The World Outside The Window

Hey, may I post a very excited entry here about a book launch? The World Outside the Window includes a great story by E. Don Harpe (the last of the 19 and a great story by D. K. Christi (third in the 19) and some great stories before and in between.

It just hit Amazon.com today with Anthony Waugh, one of the 19, listed as the author (to help you find it).

This is my first anthology and I haven't a clue how to promote an anthology -

Do bookstores who barely have an interest in a novel booksigning have an interest in a booksigning by one of 19 authors?

This book is really exciting to read - such a variety in one volume that tugs at the heartstrings and touches the soul.

Well, that's my excitement for the day. I think the book is affordable - $16 so far,
a nice Valentine's gift.

Imagine, if you will, a building of unknown origin, a building in which there are many rooms, each with a window that looks out upon a courtyard in which can be seen a very ordinary scene. In each room a person sits, staring out the window at the same people and objects that everyone else sees, and yet as we tell our stories we learn a basic truth of the universe. We learn that even though our eyes survey identical courtyards, our minds take us to places that only we know about, remind us of stories that only we can tell.

Outside the window there is a winding country lane leading into the distance. There are two boys, perhaps 10 or 12 years old, tossing a baseball about. A girl of maybe 7 or 8 swings on a schoolyard swing set, while two lovers walk hand in hand along the side of the road. A ramshackle old mailbox sits on a slanted post, and nearby there is an old car, possibly from the 50’s, in what appears to be running condition. Down the lane we see a church steeple, and an older lady walks along the side of the road, seemingly headed for the church. A young soldier stands behind her, his face is pensive and it is plain he has much on his mind. Two men are in a heated discussion about something, but from inside the window we can only guess at what, and nearby a beautiful girl sits on a park bench and weeps. An old dog lies on the grass, peaceful and serene, as a puppy frolics nearby. As day changes to evening and then to night, we see a twinkle in the sky. A falling star, or perhaps a starship?

Day or night, the same people are always there, waiting, making no comments that will give us any clue about who they are or what they may be doing. They are actors, we think, waiting for us to give them their roles, show them some direction. Each of us can choose one character or all of them. We can walk down the country lane, drive the car, or follow along behind the woman as she heads for in the direction of the church. It is our world, and we have total control of everything in it. What happens, we make happen. Loves, lies, war or peace, death or life, shackled to earth or bound for the stars, it is all ours to decide.

We sit at the window, taking in the complexity of the courtyard, and after a few hours of pondering, we sit back, relax as much as we can under the circumstances, and use our minds eye to peer into a world that we can shape into anything we wish it to be. We think for a few moments, seeking inspiration and clarity, and slowly we make our decisions. Only then do we pick up our pens, only then do we begin to write our journals of the World Outside The Window.[/size]

The pitch to the authors in the anthology was to take the concept outlined above, and write a story about some element of the courtyard. The stories had no boundries, no limitations, no theme. Each author was free to write about anything that he or she could imagine. We had some initial resistance from a few people saying they thought the idea was too limiting. Those that decided to write the stories soon learned that the only limitation was their own mind.

It is the classic story of the blind men and the elephant. Each person, seeing the same things, will write what he or she is reminded of. The 19 stories in The World Outside The Window is proof positive that the experiment was a success. Each author looked through the window, and no two of us saw anything that even remotely resembled what the others saw.

I think the stories in this book come together to present a reading experience that anyone who picks it up will enjoy.

That's good news for both of you. Glad to hear about it.
As for DK's question about promoting, from what I've seen the answer is just let events take their course. I've had stories in a number of them and that seemed to be what everyone did. Mystery Writers of America and Private Eye Writers of America promoted theirs to some extent but the writers had already been paid so they did nothing. With other anthologies the answer seemed the same.
Reminds me I forgot to put a link for Forever Friends on my website, something I now will do.

Well you have sold me-- I will order it along with Helen's book. TODAY!

Sounds like a very interesting read.

Thanks for the interest and the info regarding promotion. Putting this anthology together was quite an experience in itself!

Congratulations on the release! It does sound good.

I can't find it!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0979170192/ref=cm_pdp_arms_dp_img_1 I hope this link works. There has been a little confusion with the listing that should be worked out soon. With so many authors (19), the singular author listed has been changing...and I think it confuses the computerland.

Is Robert Meachem the author?

I am sorry to be such a pain, but, wish to have the right book,

Robert is one of the authors. There are 19 of us in all, and the stories are all pretty good, if I do say so.

For some reason the book is showing up on Amazon with different people being listed at the author. We have no idea why that is.

My story is called Killling Frost, and for those of you who have read previous things that I've written, I think you'll find this is very much outside any of the others that I've done. It's not humor, or sci fi, and there's no touch of the strange in it, but I do think it's right up there with anything I've done before, and may be the best short story I've written.

Thanks, E.Don,

I am getting it now.

It's coming--can't wait to see it!

I agree with Don; I really liked his short story and the quality is fitting for the last story in the book - a quality ending to a quality effort.

Additionally, keeping the group of authors on task in spite of ego issues and a lot of other divisive things, took quite an organizer. Don deserves more credit than is possible in this venue.

Unfortunately, the listing of the book is confusing possibly because there are 19 authors and the system is not set up for more than a few.

I am very glad you are reading the book and hope you'll have lots to share.

DK, It will be interesting to see if the selling price of POD books on Amazon has any effect on sales. Your anthology has 208 pages and is selling for $16. Forever Friends has 280 pages and is priced at $9.99.

PA authors think their books are overpriced. Although I agree that high prices will deter buyers, I don't think low prices attract buyers. This may seem a contradiction. Take a simple example (to simplify the maths, the discount is presumed to be zero):

Ten friends of an author buy a book @ $30.
Presuming 10% royalties, the author receives $30 (10 x $3)

If the price is reduced to $20, the number of books sold has to increase by 50% to make $30 royalties:

Presuming 10% royalties, the author receives $30 (15 x $2)

If a hundred friends/relatives buy the book @ $30, the royalties at 10% would amount to $300.

At the lower price of $20, the book would need to make 50 more sales. Even at a lower price of $25, the book would need to make 20 more sales and reducing the price by less than $5 is unlikely to produce any new sales but would reduce the amount in royalties.

Unless you can reach out to hundreds of thousands of readers through television/radio/newspapers(NYT), the sales generated are going to be mainly to friends and relatives. Price is not the main issue.

When organisations/retailers buy the book, they buy at a discount set by the publisher. This has nothing to do with the price on Amazon, who sell the same book at different prices on their own different websites (.com, .ca, .co.uk).

I've been trying to promote the anthology. I'm one of the 19 authors in this book and am proud to be one. I do think everyone involved did a very nice job. I think there is a story for everyone.

I'm trying to promote the best I can, but my small town is just that, small and well, trying to get a paper to publish anything about it, well ..., I'll just keep trying.

Don did a nice job of helping me out. Thanks Don.

Vickie

I ordered The World Outside The Window from Amazon and from RJB Publishers. There was a difference in the printing. The two books from Amazon were bound less precisely and the paper didn't feel quite the same quality as the RJB books, slightly darker and rougher feel. Also, one cut on the cover was ragged for one of the Amazon books. The covers seemed otherwise identical. It could be there is that much variation in each printing regardless of the printer. I don't know. My books from PA were beautifully bound and printed, and I had a lot of input into the font and format. I haven't seen any PA books since they started printing their own, so I don't know if the quality has changed. I've always believed there is a "price point" at which any book is priced too high. Finding that price point and catching it just below and still making a profit is the catch. As far as price, I haven't heard any complaints about the $16.00 price for The World Outside The Window. I wish you well with Forever Friends.

We may have a case study in pricing .....

DK,
I know you write well. I read your first book. And I agree on the price issue.
Everyone has an opinion about price and I have mine. It is not just an assumption, but feedback I got/get from buyers and prospective buyers. People who know me personally will buy the book without considering price.
In our down economy, price becomes an issue with all products and books are no exception. Hard cover books demand a higher price simply because they cost more to produce. Paperbacks, from a consumer perspective, should cost less. There are always exceptions especially with new releases of top named authors and/or high profile personalities.
I would rather have a smaller percentage of large volume than a large percentage of something small. Volume has added benefits that include a higher profile that leads to more open doors. Yes, I admit that books are not the same as shoes, cars or other consumable products, but the consumer either is looking for a particular product or will buy on impulse. Price plays a big role in impulse buying.

Hi DK,

I think the price is right for The World Outside the Window and I wish you well with your marketing campaign.

It is over eight weeks (December 2nd) since the first orders were placed for Forever Friends on Amazon.com and none of the sales is showing up on my Lulu acccount. The $9.99 price is less than the cost price of the book and I've no idea how much, if any, royalties will be paid. Even without any royalties, the numbers of books sold should show on my account, but it has been 0 since November 20th.

Discussions about royalties are never ending because everyone has an opinion and facts are twisted to suit a particular argument. All orders are processed electronically and missing or incorrectly added sales are impossible to trace. POD publishers are sued because they cannot trace the royalties they are accused of concealing and, therefore, have to negotiate a settlement in court.

Lulu removed the Live Help feature on their website because they have probably been inundated with questions about unpaid royalties.

Forever Friends was only one of many UK books published on Lulu that were sold on Amazon.com for the same amount in dollars as the UK authors had priced in GB pounds. I cannot be the only one who informed Lulu about the problem but they did nothing to correct it.

In response to my first enquiry (and I made many!) I was told that Lulu do not convert the currency. This did not make sense to me. The price on Amazon.co.uk was correct at £9.99 so why would Amazon.com sell at $9.99?

The lower price may have produced more sales but using Abe's reasoning about a smaller percentage of more sales being better than a large percentage from less sales doesn't hold. Ten percent of nothing is nothing, no matter how many books were sold.

Good luck with The World Outside the Window!

Shelagh made a good analysis based on her research of the books mentioned. That is a time-consuming job and provides all of us with good information.
Hypothetical reasoning has its flaws. One could even say that 1% of something is better than 100% of nothing. Facts are the best source of reasoning but even that is subject to error as in comparing apples to oranges. All venues don’t appeal to the same audience. E-books can’t be compared to bookstore sales, etc. Discussions like this can be beneficial if taken in the spirit of sharing a viewpoint. Learning is a never-ending project. If we had all the answers we would all be rich.

Tracing book sales from a print run of a known number of books is prone to error but fewer errors are likely to occur. The publisher knows how many books were sold to libraries and how many sold to retailers, and how many books were returned.

Tracing POD book sales is much more prone to error. If data is added incorrectly, the error may not show up at all. It is very difficult to prove the number of books that were actually sold. There is no inventory to check; no stock taking. Human error will always be a factor where data is added to a database by human computer operators. Even electronic systems have to be operated, initially, by humans.

Pricing is an interesting thing on books. I think it matters if the reader is shopping for a particular author or category(commodity) shopping. I was asked if I would lower my price by a bookstore that stocks my books. A few shoppers would not buy my book because it was a couple of dollars above the price of others books that they were considering. These people were looking for something new to read. There was no particular reason that they would pay more for my book. There was also no reason for me to lower my price because most of my sales are from marketing efforts that drive people to buy that book.

Another price item that came up was last year I noticed B & T had bought 23 of my books for library sales and I had the same discount and royalty as always. A couple of months later a book was sold to B & T and the discount was higher on the report. I called iUniverse/author solutions and they said they lowered the price to B&T to keep getting sales through that channel. I think what happened was that before the occasional placement of book with a discount like mine didn't matter, but the thought of greater placemnts made them want discouts closer to traditional.

Price matters somewhat, but if the reader/buyer wants that book and knows that author, it is not as much of a factor.

Shelagh wrote:

Tracing book sales from a print run of a known number of books is prone to error but fewer errors are likely to occur. The publisher knows how many books were sold to libraries and how many sold to retailers, and how many books were returned.

Tracing POD book sales is much more prone to error. If data is added incorrectly, the error may not show up at all. It is very difficult to prove the number of books that were actually sold. There is no inventory to check; no stock taking. Human error will always be a factor where data is added to a database by human computer operators. Even electronic systems have to be operated, initially, by humans.

A bad situation--the folks you know would probably be glad to document their purchases from Amazon--I feel for you and could prove three purchases. That doesn't help much, but could be the basis of a something is wrong statement.