X. Ho Yen's Author Newsletter (08 Sep 2022)
Another quick follow-up (sorry!). It was pointed out that I left it ambiguous as to how best to help me in terms of when and where to order the book. Short answer: please wait until 17 Oct.
If you really want to help me, I need your eBook and Soft Cover orders to happen on Amazon starting on 17 Oct and running through that week, maybe two weeks if you forget. Promo pricing will be available 17-24 Oct, so there’s incentive to focus your helpful efforts during that release week.
The Amazon desirement is because I’m relying heavily on Amazon’s “also bought” exposure algorithm to show my book to other interested customers, and Amazon’s algorithm is strongly tied to seeing orders and sales within a tight time frame. If I can direct as many sales as possible to Amazon that first week, there’s a chance MSD will rise in priority in the algorithm and the “also bought” exposure that rise generates will find more of my audience and drive more sales and reviews, all of which snowballs.
Until now, I never thought it would even be available until 17 Oct, so my plan all along was to simply ramp up to 17 Oct and then say “Okay, now’s the time, my evil horde! Fire the arbalests and trebuchets! Have fun stawmin’ da castle! Buy my book, and then buy it again as a holiday gift! Then do it again!”
Then it turned out that I had to get certain eBook pipelines up and running in pre-order mode in order to set up a promotion. Thus the confusion. I apologize! I’m learning!
So, even if you plan on purchasing a hard cover on IngramSpark (available 17 Oct), I’m hoping you’ll consider making a gift purchase for someone on Amazon from 17-24 Oct.
** If, however, you absolutely refuse to purchase from Amazon (and I totally get that and can respect that) then feel free to use any of the wide distro options. Just understand that right now, the eBook is not yet available on Google Play (they’re still ‘reviewing my account’ for this first release) nor on several other wide distributors, only at B&N/Nook, Rakuten kobo, Apple Books, and a number of other smaller distributors, many of which serve non-U.S. markets, via this link https://books2read.com/minimumsafedistance. Just understand that even those pre-orders are currently at the baseline price and won’t drop to promo pricing until 17-24 Oct anyway.
Thanks!
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Super quick follow-up to yesterday's newsletter:
1) On the topic of who should NOT post reviews on Amazon, here's the source: Amazon terms of service: https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html%3FnodeId%3DG3UA5WC5S5UUKB5G
My request to NOT post reviews on Amazon applies to those who would be flagged as having a "close personal relationship" with me. Judge for yourself. :)
2) For several reasons I've decided to go ahead and post the final "cover reveal" gif. See https://XHoYenAuthor.com/next-book
I hope you like it!
:)
Greetings Dear Subscribers to X.HoYen's Author Newsletter.
Or should I say, "Author's Log, Supplemental...", since it's Star Trek Day?
Happy Star Trek Day. 🖖 "Strange New Worlds" and "Lower Decks" are worthy entries.
08 Sep 2022 (last one was sent 04 Aug 2022 -- back issues are on the web site in the Newsletters section)
As promised, I do not inundate you with newsletters. :) But in this Fall’s run-up to MSD’s release, entries will be somewhat more frequent.
I hope everyone is as well (and good) as can be expected! Send me a note (xhoyen@gmail.com)! (This means you, Rachel...and Spc Mark...)
Update on MSD Setup
After much wrangling and much associated hand-wringing, all the various book cover and interior layout files for Minimum Safe Distance are finally done! I'm so relieved! KDP, IngramSpark, and Draft2Digital threw some errors, requiring me to iterate with MiblArt.com on several fixes, all of which took weeks.
Ukraine is nine hours ahead, and the time zone difference seemed to work against us. They would send me updates at the end of their work day, which is first thing in the morning for me. I would send a reply almost immediately, but they wouldn't get to it until the start of their next work day, at 11pm my time. And so it went. I did some graphics work, myself, too, like building a variation that fits the format desired by findawayvoices for audio books. All those years of screwing around with graphics weren't wasted!
With all that done, I've been able to set up Amazon, IngramSpark, and Draft2Digital books and they're ready for me to press the "Publish" button. (see the secret note later on in this log...)
Amazon will make eBook (US and international) and Soft Cover (US & UK only) formats available. IngramSpark will make Soft & Hard Cover formats available internationally. Google Play will make the eBook available internationally. And Draft2Digital will make the eBook available to other channels that Amazon eschews:
Barnes & Noble, Rakuten kobo, Apple Books, tolino, vivlio, OverDrive, bibliotheca, Baker & Taylor, hoopla, and BorrowBox
My special guest reader testimonial arrived in late August, and it's now used in the front matter and on the hard cover's dust jacket front flap text, but it arrived too late to get onto the ad postcards I'll be handing out at conventions when I can get an Author's Row table (no news yet from Mile Hi Con, but I'll be attending either way, Oct 21-23. That reminds me -- I need to take my files to a local printer, like Alphagraphics, and buy some print copies for in-person sales.).
That special guest reader testimonial is the one from Brad H., PhD (see the MSD page).
The standing banner and postcards arrived from posterninja and they look wonderful. (see pic of the banner below, which also went out with the email -- I'm quite happy with it!)
Your Loyalty Gift
As promised, today I'm giving you, my lovely, hardy subscribers, a special early release short story, Preet's Monsta, which takes place after the events of Minimum Safe Distance. There's room to tell more stories in that world, but I only want to do that if the ideas are good, not just to write more in the same world.
This is your download link to the Preet's Monsta PDF file. This open link will only be active for a few days, so download it straight away! (And I won't mind if you share the link with friends and/or family who are interested in globally-minded, wide-personhood, realism-based social sci fi/nanopunk/hopepunk.)
Thanks for sticking with me during this long process!
And for anyone who hasn't seen it yet, the second part of the MSD cover reveal GIF is now up. See it at https://XHoYenAuthor.com/next-book
I'm peeling away the obscuration in two steps, and the full reveal will be set against a supremely famous backdrop (not my ugly mug, don't worry).
Next Book
Somehow I have >6k words written on my next project, something with whimsy called "Custodians of the Future." I'm eager to get back to it after this debut release startup transient is behind me!
I'll still need your help to generate MSD orders and holiday season gift orders, and to generally get the word out. The fact is, seeing sales generates sales. I hope we get some good reviews, too, to counter the inevitable bad ones.
BUT DO NOT POST A REVIEW OF MY BOOK IF WE'RE FRIENDS OR FAMILY! That's against policy because unscrupulous people would arrange to stack their reviews with positive ones. And Amazon will know (Skynet Big Data collection, and all that) and might send me to a penal colony.
SECRET NOTE FOR YOUR EYES ONLY (not)
The eBook will shortly become available for pre-order on those Wide Distro sites (B&N, Apple, etc.) via this Universal Translator Link (it will become populated soon).
BUT, the price will be dropped to a promo price from 17-24 October, which is also when all formats and distributors will become available.
So tell any jerkwad Orion syndicate slaver types you know about the near-term availability at regular price, but tell people you like about the promo pricing 17-24 Oct!
One other note: Grand Unification Monastery now also has a web site.
Standard stuff
Please do share my URL with fellow realism-based sci fi fans, especially anyone who enjoyed Weir’s The Martian, Older’s Infomocracy, Stephenson’s Cryptonomicon, Mandel’s Station Eleven, or Corey’s The Expanse. I'm convinced Minimum Safe Distance would appeal to the same audience, because I wrote it for me and *I'm* in that audience.
Thanks for your support!
XHY
https://XHoYenAuthor.com
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