Thord D. Hedengren

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Tag: self-publishing

  • Ashen Sky launches this Wednesday

    Ashen Sky launches this Wednesday

    I’m happy to announce that Ashen Sky, my post-apocalyptic novella in three parts, is launching this Wednesday (November 11, 2015). Ashen Sky is $2.99 (or your local equivalent), with your country’s VAT added. Don’t get me started on international VAT and the clusterfuck that is, that’s a topic for another time.

    Back to Ashen Sky! From the (purely fictional) digital book jacket:

    The gray sky looms over the broken remains of our world. Life is hard for Dirk, who’s stumbling through the wasteland. Demon grass is cutting him, and acid rain is burning his skin. Out here, far from his family, Dirk makes acquaintances that lead him upon a path he didn’t know he yearned for.

    Ashen Sky is a novella in three parts, set in a post-apocalyptic world where the low-ceilinged gray sky blocks out the sun and the stars.

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  • The Writer's iPad, One Week Later

    What a week.

    Around this time last week I unleashed The Writer’s iPad upon the world. People seem to like it, although I haven’t been able to follow up on that as much as I would’ve liked. At the very least, I am very happy with getting some nice exposure from the likes of Minimal Mac and Tools & Toys, as well as several nice tweets. There’s been some Swedish pieces about the ebook too, but since most of you won’t understand much of those I’ll let them be for the time being.

    Alexander at Odd Alice did the cover
    Alexander at Odd Alice did the cover

    All and all, I’m really happy with The Writer’s iPad thus far. The project is far from laid to rest though, as I have yet to get the ebook up on iBooks Store. The planned method of getting it there turned out to make the ePub look like crap, and that’s a shame since The Writer’s iPad got the professional layout treatment from my friend and colleague Alexander at Odd Alice. I won’t put a sub-par version up on iBooks Store when there is a perfectly good ePub available in the package that you get when buying The Writer’s iPad from yours truly. This is a priority come next week – The Writer’s iPad will hit the iBooks Store, I promise you that. For now, if you can’t wait, just buy the package from me (for $3,99), the ePub looks and works great in iBooks.

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  • The Day When Nothing Worked

    I had five things to do today.

    1. Test a simple API script on a client server, and report on the findings to a client. This should’ve taken 30 minutes or so.
    2. Tweak a search page for a client, and let them test it thoroughly. This was estimated to take up to an hour.
    3. Launch the new version of TDH.me.
    4. Launch The Writer’s iPad, on a store of my own as well as on Amazon. Possibly submit the ebook to other retailers as well.
    5. Celebrate with the bubbly stuff.

    Things didn’t quite work out the way I planned.

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  • The problem with self-publishing

    I’ve said it before, but in case you’re not in my fanclub of Extremely Dedicated Readers & Stalkers of TDH here’s a reminder: I’ll self-publish a few books this year. Ebooks at that, although I’ll most likely offer the books as dead tree copies as well. I’m thrilled about this, and I’m taking it seriously. That means paying for a professional editor and getting unique cover art, no stock images for me thanl you very much. I have no doubt in my mind that the amount of money this will cost me will be earned, so I have no problem hiring professionals.

    I will tell you this: I have one major issue with self-publishing.

    It’s not the startup cost, or the technical aspect (hey, I used to publish books and magazines when POD was an acronym most people didn’t know) even. It’s not the royalty cut withh Amazon, Apple or any other outlet of ebooks, and it’s not the lack of an advance.

    No, it’s the fact that I’m supposed to sell myself.

    As in me, selling myself, promoting myself, explaining to people how extremely excellent I am and how happy they should be that I acknowledge their existence. Well, maybe not that last part.

    Don’t get me wrong, I have faith in what I do, and I don’t doubt my talents (any more than I should) or am full of illusions for that matter. I can tell when I’m good, and when I’m good I’m pretty damn good, but that’s not it. I’m just not comfortable with selling myself, or anything else for that matter.

    Usually my publisher does this. When I’m self-publishing I’m expecting to do it on my own.

    This is crazy. I don’t cut my own hair, my hairdresser does that. He won’t tell me how to build a website using WordPress. We’re all good at different things, and since I’m a writer I should write, right?

    But when I’m self-publishing I’m supposed to sell as well.

    This is my main gripe with self-publishing and I’m not at all looking forward to promoting myself. I might in fact end up hiring someone to do that as well, who knows. Either way, it will be interesting to give this a go, and