GraySapien: Blog

I've gotten strong hints that many of you want me to continue writing Matt's saga here on SOL by publishing The Trek. I can't, and there's a reason.
I publish on Amazon as Jack L Knapp, and Amazon has rules. You can buy one of my books in ebook, print, or audio formats, but for most you can also 'borrow' them at no additional charge if you subscribe to Amazon's Kindle Unlimited.
But not Darwin's World, because before I could publish it on SOL, I had to remove it from Kindle Unlimited. That's Amazon's rule, and if you fail to do that they can ban you from the site.
Some have been banned, and since Amazon is now the largest publisher of ebooks...well, you can figure it out. I can't afford to take that chance.
Economics comes into play too. By removing Darwin's World from Kindle Unlimited, I lost most of the ebook income from it. To make up for it, I have to advertise more, and advertising costs money, so much money nowadays that I was forced to raise my purchase to $6 per book. Simple economics; advertise, or your book is just one among millions that Amazon publishes.
The rest is mostly for authors, or at least wannabes.
I advertise on Amazon Ads, a bid-based service. Bid high enough, when a potential reader searches for 'Survival' on Amazon, your book will show up in the list. If you don't bid high, it will be listed at the bottom...if at all. If they search by author, Robert A Heinlein for example, your book may appear below Heinlein's in the 'Also bought' section, but that's only the start.
Where your book appears, or doesn't, depends on how much you bid. If a potential reader clicks on your book, Amazon collects, up to the maximum you bid. If the other books are lower, they collect less, but by bidding you risk the total amount of your bid.
As of this morning, Amazon's suggested bid for the targeting word 'Adventure' is $0.96. For Andre Norton, it's $1.99 and for Anne McCaffrey, it's $2.23. Just one click on your book can cost you your entire profit, assuming there's a sale (most of the time, there wasn't), and if there are two, three, or more clicks...
Amazon profited, you lost money that day, maybe your entire book income.
About that potential buyer: he clicks on your book, and there's your cover page and blog. Interesting? He/she may be willing to borrow your book free, because as an independent you're never going to show up on the NY Times Bestseller List, but will they pay $6 for your book?
For professionals authors, that bridge you cross every day is shaky and the bottom of the canyon is a long way down.
If you're interested, email me at jlknapp505 (at symbol) msn.com. I'll send you what I've learned about advertising, and I never charge a fellow writer for any help I can give.

I just submitted Chapter 34 and the Epilogue to the moderators for posting. I suggest you read both in order and save any comments until after you've done that. Consider it my Christmas gift to readers on SOL!
I've decided to start a new novel today, Jacob Jennings. I plan to post another chapter tomorrow, then take the weekend off.

Darwin's World is coming to an end. I'll finish posting it this week, add in a chapter fromt the next book in the series (The Trek), and next week I'll start on Jacob Jennings, a history-based western.
I don't write explicit sex, so don't expect it in any of the books I post here.
Yes, it happens, and I acknowledge the fact, but I expect the reader to fill in such details as he/she feels are necessary!
Historically, it happened more than you might think; Ancestry and similar sites have uncovered a bunch of secrets, A LOT of people died, thinking their transgressions would never be revealed! For example, one of my ancestors was black, and as a result my ancestry is 1% to 2 % African. From southwest Africa, at that!
And since the majority were Southern White...well... :O

My motive for writing my earlier post came from something another author wrote. The post was never intended to be a threat.
As of now, I intend to keep Darwin's World on SOL.
I'm planning to post a different novel, starting next week, in a different genre. It has never been on SOL. The title is Jacob Jennings, and the setting starts out in Mexican Texas. My fictional characters interact with real characters from that time, and all of them are based on research. If you're into history, I'll furnish you the titles of books I used while writing the American West Series.
Also under consideration for SOL: The Wizard's Apprentice. It's sword, sandals, and sorcery, with a lot of humor tossed into the mix.
Depending on how I'm doing after they're done (I'll be 83 in February), I'll post Combat Wizard.

Every author on this site took a leap of faith when he posted his work here. Don't like it? Don't read it!
I don't.
Reading a paragraph or two, then quitting to look for something you like better, is the equivalent of taking a book off the shelf, deciding not to read it, then putting it back. And do NOT critizize the person for not writing what you don't want to read!
Some well-known writers keep their rejection slips. J. K. Rowling, who wrote the Harry Potter books? She has a shoebox full of them. I only have one, oddly enough for Darwin's World! The publisher decided not to risk his money on a novel from an 'unknown' writer.
Think I'm joking? I'm not. Thousands of excellent writers write scripts for movies and television series, but look at what gets made: Spiderman, Iron Man, various cartoons, etc. Better to risk your money on the latest James Bond iteration, and keep doing it even as the audience numbers dwindle. No blockbusters, those ships have sailed, but almost always profitable. Actors, ditto; if you can't get parts in major movies or series, Amazon, Netflix, Paramount, etc, will take your lesser efforts.
Object lesson: I got hate mail for Darwin's World the first time through, and pulled my other books from SOL. I published 24 on Amazon, not SOL, and people paid me a lot of money for the privilege of reading them.
Think of that the next time you decide to slam a writer's work.