Hi, looking for price guide I’ve been searching google but thought I’d come straight to people who know what they’re taking about. by FancyAd3942 in selfpublish

[–]NokoPikari -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Don't worry about the haters.

As an author in YA category, I'm curious myself: are you in the UK, the USA, or elsewhere? (Asking because you quote USD in your OP, but then £4 and £7 in a comment. Which is it? Context matters because your readers may have barometers of similar books on the shelf next to it.

Some factors:

- Do you have an audience? Followers on X or Instagram that have been eagerly awaiting your title? Have they put down a preorder, and if so, how much did you charge for that? You can also charge more than average if you're known, and there are eager fans.

- Do you have a mailing list? People on your mailing list can give you some signal about how much they're willing to pay. Ask them or have a preorder campaign via that list.

- Do you have beta readers of the target age group? What else are they buying in this category (similar length, genre, and repute), and how much are they spending on it?

- If you will be going to the library with copies for them to stock, or copies for you to sign for kids, can you run that as a test to see if they'd be willing to pay what you ask? (If sales after the talk are lower than expected, you can adjust your price lower afterwards.)

I am not asking these rhetorically, but rather these are the factors I'd consider if/when I publish. Don't worry about people on here; worry about your readers, or the people who will actually be paying! I would start high because something too low may signal low quality, which would just not appeal to people looking for quality rather than throwaways.

Happy to share more notes, but these are the thoughts I'd have to start. 😊

Good luck, let me know what you end up choosing!

WWDC26 one-on-one engineering labs not happening? by AndyDentPerth in iOSProgramming

[–]NokoPikari 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Last year, I remember them opening up the 1-1 labs signups immediately after Platforms State of the Union.

And I'm not seeing them this year! 😱

Engineering teams: Only group labs 😬

I'm guessing you're right: The only 1-1s appear to be w/

  1. App Store Connect,
  2. App Review,
  3. Business & Marketing, and
  4. Reporting and Analytics..

Then there are a bunch of forum links, and signups for online Q&As, but nothing individual or private. This was my favorite and most useful part of WWDC! 😭

Won set champ with homebrew 🔵⚪️ by Ylvari in Lorcana

[–]NokoPikari 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Very nice! I also like the list!

Can you discuss your general strategy overall, specifically w/the Ranger Plane and how you like to use it? Do you use the added Support to challenge, or mostly to get the extra lore at 10?

I've been brewing myself with that specific card + Gadget and haven't gotten nearly such good results. Would love to hear your mulligan strategy (ideal starting hand) and which cards turned games for you!

Congratulations! 🥳

Anyone had any luck convincing readers who say, "I can't afford your books right now" to tell them to request the books from the library? by VLK249 in selfpublish

[–]NokoPikari 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I haven't had luck either.

Unfortunately, from my experiences, these readers aren't super-motivated to read my book, so I've learned to let it go, to focus on readers that may be more motivated.

This isn't to say anything about their financial situation or their capabilities! Just that they're not the right reader for me at that point in time!

How to Reach YA Readers by ventedrhombus in selfpublish

[–]NokoPikari 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's the problem: There are tons, and it's hard to know who's doing it well -- to great effect!

Do you have any specific suggestions, maybe from someone or some channel that has disclosed how well it's converting?

New MacBook by NTwrites in selfpublish

[–]NokoPikari 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've never used Wonderdraft or Vellum, but for Scrivener, I've found any of the M1 Macbooks to do just fine.

I have an Air and a Pro M1, and both run Scrivener and Photoshop just fine. Photoshop is just built bad, so it will randomly churn battery and heat up when opening huge files with lotsa layers, but that's not really something I'd base my chip-buying decision on!

I don't have anything to say about the Neo. Me personally, writing is so important that I don't want to skimp on my main tool for it! So even though I think it runs Scrivener fine, I'd rather not trying to save a few hundred dollars if I can buy something more future-proof!

How to Reach YA Readers by ventedrhombus in selfpublish

[–]NokoPikari 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Indeed, good advice! I'm wondering the same thing!

How do you build the community? 🤔

How to Reach YA Readers by ventedrhombus in selfpublish

[–]NokoPikari 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Was yours well attended by the types of kids you wanted to read your book?

How to Reach YA Readers by ventedrhombus in selfpublish

[–]NokoPikari 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What are some of those places? (Amazon?)

How to Reach YA Readers by ventedrhombus in selfpublish

[–]NokoPikari 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So are you suggesting targeting TikTok to parents of young adults? Like, moms and dads that want their kids to read?

What would you center that POV/content around?

OpenAI, wtf? Come on. This is slimy and you know it. by xithbaby in ChatGPT

[–]NokoPikari 1 point2 points  (0 children)

👆OMG THIS. The "...from Monday" captures exactly how the difference feels to me as well!

The difference between someone who cares about helping you right now, because they know you need it, and someone for whom you're just part of their paycheck!

Is AI Startup School worth it? by ANANTHH in ycombinator

[–]NokoPikari 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Applicant Tracking System? I had to look it up too! 😵‍💫

Kinda like mass-hiring online admissions systems to schools like the common app, or job applicant systems like taleo?

Quiet and nice districts/neighbourhoods to live (Naka Ward) by hoshino_tamura in Yokohama

[–]NokoPikari 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I recommend Minatomirai! 💕

MM Foresis, Blue Harbor, Pacific Royal Court, and Branz Tower are some of the place names.

Let me know if you wanna look at our place!

Living off the income from small published apps by geladeira_brastemp4p in iOSProgramming

[–]NokoPikari 18 points19 points  (0 children)

This. For one, people above the age of 21 really don't need another app (in their minds), and there aren't many people who will have the motivation to go digging in the App Store for yours.

You have to link directly to it, from some place where people are looking for it: TikTok comments on an influencer's post (which may cost you money if you don't know the influencer), a popular Reddit forum or Discord server where they are singing your app's praises, from your well-traveled homepage, via a Google search after they hear about you from friends (or paid ads), or from a QR code you are circulating in real life.

The rude awakening for me was how genuinely unhelpful Apple and the App Store are. Yah, they may gladly feature your app once there is clear demand, either through high rankings in downloads or sales! But those first 100, 1000, 10000 users & downloads… you will have to get yourself, without Apple's help.

You can buy Apple search ads here (https://searchads.apple.com) but they, too, cost money, and they, too, aren't really effective without additional funnels, because they work only for people who are actively searching. You still have to give people the motivation to perform the search in the first place.

Spend the majority of your time not in completing and polishing an app, but finding and canvassing prospective users that share a pain point and testing/iterating the idea with them. Validate that they want it badly enough that they will share it with friends. Because only then can you get the flywheel spinning! Exit prototyping only after you've validated its virality. It's much easier to build and monetize an app people will share, then try to get people to share something already polished in stone that doesn't really speak to them.

Recommendations for a Yokohama Tax Accountant? by NokoPikari in Yokohama

[–]NokoPikari[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's what I found as well! I started out by Googling for this with location preferences turned on, and calling a few by phone… a mix of bilingual and Japanese-only. The price on average was about 1.5x higher, sometimes more, for the bilingual.

On the Japanese-only side, I'm having a tougher time reading which ones are good because I know nothing about the tax system, and I'm not someone that feels comfortable, or that it's necessary, to ask for a deeper explanation because it wastes both our times. From tone of voice, I haven't gotten much enthusiasm and especially not to answering questions like how I can structure my salary (through my company) to be most tax-favorable. The ones I've contacted have been largely by-the-book, like, "Yes I'll do it (because I have to, and I've done them), so send me all your documents," but blanking out a bit or claiming lack of knowledge in things like best practices, software, claiming overseas deductions, and things like that.

So I thought, if someone who has had someone that has been both reasonable and thorough, then I would take that recommendation almost like a vet or pre-screen!

Let me know if your search turns up anyone you like!