PUBLISHED on the Black Tower Face Book page earlier
To be honest it looks a lot like going back to basics will be necessary.
All the programs I use -Microsoft Office Publisher and Word and others- are on my 2008 PC which I have brought back from near death a number of times but now the drive disc is more or less gone. My temperamental laptop came with no programs and so I would need to buy those. To update the laptop (which is not in a great state)so that I can use it like the old PC will cost around £500 -and some of the programs need renewal after a year.
If books were selling it might not be such a huge problem but they are not.
I can buy a PDF converter program to make documents to upload to the print on demand company but there are problems.
Firstly, how loing is this laptop going to last? All my files I moved to external drives so they are safe.
Secondly,Microsoft Office Publisher is NOT available for anything other than PC for some reason. Adobe Acrobat for a year would cost more than a laptop.
Say I went for the cheapest but best suited program out there -much cheaper than Adobe or Nitro. That still requires a big payment that, really, I cannot justify. Boring I know but I do need to eat and pay bills.
Books selling means that the expenditure can be justified but unless people stop looking for freebies and start buying then at the moment it cannot be justified. And invitations to smaller comic events are never forthcoming so selling at those can be ruled out.
Bigger events -IF I was allowed into them: no one can possibly believe that £80-100 travelling expenses and £150 plus table costs are going to be covered by sales. That is pure fantasy.
What is the alternative?
Desk top publishing from a printer? Been there. Done that and sold books but never made a profit. People forget that ink cartridges are not free and and ink cartridges are notorious for either being good or very bad -even refills do not help.
The B4 (US)size photocopied format Ben Dilworth has been using? It seems reasonable. The quality is good but covers are paper stock rather than the sturdy stock used with the POD Black Tower books.
Krakos-Sands of Terror was first published on 27th July, 2010 and got rave reviews from Europe. Then, on the 30th July came The Bat Triumphant! -again, great reviews. However, neither book has sold a single copy in 10 years. It is that kind of hard fact that I have to look at when deciding on plans for 2020 (I am hoping to live through 2019).
I have tried freebies,offering all sorts of discounts including ones where I would be at a loss simply -simply to get some kind of sales. I will not try Patreon or kickstarter or any other kind of money-raiser because all I could offer would be my books! Begging for money is not an option and if people wanted to show their support -they can buy my books!
So once I have definite plans I will post them.
To be honest it looks a lot like going back to basics will be necessary.
All the programs I use -Microsoft Office Publisher and Word and others- are on my 2008 PC which I have brought back from near death a number of times but now the drive disc is more or less gone. My temperamental laptop came with no programs and so I would need to buy those. To update the laptop (which is not in a great state)so that I can use it like the old PC will cost around £500 -and some of the programs need renewal after a year.
If books were selling it might not be such a huge problem but they are not.
I can buy a PDF converter program to make documents to upload to the print on demand company but there are problems.
Firstly, how loing is this laptop going to last? All my files I moved to external drives so they are safe.
Secondly,Microsoft Office Publisher is NOT available for anything other than PC for some reason. Adobe Acrobat for a year would cost more than a laptop.
Say I went for the cheapest but best suited program out there -much cheaper than Adobe or Nitro. That still requires a big payment that, really, I cannot justify. Boring I know but I do need to eat and pay bills.
Books selling means that the expenditure can be justified but unless people stop looking for freebies and start buying then at the moment it cannot be justified. And invitations to smaller comic events are never forthcoming so selling at those can be ruled out.
Bigger events -IF I was allowed into them: no one can possibly believe that £80-100 travelling expenses and £150 plus table costs are going to be covered by sales. That is pure fantasy.
What is the alternative?
Desk top publishing from a printer? Been there. Done that and sold books but never made a profit. People forget that ink cartridges are not free and and ink cartridges are notorious for either being good or very bad -even refills do not help.
The B4 (US)size photocopied format Ben Dilworth has been using? It seems reasonable. The quality is good but covers are paper stock rather than the sturdy stock used with the POD Black Tower books.
Krakos-Sands of Terror was first published on 27th July, 2010 and got rave reviews from Europe. Then, on the 30th July came The Bat Triumphant! -again, great reviews. However, neither book has sold a single copy in 10 years. It is that kind of hard fact that I have to look at when deciding on plans for 2020 (I am hoping to live through 2019).
I have tried freebies,offering all sorts of discounts including ones where I would be at a loss simply -simply to get some kind of sales. I will not try Patreon or kickstarter or any other kind of money-raiser because all I could offer would be my books! Begging for money is not an option and if people wanted to show their support -they can buy my books!
So once I have definite plans I will post them.
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