Pre-sale Thoughts

Soon and very soon I will be making my novel Ginnie Dare:Crimson Sands available for sale. There are lots of plans percolating in the background that I can’t make public just yet. Suffice to say there will be a paperback, an electronic version, and an audio version. They will be available in various places, for various prices.

Before that happens I will be opening up the lines for pre-orders. I have a wonderful artist who’s putting together cover art for me and I have to pay him. I also need to buy an ISBN or two. To make that happen I need some angel investors. I’m still ruminating on pricing and what exactly you’d get for your money. Here are my thoughts and I’m interested in what you think of them (whether you plan on helping me out or not).

I’m thinking of doing a tiered approach, letting people help me as they are able:

Tier One (Seraph) – For $5 you would get an electronic version of Crimson Sands, signed, dedicated, and numbered as well as a Twitter icon indicating your level of support.
Tier Two (Cherub) – For $10 you would get a paperback version of Crimson Sands, signed, dedicated, and numbered as well as a Twitter icon indicating your level of support.
Tier Three (Archangel) – For $15 you would get the benefits of both Tiers One and Two.

My plan is to make these available by May 1st. I want to carry copies of the book with me to Balticon and see if I can sell some there as well. If you have any thoughts, criticisms, or suggestions on this please drop me a comment or shoot me an email. This is a grand experiment and I’m more than willing to hear that this is a bad idea or an awesome idea.

To give you an idea of what you’d be getting, here’s a brief synopsis:

Ginnie Dare is the communications officer for her family’s space faring shipping company. They arrive at Eshua for a routine supply drop and discover that the entire settlement’s population has vanished. Their search of the site reveals nothing out of place except the people, but ends in a tense confrontation with the natives. During the conflict Ginnie discovers an alien artifact that may be the key to diffusing the conflict. Can she decode the artifact before it’s taken by the Sector Defense Force and will it help them to discover the missing colony’s fate? Or will the whole thing spark an interstellar war?

My hope is that this story will hearken back to the sci-fi I grew up with and will be enjoyable to a wide range of age groups. It’s a story I feel more than just comfortable with my ten year old daughter reading. I hope she will read it and find a protagonist that she can identify with and be inspired by.

16 thoughts on “Pre-sale Thoughts”

  1. I saw your note on Twitter asking for feedback on the approach and wanted to chime in. I like the simplicity of what you’ve put together.

    Your rationale for covering the design and administrative costs makes perfect sense.

    From my perspective, the Twitter badge isn’t much of a draw for me. As a reader, I want the book. But the cost/benefit for each of the tiers is solid — fifteen bucks for the e-book and paperback feels like a bit of a bargain.

    I don’t see any reason why devoted readers wouldn’t jump in. The trick, of course, is capturing some new ones along the way.

    Full disclosure: I’m one of them. As a reader, the book sounds interesting. As a writer, I like the approach you’re taking. So . . . count me in. I’m looking forward to pre-ordering my angel wings.

    Keep us posted, sir.

    1. Thanks! I know the Twitter badge isn’t a huge draw and if people use it it’s going to be mostly to benefit me, but my artist designed one and it’s too cool not to use.

      I appreciate your feedback and your offer to join the ranks.

      I will definitely keep you in the loop!

  2. I like this idea a lot. I like the tiered approach you’re taking. You might also consider having another category where people can donate “any” amount. They might not fall in to one of your categories, but at least they could still contribute if they wish. Just a thought.

  3. I like the names for the different categories. Very, you. What about the top tier being $20 and would include extra material in the book that wouldn’t be in the regular version, or a CD of the audio portion with extra content like 5maybe a commentary of the book, writing process, maybe a special audio/PDF short story in the same universe.

    I like the sound of the book so far and will get one anyway, but with the extras (as you weight the cost/benefit/time/value, I would be more inclined to spend even $25.

    1. LOL. I guess angels are in my oeuvre.

      Actually including a short story or a CD’s not a bad idea. I’ll have to ruminate on that one a bit. I’ll kick that around in the old brain pan.

      Thanks for your continued support!

  4. read the synopsis of Ginnie dare- Does the word Croatoan show up any where in the book? ;-0 maybe this is a NC inspired lost colony story…
    very excited for you- congrats!

Comments are closed.