Another Grab Bag – and Why Facebook Disappoints

First off, the clickbait explained – Facebook. For any content provider (or at least for us writers), Facebook has become less and less useful. Oh sure, some might argue Facebook ads bring in lots of sales for them. Good for you – I haven’t seen it. I’ve tried, believe me. I’ve spent hundreds and even thousands of dollars on Facebook ads, but the return wasn’t as much as I invested. That’s bad business (for me, not for Facebook).

But the ads are only one reason Facebook leaves a sour taste in my mouth. It’s all the content I’m missing from people I elected to be my friends. That’s what irks me. That, and the pages I’ve liked that I don’t see updates from because I didn’t drill down into the menus on their page and notify Facebook that yes, I really do want to see their content. Didn’t I already do that when I clicked “like?” Stupid Facebook.

So, that segues into the reason for this blog post. Not to bitch about Facebook, but as means of me (hopefully) blogging more. Instead of posting updates only on my Facebook page, I’ll post them here on my blog. The blog posts go to Facebook (for now – I’m sure they’ll try to limit or monetize that in the future too), my website, my Twitter feed, and my blog (who knew?). Hopefully this way I can reach the extra people who are missing out on Facebook, even if it ends up being only a handful.

This wouldn’t be much of an update if that’s all I shared though, now would it? How about I share the three books that were just released under Dawn Michelle’s name (I’m on the books as an author now too). Claimed by the Dragon King (rewritten from the original release in a winter anthology), Flight of the Dragon King, and Defending the Dragon King. My wife and I teamed up on those books (part of an ongoing series called The Continuum) creatively, so I earned partial credit. They were released last week and are available all over the place (see below for links).

I also JUST clicked the submit button on my latest project, a book called Symbols inspired by my recent vacation in Silver Lake. It’s a bit different from what I usually do – this is a supernatural thriller / horror story. I admit, I was worried I’d lost my way at one point, but then everything came in together for a beautiful ending that I’m still thrilled about. Then again, it’s not uncommon (for me, at least) to start to wonder if I can really pull together everything I’ve been working on in a book and bring it to a proper close. No links for that one yet, but hopefully tomorrow I can share them.

So, until I get around to that, go check out The Continuum books!

 

Claimed by the Dragon King	Flight of the Dragon King	Defending the Dragon King
Amazon Amazon UK Everyone Else	Amazon Amazon UK Everyone Else	Amazon Amazon UK Everyone Else

 

To learn more about Jason Halstead visit his website to read about him, sign up for his newsletter, or check out some free samples of his books at http://www.booksbyjason.com.

Look Ma, New Ads!

Continuing the website rebuild project I’ve added a section on the bottom left. I forget what I called it, but it’s under my newsletter signup form. The content of this section is a single ad chosen randomly among the ads I have on file. So far I’ve got four, one for my wife, a couple of other authors, and another to a new website put up to showcase free reads on the Kindle.

My plan? Millions of dollars in advertising revenue, of course! Okay, maybe not. In fact, I’m not charging a damn thing for this. Stupid? Maybe, but I don’t figure I can justify charging until I know if it does any good. So far the results are disappointing, but I am tracking the number of displays and number of clicks. Then, if things do eventually start working out, I may dig deeper into monetizing it.

But how? Am I going to be one of THOSE guys that charges for ad space? Maybe…but probably not. I’d rather go with an affiliate account and spare my fellow starving writers. That and I have this annoying habit of trying to help people. Sure, my ulterior motive is that if they succeed I can ride their coat tails into greatness, but so far I remain firmly entrenched in the helping others mode.

This experiment did get me thinking though. What other web pages can I build up to help myself and others? The http://www.readfantasy.org ad I added last night really got me thinking. Except that’s already been done now, so what else can I do? Happily taking ideas if anybody has them.

And yes, I need to build up a website for Dawn Michelle too, but that’s going to take a little more time and effort. Meanwhile I’ve still got to write. Rise of the Serpent is coming very soon and I’m on chapter four of Out of the Dark, book two in the Dark Universe series. At this rate I should have Out of the Dark ready to go by mid to late March, as long as I can do my part and my editor and cover artist are available.

To learn more about Jason Halstead visit his website to read about him, sign up for his newsletter, or check out some free samples of his books at http://www.booksbyjason.com.