Kevin Lee Swaim's self-publishing experience

Congrats, that's really exciting!

Very nice! And love the cover!

Off to a great start! Congratulations!

Woohoo! Congratulations!

That's a great-looking cover!

Expect your paid ranking to absolutely tank once your free promo ends. It'll suck rocks for 2-3 days, then bounce back to a less heart-clenching level as the paid sales start to register.

I hope you're making progress on your next book!

klswaim said:

The next book, a vampire novel, is already in rough draft and I'm ready to do the first re-write.

Meanwhile, I'm hoping to start the sequel to Project StrikeForce in June, and finish by August. Then, same deal. Rewrite, edit, beta-readers, rewrite again, edit, edit, edit, edit, la la la, 2nd round of beta-readers, major depression, edit, general funk, question what bad decisions led me to this point in my life, edit, put on Createspace, question whether I can put two words together and make them sound good, rant and rave like a lunatic, edit some more, publish, immediately find mistakes and have to edit twice more, ponder the wing speed of an unladen swallow, edit, SQUIRREL, re-publish, pray to win the lottery so I can afford an editor, then post on AW forum.

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My process has ranting and raving, too!

My biggest piece of advice for you is, unless you absolutely despise the idea of doing it, back-burner the vampire novel, fast-track the sequel to the book that's up and selling. If it's a trilogy or a series, stick with that until it's done and then start with the vampire novel. Strike while the iron is hot, make hay while the sun shines, and any other cliches you can make fit.

klswaim said:

The next book, a vampire novel, is already in rough draft and I'm ready to do the first re-write.

Meanwhile, I'm hoping to start the sequel to Project StrikeForce in June, and finish by August. Then, same deal. Rewrite, edit, beta-readers, rewrite again, edit, edit, edit, edit, la la la, 2nd round of beta-readers, major depression, edit, general funk, question what bad decisions led me to this point in my life, edit, put on Createspace, question whether I can put two words together and make them sound good, rant and rave like a lunatic, edit some more, publish, immediately find mistakes and have to edit twice more, ponder the wing speed of an unladen swallow, edit, SQUIRREL, re-publish, pray to win the lottery so I can afford an editor, then post on AW forum.

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Yes!

Congratulations, and I, too, love your cover!

Congrats on the good start, k.l. I hope you find all the success you want.

klswaim said:

I thought about posting a comment saying I agree, and that I only added it in after the CreateSpace editorial review suggested it, and that instead of sticking to my guns, I folded like a cheap suit.

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It's unusual that you want to reply to say you didn't want to make that change and you agree with the reader. That reads really oddly, given you're self-published. I've been pushed into changes I didn't like with publishers, but as a self-publisher, I can ignore any suggestion I want.

If it's bothering you to the point you want to tell readers that, you may want to go with your gut and remove the edits you didn't agree with. You have that control.

I wish you all the best in your SP journey. Congrats on those great beginning sales!

klswaim said:

I thought about posting a comment saying I agree, and that I only added it in after the CreateSpace editorial review suggested it, and that instead of sticking to my guns, I folded like a cheap suit.

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First off, Kevin, it sounds like your book is finding an audience. That's terrific.

Can you tell me what a CreateSpace editorial review is? My paperback comes out in a couple of weeks, I've already proofed the pages, and the CreateSpace gang offered me nothing, editorial-wise. Is this a service you pay to use?

Personally, I don't think it's ever good to respond to reviews. Just keep it in mind for the next one, if you don't like it don't put it in book #2.

Great cover, Kevin! Very... striking.

Sorry to hear about your editorial experience. My advice is to NEVER use a bulk service for editorial help. There are loads of professionals who have experience you can rely on. Likely you'll pay more than 199.00 but by the sounds of it, you'll recoup that investment.

klswaim said:

I just needed some objective advice. I really wanted to know what I needed to do better. The advice to add a little more colorful/profane language is one that I wished I hadn't followed. My original had maybe 15 instances of the F-word, and it now has 44. How do you measure something like that? I really don't know.

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As someone who reads a minimum of 100 books a year and up to 300 (really), what snagged me into buying your book was the excellent writing skills I saw in the sample. What almost stopped me from buying the book was the profanity. If someone advised you to add 2/3 more, it tells me one thing: it's gratuitous.

I normally don't buy books with profanity, because I personally believe it cheapens the book and causes me to look at the author through different eyes. Because I found your story so intriguing, I made an exception.

As Polenth said above, or at least alluded to, it's easy enough to go into your original file and take out the words that aren't integral to the story. When people read a book, does anyone ever really think, "Oh, I really dislike this story because it doesn't have enough swear words?"

You, sir, are a quality writer, and you don't need to do that to sell books.

My other concern is that I plan on a sequel and someone suggested that I write a sex scene. Wow, I hate to sound prudish, and I AM a man in his mid-forties who's been around the block a few times, shall we say, but I'm not sure I'm comfortable with writing a sex scene.

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And you shouldn't do it. Again, it would be gratuitous if it's not your writing style. I hope I haven't offended you in any way with my words, and you probably don't need my advice, but I found myself wanting to respond to some of the things you said. I wish you only the best. FWIW, I think you will do exceptionally well, especially if you follow your own instincts.

Write on!

Tell yourself this: If Jack Bauer in "24" doesn't need to swear, and the Winchesters in "SUPERNATURAL" don't need to swear, neither do your characters (unless you want them to).

Add profanity and a sex scene? Those both sound like bad advice to me from someone who thinks that shock value and sex sell books or something.

There are ways to make a character's language grittier, and to make the book a bit sexier in parts, without doing either of those things. If that was the basis of the suggestion--make the character sound more like a grizzled soldier or make it a little sexier--just sprinkling in the f-word and adding a sex scene than probably doesn't feel organic aren't the best ways to do it!

Write the way you want to write. People will tell you a hundred different things if you ask a hundred different people. It need more this it needs less that blah blah blah. Your book, you do it your way. What ever way it feels right to you.