Shovel Sellers & Writers | Don't be taken advantage of 

Going into it with eyes open, as you are, you've got this. Thanks for the kind words!

That's wonderful! As you go, you'll have more reason to promote, as you'll have things to read that people haven't read yet. But also as you go, you'll naturally have learned the avenues with the best return on investment. And ultimately, a new book is the best promotion for your existing books, so keep it up!

I really appreciate that! Luckily I'm patient. I've been writing fiction too long to not be patient

Thank you! Glad to have you here.

I only do music poorly as a hobby, so I haven't experienced that, but it's no surprise. Anyplace where you find people who care, and who can be replaced by a horde of other people who care, you'll find an even larger horde ready to take advantage.

Thank you for the kind words! I think it's a good idea to jump in, with your expectations set properly and knowing that some people are looking at you like a meal. If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask here in the comments, or even email me, honestly. It's one of those things that feels like it has enormous complexity up front, but once you get your systems in place, becomes much, much easier.

​@@JAlanRyker Oh yeah, sure! I got a Discord, email (business), or here. Pick your poison. Really, my first topic is, just getting published. I have a book (novella) ready to go, sci-fi space opera, and am thinking of Kindle. Should I pull the trigger now? I don't know anything about a book launch. Your last few words in the video got me to start writing, as of this week, on writing the next book of the space opera already.

@@zachlong5427 If it were a standalone, I might say go. The fact that it's a series... I have only written one sequel, myself. Horror doesn't support series well. So that is an area outside my expertise. From what I've heard, though, it would be good to wait. And I don't know how long it's been since you finished it, but it might be good to wait, anyway. I'll usually write two more books before coming back and looking at something again to see how it hits me, after having gotten some distance. It's funny because I'm contradicting myself about jumping in. I think you have to just throw yourself in once you're ready. Many writers are so worried they draw that out. But, it is good (but not essential) to be ready when you do jump in. I'm SO glad to hear that you've started on your next book. My opinion would be to wait until you finish it. You might find that there are some thing that are convenient to retcon. You could use that time to submit to publishers who allow direct, agentless submissions (which, last I heard, is thankfully still common in scifi). With that, either you get an acceptance or you can say you've tried and self-publish. But there are always more books to write, even more series, so I wouldn't stress about publishing it yourself and then not being able to take it to a publisher. If it gets their attention, at worst they'll ask you to write another series, and you can always write more. I even had a publisher ask if I would unpublish my self-published books and then they'd publish them. I don't feel like I clarified things for you...

@@JAlanRyker 'Try and try again, eh?' Do you have any 'publishers who allow direct, agentless submissions' in mind? Or, if not, what should I look for that indicates they're that kind of publisher? And don't worry. I usually jump in like a fool anyway, survive, and jump in again. And, I'm not too worried about retcons. I admit, I do have a grandiose sense of destiny, so I plan on making books for all my lifetime anyway. Little retcons you catch here and there are going to be part and parcel. I hope to see your next video! Like I said, I got an email or Discord if you're interested. Thank you!

@@zachlong5427 I think the 3 biggies of Baen, Daw and Tor all accept unsolicited manuscripts during at least some window of the year. Check out this resource if you haven't before. If you enter a 50000 word count parameter into the filter it'll remove magazines: thegrinder.diabolicalplots.com/Search/ByFilter You're welcome!

I definitely sometimes envy people who really enjoy doing or selling something useful

The whole company or the self-publishing part? The thing with the self-publishing aspect is, Amazon can set the price to the writer at whatever they need to to make it profitable. There's no speculation on Amazon's part; they get their money. I sell novella's for $6 and only get $1 a sale because Amazon is going to make its money. And writers are desperate enough to get their work out that they will gladly not make any money on the process if they think they're getting "exposure". There is a bubble for each individual writer where they will invest expecting a return that won't happen, but there is always another writer to replace them if they drop out.

Thanks for the source. Apparently I should have dug a little deeper. Also, that's funny about him making so much money on his pants. Apparently he was one of the biggest promoters that caused the boom, so it would make sense he'd want to divert attention

@@JAlanRyker “Doh!” (Homer Simpson) As for my earlier quip, despite its plausibility, I figured it would be sufficiently funny enough to signal itself as a joke rather than a valid assertion of an attribution. Just setting the record straight, here. (Although I’m not saying great great grandpappy Levi *didnt* say it, either. lol) In a world awash in apocrypha, wear a raincoat and mind the splash zone!

@@BooksForever Don't feel bad. I am extremely gullible. It does sound plausible!

It's a genocide. Natives were defending their territory dude. And American settlers forced them into limited land.