eBook Experiment Update

I know I promised more writing theory posts, but I'm tired, and I got my "Ice House" video from England, and I spent the evening watching it.

It was good, but as with any adaptation, some things felt rushed, and others left open to interpretation. (Like in one scene, when McLoughlin insists that Catrell really is a lesbian when another cop says he has discovered that she actually sleeps around with lots of men -- is he defending her reputation? I swear he is, even though he pretends he still being a bigot.) I need to read the book before I can really comment I think.

In the meantime, I'll update you on the eBook Experiment.

The Wife of Freedom is now selling several copies a day. I don't have exact figures because Amazon put the April figures in limbo when it became May, and I'm told that they will reappear in the archive data in a few days. But I can say it's Amazon ranking these past few days beats every Agatha Christie novel I've looked at this week. And most of Donald Westlake, and the backlist of some of my favorite current authors like Archer Mayor and even Robert Crais. Yeah, those are all backlist but... Wow!

Of course, it's also priced much lower, and still has zero reviews or ratings.

The Adventure of Anna the Great has sold a few copies, like WoF did at first. I have done even less to promote it, although I'll fix that later.

I am considering putting my Mick and Casey mysteries up - even the novel. I was going to save all real mysteries for marketing in traditional publishing, but the more I see going on, the more concerned I am that things are changing too fast. I don't want to sign any first contract in this climate. Not until standards for erights and prices shake out. I don't think that will be long, but it makes me hesitate.

I'm wondering if Mick and Casey might serve not only as something that seems really suited for the current ebook market, but also as a better test than the scattershot books I have been putting up.

I figure that it would be good to have some real healthy experimentation under my belt going into any negotiations I might have when I market The Man Who Did Too Much.