Hey, long time no see! Quite a few things have happened since my last blog post six months ago. Oops 😅.
Decision to make an eBook
Couple That Can’t Touch (or CTCT for short) started six months ago, too, and it already went through a rewrite, though simple, it changed the style of the writing for the best. The first arc is a few chapters away from ending and what better way to celebrate it than making it an eBook.
I had wanted to make an eBook basically since I started writing, but I knew there was a long way to go. Now, two years after this began, I’m confident enough to make one. It’s not only that I’m confident in my skills (which still have a very long way to go), but with the help of RedPandaChick (my amazing editor, check out her blog by the way) and the confidence that CTCT is a good story, I believe it’s the right time to make it. However, there’s a slight problem.
What’s the point of selling something that is available for free?
This came to my mind in the instant I thought of making the eBook and the answer is: it’s complicated.
Even though there are ways to force people that like CTCT to buy it, there was a problem: force. Is there anyone willing to buy a story that is just starting from a new author? Probably not, but then deleting the chapters from every site to sell it and post them back some weeks later? That would’ve destroyed the small fanbase I had acquired. Deleting the chapters to rewrite them was already a bad move that lost me a few followers, doing it again would’ve been doom. So, no deleting chapters nor forcing people to buy the eBook.
As a quick side note: deleting the chapters would’ve let me sign up to the KDP Select program, which gives you a lot more opportunities to advertise your Kindle eBook. This was one of the major reasons that deletion was even an option. Obviously, I decided not to participate. Also, after having a few problems with friends not being able to buy the Kindle eBook from different regions, I decided to sell it on Gumroad as well (links at the end of the post).
However, there are still three ways of making the eBook appealing: extra content, better quality, and a sooner release.
I knew I wanted to write a bonus chapter soon after my decision to make the eBook and I, also, knew that it couldn’t be important for the plot of the novel, but it needed to be a nice addition that readers would want to read.
Having a deadline of one week for a new chapter means that I can’t give it the time I want. Not only it needs to be outlined and written, but edited, too, and, even though RedPandaChick (check her blog!) is very fast at it, there are still things that can be improved, from the structure of the chapter to word choices. This is what better quality means, aside from a better format fit for the eBook and not for sites.
And yes, I know the majority of authors in sites (Webnovel, RoyalRoad, Scribble Hub…) release even multiple chapters per day and, also, that the majority of readers want that. As much as I would love to do it, I just can’t. My mind gets tired of it after a few weeks and I want to be sure that the chapter I’m writing is good for the flow of the story. Basically, I don’t want to burn myself.
This connects well to the last of the three ways: a sooner release. Yes, I just said that I don’t want to burn myself, but releasing the eBook one week before the last chapter of the arc is posted is not going to kill me. And I know there’s people that are willing to spend a few bucks to read something as soon as they can, though probably not a lot.
And, last but not least, a fourth way that I didn’t mention before: readers willing to support me. Although I’m just a beginner, there’s people that like CTCT enough to be willing to buy the eBook to support me or maybe they just want to have better, quicker, offline access to it. Any of those possibilities, huge thanks!
Great! That covers the initial question—Wait, support?
Patreon
As funny as it sounds, it’s true. After telling someone about selling an eBook, they told me, “I would make a Patreon.” Well, I spent the next day thinking if I should sell and eBook or create a Patreon. “Wait, why not both?” And that’s how the decision came to be.
Jokes aside, it obviously wasn’t something as simple. I had already planned to create it months ago, probably even a year, but I felt it wasn’t the right time. Now, after deciding, I just came back to the account I had already created and tweaked a few things before launching it.
Revived Feelings
Doing all of this made me feel exactly what I felt the night I posted my first ever chapter: anticipation, fear, nervousness, happiness, and, most importantly, the feeling of responsibility doing something like this brings. Not only I’ll give away more of my anonymity, but people will expect more and more of me as time passes. I’m willing to accept the challenge.
Links
Amazon Kindle eBook Gumroad eBook (psst, you might find a surprise in the post I made on Patreon) Patreon
Thanks for reading! I’ll give my best to post more often. Maybe not daily, but once per week wouldn’t be bad.
