It is Dec 31st. The last day on 2014.  Tomorrow it is Jan 1st 2015 and the VAT rules in Europe are different. As a result a lot of small businesses are closing down their  e-stores today. Even the non European ones are  planning to raise their prices to cover VAT.

I have already adjusted the prices upward ( even if they haven’t changed at retailers yet)  and yesterday I removed the bookstore tab from my webpage. I feel a bit sad that I never truly got the chance to use Publit’s widget store.  In theory I could probably have kept it, but I feel too uncertain about the VAT.

 

With that said, Happy New Year.

 

 

 

I just sat down and counted exactly how much I wrote this year. And it was a lot. On twitter I said it was 60 000 words.

The Cauldron Bound:
17700 words
Exile 7000 words
Frosthold: ~20 000 words
The Shattered ward: 13 000 words ( so far)
Total: 57 700 words.
Granted, the word count for Frosthold is an estimate, it might have been 25 000 words. But it is still a lot of words. But that isn’t everything I did this year. I also revised over 100 000 words.

The Wild Hunt:
39 000 words (+13 000)

The Cauldron Bound:
24 000 (+7 000 words)

Exile
8000 (+1000 words)

Daughter of the Dark:
24 000 words (+3000)

A Shadow of Love:
21 000 (+2000)

If I add the words I wrote during the revisions, I have written 90 000 words and revised 100 000 words.  This is a lot more than I normally do. Normally I write maybe 45 000 words and revise about the same amount of words.

This might also explain why I am a bit tired, and why I really don’t want to revise something right now. Though I will have to revise Cauldron Bound once I am done with The Shattered Ward.  But that is next year.

Now I am off to have a belated Christmas dinner at dad’s.

 

For a number of reasons, I have been thinking about pricing lately. Part of it is the changed EU VAT rules from January 2015, part of it is because of Swedish tax rules.  I also want to earn some money on my books.

I have also realised during the last two months or so that I need to think like a publisher, since I do have expenses. Even if they are a bit lower for short stories. So. From January 2015 the prices will be as follow.

Short Stories: 1.99

Novellas: 2.99-3.99

Novels: 4.99 – 6.99

 

 

In December, I asked Laura Anne to tweak my blurb.  I was so happy with the result that I hired her to edit The Cauldron Bound.  We discussed if I should hire her for the content edits or line edits.  In the end we agreed that it was best if I hired her to do the line edits, since Kari gives really good feedback.

I am happy though. The fee is reasonable and I get an editor with decades of experience. Not to mention that I get to help  a friend. Win-win.

Ten days ago or so, I asked Laura Anne Gilman if she could crit Exile’s blurb for me. She generously agreed to do so for free.   Today I got the blurb back, and I am very happy that I asked her.  The blurb is much better now.

 

The old version:

As long as Gwyneth can remember she and her mother has been trapped in a silent tug of war about her future. Her Mother wants her become a full-fledged Priestess of Gwynfar. Gwyneth isn’t certain want she wants to do in the future but she knows she doesn’t want to devote the rest of her life to Gwynfar. Now her 150th birthday is approaching, which means she will be an adult. She can almost taste the freedom when she eavesdrop on a conversation between her Mother and another priestess. It is then she realises that her Mother will never let her go. Unless she steps through the portal to another realm.

 

The new  version:

Gwyneth has no desire to devote the rest of her life to being a Priestess of Gwynfar, no matter what plans her mother has made. But as her birthday approaches, marking the moment when she becomes an adult – and must choose – another option suddenly appears. She can escape her mother – and her destiny – by stepping through the portal into another world….
Only to find that destiny has a tendency to follow.

 

I have already changed the blurb at Publit, so it should show up at retailers soon. It will be really interesting to see how sales are affected.

I am writing the Shattered Ward right now, and I am having so much fun writing it.  I think I am roughly 1/3rd done. I don’t have a firm release date , but I do have a cover for the first part that is more or less final so I thought I would share it with you.

I have spent the last 3 days having a cold so my productivity have been low.  That said, I designed the cover for The Audience, and finished the scene I was writing. The second part is almost done at 4 000 words, I have one scene left to write so it should end around 5000 words.  Which means that the draft is almost at 9000 words.  And I am writing this without an outline.

So I think I will spend a day outlining the story. I know what happens more or less but I want to have it written down. I am also reaching the part were I need to do some research. Actually, I already have done some research ( and found a map over Anglesey) but I need to do more.   Including read the Welsh history book I bought.  Maybe when I get home next weekend.

 

As I mentioned in my last post, I am offering Exile as a free read on Kobo and Ibooks for the next two weeks.   As I also mentioned,  this is the last time it will be free for the foreseeable future.

I hope you enjoy reading about  Gwyneth and her adventures.   I have plans for her.  Or at least my betareaders want me to have plans. *grins*

 

 

 

 

Exile has had  really lousy sales on Ibooks. I have sold a whopping 3 copies.  Yeah. So in an attempt to boost the sales I have decided to make Exile free over the holidays on Ibooks to boost the sales. I mean, I cannot sell fewer books.  I think I will ask someone in the war room to crit my blurb.  It works, but I looked at it and realised that it can be improved.

Since I don’t like exclusivity, I also made Exile free on Kobo, to see if it can climb higher. ( I have no idea how much I have sold on Kobo but I am pretty certain it is more than 3 copies.)

It isn’t free on Overdrive, though. It is simply too many stores. When I uploaded Exile, it took 2+ weeks for it appear in stores.

This will probably be the last time Exile is free for the foreseeable future. In fact, I might have to raise prices next year. It depends on which pricing method I choose.  Right now I earn roughly 50 cent of the 0.99ish pricing… Actually. I think it is less than that now.  But in January I will be able to  choose which kind of pricing I want.   I think I will move away from this kind of pricing, honestly. Why? Since I want to earn more money for my books.

One thing I *am* considering, as well, is to use different currencies for different parts of the world ( i.e Euro for Europe, Pund for UK, USD for the rest of the world). Since according to Publit I will have that flexibility in their new system. Since the political chaos is making the Swedish currency weaker, so I am earning less.

Oh, and then there is also the VATMoss mess.  Not that it matters since I, unlike UK writers, have to pay VAT quarterly. In addition to company tax.   Though I haven’t yet registered a company, since I am waiting for sales numbers from Kobo and Overdrive.

I originally wrote another post, but  I deleted it since it was whiny.  So you get this instead.  Entirely random.

1,  Write. ( Yes,  I have decided to lug my laptop to my brother’s place.)

2.  Read ( I have an overflowing TBR list and my autobuy authors keep on writing new books. Which is good.)

3. Make  fudge  ( Several times. Or maybe just one big batch.)

4. Eat fudge ( probably a bit obvious)

5.  Visit Christmas Fairs.  ( Skansen! Old Town! Eksjö!)

6.   Eat a lot of food.

7. Spend time with my family

8.  Go for walks.

9. Write  Christmas rhymes.  (I hate doing that,but it is tradition.)

10.  Surprise myself with something. 🙂

That is what I am planning to do this Christmas. What are your plans?