Comments for M. E. Patterson - Author, Geek http://mepatterson.net bestselling author of Devil's Hand, a supernatural thriller; writer of fictions and web software Sun, 29 Jan 2012 11:26:19 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 Comment on Why use HAML (and SASS)? I already know HTML. by Tom Wardrop http://mepatterson.net/2010/02/why-use-haml-and-sass-i-already-know-html/#comment-961 Tom Wardrop Sun, 29 Jan 2012 11:26:19 +0000 http://blog.digimonkey.com/?p=68#comment-961 I've been using ERB since I came to the Ruby world around mid-2010. I've always been opposed to abstraction unless the benefits are significant, and the drawbacks are minimal.The biggest problem with abstraction is that it normally wastes the domain-specific knowledge you already have. A classic case is with many ORM's. I already know how to solve my problem in SQL (as does every other developer), why do I and other developers who may have to read and write this code, have to learn a new language to achieve the same result. HAML certainly has it's benefits, and it's abstraction isn't that unfamiliar to those use to HTML and CSS. It's pretty quick to pick-up. My biggest problem however is the inevitable switching between HTML and HAML. Debugging something in the browser for example, I see the HTML. If I then want to bring up the source HAML file for that HTML, I need to do more mental mapping of what I've seen in the browser, to the what I'm seeing in my code editor. Another problem is that I often whip up my concepts and designs in plain HTML and CSS, before I even go near Ruby. It's always been a simple matter of copy and paste the HTML, and then substitute any dummy data with actual dynamic data (e.g ). I fear that with HAML, the time I may save in writing HAML will be lost by the initial conversion from HTML to HAML. It is also another thing to learn for developers that wish to collaborate with you. It's for this reason I'm not sold on HAML. I'm going to stick with ERB for now I think. I’ve been using ERB since I came to the Ruby world around mid-2010. I’ve always been opposed to abstraction unless the benefits are significant, and the drawbacks are minimal.The biggest problem with abstraction is that it normally wastes the domain-specific knowledge you already have. A classic case is with many ORM’s. I already know how to solve my problem in SQL (as does every other developer), why do I and other developers who may have to read and write this code, have to learn a new language to achieve the same result.

HAML certainly has it’s benefits, and it’s abstraction isn’t that unfamiliar to those use to HTML and CSS. It’s pretty quick to pick-up. My biggest problem however is the inevitable switching between HTML and HAML. Debugging something in the browser for example, I see the HTML. If I then want to bring up the source HAML file for that HTML, I need to do more mental mapping of what I’ve seen in the browser, to the what I’m seeing in my code editor. Another problem is that I often whip up my concepts and designs in plain HTML and CSS, before I even go near Ruby. It’s always been a simple matter of copy and paste the HTML, and then substitute any dummy data with actual dynamic data (e.g ).

I fear that with HAML, the time I may save in writing HAML will be lost by the initial conversion from HTML to HAML. It is also another thing to learn for developers that wish to collaborate with you. It’s for this reason I’m not sold on HAML. I’m going to stick with ERB for now I think.

]]> Comment on How I Sold 100 eBooks in 13 Days by Connie Chyle http://mepatterson.net/2011/09/how-i-sold-100-ebooks-in-13-days/#comment-870 Connie Chyle Sun, 13 Nov 2011 01:02:11 +0000 http://blog.digimonkey.com/?p=233#comment-870 As soon as I read the blog post title I most certainly did say "how?!" lol I appreciate the tips very much as I'm working on writing a novel. So someday I may look back on your posts for guidance! =) As soon as I read the blog post title I most certainly did say “how?!” lol I appreciate the tips very much as I’m working on writing a novel. So someday I may look back on your posts for guidance! =)

]]> Comment on Résumé by Rebecca Scarberry http://mepatterson.net/resume/#comment-808 Rebecca Scarberry Sun, 30 Oct 2011 20:59:18 +0000 http://blog.digimonkey.com/?page_id=114#comment-808 Hi Matt: My company has not shown up yet & thought I would write you. You should be very proud of your accomplishmets. I am trying very hard to turn one of my short stories into a novella. Wrote a debut novel--now looking at it as a learning experience, if you know what I mean. Started another with a writing coach, who I have recently lost because he has gone back to school at age 60. The 2nd novel is really a lot of fun & will go back to it. I am to be interviewed on author, Mike Wells blog in Dec. & of course will be tweeting about that. lol Very nice knowing you in a sureal sorta way. Rebecca Scarberry (Scarberryfields on Twitter). Hi Matt: My company has not shown up yet & thought I would write you. You should be very proud of your accomplishmets. I am trying very hard to turn one of my short stories into a novella. Wrote a debut novel–now looking at it as a learning experience, if you know what I mean. Started another with a writing coach, who I have recently lost because he has gone back to school at age 60. The 2nd novel is really a lot of fun & will go back to it. I am to be interviewed on author, Mike Wells blog in Dec. & of course will be tweeting about that. lol Very nice knowing you in a sureal sorta way. Rebecca Scarberry (Scarberryfields on Twitter).

]]> Comment on How I Sold 100 eBooks in 13 Days by Emlyn Chand http://mepatterson.net/2011/09/how-i-sold-100-ebooks-in-13-days/#comment-792 Emlyn Chand Wed, 26 Oct 2011 10:21:54 +0000 http://blog.digimonkey.com/?p=233#comment-792 Thank you for this. I've been wondering how long it takes to build up sales. I too have been using PPC--Facebook, GoodReads, YouTube, AdWords, and Project Wonderful. I'm paying A LOT and not seeing very many sales from it. I've had tremendous success with GoodReads advertising (in terms of getting people to mark my book as to-read) and have gotten a fair number of likes for my book page through FB advertising. I'm about to give-up on AdWords myself. Would love to chat with you more about all this. Tweet me any time, @emlynchand President of @novelpublicity Thank you for this. I’ve been wondering how long it takes to build up sales. I too have been using PPC–Facebook, GoodReads, YouTube, AdWords, and Project Wonderful. I’m paying A LOT and not seeing very many sales from it. I’ve had tremendous success with GoodReads advertising (in terms of getting people to mark my book as to-read) and have gotten a fair number of likes for my book page through FB advertising. I’m about to give-up on AdWords myself. Would love to chat with you more about all this.

Tweet me any time,
@emlynchand
President of @novelpublicity

]]> Comment on How I Sold 100 eBooks in 13 Days by M. E. Patterson http://mepatterson.net/2011/09/how-i-sold-100-ebooks-in-13-days/#comment-716 M. E. Patterson Mon, 10 Oct 2011 00:28:22 +0000 http://blog.digimonkey.com/?p=233#comment-716 oh, and the try out these books thing is just amazon affiliates stuff. i've been running it for a while and i get a couple buys through it here and there, so it helps pay for the hosting costs of my web server. :P oh, and the try out these books thing is just amazon affiliates stuff. i’ve been running it for a while and i get a couple buys through it here and there, so it helps pay for the hosting costs of my web server. :P

]]> Comment on How I Sold 100 eBooks in 13 Days by M. E. Patterson http://mepatterson.net/2011/09/how-i-sold-100-ebooks-in-13-days/#comment-715 M. E. Patterson Mon, 10 Oct 2011 00:27:12 +0000 http://blog.digimonkey.com/?p=233#comment-715 Thanks, Lorraine. I'm definitely familiar with the bit.ly and google analytics click-tracking ways of instrumenting this stuff. I've got some direct evidence of what's been generating me some traffic, but as you pointed out, the trickier part is figuring out which, if any, of that traffic is converting to purchases. I can tell you that FB ads certainly convert to buys, but the cost is pretty high, so you have to be willing to spend a lot of money to get exposure and only make a little of that money back in sales. But it slowly starts evening out if your book is actually good and people tell friends. That's the hardest part of all. Gimme 10 grand and I can get a few thousand people to buy something, but if the product sucks, that's all the sales it'll get. :) Thanks, Lorraine. I’m definitely familiar with the bit.ly and google analytics click-tracking ways of instrumenting this stuff. I’ve got some direct evidence of what’s been generating me some traffic, but as you pointed out, the trickier part is figuring out which, if any, of that traffic is converting to purchases. I can tell you that FB ads certainly convert to buys, but the cost is pretty high, so you have to be willing to spend a lot of money to get exposure and only make a little of that money back in sales. But it slowly starts evening out if your book is actually good and people tell friends. That’s the hardest part of all. Gimme 10 grand and I can get a few thousand people to buy something, but if the product sucks, that’s all the sales it’ll get. :)

]]> Comment on How I Sold 100 eBooks in 13 Days by Lorraine Phillips http://mepatterson.net/2011/09/how-i-sold-100-ebooks-in-13-days/#comment-714 Lorraine Phillips Sun, 09 Oct 2011 23:17:03 +0000 http://blog.digimonkey.com/?p=233#comment-714 Congrats, loved the post and have shared it with my Twitter followers (@lorraine_phill). Suggestion: to track how much traffic your blog sends over to your Amazon page you could create a custom link using a service such as http://bitly.com and then look at the stats to see how many clicks the link generated on what days. Although it won't tell you actual sales or give conclusive evidence you can get an idea of what's going on behind the scenes and how your blog is performing. Also, just an observation, but why have you got "try out these books" in your sidebar? I know we all want to be good citizens and help other authors (or you might be a part of Amazon's affiliate program) but I'm not sure about it from a marketing perspective. BTW just started with AdSense, they made me do a ton of changes to my site to get approved, UGH. From your info I might try FB as well. I'll see how it goes. It's all test, test and test again! Congrats, loved the post and have shared it with my Twitter followers (@lorraine_phill).

Suggestion: to track how much traffic your blog sends over to your Amazon page you could create a custom link using a service such as http://bitly.com and then look at the stats to see how many clicks the link generated on what days. Although it won’t tell you actual sales or give conclusive evidence you can get an idea of what’s going on behind the scenes and how your blog is performing.

Also, just an observation, but why have you got “try out these books” in your sidebar? I know we all want to be good citizens and help other authors (or you might be a part of Amazon’s affiliate program) but I’m not sure about it from a marketing perspective.

BTW just started with AdSense, they made me do a ton of changes to my site to get approved, UGH. From your info I might try FB as well. I’ll see how it goes. It’s all test, test and test again!

]]> Comment on How I Sold 100 eBooks in 13 Days by Cherrye S. Vasquez, Ph.D http://mepatterson.net/2011/09/how-i-sold-100-ebooks-in-13-days/#comment-683 Cherrye S. Vasquez, Ph.D Sun, 02 Oct 2011 22:02:08 +0000 http://blog.digimonkey.com/?p=233#comment-683 Hello, Thanks for the great blog. I enjoyed reading and learning. I am trying to learn the best strategies to post and be effective. Since this is National Bullying Prevention month, I hope to do more with my book and website as I give hope, suggestions and strategies. My book, No Tildes on Tuesday, is a book about a 13 year old biracial girl who has a problem with identity issues and runs away from learning about one of her heritages, so I have coupled my book with bullying issues. Children must first feel good about themselves before they can stand against a bully. Seemingly, readers will want to learn more about my platform, but like most of us, I am trying to find my niche for increased sells. Again, thank you for sharing your great ideas. I learned a lot here. Cherrye S. Vasquez Hello,
Thanks for the great blog. I enjoyed reading and learning. I am trying to learn the best strategies to post and be effective. Since this is National Bullying Prevention month, I hope to do more with my book and website as I give hope, suggestions and strategies. My book, No Tildes on Tuesday, is a book about a 13 year old biracial girl who has a problem with identity issues and runs away from learning about one of her heritages, so I have coupled my book with bullying issues. Children must first feel good about themselves before they can stand against a bully.
Seemingly, readers will want to learn more about my platform, but like most of us, I am trying to find my niche for increased sells.
Again, thank you for sharing your great ideas. I learned a lot here.
Cherrye S. Vasquez

]]> Comment on How I Sold 100 eBooks in 13 Days by Peter Carroll http://mepatterson.net/2011/09/how-i-sold-100-ebooks-in-13-days/#comment-682 Peter Carroll Sun, 02 Oct 2011 21:21:37 +0000 http://blog.digimonkey.com/?p=233#comment-682 Hi, Nice post and interesting to see someone else's experience at a lower level than the big hitters you mention. I have sold over 100 books in just over 4 weeks since launch. I've done some of the things you have but not paid for any ads. I also only have an ebook so no direct sales. The hardest thing for me has been reaching the US audience. I have only sold a handful of copies in the US and would love to get more! I am still getting to grips with things like Twitter and Goodreads and have now published on Smashwords. I have eleven five star and two four star reviews on Amazon UK but these do not show up on Amazon.com, which is frustrating. I hope to try a few of the suggestions here in terms of reviews and see if that helps me get noticed Stateside. Good luck with the books and writing and keep us up to date with how you get on going forward. Hi,

Nice post and interesting to see someone else’s experience at a lower level than the big hitters you mention.

I have sold over 100 books in just over 4 weeks since launch. I’ve done some of the things you have but not paid for any ads. I also only have an ebook so no direct sales.

The hardest thing for me has been reaching the US audience. I have only sold a handful of copies in the US and would love to get more!

I am still getting to grips with things like Twitter and Goodreads and have now published on Smashwords.

I have eleven five star and two four star reviews on Amazon UK but these do not show up on Amazon.com, which is frustrating. I hope to try a few of the suggestions here in terms of reviews and see if that helps me get noticed Stateside.

Good luck with the books and writing and keep us up to date with how you get on going forward.

]]> Comment on Check out my supernatural thriller! by Supernatural Book Club http://mepatterson.net/2011/07/buy-my-supernatural-thriller/#comment-625 Supernatural Book Club Wed, 21 Sep 2011 21:39:58 +0000 http://blog.digimonkey.com/?p=198#comment-625 Great news! Our club has elected to read your book! You'll be the first self published author we've read as a club and we're excited about it! If you're interested, since we all live in Austin, we'd love to meet with you and talk to you about your book (at a coffee shop or book store). We would of course, post the "interview" on our blog. Please email us if you'd be interested: SupernaturalBookClub@gmail.com We're two weeks into reading the book and will be finished at the end of the month (we read a book a month as a group). Then we'll post the review! Thanks so much for recommending your book to us! ~Heather Great news! Our club has elected to read your book! You’ll be the first self published author we’ve read as a club and we’re excited about it!

If you’re interested, since we all live in Austin, we’d love to meet with you and talk to you about your book (at a coffee shop or book store). We would of course, post the “interview” on our blog. Please email us if you’d be interested: SupernaturalBookClub@gmail.com

We’re two weeks into reading the book and will be finished at the end of the month (we read a book a month as a group). Then we’ll post the review!

Thanks so much for recommending your book to us!
~Heather

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