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Changing Mental Gears: Launching Direct
In Which the Jaguar Muses About Business Stuff
August 21, 2024

           It’s been a while since I did a business post, so here we go! and it’s about my decision this year to shift focus to direct sales. I’m not sure I ever explained that decision fully, so let’s jump back in time to Jan/Feb or so. The idea of direct sales had been floating in my head—by most authors standards, I was halfway there with my patreon-locals/etsy/kickstarter constellation. I’d been resisting the idea of focusing and consolidating my efforts though, because I was nervous about the set-up.

            Listening to Joanna Penn’s podcast is my Monday ritual when I’m commuting, and I’ve been going through the backlog, which is how I ran into to this episode with Russell Nohelty, recorded in late 2023. And he said something that went through me like a lance:

Catalog sales are very different to direct-to-customer sales. When I say catalog sales, Amazon is a catalog, Sears is a catalog. So if you remember actually getting—like I'm old enough to actually remember getting the Sears catalog, the JCPenney catalog, and the Macy's catalogs. And when you're flipping through, the goal of the catalog is to be just like the other things, like to be the blue shirt that they want. They've already curated that Macy's can curate for them, and so whatever Macy's wants, like says that they should buy, that's what they're looking at.

           That's how Amazon sales works. That's one of the reasons why people say every paranormal romance should look the same, everything with the same subgenre should look the same. It's because when people are looking through the catalogue of Amazon books, they are picking the one that looks most like the one that they have already read.

           When you're talking about direct sales, it's the opposite. It's really people who are trying to find a unique and different experience.

            I thought: that’s me. That’s why I keep floundering. I’m so stubbornly unwilling to look like everything else. The thing that people keep telling me about my work is that it’s not like other things. That’s WHY THEY LIKE IT.

            So at that point, everything else crystallized: why I’ve always had more success with more personal approaches, why I’ve always done better when I’m interacting with my audience in some form (whether it’s Mucks or Livejournal or Discord or streaming), why I love the Kickstarter experience and why it has always felt natural to crowdfund my efforts, even before crowdfunding was formalized by corporations that wanted to streamline the process.

            After that, it was obvious that I needed to launch myself off the cliff and trust the wings would unfurl before I discovered there was a bottom to the abyss. That’s when I started putting my head down into figuring out the Shopify store…which I started with in March! And didn’t launch until June! So it was a lot of effort and a significant learning curve, but I think I’m approaching happy with where it’s at. It wants more effort, but it’s already functional and earning money, and that’s Minimum Viable Product right there.

            But that brought me to the second part of the equation which was to consider whether my existing way of launching books rewarded that personal and interactive connection, or whether it was a relic of the retail strategy (you can guess the answer there). I asked then, ‘what does a direct-sales-focused launch strategy look like?’ And that’s how I fumbled onto what I’m doing right now, with FireBorn’s Legacy. I got part of it right: I am making the launch a fun event everyone can participate in and feel excited about helping with; and I’m making special editions that will only be available to people who buy direct from me. But I messed up the timeline; I wanted the Kickstarter version to be in people’s hands before the retail launch so they would be in the know before everyone else. But I didn’t push the retail preorder date out far enough, and when I ran into unexpected delays perfecting the hardcover, I couldn’t compensate. Fortunately the KS finishes the day of the retail drop, so at least people won’t get it later! And it's still an author edition with art, so it'll still be special.

            So some things go through my mind as I learn from my first attempt to do this:

  • First, my old way of launching was more efficient from a time perspective: when the book was done, I put it up for sale, emailed people a few times, and was already moving on. This kept finished projects from taking up my attention, but it also meant less money, less fun, less visibility, and less reward for my long-term fans, some of whom have been with me for decades. If I visualized my production schedule as a pipeline, then it was a long period for production, a very narrow one for preparation-to-market, and then a nearly nonexistent period for launch and distribution. Very lopsided!
  • Second, granting that I want to continue doing these audience-first launches, I need to plan them much farther out. That means I might finish a book and then have to sit on it for a few months while I prepare all the various launch activities, or (better), I start building up a backlog. The goal would be there’s always a book in some stage of the pipeline, and those pipelines are roughly equal in length: production->prep->launch->distribution.
  • But third, this seems like a sane way to run things; it means my fans can expect and plan for projects more than a few weeks in advance. I know many of them will appreciate that because I’ve been told I’m too precipitous before and will probably be told I’m too precipitous again until I get this figured out.😅

            My immediate goal, then, is to get FireBorn’s Legacy fulfilled (probably wrapping up in late October/early November, since the hardcovers take a long time to produce) and do another test project to figure out how to better manage my timelines. The most likely thing is an art book for the Blood Ladders trilogy, because it’s mostly done already and it’s just a matter of finishing and prototyping. That’ll give me a not-fiction project to continue finetuning my production processes while I finish up at least one or two novels and get them ready for next year.

            As usual, I’m grateful to all of you for your patience while I learn radically new things! In the past five months I’ve tackled everything from hardcover layout (not minor!) to international shipping set-up to backend sales triggers/delivery systems. It has not been boring!

            All very well and good, Jaguar… show me the shinies! Okay. How about some test layouts for the art book?

Color Layout
Color Layout

 

Some Sketches
Some Sketches

           I'm excited about this one! I have so much art! I can put in the conlang stuff! There will be fancy coated paper! I'll get practice doing art books, and I want to do more art books!

           But yes, that's where I'm at. Learning a lot! Enjoying myself more than I expected! I hope you are too.

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I was in a fine mood that evening, when I followed the scent of roasted meat to the cheldzan, the only building large enough for both clans to congregate… and even then, a handful of people had spilled from its entrance onto the road, where a second stewpot was sending delectable scents toward the lavender sky. I stopped beside it to receive a bowl and a flatbread scoop and wandered among the Jokka, listening to various conversations. A good half of the people there were eperu, which surprised me; somehow I thought of the third sex as the least populous. If I asked Winoña, would I discover that she’d counted all the sexes in the clans she’d met? I smiled.

The Jokka of Clan Edla recognized me, and wanted to talk—about injuries and sickness, yes, but also about recoveries and births—so the sky had set out stars before I finally made my way to the back of the cheldzan, where I found Daridil, Seper, and Koish in consultation. The lore-knower of Clan Edla, a spindly eperu named Dlona, made up the fourth in their discussion, and Winoña was listening behind the counter, wiping bowls.

“We are blessed here,” Daridil said. “Game is plentiful… the forest gives both fish and beasts, and water is for the taking. I once questioned the wisdom of staying, but the gods have made their will clear.”

“There’s enough for your clan,” Koish allowed. “I fear what would happen if we overburdened the area. The stories say that when we linger, we use up the sap of the land.”

“That won’t happen here,” Seper said. “We will be good stewards.”

“Do you even know what that will entail?” Koish said. “If you have too many mouths to feed….”

“Then, we find another way,” Daridil said.

“Probably by selling our excess members to clans who are failing,” Seper said briskly. “You know as well as we do, ke Koish, that many clans are hurting for labor and breeders. Particularly breeders. The nomadic ways are hard on us.”

Behind Koish, Dlona murmured, “Ke Seper has this right.”

Joining them, I said, “Are you trying to talk them into staying?” I smiled at Koish. “You know they have to make their argument.”

“They’re eloquent,” Koish said. “And if it were up to the clan, I’d probably have to move into that empty building tomorrow. But I have to do what’s right for them, whether it’s popular or not. And I’m not convinced. Although, I’ve heard something about a shrine?”

Daridil’s ears pricked. “Yes. To honor the gods and thank them for the gift of this place.”

“You can’t buy the favor of the gods,” Dlona said.

“Of course not,” Daridil said. “One honors the gods, one does not bribe them.”

“I like the idea.” Koish leaned over the counter and plunked his clay cup on it. “Give me a refill, ke anadi, and then Daridil and I will go talk. About fate and food, among other things.”

Winoña chuckled and filled the cup from a leather bag. “And so much useful discussion will be had after your… third, I believe? Cup of this?”

Koish snorted. “I brew my own spirits, ke Winoña. Your mild-tempered spirits will have to work harder to cloud my thoughts.” Raising his new serving, he gestured toward the door. “Daridil?”

“With you, ke emodo.”

Dlona watched them go with a long face, ears twitched backward. Then it sighed. “Do you have a spare cup, ke anadi? I think I may need it.”

“Trouble?” I asked.

The eperu eyed me, dour. “Everything under the sun and stars is trouble. It’s just a matter of how it arrives.”

Seper chuckled. “I’ll enjoy having you among us for the haul, Dlona.”

I looked from one to the other and canted my head. “It didn’t sound like Koish had made a decision.”

“Koish will make the right choice for the breeders, as he should,” Dlona said. “And the right choice is finding out if they do better here than abroad. And we know how they do abroad, so all that’s left is to discover how they do in one place. But I won’t take our wagon apart. In the case that we might need it.”

“I wouldn’t suggest anything else,” Seper said. “Let me take you to the new eperu. You’ll want to meet them. Then we can discuss the buildings, and our plans for the granary.”

Dlona’s eyes sharpened. “A granary, is it? Is that what the bricks are for?”

“Yes,” Seper said.

The other eperu grinned, showing blunted teeth. “Is it round?”

Seper laughed. “Yes, like in the stories. As you could probably tell me.” It canted its head. “You can tell me, can’t you? Nudet lost its lore-knower before it could pass on all that it knew to me….”

“We should write those things down from now on,” Winoña interrupted, earning stares from all of us. “We can,” she said. “We don’t need to be limited to tallies on knots, which makes sense for roving clans that can’t store anything permanently. We have space here to keep records. We should keep records.”

“On what, though?” Dlona asked, frowning… but not objecting. Thinking, from its expression.

“Leaves?” Seper said. “Bark, maybe?”

“The stories speak of clay tablets….” Dlona plucked at its braided arm ruffs, as if counting knots on a tally blanket. "They also speak of paper, but not how it was made.”

“Clay we have in plenty,” Seper said.

“We should make clay tablets, then,” Winoña said. “So that what happened to Nudet doesn’t happen again.”

Seper’s grin had a challenging air. “And will you have us carve you out a new cavern to keep these clay tablets in?”

“Why not?” Her chin rose. “I already have to keep records to run a cheldzan and a storeroom. Or haven’t you noticed me using paint on the walls for it?”

“I haven’t,” I said, startled.

Seper chuckled. “Have her show you, Kediil. Dlona, if you like? We’ll make the way easy for ke Koish.”

“By all means, introduce me. You’ve hired some new eperu since Clan Edla came through last.”

They departed, leaving me with a spinning head. “That is what it looks like, isn’t it? Koish doesn’t think he’s made a decision, but he has.” I thought of his concerns. “Or maybe he’s just saying what we want to hear?”

“I doubt it.”

Did he even know he’d changed his mind? I rubbed my brow. “Do things always happen that quickly?”

“When they do,” Winoña said, “it’s usually because the conditions favorable to those changes were already developing, unseen.” She threaded her fingers together and rested her chin on them, smiling up at me. “You have that look again, like I’ve said something you didn’t expect and you admire me for it.”

“And if I said… yes… would you be disappointed?”

She giggled. “No! I want you to look at me like that all the time! Come here behind the counter, I’ll teach you to serve drinks.”

“Is that hard?”

“No, which means we’ll have plenty of time to enjoy one another’s company.” She glanced past me at the people crowding her hall. “Look at them, Kediil. How often have you seen so many Jokka in one place?”

“Rarely,” I said. “It’s noisy and hot.”

“But alive,” she said. “It’s so good to see so much life in one place.”

I’d expected her to laugh. But this comment, stated with such fervor, made me look again, and see, for just a moment, through her eyes. The eyes that counted and saw fewer people too often. The eyes that looked now and saw vitality and promise and hope of some different, better future.

I longed for the wind on my cheeks and the horizon before my eyes. But how much of that longing had been shaped by my desire to escape the captivity designed for me by fate, or the gods, or my family… all of them?

I stepped behind the counter and bumped her hip until she moved over. “Teach me how to pour things.”

“Is this an excuse to let me teach you something you already know?”

“Yes?”

She laughed. “Well, if you love the sound of my voice that much….”

 

***

 

I did not have to seek out Koish; he found me behind the Nudet building, settling my rikka for the night. I straightened, tucking my loosened hair back behind my shoulders, and waited.

“Derra’s caught a child.”

He didn’t need to say anything else. I knew Derra, a fragile, easily tired anadi who longed for children and had only been able to bear one so far. If Derra had conceived, Clan Edla would stay where the risks to her pregnancy could be minimized. Two anadi pregnant and another with a toddler would make traveling difficult… and, coincidentally, give Koish and Edla status in the new settlement. Fruitfulness was admired, no matter where on Ke Bakil you traveled, and clans rich in breeding anadi were granted a deference that no other Jokkad could claim.

“Will you stay?” he asked. When I hesitated, he said, “Or come back to check on Derra through her pregnancy?” I could hear his smile in the dark. “You’ll know exactly where to find us.”

“Ke emodo…” I sighed. “Yes. I’ll check on her. I won’t promise to live here, but I’ll come back from time to time.”

“Thank you. I knew you would, just as I know you understand why I’ve changed my mind.”

“We all serve the breeders,” I said, as if I had scooped the words out of Mardin’s mouth.

“Yes. Good night to you, ke anadi.”

Melon shuffled toward the end of his stall to bump my shoulder with his muzzle, and I petted it idly, watching Koish’s body until I could neither see nor hear him.

Yes, I understood. And I feared that I had my own reasons to change my mind, because I was not ready for the future. Are we ever?

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