Pricing a novel at $2.99 is painful. Even if every one of my Facebook friends purchased 10 copies, I still wouldn’t break even… even if I assign a zero dollar value to the hours I spent bringing Thief in Long Shadow to life.

But the way I’m looking at it? I need to beg, borrow or steal a bit of mind/market share of the reading public. I need to win readers one at a time, and hope that one or two or ten novels from now, those same readers will be happy to pay $25 for a hardcover version.

Like musicians making a living from concert proceeds rather than royalties from album sales… I need to keep writing, keep producing and maybe (if I’m lucky, and sufficiently persistent) I might be able to make a living doing what I love.

I’m full of trepidation, but also excited. The work that John Galati of Weapons Grade Creative did for the book cover turned out well; the title treatment alone wound up being worth the investment (said the creative director in me.) I’m trying to keep my expectations in check vis-a-vis book sales. I’m going to be offering Thief in Long Shadow for a low price (not more than $2.99) and hoping the cover art entices people to give “Thief” a try. I can’t worry about it too much; I’ve got a novel to revise and another to draft.

Cover Art, Thief in Long Shadow