Close to Perfect is about to vanish …
I’ve finally succumbed. The market is saying that 99 cents is too high a price for this entertaining and informative transcript of a podcast that never was.
But because Amazon won’t let me make it perma-free as a promotional tool, I’m going to do something I’ve never done before as an indie writer/publisher: I’m going to disappear it.
You can still get it for a limited time before I pull the plug, so jump in and purchase it soon. Like I said, 99 cents.
As you might remember, me and two of my writing pals got together one day and talked trade for a couple hours, covering everything from where ideas for fiction come from to navigating the choppy waters of indie publishing. And I recorded the convo, meaning to put it out as a podcast, but those darned California power outages of October 2019 disappeared the mp3 file for me.
But not before I was able to have a transcript made. You can read it and imagine three droll and talented writers as they chat–while laughing quite a bit–about this fairly magical but ridiculous business we’re all in.
This thing would run about 95 pages in print, so it’s an easy gobble-up in a couple of sittings. But it’s packed with great tips and observations about writing, editing, and publishing, and the three of us enjoyed commiserating about the perils and pleasures that go along with getting fiction out of your head, onto the page, and in front of readers.
Go get a copy today. It’s literally your last chance …
14 comments on “Close to Perfect is about to vanish …”
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WHAT THE HELL 
I think it just got caught up in the whole Covid thing, so more bad timing than a wrong price. I do have an idea about this though and will will share that with you in an email.
Thanks, Susan. I wrote ya back …
Does it really have to disappear? I mean, wouldn’t it be possible to sell it on your own? These days I only buy from Amazon if I have no choice. If I can purchase a book from my local indie or directly from the author, I prefer that. What does Amazon do for you … as an author? What’s the advantage of selling your books through Amazon? As a reader, Amazon can be convenient, but I don’t browse books there. I only go there if I already know what I want. Maybe I’m weird 😉
I’m disappearing it ‘cuz it looks too sad n’ lonely on my author page, and I don’t want to look like I just throw any old thing out there for purchase. Maybe I’m weird … 😉
As for Amazon, I use it for the ease of publication and it’s market size, but boy, without a good way to promote, things just sit there. The alternative is Smashwords, which makes you put “Smashwords edition” on the copyright page. I don’t like that one bit. But the books I did do through them didn’t sell much via Apple or B&N, so it was jumping through hoops for little gain.
Maybe Close to Perfect will reappear somehow. Stay tuned!
There’s also Draft2Digital, which is similar to Smashwords. I haven’t used it so don’t know if they have a similar requirement. Sadly, the ebook stores both of them distribute to don’t seem to have much appeal to readers any more, and the Smashwords store is frequented mainly by those who want freebies. I did freebies for years, but I’m done with them now, as they don’t seem to lead to actual sales. Maybe it’s just me, but I think selling books is getting harder. My expectations are now turned down pretty close to zero. Am I going to keep publishing, though? For some strange reason, yes. So I’m looking forward to reading your and your colleagues’ thoughts on the biz.
We talk about Draft2Digital in this book, as a matter of fact, but I haven’t tried it yet. What I do know is that the markets Smashwords has access to didn’t yield many sales, even when I ran promotions. But I agree: It feels like readers want freebies, and there are enough freebies available so that they never have to cough up a buck or two for an ebook. It’s gotten much harder to move copies these last few years.
You’re not weird. It’s what I worry about if I ever finish my novel, besides the fact that I just don’t like doing business with Amazon. My husband found out the other day that Amazon owns what he thought was an online independent book outlet. Abebooks. It’s been around for years but apparently Amazon bought it.
Yeah, and they bought Goodreads, and they bought Audible, etc. etc.
But it’s true, the writing has become the easy part of publishing. Marketing is pretty much impossible these days. *sigh*
Reblogged this on 1WriteWay and commented:
“imagine three droll and talented writers as they chat–while laughing quite a bit–about this fairly magical but ridiculous business we’re all in.” Don’t imagine it. Just go and purchase Kevin Brennan’s Close to Perfect while you still can! Get it here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B085CMQ7W3
I just bought a copy. Thanks for the reminder; it was on my “really ought to do this” list, but you know how those go.
Thanks, Audrey! I need to go over my own “really ought to do this” list too … 😉
Okay, so I’m reading it right now and thinking that all writers (especially “aspiring” ones) should read it. I was planning to put a link on a blog post I’m working on about how I edit my stuff, but couldn’t find it on Amazon. Then I remembered this post, which explains why.
I thought it could be helpful to aspiring writers too, Audrey, but for whatever reason I couldn’t give the damn thing away, much less sell it for a buck. I might stick it on the blog as a download one of these days … {sigh}.
It is getting harder to sell books, even for a dollar. What can you get for a dollar anymore? Anyway, if you do make Close to Perfect available somewhere, I will definitely mention it on my blog.