# The Temple of Heart and Bone



## Sam Evren (Dec 16, 2013)

Hello there, folks, I thought I'd mention that my first book, _The Temple of Heart and Bone_, is on promotion over on Amazon's Kindle for .99.

There are, also, roughly six chapters available via "sample." From observation, I'd say that Amazon creates samples based on length.

The whole process has been quite the education - and experience!

Anyway, if you're so inclined, you can find _Temple_ here: Amazon.com: The Temple of Heart and Bone eBook: S.K. Evren: Kindle Store

I may actually be more nervous making this post than I was in posting the book to Kindle...


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## BWFoster78 (Dec 16, 2013)

Sam,

I have to say that the description intrigued me, and I found your author profile amusing.  I read a good bit of the sample, and I'm on the fence.  Your prose is pretty durn good, but the pace is slow.  Essentially, nothing happens in the first chapter.  The second chapter, obviously, picks up quite a bit, and the end of it left me interested.  When the third chapter started with an infodump, you lost me, and I clicked away.

I'll mull it over, though...

Thanks.

Brian


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## Sam Evren (Dec 16, 2013)

Thanks for taking the time to look! And thanks for the mini-review!


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## BWFoster78 (Dec 17, 2013)

Sam,

It was a tough call, but, in the end, I just felt the tension wasn't there.  I did, however, feel inspired enough to write a blog post about my decision making process.

The post is here: To Buy the Book or Not? | Brian W. Foster

Hope it helps some.

Thanks.

Brian


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## Sam Evren (Dec 18, 2013)

BWFoster78 said:


> Sam,
> 
> It was a tough call, but, in the end, I just felt the tension wasn't there.  I did, however, feel inspired enough to write a blog post about my decision making process.
> 
> ...



Brian,

Thanks for taking the time to read the sample and for your very detailed blog post. I appreciate your thoughts and ideas, and I'll work on incorporating some of them as I move forward. It most certainly did help. 

Just a thought on the pricing, I felt that $2.99 was a fair price point for an unproven, unreviewed author. It also feels like an impulse price point, perhaps encouraging folks to take a chance.

All that being said, I really do appreciate your thoughts. I wish that I had known about _this_ site before I published on Kindle, but I actually found Mythic Scribes after learning about the very idea of forums dedicated to writing from the Kindle authors' forums.

I came at writing sideways, so it's very exciting to find such a resource and so many valuable opinions in one place!

Truly, thanks again!

   Sam


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## Philip Overby (Dec 18, 2013)

I downloaded the sample. I've recently decided I want to support more indie authors when I can. Once I read some of the sample, I can send you some thoughts privately. It may be a while since I already have several books ahead of yours, but I determined a particular reading day "Free Sample Saturday." This is when I read samples I have and decide if I'm going to buy them or not. 

That said, I share your thoughts about the under-appreciation skeletons get. Especially, Skeletor.


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## Sam Evren (Dec 19, 2013)

Thanks, Phil, I appreciate that! I like the idea of "Free Sample Saturday," too!


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## BWFoster78 (Dec 19, 2013)

Sam Evren said:


> Brian,
> 
> Thanks for taking the time to read the sample and for your very detailed blog post. I appreciate your thoughts and ideas, and I'll work on incorporating some of them as I move forward. It most certainly did help.
> 
> ...



Sam,

Price is tricky.  Like I posted, I don't have a problem with $3 because I've read some great books at the price point.  However, most readers "in the know" understand that 2.99 is the minimum you can price your book and still receive the 70% royalty.  Due to this knowledge, I automatically think, "This author thinks his book is only worth the minimum."  To some extent, that makes me question the quality level.  If an author has really put in the effort to produce a professional quality product, maybe that effort should be reflected with a  price above the minimum.

That's just my opinion, however.  I absolutely do not counsel you to change it based on my opinion.  My advice is to experiment.  Look at your profit at this price point for a couple of months.  Then adjust it and see what happens.  We'd really appreciate it if you'd then share your results with the community.

Glad you found the comments useful!

Brian


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## TWErvin2 (Dec 19, 2013)

BWFoster78 said:


> Sam,
> 
> Price is tricky.  Like I posted, I don't have a problem with $3 because I've read some great books at the price point.  However, most readers "in the know" understand that 2.99 is the minimum you can price your book and still receive the 70% royalty.  Due to this knowledge, I automatically think, "This author thinks his book is only worth the minimum."  To some extent, that makes me question the quality level.  If an author has really put in the effort to produce a professional quality product, maybe that effort should be reflected with a  price above the minimum.
> 
> ...



I've found that the average Kindle reader is not 'in the know' about the price points for the 70% royalty earned by the author/publisher.


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## danr62 (Dec 19, 2013)

I went ahead and downloaded the sample as well. I'll check it out when I get a chance. 

One thing I would say is that your cover is not great. The cover is the first thing a browser will see, so it's extremely important to make it appealing. This can be tough, especially if you are on a tight budget and even more especially in fantasy because there aren't many good premade covers for the genre. But it is something to think about.


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## BWFoster78 (Dec 19, 2013)

TWErvin2 said:


> I've found that the average Kindle reader is not 'in the know' about the price points for the 70% royalty earned by the author/publisher.



True, but a first-time author who is self publishing is typically desperate to get reviews and mentions on blogs.  My guess is that that audience is more likely to be "in the know" than the average Kindle reader.


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## Sam Evren (Dec 19, 2013)

danr62 said:


> I went ahead and downloaded the sample as well. I'll check it out when I get a chance.
> 
> One thing I would say is that your cover is not great. The cover is the first thing a browser will see, so it's extremely important to make it appealing. This can be tough, especially if you are on a tight budget and even more especially in fantasy because there aren't many good premade covers for the genre. But it is something to think about.



I've had really mixed responses to that cover. I'll be utterly honest, my budget was beyond tight - so far beyond as to be utterly and completely non-existent. I don't want to hit you with a sob story, but let's just say that I haven't had work in over seven years (for medical reasons), and this book is my first attempt to try to help the person who is helping me.

That being said, the cover was made with Amazon's "cover maker." I tell you this only in the interest of full disclosure, and for the help of any who follow behind.

I really do wish I had known about sites like this one before I put the book up on Kindle. I almost feel foolish having put it up now, but I did what I thought was right and best at the time with the knowledge I had.

Please don't think I'm being defensive about your opinion, I'm really not - and I really do appreciate it - and all the opinions folks have shared. It just seems to me that having learned that folks _can_ share their experiences, I should share mine as someone who came to this from, essentially, the outside.

I do have a few friends who are artists. I tried to get one to do the cover, but he was just utterly swamped. I think for the next one, I'll try to get it made more than 3 months before I put it up - and now I have a place to ask opinions!

Thank you, again, for your thoughts and for checking out the sample!

Sam


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## Sam Evren (Dec 19, 2013)

BWFoster78 said:


> Sam,
> 
> Price is tricky.  Like I posted, I don't have a problem with $3 because I've read some great books at the price point.  However, most readers "in the know" understand that 2.99 is the minimum you can price your book and still receive the 70% royalty.  Due to this knowledge, I automatically think, "This author thinks his book is only worth the minimum."  To some extent, that makes me question the quality level.  If an author has really put in the effort to produce a professional quality product, maybe that effort should be reflected with a  price above the minimum.
> 
> ...



I did find them very useful, and thank you again. I'll be honest, I had decided on that $2.99 price point even before I learned of the 70% Amazon minimum. It may sound foolish and nostalgic, but that was the price of fantasy paperbacks when I was in college, and that price seemed very fair to me - along with being a more "impulse" range.

I realize business shouldn't be carried out from the lens of nostalgia - or foolishness - but it seemed like a great place to start.

Against a sea of free and .99 everyday titles, it's actually difficult to know - without external guidance - what a proper starting point should be - or in my case, was.

Thanks for the reply!

Sam


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## danr62 (Dec 19, 2013)

Sam Evren said:


> I've had really mixed responses to that cover. I'll be utterly honest, my budget was beyond tight - so far beyond as to be utterly and completely non-existent. I don't want to hit you with a sob story, but let's just say that I haven't had work in over seven years (for medical reasons), and this book is my first attempt to try to help the person who is helping me.
> 
> That being said, the cover was made with Amazon's "cover maker." I tell you this only in the interest of full disclosure, and for the help of any who follow behind.
> 
> ...



Oh no, I absolutely get it. Don't think I'm beating you up about your cover. If it's the best you can do for now, go with it and try to raise money to improve it later, when you can afford it.

Also, on price. This is your first book. You can think of it as an entry product into a product line that you will continue to develop. I think keeping the price down to get more readers for your future books is more important than maximizing profit on this one title. 

By the way, are you building an email list? Since you don't seem to be very immersed in the Indie Publishing culture from your posts, I'm guessing you haven't heard that tip before? The idea is to ask readers to opt into an email newsletter so you can let them know when you release a new book or have a sale or something.


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## Sam Evren (Dec 19, 2013)

danr62 said:


> Oh no, I absolutely get it. Don't think I'm beating you up about your cover. If it's the best you can do for now, go with it and try to raise money to improve it later, when you can afford it.
> 
> Also, on price. This is your first book. You can think of it as an entry product into a product line that you will continue to develop. I think keeping the price down to get more readers for your future books is more important than maximizing profit on this one title.
> 
> By the way, are you building an email list? Since you don't seem to be very immersed in the Indie Publishing culture from your posts, I'm guessing you haven't heard that tip before? The idea is to ask readers to opt into an email newsletter so you can let them know when you release a new book or have a sale or something.



Thanks! I didn't think you were beating me up, honest. 

I had not thought of anything like an e-mail list, but that's a great idea. I'll confess that I'm not sure how I'd implement that, though. Is that something you'd put at the end of a book? I've read that some Kindle authors put links to review their work at the very end - though reading that made me wonder if there were an "etiquette" I wasn't aware of - what's acceptable and what's not, if you take my meaning.

I'm not very immersed in the culture. I think it's fair to say that I just became aware of the pool, and now I'm trying to figure out what all that water in the ground is for... 

Thanks again for your reply!

Sam


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## danr62 (Dec 20, 2013)

A good place to go to learn about indie publishing is these forums: Writers' Cafe

There are some email marketing services that will let you start for free, such as MailChimp. Basically, at the end of your book you can link to a page on your website where you have an email list sign up form.

As for ettiquite, many indie authors put links to their other books, a link to their sign up page, and a request for reviews at the end of their books. Oh and a link to some of their social media profiles and/or blog.


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## Sam Evren (Dec 20, 2013)

danr62 said:


> A good place to go to learn about indie publishing is these forums: Writers' Cafe
> 
> There are some email marketing services that will let you start for free, such as MailChimp. Basically, at the end of your book you can link to a page on your website where you have an email list sign up form.
> 
> As for ettiquite, many indie authors put links to their other books, a link to their sign up page, and a request for reviews at the end of their books. Oh and a link to some of their social media profiles and/or blog.



Thanks, Dan, that's really great information!


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## Evilyn (Jan 2, 2014)

Hi Sam

I actually liked the cover, but then I am drawn to anything with skulls on it, call me me morbid 

I also like the description and will download a sample and let you know, regardless of whether I enjoy it or not I would like to say well done for getting something completed first off, I still have 9 uncompleted novels so anyone who gets something finished earns my respect.

Evi


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## Sam Evren (Jan 8, 2014)

Thanks, Evilyn, I really appreciate that! I honestly hope you enjoy it! (Not that you have to, but rather that it's fun for you )


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