ONE WAY FORWARD

I'm going to suggest a strategy for success in the Kindle Direct Publishing world, but I need to stress that this advice is just a theory. This is not something I'm doing, but it is something I think I ought to be doing.

Perhaps the hardest nut to crack is the question of visibility. If folks don't know you have a book out there, they won't buy it. Simple as that.

I plan to skip over this thorny problem for now.

Getting folks to buy your books is mostly about having books—lots of books—listed on your Web page.

(You have a Web page, right? Or at least a blog where you can post about your books and provide links so folks can buy them. The one you're reading right now is from Google's Blogger. It's free and easy to set up. You just need a gmail account, which as I'm sure you know is also free.)

Readers of ebooks suggest they like books to run at least 70,000 words, which I grant is a substantial commitment for a writer. But this is just the beginning.

In my plan, you need to write multiple books, all with the same cast of characters. Think series television. Aim for an open-ended series, not a trilogy or tetralogy—you want a series with no end in sight.

One particular character may dominate a given book, but each of the other characters should be ready to take on the load for the sake of variety. If one of those other characters has a deeply-held personal interest, it may be possible to peel that character off and star him or her in a related series.

Same thing with what may be considered "guest star" characters. They pop up in a book, dominate the action (along with the regular cast), then they can go off to set up their own domain in a series that may run mostly parallel to the main series, one where another cast of regulars will share the load.

(In television this is called a "back-door pilot.")

From time to time there can be combo novels where characters who have split off can return to the main branch and participate in a larger plot. In this case, the returning character may bring along some or all of his own series characters. Theoretically, it should be fun to watch all those people interact. A combo book could easily run longer than typical, say 100,000 words.

Each off-shoot series can mine a particular vein in an overall world, exploiting similar elements but perhaps with a different emphasis. More action in one, more humor in another, more romance, more baffling puzzles, and so forth. Think "cozy" and "hard-boiled" in the land of mysteries: sub-genres of the overall category.

And category is the key word.

We're not talking literary novels here. Mystery, horror, science fiction, etc., is where you want to set up your business—category fiction with strong plots and vivid characters. Fast and easy reads. Not necessarily over-the-top, but operating from a position where you can see the top and it's not that far away.

It's a matter of degree. Let your sales be your guide. If you push the boundary and that series sells better than the others, you have your marching orders.

(Should you choose to accept.)

Maximum success relies on maximum writing. The idea is not to swing for the fences but to establish a world where your readers can feel comfortable. You don't need to have best sellers, just a steadily thickening cadre of readers who like what you're doing and will pony up some dough to stay in the game.

Here's a bonus: Once your series is established, shorter books might find a place.

If your brainstorming session comes up with an idea that appears perfect for a shorter hunk of fiction, I think it would be fine to publish something in the five, ten, or twenty thousand word range—a sort of reward for loyal readers.

Price it very low and often make it free in the Kindle Select plan. And include the wordage category right in the cover image: "a Blister-World Short Story," or "a Crazy-Eddie Novelette." Make it abundantly clear you're not trying to palm off a literary snack as a full-length novel.

(Some readers can be awfully touchy...)

The short piece may concentrate on a single character in your series stable. Or, you might introduce a guest character you're not sure can make it in a longer book. Then let reader comments confirm that thought.

Or lead to another popular hero with his or her own series.

About pricing in general: It might not be a bad idea to make the first volume in a given series free from time to time, to rope in new customers. Follow-on books could be discounted, perhaps, for a limited time, but not ever handed out for free.

(A substantial number of readers will wait a long time for a given series book to go free if there's a precedent for that happening. I say, make 'em pay!)

You could experiment with an entire series that goes for premium prices and see what happens. A lot of people have mixed feelings about items they find in what they might consider the bargain bin. ("If it's this cheap, how good could it be?") A higher price might actually sell more copies, but you won't know that until you try it.

Should you use a pseudonym if you cross genre boundaries?

Up to you, but it might make sense to change names to help brand a very different sort of output. Should your "butterfly" series come out under the same author's name as your "fire-breathing dragon" stuff? Maybe not.

Children's books and hard-core porn under the same name? I believe that's a no-brainer. Don't limit yourself, okay? But there's little to be gained by outraging sensibilities. (Or is outraging sensibilities the brand you're going for?)

What I'm proposing here is an enormous amount of work, I know, but five books (350,000 words) should be enough to establish one main series and one off-shoot series. Then go from there, letting sales be your guide.

There is a good chance that by the time five books are out the strategy will already be bearing fruit, and that should give you the incentive to carry on. It all depends on the quality of the books you write and on your ability to drag readers to your list of available titles. Readers who like what you're doing may rope in others by word of mouth.

We're looking now for the snowball effect to kick in.

One last thing: I must point out the obvious. While this multi-book open-ended series strategy is a reasonable bet for success, it's not the only viable path. It's true, a high output of books should enhance your visibility. But maybe you have another way to rise above the noise level. And with that in mind, perhaps you want to write stand-alone novels in a variety of genres, including full-on literary works.

Go for it.

Or you could do both: Write stand-alone stuff under your own name; write series books under one or more pseudonyms.

The main thing is to get started. If you want to write, plop yourself down in front of a keyboard and go to it. (You could maybe even start today.)

However you want to proceed, write the best books you can. This is your actual career, not a silly game to con the internet crowd.

This is not a drill, folks. It's the real thing. Treat it that way.