A little bit about my path to writing and publishing – Part 5 (conclusion)

Chess Book Published!

I finished the book and used Amazon’s CreateSpace to publish the paperback in early August, 2010. I had done it! I had published a book. Whoo hoo! I published my first book at age 58!

I really didn’t do any marketing and I sold a few books a month for some time. I contacted the United States Chess Federation (USCF), which has a great online store (www.uscfsales.com) for all things chess, and they agreed to buy six books on consignment. If they sold, then they would reorder. I’m happy to say I get orders from them every year.

Operation Devil’s Fire Published!

Meanwhile back at the ranch . . . I figured if I couldn’t land an agent for Operation Devil’s Fire, why not publish it myself? I finally did that for the paperback in July the next year, on 7/11/11. Again I sold a few a month, sometimes only one. Sometimes only zero. I also figured out how to publish for Kindle and did that a few weeks later (7/23/11). I did absolutely no research on Kindle pricing for WWII books, so I just picked $4.95, thinking that was an okay price. It sold just as many as the paperback, sometimes zero.

This disheartening lack of sales continued into January, 2012, when it finally occurred to me that maybe I should see how much other Kindle WWII novels were actually selling for. Well, that turned out to be both a smart thing to do and an embarrassing thing (that I hadn’t done it back in July!). Almost all of the WWII novels were selling for $0.99. Less than a dollar. I didn’t even have to think about it, I mean what did I have to lose? Zero x $4.95 was still zero. So I changed the price and let it go.

It sold a few in February and March, and a few more in April (remember, this is 2012). Then in May it sold more than a few. I got excited, but figured it was due to Memorial Day coming up. But sales kept climbing into June. Then July shot through the roof. Then August through November all doubled July. The book was in two categories. All the series’ books are in the same ones including War and Military. Operation Devil’s Fire’s ranking peaked at #7 in the War category, and somewhere around #1,300 in Paid in Kindle Store! (Note: book number 18, Grim Measures, hit #18 in War Fiction this past December.)

I could hardly believe my good fortune. A book turned down by 50 agents was selling! I was getting good reviews and very kind emails from readers, some of whom shared their personal stories about their family members who served during WWII.

During June 2012, when the numbers per day were really climbing, my wife and I started a nightly tradition: just before bedtime, I would check the total sales for the day (and yes, I used Excel, and still do, to track these numbers) and give her the number. We’d stare at each other in disbelief and then grin. I felt then, and still do now, very humbled by the success of the books and am so grateful for readers’ support.

Charged up!

In July 2012, I decided to shelve a modern-day thriller I’d been working on because of what was happening with Operation Devil’s Fire. I still really like that story, and may someday finish and publish it. Anyway, I started writing Behind German Lines in August 2012, which I finished on June 23, 2013, so a little less than a year. It was published on October 25th.

So that’s my writing story. Not all glorious, but I learned what to do, when to do it, became a disciplined writer, and wrote books that I loved writing for readers who enjoyed them. I had perhaps tripped and fallen into my niche, WWII novels. And I was thrilled because I love WWII history and I’ve shown you how that came to be in earlier posts in this five-part series.

I’ll be forever grateful to my wife for suggesting I write the chess book. With that one idea, she is responsible for everything that came to pass with the Sgt. Dunn Novels. She also provides me with encouragement for each book, as well as being an editor.

Summary

I hope you enjoyed a little peek into my writing life. If you’re a reader of the Sgt. Dunn Novels, please accept my heartfelt thanks for your support! If you’re a writer, I hope you can draw some inspiration to persevere, and learn from some of the things I did.

The main thing is be disciplined. This means writing every day. This means writing when you don’t feel like it. This means write what you love. Waiting for the muse to show up doesn’t work for most real writers. It’s a grind some days and an exciting trip other days. But you’re making progress and that’s what matters. No need for “perfection” in the first draft. That’s what editing is for. Clarify. Expand. Cut. All of that.

Find a method that works for you, whether it’s plotting like me, or as a pantser (seat of your pants). Pick something you love and write that story.  By the way, you may have heard people say, “Write what you know.” Well, I disagree. Yes, if you’re writing non-fiction and you’re an expert on the topic, you are writing what you know. But for novels, no way is it necessary. How would we have science fiction? How would we have the Lord of the Rings? (Yes, I know Tolkien had WWI in mind along the way.) Research is how writers can write about what they love. You can get most answers on your device. I use Google Earth like crazy for locations. So, please, write what you love.

Wishing you all the best.

A little bit about my path to writing and publishing – Part 4 of 5

Chess as the trigger

When we lived in northeast Kansas, I coached scholastic chess from 1993 to 2000. My son was the reason for that. We lived in a small town of about 1,100 people, yet we had a Saturday chess club of about 8 to 10 players. The players eventually became strong enough that the team won 2nd place at the Kansas State Championship tournament . . . twice. They beat out teams from much larger schools from cities like Kansas City, KS, Wichita, Topeka, and Lawrence. When we moved to Iowa in 2000 due to the Quaker Oats plant in St. Joseph, MO closing, and I transferred to Cedar Rapids, my son was going into the 10th grade. We didn’t continue with chess because at that time, there were very few scholastic tournaments in Iowa. I began coaching again in 2009 having been inspired to return to it by writing the chess book (below). I coached thirteen years for a school, eleven for a scholastic club at the local library, and still am coaching private lessons for scholastic players (12 years so far).

In early 2009, my wife told me I should write a book about coaching chess so people could learn from my successful coaching experiences. That was very exciting and I started writing it on February 1, 2009. My original intent was to write a book about how to coach a scholastic chess club, but not to get mired down in having a section on how to teach players the game. It wasn’t long before I realized you couldn’t have one without the other.

I used the same Excel spreadsheet template I’d used for the two novels, with some changes, of course, since this was nonfiction. Worked great, though. While working on the book, I was also researching how you “pitch” a non-fiction book to an agent. The process is quite different from a novel. For a novel, it’s a gigantic no-no to try to land an agent without first finishing the book. For non-fiction, the reverse is the norm. You pitch the book with a three chapter sample, plus a completed outline, and where the book will fit in the market. Sort of like what makes your book so special?

Somewhere along the line, I’d also started researching self-publishing. At that time, self-publishing, also known these days as indie (independent) publishing, was still carrying a stigma that the writer was “not good enough” for the traditional publishers. I think a large part of this was due to two things: 1) people thought it was the same thing as “vanity” publishing, which it most certainly is NOT. More on this in a second. And 2) Few people believed the quality of self-published books was very good. Back to vanity publishing: this is where YOU pay a company to publish your book. They offer “services” like editing and book covers, but you pay them for each service including the actual printing. You typically have to order quite a few copies of the book. As a general rule, self-published writers take the position that we should never pay someone to publish our books. Paying someone to edit our books and / or to create our covers is okay and is considered a cost of our publishing the book.

Back to the chess book, which ended up having the rather lengthy title of Chess Handbook for Parents and Coaches. Those were the two target audiences. The first half of the book helps a person teach a student (or child) how to play the game. It’s based on how I taught many kids to play. It includes the benefits of playing chess. The second half of the book is about the world of chess: the United States Chess Federation (USCF), famous players, world champions, how to start and run a scholastic chess club, how to prepare for a tournament, and what actually happens at a tournament. How to help players during a tournament, but not during a game, which is expressly forbidden by the rules of chess.

Coming next: Chess book published! Operation Devil’s Fire Published! Charged up! Summary.