Video Games are Real

Category: Murmurs: Gathered Stories Vol. One

  • The Second Conducting: What is the Value of a Goodreads.com book giveaway? 84% had never heard of me. 34% plan on reading my books.

    The Second Conducting: What is the Value of a Goodreads.com book giveaway? 84% had never heard of me. 34% plan on reading my books.

    Does giving away your books lead to more readers, and in turn, more fans?

    A few weeks ago I conducted a pretty in-depth study regarding the effectiveness of a Goodreads.com book giveaway in which I found that 93% of entrants had never heard of me and 88% planned on reading my books. Couple that with 51% of entrants signing up for my email newsletter, and the giveaway was well worth the two books I sacrificed.

    Science must be repeatable, right? A couple of weeks ago I ended yet another giveaway.

    The Setup

    I listed a 2 copy giveaway for I Didn’t Mean to be Kevin to take place between 3/14/2012 and 3/31/2012. During this time the giveaway received a total of 378 entries. After the giveaway was closed for entries, I sent a 9 yes/no question questionnaire to 222 entrants. 156 entrants could not be sent the questionnaire, either because I know them personally or because they entered the previous giveaway. I figured sending to these 156 entrants might spoil the results. The questionnaire contained the following questions:

    • Had you heard of author Caleb J. Ross before this Goodreads.com giveaway?
    • Had you entered a Goodreads Giveaway for a Caleb J. Ross book before?
    • Had you heard of the book I Didn’t Mean to be Kevin before this Goodreads.com giveaway?
    • Do you intend to purchase I Didn’t Mean to be Kevin in the future?
    • Do you intend to read I Didn’t Mean to be Kevin in the future?
    • Do you intend to read any other books by author Caleb J. Ross?
    • Do you plan to connect with author Caleb J. Ross on social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, and Google+?
    • If Caleb J. Ross were to visit your city/town for a reading, would you consider attending?
    • Did you answer these questions honestly?

    The Results of my Goodreads.com Giveaway

    • 84% of non-winning entrants had never heard of me before this contest. Translation: I’m speaking to an audience who might not otherwise have heard me. This is down from 93% from my initial giveaway. Am I becoming more popular among readers?
    • 86% of non-winning entrants had never heard of I Didn’t Mean to be Kevin before the contest.
    • 24% of non-winning entrants said they planned on purchasing the book, even though they didn’t win. This is a strange percentage when compared to the 8% of people who intend to read the book. This number is down significantly from the previous giveaway, I assume because of the addition of the “Not Sure” option into this recent questionnaire, which accounted for 67% of the entries.
    • 34% of non-winning entrants intend to read other books by me. This is a strong number, especially when compared to the 86% of entrants who had never even heard of me. Also, keep in mind the “Not Sure” option which made up 65% of responses.
    • 19% of non-winning respondents plan to connect with me on social networks. Not sure: 57%
    • 78% of non-winning respondents would come to a reading event if I were to visit their town. Not Sure: 19%

     Additional Results Not Included in the Chart Above

    • 62% of non-winning respondents signed up for my Email is Dead email newsletter (not included in the chart above). This is up from 51% from the previous giveaway. I credit a couple of things to this increase: 1) the newsletter purpose was spelled out more explicitly this time around. 2) I gave the questionnaire takers the choice of receiving newsletters for readers, one for authors, or one for both (as opposed to offering just a single non-descript newsletter option). Transparency about the content of these emails I feel made people more comfortable with signing up.
    • 26% of non-winning respondents left additional comments. New to this most recently giveaway, I included the option for the takers to provide feedback in a comments section. Generally speaking they were great comments, most of which I responded back to directly.
    • 31% of entrants for I Didn’t Mean to be Kevin also entered the As a Machine and Parts giveaway. This could mean they really liked my book idea and was inspired for another try, or it could mean they are serial giveaway-enterers.
    • The incentive to complete the questionnaire was free ebook copies of my story collections Charactered Pieces: stories and Murmurs: Gathered Stories Vol. One. 31% of entrants downloaded at least one copy of the books. Either people love filling out surveys or they’ve simply forgotten to download the books.

    Why so effective?

    The response-rate for the survey was an amazing 41% (compared to 29% for the previous giveaway. I wonder why). The industry open-rate for Art/Artist newsletters is 17.54% [1]. This isn’t exactly a parallel comparison, as open-rate is not the same as response-rate, but it’s a close enough comparison to provide some valuable insight. The response rate is also likely inflated because of the following factors (these are the same factors as the previous giveaway, so if you’ve read those, you’ve read these):

    • The entrants were already “in the sales funnel” in that they had already reached out with an interest in my book. In other words, I’m not blindly sending the survey to readers. I’m instead sending the survey to interested readers.
    • It’s possible that users may have only considered certain actions because the survey included them (connecting on social networks, for example). Would the respondents have connected with me on social networks had they not been introduced to the idea by way of the survey itself? Possibly not.
    • I promised free ebook downloads to all respondents. Obviously, free books must have a lot to do with the high response rate.
    • My communication was very sales averse. I approached giveaway entrants with respect. Truthfully, I am a naturally respectful guy, so I just spoke the way I would normally speak.
    • The survey was incredibly simple. 11 questions with 9 of them being yes/no questions.

    What are your thoughts? Have you conducted a similar survey? What did your results indicate?

  • New review of Murmurs: “If another writer tells stories quite like this, I do know know of him”

    New review of Murmurs: “If another writer tells stories quite like this, I do know know of him”

    A beautiful few words from reader Frank Edler:

    “These are fairly short bursts of that unique domestic fiction that Ross not only has a penchant for writing but also executes to a level that could earn him the moniker of ‘Father of Domestic Fiction’. If another writer tells stories quite like this, I do know know of him or her…Once again I walk away from another of Caleb J. Ross’ work with an uneasy feeling. ..The author is brilliant at looking at a tender moment and peeling away the layers to reveal the disturbing grotesque. We connect with it because under all our facades lies a bit of that same ugliness to some degree or another.

    I must now venture forth into his longer works, STRANGER WILL and I DIDN’T MEAN TO BE KEVIN….I can not wait to have my emotions unsettled a little bit more.”

    Read the full review here.

  • What is the value of a Goodreads.com book Giveaway? 93% of entrants had never heard of me. 88% plan on reading my books.

    What is the value of a Goodreads.com book Giveaway? 93% of entrants had never heard of me. 88% plan on reading my books.

    Does giving away your books lead to more readers, and in turn, more fans?

    I’ve long read of the marketing effectiveness of giving away books using the Giveaways option at Goodreads.com. And though I’ve conducted one giveaway in the past (for Stranger Will) I’ve not yet been able to confidently attribute any gains in readership or sales due to that giveaway. With this attribution gap in mind, I set out to conduct a giveaway for  As a Machine and Parts, that would allow me to more precisely measure the value of a Goodreads.com user. My conclusion: a Goodreads.com user stands a great chance of becoming a reader.

    The setup

    I listed a 2 copy giveaway for As a Machine and Parts to take place between 2/3/2012 and 2/15/2012. During this time the giveaway received a total of 398 entries. After the giveaway was closed for entries, I followed up with all but 46 entrants (because I either knew them personally, which could skew the results, or the user was not accepting personal messages) with a survey of 8 simple yes/no questions that touch on topics such as prior recognition, intent to read/buy my books, intent to connect on social networks, and the desire to connect with me, as an author, in real life. The actual questions asked in the survey include:

    • Had you heard of author Caleb J. Ross before this Goodreads.com giveaway?
    • Had you heard of the book As a Machine and Parts before this Goodreads.com giveaway?
    • Do you intend to purchase As a Machine and Parts in the future?
    • Do you intend to read As a Machine and Parts in the future?
    • Do you intend to read any other books by author Caleb J. Ross?
    • Do you plan to connect with author Caleb J. Ross on social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, and Google+?
    • If Caleb J. Ross were to visit your city/town for a reading, would you consider attending?
    • Would you like to subscribe to the Caleb J. Ross newsletter?

    The results of my Goodreads.com giveaway

    • 93% of non-winning entrants had never heard of me before this contest. Translation: I’m speaking to an audience who might not otherwise have heard me.
    • 94% of non-winning entrants had never heard of As a Machine and Parts before the contest.
    • 36% of non-winning entrants said they planned on purchasing the book, even though they didn’t win. This is a strange percentage when compared to the 90% of people who intend to read the book. I suppose most readers will look to their library for this book?
    • 88% of non-winning entrants intend to read other books by me. This is an incredibly huge number, especially when compared to the 94% of entrants who had never even heard of me.
    • 37% of non-winning respondents plan to connect with me on social networks
    • 92% of non-winning respondents would come to a reading event if I were to visit their town.
    • 51% of non-winning respondents signed up for my Email is Dead email newsletter. Though I’m convinced that an email newsletter can offer what RSS feeds and social statuses don’t offer more effectively, I do believe that newsletters play a role in summarizing valuable content (which was affirmed with an earlier Facebook poll conducted on this very topic).
    • 38% of non-winning respondents added As a Machine and Parts to one of their Goodreads.com bookshelves
    • 25% of non-winning respondents downloaded Charactered Pieces
    • 25% of non-winning respondents downloaded Murmurs: Gathered Stories Vol. One downloaded

    Additional Goodreads.com giveaway results not included in the chart above

    • 51% of non-winning respondents signed up for my Email is Dead email newsletter. Though I’m convinced that an email newsletter can offer what RSS feeds and social statuses don’t offer more effectively, I do believe that newsletters play a role in summarizing valuable content (which was affirmed with an earlier Facebook poll conducted on this very topic).
    • 38% of non-winning respondents added As a Machine and Parts to one of their Goodreads.com bookshelves

    How many people actually downloaded the free ebooks?

    These percentages are interesting because it means that 75% of people who filled out the survey did not download either of the free ebooks. Either people love filling out surveys or they’ve simply forgotten to download the books.

    • 4% of non-winning respondents added Charactered Pieces (one of the free ebooks given away to survey respondents) to one of their Goodreads.com bookshelves
    • 1% of non-winning respondents added Murmurs: Gathered Stories Vol. One (one of the free ebooks given away to survey respondents) to one of their Goodreads.com bookshelves

    These percentages, when compared to the download percentages above, are interesting as they may elude to a few possibilities: 1) Goodreads.com users may be averse to adding ebooks to reading lists, 2) Goodreads.com users may not always add a book to their lists as soon as they receive the book; perhaps they wait until they actually begin reading it, 3) something else entirely. This seems too big of a discrepancy to ignore, so if anyone has any thoughts, please let me know.

    Why do I think my survey was effective? OR Here Come the Caveats.

    The response-rate for the survey was an amazing 29%. The industry open-rate for Art/Artist newsletters is 17.54% [1]According to Mailchimp. This isn’t exactly a parallel comparison, as open-rate is not the same as response-rate, but it’s a close enough comparison to provide some valuable insight. The response rate is also likely inflated because of the following factors:

    • The entrants were already “in the sales funnel” in that they had already reached out with an interest in my book. In other words, I’m not blindly sending the survey to readers. I’m instead sending the survey to interested readers.
    • I allowed only yes/no answers, leaving out “uncertain” responses. In hindsight, I probably should have provided an “uncertain” response (and perhaps a comments section for each answer).
    • It’s possible that users may have only considered certain actions because the survey included them (connecting on social networks, for example). Would the respondents have connected with me on social networks had they not been introduced to the idea by way of the survey itself? Possibly not.
    • I promised free ebook downloads to all respondents. Obviously, free books must have a lot to do with the high response rate.
    • My communication was very sales averse. I approached giveaway entrants with respect. Truthfully, I am a naturally respectful guy, so I just spoke the way I would normally speak.
    • The survey was incredibly simple. 12 questions with 9 of them being yes/no questions.

    What are your thoughts? Have you conducted a similar survey? What did your results indicate?

    Footnotes

    Footnotes
    ↑1 According to Mailchimp
  • 99 cents, now through January 17th, Charactered Pieces and Murmurs.

    99 cents, now through January 17th, Charactered Pieces and Murmurs.

    All eBook versions of either Charactered Pieces or Murmurs: Gathered Stories Vol. One are only $0.99 from now through January 17th. Why January 17th? Because that is the official release date for my newest novel, I Didn’t Mean to be Kevin.

    Just click a link below to go either directly to the Amazon Kindle store or to the Smashwords pages where other formats can be purchased (including NOOK, Sony, Kobo, iBooks, etc.)

    Please, spread the word if you are willing and able. This is a damn fine deal, I must say, and is a great opportunity to whet your appetite for the upcoming I Didn’t Mean to be Kevin.

    [box title=”Charactered Pieces” color=”#000″]

    Amazon Kindle $0.99

    Smashwords $0.99
    [/box]

    [box title=”Murmurs” color=”#000″]

    Amazon Kindle $0.99

    Smashwords $0.99
    [/box]

  • I lost $ 75.48 on a Facebook ad campaign, and you can too! -OR- Can Facebook ads sell books? Quick answer: no. Long answer: noooooooooooooooo.

    I lost $ 75.48 on a Facebook ad campaign, and you can too! -OR- Can Facebook ads sell books? Quick answer: no. Long answer: noooooooooooooooo.

    (part of my ongoing Search Engine Optimization for Authors series[1]I understand that paid search ads aren’t traditionally umbrellaed under search engine optimization. However, because tracking and optimization is involved, I’m including it in the series)

    Part of being a great author-marketer is knowing how to filter promotion time wastes from time worthwhiles. Some options are simple to filter. “Should I do a Goodreads.com giveaway to attract potential readers?” Yes (all it costs is the price of a few copies of a book to receive interest from hundreds of readers). “Should I rent a billboard for a month?” No (billboards offer either 1) travel-oriented products/services or 2) products with a high profit margin). Some options aren’t so simple. And in the case of the Facebook ad, prominence adds to the should I or shouldn’t I debate. Well, I’m here to help. (more…)

    Footnotes

    Footnotes
    ↑1 I understand that paid search ads aren’t traditionally umbrellaed under search engine optimization. However, because tracking and optimization is involved, I’m including it in the series

  • A selection of my strangest gifts ever given

    I write domestic grotesque fiction, which is a term I think I made up, but is quite suiting to the themes and content of my stories and books. The most famous short story that I think would fit into the domestic grotesque genre is “Good Country People” by Flannery O’Conner (visualized quite creepily in this short film from the 1960s and quite cheesily in this student clip). Take a family situation—usually some sort of broken family dynamic—mix in something grotesque—possibly morbid but not necessarily—and you’ve probably got domestic grotesque.

    As you can imagine, Christmas is a fun time for my family.

    I’ve given quite a few quirky gifts. Though none could be tagged as grotesque, they are representative of the type of mind that would write a domestic grotesque story, I think. Tis the season and all that, so I figured I would share a few that I’ve so graciously given over the years.

    Kangaroo Scrotum change purse

    Lucky Recipient: uncle

    Yep, it’s a real kangaroo scrotum. I bought one for myself years ago and still use it to this day. Quite durable, those marsupial nut sacks.

    Remote Triggered Farting Bear

    Lucky recipient: sister

    Elegantly simple. Place bear near unsuspecting grandmother. Press remote button. Watch rest of family pretend to ignore what they assume is just a more audible version of what grandma does all the time.

    Huggable Swearing Bear

    Lucky recipient: sister

    Elegantly simple. Place bear near unsuspecting grandmother. Tell grandmother to hug bear. Watch rest of family pretend not to be embarrassed as we hear an audible version of what grandma is thinking all the time.

    Zebra/Tiger Table

    Lucky recipient: mother.

    My mother refused to tell me what she wanted for Christmas, so I taught her a lesson by giving her a bunch of stupid crap. This table is probably the stupidest. Lesson learned, mom. I actually gave a zebra table (sans the tiger), but I couldn’t find a picture of it anywhere online. Though I think I like this one better. 2011 gift idea!
     

    Bath towel with my giant face on it

    Lucky recipient: mother

    I specifically made sure to call this gift a bath towel, rather than a beach towel or dish towel, so as to enhance the creepy factor. That face is actual size…if my face suffered from Elephantiasis. that face is actually about the size of a couch cushion. Bonus funny: I’m my mother’s only son.
     

    Way-too-old child footprints

    Luck recipient: mother

    You remember those cute infant-to-toddler foot print pictures that children often make for their parents. This is kinda like that except instead of ohhh-ing and awwww-ing there was much ewwww-ing and therapist calling. I actually think this was a Mother’s Day gift. Either way, ha!

    Might I recommend you do the same? Creep out your family by gifting one of the items above. Or, better yet, mix in some bookage and give a copy of one of my books. Click below to go to heaven.

  • Preorders are now being accepted for As a Machine and Parts. Preorders will be SIGNED.

    I am so incredibly thrilled to announce that my newest book, As a Machine and Parts, is now available for preorder. Simply click over to the Aqueous Books website to order. ALL PREORDERS WILL BE SIGNED. Unfortunately, they will be signed by me. I tried to reanimate Christopher Reeves or get Stephen Hawking here to do the signing–as that would not only be incredible, but would play nicely into the man/machine hybrid themes of the book–but for some reason I couldn’t get their people to connect with my people. Maybe their people are dead and/or paralyzed, too.

    There are a few amazing deals going on that make preordering even more worth your time and money.

    1. If you preorder As a Machine and Parts (or buy any of my books, actually) you will get a copy of my newest short story collection, Murmurs: Gathered Stories Vol. One for FREE! Click here for details.
    2. Word on the street is that Aqueous Books will be running a Black Friday sale (not what you think, fans of slavery) where any 2 Aqueous Books titles can be had for a measly $20. Check out the Aqueous Books store page for details. My recommendation would be pair As a Machine and Parts with Aaron Polson’s The Saints are Dead. It’s a damn fine read.
    3. You can actually combine the two offers above and still get Murmurs for free.

    If you don’t order the book, you are basically calling these people liars:

    There was once a Marvel comic book called “What if…” and in it Uatu the Watcher, a bald sage-like character with an enormous head spun speculative tales of alternative versions of the Marvel Universe you thought you knew. With As a Machine & Parts Caleb J. Ross continues to stake his claim as his generation’s Watcher, which should not be construed as a commentary on his beautiful, yet clearly fake head of hair, but instead as an observation about the scope of his imagination and his ongoing vision of what the world can be, might be and just maybe will be if Ross has anything to say about it.

    —Ben Tanzer, author of Most Likely You Go Your Way and I’ll Go Mine

    As a Machine and Parts is equal parts hilarious, absurd and touching. It’s the kind of book that after reading makes you say, ‘Damn, why didn’t I think of that first?’ only to realize you couldn’t have done it so well. Wildly inventive without collapsing under the weight of its own genius, As a Machine and Parts proves that Caleb J. Ross is one of the most exciting young authors writing today.

    —Nik Korpon, author of Stay God and Old Ghosts