So, I’m not at the point, obviously, where I’m tracking book sales. Occasionally I’ll go and look at my Amazon rank for Thorn presales and wonder what that might actually mean. I honestly don’t know.
But here’s what I do know: once I can track sales numbers, I will probably be a bit obsessive about it.
Because lord knows, I already google “Marshall Ryan Maresca” and “Thorn of Dentonhill” to a surprising degree. Especially now, since new things are popping up on a regular basis. That’s how I discovered an article pointing to me as an example of marketing one’s work using Google Plus. (What? Really?) That’s how I found out that Thorn has a Goodreads page now. Which gives me another thing to check obsessively, as I can keep track of the complete strangers who have added it to their “to-read” list. For some reason that’s incredibly exciting to me.
What I’m saying is, if I have something I can track, I’m probably going to keep my eye on it. If it’s something I can quantify, perhaps even put in a spreadsheet…. oh, I’m going to be all over that.
Maybe at some point, I’ll be more zen about all the how’m-I-doing data out there. But right now, I’m making the most of it.
Speaking of things you can learn by Googling me, I’ll be at FenCon in Dallas September 25-27! Come say hello!
| Saturday 12:00:00 PM – 1:00 PM Getting the Geos Right Description: Geology and geography and how they should shape your fictional society. Panelists: R. Acks , L. Carl , Mi. Finn , M. Maresca , M. White , K. Murphy * |
| Saturday 6:00:00 PM – 7:00 PM Handwavium And Technobabble Description: Where do writers come up with all those terms, anyway? Do they have roots in the real world, or does someone just throw a D20 and see what they come up with? Panelists: P. Black , S. Cupp , J. Mandala , M. Maresca , L. Antonelli * |
| Sunday 10:30:00 AM – 11:00 AM Reading |
| Sunday 1:00:00 PM – 2:00 PM When Will it Ever End? Description: How long is too long? When should a series hang it up, or is there no limit to the number of books an author can or should write in a specific setting? Which well-known series have done an excellent job of holding our attention across multiple books, and which have jumped the proverbial shark? E. Flint , M. Maresca , R. Rogers , S. Swendson , B. Wright , L. Donahue * |
Marshall,
As someone who published my first novel in print book in February, ebook in January, with a short story collection and short story on Kindle, I am hoping to curb my enthusiasm for data. It is getting in the way of writing. Beware! 😉 Especially if you know you’re going to do it anyway!
Sincerely,
Rob