Fanatical Pupil

Download “Valkyrie Project Episode 4: More Immediate Now!

From the description:

Ana and Marisol are tasked with breaking up a weapons deal between the Continuum and a reclusive bioengineer.

Sounds like standard fare, but I assure you, this one is anything but standard. It is what some might consider my finest writing to date (at least I look at it that way).

Look at this quote that I would like someone to write about it:

Episode 4 is the best so far, with action that doesn’t stop and shocks and jolts that will make you jump like Kris Kross! Nels never lets up on the pace and I’m pretty sure I literally had a heart attack half way through!”

That would be pretty awesome if someone wrote that, right?

Episode Notes

Seriously, though, I really like this one. I went over and over the revisions and each time I reread something I’d revised I thought “Yeah, that really does make it even more awesomer [sic].”

I actually have some director-style commentary that I wrote while going through this episode, but I’m going to save that for some bonus material to add to the Amazon version that I will actually be charging people for. That version will be a collection of the first five episodes, and I’m going to make sure it gets distributed to not just Amazon, but the iTunes store as well. I had thought about making Episode 5 exclusive to that collection as a marketing ploy, but that just seems lame, or like I’m some sort of drug dealer (though a really bad one if I’m giving away the first four for free). So, instead I am thinking I’ll add the director’s commentary (and maybe some actor commentary, deleted scenes, or bloopers!) for the “pay” version.

Stat Updates

Seems like a good time to throw some numbers out there…

(All numbers represent free downloads)
Episode 1: 259
Episode 2: 270
Episode 3: 172
Episode 4: 31 (since 4/10/2011)

I did see another spike for the first three episodes when I put number 4 up there, but since it’s already dropped to the 33rd page of All Books on Smashwords, I’m not expecting a lot more indirect traffic until Smashwords decides to put up some “People who read this also read:” type widgets. Seeing as how they’re making money off every book that someone pays for on there, I’m not sure why they haven’t implemented that yet. They do at least list other books by the author when you look at a particular book page, and I’m sure that’s what accounts for the spikes in downloads for the other episodes when a new one goes up. But it would be nice to get some cross-author traffic going. I suppose I could review other people’s books (since I have read a couple), but when I see authors writing reviews it seems like they’re just trying to get more traffic back to their own page when people click on their name from the review. It just feel dirty, like a very transparent attempt to game the system… but I’m sure it does drive at least a bit of traffic back.

Other “charts”: Episode 4 is still on the 2nd page for most recently published General Sci Fi and #4 for MRP Free General Sci Fi, and I’m pretty sure that’s how anyone not following this blog will find it going forward.

Download “Valkyrie Project Episode 3: A Slippery Slope” Now!

Published to Smashwords 5 days ago and up to 74 downloads. Not as big a spike on the first day as the first two episodes… I’m thinking that might be because I put it up on a lazy Sunday afternoon. I think I’ll go back to Friday night next time to see what happens. I’m sure there’s also the series factor playing in… i.e., since this says Episode 3 on it, people are less likely to download knowing that they’re not starting at the beginning.

Probably due to the previous reason, I didn’t get as many “trickle downloads” either as I did for Episode 1 when I uploaded Episode 2. But I’m hoping just hoping that some people stick with it…

Episode Notes

This episode includes the first (yes, only the first) changes in POV. Don’t worry, it won’t happen often. It’s also the longest episode to date, bringing the total story word count to just over 33,000. Yes, that means by the time we get to the end of Season 1, it’ll clock in around 130,000. Not sure if I could make it if I wasn’t doing it piece by piece. (More on that is coming in a separate post) And don’t worry, I’m not going to keep making them longer and longer (at least I don’t plan to). So, go download Episode 3 right now!

Actually, live about a week ago, but I wanted to see what kind of traffic having 2 episodes up would generate before I put a link to it up here. So, now that things have reached more of a steady state, let’s see if I can generate another traffic spike by telling everyone to go download Episode 2 now!

This one involved some of what I consider to be clever writing. It also includes a flashback. Sue me.

Notice the subtle variations of the cover art… I’m so awesome at graphic design.

Now of course, the numbers posted by Joe Konrath are from someone who has a fairly sizable backlist, but just the fact that he can back up his lengthy list of reasons for self-publishing and be very open with facts makes for very convincing reading. But one of the more interesting statements in his self-hosted Q&A was this:

Q: But I need the traditional publishing gatekeepers in order to know my book is good enough. Aren’t you concerned a whole bunch of wannabes will flood the Kindle with self-pubbed crapola?

A: Decades ago, pulp writers learned to write while on the job. Early books by many of the greatest mystery, fantasy, sci-fi, and romance writers, weren’t very good. But getting paid allow those writers to improve, and become the masters we now revere.

If you write crap, it probably won’t sell very well. But you can learn from it and get better. You can rewrite and revise your early work to improve it. With self-publishing, readers become the gatekeepers, and if you work hard, keep an open mind, and learn from your mistakes, you’ll improve as a writer.

This is basically what I’m hoping to work on by self-publishing The Valkyrie Project in episodic format. I mean I constructed it to be episodic in the first place, to give me a bit of an easier learning curve as far as getting something actually finished goes. But, that’s the great thing about self-publishing: I can do that. I can write whatever I want, and get the kind of practice writing that Konrath talks about above, and build up a back catalog while I’m at it.

In the same spirit of full disclosure, Episode 1 of the Valkyrie Project has already been downloaded 51 times in 30 days (and only 1 of those was me!). Of course, I had no way of knowing if those other 50 people actually read it (let alone liked it), but since it’s under 8,000 words, I like to think there’s a good chance that people will get through it. I guess maybe I’ll find out when I get Episode 2 up (hopefully this week or the next).

So, I decided it was time to fish or cut bait, put my money where my mouth is, and crap or get off the pot. I don’t think there’s any cliches like that in Episode 1 of the Valkyrie Project. This one is called “The Pilot” which has a bit of a double meaning (’cause I’m clever like that).

Here’s the cover: