Animal Crossing: My First Days

A few weeks ago when I bought a friend's old, secondhand 3DS, someone asked me if I was excited about New Leaf, to which I responded: "What is New Leaf?". Nintendo generally and the 3DS in particular have been a blindspot in my knowledge of what is going on in videogames for many years now and I had not even heard of the new Animal Crossing game—nor had I ever played an Animal Crossing before! Over the following weeks, my Twitter feed was slowly taken over by people playing it and, as I learned more about the game, I got pretty excited for it myself. When it was finally released here in Australia on Friday night, I downloaded it and started playing.

I don't know exactly what this blog post is. This games seems like something that is going unfold incredibly slowly and gradually and might not fit a post-play reflective kind of 'Notes' post. Instead, I guess it is an exploration of my first days of Animal Crossing as told through my inconsistent use of the 3DS screenshot function. If you, like me, have absolutely no prior experience with the series, maybe this will give you some insights.

It was about 10pm when I arrived in the town of Biddyton. 'Biddyton' because I asked my girlfriend to "think of a word that implies 'cute'" because I understood that Animal Crossing is pretty cute. She thought of Biddy the hedgehog and that was that.

I normally play a woman in any game where I can choose my own gender. There's a whole heap of reasons for this. But Animal Crossing seemed like one of those individualistic games about you so I went with a guy. It seems incredibly weird and more than a little bit problematic than in such an individualistic game you have no choice but to be white, however.

I wandered around the late night of Biddyton for a while. Everyone was walking around and chilling out, probably excited by the hustle and bustle of their new mayor.

I found the Re-tail store. Then I went out again, picked a whole heap of cherries, then went back and bought myself a bed.

There wasn't a whole heap to do since everywhere was already closed, but I really wanted to play this game so I just walked around a whole heap. It was my undoing:

An hour later even Re-Tail had closed, but some of my peeps were still just out and about One of them gave me a striped shirt to wear. Then I made a pretty terrible hat.

Eventually, I accepted there really wasn't anything for me to do.

The real-time gameplay is really interesting. I have experienced it in other game in the need to wait for certain lengths of real time for a task to be completed (like in Tiny Tower) but this coupling of the game world to the real-world time is really interesting. On one hand, Animal Crossing is the kind of game you can play for as little as a few minutes a day. On the other hand, it demands you play at certain times to actually do things. It's somehow more flexible and more demanding than a typical game.

I already have a habit of returning to my house when I stop playing. So I walked back to my tent, laid down on my new bed, and closed the 3DS.

On Saturday I got a new parasol, apparently. I... have no memory of this happening.

Now that the shops were open, I was able to put the downpayment on my house. My character was really happy about this.

Also on Saturday I participated in the Bug Off, where I had to catch a good bug before 6pm. Again, the  coupling to real-time is super interesting. By 6pm of the actual day, the competition would be over. Then I would have to attend the ceremony before 9pm. Stressful! I ended up taking my 3DS with me in a coat pocket out to a birthday party in a bar. Even then, I only came third as I hadn't had time to chase bugs from about 3pm. Animal Crossing is more punishing to people with actual lives than even a typical game!

On Saturday night I checked my station and saw I could visit Brandon's town, and so went on my first inter-town travel. He gave me some oranges and I felt bad for not having brought any cherries with me. Apparently fruit can be sold for different amounts in different towns. Supply and demand. I also felt awkward about not knowing proper etiquette for being in someone else's town. Multiplayer stresses me out.

On Sunday my house was completed and I moved out of my tent!

On Sunday morning I briefly visited Hammond, but then his friend came for brunch and I had to go home again.

After I posted the above photo on Twitter, Daphny commented on my "Morpheus glasses" and I lamented on my lack of cool fashion. She invited me to her town, Farrrrrt, and I went over and grabbed some cool new clothes. Her amazing town flag had me in high hopes that I would head back to Biddyton decked out in some pretty trendy clothes. 

She met me at the station!

We went and saw the hedgehog ladies who sell clothes and she let me take whatever designs I wanted. I was still nervous about multiplayer etiquette and I wasn't sure if I was stealing things but it seemed like I could take designs and also leave designs there. I don't really understand how clothes work so far. I have clothes items but I also seem to be able to just apply materials to my character. Regardless, I got a cool Ghost Bro shirt.

I also went to her shop and, after asking permission, was able to buy a fishing rod to take home!

Daphny scared me with a Zelda mask and then I said I would go home. These two events were unrelated!

Back home, I used my new fishing rod to test out fishing. Then I just walked around my town in my new clothes and spoke to my peeps.

Oh yeah I almost got a new hat.

One of my peeps, Tutu I think her name is, wanted to see my house. She came over and I went to bed.

Then I ran down to the beach and spent the rest of the afternoon fishing.

So that is my first few days of Animal Crossing: New Leaf. I had nothing to do because it was too late, then I got stressed out by time constraints, then I chilled out with some friends and did nothing. So far it is a lovely, mundane, and slow moving game. The kind of game I would describe with the word 'nice' and actually mean it.

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All Authors Blog Blitz

As part of the All Authors Blog Blitz taking place today, I am proud to have my first blog interview with Toni Allen -  tarot reader, astrologer and author. With that, let's launch right into it.

Toni can you tell us a little about your background?

As a child I was always making up stories in my head, but mainly only wrote them down for school. I studied photography at college and it’s still one of my greatest passions, being able to capture a single moment and show others how I see the world around me. It wasn’t until I was in my teens that I realised that other people don’t relate to the world in quite the same way as myself, and it was only through a long process of self-discovery that I acknowledged the word psychic to explain the many weird and wonderful things that happened around me. As a child I assumed that everyone else had prophetic dreams, saw ghosts and knew what was occurring in other places at the same time. To me this was all normal, a part of who I am.

While at college someone introduced me to Tarot and, due to my early years of self-discovery, I immediately understood the symbols and was able to read the cards without ever having picked up a book on the subject or had any training. Becoming a Tarot reader gave me a platform to use my psychic abilities and help other people with my ability to see beyond the physical realm. As a teenager I was always intrigued by astrology and would do things like sit in the pub with my friends, scribble down birthdays and announce, “Did you know that even though eight people are here we only have Sagittarians and Taureans?” My friends would reply, “Who cares?” And I would say, “I do,” and had to work out why we had homed in on each other. Consequently I learnt astrology.

I now work full time as a tarot reader and astrologer.

You can find out more about me on my blog at http://toniallenauthor.com/

How'd you make the transition to becoming an author?

I started writing novels years ago. Stories populated my head and so I started to write them down. A few poems came along too.

After I started reading tarot I went out and bought a few books on the subject to see what others were thinking and, to be frank, I found them quite irritating because they just gave the meaning of the card but not the reason why it should mean that in the first place. I was already teaching a small group of students and handing out information sheets, and one student said, “You’ve got the making of a book here,” so I started collating my material and putting into book form. Hence the System of Symbols, a new way to look at tarot evolved from my teaching notes.

What kinds of things do you write about?

With my fiction I think a friend of mine put it very well. She said, “I’ve got it. You’re books do have a theme, they’re all about ordinary people that extraordinary things happen to.” These extraordinary things usually have a paranormal twist of some description, but in my experience they are not impossible. My main characters are not ghouls, or vampires they are just ordinary folk…oh yes, and usually there’s some kind of investigation or mystery unfolding as the story progresses. The next novel I’ll be releasing, Visiting Lilly, is a detective mystery, with a paranormal/sci-fi twist.

That's very ineteresting.  Now, can you tell us a little about your latest book?

Being Richard is a story about a very ordinary man who just happens to be an immortal. He wasn’t born immortal. A sacrificial ritual to protect his tribe from an advancing army backfires and instead of killing Sunbeerka, gives him eternal life. So now he’s 2,562 years old, looks like he’s thirty and is yet again scrabbling around for a new identity so that he doesn’t appear to be too young for his alleged age. Choosing to become Richard Ridley, who died as an infant, proves extremely challenging.

He doesn’t want to be Richard, but his nemesis appears in the form of Gilbert Hawkins who works for a secret government department that is hunting down immortals, and is forced to become Richard.

On first meeting Gilbert Sunbeerka asks,

“How long have you been observing me?”

“Long enough to know that you’ve way out lived your four score and ten. Before Julian you were Mike; and killing Bobby off just after the war was a real mistake, maybe one of your biggest. Records, Richard, records and photography, they really have been the bane of your life in recent years, even though you’ve proved extremely camera shy.”

There was no point in answering him. He was my worst nightmare come true, all of my fears realised into one forty something man leaning against my gate thinking he was clever. Those sharp brown eyes were scrutinising me, eyeing me up and down, searching for answers in my face and eyes, and the way I smiled or frowned.

“I have all of the evidence,” he said, turning his collar up against the fine mist of drizzle that had begun to grey the surrounding green.

“I’m sure you do.” I pushed myself off the gate and headed back towards the cottage.

Gilbert admits that he too is an immortal, although he was born like it. It’s not until one of them is wounded that the differences in their immortality start to show; and questions arise as to whether Gilbert is immortal or lying. Persuaded that all the The Department wants is for him to track down other immortals, Sunbeerka plays their game, but cannot rest until he’s discovered how baby Richard really died. Researching the dead child’s family leads him to uncover dark family secrets, living relatives with blood on their hands and murder. Life becomes dangerous, even for an immortal.

Which do you prefer writing - fiction or non-fiction?  Why?

Now that’s a really difficult choice. I think it has to be equal. I enjoy writing non-fiction because I love sharing my knowledge with other people. When people say they have learnt something new from one of my books that gives me a real buzz. With fiction I’m more compulsive addictive. People appear in my head and I have to write about them, they have a story that needs to be told. I enjoy getting to know my characters, but sometimes they’re like naughty children and run off and do their own thing, which is exciting and part of the fun.

What's the most difficult thing you've encountered in your journey as an author?

Finding the time to write all of the novels that I want to write. I have several finished novels waiting to be tweaked ready for publication, but I’m also working on a new project.

Also finding the right platform and audience for my work. I’m not a natural at social media, but I’m having a go and slowly but surely connecting with people who enjoy my style and content.

What words of encouragement would you give to any potential authors out there?

Never give up, never give in. Keep writing. When you’ve finished one piece of work send it out if you’re looking for mainstream publication, but start on your next manuscript, don’t stop writing. In your more creative times always keep a notebook of ideas. A word or two, a scene, any idea that pops into your head. This will become your source book when less creative times leave you feeling dispirited.

Finally, where can readers find your books?

Being Richard is available from Amazon US  |  Amazon UK for Kindle and in paperback. iTunes and from Lulu.

The System of Symbols, a new way to look at tarot is available from Amazon US  | Amazon UK for Kindle and in paperback. iTunes and from Lulu.

 Sex and Tarot is available from Amazon US | Amazon UK for Kindle and paperback. iTunes and Lulu.

 You’ll also find my books on Nook and other platforms. You can join me on my Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ToniAllenAuthor or my blog http://toniallenauthor.com/ to find out more about me and my latest books.

Thanks, Toni, for taking the time to speak with us today and share your experiences.  We look forward to hearing about your success in the future.

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Notes on Max Payne 3 (or, Brendan Tries To Explain Why Max Payne 3 Is The Best Game He Has Played This Year)

1. Max Payne 3 is the most pleasurable videogame I've played all year. 'Pleasurable' in the sense that I hate using the word 'fun' as a qualifier for a good videogame but don't really have a choice here. Max Payne 3 is just a pleasure to play. I played it for the first time earlier this year when Xbox Live was selling the digital copy for $5. Just this week I decided to play through a second time. Not on a harder difficulty. Not to unlock or complete more side quests or achievements or anything. I just wanted to go through the motions a second time, to experience it a second time, watch Max's body in its world a second time.

2. Max's body. I could talk forever about Max's body. Rockstar get that a third-person game character's body is as much a spectacle to be looked at as a vehicle to control. They know how to give that body weight. Max controls well and, importantly, he looks good as you control him. He is meaty. He is heavy. He is not just a model with a dot-point list of moves; he is a body that exists in and reacts to a world. He is a presence. It's in the way he tenses and breathes out as a cut scene bleeds into gameplay. It's in the way he holds his two-handed gun by the barrel in his other hand while firing his pistol, in the way he has to drop that gun if he wants to hold two pistols, in the way he wedges that gun under his shoulder while reloading the pistol. It's in the constant changing of his body as the game progresses—in both injuries and clothes. It's in the way you have pull yourself off the ground after a dive. It's in the way he screams "God damn it!" at a locked door at the end of the penultimate level. It is a pleasure to watch yourself control Max.

3. Max Payne 3 is a cinematic game. It is a game that is about the pleasure of moving images as much as it is about control. It is a game about making things look cool.

4. The pornographic fixation on gore and violence is gratuitous but unlike in, say, Bioshock: Infinite, doesn't feel out of place. It feels like it belongs here, for better or worse. I don't think I really need to follow the last bullet from my gun to the final dude's face and out the other side, but there's something undeniably and ashamedly attractive about it all the same. The dynamism. The slow-mo gratuitous deaths are rendered more... bearable because they 'actually' happen in the world. If you keep pulling the trigger to pump more slow-mo bullets into that corpse you will be wasting real bullets.

5. The use of slow-mo and bullet time generally means the world is rendered in immaculate detail. Countless little props waiting to be knocked over by stray bullets. Every skirmish leaves an incidental mess in its wake. A mess that is ironically satisfying to stop and stare at once the fight is done. "I did that."

6. Not being able to go straight from prone (after diving through the air) to in cover is a pain. Having to stand fully erect between the two animations is a huge irritation, and the only time the game reminds me that Max is indeed just a character model with a finite number of moves and not a fluid, existing body.

7. Why do I love some shooters but despise others? It's all in how well the game does what it tries to do. So many games want to be 'about' something else and just use generic shooting gameplay to fill in the gaps because they don't know what else to put there. Max Payne 3 is a game about shooting. It knows it is a shooter and it focuses all its energy on being a good shooter in the way Die Hard spends all its energy on being a good action film (yes, I just called Max Payne 3 the Die Hard of videogames).  For all of Max's waxing poetic and moping, it's all within the self-referential frame of game about a guy who shoots a bunch of people. "I'm a dumb move kind of guy," max says towards the end. He knows exactly what he is.

8. Related, Max Payne 3 is a videogame that isn't ashamed to be a videogame. Videogames present so many tropes that players use to stitch together a reality. We know that a medkit 'represents' a character recovering from their injuries. All those individual bullets that our character shrugged off 'represent' near misses that we can make sense in our head. When we play videogames we use our imagination to fill in the gaps of what 'really' happened. We don't suspend disbelief so much as we actively make the game make sense. Which is why I find Max Payne 3 so fascinating because it is less concerned with the player making the world make sense but in Max as a character ignoring the things the player usually has to ignore. The most obvious example is the use of painkillers instead of a medkit. Max doesn't get better from his injuries. He ignores them. He suppresses the pain. In the next cut scene his clothes are still red from where actual bullets passed through his body. But fuck it. He is a playable character. That's what playable characters go through. he just pushes on.
But it also shines through more subtly throughout the game. It's in the way Max acknowledges the simply bizarre number of enemies running at him. In the way he makes explicitly thoughtless decisions to keep getting in a mess. In a way, Max Payne 3 is about the curse that is being the playable character in a AAA game: you are going to do some nasty shit and you going to be a not very good person. It doesn't make sense. Just take some pain killers and push through.

9. I say in Killing is Harmless, I think, that what Spec Ops: The Line changed for me was not that I would no longer play shooters, but that I could no longer accept that the character in a shooter is a good guy. Max is not a good guy. He is the kind of guy that the main character of a shooter would have to be. He is the kind of guy that shoots first then realises maybe he shouldn't have shot the gangster's kid later but damn it felt good so whatever.

10. Also on Spec Ops, Max Payne 3 is the kind of game I really enjoy but can totally see why others might hate it, and I couldn't fault them for it.

11. Max Payne 3 has a conflicted core when it comes to the depiction of poverty. It acknowledges in passing the socioeconomic reasons why kids (well, at least boys) will join gangs in Sao Paulo. it acknowledges that systems of capitalism mean the rich get richer and the poor get desperate. Max snidely comments on a rooftop party of rich people drinking cocktails looking down over the favelas as  a trickle down economy. Yet, despite the occasional quips, the game is still happy to play into the same tropes for the majority of the game where you shoot a whole bunch of dark-skinned gangsters. Max himself acknowledges this is problematic, but the game doesn't.
Though, I do like that it is ultimately the rich people that are at fault, that Max feels some kind of allegiance with the people of the favela. I like that Serrano is allowed to walk away. I like that when Passos says "How many are there??" at one point, Max replies flatly, "How many kids want new sneakers?" I like that when Max walks into the favela, there is the only non-violent sequence in the whole game, that the game makes us stop and tells us, hey, this is a generic and cool place for an action game or film to have skirmishes, but also real people live here, okay? Max and the player are made to feel like outsiders before they shoot up the favela like every other American action hero in South America. But for all its acknowledgements of social issues, you still spend a lot of the game shooting evil poor people.

12. Women aren't treated any better. Max Payne 3 found itself in the second episode of "Tropes vs Women in Videogames", and rightly so. I enjoy the game's story and Max's development over it greatly, but there is no denying that it heavily relies on the damsel trope. Women are reduced to objects against which masculinity can be commented on. Discussing heterosexual, masculine identities through relationships isn't a problem, but it is when it is such a dominant, commonly repeated trope at the expense of fleshed our representations of other identities. There are no women in Max Payne 3 who are no victims of violence waiting for Max to try to save them. Yes, that is Max's schtick: reacting against women being beaten/killed/kidnapped. But the fact that is his schtick is hugely problematic.

13. Rockstar are often commended on the sheer size of their worlds, but it is their attention to minute detail that I fall for. Any single square foot of space in any Max Payne 3 level will be busy with litter, rubble, signs, rust, shelves, props. The dilapidated hotel is alive with rubble. The favela is a sprawling mess of dead ends and chicken coops and buildings stacked impossibly on buildings. There is one bit where some old plastic chairs are atop a corrugated iron roof in a makeshift balcony. So much excruciating detail that brings the world to life.

14. I didn't notice the game's music for my entire first play of the game until TEARS started playing on the final level in the airport. Max has walked into this airport giving no fucks, storming into the passenger terminal. It is the first and only time in the game that he is doing something on his own accord. No more blindly trying to rescue someone else. No more just going where De Silva points him. He is here because he wants to kill a man, and he is pissed off. You move through the terminal and the vocals emerge just as you start to gain ground over the UFE. It just fits.
For the rest of the game, Health's soundtrack is flat and dull, but always in a good way. It perfectly mirrors Max's drug-softened senses. Like the music of a much livelier action game being played two houses away. Even as action picks up, the music hardly does. Maybe adding a drum beat or a guitar to the drone. Always slightly disinterested and not quite there. Just like Max.

15. Ah. The airport. I love how pathetic Max feels by that point. He always knew he was pathetic but that self-loathing just made him even more pathetic and by the final stages he has finally realised it. Marching into that police station (well, marching out of it) is a good start, but Max is still doing what he is told to do, and he still doesn't get his pay off at the end. The rage with which he yells "God damn it" at that door is equal parts frightening and therapeutic because your character finally has some emotional release (watching Max go off at the organ harvesting doctor is up there, too). But it is when he just walks into that airport that Max is on the front foot. It's like, right, this character has had a real mess of a life and he is not a good person but here he can finally just do what he wants to do. And he does. He kills everyone in the airport, picks up a grenade launcher, chases down the main bad guy, and breaks his legs. It's not 'good' by any stretch, but Max getting his way, just this once, is a good place to end things. As he walks off into the sunset, there is no more voice over narration. There's nothing more to say. He got his way.

16. I have a thing for non-diegetic writing. I like words splashed on my screen in a stylistic matter utterly disinterested in 'immersion'. I loved it in Splinter Cell Conviction, in the way it was like a projector splashing Fisher's thoughts and memories on every surface like the game is an exploration of a conflicted mind. Max Payne 3 doesn't try to put its words 'in' the world; it just splashes them on top of it. I think perhaps they could've been more restrained with the approach. Some of the words they highlight as not as clever as they think they are. But I like the idea and, for the most part, I love the execution. I guess I just like words.

17. Max Payne 3 is the first game I've played for a very, very long time that I will concede, yes, probably is better on a PC. The pixel-wide crosshair demands pinpoint accuracy. The need in places to shoot grenades out of midair is near impossible on a controller without aim-assist.
But the aim-assist is great and makes the game perfectly playable, to be sure—except when it decides to lock on to that guy behind the pillar instead of the three in plain sight. The lock-on-to-torso and need to manually aim for the head is a good compromise of Max looking like a badass and the player feeling like a badass. I also was not too concerned with pinpoint accuracy, and was far more interested in creating an interesting, chaotic mess of a gunfight, much like in Tomb Raider. But another run of the game on a harder difficulty with only free-aim is not something I will be doing with a controller.

18. I liked finding the bits of golden guns but Christ I hate having to carry golden guns around. I liked the extra story elements of the clues on each level.

19. It is hard to over-estimate the sheer polish of the presentation. The way all the things I've already talked about come together to create this seamless experience from start to end. The care in modelling a different Max for nearly every level. The blood on his t-shirt from when he got punched in the face on the previous level, still lingering. The care paid to the world. The care paid to the music. Max Payne 3 is one of those cinematic blockbuster games where it all just comes together to be a work that—for the most part—is a joy to just sit back and have wash over you.

20. So many games over the past two years have turned me off with unnecessary boss battles. With maybe two exceptions, all of Max Payne 3's notable bad guys are given insignificant cut scene deaths, or have 'boss battles' that simply ask you to kill all the dudes around them. No glory. Just dead and move on. I loved the ambivalence.

21. QTEs where I have all the time in the world to press the button. That is how you do QTEs that I don't hate.

22. There is a character in the game that, on my play, I hated. The retired American cop that you first meet locked up in the nightclub then again working at a charity organisation down in the favela. Max asks him to help shoot the gangsters in the club but he refuses, having retired. In the favela, he is just some chummy, baffoonish man who is more interested in smalltalk about his family than anything else. But on my second game, I realised that this character wasn't some throwaway sketch. This is exactly the man that Max wants to be but never can. The cop who had a normal family life, then retired to do charity work. The ex-cop who refuses to get in a gun fight because he is retired. That isn't Max. The fact you meet him for the second time right at the end of the nonviolent sequence, when Max goes for his longest time without shooting anyone, speaks volumes. I love how much the game doesn't linger on this. Max doesn't have some smart one liner to compare himself to the other ex-cop. He probably doesn't even notice the irony. He just moves on and shoots up a stripjoint.

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A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Book Promotion

Years ago, I read an interview with a musician who described what it felt like the first time he heard one of his songs on the radio.  I can't remember exactly what he said, but the word "surreal" comes to mind.  Regardless, I had a similar experience recently when I received an email from Amazon that contained the following:

Hopefully it's not too hard to read, but this is an email from Amazon recommending my own book  Sensation to me!  How cool is that???!!! (Not to mention, as I said before, surreal.)

Naturally, I'm pretty pleased about it (because I assume this means it's being recommended to other people), but I wish I knew how to quantify the effect.  In other words, does this have an effect on book sales?  If so, how much? To what extent does it weigh in a buyer's decision vs. a tweet saying something similar or a reviewer's blog? 

Or maybe it doesn't even matter.  After all, I'm getting a lot of positive exposure from this and that's probably enough.  I feel blessed that the book is continuing to do well, and I'm grateful for all the support I'm receiving.  Hopefully, I'll keep getting cool emails like this well into the future.

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May 2013 Book Sales

I feel blessed to have had a rather successful May in terms of book sales.  I had gone through the trouble of making some very nice Excel tables and charts to present the data, because I think they show some interesting trends.  Unfortunately, you can't post Excel charts/tables here (and I'm not sophisticated enough to use other applications), so we'll just have to make do with the raw numbers.

Sensation

The month started off a little slow; I published Sensation on Kindle on May 3, and I had a grand total of 3 sales for the week ending May 11, but things quickly picked up. 

Week	Sales
5/11/13	3
5/18/13	8
5/25/13	32
6/1/13	87

In essence, I started off selling 3 copies per week on Kindle and ended the month selling more than 30 books per day and ranked #1 in multiple categories.  This, of course, is success at a greater level and far faster pace than I ever anticipated, and I really don't know what factors to attribute it to other than the fact that, as my mother always says, GOD is good.  I think it also helped that I received some good reviews, both on Amazon and other places, such as the Comic Book Bin. 

Basically, despite a few editing errors/typos in an early version (the book has since been professionally edited and had all such errors corrected), May was a great month.  In addition, June also got off to a robust start (see below), so things are going quite well at the moment.

 

Warden

I previously wrote in another post about that fact that I was having such overwhelming success with  Sensation that Warden had become kind of an afterthought.  However, it has been doing well, despite only being published on Kindle during the last week of April.

                                             Week                                         Sales

5/4/13	4
5/11/13	0
5/18/13	0
5/25/13	2
6/1/13	18

I'm extremely proud of these numbers, and the fact that Warden is currently ranked #23 in one of  its categories (as well as #53 in another).  It's taking a little more time, but I'm certain that eventually it can be just as successful as Sensation. (And, just like my other title, Warden has been professionally edited to make sure it is error-free.)

In short, I count myself fortunate to be enjoying a modicum of success early on with respect to these books.  I'm praying that my work continues to gain momentum and resonate with readers, and I thank everyone for their support.

*FYI:  For the first 5 days of June Sensation sold over 300 copies (close to 70 books per day).  As of today, June 10, Warden has sold over 60 copies.  Thanks again, everyone, for all your support.  I know that past performance is no guarantee of future results, but...Laissez les bons temps rouler!

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The Little Novel That Could

In a number of my previous posts, I have mentioned the early success that I have been blessed to have with my superhero novel Sensation, which is currently #1 in a couple of categories.  What's been lost in the shuffle, however, is the fact that my other book, Warden, is also performing respectably.  In fact, I looked up earlier today and found that it was listed in the Top 100 in one of its categories:

96.

Warden (Book 1: Wendigo Fever)

by Kevin Hardman

5.0 out of 5 stars   (1)

Kindle Edition

$2.99

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #35,913 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

#96 in Books > Children's Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Spine-Chilling Horror

Frankly speaking, it caught me a little by surprise.  Like any other author, I had been watching the sales that were occurring with both of my books.  However, I was a bad parent, paying more attention to the child who showed all the textbook indicators of being a phenom rather than recognizing that both of my literary children were special.  Thankfully, Warden took no notice of my neglect, and has just kept chugging right along like The Little Engine That Could.

Needless to say, I'm thankful that both books are finding an audience.  If I'm being honest, however, I have to admit that - if I'd had to choose between them - I would have thought Warden more likely to become a runaway hit.  With its inclusion of mythical creatures, monsters and other things-that-go-bump-in-the-night, it seemed to be a bit more mainstream. (For the record, calling paranormal and horror novels "mainstream" still seems like an oxymoron to me, because when I was growing up I don't recall the genre being embraced the way it is today.)  Although I've decided to incorporate less-common creatures in my Warden series (such as the Wendigo, which - accordingly to legend - is virtually unstoppable), I was still concerned that readers might find the idea of a superhero novel like Sensation to be passé in comparison.  In fact, between the two, my twelve-year-old actually liked Warden better. (And let me say here that, while these two books will certainly appeal to the young adult/teen demographic, they are meant to be enjoyed by readers of all ages.)

As they say, however, truth is stranger than fiction, and I couldn't be more pleased that Sensation has been so warmly received by readers and that Warden is getting its sea legs as well. I'm praying that the same audience that is embracing the former will find room on their shelves for the latter.

 Update

When I check a short time ago, Warden had moved up to #66 in its category.  As always, I feel blessed to have this success, and I thank everyone for their support.

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How to Beat the High Cost of [Indie] Publishing

Back when I was in high school, a friend's mother decided to publish a book. She went the self-publishing route, and in the process spent something like $2000.  Unfortunately, the book had minimal sales, to say the least, and she lost money on the deal. However, she may have felt it was worth it to achieve her lifelong goal of becoming a published author.  (There's a reason why they call it "Vanity Press.")

These days, of course, it's a lot easier - and cheaper - to self-publish.  In fact, you can essentially publish for free.  For example, you can just go to Createspeace or Kindle, upload your novel, pick your free cover (or design one yourself) and you're done.  No out-of-pocket expense whatsoever. 

That said, I think there actually is a cost to publishing via the do-everything-yourself route.  Basically, as I mentioned in my post on pen names, very few of us are adept at multiple disciplines.  Thus, if you're a great writer, what are the odds that you are also an excellent artist? An impeccable proofreader (especially of your own work)?  And even if you're hitting on all cylinders and are a whiz in every other area, there's a cost in the sense that doing all these things yourself takes you away from your bread-and-butter: writing.  In other words, every second that you spend doing some of these other activities diminishes your overall return.

Of course, someone is bound to argue that outsourcing all of these activities costs as well, and they'd be right. But what is that cost?  In short, what's the budget you need to anticipate if you're in mind to self-publish a book?  

To answer this, you really need to think about what services you need.  On my page of Self-Publishing Links, I try to cover the basics in this arena, so let's take a look at what you might hypothetically have to spend on a novel of, say, about 200 pages:

Publishing - As previously stated, this is essentially free, so cost is $0.  (Just to be clear, I'm speaking of ebooks and print on demand (POD) services, not traditional vanity press publishing).

Editing/Proofreading - Prices vary, with some people charging by the word, others by the page, and so on.  I think that budgeting $1/page should be adequate.

Conversion/Formatting  - Again, prices vary. I've seen some that strike me as relatively expensive (over $100) and others that are extraordinarily cheap ($5 on Fiverr).  Searching for some middle ground, let's just budget $69 (which is the cost of the Kindle Conversion service on Createspace).

Cover Art/Design - This is another one that is all over the place in terms of cost.  An artist with name brand recognition could charge a hefty fee that runs into the thousands.  Or you might come across someone who is immensely talented but undiscovered at the moment and commission them on the cheap.  In short, prices here can be as low as five bucks or cost thousands of dollars.  For argument's sake, though, let's assume you can get it fairly cheap - maybe a pre-made cover for about $50.

ISBN Numbers - I enjoy having my own ISBN numbers and being my own publisher, but it's not a necessity. Let's assume that in this arena you're an extreme cheapskate and are willing to use an ISBN number provided by Createspace, B&N or whatever publishing platform you use. Ergo, cost is $0.

Copyright Registration - As I mentioned in my other post, copyright protection attaches to your work as soon as its created.  However, let's just assume that - in addition to being cheap - you are a paranoid mofo, and want additional protection.  In that instance, online copyright registration is only $35.

So what's the total damage?

Publishing:                           $0  

Editing/Proofreading:       $200  

Conversion/Formatting:     $69   

Cover Art/Design:             $50   

ISBN Numbers:                  $0

Copyright Registration:       $35

Total:                               $354 

In addition to this, I'd say that you should tack on some additional funds to cover incidentals.  For instance, you might want to order a proof for review purposes.  You may want some copies to give away to friends and family, or to send to potential reviewers.  You might also want to do a little advertising.  Thus, I'd say that it's probably worthwhile to bump your budget up a little and round it off to a nice even $500.

Of course, within that $500, you can fudge numbers any way you like.  Maybe you absolutely have to have your own ISBN numbers and will shell out $250 for 10 of them and forego copyright registration.  Maybe you can find a retired English teacher who will proof your work for $50.  Maybe you've got a cousin who's an artist and will work for free as long as you put a link to his gallery on your blog.

Finally, to the extent that $500 sounds like a lot of money (and I'm not saying that it isn't), think about how much time you would spend doing the things noted yourself.  How much time would you spend proofreading your 200-page novel? (And if you say, "Not much" or "Just a couple of hours," then your work is pretty much assured to have some typos/errors.)  How much time would you spend creating that perfect cover?  How much time would you spending formatting/converting your work for publication as an ebook?  

Basically, you need to figure out what your time is worth (slap a value on it) and determine if you'd rather spend that time - and if that time is better utilized - writing, or doing all this other stuff.  In my book, I'd rather spend the time writing, and leave the other stuff to the professionals. It may cost a little moolah now, but in my opinion it's worth it and will pay big dividends later.

*One added note: I can't emphasize enough the importance of a good, professional cover.  From a novelization standpoint, it's the face you're showing the world, so decide whether you want it all dolled up, or more like someone who just rolled out of bed and immediately went about their day without any attention to hygiene, grooming, etc.

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