The Writer's Sphere - Share your writing

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shy guy 64
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PostRe: The Writer's Sphere - Share your writing
by shy guy 64 » Sat Jul 13, 2019 7:41 pm

DarkRula wrote:
shy guy 64 wrote:
err i think more than one of us might be called that


Yes, I'm a Chris. I noticed when looking at your stuff we shared the same name. I just didn't share that here.


well are both trying to promote books under our names so i think people will figure we're both called chris

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PostRe: The Writer's Sphere - Share your writing
by DarkRula » Sat Jul 13, 2019 8:29 pm

Clarkman wrote:
DarkRula wrote:There's no real figures to give. But if you're a nobody and you're wanting a professional-grade review, you have to pay for it. Just the same as if you commission someone to do something, the price is what binds the contract together. You are contracting them to give their time up to look at something, so it stands to reason they'd want something back. But for people under a publisher, I expect that publisher handles such costs.


Publishing houses don't pay for reviews, my man.


Really? But they at least sort out some form of advertising for it, right?

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PostRe: The Writer's Sphere - Share your writing
by Tafdolphin » Sat Jul 13, 2019 8:48 pm

I think this is what I was getting at. I imagine, and Clarkman will know better than me here, that publishers will put together a marketing push as well as PR campaigns to the relevant sellers and review outlets but I can't imagine them ever paying for reviews. Imagine if it got made public! Having read up a little bit it apparently is quite common for self-published authors to pay for reviews in lieu of professional marketing campaigns. I still think the value of them is...questionable however.

There's an interesting article about such practices here:

https://www.janefriedman.com/paid-book-reviews/

As I said at the outset, this is a controversial topic, and perceptions about the practice widely vary. I’m not typically an advocate of paid reviews, because in most cases I think that authors fail to capitalize on them and also that authors can achieve much the same results if they put in the (time-consuming) effort to secure the many types of free reviews available to them. It’s not that I’m morally against paid reviews, although I do think paid review services can make it sound like all sorts of wonderful, influential people will suddenly take notice of your book when that’s seldom the case.


It's still super cool someone read your book and liked it! Definitely not trying to take that away. I just think it's useful to consider the advantages and disadvantages of it all.

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PostRe: The Writer's Sphere - Share your writing
by DarkRula » Sat Jul 13, 2019 8:56 pm

You as a person still have to pay the publisher something for their services, though, right? Or is it like on self-publishing platforms where the earnings are split between you and the publisher?

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PostRe: The Writer's Sphere - Share your writing
by Tafdolphin » Sat Jul 13, 2019 8:58 pm

I'm pretty sure writers don't pay their publishers. It's usually the other way round, in fact. Again, Clarkman will know more than me here.

Edit: they usually take a percentage of sales. I think. Maybe.

Last edited by Tafdolphin on Sat Jul 13, 2019 9:21 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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PostRe: The Writer's Sphere - Share your writing
by McCoughlan » Sat Jul 13, 2019 9:15 pm

kerr9000 wrote:I used to write erotica


Underappreciated book genre.

In relation to the whole review thing I don't know if I agree with having to pay for a review but the publicity alone is a good thing. They see that review and decide to check out the book.

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shy guy 64
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PostRe: The Writer's Sphere - Share your writing
by shy guy 64 » Sat Jul 13, 2019 9:56 pm

Tafdolphin wrote:I'm pretty sure writers don't pay their publishers. It's usually the other way round, in fact. Again, Clarkman will know more than me here.

Edit: they usually take a percentage of sales. I think. Maybe.


well i had to help fund my book and we still split the profits

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PostRe: The Writer's Sphere - Share your writing
by Clarkman » Sun Jul 14, 2019 11:40 am

DarkRula wrote:You as a person still have to pay the publisher something for their services, though, right? Or is it like on self-publishing platforms where the earnings are split between you and the publisher?


Writers never pay publishers anything. For my two books, I've been paid an advance for my manuscript, which is typically paid in instalments of third/quarters (third on initial contract signing, third on final manuscript delivery post edits, third on date of publication - + in instances of quarters, a quarter on fulfilling all marketing/media duties).

My publisher has a dedicated PR and Marketing team who secure media coverage/send out proofs/organise a book tour.

You have to earn out your advance in book sales (likely around 5000 units sold of paperback/hardback combined for my forthcoming book), and then you start seeing some more money on top.

For every £1 you earn from your book, your publisher is probably earning £3.50. I think the margins to them are larger for audiobook/ebook sales.

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PostRe: The Writer's Sphere - Share your writing
by McCoughlan » Sun Jul 14, 2019 11:48 am

Where the strawberry float are the books you've published @clarkman @shyguy64 @darkrula @kerr links or it didn't happen. (That's a lot of published authors for a videogame forum! Congrats y'all)

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PostRe: The Writer's Sphere - Share your writing
by Clarkman » Sun Jul 14, 2019 1:17 pm

LightWanderer wrote:Where the strawberry float are the books you've published @clarkman @shyguy64 @darkrula @kerr links or it didn't happen. (That's a lot of published authors for a videogame forum! Congrats y'all)


Hello! It would mean a lot to me if you'd consider preordering my book. It is out in early September.

Waterstones link
Foyles link
Amazon link

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PostRe: The Writer's Sphere - Share your writing
by shy guy 64 » Sun Jul 14, 2019 3:52 pm

LightWanderer wrote:Where the strawberry float are the books you've published @clarkman @shyguy64 @darkrula @kerr links or it didn't happen. (That's a lot of published authors for a videogame forum! Congrats y'all)


thanks, if youre interested heres a link to my book

https://pegasuspublishers.com/books/all/frozen-fire

Clarkman wrote:Writers never pay publishers anything.


well thats not true

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PostRe: The Writer's Sphere - Share your writing
by DarkRula » Sun Jul 14, 2019 4:39 pm

Clarkman wrote:
DarkRula wrote:You as a person still have to pay the publisher something for their services, though, right? Or is it like on self-publishing platforms where the earnings are split between you and the publisher?


Writers never pay publishers anything. For my two books, I've been paid an advance for my manuscript, which is typically paid in instalments of third/quarters (third on initial contract signing, third on final manuscript delivery post edits, third on date of publication - + in instances of quarters, a quarter on fulfilling all marketing/media duties).

My publisher has a dedicated PR and Marketing team who secure media coverage/send out proofs/organise a book tour.

You have to earn out your advance in book sales (likely around 5000 units sold of paperback/hardback combined for my forthcoming book), and then you start seeing some more money on top.

For every £1 you earn from your book, your publisher is probably earning £3.50. I think the margins to them are larger for audiobook/ebook sales.


Thanks for the info. I guess it's reversed from my situation then - in terms of the contract - since they paid you to enter into it, which means they saw potential in it.

LightWanderer wrote:Where the strawberry float are the books you've published @clarkman @shyguy64 @darkrula @kerr links or it didn't happen. (That's a lot of published authors for a videogame forum! Congrats y'all)


My signature advert banner should link you to my site, but if you have signatures disabled - DarkRula Media - that'll take you straight to the eBook section of it.

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PostRe: The Writer's Sphere - Share your writing
by kerr9000 » Sun Jul 14, 2019 4:50 pm

Mine are just amazon kindle ebooks nothing great, just put in Shaun hipkiss and you will find the horror ones, doubt anyone here is interested in the erotica

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PostRe: The Writer's Sphere - Share your writing
by shy guy 64 » Mon Jul 15, 2019 12:54 pm

so how do the rest of you hear about your sales?

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PostRe: The Writer's Sphere - Share your writing
by OrangeRKN » Mon Jul 15, 2019 1:17 pm

I think it's great that we have a diverse group of writers here, from bona fide professionals like Clarkman and Taf to hobbyists like myself. I think the important thing to remember as a hobbyist is that writing is hard, and there are lots of people out there writing. Putting your work out there is commendable and worthy, but it should come with no expectation of reaching much of an audience at all, and certainly with no expectation of making money. The odds of writing a successful book are incredibly small. That's why I would be very wary of paying for a review, although I certainly appreciate the appeal of knowing someone has not only read your story, but put out an endorsement of it too (unfortunately I doubt that any paid-for review will ever truly express criticism, because of the inherent conflict of interest). Likewise with paid-for publishing, I can certainly see why someone would want to have their book physically published, but if going down that route it shouldn't be with any expectation of breaking out and becoming successful. That's not necessarily a bad thing, as long as there is no misconception that will lead to disappointment!

If you want to make money as a hobbyist writer, then kerr probably has the best approach ;)

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PostRe: The Writer's Sphere - Share your writing
by Hexx » Mon Jul 15, 2019 1:21 pm

Clarkman wrote:
LightWanderer wrote:Where the strawberry float are the books you've published @clarkman @shyguy64 @darkrula @kerr links or it didn't happen. (That's a lot of published authors for a videogame forum! Congrats y'all)


Hello! It would mean a lot to me if you'd consider preordering my book. It is out in early September.

Waterstones link
Foyles link
Amazon link


I clicked on author....you've written some interesting other stuff!

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PostRe: The Writer's Sphere - Share your writing
by Clarkman » Mon Jul 15, 2019 1:38 pm

Hexx wrote:
Clarkman wrote:
LightWanderer wrote:Where the strawberry float are the books you've published @clarkman @shyguy64 @darkrula @kerr links or it didn't happen. (That's a lot of published authors for a videogame forum! Congrats y'all)


Hello! It would mean a lot to me if you'd consider preordering my book. It is out in early September.

Waterstones link
Foyles link
Amazon link


I clicked on author....you've written some interesting other stuff!


Looool. Thank you for introducing me to the erotic world of my namesakes.

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PostRe: The Writer's Sphere - Share your writing
by kerr9000 » Mon Jul 15, 2019 2:36 pm

LightWanderer wrote:Where the strawberry float are the books you've published @clarkman @shyguy64 @darkrula @kerr links or it didn't happen. (That's a lot of published authors for a videogame forum! Congrats y'all)


I have made a bunch of mine free today, so look up Shaun Hipkiss, there's about 4 free.

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shy guy 64
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PostRe: The Writer's Sphere - Share your writing
by shy guy 64 » Mon Jul 15, 2019 4:03 pm

OrangeRKN wrote:I think it's great that we have a diverse group of writers here, from bona fide professionals like Clarkman and Taf to hobbyists like myself. I think the important thing to remember as a hobbyist is that writing is hard, and there are lots of people out there writing. Putting your work out there is commendable and worthy, but it should come with no expectation of reaching much of an audience at all, and certainly with no expectation of making money. The odds of writing a successful book are incredibly small. That's why I would be very wary of paying for a review, although I certainly appreciate the appeal of knowing someone has not only read your story, but put out an endorsement of it too (unfortunately I doubt that any paid-for review will ever truly express criticism, because of the inherent conflict of interest). Likewise with paid-for publishing, I can certainly see why someone would want to have their book physically published, but if going down that route it shouldn't be with any expectation of breaking out and becoming successful. That's not necessarily a bad thing, as long as there is no misconception that will lead to disappointment!


aint that the truth

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PostRe: The Writer's Sphere - Share your writing
by McCoughlan » Mon Jul 15, 2019 11:48 pm

Sorry I haven't been online today. Got a new laptop. Downloaded one of Kerr's books there and will look into everyone's stuff over the week.


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