Sign Up For The October Email Newsletter

After being on hiatus for - well, I don't even remember how long it's been on hiatus for - but my email newsletter is back and better than ever! A brand new and much improved issue will be going out the beginning of October, and there are tons of exciting projects on the horizon that I just can't wait to reveal to everyone. Sign up here to get put on the list to receive October's issue, along with all future issues, in your email inbox.

New Compendium Entry, Interview, and Email Newsletter

This week I gave you all a glimpse into one of the most important characters in my Black Earth series, Daisy Pierce, and I discussed faith and it's place in Christian fiction. Today I'm happy to say that a new entry to the website Compendium has been added: Daisy Pierce's character profile.

For those who are curious what the Compendium is, it is a (ultimately) massive database that I am building from the ground up that will house information on any and all things from both my Black Earth and my Expired Reality series. Each week, new entries will be added to the Compendium.

Chat With Giovanni From Gelati's Scoop
I had the wonderful opportunity to sit down and talk with Giovanni from Gelati's Scoop - an extensive book review site - yesterday, and we talked about my Black Earth series, the challenges of building a fan base as a self-published author, and other great discussion points. You can listen to that session here -  http://www.blogtalkradio.com/gelatisscoop/2012/08/23/david-n-alderman-drops-by

September Email Newsletter
The next edition of the email newsletter will be going out soon. Sign up here. I also have a secret project that I am working on at the moment. Something in regards to the Edgy Christian Speculative Fiction genre. I'll be talking a little bit about it in the newsletter, so make sure not to miss out on this issue! 

New FB Group
I mentioned this last week, but a new Facebook group has been created - Edgy Christian Speculative Fiction. The group is designed to bring attention to this unique genre, and all are available to join. Check it out here - https://www.facebook.com/groups/ECSFiction

Not Much To Say Today

I don't really have much to say today except that I'll be spending most of the day working on the new website design like I have been the past few weeks. Now that I've finally nailed down a direction I want to move in with the layout of the website, I am going to move in it post haste. I also have a doctor appointment I have to take my son to today. Just a basic check up, although it's not going to be fun heading out in 112 degree weather. And then tonight is my weekly writer's meeting with my friend (and cover illustrator for my Expired Reality series), Jelani Parham. So it's going to be a pretty full day.

My goal this weekend is to make some serious headway on the website and draft June's email newsletter. My wife will also be doing some work on the Legion mask for the cover design to Black Earth: Dark Masquerade, which I hope to release the end of this month or early July.

Lots of  irons in the fire. June looks to be an exciting month too with my 33rd birthday and my 7th wedding anniversary! Anyway, I guess that was just a brief update on things. Have a great Friday, and a great weekend, everyone!

The Email Newsletter is Back!

After the off again, on again, relationship with my email newsletter, I'm finally ready to committ to this thing and keep it going on a monthly basis. For those of you who signed up for it originally, you should receive the first 'new' issue in your email inbox by the 5th of February. Each subsequent newsletter will be released by the 5th of each month thereafter.

For those of you who haven't signed up yet, I reinstalled a subscription form on my website. Just head on over, input the email address you'd like to have the newsletter sent to each month, and voila!

Each issue will focus on three main things - writing, self-publishing, and 'geeky' things like video games and comics. I'll also use a portion of the newsletter to highlight other artists/writers and link back to their creations/websites.

February's newsletter will contain information about the end of my Black Earth series, the release of Lost Birth, an article on the challenge of video games, my reading challenge for 2012, and a highlight of writer/illustrator Thomas Barczak and reviewer Tiffany Cole.

A Year of Possibilities

Well, the holidays are over, the new year has come, and I have a desk full of projects to get done and very little time to do them - conditions that usually help me work better. There's something about a deadline - especially a seemingly impossible one - that moves me like nothing else can out of procrastination and into a massively productive mindset.

So here's my list of projects for 2012 and the deadlines to go with. And these are deadlines I will reach, regardless how many nights I have to burn the midnight oil. The past couple years I've made a lot of deadlines that I didn't even come close to reaching and that behavior is being put away in the trunk, wrapped in iron chains, and dropped to the bottom of the Hudson river. Or the Salt River, since I live in Arizona.

Lost Birth - an Expired Reality novel -
This book, the second in my Expired Reality series, has been an elusive project that just hasn't cooperated with me in regards to getting edited and published. I'm happy to say it's finished, ready to be published in ebook format (paperback to come soon), I'm just waiting for opinions to come back on the back cover copy.

Black Earth: Dark Masquerade -
The third book in my Black Earth series, Dark Masquerade (tentative title), is my current WIP (Work In Progress). I wrote out a skeleton draft of DM during NaNoWriMo 2011 and plan to turn the final product (final according to what I can do with it) into my editor's hands in March.

Black Earth: Bridge to Eternity -
The fourth - and final - book in my Black Earth series, Bridge to Eternity (tentative title), was also built into a skeleton draft during NaNoWriMo 2011, and will be worked on starting in late February, once I have the majority of Dark Masquerade written out. I plan to hand Bridge to Eternity to my editor in May.

Email Newsletter -
I've been fickle and wavering in my attempts to keep an email newsletter going over the past couple years, but 2012 will be different. Starting in February, my email newsletter will be back with a vengeance. I plan to release a new issue each month and each issue will be packed with updates to my writing projects, writing tips and advice, links to writing/self-publishing resources, and various reviews on books and video games.A sign up box will be placed back on my website in the next couple weeks and I'll announce it here when it's up. *I want to extend a special thank you to those who have waited out my spontaneous behavior with the newsletter*.

Blogging -
I'm going to be more consistent and serious with my blogging. Before the holidays, I noticed most of my posts were about updates to my projects. I'm going to try and put more substance into my posts from now on. Some things I am interested in blogging about on this blog in particular are writing, self-publishing, Christianity and it's impact in fiction, book reviews, and my thoughts and comments on certain video games. (I'm a huge gamer, I just can't find enough hours in the day to entertain the hobby.)

Reading -
I set myself up with a goal to read 71 books last year. I read four. That's right. It took me an average of three months to read one book. Can't do that again this year, especially since I'm actually a fast reader. I'll set my book reading goals to a more realistic level though, the list of which I will be posting soon, both here and to Goodreads. Needless to say, I will be first reading the books that have been stealing all of the space on my office desk before I go venturing out in search of new horizons.

And, last but not least, the most important project I am going to be working on this year is...

Business Restructure - 
My ultimate goal this year - especially at the beginning of this year - is to restructure my business model. As a writer, when I first started self-publishing, I was (and still somewhat am) overly eager for people to read my stories/purchase my products, with little to no regard to how much money I'm bringing in. The simple fact is, my writing is a career, a business, and this is what I do for a living. I don't have a '9-5' job. My wife works full time so I can stay home with my son and write. I need to treat it as little more than a hobby, despite that some people I know think of it only as such. Sorry haters, but writing is more than a hobby, regardless if one is making money off it or not. However, I need to restructure my business model to start a) reaching more people, and b) bringing in more residual income. Those two things are what I will be focusing on over the next couple months, during which I'll be taking a closer look at what works/doesn't work in my website and blog, how I'm influencing people through my social networks including Facebook and Twitter, and how I can reach more people through product design via Zazzle and my own literary creations.

Along with the business restructure will be a new pricing model for most - if not all - of my books. I'm not going to go with the 99 cent business model for my ebooks anymore, unless it's a novella - in which case I might make an exception. Making 30 cents off every ebook I sell isn't working out too well when I'm still paying off the book's editing and cover design out of that 30 cents, and I'm selling less than 100 ebooks a  month. I'll be raising the prices of my 99 cent ebooks to at least $2.99, and I will also be raising the prices of my paperback novels as well, although I'm not sure by how much yet. As far as the ebooks which are already $2.99, I'm not sure if I'll raise the price of those or not. I kind of like the $2.99 staple. Don't worry though, I won't be charging an outrageous $9.99 for my ebooks like some big name sellers. If one is paying that much for a digital copy of a book, they better be getting a dinner at Jack-in-the-Box to go along with it.

There you have it. My yearly goals - at least for the first half of 2012 - out there for the world to see. As soon as June hits, I'll be reevaluating my business structure and literary progress once again and come up with another set of goals for the second half of 2012.

A Little Bit of Restructure

I know I've been MIA for a while and that's mainly because of the holidays, my 3 1/2 month old son, and other personal matters. But even though I haven't been writing or marketing much, I have been thinking, long and hard, about where I want this writing career to go in 2012. After carefully watching the success of other self-published authors, reading plenty of tips and tricks from social marketing gurus, and doing some intense soul-searching in regards to my own direction as a published author, I've come up a restructuring plan to implement in the new year -

- Price changes to some of my books, ebook and paperback. This means if you have been wanting to grab a copy of some of my 99 cent ebooks or $10 paperbacks, you best do it now before the prices are raised. My reason for raising the prices on these will be explained in an upcoming blog, but you can expect the dollar amount on some of my currently cheaper books to go up shortly after the new year. (Head over to my website, www.davidnalderman.com, to snag my books at their lower prices now.)

- The five hundredth reincarnation of my email newsletter. For reasons known and unknown to me, my attempts to run an email newsletter in the past have failed miserably, but it will be back on track and ready to leave the station in January.

- The end of the Black Earth series. During National Novel Writing Month this year I managed to crank out two, 50,000 word drafts, for the third and fourth (final) book in the series. Expect them both to be available for purchase this Summer.

- The release of Lost Birth, the second novel in my young adult series. Lost Birth has taken me months to get the editing, cover design, and other details right and it will finally be released in ebook format in January, with paperback to follow shortly after.

- Swag. I've been meaning to update my Zazzle storefront and create some new products that tie in with my Black Earth and Expired Reality series, but I haven't had a whole lot of time lately. This is something that will definitely be snowballing as soon as we cross over the New Year's weekend.

- New writing projects. Once the Black Earth series is tied up, I will be focusing a majority of my writing prowess on the Expired Reality series, including the third novel in the series and the shorty story episode series - the LZR Project - which I wanted to release more than a year ago.

There will be other changes as well, some to streamline my business practices and others to help me write more, interact with my fans/audience more, and read more. (On a side note, I had a goal to read 71 books this last year and I'm just about to finish number 5. I kind of fell short on that.)

As far as the holidays go, I will be taking next week off for some rest and relaxation. I do my best to take a little time off of writing toward the end of the year to give me time to reflect on what I did right/wrong with my writing career over the last year and prepare myself for what I want to do great in the coming year. It also gives me time to spend with my family, now that I have a little one to share Christmas/New Years with.

I'll see you all on the other side. Once New Year's weekend is over with, I'll be crawling out of my hole to bring this list of changes to fruition. Have a safe and merry Christmas and a happy New Years!

Full Steam Ahead

 

Now that Endangered Memories is out there for all the world to love or hate - and I have a website design that I can take pride in - I can move forward on the many other projects I've had on the burners for a while now, including the sequel to Endangered Memories, and even the third volume in the Black Earth series.

This week starts a very strict daily schedule I put together to make sure I stick to my goals and make progress each and every day. With that implemented, here's a rundown of what I'll be working on the next couple months.

1. My first priority is to format Picture Perfect and Endangered Memories for paperback release. I released them in ebook format first so readers could read them and because the paperback conversion process can take a while.

2. My second priority is getting Lost Birth, the sequel to Endangered Memories, finished. I just got my editor's edits back on it and now I have to sift through those and make some changes of my own before the manuscript will be ready for ebook format. I'm also working with my cover designer, Jelani Parham, on another awesome cover for the series.

3. My next task is to finish Dark Horizons, the third book in the Expired Reality series. I have about half of the manuscript written, but my goal is to hand off the complete draft to my editor in mid-July. That means I have to get my butt in the chair and get to writing!

4. Another item on my list is my email newsletter, The Lysallis Times. When my laptop bit the dust a few weeks ago, it took Microsoft Publisher with it and I don't have another copy. So, I'm going to be using Publisher Pro to put together my newsletter, but I sort of have to start from scratch when it comes to the design process.

5. Phew. I'm getting worn just writing these out. The final project on my list for this year is the third book in my Black Earth series, The Dark Lighthouse. (The title is tentative). The manuscript for this hasn't even been started yet, but my goal is to hand it off to my editor by the end of August, right before the baby is born. Can I pull it off? Sure can, but it's going to take a lot of hard work.

So, there you have it. In between all of this, I'm working on some new merchandise to post in my Zazzle store, running two blogs side by side - including a new one that details my family's walk of faith, and playing through the Xenosaga series on my PS2. A writer/gamer geek's work is never done.

The Resurrection Of An Email Newsletter

About a year ago I attempted to do an email newsletter. After fishing through dozens of email newsletter services online, I found one and went with it for a bit. Eventually, my very limited budget didn't allow for me to pay the $10 a month minimum to keep the service, and I ended up dropping my email newsletter to the wayside, transforming it into a marketing orphan.

I'm proud to say I'll be resurrecting that free email newsletter, The Lysallis Times. Only this time I'm running it completely from scratch instead of using a paid service. I will use Art Explosion Publisher Pro or Microsoft Publisher to create the newsletter and then I'll convert it to PDF, attach it to email, and send it to those that are subscribed. Pretty simple really.

A subscription form has already been added to the front page of my website, www.davidnalderman.com, so if you get a chance please sign up. I plan to jam pack each newsletter with news about my upcoming writing projects, writing tips, self-publishing help, fiction goodies - like free stories, and sometimes special guests.

And for those of you who are curious where I got the name Lysallis - it's the name of the major city in my upcoming young adult series. It's pronounced Lie - Sal - Iss. :)

GraphicMail and Benchmark Email

Recently I ended up switching the service I use to create and send my monthly email newsletters. Previously, I had been using a service called GraphicMail. A decent website that incorporates pre-made templates, a half-decent pricing system, and easy-to-run reports on your sent emails, the service was doing well for me until I, through researching other services, found one that works twice as good for me.

Benchmark Email is an email newsletter service that scores high in my book for a couple of reasons:

First, the price:

GraphicMail, at the lower end of the pricing spectrum, offers 2000 send credits (emails) per month for a consistent price of $9.95 per month. Those credits DO NOT rollover to the next month, meaning you lose them and the 2000 start over the next month. GraphicMail does however have a pay-as-you-go plan that is $49.95 for 2000 credits that DO rollover month to month.

Benchmark Email, at the lower end of the pricing spectrum, offers 600 emails a month for $9.95, none of which rollover to the next month. However, I spoke with Benchmark Email support and they stated they have initiated a new pricing system that can be used if you want to pay according to the size of your email list, starting at 1000 emails for $18.95/month.

Second, the newsletter editor:

GraphicMail allows you to choose from over 100 templates that can be customized by you or they offer to create a template that is tailored to your business for an additional charge of $350. The editor they have to customize the templates is Microsoft Word based…horrible for graphic applications in my own opinion. Using rows and columns, you can update the content of the newsletter, the colors and the overall look, but I don’t find it to be very user-friendly.

Benchmark Email uses a drag and drop editor that is a lot easier to use and customize. You can customize just about every color scheme in the newsletter using pre-made templates from their website. You can incorporate videos, your own personal logo and any links you have. It’s just easy and made creating an email newsletter a faster, simpler process.

Third, reporting:

Both sites have a decent report feature, but I happen to like the appearance and simplicity of Benchmark Email’s better. A bit more clean cut, as is their site and layout as a whole. They give you a pie chart that shows how many emails were opened, not opened yet, or bounced because of bad address, including a click rate of the links included in your newsletter…everything in a quick glance.

All, which for me, as busy as I can get, made Benchmark the easy choice.

You can check out Benchmark at www.benchmarkemail.com.