee)
9 - The Bandits of Yaddo
10 - I Spy
11 - Kitty in the Cellar (David Dalglish)
12 - Perfect Blue Buildings
13 - Empty Spaces
That's all I have for now, folks! Check back later for more.
I apologize to anyone who frequents this blog for my overall lack of updates. It's been a busy last couple months, and honestly, whenever I sit down to write up a post, my mind goes blank. I think I'm using up all my abilities finishing up book two and trying like hell to figure out this marketing game. As far as the second installment of The Rift goes, it's coming along quite nicely. I have two more chapters to go in the third round of rewrites. Then, it's off to my editors while Jesse cranks out his contributions. Then it's the (dreaded) act of putting everything together, going over proofs, and finally releasing it live, which as I said should be some time in December. I'm looking forward to this greatly, as Dead of Winter is my favorite installment of the series. It'll be here soon, folks.In other news, I plan on releasing a compilation of short stories this coming November tentatively titled He Is The Gate and 8 Other Odd Tales. Hopefully, this will be a nice addition to our catalog (seeing as Jesse's artwork will once again adorn the cover, and that image is the subject of the title piece). I just have to decide whether I want to go with simply a Kindle release or go full-out with a digest version, as well.Also, sales have picked up immensely this month - digitally, that is. We've been averaging two sales a day for the month. Print book? Not so much, but that's okay. We never planned on making our money through paperbacks, anyway, though it'd be nice. The plan from here on out is, once the other books get out there, to start perhaps a blog tour with Pump Your Books or maybe a local signing tour. I'm not sure about that. It's still a ways away right now, so there's time.One last thing: Very soon, after we finish up Dead of Winter, I'm thinking of running a contest, either here on the site or at kindleboards.com. The subject of this contest? The title of book three. Right now, it's working title is The Rites of Spring. I'm not too hot on that. This has been, honestly, the most difficult book to name. It's also the strangest one in the series. It's all...well, you know what? I'll leave that for when I run the contest.Well, that's all for today. And just a reminder, drop by Amanda Hocking's Zombiepalooza before October 28th. Post a comment beneath the article for a chance to win a paperback of The Fall, signed by both Jesse and myself. Zombiepalooza: Robert Duperre article - Facing the BeastOr, if you wish to buy a book after seeing this, check out my author page on Amazon.Peace, folks.RJD
Yes. Now, I will ramble. I'm putting off writing a review right now. It's something I know I have to do, but sometimes it can be such a stressful process - ESPECIALLY if it's a review for a book I loved. I want to do the thing justice, and sometimes I wonder if I'll be able to pull it off. Don't know why I do this to myself, though. I always end up doing it, and doing it well, at that. Perhaps it's just my inherent fear of "not being good enough". Oh well. On that note, our book sales have been stuck at one a day for this month. I know this is good for a relatively unknown writer, but still, I'd like it to be more. Let's face it, this is a good book - much better than a lot of things out there. I just know that if folks were to find it, they'd think the same. But the problem is getting them to discover the thing, isn't it? I think I diluted myself into thinking releasing on Kindle would be the magic pill for some exposure...and while it has helped some, and I can't deny that fact, I still want MORE MORE MORE. Jeez, can I whine, or what? *sigh* I just need to bust out of this rut I'm finding myself in and do it, already. Get to editing, get to writing that review. The only thing that's going to remedy our relative lack of sales is more effort on our part. I'm not gonna give up, that's for fucking sure. So keep on plugging, brother, I tells meself. You can do it. And maybe, just maybe, some folks will stumble upon this post and decide that buying a book about the end of the world is just the thing to pick up their day. In that case, here's the link below to find it on Amazon. The Fall: The Rift Book OnePeace, everyone. - RJD
Wow. This month just FLEW by. Just like last month and the month before. I guess time really does move faster when you get older.
Just to give everyone a quick update, we had two more sales, which brings us up to 15. Yippee! Things have been progressing quite nicely, if I do say so myself. It's quite invigorating.
Also, there is a strong possibility that the Amazon page might show NOT AVAILABLE for a day or so either this coming Wednesday or Sunday. This is only for maintenance - the book is being pulled. I say this just in case anyone sees this and starts to get worried.
It's off to the dungeon I go now. So much to do, so little time.
Peace.
 Well, here it is, folks. We here at TRO are pleased to announce that the first book is now available for purchase on Amazon.com. This is the completion of a long journey, just as the story itself is. Please feel free to click on the links below and purchase the book. (Included as well is the Lulu.com storefront for the more expensive hardcover version of the book) Also, for any who choose to join us on this adventure, it would be greatly appreciated if feedback were provided on the Amazon page. Reviews are very important. The more we receive, the greater our exposure. This is a grassroots effort to make the book you see here now a success. We cannot do it without you, and for your effort and money, you will be greatly entertained. Of this, I can guarantee.
On the last video blog, I showed everyone the proof I received for the first book. Well, now everything is moving along nicely. The Amazon page has just appeared, though I will not be announcing it until it is complete, which should be sometime next week (probably the 1st).
The wait is almost over. With that being the case, our goals for this project can now be told. Yes, we understand that it won't be selling like a Stephen King novel right away, but that's not what we're expecting. In publishing this book ourselves, we are looking to:
#1 - Sell at least four thousand copies
#2 - Receive one hundred valid Amazon reviews
#3 - Get some pub from five semi- and pro-paying magazine markets
#4 - Use this success to obtain an agent or a publishing deal for the next book, so we can reach a wider audience and don't have to go through the headache of it all again.
So there you have it. We'll be back in a few days with more information.
TRO
Yes, the proof arrived today. Let me tell you all about it.
|
RSS Feed