Sunday, June 30, 2024

AuthorTube: Finalizing my Third Book for Release


 

If you prefer video format, you can watch it here

We are in the final stretch for my third book's release, and I can't wait to share the cover with you!

Formatting

I'm immensely proud of myself because the first two books I self-published took 8+ hours to format whereas this manuscript took 3 hours to format with minimal changes needed after reviewing the proof copy. I can't use Vellum because I don't use Apple, Atticus wasn't in the cards monetarily, and I lack the skills to use Adobe Photoshop. MS Word has been my formatting tool, and once I learned all the tricks, it because so much easier to use!

For the formatting changes, I made a list of everything that needed to get done before I move on to the file for IngramSpark. Firstly, the wrap: the words on the spine needed alignment, the cover image needed brightening, and the house logo on the back needed to be minimized to match my previous covers. After that, internally the gutter was too narrow so I'm widening that out and adjusting the font size on a singular page because I never fail to have at least one page in every proof copy that has a larger font size than the rest. 

I'm also not including the title and my name in the headers because I prefer the cleaner aesthetic and don't want to jam a bunch of words together (it's a 5" by 8" so space is valuable). Finally, I need to include the review request page as well as my social media handles in the back matter and see if I can improve the image quality of the section headers. 

After that, it's on to proofreading and making any last minute corrections to the pieces before I move on to create the files for the other platforms, of which I have a separate list. 

Final Tasks


In addition to IngramSpark, I need to create a file for KDP's Kindle (with Amazon links) and a file for Draft2Digital and Kobo Writing Life (with universal links). 

For social media, I already created 9 quote reels and 12 static posts that will go up during the preorder. I also need to create 4 face reels to gain traction with different audiences. My social media marketing will focus on Instagram and YouTube with some presence on Threads and Pinterest. 

The third week of July will see the ARC sign-up list go live for two weeks with the eARCs getting delivered on August 2nd. For my long form videos, I have 5 videos planned centered on this book that will being July 19th and end on the release day, August 23rd. 

Once the above formatting is completed, every other platform should take around 15 minutes from start to finish, and then all I need to focus on is uploading premade content to push sales. We're so close to the cover and title reveal, and I can't wait to share this dark collection with the world! Be sure to join us on Instagram for the Wheel of Fortune-styled game to guess the title beginning on July 14th!

See you soon!

Wednesday, June 26, 2024

Can't-Wait Wednesday: A Bit Much (Poetry)

 



Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme that focuses on the yet-to-be released books we're waiting for and is hosted by Wishful Endings. It's inspired by Waiting on Wednesday by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

Today I'm highlighting a book of poetry by a none other than Mary Oliver's Drunk Cousin!

Title: A Bit Much: Poems
Author: Lyndsay Rush
Genre: Poetry
Publication Date: September 17, 2024
Preorder on Amazon


Amazon summary:

The debut poetry collection from Lyndsay Rush (aka @maryoliversdrunkcousin) is a humorous and
joyful celebration of big feelings, tender truths, and hard-won wisdom, for fans of Maggie Smith, Kate Baer, and Kate Kennedy.

At long last, a book of poetry for people who didn’t even know they liked poetry. And they’re in good company: author Lyndsay Rush didn’t know she liked it either. That is, until she embarked on an internet experiment under the Instagram username @MaryOliversDrunkCousin that turned into a body of work that struck a chord with women across the country; thanks to her signature wordplay, witticisms, and―against all odds―wisdom.

With titles like "Shedonism", "Someone to Eat Chips With", "It’s Called Maximalism, Babe", and "Breaking News: Local Woman Gets Out of Bed", Rush’s debut collection of poetry uses humor to grapple with the female experience―from questioning whether or not to have children, to roasting the patriarchy, to challenging what it means to "age gracefully"―and each piece delivers gut-punching truths alongside gratifying punchlines. Readers walk away from Lyndsay’s work feeling seen, celebrated, and wholly convinced that joy is an urgent, worthwhile pursuit.

With over 140 convention-bending poems―most of which are never-before-seen―this book is quite literally A Bit Much.

Why I'm Waiting:

I was able to read this title early on Netgalley a few months ago and it was superb! The humor is top-notch and as a writer who leans more on comedy than tragedy, I loved seeing how a poet could wield it into such a literary style. 

What book are you waiting on?

Sunday, June 23, 2024

Promotional Calendar and Marketing Plan for Third Poetry Collection

 


If you prefer a video format, check out the video here

If there’s one thing more tortuous than editing, it’s marketing. Today I’m discussing my promotional calendar for my upcoming book release. The launch will be in August, and it will be a collection of poetry, but nothing else has been revealed… yet. 

Calendar


Firstly, I want to break down the promotions I plan to use for this book launch. For the calendar, I’m using the Promo Calendar from the Writing Mastery Course out together by Jessica Brody and Bethany Atazadeh. You can take the course on Udemy, which is where I took the course last year. I learned so much about the art of publishing as well as marketing, and I love that this calendar is less of a task-focused calendar like my weekly checklist and more of a calendar-guidebook hybrid.



I know that the title and cover reveal will come the same day in July, and it will be a month before the book’s release. I had a three-month preorder for my debut and a two month preorder for my sophomore release, and for both titles, about 80% of the preorders came in the first month. Therefore, I’m cutting the preorder time down to about 30 days to maximize the time I have to prep beforehand with videos, reels/shorts, and static posts.



My initial plan is to post 5 times a week, focusing on video, and minimizing the cost of boosted ads on Instagram. I don’t want to spend any money on marketing if I don’t have to, considering this will be my most expensive book to date. With that in mind, let’s dive into my promotional plan.


Sites for Marketing


For social media, I’ll utilize YouTube, Instagram, Threads, and Pinterest, with much more emphasis on the first two. As I mentioned, I don’t want to do boosted ads this time around, so I want to flood the algorithm with videos, posts, and stories to reach the largest audience possible. I managed to reach 30,000 accounts uploading 30 reels in 30 days (video here), which should be large enough to gain some interest.



I haven’t used a marketing site or even done an Instagram book tour, but I’d like to have a few books available before I use one of those services to provide readers with a large enough library, if you will, of titles to choose from. Right now, they’re all poetry, but even my poetry touches on different themes for each of my titles. 


Pre Order Announcement


For my pre order announcement, I’m going to kick off with a Wheel of Fortune-style game of guessing the title for the 5 days leading up to the title and cover reveal. These will all be static posts, and each day one new letter will be added until Friday when the title is announced.



I plan on uploading my book to Amazon KDP, Draft2Digital, IngramSpark, and Kobo Writing Life. I will not be putting the title into Kindle Unlimited (video here). I want this title to start wide and stay that way. Kobo Writing Life allows an author to upload their books into Kobo Plus, which is their version of KU, but without the exclusivity clause. Draft2Digital will be for all other ebook platforms while IngramSpark is for print distribution. 



I’m still not talented at making sure everything goes live at the same time, so I think I’ll set everything up the Thursday before, in the evening, to guarantee everything will be live Friday morning (for the most part). I also plan on using the next month or so to create all the posts and videos that will go live during the month-long pre order campaign as well as enough reels to promote the book for the first two weeks after it launches. 


ARC Readers


While 30% of the readers who signed up for my last book left reviews on Goodreads, StoryGraph, and Amazon (and thank you so much if you did), I didn’t see a boost in sales because of the Goodreads reviews, which is where nearly all of my ARC readers posted. For that reason, I will be asking for ARC readers through my videos and posts organically. 


I won’t have a cap of how many readers will get a free e-file of the book, but I will be choosing the readers based on how they answer the questionnaire. I don’t want to give my book out to readers who don’t read poetry, which is what I did last time and saw the correlating less-than-positive reviews because of that. Now, don’t get me wrong, I do want honest reviews, but if someone rates me below 5 or 4 stars simply because they don’t read poetry and it didn’t convince them to read poetry, then it was not a book they should have signed up for. 


If you don’t read a genre, do not sign up to ARC read. We as authors rely on those reviews, especially on Amazon, to make more sales early in a book’s life, and giving out free copies for reviewers to forget about them damages the relationship and trust between authors and ARC readers. We can argue about the defunctory role ARC reviews play now that indie authors can be as bestselling as trad published authors, but it’s still a way to gain trust with new readers with a relatively new or unknown author. 


I plan on opening up the ARC request form for two weeks and sending out the e-file two weeks before the book releases. A poetry collection often doesn’t take a ton of time to read, so two weeks should be plenty. Also, for any ARC readers out there, a quick PSA is that Amazon is removing reviews that include any phrase similar to “the author supplied me with the book in exchange for an honest review.” Just leave that out of your Amazon review in order for it to show. Sites like Goodreads and StoryGraph are unaffected by this. 


Pre Order Campaign 



This next promotion is one I’ve never done and it’s a pre order campaign. I’m thinking of giving away an Amazon gift card, but I’m still finalizing the details there. But I do want to provide readers more incentive for preordering and if they show proof of receipt for the new book, they’ll be entered into a drawing. Likewise, if they show proof that they’ve added it to Goodreads or StoryGraph, they’ll gain an additional entry and showing proof of purchase for either of my other two collections of poetry will gain them additional entries. 


This is the promo that I’ll be testing for this book (since I test something new for marketing with each of my books), and I’ll check back in after release to see if it helped push for more preorders. This one will begin after the cover reveal and last for the month-long pre order. As with the ARC reader team, the form to fill out will be a Google Form found on my social media profiles and my blog. 


Pre Order Goals


My goals for this pre order campaign are to earn back at least 75% of my costs by the first week of release, to get 50 pre orders, and to have 10 reviews of the book on Amazon by the end of the first week. I hit these goals (minus the reviews because I got 8 in the first week) for my first book but completely flopped the marketing plan for my sophomore title. This time, I want to be as relentless as I was with The Ones in the hope of giving this new baby the introduction to life it deserves. 


This is my current promotional calendar and marketing plans for my August release. I’m so excited to share this latest piece with you all, and I can’t believe we’re so close to my third book being out. If you're an author, let me know your tried and true pre order tactics in the comments!


Other posts mentioned above:



Wednesday, June 19, 2024

Can't-Wait Wednesday: Such Charming Liars (YA Mystery/Thriller)

 


Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme that focuses on the yet-to-be released books we're waiting for and is hosted by Wishful Endings. It's inspired by Waiting on Wednesday by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

Today I'm highlighting a thrilling new mystery!

Title: Such Charming Liars
Author: Karen M. McManus
Genre: YA Mystery/Thriller
Publication Date: July 30, 2024
Preorder on Amazon


Amazon summary:



For all of Kat’s life, it’s just been her and her mother, Jamie—except for the forty-eight hours when Jamie was married and Kat had a stepbrother, Liam. That all ended in an epic divorce, and Kat and Liam haven’t spoken since.


Now Jamie is a jewel thief trying to go straight, but she has one last job—at billionaire Ross Sutherland’s birthday party. And Kat has figured out a way to tag along. What Kat doesn’t know, though, is that there are two surprise guests at the dazzling Sutherland compound that weekend. The last two people she wants to run into. Liam and his father—a serial scammer who has his sights set on Ross Sutherland’s youngest daughter.


Kat and Liam are on a collision course to disaster, and when a Sutherland dies, they realize they might actually be in the killer’s crosshairs themselves. Somehow Kat and Liam are the new targets, and they can’t trust anyone—except each other.


Or can they? Because if there’s one thing both Kat and Liam know, it’s how to lie. They learned from the best.



Why I'm Waiting:


While I may love writing cozier mysteries, I can't resist reading the thrilling plots McManus devises. I also hope it helps me stay focused on the drafting process of my story while scratching the mystery-solving itch in my brain. 

What books are you waiting on?

Sunday, June 16, 2024

ARC Reviews vs Editorial Reviews

 


*If you'd rather listen, you check out the video on YouTube

Getting reviews is crucial for the success of a book, but not all reviews are equal, and some are easier (and more affordable) to get. But which ones stand out the most? 

For today’s post, we’re referencing fiction works only, which encompasses adult, young adult, middle grade, and poetry (which is what I’m currently publishing). I know poetry is often in between fiction and non-fiction, but for our purposes, my poetry is not educational, so we’re considering it literary fiction. 

Most new authors wait for reviews after the book is published, and I know because I did that with my debut, The Ones. However, a book tends to sell more in the first week or month of release when reviews steadily come in, and we don’t want to wait for readers to purchase our book, take time to read it, and then write a review later. That’s to be expected after the book has been out for a while, but it’s crucial to have a team behind you so that you can have those 15 reviews on your book as soon as possible.

For some context, 15 reviews is what most sites require if you want to promote your book to their email subscribers or readers, and sites like Amazon are more likely to push your book to new readers once others confirm that they read and enjoyed it. 

Of course, how will you, a new or still unknown author, going to find those beloved early reviewers and introduce your book to the world on the best foot, or spine, possible? You have two options, and both are very different from each other. The first is the more well-known kind which is ARC reviews, or early reviewers who receive an Advanced Reader Copy before the book release to post reviews on social media, Goodreads, StoryGraph, or blogs to build hype for your book. These reviewers are also much more honest, so if you don’t have a tough skin, I suggest having someone else preview the reviews before you read them.

The second style of reviews are Editorial Reviews. These are the reviews that you will post to your book’s page on Amazon’s KDP under the Marketing tab and won’t play into the overall rating and reviews of your book but do provide credentials to you as the author for writing said book. You can even reach out to colleagues who have published to ask them to write a 1-2 sentence review (you don’t want anything longer than that for an editorial review). Otherwise, I tried out eBook Fairs so you don’t have to.

Let’s start with the ARC readers. 

ARC Reviews

My first book didn’t have an ARC street team at all, whereas my sophomore book, Missed Arrows, had a team of 22 readers. The difference? 9 reviews on Goodreads with 2 on Amazon, compared to The Ones’ 3 reviews on Goodreads with 10 reviews on Amazon. 

I announced Missed Arrows in December 2023 and published it on February 13, 2024. At the time, my following consisted of 200 or so Instagram followers, about 110 LinkedIn Followers, and 150-ish YouTube subscribers. All of my ARC readers came because of a boosted post on Instagram that I ran for 4 days (video card above on how that went) and it cost me less than $25 to promote it. Honestly, for early authors, I don’t recommend spending a ton on these boosted or promoted posts because it’ll simply be more difficult to earn the money back from sales, but I could swing $25 to find early readers.

Of those 22 readers, 9 left reviews on Goodreads, with a little more than half of them posting before the book’s release. That’s about average for the rule of thirds you may have heard about, which points to the predictability of ⅓ of your pool will do what they say they will. Keep that in mind. If you cap your reviewers at 10, expect 3 of them to write reviews. If you land 100 reviewers, expect 33 of them to write reviews. 

I received largely 4-star reviews with a couple 5-star and 3-star reviews, and honestly, I loved all of them. The 3-star reviews provided me with constructive notes on how to improve my next collection while my 4- and 5-star reviews gave me that confidence boost to let me know I was slowly but surely finding my ideal audience. 

My timeline for these reviewers was: asking for ARC readers for two weeks from the end of December until the first week of January. I then emailed each reader individually the second week of January, letting them know this ePUB file was for review purposes only, that it wasn’t proofed and could therefore have typos, and that I would email again on release day. On February 13, I sent an email out, again individually, celebrating the release of Missed Arrows and asking them all to post their reviews on Amazon (excluding any gratitude for this being in exchange for an honest review). Of those 9 Goodreads reviews, 1 found its way over to Amazon. 

Now, you could email them a follow-up a week or two later, but I decided not to because I didn’t want to send emails to those who hadn’t even bothered to read the free book, and because the name I received on my Google Sign-Up Form didn’t always match their Goodreads’ profile name. Therefore, I decided to leave it and trust that any reader who wanted to copy and paste their review would.

Overall, an ARC team is a great and cost-effective way to land early reviews. Keep in mind you can’t force anyone to post to Amazon, so if you’re looking for an ARC team that will more of what you ask, I recommend steering clear of boosted or promoted posts and asking your followers directly as these individuals are the ones already supporting you. 

Editorial Reviews

Now, I understand that editorial reviews are often reviews that we, as avid fiction readers, don’t usually bother to read unless they’re blurbs written by one of our favorite authors, but they can be instrumental for new authors looking to expand their readership. I used a code from Self-Publishing with Dale to gain access to eBook Fairs to check them out and see what kind of quality I would get from their review department. 

Firstly, let’s talk about eBook Fairs. eBook Fairs is an author service that allows authors to coordinate virtual book fairs to promote their book alongside others. You can have up to 50 books in a fair, and only one can be yours. Once the fair goes live, you and others begin your promotional marketing to reach as many readers as possible. This allows you to expand your direct readership reach by having your book be included in the fair that others are promoting for your book.

As of today, I’ve submitted to two book fairs but they haven’t started yet, so I’ll be sure to provide an update there once I’ve seen how it affects sales, but in the meantime, let’s look at another of eBook Fairs’ author service.

You can submit your book ahead of its release (which is what they recommend) or you can submit it afterwards, which is what I did because that’s when I used the free trial code. Normally, it’s $9.99 a month, which isn’t unreasonable at all, considering you can enter an unlimited amount of fairs and have one book up for early or editorial reviews at any time. I submitted Missed Arrows on Feb. 26 and left it open for anyone to request and receive (up to 5 readers). If you have something really niche, you can adjust this so only those you approve receive a copy. Within 24 hours, all 5 of my spots had been claimed, and within two weeks, three reviews have come in. One person opted out, I guess, and another claimed it, and so I’m waiting on two readers to return reviews.

Of the three reviews I received, all were 5-star reviews, but the writing was nowhere near as polished as my ARC reviews. I had to fix quite a bit of the sentence structure (not to change the review but so it was understandable). For example, the following is the review, word for word, I received from one reviewer:

"Missed Arrows is a piece that speaks some hard truths and painful realities in love. A particular poem with the famous bible verse is on spot. It reminds of first love heartbreak into paper pouring it out. It discusses forgiveness significantly and its essence in love. This book has lots of something that is truly admiring."

Now, English may not be their first language, which is why I cleaned it a little to help it be easier to read, such as “it reminds me of” and “heartbreak pouring out into paper,” while keeping as much of the original word choices as possible. However, I also worry this could have been AI generated, especially because the others have some strange syntax as well. However, these are reviews that can be placed in that Editorial Review section if you want it, but because of how the reviews sound, I highly recommend choosing which applicants get to read your book to ensure they want to read it.

For free, I took what I received, but for $10 a month, you may want to do a two or three month trial and see what kind of reviews you receive to determine if getting reviews on the site is worth it. Granted, that monthly fee also covers the book fairs, so as mentioned I’ll provide an update on the two fairs I signed up for to see if I get an influx of sales once they begin (and you can check out my Instagram and YT shorts for the link to check it out).

What to Avoid

For ARC teams, make sure that on their Amazon reviews they DO NOT include a line thanking the author for an early copy/review copy/in exchange for honest review because Amazon has been flagging those comments and not publishing the review. This is a new-ish problem that authors are picking up on, so when you email your ARC team to prepare to post their social media and Goodreads or StoryGraph reviews over to Amazon, be sure to include a reminder to erase that line from their review before they submit it.  

My Thoughts

Finding early reviews doesn’t need to be complicated or expensive. You can set a budget of $25 or $50 and between these two methods, see potentially 30-45 reviewers sign-up to review your soon-to-be published book. Remember, the magic number is 15, so if you can secure that many reviews in the first 7 days of your book going live, you’re setting your book up for the best success possible (and of course, more than that is only helpful).

If you have other methods of finding early reviewers, let me know in the comments below so I can test them out and see what results I get (as well as helping other viewers, of course).


Wednesday, June 12, 2024

Can't Wait Wednesday: Wisteria (YA Historical Fantasy)

 


Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme that focuses on the yet-to-be released books we're waiting for and is hosted by Wishful Endings. It's inspired by Waiting on Wednesday by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

Today I'm highlighting the end of a wonderful trilogy!

Title: Wisteria
Author: Adalyn Grace
Genre: YA Historical Fantasy
Publication Date: August 20, 2024
Preorder on Amazon

Amazon summary:



Blythe Hawthorne has never let anyone tell her what to do—not society, not her overprotective father, and certainly not the man she’s bound herself to, no matter how rude and insufferable he is. In fact, she’s determined to be a thorn in his side for the rest of her days, even as he ensures that her life in his palace is anything but a fairytale. But as Blythe discovers a new side of herself linked to his past, she’ll have to decide if she’s willing to let an unexpected spark ignite…and to discover the truth about who she really is.


Why I'm Waiting:


I absolutely adore the world Grace has created and am super excited for the finale of this trilogy. I had the pleasure of meeting her last year when Foxglove released, and she admitted that this was supposed to be a duology that was originally supposed to be a standalone! The way this woman wove her way into this superb trilogy has me dying!

What books are you waiting on?

Sunday, June 9, 2024

KDP Select: Pros and Cons in 2024

 


*If you'd rather listen to this post, check out my video on YouTube.

My two poetry collections can be purchased anywhere books are sold, and you can request them at your local library as well. On that note, yes, my second collection of poetry, Missed Arrows, is no longer a part of the Kindle Select Program, a.k.a. Kindle Unlimited. 

I enrolled Missed Arrows in the Kindle Select program from February 13th to May 13th of 2024 to a horrendous three months of sales, or in this case, page reads. I want to dive into what Kindle Select is, the pros of it (because there are some), the cons (the reasons I’m leaving), and how to make the decision to publish your ebook wide or exclusively based on your goals.

What is KDP Select/Kindle Select?


The Kindle Select program is an option authors can choose when uploading their ebooks to Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing, or KDP. It’s known to readers as Kindle Unlimited or KU. In exchange for offering their ebooks for free via Kindle readers in exchange for a smaller profit, authors agree to make their ebooks exclusive to Amazon. For those new to this idea, this doesn’t just mean refraining from uploading your ebooks to Draft2Digital, Barnes and Noble Press, or Kobo Writing Life, but also from offering it for free on your website or to your email subscribers.

Essentially, you own the rights to your work but none of the distribution.

Kindle Unlimited is a subscription based service that allows readers to borrow up to 20 ebooks a month for one flat fee of $11.99 per month as of May 2024. I did some research, and couldn’t find exactly how many users are enrolled in KU, but a few sites estimated around 4 million. Now, the books users read aren’t owned by them, and once they reach 10 books in their library, they have to return one to get a new one. Also, just because a book is downloaded doesn’t mean the reader will finish or even start said book, much like library books. 

However, unlike library books, where an author has made money on the sale when the library ordered the book or per each checkout, which library services such as Overdrive and Odilo offer, on Kindle Unlimited, profits are made based on Kindle Edition Normalized Page Read, which you’ll more often see as KENP. Not only are you not guaranteed a royalty from a book being borrowed on KU, the return is pretty dismal. For example, my poetry collections are between 100 and 115 pages. According to Kindlepreneur’s KENP calculator, my poetry books earn between $.42 and $.46 per book if it’s read in full. Compared to the $2.69 I earn selling an ebook for $3.99 on Amazon, the profits are bad.

If you’re a new author to reach readers while offering them a way to read your book risk-free, Kindle Select is a great program. However, that inclusion doesn’t guarantee readers will find or even borrow your book. Missed Arrows was in the Kindle Select program for three months (which is the minimum amount of time your book must stay in the program if you enroll), and I earned zero page reads. 

I potentially missed out on ebook sales during release month because I enrolled my book in Kindle Select. However, from experiences I’ve studied from other authors, the genres of romance, fantasy of any kind, and YA tend to do well for KU readers. Poetry has a very small audience, and while I appreciate my girl Taylor drawing focus to the genre, it’s still one of the least read genres in terms of modern readers. 

Pros


I mentioned a couple pros already, including reaching new audiences without them spending additional money on a new to them writer and the genres that do see great returns on KU. Some other pros are that, if you want to focus on writing and limit the publishing side of things, uploading your book to one site makes this far easier on you. You can even only upload your paperback to Amazon KDP and not bother with B&N Press and IngramSpark, the latter of which I highly recommend you avoid if you hate the publishing parts of being an indie author. 

Ads are also easier to manage if you’re only running ads on one site: in this case, Amazon. The majority of the population buys items online, and the number one retailer is Amazon, so why not grab your readers while they’re already shopping? It’s free to upload to KDP and you collect one payment per month for your sales, which is much easier at tax time than gathering four or five different tax forms for all the sites you published to.

If you want more time to focus on writing and less on publishing and marketing, Kindle Select may be the program for you.

Cons


The cons of KU are that you’re limiting your paying audience. There are readers who are adamantly against Amazon and their powerhouse control of commerce and therefore refuse to use it. Those readers are buying books from indie bookstores or getting them from the library, neither of which are available to your ebook if you’re in Kindle Select. 

You also run the risk of putting all your eggs in one basket. Yes, I mentioned this as a positive above for certain types of writers, but publishing is a business and this is a note I have to mention often to my clients. Passion is needed to write the story, but discipline is needed for editing and business planning is needed for publishing and marketing regardless of if you’re a trad or indie author. 

Amazon is serious about not having your ebook on other sites, but heaven forbid someone pirate your ebook and upload it elsewhere because if Amazon catches wind of it, they will terminate your account for violating your contract. It’s possible to retrieve your account, but’s difficult and can lead to a stressful experience if you don’t handle it properly. 

The payout is also an important note to consider. Yes, you could reach up to 4 million readers, but if you only make $1 per book read-through and only 20 readers finish it, you’ve earned $20. However, if you sell your ebook for $3.99 and earn $2.69 per sale, you only need 9 readers to purchase your book to make that same amount, less if you sell at the more competitive rate of $4.99. You have to make the decision of which is more important to you: having the potential to gain more readers by offering your book for free in Amazon’s exclusive library or earning enough money to make writing and publishing a viable source of income for you. 

Decision Time


I recommend trying KU at least for one 90-day period to see how it works for your book, and if you have more than one, you can experiment with lengths, genres, tropes, etc. to see which ones see more action in KU. Poetry, for me, was a flop, but that doesn’t mean my YA titles will experience the same treatment once they’re released. 

Personally, I like the freedom to publish my books wherever I want and especially to give them for free later on if I so choose, like poetry chapbooks or series-related novellas. The most important points to consider are:

  • Royalties/Payout
  • Exclusive vs Wide Audience
  • Simplicity in Distribution vs Wider Range of Investments

Publishing is a business, and like all businesses, you’re going to make mistakes and need to recoup losses from time to time. Missed Arrows didn’t do well in Kindle Select, but you will see me again 3 months from now to talk about how many ebook sales I made outside of Kindle Select to compare the experiences as an author of poetry.

Let me know if you’re on Kindle Select or not, and if you’re not, I’m curious to know which digital distributor sells the most of your ebooks!


Wednesday, June 5, 2024

Can't-Wait Wednesday: The Tomb of Pthames (YA Historical Mystery)

 


Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme that focuses on the yet-to-be released books we're waiting for and is hosted by Wishful Endings. It's inspired by Waiting on Wednesday by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

Today I'm highlighting a suspenseful and historical mystery!

Title: The Tomb of Pthames
Author: C.W. James
Genre: YA Historical Mystery
Publication Date: June 13, 2024
Preorder on Amazon

Amazon summary:


A blend of historical intrigue and imaginative fiction.

Embark on a riveting journey stretching from an ancient Egyptian tomb in the sun-scorched Libyan Desert to the streets and back alleys of 1910 London. This gripping and fast-paced adventure introduces Carter Pinsent, the son of an English archaeologist, whose world takes an unexpected turn after becoming involved in the discovery of the enigmatic tomb of Ptahmes, an ancient Egyptian priest.

The tale unfolds with the promise of untold treasures and long-lost secrets, but this archaeological find proves to be anything but ordinary. Beyond historical artifacts, the tomb holds properties that defy explanation, blurring the lines between the known and the unknown, magic and science, life and death.

With the entrance of Sir Robert Ottley, a celebrated yet controversial Egyptologist, Carter becomes ensnared in rivalries and deceit. The narrative takes a supernatural turn with the arrival of Dr. Belleville, a discredited doctor and spiritualist, introducing a world where forces from beyond and resurrection are terrifyingly real. Sir Robert's intriguing daughter, May, adds a layer of complexity to the tale, challenging Carter's beliefs and contributing to a cast of vibrant characters. The excavation transforms into a race against death as each party strives to unlock the tomb's mysteries first.

More than a mere treasure hunt, The Tomb Of Ptahmes delves into the realms of darkness and light, exploring the delicate balance between myth and history. It seamlessly intertwines themes of legacy and the enduring human quest for understanding. Perfect for enthusiasts of historical adventure, teens who crave a different type of story, and reluctant readers, this narrative is a journey of discovery not only into ancient tombs but also into the profound depths of the human spirit. It resonates with those who gaze at the stars, yearning for the secrets of the past—a tale that unearths the eternal quest for connection and knowledge.


Why I'm Waiting:


I was lucky enough to be a beta reader for this story, and it hooked me from start to finish! C.W. James crafts the perfect blend of history, romance, and suspense and I read this story in a matter of days. There's also a mystery afoot among the suspense, which for the life of me I couldn't figure out all the pieces before the end. I highly recommend this story for anyone who loves historical and supernatural suspense amid Egyptian culture and history. 

What books are you waiting on?


Wednesday, May 29, 2024

#WritersLife: Writing a New Poetry Collection While Editing the Other New Collection

 


Welcome to #WritersLife, where I talk writing in real life. 

I'm deep in the editing trenches for Poetry #3 while I await the return of the professionally edited manuscript from my critique partner. I'm trying to focus on the other areas while I wait, like I mentioned in the previous post, including the metadata, the promos, and ARC set-up, but lately my creative muse has blossomed and is diving head first into Poetry #4.

I debated entering pieces into anthologies, and I probably will still do that to help gain more exposure, but this new collection has me in a choke hold. I think it's a combination of reading Instructions for Traveling West by Joy Sullivan and listening to The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology by Taylor Swift that has shoved me into the writing and daydreaming that is making up this new collection. 

I'm focusing much more on poetic styles for this collection, which I'm trying to not let heavily affect the voice for Poetry #3. I love the rawness of #3 and want to maintain that, but for #4, I'm moving into more of my favorite poetic devices, namely alliteration, slant rhymes/true rhymes, and a repetitive structure that's reminiscent of songwriting. 

I grew up on country music, and its storytelling is one I want to emulate in my poetry, whether that's with the attention to detail or repetitive lines. The five senses play an even stronger role in both of these collections whereas my first two collections, The Ones and Missed Arrows, honed in on emotions, relationships, and overall more intangible imagery. I want the readers to taste the scenes in these new manuscripts and feel the zing on their tongues and abhor the pungency in their nostrils. 

I have a working title I love, but it's still early (we're nearly a year from when I would release #4). Poetry #3 changed titles after having a title picked out for 8 months, and I still can't believe it changed because that title was so near and dear to my heart. However, the official title alludes to more of the overarching themes and will be a stronger title for marketing purposes (writing is a craft, but publishing is a business after all). I get goosebumps rereading some of these pieces and they haven't even been edited by me yet, let alone seen by my CP or beta readers. 

I wonder if this is how Taylor feels working on music: she knows her latest writing is her best because she's perfecting her craft, but her listeners are on two albums back and she can't share it with them. I feel that way with my poetry. I want to show off these new poems, but I still have a whole collection that hasn't been released. It's also a strong testament to never work on one project at once. As soon as you send a manuscript off to a CP, editor, or beta reader, start outlining or drafting your next project. 

I can't wait to share #3 with everyone, and we have less than three months until its release! Official title, cover reveal, and blurb is coming in July, so stay tuned here, on Instagram, and on YouTube.

Happy writing!

Wednesday, May 15, 2024

#WritersLife: New Poetry Updates May 2024

 


#WritersLife, where I talk writing in real life. 

I'm so excited with the progress I've made on my latest poetry collection! It came back from the editor at the end of April, I spent time on the copy edit suggestions, tweaked minor lines and sections, and sent it off to my critique partner. 

Today I finalized the meta data, including the blurb, categories, and tags for KDP, D2D, and IngramSpark. I also want to upload to Kobo directly this time so my ebook can be included in the Kobo Plus program (I have a video going up soon on my three months experience as an author on Kindle Unlimited). The cover was finalized a little while ago, and it's killing me to not share it yet!

I finalized the ARC sign-up form which I hope will be going live in July, and I'm thinking of having blog subscribers or YouTube subscribers as my first-come, first-serve group if anyone is interested. Money is a little tighter than last release, so I want to minimize just how much money I give to Meta while I search for ARC readers (I used a boosted ad last time, which found me 24 readers and of whom 8 left reviews). 

This is a hard collection. It focuses on my familial relationships, how they shaped me, and how they continue to affect me even after their deaths. For those who read my debut collection, The Ones, you may have picked up on some allusions to the theme of this new collection, but it's something I haven't dived into in years because I had accepted it as a part of my life. 

For anyone facing hardship in the terms of illness, abuse, neglect, or anything outside of their immediate control, this is the collection for you. It will probably make you cry in more emotions than one because I did from start to finish crafting these pieces. 

I still need to draft the scripts for my YouTube videos for this Friday and next, but I'm debating skipping next Friday because I need a bit of a breather. I took a week off for the first week in May, much needed after nonstop client work for editing and beta reading, but now I need time off to finalize the publishing aspects of the new poetry. 

Oh, and book marketing. Can't forget that. 

Happy writing, reading, and life-ing!


Wednesday, May 8, 2024

#WritersLife: My Publishing Journey from 2021 to 2024

 


Welcome to #WritersLife, where I talk writing in real life.

Well friends, it's been a while.

I started this blog just before I graduated college in 2014, was active for three years, gone for four, briefly touched base, and disappeared again. This time, I'm not as lost as I was in 2021 with my writing and publishing journey.

I don't know what capacity I'd like to use this space just yet, but if nothing else, it will be the written version of my Author Tube series over on YouTube (the OGs will remember that "obsessed with YouTubers" was one of my "About Me" inclusions because really, is there anything more remarkable about me than that?). But firstly, let me dive into a bit of what I've been up to.

2021


This year ended nearly the way it began: still lost and without a shred of writing to add to my experience. I remained lost as to which direction to take or how to jump back into this world. Let's face it, trends are real, and trying to understand the latest trends in YA lit after distancing myself from it for years was far more daunting.

2022


I decided to embrace my new sales position and self-published my first ebook (since unpublished and now no longer available) centered on sleep. I made three sales and was ecstatic, unsure of how this would play out long term but pumped to be working with words again.

That same month I got my first editing client on Fiverr. I started out offering beta reading, copywriting, and job description services (spoiler alert, only one of those gigs is still live). By the end of the year, I made my first $1.05 from self-publishing and my first $52 from freelancing. 

I also dabbled in poetry a bit as well as pieces of stories, the first few poems creating what soon became an 8,000-word poetry manuscript. 

2023


I published my second sleep ebook at the start of the year, doing a week-long pre-order and dabbling with marketing on a new Instagram account created in the same month. I marketed myself as Orange Rose Editorial.

I decided by spring I wanted to publish the poems that had now amassed into a collection that spanned 100 pages. It was also in spring that Fiverr promoted me to the next level of seller, and I curated my services to only involve books: beta reading, copyediting, manuscript critiques, and query letter assistance (all for young adult and middle grade, naturally). 
Cover of the The Ones, a gray background with green ivy on the sides

I made a book cover, had colleagues from college read my story, and self-published my poetry, titled The

Ones
, on Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), IngramSpark, and Draft2Digital (D2D). I announced it three months before it's release and somehow sold 81 copies by release day. I still don't know how I did that. The sales I made by the end of 2023 covered the publication costs. 

I was promoted to the next tier of seller on Fiverr, and July saw my first 4-figure month from editing services. I also wrote the first draft of my next poetry collection while brainstorming an additional two. For NaNoWriMo, I wrote 23k words of a YA cozy mystery (that has yet to be completed, but I have no intentions of letting it go). 

I met Alexandra Bracken, Patrice Caldwell, Adalyn Grace, and Jessica Olson. 

Lastly, I started posting on YouTube regarding self-publishing, writing, and editing. 

2023 had shaped up to look suspiciously close to what 2017 could have been had I not lost sight of my dream in 2016. 

2024


Cover of Missed Arrows, a pink gradient background with a black bow and arrow in the center shooting a rose as an arrow
In February, I self-published my second poetry collection, Missed Arrows, to a whopping 9 readers. I also experienced my first annoying experience with IngramSpark and testing out the waters with Kindle Unlimited. Spoiler alert: I made zero sales in three months and will be publishing the ebook wide. 

March saw my second 4-figure month with editing jobs, and it hasn't slowed since. I'm on track to earn the Top-Rated Seller badge's qualifications before the end of May. 

My third poetry collection is slated for release in August 2024. My YouTube channel just hit 250 subscribers. I've assisted 90+ clients on Fiverr. 

I've faced disappointment this year as well as tremendous glee, and I can't wait to see how the remainder of the year plays out. I'd love to get a website up and running (but this will be my main spot until I figure that confusion out). I want to get better at book marketing and making videos. I want to build my writing community.

I think that's how I'll divide this blog with my YouTube channel. The videos will highlight editing and publishing news while this will only cover my writing journey and thoughts I don't share anywhere else. Of course, I might end up combining the two at some point, but for now, this will revert to being my reading and writing nook.

Thanks for joining me. My last post ended with me wanting to write again, and now I'm publishing every year. Keep on writing, friends.