Katie Klein Writes

Stepping Away for a Bit

2012-02-23T13:51:00.000-05:00

Just dropping in--

Yes, the blog is quiet this week. For good reason, though. The next two weeks are kind of crazy with the day job (lots of late nights), and every moment I'm not working is spent editing the last Guardians book. It's slow going right now, and I'm probably going to be tied up until next week, too.

If I stumble across something amazing to share, I'll stop by, but if I go on a hiatus without leaving a note for you guys, I'll start to feel guilty. Check the Twitter sidebar for news/links, because I'll still be posting/retweeting things.

Don't forget that The Book Hookup is giving away a copy of Cross My Heart! Contest ends at the end of the month. If you've already read CMH and want to read one of my other books instead, we can arrange that, too.

Otherwise, have a great week/weekend!

~K~

Happy Valentine's Day!

2012-02-14T12:54:00.001-05:00

Quick post!

Ana at The Book Hookup posted an interview with yours truly today. Some *seriously* insightful questions, and so much fun to answer! We're also giving away a free e-copy of CROSS MY HEART! Comment before Feb 29 to win!

Today is also the official release day of IN HIS EYES, the Indelibles' e-anthology.

I finished reading it over the weekend, and WOW, you guys! There are some great stories here (based on some books I've moved to the top of my TBR pile). It's FREE on Smashwords, so go forth and download.

And, if you love Seth and Genesis (THE GUARDIAN), check out "In The Beginning," which tells the story of Carter and Genesis's car accident from Seth's POV.

Otherwise, have a fantastic day! :)

~K~

E-Reads for your Valentine's Day!

2012-02-11T12:57:00.001-05:00

Here's a Valentine's Day trivia question for you.

What's more romantic than a sizzling love story?

NOTHING!!

That's right. If you're in search of the perfect Valentine's Day gift, look no further, because I'm about to point you in the direction of some dreamy books. Whether you gift her a collection of e-books or wrap one special paperback up in pretty paper with a single red rose on top, you're bound to score BIG POINTS on Valentine's Day with these novels.

Also, look for IN HIS EYES, an anthology from The Indelibles,
featuring love stories from the swoon-worthy guys from our novels
arriving on V-Day!

Quick Post (with Links!)

2012-02-08T13:20:00.000-05:00

Hi Everyone!

Just dropping in to share some links that may be of interest.

First, Susan Kaye Quinn (author of Open Minds) has an awesome post up called "How Many Book Sales Equals Success."

Love this line:

"One reason self-publishing is losing its stigma is because authors are now making real money going that route (and real money attracts serious writers, which in turn raises the quality of self-published works). But like everything else in this business, it is some alchemical combination of hard work, luck, and perseverance."

Over the last week, it seems every brick and mortar bookstore has gone on the record to say they won't carry titles from Amazon's publishing arm. What will Amazon do? It might just build its own store.

Here's a good post about the KDP select program. I thought the comments were interesting, as well. It seems that Kindle sales reporting went all screwy a few days ago. I've been editing, so I didn't log in enough to notice. Phoenix made an interesting comment, though:

"I think it's pretty well established now that whatever Amazon did to its algos in December led to it being harder to hit and maintain a rank. Seems to take about double the numbers now than it did in the summer. Sticking has become a heck of a lot harder."

This is even AFTER the algorithm change this summer. It was already harder to place on the top 100 lists and rank high on the "also boughts." I've mentioned this before, but Indies who are new to publishing are going to have to do a heck of a lot more promotion to be seen and maintain visibility.

The rules are changing every day; that's the nature of the game.

Dean Wesley Smith has a great post up: Why Having More Product Is Better Than Having Less Product.

Here, he discusses why WRITING THE NEXT BOOK is the best thing you can do for your career. He also crunches numbers and says: "A reader who finds your book four years after you publish it is just as good as a reader who finds it the day after you publish it." *YES*

If you're already self published, David Gaughran has a survey he'd like you to take. I've already submitted mine! It takes about 10-15 minutes, and, if you keep track of sales numbers/royalties, you'll need those, too.

And, for the record, while I have nothing against traditional publishing and those who choose to pursue it, I will admit that this Konrath post made me chuckle. (Just a tiny, tiny bit.) :)

Have a great week!

~K~

January Sales Numbers

2012-02-03T09:00:00.001-05:00

All right, peeps!

It's that time again! Crunching January numbers for the curious.

The grand total is:

3,368

In January, Cross My Heart sold 1,926 Amazon US copies, 397 Amazon UK copies, 32 Amazon DE copies, 3 Amazon FR copies, and 278 BN copies for a total of 2,636, or 85.03 books per day.

The Guardian sold 391 Amazon US copies, 9 Amazon UK copies, 3 Amazon DE copies, and 30 BN copies for a total of 433, or 13.9 books per day.

Vendetta sold 270 Amazon US copies, 6 Amazon UK copies, 1 Amazon DE copy, and 22 BN copies for a total of 299, or 9.6 books per day.

So, it looks like sales are holding steady since Christmas (and up a bit, this month). At the beginning of the month I was *finally* gaining traction on Barnes and Noble. I had double digit CMH sales daily for the majority of the month (peaked at 18). It started slowing down by the last week, though, so I'm not sure where it will go from here.

Cross My Heart sales are up from December, The Guardian and Vendetta are slightly down.

Here's some new information, too. I was curious about my series read-through rate (how many people who purchase The Guardian go on to buy Vendetta. For the month of January, my rate was 69%. There are *so many* different factors involved, though (when the book was purchased, how long it takes the reader to finish, etc.), so I also calculated my lifetime read-through rate. This number is 50%. This means that half of the people who read The Guardian eventually read Vendetta, which is awesome. (Some little birds have thrown 40% out as a strong percentage for read-throughs, so I'm really happy to hear mine is consistent with this.)

I also have a new outlet to add to the mix. Cross My Heart is officially available via the iBookstore, so we'll see how February goes. Hopefully I'll have some new numbers to report. (I'm new to the iProducts, so I'm not even sure what kind of market share Apple has at the moment, or what to expect.)

And finally—ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS: a *HUGE* thank you to everyone who's purchased, read, reviewed, and rated my books. You guys are the ones keeping me in the "public eye," and I'm forever thankful for amazing readers. :)

~KK~

Stay Tuned!

2012-01-27T09:00:00.001-05:00

Hey Y'all!

I know. Blog posts are sort of sporadic lately. For good reason, though: I'm knee-deep in revisions for the (still Untitled! Grr!) final book in my Guardians series. Just thought I'd throw that out there, since I'm getting more and more "when will the third Guardians book be out?" hits on my sites every week.

Working on it--Cross my heart! ;)

In the meantime, if you're a fan of Seth and Genesis and their story, you might be interested to know that they will make another appearance v. soon.

Ever wonder what Seth was thinking the night of Genesis and Carter's accident?

The world is dark, shadowed in grays. There's a soft murmuring, a muted glow of light slivering beneath her bedroom door. I search the realm around me, just to be certain, but only Genesis and I remain. We're alone. And so I close my eyes and pull myself into her world. A world where everything is brighter. Clearer. A world that, for some reason, makes sense to me, though it shouldn't.

"In The Beginning," featured in the anthology In His Eyes, debuts Feb 14, 2012! Stay Tuned!
~KK~

Apple's Announcement

2012-01-20T09:00:00.001-05:00

Hi Everyone!

If you were able to stop by the Indelibles' Writer's Chat this past week: thank you so much! We had a really good time. I'm sure there will be more chats in the future, so stay tuned.

Otherwise . . . Big News from Apple this week!

"Apple announced what it's calling 'iBooks 2' during its media event in New York on Thursday, a textbook software program that allows textbook-makers and instructors to create rich, interactive teaching media for the iPad. As we first reported earlier this week, the announcement is akin to 'GarageBand for e-books,' giving authors access to easy-to-use tools on the computer in order to create multimedia content for the iPad."

Go Here To Learn More.

This news arrived on the cusp of the Coliloquy debut, an innovative epublisher with interactive features.

With iBooks Author, there's an easier way to format our content for the iBookstore. This also means enhanced content: music and other audio files (chapter readings?), easier html linking and embedded videos (book trailers!), links to websites and pdfs or other documents, etc.

JA Konrath predicted this would happen in 2009, you guys. See # 4 on this post.

The Downside? You'll still need a MAC/upgraded MAC software if your machine is older, and to purchase your own ISBNs. Also, it appears that you're limited to iPad users only. (So the enhanced content can't be viewed on a Kindle, for instance.)

This is also a concern: Greedy and Evil Licensing!

(I'm trying to piece together info from various sources, y'all, so if someone wants to correct me, please feel free!)

Full disclosure: I haven't played around with this app, yet, but I've talked to some people who have, and HOLY COW, you guys. It sounds awesome. I do have a MAC. I have my own ISBN. To be honest, I wasn't a fan of going through an aggregator to get to the "i" products. Now that Apple seems more interested in working directly with the author, we shall see.

Also, I read this article earlier in the week, and thought I'd pass it along: OMG They're Going to Kill Us!

They might have to throw Apple into the mix, as well.

Amazon will probably follow Apple's lead on this one, making it easier for its authors to format their content, with other special features "coming soon" (especially since the launch of the Fire). I've noticed a small upswing in sales at BN since Christmas, but they REALLY need to step up their game if they're going to remain competitive. Well, actually get INTO the competition, in some cases.

Let's just say I'm a huge fan of the free market and corporate competition, and I support measures by any company that are taken to keep the power where it belongs: the writer. No monopolies, please. My day job is related to higher education, so I'm excited to see what iBooks Author does for the classroom, too.

That is all!

Enjoy your weekend!

Chat!

2012-01-18T09:00:00.003-05:00

Hi Y'all!

FYI-There's a writer's chat happening tonight, hosted by The Indelibles. It's going to last from 8-9pm Eastern time. Barring natural disaster, I will be in attendance. A post should be going up on The Indelibles blog sometime today, so check the link in the sidebar --> for more information.

If not, I'll be back later with details.

Would love for you to stop by and say hi!

And the Winner Is. . . .

2012-01-13T09:00:00.001-05:00

Hi Everyone!

Thank you *SO MUCH* for stopping by the blog hop this week! I had a record number of hits every day, and gained some new followers and friends. You guys are so awesome!

And now, the moment you've been waiting for. . . .

I used random.org to generate a winning number for me based on the number of comments for my blog hop post. And the winner of the free copy of CROSS MY HEART is: Commenter Number 8!!

That's You, Lisa Asanuma! I'm sending you an email!

My weekend is booked solid. I have a short story due for a new anthology (stay tuned for the official announcement!), and I'm editing The Guardian Book Three. It's slow going, but I'm making a dialogue pass right now. Dialogue is my favorite, especially when people are yelling. I love when my characters yell at each other. The words fly from my fingertips. Writer's block? No problem. Just give 'em a reason to fight. :)

Enjoy your weekend!

Introducing the Indelibles!

2012-01-08T16:44:00.000-05:00

Welcome to The Indelibles Blog Hop!

In celebration of our official launch, we are giving away a KINDLE FIRE! If you’d like to start at the beginning of the INDELIBLES ON FIRE GIVEAWAY BLOG HOP, then please start here: http://indeliblewriters.blogspot.com/

If you are already mid-hop, then welcome to your next stop! By following the link at the bottom of this post, you can proceed to the next author (and check out the awesome, individual giveaways we are doing along the way!). If you are entering to win the KINDLE FIRE, don’t forget to make a note of the keyword at the end of every blog post - the words spell out a phrase you will need to enter the contest on the last stop.

Who Are We?

Marketing guru Shelli Johannes Wells has teamed up with twenty-four other indie and small press authors to bring you the Indelibles.

“We are indie authors who write middle grade and young adult fiction.

We are dedicated to leaving a permanent mark on the world with our stories and words.

We are The Indelibles.”

Each week, we’ll explore fun, fabulous, and fierce topics for today’s teens, drawing on pop culture and themes from the books we write. Check out our official launch Monday, January 9th for fun giveaways at http://indeliblewriters.blogspot.com/. We’ll also be having a “blogger” chat on January 11th and a writer/author chat on the 18th to answer questions about self and indie pubbing. See our blog for details.

And now . . . without further ado. . . .

You've reached the blog of Katie Klein!

I'm the author of THE GUARDIAN, VENDETTA, and the YA Contemporary Romance CROSS MY HEART. I was previously published (Epic Fail!) and decided to go indie after 75 agents rejected CMH because the market was "too saturated." My thought? We'll see what the market thinks about that! Since I uploaded my first novel last December, I've sold more than 20k ebooks. In addition, CROSS MY HEART spent more than 140 days on the Amazon Teen Top 100 Bestseller list, and was a finalist in the 2001 Goodreads Reader's Choice Awards for Best YA Fiction.

The truth? I kind of like what the market had to say. You can read more about my first year as an indie on this blog. I kept track of sales numbers and "indie happenings" along the way, and even spotlighted some other great indie titles.

When I'm not writing or reading, I'm grading papers (Day Job!) and trying to keep up with my six-year-old. I only eat the red and purple Skittles; crush-wise, I gravitate toward emo, angsty boy singers (guyliner optional); and I *still* want to be a ballerina when I grow up. I also want to be a singer, an actress, and an artist.

Check out my books while you're here, friend me on Facebook, and/or follow me on Twitter (links in the sidebar-->).

Don't be shy! I'd love to know who you are! Say hello and tell me what you're reading right now (also: if it's a print book or an ebook!). One lucky commenter will be chosen at random to receive a free copy (ebook!) of CROSS MY HEART!

And now, the moment you've been waiting for:

The keyword for this stop on the blog hop is: A

You can find the next Indelibles author here: http://thepunchingbagfightsback.blogspot.com/

Happy Hopping!

**The contest begins at 12:01AM Monday, January 9 and ends at 12:01AM Thursday, January 12**

Can a YA Writer "Make It" as an Indie?

2012-01-06T09:00:00.001-05:00

In December of 2010 I became an "Indie" Author. All this meant at the time is that no one in the literary world wanted to represent or publish me. The truth? I was seriously bummed out. I wanted nothing more than to write YA books. I wanted to find my audience. And yes, I kind of wanted fan mail—the gushing kind. You know . . . mail that you can read over and over again whenever you need a swift kick in the pants to remind you WHY you write.

My first attempt with this just didn't pan out. I felt like an Epic Failure.

I'd heard about Konrath and Hocking, and authors like them, and decided to epub my urban fantasy, THE GUARDIAN, to see what the fuss was about. That first month, as a No-Name YA author, I sold 19 copies and made $29.93 in royalties.

That's $29.93 more than it would have made taking up space on my hard drive.

In February, I began formatting CROSS MY HEART, which had been rejected by 75 agents. That's when I asked this question on the blog: Can a YA Writer Make it as an Indie? (You can read the original post here.)

Well, my first year is officially up.

Here's a recap in numbers:

3,423: The highest number of books sold in a single month (June).

136: The number of days spent on the Amazon Teen Top 100 Bestseller List

20: The number of finalists in the Best YA Fiction category, including CROSS MY HEART, in the 2011 Goodreads Reader's Choice Awards

57: Number of 5-star CMH reviews on Amazon

699: Number of 5-star CMH ratings on Goodreads

21,373: Total number of ebooks sold.

So, it's back to the original question: Can a No-Name YA Writer Make It as an Indie?

*ponders*

Answer: You'll never know if you don't try.

Make THAT your resolution. :)

~Katie~

P.S. Be sure to check back Monday for some crazy cool news!