The Quest Is Dead...Sort Of...

They say a good blog can serve as a good marketing tool...

Yes, I suppose I have really messed that one up.

A great deal has stayed the same since the last Quest post, including zero book sales, little progress on the book-writing front and, of course, not many people really noticing.

So, this must be why people subject themselves to the humiliation of being rejected by dozens of literary agents and publishers. Because getting the word out is tough!

This is especially true when there are other things that are more important, like actually writing or the overbearing need to eat.

You know, trivial stuff.

And then, of course, comes the news that Lulu.com has done away with the Published By You package, where I would have been able to snap up an ISBN of my own. They've replaced it with two distribution packages that I couldn't explain if I lived to be 100.

Normally, this wouldn't have bothered me, seeing as how Stories from the Forester: Volume 1 isn't anywhere near close to publishing stage. However, this does leave Flagrant Foul in a serious state of limbo. Sure, you can still buy it at Amazon (Don't know why I pointed that out. If you haven't bought it yet, I'm doubting you're opening up the wallets now!). But it leaves far too many questions marks, namely the actual process of purchasing their GlobalReach package in the event I choose to do so (Which, after scanning through the site, I see no real help for Published by Lulu customers to do that!).

It's been a big enough pain in the ass to come up with idea for writing that clearly nobody's interested in. But to take the one thing that was quite simple and complicate it unnecessarily? Yes, this will truly inspire people to self-publish in the future.

Make no mistake, I'll never stop writing. But this Quest? It's dead.

For the two of three people who truly care, fear not. This blog may be getting dumped, but I've always got other things up my sleeve. Like a phoenix, something new shall rise from the ashes...

Or perhaps something old...

The Twitterverse is Calling...

Finally, an instance where following people isn't considered stalking!

Microblogging, or micromedia (depending on you you ask) is spreading like wildfire. Forms of it have shown up on most of the social networking sites, such as MySpace, Facebook and LinkedIn. In the last couple of years, though, it's taken on a life of it's own.

Welcome to the Twitterverse.

Like most Questers, I, too, have been drawn to the ability to unveil a random stream of consciousness on a regular basis. While like most social media, it's a good place to keep in touch with your friends, it's also a pretty good tool to get the word out about your book.

Plus, if you look in the right place, you'll find a few sites to help you with your Quest.

Lulu's on there - http://twitter.com/Luludotcom

And a new one I found, and an excellent source for Quester, Blog Book Tours - http://twitter.com/blogbooktours (Oddly enough, Blogger thinks they're a spam blog, to which I do not concur!)

I can be followed, too - http://twitter.com/bobmcdonald

After All That???

Now that it's the beginning of August, I must take personal stock in how the Quest is going.

Um, not so good...

Sales so far:

Flagrant Foul (from lulu.com): 0
Dilemma (from lulu.com): 0
Dilemma (from Mobipocket/Amazon): 0
Average daily hits on http://www.flagrantfoul.com/ (Main site, not the Quest): 1.17

So, I take this to mean one of three things. Either...

A. I'm not applying myself.
B. My books really are crap.
C. This is a tough, tough racket to break into.

For the time being, I'm going to choose Answer C, and press on. And instead of moping, I'm going to just turn it over to you guys. How has your Quest been going? What's your experience been like so far. I've got a couple of different Quest reports posted already. Come join in! I know I'm not the only one!

Then Again... Maybe Not!

I finally received my proof copy of Dilemma in the mail. From a self-publishing standpoint, it's good, because you have final say on what becomes public...

Then I looked at it...

...and looked at it...

...and looked at it...

Then I begin to wonder...

Is this really worth $14.50?

Realistically, I like the story and all, but the retail mark-up for this short a book is killer!

Not that I blame Lulu, really. Pocket books, of course, aren't really that big a revenue generator for anyone!

And as I've already mentioned, Dilemma was to be just one of two stories in Volume 1 of the Stories of the Forester.

That's not to say that I'll be taking Dilemma off the shelves. Once I approve it, it'll be available everywhere!

All I'm saying is, erm, download the e-book, either through Lulu or as an Amazon Kindle book. It's way cheaper!

Someone Else's Quest

Since I've started my Quest, I thought I'd share the story of another writer who's documented their own Quest. Shannon Yarbrough, the author of The Other Side of What and, most recently, Stealing Wishes, created the POD Diary for Stealing Wishes. For anyone who plans to go on their own Quest, it's certainly worth a read.

Incidentally, Shannon also runs the Lulu Book Review, which features reviews of self-published books, including, I'm happy to say, Flagrant Foul. Plus, there's plenty of news about self-publishing as well. All in all, it's a great resource!