MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - What I did this summer: Soul-searching, mostly.

Steven Lyle Jordan · 10-07-2010, 01:38 PM

by Steven Lyle Jordan, formerly Steve Jordan

Many of my fellow MR members are aware that I dropped off the face of this site for a few months in 2010. In fact, I didn't just stop appearing here... I also took down SteveJordanBooks.com, removing all of my books for sale there and at other booksellers, and I immediately stopped working on my latest book. I needed to do this, as I was having a crisis of purpose, and needed to re-evaluate my efforts at selling ebooks.

This came about as a result of conversations with members of MR and other sites, in which I became unsure of: Whether it was enough to write and put ebooks online; whether I had a right to believe I deserved to be paid for my efforts; whether I felt I was losing significant sales, and therefore effort for my payback, to piracy and uncaring web denizens; whether my lack of marketing savvy was preventing me from getting ahead as I desired; and whether I should consider the whole ebook thing a lost cause, and find some other way to spend my free time.

After a couple of months of soul-searching, I finally came to the conclusion that, Yes, I wanted to continue writing, to continue offering my books to others, and to continue trying to make some reasonable profit off of my effort. But once I decided this, I realized that I needed to make some changes to the way I'd operated before.

For one thing, I needed a new website, something that would look a bit more like a professional author's site. As I'd purchased the Right Brane domain when I'd purchased SteveJordanBooks, but had never actually used it, I decided the new site would be placed under the Right Brane domain, in effect putting a virtual publisher over my name.

Next came a new design for the site, which would coincide with a redesign of the books themselves, and a repackaging of myself. Top of my list was changing to the use of my full name, Steven Lyle Jordan, to distinguish myself from the other few thousand Steve Jordans out there, many of whom included authors as well as every other profession under the sun.

I also had to make some changes to how my books are offered. Due to the changes in the ebook formats market, I am limiting my site's sales to Kindle format, ePub, and RTF for those who wish to do their own conversions. My books will be made available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Smashwords initially, satisfying those who like the convenience of buying ebooks through their reader, and in the case of Smashwords, offering other ready-made formats that I no longer supply.

I have no interest in making my books available through print channels, my personal opinion being that we have better uses for trees than using them to make books. I also have no interest in spending extra money to but ISBNs for my books, which means they will not be available through outlets that demand ISBNs, such as Apple and Sony. And while I will still offer some free content, I have stabilized my ebooks price at $2.99US, which I consider to be a fair price for quality original ebooks.

Finally, I stand by the original decision I made when I first started this venture, and I will continue to sell my ebooks without DRM. The Amazon and B&N books will also be available without DRM. Though I am sure this will result in some lost sales through piracy, I consider it a loss I will simply accept as part of the new venue, and deal with it accordingly.

All of this will culminate in the grand opening of Right Brane ePublications, featuring the ebooks of Steven Lyle Jordan, on Saturday, Oct.9, 2010. At first, only two ebooks--the first Kestral novel, and Verdant Skies, both revised and repackaged into new volumes--and various pieces of also-repackaged free content will be available on the site. The other books, all of them, will follow one at a time, as I revise and repackage them. I hope to have all of my backlist in there in a few months, at which time, I can go back to writing new books.

As should be the case with web-based services, this new site will be an evolving work-in-progress. Hopefully the new repackaging, along with some new and better marketing techniques, will get the new site off to a good start. I invite all MR members to stop by and check it out, maybe stop by and visit my Facebook page, and tell others who like SF ebooks that they are missing out on some great content.

And that, as they say, is it in a nutshell. Sorry I was away for awhile. I'll try not to let it happen again.

10-07-2010, 01:38 PM	#1
Steven Lyle Jordan Grand Sorcerer Posts: 8,478 Karma: 5171130 Join Date: Jan 2006 Device: none	What I did this summer: Soul-searching, mostly. by Steven Lyle Jordan, formerly Steve Jordan Many of my fellow MR members are aware that I dropped off the face of this site for a few months in 2010. In fact, I didn't just stop appearing here... I also took down SteveJordanBooks.com, removing all of my books for sale there and at other booksellers, and I immediately stopped working on my latest book. I needed to do this, as I was having a crisis of purpose, and needed to re-evaluate my efforts at selling ebooks. This came about as a result of conversations with members of MR and other sites, in which I became unsure of: Whether it was enough to write and put ebooks online; whether I had a right to believe I deserved to be paid for my efforts; whether I felt I was losing significant sales, and therefore effort for my payback, to piracy and uncaring web denizens; whether my lack of marketing savvy was preventing me from getting ahead as I desired; and whether I should consider the whole ebook thing a lost cause, and find some other way to spend my free time. After a couple of months of soul-searching, I finally came to the conclusion that, Yes, I wanted to continue writing, to continue offering my books to others, and to continue trying to make some reasonable profit off of my effort. But once I decided this, I realized that I needed to make some changes to the way I'd operated before. For one thing, I needed a new website, something that would look a bit more like a professional author's site. As I'd purchased the Right Brane domain when I'd purchased SteveJordanBooks, but had never actually used it, I decided the new site would be placed under the Right Brane domain, in effect putting a virtual publisher over my name. Next came a new design for the site, which would coincide with a redesign of the books themselves, and a repackaging of myself. Top of my list was changing to the use of my full name, Steven Lyle Jordan, to distinguish myself from the other few thousand Steve Jordans out there, many of whom included authors as well as every other profession under the sun. I also had to make some changes to how my books are offered. Due to the changes in the ebook formats market, I am limiting my site's sales to Kindle format, ePub, and RTF for those who wish to do their own conversions. My books will be made available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Smashwords initially, satisfying those who like the convenience of buying ebooks through their reader, and in the case of Smashwords, offering other ready-made formats that I no longer supply. I have no interest in making my books available through print channels, my personal opinion being that we have better uses for trees than using them to make books. I also have no interest in spending extra money to but ISBNs for my books, which means they will not be available through outlets that demand ISBNs, such as Apple and Sony. And while I will still offer some free content, I have stabilized my ebooks price at $2.99US, which I consider to be a fair price for quality original ebooks. Finally, I stand by the original decision I made when I first started this venture, and I will continue to sell my ebooks without DRM. The Amazon and B&N books will also be available without DRM. Though I am sure this will result in some lost sales through piracy, I consider it a loss I will simply accept as part of the new venue, and deal with it accordingly. All of this will culminate in the grand opening of Right Brane ePublications, featuring the ebooks of Steven Lyle Jordan, on Saturday, Oct.9, 2010. At first, only two ebooks--the first Kestral novel, and Verdant Skies, both revised and repackaged into new volumes--and various pieces of also-repackaged free content will be available on the site. The other books, all of them, will follow one at a time, as I revise and repackage them. I hope to have all of my backlist in there in a few months, at which time, I can go back to writing new books. As should be the case with web-based services, this new site will be an evolving work-in-progress. Hopefully the new repackaging, along with some new and better marketing techniques, will get the new site off to a good start. I invite all MR members to stop by and check it out, maybe stop by and visit my Facebook page, and tell others who like SF ebooks that they are missing out on some great content. And that, as they say, is it in a nutshell. Sorry I was away for awhile. I'll try not to let it happen again.