The Courageous Only – It’s Not for the Faint of Heart

My dad, William Robert Stanek, was a real-life superhero, as least to us kids, if not to the millions who built their dreams on the books he wrote that taught them new skills and new ways of thinking. For those who keep wanting to write my dad's obituary because of the years his pen has been silent, I say regardless of whether he writes another word his millions of published words already speak volumes, and his millions of unpublished words will someday say even more.

circa 1990 when My Mom and Dad dreamt up World Galleries

On behalf of my dad, I want to thank everyone here at Go Indie who has spoken up in support of my dad. It really meant the world to him, late timing be damned. We’d all like to see him return to writing, but in the meantime there are so many of his works already in print to be shared and treasured. Just as my dad kept his William Stanek (mostly nonfiction) and Robert Stanek (mostly fiction) work separate for many years, he also kept another careful secret from the world: he and my mom’s work in the arts for World Galleries which represents thousands of what have been called "some of the most iconic photographs in landscape, architecture and travel photography over the past three decades" and hundreds of canvas paintings.

Spring 2021, 1st Media Announcement regarding World Galleries 

Humble to a fault, modest to a fault, my dad and mom kept their secret for three decades while their work was celebrated around the world and viewed billions of times. The global pandemic which forced my family to permanently close our physical galleries changed all that. My dad and mom stepped out from behind the scenes and we’ve started making their works available in the online galleries at:

360 Studios (pictorem.com/gallery/360.Studios)

1North Studios (pictorem.com/gallery/1North)

@24 Studios (pictorem.com/gallery/24)

Robert Stanek Studios (pictorem.com/gallery/Robert.Stanek)

Now after months of effort, we have hundreds of original artworks available, and are seeking help in spreading the word so that my dad and mom and the dozens of others their efforts support can continue their good work for decades to come. As it has always been since inception, 80% of the profits from any purchases go back to the artists themselves and the vast majority of anything my dad and mom make go back into the business so they can support other artists and their families.

Commission-based sales opportunities

As my dad always says, thank you for reading,

-Will

P.S.

This started out as a Father's Day tribute to my dad and ended up somewhere else entirely. If I were half the writer my dad is, it'd be so much better.

Goodnight Robert, Goodnight Moon, Goodnight Stars, Air & Noises Everywhere

After hearing about Robert, I broke down in tears, fits and sobs really, the kind reserved for family because Robert Stanek was like a father to some of us in the writing community, a favorite uncle, Uncle Robert, to others, and a valued mentor to a great, great many. So many writers, hundreds really, owe their start in writing and careers to this guy, and the same is true of thousands who work in Big Tech, on web-based platforms or in web-based businesses. This guy taught them all how to set up those very businesses. This guy who was larger than life. This guy who was so down to earth. This guy who was so humble. This guy who so loved life. This guy who so loved family. This guy who took care of everyone else. This guy who gave and gave and gave over so many decades to so many and never asked for anything in return.

Robert Stanek was always creating resources to help writers. Writer’s Galley, Internet Job Center, Internet Daily News, others, his earliest efforts in the mid ‘90s. Go Indie, Read Indies, Free Today, and others in the mid ‘00s. He taught us all how to use social media, to create blogs, to use Facebook, to use Twitter and beyond. He created and curated memes like #amwriting, #amblogging, #epicfantasy, #kidslit and #teenlit. He led by example.

By 2000, his professionally published books numbered over 100. Those books, published and distributed by the biggest names in publishing—IDG, Simon & Schuster, Random House, Macmillan, Pearson, Microsoft, McGraw Hill, Time Warner—blazed trails. At a time when few understood the world wide web and its technologies, Robert was not only one of the few recognized world leaders in the web and its technologies, he was the recognized world leader in explaining how those technologies worked clearly and concisely.

Robert was a King maker, unmade by the very things he helped establish. He put upstart Amazon on the map by writing about the company to his audience of millions from its earliest days. He transformed Microsoft Press from a publishing company its readers swore published books in a foreign language called Microsoftese into one praised for publishing books in plain language—that plain language approach Robert himself created and that praise itself was for Robert’s books. His words and style were so beloved they eventually became the plain language style of Microsoft itself.

Credit where credit is due one might imagine, but instead as Robert revealed through his varied writings and blogs, he got no credit for any of it. At the end of the day, his work taught tens of millions, enriched the pockets of his publishers, agents and managers, but left Robert and his family with 3 cents on the dollar. Robert’s work was used in $1B-$2B (yes, B-I-L-L-I-O-N $) worth of training courses and other Microsoft and non-Microsoft work for which he never received a single cent. Not one. None. Zero.

In 2000, Robert Stanek founded the modern indie author movement with his breakout self-published books that transformed publishing and the way we publish today. In 2001, Robert became the first indie author to serialize an e-book at Amazon and has since gone on to write more than 150 indie books. In 2002, his Keeper Martin's Tale and Kingdoms & the Elves books were the first indie e-authored books to top Amazon's bestseller lists. In 2005, the same books were the first indie e-audiobooks to top Audible bestseller lists where they dominated for the next three years (#1 fiction for 14 weeks 2005, 167 weeks Top 10 YA 2005-2008). His Kingdoms & the Elves became one of the top grossing e-audiobooks of all time and was featured on the Audible Home Page throughout the Summer of 2005.

We all know what happens to those who are so far ahead of their time that they seem to exist in a world of their own making. Robert had climbed too many mountains, and those standing at the bottoms of those mountains desperately wanted what he had, and so they did whatever it took to take what Robert had created and claim it as their own or destroy it. Read Robert’s heartbreaking posts about the things that happened to him and you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. We as a society love to tear down our heroes. We tear them down with lies, with fake news. We puff ourselves up and make ourselves look big, to make those who are larger than life look small.

Sad but true, strange but true, one of Robert Stanek’s favorite sayings was dare to dream and he dared all of us to dream. Not only to dream with him as he conquered the bestseller lists, which he did time after time until he had so many number ones it seemed a thing unreachable in the sky, but to dream our own dream, forge our own paths and to make of our writing and lives whatever beautiful dream we could dream. Robert told me many times that the empty page was friend, not foe, that he never knew a day of writer’s block. He saw the empty page as a challenge, one that he was not afraid to answer, and answer it he did. In his lifetime, over 20 million of his words were published in over 250 books. I know from speaking with Robert that he has half as many words unpublished, words that we all should hope are someday published. Robert had much to say to the world, and his books indeed say much.

Robert challenged us as writers to see the blank page as a friend as well. He dreamed that his books would be his legacy, his way to ensure his family was financially secure. My silence when Robert needed me the most is something I will never forgive myself for. It was shameful. It was disgraceful. It was dishonorable. I hope that Robert can forgive me, forgive all of us, for not doing what we should have when it would have mattered most. I’m sorry, Robert. Please, please forgive me.

To those reading my words, if you want to do one decent thing today, one decent thing this week, read Robert Stanek’s books and tell the world about them. It’s never too late to right a great wrong.

You can learn all about Robert’s Bugville Critters at www.bugvillecritters.com.

You can learn all about Robert’s Magic Lands at www.magiclands.com.

You can learn all about Robert Ruin Mist at www.ruinmistmovie.com.

You can read Robert’s blog at http://robertstanek.blogspot.com/.

You can read about Robert’s Imagined Lands at www.imaginedlands.com.

You can read about Robert’s writing as William Stanek at www.williamrstanek.com.

More about Robert’s writing as Robert Stanek at www.robert-stanek.com.

Any future posts here or elsewhere on Robert’s behalf will be made by the indie writing team. Goodnight Robert, goodnight moon, goodnight stars, air & noises everywhere.

- Cathy Thompson

Showcasing You, the Author, and Your Books at Trade Shows, Book Fairs, and Genre Cons

I'm Robert Stanek and today I'm talking about trade shows, book fairs, and genre cons. As a successful author whose works have been showcased around the world, I often get questions from other authors about how to effectively use these events to sell books. Previously, I blogged about selling your rights at trade shows, taking your work to Hollywood, and other related topics.

Many authors seem to think trade shows, book fairs, and genre cons are all about selling. But in reality, these events aren't necessarily about selling anything at all. You, as an author, should be there mostly to build relationships and industry connections.

In the early 2000s, my books and I were at nearly every regional, national, and international show for a number of years. A steady, multi-year investment landed numerous rights and distribution deals:

My William Stanek books have been translated into 34 languages and counting
My Robert Stanek books have been translated into 15 languages and counting

It took a great commitment of time, capital, and resources to make those deals possible. The publishing landscape has changed considerably since the early 2000s, however.

Today, I would, and do, approach trade shows, book fairs, and genre cons very differently. For starters, you're going to have better luck at these types of events if you have several creative works, rather than a single published work.

As an independent with several works available, you're going to have the most success at regional shows, including the regional shows from:

California Library Association
New York Library Association
New York State Reading Association
Michigan Reading Association
Texas Library Association
Connecticut Library Association
Pennsylvania School Library Association
Florida Library Association
New Jersey Library Association
National Education Association
Pennsylvania Library Association
Illinois Library Association
California Library Association
New York State Reading Association
New England Library Association

Note that most of these regional shows are either "library associations" or "reading associations". Here, you are connecting with library staff, school library staff, teachers, school administrators, readers, and others. If your books aren't available to libraries or schools, you'll want to approach the library shows very differently than you would otherwise.

Regional shows can be expensive, so you may want to stick with ones in your area before you try anything outside your local area. Don't spend money on tables or booths without first getting as much information as you can. You also may want to attend one or more of these events beforehand.

An even better idea? Build up to something like this before you spend any money. My recommendation: regional independent bookseller organizations and shows.

Regional independent bookseller organizations are excellent resources, and it's good to get to know the organization in your area to see if it and you are a fit. Regional indie bookseller organizations include:

Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association (PNBA)
Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA)
New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association (NAIBA)
Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association (GLIBA)
Midwest Independent Booksellers Association (MIBA)
New England Independent Booksellers Association (NEIBA)
Mountains and Plains Independent Booksellers Association (MPIBA)
Southern California Independent Booksellers Association (SCIBA)
Northern California Independent Booksellers Association (NCIBA)

These organizations also host book shows. Attend the shows hosted by these organizations, learn how they work, and see if you think they might work for you and your books.

With some experience at regional shows and with regional organizations, you might want to look to national and international shows. Shows of this type, I recommend include:

American Library Association Midwinter
Bologna Children's Book Fair
London Book Fair
BookExpo America
American Library Association Annual
Beijing International Book Fair
American Association of School Librarians

International shows have the most potential, especially the London, Beijing, and Frankfurt shows. At these international shows you can have tremendous success selling translation and other rights to your works.

Attending trade shows, book fairs, and genre cons can be expensive. Don't spend a dime before you take the time to research the aforementioned options to determine whether any of them are for you.

With any of these shows, whether a regional, national or international trade show, you don't have to attend personally. There are many organizations that will host and showcase your books for you. Thus, rather than spend $250 for a table and $625 on travel expenses to attend one show, you could pay one of these hosting organizations a flat fee to showcase you and your books at multiple shows for around the same amount of money. For example, it may cost $125 to showcase one book at one show or $350 for a shelf in a display that allows you to showcase 5, 6, or 7 books.

Hope this helps!

Robert Stanek

A Long Hard Slog Up the Middle: A Writer's Journey Part 2

As I was saying last time, I finished my first full-length novel in '86, won my first writing award in '91, and signed my first book contract in '94. Since then, I've written over 150 books which have been read by over 10 million people. But I almost gave it all up in the late '90s.

After months of waiting to hear good news, my wife and I were considering our options and wishing we’d sold the family home and moved to Seattle where I was working at the time, having gone back to full-time work other than writing.

Thankfully though after months of waiting, I heard got good news from my agent. The publisher wanted to meet with me. The publisher wanted to discuss my ideas.

During the meeting, it was clear that the publisher liked my ideas but I’d need to provide sample chapters, expand the series details, have more face-to-face meetings, and generally do more to convince them. The hard part that followed required a leap of faith. I couldn’t do all that was required of me, in the time that was required of me, and keep working full-time elsewhere. I had to quit the day job and proceed, or keep the day job and let the dream die.

I chose the dream. I gave notice, worked my last two weeks while I continued developing the materials needed. A few weeks in, I learned the publisher had one idea for the series and I had another. Worse, the concepts were radically different.

I thought for sure disaster was ahead. Thankfully, the publisher did eventually sign me to a two-book contract. A contract to do things their way—and not my way.

However, the sample chapters I’d written over the past weeks were for my series concept and not theirs, so I kept writing the books my way. For this publisher, it was something unheard of for any writer to go outside the standard or to deviate from fixed standards. But my editors loved the final chapters I submitted, and I completed the work in its entirety ahead of schedule—so many weeks ahead of schedule they didn't quite know what to do, and this also was something else that was unheard of.

In fact, I was so far ahead of schedule, that the book’s publication dates were moved back several months. Those several months proved critical, as they allowed the publisher to showcase the books at a major industry event when the publisher otherwise would not have been able to. And the books done my way were smash hits at the event.

The rest as they say is history. Those contracts were followed by two other contracts from other publishers that I’d contacted previously. Suddenly, I was back in the publishing business.

Looking back now after I these years, I know exactly what I would have given up, had I not chased the dream. That little series I started? That series would eventually go on to become one of the biggest blockbuster series for the publisher, with $100M in worldwide retail sales—and counting.

Those first books I wrote in that series? They set the foundation for the entire series and became critically-acclaimed, award-winning bestsellers.

Sometimes in life you must take that leap of faith. Sometimes you must believe in yourself when no one else does. Sometimes you must follow the wrong path to find the right one.

Talk to you next time,

Robert Stanek

Long, Hard Slog Up the Middle: A Writer's Journey Part 1

I’ve been a writer for more than 30 years. I finished my first full-length novel in 1986, won my first writing award in 1991, and signed my first book contract in 1994. Since then, I've gone on to write more than 150 books, which have been read by readers all around the world.

I earned my stripes in this crazy business when I wrote for many years for the simple pleasure of writing itself. It wasn’t until 1994 that I signed my first contract. It wasn’t until 1995 that my first book was published. It wasn’t until 1996 that I was able to write full-time.

My full-time work as a writer is as a technology journalist and nonfiction writer. In those early days, I wrote articles for leading publications like PC Magazine and Dr. Dobbs. I also wrote books for leading publishers like Macmillan, Pearson, McGraw Hill, Microsoft, and O’Reilly Media. For articles, I often received $1 or more a word. For books, I often received solid five-figure advances. That was, of course, success, and I did in fact rise quickly, becoming a recognized world leader in my field in only a few short years.

Success, however, can be short lived. In publishing, a writer’s last success doesn’t necessarily pave the road to the future. A writer’s future is determined by his or her next book and often also by factors the writer cannot control. The world changes every day. Trends and tastes shift. Yesterday’s media darling can be tomorrow’s nobody.

I’ve lived the change firsthand. Between 1995 and 1998, I signed more than a dozen contracts, wrote books as fast as I could write them for readers who couldn’t get my books fast enough. I was on fire. In those few short years, my books earned millions at retail. I thought the ride would never end, until it did.

The market changed. Trends and tastes shifted. The hot topics of the day were flooded with a smorgasbord of offerings. There weren’t just 10 or 20 books on that hot topic, there were a hundred. Eventually, this oversaturation cannibalized sales of all similar books. Thus, even as my success and career were hitting new highs, I was left scrambling.

But unlike many of my contemporaries at the time, I saw the light of that oncoming freight train. I knew my options. I knew what I had to do.

I could continue to write books in an oversaturated market, try to live with sales that were a tiny fraction of what they had been, or I could look to new opportunities. I chose plan b—the new opportunities. I risked everything, left my old publishers who weren’t interested in my new ideas, and went out looking for publishers who were interested in my new ideas.

The change meant I had to rejoin the working world. I took a job with a tech company in Seattle and joined the ranks of the marathon commuters, driving 140 miles round trip every working day. I continued writing in the evenings and on weekends. I continued to pitch my new ideas to new publishers.

Days and weeks passed. Months too. By the sixth month, my wife and I were seriously considering our options and wishing we’d sold the family home and moved to Seattle months ago.
But I didn’t give up. Instead, I polished my ideas yet again and sent them out via my agent to a new publisher who I heard was looking to do something different. I just hoped that the “something different” they wanted would be my radical idea for a new series of books.

The wait to hear back from the publisher was agony because at this point it was make or break. If I heard back from the publisher and it wasn’t good news, my writing career likely was over. If I heard back from the publisher and it was good news, there was hope, but no certainty.

Thankfully, I heard back from my agent within a few days and the news was...

To be continued...

Thanks for reading,

Robert Stanek

How I Made This Crazy Thing Called Writing a 20-year Career...

2014 will be my 20th year in publishing. I signed my first book contract in 1994 and my first book was published in 1995. The wild success of that book and its sequel made me an international bestselling author. Since those early beginnings, more than 150 of my books have been published and let me tell you it's been one crazy ride.

I've seen other writers sharing about their experiences in their blogs, though mostly from the viewpoint of strictly self-published authors, so I wanted to offer viewpoints on two things: so-called hybrid authors and long tail publishing.

ABOUT MY PATH

The path I've traveled hasn’t been all roses, cavalcades, and unicorns. The publishing business can be an ugly business; the world can be an ugly place. And yet, I’ve never lost belief in my words or my ability to instruct, to entertain, to tell a story. I love the craft.

I’ve not only written in literary genres from action/adventure, mystery and suspense to science fiction and fantasy, in subject areas from computer technology to military memoir, and in children's picture books for toddlers, preschoolers and early elementary school readers--but I’ve been successful in all.

ABOUT MY SALES

From the publication of my first book in 1995 to early 2005, I had sold well over 5,000,000 books. From 2005 to 2015, I am on track to again sell well over 5,000,000 books.

In the past 20 years, I've sold well over $100,000,000 in books and I'm on track to reach $200,000,000+ in sales in 2014. That kind of outsized success isn't something everyone will achieve. That kind of success is something I can't believe I've achieved.

People often have ask me if all the success changed my life and I’d like to think that it has in many ways. But it’s been a long, long road and a road that never started with me trying to get published.

In fact, I wrote novels for years before I ever tried to get published. For me, writing was never about getting published. It was always about doing what I loved. And doing what I love full-time for 20 years has given me great perspective on writing, on success, and on life.

ABOUT GOING FROM PRO TO HYBRID

Being a hybrid author refers to writing both as a professionally published author and as an independent author. For a professionally published author, I think it's a logical transition to the independent marketplace and it's a transition born of simple economics. Economics that work like this:

$200,000,000 at retail x 45% = 90,000,000. Based on a typical 55% discount to bookstores.

20% off the top for returns, other withholdings, etc  = 72,000,000

Average royalties = 10% (I know, I know you hear 12%, 15% numbers but the actual rate varies depending on marketplace sold, whether 3rd party distributed, how packaged, etc).

10% of 72,000,000 = 7,200,000

20% off the top of this for agents, managers, etc. leaves about 5,760,000.

5,760,000 over 20 years is about $288,000 in annual earnings (not including actual expenses like health care, marketing, etc).

Or put another way, at the end of the day, what the professional author actually gets is about 3% of total earnings.

In contrast, indie earnings can be much more substantial as a percentage of total earnings, though significantly less in the total net earnings department. In theory, indie authors can earn as much as 35% - 70% of net sales. But theories don't always hold water. As an indie, my end of the day indie earnings, after top-level expenses, actually amount to about 10% of total earnings.

* The breakout that follows does not include sales data for 2.5 million Robert Stanek, Bugville Learning, Ruin Mist Publications, etc but does include sales data for 7.5 million William Stanek, William R. Stanek, William Robert Stanek, and related titles, etc:
500,000+ sales at $70 & up ($70 x 500,000 = 35,000,000)
2,000,000+ sales at $59.99 to $69.99 ($60 x 2,000,000 = 120,000,000)
3,500,000+ sales at $29.99 to $59.98 ($30 x 3,500,000 = 105,000,000)
1,000,000+ sales at $19.99 to 29.98 ($20 x 1,000,000 = 20,000,000)
500,000+ sales at up to $19.98 ($10 x 500,000 = 5,000,000)

ABOUT GOING FROM INDIE TO HYBRID

As an independent, authors can have total control of their works. However, the indie must wear many hats and perform many tasks, including sales and marketing activities. At some point, as an indie's success increases, an indie may have to make a choice between having time to write and performing all these other activities. At that point, I think trying to transition to a hybrid author model increasingly makes sense.

With pro contracts, agents, or both come things solo flying indies can't get. For example, access to large sales and marketing networks. Also, the ability to network with other authors published by the publisher or working with your agent. It's how a newly minted hybrid indie can make connections to big name authors and suddenly get written about in major magazines and newspapers.

ABOUT MY BOOKS

I wrote for many years before I got publishing, having finished my first full-length novel in 1986. Currently, I have over 150 published works, which vary in length from 654,000 words (the longest, a 1600-page behemoth work) to 300 words (the shortest and one of my illustrated children's books).

Those many works available in many editions, many formats, many languages, and many markets become several thousand live titles. For example, I have over 1,000 English-language titles just in library distribution.

I track the sales of my books across the more than 35 marketplaces where they are sold every few years (usually every other year). That's how I get fun stats like 7.5 million William Stanek books sold, 2.5 million Robert Stanek books sold, etc.

Hundreds of books and thousands of titles is an approach to publishing called long-tail publishing. With long-tail publishing, the author relies on a relative trickle of sales over many years. I say relative trickle as some of my books sell hundreds of copies a year while others sell thousands or tens of thousands of copies a year.

To better understand trickle theory, consider this:

A $350 monthly cell phone bill becomes a $50,000 expense after 12 years. $350 x 12 x 12 = $50,400.

A book that sells 100 copies a month has 24,000 sales after 20 years. 100 x 12 x 20 = 24,000.

Thus, the trickle of sales slowly builds into a mountain.

ABOUT MY WRITING DAY

Counting all my writing (indie, pro and otherwise), I have about 20,000,000 published words, 10 million pro and 10 million indie, give or take. Those ~20 million words written over a period of 30 years (1986 to present) weren't blasted out at a rate of tens of thousands of words a day or week. They were written at the rather sedate pace of about 2,000 words a day, across a 7-day work week--with some days lots of writing done and some days no writing done too.

Of course, my days also are filled with other writing-related tasks. If I’m not writing, I’m probably designing a book cover, doing illustration work, setting type on an illustrated page, sketching out a story line, reviewing printed pages, or any of the dozens of other things that must be done to prepare a book for publication. Why? Because there’s no one else to do that work if I don’t.

I don’t think many people understand how technical writing works and how involving it is. With technology books, writing is only one part of a much larger process that also involves author review and page review. As I write chapters, those chapters go to editorial and also are sent on to technical reviewers. When I get chapters back from editorial, the chapters contain edits and comments from the copy editors, development editors, and others on editorial staff. The chapters also contain comments from technical reviewers. This part of the process is called author review.

During author review, I’m working with the manuscript in Microsoft Word. I must respond to every question and query and a typical chapter may have several hundred of those which may or may not require me to make actual changes in the text. Author review is followed by page review. Page review is the final part of the manuscript review process.

During page review, I’m working with the manuscript in its final form in Adobe Acrobat. The manuscript is marked up with comments that I must address from the formatters, proofreaders, and others on the editorial staff. For pre-release products, there may be several rounds of author review and several rounds of page review.

After all these years of writing, I have a simple formula to determine how much of my time a writing project will require, inclusive of writing, review, and everything else that a book involves. 1 page = 1 hour. Thus, if I’m writing a 700-page book (inclusive of all front matter and back matter), I must plan for the project requiring 700 hours of my time.

With indie fiction, the formula is probably closer to 2 pages = 1 hour, but the actual work required can sometimes be more, as I have to wear many more hats when I do indie work.

ABOUT MY STRATEGY

As you can probably guess, with all the books I've published, writing is my full-time occupation and my full-time hobby and has been for the past 20 years. My strategy for spreading the word about my books is simple.

In the early days I did book tours when I could and traveled a lot. Traveling gets old though and the good news is that once you've established yourself, you don't really need to tour any more. For those reading this who haven't attended book fairs, done readings, or traveled for book tours, I recommend seeing if it's in your best interest to give it a try.

I haven't done the book fair, reading, book tour circuit thing though for the past 15 or so years. These days, I blog when I can, tweet a few things when I can, and post to Facebook and such when I can. And that's my primary marketing. I occasionally do media advertising and press releases, though I always ensure that I never pay retail for advertising.

Why? I want every dollar I spend on advertising to go 10 times as far as it normally would. Planning advertising across longer periods of time helps. For example, from mid-2008 to late 2009, my publisher and I spent $100,000 on advertising. As it was mostly my money, you can be darn sure that I made sure every dime went as far as it could. Large and repeated buys across various marketplaces got us some extremely good rates (we paid about .20 on the dollar, so our advertising at card rates would have been about $500K).

That kind of spending is not something I would recommend. That spending was for a special occasion, leading up to the recent year-long celebration of the book I counted officially as my 150th. (Significant career milestones are fun and important to celebrate.)

The kind of marketing I recommend to indies is this: market where you see the most value. Facebook is one of the places I see a great value these days. With $250 targeted correctly, I can reach 1 million people (or at least get 1 million views). That's extreme value and it's one reason why I've dropped $30K on Facebook advertising in the past 5 years.

ABOUT THE FUTURE

I'm not sure how many writers realize that book sales are more like the ebb and flow of tides than tidal waves coming ashore. Books sales rise and fall over time, and if you're lucky, they keep rising and falling over time. As the book world transitions to an e-marketplace, it's important to remember that ebooks are really only in their infancy. While ebooks are big in the US and a few other countries, the rest of the world is still largely dominated by print. And beyond both print and ebook are tons of additional opportunities, including audio.

I'm tremendously grateful to my readers and my publishers. Currently, I am working to finish an 8-book contract with my publishers. The contract is the largest one I’ve ever signed. The project, which has consumed part of last year, all of this year and will carry me well into next year, entails over 4,000 pages of writing—and I’ve been going at it 7 days a week trying to meet all the timelines.

Four of the eight books have now been published and I am working my way through writing, reviewing, and final work on all the others. I’m very grateful to have this work, especially as the industry is in such flux. Such tremendous flux is not uncommon in the publishing industry. There have been waves of flux in the past and there will be waves of flux in the future.

If all the years of writing have taught me anything, it’s patience. I’m not in a hurry to publish anything. I release my books on my schedule, not anyone else’s. I have so many finished books because I’ve been writing for 30 years--and 20 of those years as a full-time writer.

If you want to be a long-time participant in this crazy game, I hope you'll keep in mind the ebb and flow. The ebb and flow can ruin you or you can embrace it as simply the way things are.

Hope my insights from 20 years in this crazy writing business help you in your writing.

Thanks for reading,

Robert Stanek

Now Appearing... Or Alternatively Places Books Have Been

As a writer getting referenced in a magazine, newspaper or book can be pretty cool. I thought it was pretty cool the first time I saw Donald Trump talking about my books in his business books. But my books also have been in newspapers:

The News Tribune

The Olympian

 etc.

Magazines:

The Journal of Electronic Defense
(June 2007)

The Publisher's Weekly Cover Story
(April 2009)

The Parenting Magazine
(November 2005)

 VOYA, Children's Writer, Children's Bookshelf, Library Journal, School Library Journal, etc.

Printed reference books:

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Elves and Fairies
(June 2005)

The Ancient Art of Faery Magick
(Sept 2005)

Popular Series Fiction for Middle School and Teen Readers: A Reading and Selection Guide
(Jan 2005)

Popular Series Fiction for Middle School and Teen Readers: A Reading and Selection Guide
(Dec 2008)

 etc.

On radio:

12-city radio tour starting in Boston
(Mar-Apr 05)

NPR (Apr 05, May 09, Aug 10, Sep 11)

On TV:

 CNN (June 98)

So how about you? If you're a writer where's the coolest place your books have been and how did it help your writing career? Blog about it, comment here, whatever.

The biggest boost I ever got from such a feature was after CNN. I walked into a Border's store and found several of my books stacked floor to chest high (of course they were 1,000 page books so that was maybe 50 books but still very very cool).

Thanks for reading,

Robert Stanek

Authors Who Are Trolls

When a group of unethical competitors worked to destroy my good name and reputation online, it wasn’t difficult to trace the nonsense back to source in each instance. My day job is as a computer expert and technology writer. In my spare time, I write children’s fiction. As one of the world’s foremost Internet/computer experts and a former intelligence analyst for the National Security Agency while serving in the military, digital forensics and analysis is something I know absolutely.

These competitors were largely unsuccessful when they started this nonsense and very frustrated with their failure, as evidenced by many of their posts during this period of time. They in fact spent much of their free time in forums and discussion boards, as evidenced by their posts by the hundreds in various message forums over many years.

These competitors had not a clue about the changing state of publishing. They were simply disillusioned, disgruntled, and angry. They needed an outlet for their frustrations, and somehow I became that outlet. That scapegoat for their bottled up rage and resentment.

As I’ve written about in Authors Who Trash Competitors, the nonsense began with fake one- and two-star reviews being posted to my books. The third review ever on Amazon for Keeper Martin’s Tale began: “I’ve been had. This is nowhere near a 5 star book like all these reviews claim.” A flood of fake reviews was followed by an article from David Langford in Ansible, where in typical fashion these competitors tried to turn something they’d done to me into something I supposedly had done to them. The claim was that I was writing fake 1- and 2-star reviews of other authors’ books when in actuality these were the people behind the 1- and 2-star reviews being dumped on my books.

The lies of these competitors led to all sorts of additional nonsense. Suddenly, I was being trashed everywhere these competitors could think of online: Terry Goodkind's forums, SffWorld, and beyond. Soon after I was being trashed on several author bashing sites as well with fun names like cr*p authors and dog sh*t—sites set up by certain authors and their friends to bash authors they disliked and/or wanted to ruin for whatever reasons.

The nonsense morphed into how I was supposedly writing fake favorable reviews of my books. How supposedly if it wasn’t me it surely had to be my family and friends writing the favorable reviews.

Soon the nonsense became about how supposedly anyone who liked my books and was talking about them anywhere online had to be me. How supposedly if it wasn’t me it surely had to be my family and friends talking about my books.

When The Kingdoms & The Elves of the Reaches was Audible.com’s #1 bestseller for 12 consecutive weeks, the attacks became about how supposedly none of my books had ever been a bestseller anywhere. How I was never a bestselling author—and on and on. (This was in 2005, btw. A time when I had 100 published books to my credit, translations in over 20 countries and over 5 million books sold.)

When The Kingdoms & The Elves of the Reaches was recommended and reviewed by the library staff at VOYA magazine—the leading magazine for YA librarians—and written about in several printed books, including The Complete Idiots Guide to Elves & Fairies and The Ancient Art of Faery Magick, the attacks became about how supposedly none of my books had ever been reviewed in magazines or recommended in print sources. How any mention I made that print sources had were lies. How my books weren’t even available in libraries—and on and on.

Starting to see a pattern here? Because I certainly did. It was Disinformation 101 and it worked because they spread the nonsense everywhere they could online.

Knowing their pattern of twisting the truth around, turning something they did into something I  supposedly did, I began to trace back to source exactly who was talking about these competitors online, who was writing these competitors reviews and commentary. I suspected the answer would likely be that these competitors were writing their own reviews and commentary or that they knew the persons who were—and my suspicions were proven true.

I found a wealth of single-use / throwaway accounts. I found many accounts used just long enough to work these competitors names and books into discussions, then faded out. I found accounts that traced back directly to friends and family. I found accounts that traced back directly to these competitors.

A wealth of single-use / throwaway accounts also were used to trash me online. Accounts used just long enough to work my name into discussions to trash me then faded out also were used. I found attack accounts that traced back directly to friends and family of these competitors. I found attack accounts that traced back directly to these competitors themselves.

For over a decade these competitors have used these and other unethical tactics to tarnish my good name and reputation while trying to position themselves within the industry. They’ve hired promoters to spread falsities while spreading praise for themselves, set up fake websites to do the same, compelled others to disparage. They’ve used intimidation and harassment to prevent readers from talking about my books in public forums. They’ve coerced distributors into dropping listings, hired lawyers to send notices—and much more. They did this because they thought I was an easy target. They did this because they thought they could get away with it.

Isn't that right? David Langford, Stephen Leigh, Jim C. Hines, Victoria Strauss, Maureen Johnson, David Louis Edelman, Patrick Rothfuss, Melissa Foster, Tim Spalding, Carolyn Arnold, et al.

Yes, It is a Problem

So back in 2009 an indie author picked up the nonsense from Rothfuss and friends and started posting hateful reviews of my books and hateful rants on my Facebook pages—under a few dozen accounts before I finally got fed up, called her out and told her to knock it off. She did but in typical fashion she then got her friends involved because she believed that it was her right to harass whoever she wanted to.

One of the same friends, Angela Perry, who had written comments to my Facebook page at that time, came back recently and posted a hateful rant to my blog. The next week she went to Amazon and posted nonsense. A few days later, she went to Goodreads and posted a few hateful reviews.

She then posted nonsense along with links to her reviews and other nonsense to 1) my Robert Stanek facebook page, 2) my William Stanek facebook page, 3) the Reagent Press facebook page AND 4) my personal facebook account.

Clearly by including links to her nonsense, she wanted to me to know what she had done. I ignored all of the above until she started tweeting nonsense directly to my twitter account. When I replied and called her out on using multiple accounts to harass me, she replied with

@robertstanek This is my only account. Not everyone behaves like you do.

@robertstanek Ha! Erm, okay, you call the police and tell them I tweeted you three times. I'll mention your fraud. G'ahead. I'll wait.

Her goal obviously was to twist the truth, get her twitter friends riled up, etc. This is typical of what these people do. Angela Perry is of course a friend of those involved in the twitter nonsense last fall. Two new one star reviews on Goodreads recently from her friends as well and more nonsense elsewhere recently from the same.

Which brings me to the real point of my post: How a few malicious individuals like these cause harm, not just to me but to everyone in the book industry. They try to seem like a majority while in fact being only a few malcontents. Most of these people are other authors--competitors who believe they can do anything they want to harm another author.

Don’t Cry for Me Argentina (Or Alternatively Muddling Through the Gold Rush… ;-)

Hi I'm Robert Stanek and I founded Go Indie and Read Indies to help and support independent authors. I've been an indie published author since 2001 and a professionally published author since 1995.

The writer’s life can be a great one. I don’t regret this writer’s life. Not in any way. But I am kind of tired of hearing about how poverty has chosen our profession and I am equally tired of hearing about writers who once made $45,000 in a week and now have a marketing book about it. Hence this post and its title: “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina.” And alternatively, “Muddling Through the Gold Rush.”

Recently a writer said in his blog that his indie bestseller made him nothing. The author said his book was on a particular bestseller list for about a week, expected it might make him a millionaire and was disappointed to find that he’d only (his word) earned about $15,000 that whole earnings period (which I assume covered a 3-month or 6-month period of time, based on the post). The disappointment in the post was quite the opposite of the “gold rush” euphoria of some others. But why the disappointment in the first place? Events like that one are fun times. String a few of those together and you just might have a career in this crazy business.

Some time back I read a blog post from a writer who had been a full-time writer with several modestly successful books yet only made about $35,000 a year as a professional writer for most of his career, but now that he’d gone indie he’d “hit it big” (his words) and was enjoying income of $75K a year or so. He’d been a “successful indie” about two years at the time. Based on the price of his books, it wasn’t hard to figure out this “success” was about 50,000 book sales a year in total. Good numbers, not necessarily big numbers. The truly BIG numbers come over the long term like when you continue to sell 50,000 books year after year for a decade or two.

Another indie expert I met along my travels was a writer who had a single period of success. She made $45,000 in a week during the holidays a few years ago and then rushed to publish a marketing book about her big success and to offer her indie marketing expertise. She’s had continuing sales but not like that one holiday success. I understand the “indie gold rush” euphoria that makes writers say and do things like this. Everyone in this crazy business of the writing life should. 

My thought on experts in any field is that there are very few actual experts. Be careful with that word when positioning yourself. Be honest too when you talk about your success and actual experience.

My thought on success in the writing life is that: You are a success when you know you are a success. Success isn’t about other people. It’s about you. John Steinbeck once said that “The writer must believe that what he is doing is the most important thing in the world. And he must hold to this illusion even when he knows it is not true.” 

Still, the truest success in this writing life really is something you can only look back on to know fully. The truest perspective comes with time. Time measured not in a handful of months or a couple of years but in many years, maybe even a decade or two.

Some of the biggest disappointments related to the writing life come from a misunderstanding of how the industry works. This business has feast and famine—boom and bust. What sells today might not sell tomorrow; what didn’t sell yesterday or today might sell tomorrow. You can be a failure today, a success tomorrow; a success yesterday, a failure today but a success tomorrow. Neither one sale nor one million sales make an expert—time and actual experience make an expert.

Don’t forget that in this “indie gold rush”–as with any gold rush—the ones who are going to strike it rich are more likely to be the ones on the periphery providing services than those of us who write the books. Mark Coker said something similar in a recent blog post. Now there's a guy who is an expert.

Thanks for reading,

Robert Stanek

Rising Above and Finding Success As a Writer: Robert Stanek's Writing Life

I'm Robert Stanek and I run Go Indie / Read Indies as a platform to help other writers. Throughout my life I’ve found myself in extraordinary circumstances. As a child, I loved watching episodes of the Six Million Dollar Man starring Lee Majors as the bionic man. I loved the spin-off show, The Bionic Woman starring Jaime Sommers, just as much. Both were stories of larger-than-life people in extraordinary circumstances. They were classic television shows, written in the style of the day, and like the classic novels of Verne and Wells and Stevenson they helped me transcend abject poverty, a tragedy-filled youth and the misery of my circumstances.

However difficult that journey from childhood was, it did prepare me for an extraordinary life. A life filled with not just fleeting moments of transcendence but a life filled with sustained stretches of transcendence where I was able to rise above circumstance time and again.

Where I find myself today is a long way from a childhood where “flour and water” pancakes were breakfast and a can of peas was dinner shared by many. A long way from that kid who graduated high school near the top of his class but had no way or means to go to college. A long way from that kid who joined the military to serve his country and make a better life but later found himself in multiple warzones. A long way from that kid who eventually put himself through college while working full time and starting a family but with no idea of what he really wanted to do in this life.

And yet, every turn that seemed wrong eventually became right as I was able to overcome circumstance and rise above--like a phoenix born from the ashes. So much so that now as I look back, it seems I look back upon another’s life, thinking that kid really couldn’t have lived through all that. But that kid did, and that kid is me--all grown up now.

That kid all grown up has had as many difficult turns as ever from encounters with crooked competitors to encounters with just plain crooks. To say that writing is a difficult business is a serious understatement. Any business where some very few make billions and millions is a difficult business. Exacting, harsh, risky--and dare I say at times even hazardous. That is the writing business. As a writer you put yourself out there for the world to see. Though others may try to twist and pervert the lens through which the world sees you, you can rise above--you can succeed. You have only to dare to dream.

And when you dare to dream, measure your success not by the words and thoughts of others but by standards of your own heart and mind. Believe in yourself. You are a success when you know in your heart and mind you are.

For me personally, though I’m in no way bashful about my commitment to the written word and will gladly let you know about the 150+ books I’ve written and the many millions who have read my books, while shouting from the rooftops about the same, success has never been about stacks of books written or millions of books sold. It’s always been about loving what I do and believing in what I do each and every day. That in itself is enough for me to know I am a success. It’s why I get up each and every morning eager to write. It’s why I’ve never had writer’s block. It’s why I’ve been so prolific over a lifetime of writing.

Finding Reality in Hate: Personal Attacks, Stalkers, Unethical Competitors

On January 5, I contacted a guy who appears to have been writing malicious nonsense about me since at least 2009 and asked him to remove an objectionable review from GoodReads. This also is a guy who is friends with many of the bloggers and several of the authors who have been writing personal attacks about me online for years.

I joined GoodReads at the beginning of January 2013. Immediately after I joined, Tyson was one of several people who modified their reviews. To me, it seemed these people wanted to make sure their reviews were the first thing anyone--and me in particular--saw when they looked at particular books I'd written. All sort of a welcome to GoodReads greeting for me from these folks.

In this particular case, Tyson reposted his review from 2011 to give it a new date, January 5 2013. He also added the text of the review which had been on his blog. This moved his review to the top of the listings and made it appear as a new review.

Reading what follows should help you get a feel for just how far outside of reality all this nonsense that they keep cooking up really is and just how much rage some of these people have inside them. As you read this, note the timestamps: The conversation via GoodReads messages is finished when this person goes over to Sffworld and tries to stir up the mob, saying specifically "I haven't heard anything back from him, but then again this just happened tonight."

For the record, the ____ I've inserted replaces a threatened act that I stated in the message but is best left in private, regarding a specific incident, which was prosecuted successfully in April 2012.

Tyson lives in Lakewood, WA. From his messages, he believes I don't know that (and that I don't know what he's been doing). In his messages, he tries to act like he's offering helpful advice while he twists the knife with the other hand.

Let's start with his nonsense on Sffworld. His alias is DurzoBlint:


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January 6th, 2013, 02:40 AM #1
DurzoBlint

Just Threatened by Robert Stanek on Goodreads

I am sure that many of you are familiar with Mr. Stanek and way back in mid-2011, I wrote and posted a review of his book The Kingdom and The Elves of the Reaches on Goodreads. When I originally posted my review, I heard absolutely nothing from him. That is until about a week ago when I changed my review from a link to my review site to the actual review for all the world to read.

Now, Mr. Stanek is threatening me with slander (slander for those of you keeping score at home is defamation that is spoken [not written as in my review]). He also claims that my review has in fact harassed children that enjoy his books. Not sure how that can occur. Has anyone else had this issue with him, or with a different author? How did you respond, if you gave any response at all.

I did respond and told him I would alter the review where I felt he could possibly feel that he was being personally attacked as to avoid "libel" or where children could be "harassed"(I even went so far as to set him straight on the two forms of defamation). However, I remained vigilant in my rights to post a negative review of his book.

I haven't heard anything back from him, but then again this just happened tonight. I am not worried about any repercussions but I am curious as to what other reviewers have done in the past if something similar occurred to them.

Didn't quite know where to post this thread, so Mods feel free to move it to its proper location if this is not the proper place.

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Although Tyson says he didn't quite know where to put his post, I'm fairly confident he knew exactly what he was doing when he posted that message to the Books and Literature - Fantasy / Horror discussion. This location ensures his post is seen by just about everyone who logs in to the site, which is what he wanted.

He's been an active member of the site since March 2009, having actually participated in other threads there and elsewhere regarding me specifically. What he wanted to do was to get the most eyeballs, stir up the mob, get people angry and have them retaliate--as ever.

So what precipitated this? Here are the GoodReads messages between Tyson and myself.


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My message:

Jan 05, 2013 09:40pm

Dear Tyson,

I understand you did not enjoy my book. However, many readers have and most of my readers are children. As a result of posts like yours, many people have been harassed and most of them were children who were unable to defend themselves.

What you've written constitutes slander and under defamation laws you are personally liable for any damages caused by such. Rather than pursue legal action, I simply ask you to do the right thing.

I do not appreciate your personal attacks. I ask you to remove your review and refrain from posting in the future.

Thank you,

William Robert Stanek

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Jan 05, 2013 11:19pm

His response:

Mr. Stanek,
Grow up. Stop using children as a shield to protect yourself from negative reviews. There is no slander in the review (for your own information slander is spoken, libel is written). I maintain my right to freedom of speech by posting a negative review. Since I reside in Korea, I am not under American jurisdiction of defamation laws. Which even if I did, your case is about as solid as a wet paper sack. Considering you are a veteran, I would assume you of all people would support a person's right to free speech. And would have enough backbone to be able to take a little criticism, guess not.

The review has been up for quite some time (Mid-2011). The change was making the review for all to see without needing to click on the actual review website. You didn't have an issue with the review until it was made plain for all to see. However, since you have an issue with parts of my review, and to appease you I will remove the first paragraph of the review where "children" could, for some reason, known only to you, some how be harassed. Which should appease you under Section 230. The remainder of the review stands as is.

This is why you have such negative press. You take everything as a personal insult instead of taking reviewer's critiques and using them to improve. You would win over more readers and fans if you engaged them intellectually instead of cramming a bunch of legal mumbo jumbo that anyone with a high school diploma knows is total malarky. It is your online antics that have turned the reviewing community against you.

While I commend you on publishing books, that does not automatically mean that you are an accomplished author or that you should receive automatic acceptance. Accomplished authors work with their peers and constantly work to improve themselves while building a rapport with their audience and fans. Something you have failed to do.

Tyson Mauermann
PS- We are not on a first name basis.

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Jan 05, 2013 11:39pm

My response:

Dear Mr. Mauermann,

I appreciate this change. As an associate of multiple people who have written personal attacks against me online, you know very well what has been going on and that it has been going on for many years. These persons were extremely vindictive and personal in their attacks, and this is something you also know.

I've rarely engaged these persons, though they seem to have created all sorts of untrue nonsense stating I have.

Children have been harassed because of related nonsense. One of these persons threatened to ____ a child. Hope you can live with that on your conscience.

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Jan 06, 2013 12:17am

His response:

Mr. Stanek,

Really? You really think that the allegation that someone else threatened a child is going to make me not sleep at night, or somehow make me increase my opinion of you? Simply by using this random fact in correspondence with me has lowered my opinion of you a hundredfold. I have absolutely no connection with a random act of violence and you want to put the blame on me? I sleep quite well at night. It is silly, over-the-top antics like your last three sentences that have put you in the doghouse with the reviewing and online community at-large.

Do not presume to know what I do and do not know; however, if you are referring to who I think you are, they are highly regarded individuals in not only the reviewing community, but the publishing community as a whole. While they may have personally attacked you in the past, your attempts to elevate the argument only proved that they were not dealing with a rational person. Which again, I direct you back to your last three sentences you wrote to me.

Book reviewers, fans, and the occasional reader love their books, but never have I been witnessed to anyone threatening a child with physical harm. Not sure who these individuals are, but the online community would certainly condone that type of behavior and seek to identify that individual so that the proper authorities could take any and all legal action pursuant to the the law to prosecute them. I personally feel as if you are a bit delusional about a great many things.

This is all very unfortunate as I can tell you have a great passion for your novels and the world you have created; however, the way you have gone above and beyond to vilify and discredit negative reviews and book reviewers has led to the position you are in. My advice to you, and you can take it or leave it, is to grow from each positive and negative review instead of lashing out at the individual. Not everyone's tastes run as parallel to your own. That is the beauty of a review.

Furthermore, you have no inkling as to who I am. For all you know I could be in law enforcement or serving in the armed services and have seen many horrible things that far outweigh [what you attempted to hang upon my conscience.

I have done my best to be civil and not hang any moral obligations on you. I have also done my best to give you some advice as someone who is involve in the reviewing community. You can take it or leave it. But I ask you to refrain from contacting me again. I will uphold my end of the bargain and leave the review in its current form (which you have stated is adequate) and refrain from reviewing anything else in your catalog and in return I ask that you abstain from anymore correspondence with me as I plan to do the same. This will be the last time you hear from me. Best of luck in the future.

Tyson Mauermann

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