And that’s why so many want-to-be writers with “names” ended up having their publisher come to me to ghost-write their book. I can deliver a decent book on command. Why? Because of the billion hours of practice and study I have put in over the decades. (grin)

What I regret is that those 22 novels don’t belong to me. All the other books I have ever written do…and they continue to earn money for me. Those 22 tie-in books belong to a studio and my share of the royalties is a mere pittance. I earn pennies on the sales while the studio, and other profit participants (producers, actors, etc), earn dollars. I knew that going in…but it was a different publishing world then than it is now.

I will no longer write media tie-ins. I can make a lot more money writing an original book and self-publishing yet.

Yes, that’s because I have an established “name” and readership but, as Dean rightly points out, it’s also because I have spent decades honing my craft as a story telller in both books and screenplays — dozens of novels and literally hundreds and hundreds of hours of produced TV series episodes, pilots and movies. A name means nothing, folks, if you can’t deliver the goods.

Lee

Newbie writers are caught in a Catch-22:
They have to delude themselves into believing learning is easier than it is — because if they knew how much time, effort and energy it was going to take, they’d throw themselves off a bridge.
Later on, when the become disillusioned with the delusion, THEN maybe they can see that it’s like gaining any skilled trade, like an accountant or doctor or lawyer: you’ve got to put in the time.

You have to write, and keep on writing, even if what you are producing is garbage. Practice makes perfect my Mom used to say.

Of course some good teachers help. Thank god that Shirley Meier was willing to spend some time working with me. Her help was invaluable.

But you have to keep on writing, just like a long distance runner needs to keep on running.

As to Joe’s price experiment, it will be interesting to see how it turns out. I have a half baked suspicion that pricing may be related to popularity.

What I’m trying to say is that for someone like Joe who is really popular, the $2.99 price might work, because he’s selling a huge volume. Might. The only way to find out is to do some research by changing pricing, and carrying the experiment for long enough (say at least a year) to be certain.

Wayne

I think the thing you may be missing is how Dean got that “established readership.”

Your point seems to be that he has an established loyal readership because…. he has an established loyal readership. That’s circular reasoning.

The readership comes from the quality of the writing, and … the fact that time and volume are the key factors in “discoverability.”

Write a lot over a long period of time, and you will have your own established loyal readership.

They have to delude themselves into believing learning is easier than it is — because if they knew how much time, effort and energy it was going to take, they’d throw themselves off a bridge.

Later on, when the become disillusioned with the delusion, THEN maybe they can see that it’s like gaining any skilled trade, like an accountant or doctor or lawyer: you’ve got to put in the time.

Folks, in case you have noticed, this silliness of “oh, you are a big name, thus you can sell anything…” just pisses most of us off. I know I have said that before, yet it just keeps coming. It isn’t out name, it’s the billion hours of work to learn how to write and the millions and millions of words we have written that got our story-telling up to a level that sells and that people want to buy NO MATTER WHO THE NAME IS ON THE FRONT.

Sorry, just a very degrading thing and when you have spent a few million words learning your craft, to have someone put it down by saying “it’s just your name” will make you angry as well.

What makes my fiction sell under all my different pen names is that I tell a decent story and I’m still working like hell to become a better storyteller. Every day, actually.