The Journey to Self-Publication, Part 20: Perma-freebie

I've gotten quite a few questions about why I finally decided to delve into self-publishing and how I'm doing it, so I figured why not create a new blog series!

Every Monday, I'll be sharing a piece of the self-publishing puzzle---from how I came to this choice to writing, editing, marketing, sales, and everything in between. Please remember that this is simply my experience, how I chose to do things. Others do things differently, and that's fine! So, your mileage may vary, but in the end, I hope seeing yet another way of tackling self-publishing will help you on your path. 

Need to catch up on previous posts? Find them here:

Part 1: Making the Choice

Part 2: Creating an LLC

Part 3: Writing the Book(s)

Part 4: STILL writing the Book(s)

Part 5: CPs, Beta Readers, and Editors

Part 6: Cover Art!

Part 7: Formatting and Distribution

Part 8: Pre-release Marketing

Part 9: Release Week Marketing

Part 10: First Month Sales and Efforts

Part 11: Marketing Book Two

Part 12: Audio Books

Part 13: What Now?

Part 14: Defining Success

Part 15: Building a Publishing Team

Part 16: Book Trailers

Part 17: Facebook Takeover Events

Part 18: Skipping a Month or Two

Part 19: Pricing Promotions

It's been almost two months since I've blogged about my self-publishing journey. Mostly because life has gotten in the way, but also because I've been busy writing new books and promoting my current series. I've learned a LOT these past couple of months, though, and I can't possibly share all of that in this single post, so instead, I'm going to focus on the perma-freebie. Also known as free-first-in-series or a reader magnet. 

What is a perma-freebie, you ask? It's essentially a book that is permanently free to readers, usually across all book retailers. Now, I know it might seem counterintuitive to just give a book away for free like this, but there is a benefit, I promise!

Having the first book in a series available for free gives readers the opportunity to try a new author with no risk. They're not out any money, but if they like the book, chances are very high that they'll go on to buy the rest of the books in your series, which are not free. So by giving away that first book, you've earned sales on other books, and you've gained a new reader, who will hopefully go on to buy even more books from you. 

I decided to test this out. So, back in late March, I set my first book, Eternal Curse to free. Now, this isn't as simple as going into your Amazon KDP dashboard and setting the price to $0.00 -- Amazon doesn't allow you to do that. You have to price match, and well, you can't price match unless the book is available for sale elsewhere. Here's how I did it:

1. Removed the book from KDP Select / KU. This is extremely important. When you're enrolled in KDP Select / KU, Amazon requires exclusivity, which means your book cannot be available for sale anywhere else. If you do not un-enroll from KDP Select / KU first and Amazon finds out, the penalties can be steep. So, be sure to do this first!

2. Uploaded to Smashwords. There are a lot of great distributors out there to choose from, but I went with Smashwords because I was familiar with the platform and I knew they gave me an easy option to "make my book free" which is what I needed. 

3. Asked Amazon to Price-Match. Once the file was approved via Smashwords and distributed to all the various vendors, I collected all the buy links that showed the book price at $0.00, then I emailed KDP support and asked them to price-match my book. I included the links I'd collected as proof. Within a couple of days, Amazon honored my request. (Side note: I was very lucky in how quickly and smoothly Amazon price matched for me. I know some authors who have had a lot of difficulty with this, so be forewarned.) 

And now, my first book is a perma-freebie :-) 

But the real question is -- is it working? My answer is both yes and no. LOL. I know, I know... hear me out, though. 

I've seen steady free downloads every day since making the book free, so I know it's getting in readers' hands, which was goal #1. Goal #2 is to see sales follow to know readers are buying the rest of the series, and while I have seen steady sales and pages read each day, the numbers aren't quite as high as I'd like. I've been very transparent in this blog series, so I'm not stopping now. Here are my current numbers (for April thru May 9th):

Free downloads: 347

ebook sales: 55

Paperback sales: 5

KU pages read: 8,972

Again, I'm not breaking any records or hitting any lists, but things are holding steady. (I do need to note that paperback sales number--I generally don't sell many print copies at all, so I was surprised to see some print moving.) I've invested in some ads to promote the perma-freebie, along with the rest of the series, so here's hoping that pays off in the long run. As always, I'll keep you posted on my progress. 

Got questions?

Drop 'em in the comments!

The Journey to Self-Publication, Part 19: Pricing Promotions

I've gotten quite a few questions about why I finally decided to delve into self-publishing and how I'm doing it, so I figured why not create a new blog series!

Every Monday, I'll be sharing a piece of the self-publishing puzzle---from how I came to this choice to writing, editing, marketing, sales, and everything in between. Please remember that this is simply my experience, how I chose to do things. Others do things differently, and that's fine! So, your mileage may vary, but in the end, I hope seeing yet another way of tackling self-publishing will help you on your path. 

Need to catch up on previous posts? Find them here:

Part 1: Making the Choice

Part 2: Creating an LLC

Part 3: Writing the Book(s)

Part 4: STILL writing the Book(s)

Part 5: CPs, Beta Readers, and Editors

Part 6: Cover Art!

Part 7: Formatting and Distribution

Part 8: Pre-release Marketing

Part 9: Release Week Marketing

Part 10: First Month Sales and Efforts

Part 11: Marketing Book Two

Part 12: Audio Books

Part 13: What Now?

Part 14: Defining Success

Part 15: Building a Publishing Team

Part 16: Book Trailers

Part 17: Facebook Takeover Events

Part 18: Skipping a Month or Two

One of the best things about self-publishing is your ability to control pricing of your books. When I first put Eternal Curse up for pre-order, I had it priced at $2.99, and despite all my efforts, I wasn't seeing any movement, so I dropped it down to $0.99, and I immediately started seeing some sales. So, I've left the book priced at $0.99, and I've done so for a few reasons, but the primary one is because I'm a new author, no one really knows me, and my ultimate goal with book 1 is to hook readers into wanting to buy the rest of the series. If that means I need to keep the price of book 1 lower, then so be it. 

Another benefit of self-publishing is the ability to enroll in Kindle Unlimited. While the exclusivity of this is certainly restrictive, it does offer other benefits, such as payment for pages read and the ability to offer "free" days, which are set dates when you can offer your book for free. Now, why on earth would anyone want to give their book away like that? The short answer: visibility! Let me explain why a well-planned and strategic pricing promotion can work to your benefit, and what my personal results were with doing this. 

Recently, I offered Eternal Curse for free for a period of five consecutive days--from March 2nd through March 6th. Now, I didn't just decide to do this -- I planned this out very carefully. I chose the dates well in advance and then lined up several promotional ads and events to help make the most of these free days. 

First and foremost, my goal with these free days was twofold: (1) get my first book in as many hands as possible to raise awareness of both me as an author and my book/series, and (2) entice people to go on to buy the rest of the series. Obviously, for this to be effective, I needed to have the rest of he series finished and available for sale (which it is). So, here's what I did...

1. Adjusted Prices of All Books: Obviously, I set the free dates for book 1. I decided to keep book 2 priced at $0.99, but then I raised the price of books 3 through 6 up to $2.99. Why? Because I figured if people got book 1 for free, they would be more apt to buy book 2 for only a buck, and because I know how book 2 ends, if they get to the end of that one, they'll probably want to go buy book 3 and beyond. My hope is that by the end of book 2, they'll be hooked and not mind paying a tad more for the rest of the books. And really, $3 for each book that is well over 350 pages / 100,000 words isn't too much, in my opinion. (Lord knows I've paid more than that for a lot less. LOL)

2. Paid Ads: I took out 2 paid ads--one in eReader Cafe ($40) and a series promotion ad via Written Word Media ($100). Now, something to note here is the difference in the ads and the importance of having other books available. The eReader Cafe ad was solely for book 1, the freebie, and the link promoted sent readers to just book 1 on Amazon. The Written Word Media ad was for the entire series and included the Amazon series link, so readers could essentially get the first book for free and then buy the rest of the series all with one click. 

3. Social Media Push: I really need to give all credit for this to my PA, Kris Riley. She worked so hard to spread the word of the freebie on my social media and hers, and she personally reached out to other authors, bloggers, and PAs to have them share as well. And each day of the sale, she'd post in various Facebook groups. 

4. Takeover Event: During the second day of the freebie sale, I did a full-day takeover event in the PNR Authors Gone Wild Facebook group, and you betcha I shared news of the free book. I invited everyone to go download it, too! 

So, what were my overall results? 

Day 1 (no ads running): 

57 free copies downloaded

0 paid copies sold

404 KU pages read

Day 2 (newsletter sent / eReader Cafe ad running / FB takeover event):

817 free copies downloaded

9 paid copies sold

212 KU pages read

Day 3 (Written Word Media series ad running):

1,253 free copies downloaded

31 paid copies sold

1,568 KU pages read

Day 4 (no ads running):

191 free copies downloaded

6 paid copies sold

2,826 KU pages read

Day 5 (no ads running):

112 free copies downloaded

11 paid copies sold

2,408 KU pages read

Grand Totals:

2,430 free copies downloaded

57 paid copies sold

7,418 KU pages read

That's a LOT of free copies, and while it stings a bit that I'm not making any royalties on any of those, I realize that I probably wouldn't have anyway. If not for being free, those 2400+ people probably would have never heard of me or given my book a chance. But now they have / are, and with luck, they'll become fans who will purchase more of the series and/or future books. 

Overall, I'm pleased with how this worked out, and as a result, I'm putting things in place to move to a perma-freebie plan, but more on that in a future post ;-) 

Got questions?

Drop them in the comments!

The Journey to Self-Publication, Part 18: Skipping a Month or Two

  I've gotten quite a few questions about why I finally decided to delve into self-publishing and how I'm doing it, so I figured why not create a new blog series!

Every Monday, I'll be sharing a piece of the self-publishing puzzle---from how I came to this choice to writing, editing, marketing, sales, and everything in between. Please remember that this is simply my experience, how I chose to do things. Others do things differently, and that's fine! So, your mileage may vary, but in the end, I hope seeing yet another way of tackling self-publishing will help you on your path. 

Need to catch up on previous posts? Find them here:

Part 1: Making the Choice

Part 2: Creating an LLC

Part 3: Writing the Book(s)

Part 4: STILL writing the Book(s)

Part 5: CPs, Beta Readers, and Editors

Part 6: Cover Art!

Part 7: Formatting and Distribution

Part 8: Pre-release Marketing

Part 9: Release Week Marketing

Part 10: First Month Sales and Efforts

Part 11: Marketing Book Two

Part 12: Audio Books

Part 13: What Now?

Part 14: Defining Success

Part 15: Building a Publishing Team

Part 16: Book Trailers

Part 17: Facebook Takeover Events

I published the first book in The Cursed Series in September 2020, and I've had a new book releasing every month for 6 months straight. Until now. I do not have a new book ready to release in March, and at first, I was panicking. I'd built all this momentum, and now I was going to lose it because I didn't have something new to promote. But then I realized, so what? Skipping a month or two without a new release is not the end of the world, nor is it the end of my Indie career. In fact, this is actually a good thing!

Every book in this series is connected. You can probably read book 2 without having read book 1 first and it will make sense, but trying to jump into this series with any other book, and you'll be lost. They were written and meant to be read in order, so even though all 6 books have released, I still very actively promote book 1 more than all the others because that's where I want readers to start. And if I can get them started with book 1, the hope is they'll become hooked and then follow through with the rest of the series. 

My next planned release is a spin off to The Cursed Series. It follows a couple of the secondary characters from the main series, but it picks up right after book 6 ends, and the events of book 6 are crucial to understanding the events in this spin off. So, once again, the series needs to be read in order. Now, I could have this new book ready to go by early April, and originally, that had been my plan.

But then it hit me!

I had no real reason to rush getting another book ready for release. Because all the books need to be read in order, I'd be essentially selling this new book to my already established readers, which is fine, but the ultimate goal is to always be finding new readers, right? And the only way to do that is by promoting the series as a whole, and that's now what I'm doing. 

I have decided to not publish this new book until May, which will give me March and April to promote the series, gain new readers, and plan and implement an effective marketing strategy for the next book. With a little luck and a lot of hard work, I'll have even more readers willing and eager to buy my newest book. So, HOW am I going to do this? I'm glad you asked ;-) 

1. Facebook Takeover Events -- I already have a few booked, and I'm actively scheduling more. These are great, fun ways to interact with readers and share information about my books. 

2. Interviews -- I'm booking interviews on blogs and podcasts that are geared toward

3. Consistent Social Media Presence -- I'll continue this blog series and sharing it on social media along with steady, consistent posts across all platforms. To be clear, these are not "buy my book" posts, but fun memes, questions, teasers, etc. Things that are interesting, fun, and of value to readers. If they get to know me as a real person (and actually like me), they'll be more apt to invest in my books.

4. Gathering More Reviews -- I've signed up to participate in a massive reader review event in March that encourages participants to not just review on Amazon, but Goodreads and Bookbub as well. When someone reviews on Goodreads, it shows up in their activity, which means their followers will see it, and that means an organic reach to other readers. And on Bookbub, if a reader reviews a book, they can recommend it to their followers, which again, is organic reach. 

5. Pricing, Freebies, and Paid Ads -- I'm not going to go into too much detail about this right now because this is the topic of next week's post, but I'm playing around with the price of the books in conjunction with a newsletter push and paid ads. 

Will any of these actually work? No idea, but I'm going to find out, and I'll share my results in a few months.

Got questions?

Drop them in the comments!

The Journey to Self-Publication, Part 17: Facebook Takeover Events

 I've gotten quite a few questions about why I finally decided to delve into self-publishing and how I'm doing it, so I figured why not create a new blog series!

Every Monday, I'll be sharing a piece of the self-publishing puzzle---from how I came to this choice to writing, editing, marketing, sales, and everything in between. Please remember that this is simply my experience, how I chose to do things. Others do things differently, and that's fine! So, your mileage may vary, but in the end, I hope seeing yet another way of tackling self-publishing will help you on your path. 

Need to catch up on previous posts? Find them here:

Part 1: Making the Choice

Part 2: Creating an LLC

Part 3: Writing the Book(s)

Part 4: STILL writing the Book(s)

Part 5: CPs, Beta Readers, and Editors

Part 6: Cover Art!

Part 7: Formatting and Distribution

Part 8: Pre-release Marketing

Part 9: Release Week Marketing

Part 10: First Month Sales and Efforts

Part 11: Marketing Book Two

Part 12: Audio Books

Part 13: What Now?

Part 14: Defining Success

Part 15: Building a Publishing Team

Part 16: Book Trailers

I've read a lot of articles and books that state Facebook doesn't sell books. I disagree. Is it the best place to promote your books? Probably not, but let's face it -- there are a LOT of readers hanging out on Facebook, and when used correctly, you can tap into that market. 

For a while, Facebook ads were all the rage... though I've heard they're not as effective as they used to be, but I'm not sure how accurate that is. A lot of other people who are smarter than me and better well-versed in Facebook ads have written about them, so I'm not going to. Instead, I'm going to focus on a different way to utilize Facebook: 

Takeover Events!

What exactly is a takeover event? It's when you essentially "takeover" a group for a certain period of time, usually a few hours or all day. The owner of the group will grant you admin status for the duration of the event so that you can post without restriction. 

So, how does all this work, how do you find groups, and most importantly, why should you bother? I'm glad you asked ;-) 

Recently, I did 3 different takeover events over the span of 3 consecutive days. A 30-minute one that was part of a multi-author event, a 2 hour hour one, and an all-day one. I had different results with each, but overall, I felt they were successful. During the course of these 3 days, I sold 7 books and had almost 3500 pages read. Again, I'm not hitting any bestsellers lists, but these are readers I wouldn't have connected with otherwise, and with any luck, they'll go on to buy more of my books. I also gained some new followers and newsletter subscribers, and that's always a good thing! 

How do you find groups to takeover? 

Obviously, you can search Facebook for reader groups and a ton will pop up. You can then narrow those down based on your genre. Also, search for your favorite authors who write the same stuff you do and join their groups. A lot of authors will open their readers' groups for takeovers with the hope that you invite your own readers, and the hosting author thereby gets access to YOUR readers while you get access to THEIRS. It's a trade-off that tends to work very well. 

Bloggers will also have groups you can join, and I've found that these are often the best and most fun. Seriously, book bloggers are your best friends! I adore all the ones I've had the pleasure of working with. But I digress... 

Here are some helpful tips for finding groups to takeover and proper etiquette: 

• Follow bloggers across social media platforms. They will often share takeover opportunities.
• Ask other authors if they know of any opportunities.
• Follow PAs on social media as they share a lot of stuff like this, too.
• Join various groups and interact! Please, please do not join a group, ask to takeover, then promptly leave said group. That's rude. Don't be rude. 
• Follow the blogger or author on social media. 
• If you're looking to do a takeover in an author's group, take some time to get to know the author. Follow them on social media, share some of their promo posts, read one (or more) of their books if you haven't already. 
• Basically, don't use these groups for just your personal gain and not offer anything in return. 
• If you have a group of your own, offer to return the favor to fellow authors.
• Promote the takeover on your own social media. Invite your readers / fans to attend and encourage them to share, too.

How does a takeover work? What am I supposed to do?

Have fun! Seriously, these events are meant to be fun, and while you're goal is to gain new readers and introduce them to your books, takeovers should NOT be all about "buy my books!" This doesn't work--trust me! 

Here are my tried and true tips for having a fun and successful takeover event:

1. Plan ahead! I cannot stress this enough! Plan your posts ahead of time, because once the event starts, it will move fast and time will fly, especially with shorter ones. I created a Google Drive folder where I store all my takeover images and a doc with all my posts pre-written. This makes it much easier to just copy and paste as you go.
2. Use images! They snag attention a lot better than a simple written post. I use Canva to create images that coincide with the posts. (See below)
3. Talk about yourself more than your books. Let them get to know you. Share stuff about your life, your likes and dislikes, etc. Let them know you as a person as opposed to someone trying to sell them something.
4. Sprinkle in posts about your books with the blurb, buy link, and an excerpt. If you can make this interactive, do it! For example, I have a teaser image that has the opening paragraph of my book. I post that with the blurb and then talk a bit about how I rewrote the opening so many times before settling on that one. Then I ask what they think, if they'd keep reading based on that paragraph alone. 
5. Play lots of games! People love games, and if you can tie them in to your book, even better! Because my series is all about vampires and witches, I play games asking who their favorite vampires are. I'll encourage them to show me with a gif or meme, which makes it a little more fun. 
6. Offer giveaways. People love to win stuff and I've found the posts I make with giveaways get double the interaction than those that don't. They don't have to be huge or expensive, either. I give away digital copies of my books, audiobook codes, and sometimes small Amazon gift cards. Because I have a series, I usually stick to giving away copies of the first book so that winners will be able to start at the beginning of the series, but also because my hope is they'll enjoy it and then go buy the rest of the series. 
7. Don't make the requirements for playing the games too complicated. I've seen some where the author requires people to go do XYZ then come back, comment, leave a screenshot, share on social media, etc. If you make them jump through too many hoops, they'll just walk away. I usually just require people to comment with an answer to a question. It's simple for them, and it's way less work for me when it comes time to pick winners as I don't have to go verify that people did everything I expected.
8. Engage the group with questions that encourage discussion. Avoid "yes" or "no" questions. Instead of asking, "Do you like romance?" ask: "What's your favorite type of romance?" This will get people talking. Readers love to gush about their favorite things, and once they do, others will join in to bond over their shared love of things. Also encourage people to talk about themselves, their likes, dislikes, etc. 
9. Acknowledge every single comment. Even if there's not much you can say in response, at least take a moment to like what someone says. This goes a long way to show them that you see them and appreciate them taking the time to read your posts and interact. 
10. At the end of the event, thank the host, thank everyone for showing up, and then invite them to follow you on social media. Include all of your links! I offer a free book to every single person who subscribes to my newsletter, so I always mention this. 

Sample takeover image with post: 

As writers, we’re told to start with action or a line  that will really  just grab a reader’s attention. Trust me, that’s a lot harder to do than you’d think. I rewrote the opening to Eternal Curse at least 5 times before I finally settled on this one. 

Based on this alone, would you want to keep reading? What’s the best or worst opening you’ve ever read in a book?

Doing takeover events can certainly be time consuming, and they can get expensive if you give away too much stuff. So keep your personal budget in mind as you do these. Most of all, though, have fun and meet new people! As I said, I've personally had success with these, and even if I don't make sales right away, I've gotten my name out there to people who didn't know me prior. Remember: publishing is a marathon, not a sprint. So is marketing yourself. 

Got questions?

Drop them in the comments!

The Journey to Self-Publication, Part 16: Book Trailers

I've gotten quite a few questions about why I finally decided to delve into self-publishing and how I'm doing it, so I figured why not create a new blog series!

Every Monday, I'll be sharing a piece of the self-publishing puzzle---from how I came to this choice to writing, editing, marketing, sales, and everything in between. Please remember that this is simply my experience, how I chose to do things. Others do things differently, and that's fine! So, your mileage may vary, but in the end, I hope seeing yet another way of tackling self-publishing will help you on your path. 

Need to catch up on previous posts? Find them here:

Part 1: Making the Choice

Part 2: Creating an LLC

Part 3: Writing the Book(s)

Part 4: STILL writing the Book(s)

Part 5: CPs, Beta Readers, and Editors

Part 6: Cover Art!

Part 7: Formatting and Distribution

Part 8: Pre-release Marketing

Part 9: Release Week Marketing

Part 10: First Month Sales and Efforts

Part 11: Marketing Book Two

Part 12: Audio Books

Part 13: What Now?

Part 14: Defining Success

Part 15: Building a Publishing Team

Today, I'm talking book trailers! As one of those people who hate to miss movie previews, it's a no-brainer that I also love book trailers. They give a unique look at a book or series that you simply can't get by reading a blurb. Are they effective in actually selling books, though? I honestly have no idea. I know I personally have purchased a book before because of a clever book trailer, and so it stands to reason other readers have done the same. 

So, with all of this in mind, I set out to have a trailer created for The Cursed Series. A close friend of mine is in the process of creating a company (AleWin Entertainment) that will specialize in a lot of things, one of those things being book trailers. I hired her to create mine. I also hired my audio book narrator (Andy Garcia-Ruse) to do the voice over. And I am blown away by the finished product. I get goose bumps every time I watch it (and we won't talk about how many times I've seen it. LOL). 

But now that I have this finished trailer, what am I supposed to do with it?? Share it, obviously, but how? How could I get the most from this investment? Well, here is my game plan: 

1. Create a YouTube channel where I can upload the video and have an easily shareable link. 

2.  Upload the video and schedule a premiere date. Now, I could have just uploaded and started sharing willy nilly, and believe me, I'd thought about it. But as I said, I want to get the most return on investment, so I had to be smart about this. I picked a live premiere date (Tuesday, February 16th at 8:15 pm EST). I will be on YouTube during this live premiere where I'll be chatting with other viewers and answering questions. I also have a large giveaway planned (more on that below) that I'm announcing exclusively during this premiere. My hope is this will entice people to show up and view the trailer. 

3. I've partnered with Maia at Silver Dagger Book Tours to host a two-day blitz where bloggers share both the book trailer and the giveaway, along with the series covers, blurbs, and buy links. 

4. The giveaway which will include an entry to share the trailer. The goal with this (and #3) is to get as many people as possible sharing this video. 

Will any of this actually work? Or am I wasting more time and money? I honestly have no idea, but I figure if this doesn't work, I'll know what not to do next time around. And if it does work? Well then I'll have something to celebrate :-) 

I have another big marketing event planned for March, which I'll discuss in a future post, and once both of these events have been completed, I'll let everyone know the verdict. I also plan to discuss timing of releases, skipping a month (or more), and how to stay relevant when you don't have a new book to promote. 

Got questions?

Drop them in the comments!

The Journey to Self-Publication, Part 15: Building a Publishing Team

I've gotten quite a few questions about why I finally decided to delve into self-publishing and how I'm doing it, so I figured why not create a new blog series!

Every Monday, I'll be sharing a piece of the self-publishing puzzle---from how I came to this choice to writing, editing, marketing, sales, and everything in between. Please remember that this is simply my experience, how I chose to do things. Others do things differently, and that's fine! So, your mileage may vary, but in the end, I hope seeing yet another way of tackling self-publishing will help you on your path. 

Need to catch up on previous posts? Find them here:

Part 1: Making the Choice

Part 2: Creating an LLC

Part 3: Writing the Book(s)

Part 4: STILL writing the Book(s)

Part 5: CPs, Beta Readers, and Editors

Part 6: Cover Art!

Part 7: Formatting and Distribution

Part 8: Pre-release Marketing

Part 9: Release Week Marketing

Part 10: First Month Sales and Efforts

Part 11: Marketing Book Two

Part 12: Audio Books

Part 13: What Now?

Part 14: Defining Success

In Part 5 of this series, I discussed the need for CPs, Beta Readers, and Editors, and this post will piggyback on that a little, but mostly, I want to talk about building your own personal publishing team--why you need one and how you can find people who will work hard for you.

For anyone who's been following this blog series, or for anyone who's ever published a book before, you know it's a lot of work, and there are a lot of various stages and constantly moving pieces. And that is the #1 reason why you need a team to help you -- It's nearly impossible to publish a book all by yourself. While I'm sure there are authors out there who can do it all on their own, why would you want to? 

Personally, I don't have the necessary skills to do a lot of what needed to be done, like cover art and formatting, so I had no choice but to hire people, and yes, it was an expense, but overall, it was money well-spent. Not only did I get high quality products and services, I made some lasting professional relationships, but best of all, I made some wonderful friendships. 

Here's my publishing team:

Rosie Somers -- Editor

Laura Heritage -- Cover Artist & Book Design

Kris Riley -- PA Extraordinaire 

Andy Garcia-Ruse -- Audiobook Narrator

AleWin Enterprises -- Book Trailer Creation & Video Editing

BookSirens -- Book Reviews

Jennifer Pierce, Katie O'Connor, Courtney Lynn Rose, and Kat Daemon -- CPs and Beta Readers

Nicki, Kris, Rhonda, Milica, Tammy, Annie, and Wendy -- ARC Team

As you can see, I have quite a few people helping me out on this venture, and I am beyond grateful for each and every one of them, because I wouldn't be where I am in my self-publishing journey without them. 

How did I find them? Simple. I asked...

1. Took Stock of Current Contacts. I took some time to go through my contacts via my email and social media to see who offered the services I needed. Working at Anaiah Press gave me an advantage in that I already knew people who had experience in publishing. I reached out to several of these people first.  

2. Asked for Referrals. After going through my personal contacts, I then asked for referrals from trusted friends.

3. Utilized Social Media. I searched Google and Twitter for services and opportunities. In fact, that's how I stumbled upon BookSirens, via Twitter. And it was via BookSirens that I found my dedicated ARC team.

Once I had a list of people and companies I was considering working with, it was time to do my research. I needed to make sure they were all legitimate. But how can you truly know? Well, I guess you can't, but there are steps you can take to be well-informed and minimize risks. 

1. Ask People You Trust. This goes hand-in-hand with item #2 above. If you get a personal referral from someone you trust, you can be relatively certain that whomever they recommended is on the up and up. When someone has had a good experience with another person or company, they are super eager and willing to tell anyone who will listen, so definitely listen when friends tell you who is good, and who to avoid. 

2. Google. Seriously, Google is your friend. Search and then read everything you find--good and bad. If a company has a website, spend time visiting it. Look over every page to see how they present themselves. Is their site professional? Up to date? Do they have online reviews? If so, read them. Are they listed with the Better Business Bureau? What's their rating there? Do they have any major complaints filed against them? 

3. Ask Questions. Contact the company directly. Ask for prices and whatever other questions you have. Don't be shy. Obviously you don't want to be rude or unprofessional, but don't be afraid to be direct. Any reputable company won't have any trouble answering your questions. Pay attention to how long it takes for them to respond. I'd say 48-72 hours is a reasonable amount of time to wait, unless their website says otherwise. But if it takes weeks or longer, that's a red flag. Some important questions to ask:

• How much will it cost? What do you get for that price?
• Is there any sort of refund policy? 
• How long will it take to get the product / services? 
• What rights are you / them granted?
• Is there any sort of conflict resolution policy should you be dissatisfied with the product or service?

4. Trust Your Instincts. I cannot stress this enough. If you've got a funny feeling about a company or something just doesn't seem right, don't work with them. Go with someone you feel comfortable with, someone who has similar values, and who shares your vision for your book(s). 

Next time, I'll be discussing book trailers and whether or not they're worth the investment. I'll also share my marketing strategy for my book trailer. 

 

Got questions?

Drop them in the comments!

The Journey to Self-Publication, Part 14: Defining Success

I've gotten quite a few questions about why I finally decided to delve into self-publishing and how I'm doing it, so I figured why not create a new blog series!

Every Monday, I'll be sharing a piece of the self-publishing puzzle---from how I came to this choice to writing, editing, marketing, sales, and everything in between. Please remember that this is simply my experience, how I chose to do things. Others do things differently, and that's fine! So, your mileage may vary, but in the end, I hope seeing yet another way of tackling self-publishing will help you on your path. 

Need to catch up on previous posts? Find them here:

Part 1: Making the Choice

Part 2: Creating an LLC

Part 3: Writing the Book(s)

Part 4: STILL writing the Book(s)

Part 5: CPs, Beta Readers, and Editors

Part 6: Cover Art!

Part 7: Formatting and Distribution

Part 8: Pre-release Marketing

Part 9: Release Week Marketing

Part 10: First Month Sales and Efforts

Part 11: Marketing Book Two

Part 12: Audio Books

Part 13: What Now?

It's been a while since I've made a post in this blog series, and I apologize for that. Life has gotten the best of me, but it's now a new year and I'm back at it! Hope everyone had a happy holiday season and that 2021 is treating you well so far :) 

I'm a week away from releasing book 5 in my series, and it seems so surreal to me. It feels like I just began this journey, and now I'm nearing the end -- not the end of self-publishing because I do have plans to continue and release new books. But as I reflect on how far I've come, I realized that I've been a lot more successful than I imagined in terms of what I deem to be success.

The definition of success is going to be different for everyone. For some, it's about number of copies sold, how much in royalties are earned, how many reviews a book gets, if it gets a big trade publication review, etc. Now, I'm not here to tell you what should constitute success and what shouldn't, but I will tell you how I define it and how I set and met reasonable goals along the way. 

When I first started this journey, I knew it was going to be a ton of work, and I knew I wasn't going to sell hundreds of copies. Self-publishing any book is difficult, but self-publishing YA is an even harder uphill battle. That combined with the fact that I'm essentially a nobody in the publishing world, I realized each sale was going to be hard-earned. With that in mind, while I did set some sales specific goals, I focused my success goals on other things. 

GOAL #1: Get 5 or more preorders for book one. I managed to get 10 preorders, so this goal was successful and gave me the boost I needed to push harder with each new release. Sadly, I didn't beat this number in preorders for book 2, but I did with book 3 with 13 preorders!

GOAL #2: Get a minimum of 15 reviews on Amazon. I know there's info floating around that the magic number for Amazon is 50 reviews, but again, I'm being realistic here. I have a combined 47 reviews on Amazon across all four books in the series that have been released so far. And a total of 69 on Goodreads. Not too shabby, and I'm totally counting this as a success!

GOAL #3: Okay, so this was my biggest goal and for me, the ultimate determining factor in deciding if I was truly successful or not. And it's probably not what you think... I wanted someone to read my book and love it so much they felt compelled to email me and tell me. 

And it happened!!! More than once, actually. I've had a handful of readers reach out to me via the contact form on my website and tell me how much they loved my book, ask when the next one will be out, and ask if they could join my ARC team (which, prior to these emails, I didn't really have an ARC team. lol. But you can bet your butt I do now!) I've also had readers who found my book on BookSirens reach out to me to ask to join my ARC team, too. 

But the one thing that's really made me sit back and say, "Wow, I did it! There are people out there who absolutely love my books. I achieved my ultimate goal." was when Kris Riley of My Blissful Books agreed to read and review Eternal Curse. 

Let me back up for a second here... I was scrolling through Twitter one day as I often do and I found a review of a friend's book, one I had done developmental edits on. So, naturally, I clicked through to read the review (it was a glowing 5* review), and then I began to poke around on the website until I found the page for review requests. Figuring it couldn't hurt to try, I emailed the blogger. She responded and agreed to review but said it wouldn't be until later in the year--November-ish. I said that was fine, sent her a digital copy, and then forgot about it. 

Fast forward to November, and I see the following image / post on social media:

Naturally, I got a little nervous. What if she hated it and tore it to shreds?? And then this happened...

Followed by all of this:

To say she loved this series is an understatement. I'm not exaggerating in the slightest when I say she blew through all 6 books in a week flat. She has quickly become one of my biggest fans and even named The Cursed Series her favorite paranormal series of 2020!! But she didn't stop there. She read my entire backlist, too, including my two books I'd published as Lexi Lawton. 

I officially have a super-fan!

If I never sell another copy, I will be happy knowing there are others out there who loved these books and these characters as much as I do. (Though, I really really hope I continue to sell copies.) If you don't already follow My Blissful Books, you really should! And check out her group on Facebook as well. 

Now that I've rambled, allow me to get to the actual point of this post: 

Define what success means to you, and then set reasonable, attainable goals to hit that mark of success, whatever that may be. And once you reach it, celebrate!! Then, if you want to keep going, move the goal post and aim for the next mark. 

Come back next week when I'll be talking about pricing and how I'm using price points to help market the final book in the series.

Got questions?

Drop them in the comments!

The Journey to Self-Publication, Part 13: What Now?

I've gotten quite a few questions about why I finally decided to delve into self-publishing and how I'm doing it, so I figured why not create a new blog series!

Every Monday, I'll be sharing a piece of the self-publishing puzzle---from how I came to this choice to writing, editing, marketing, sales, and everything in between. Please remember that this is simply my experience, how I chose to do things. Others do things differently, and that's fine! So, your mileage may vary, but in the end, I hope seeing yet another way of tackling self-publishing will help you on your path. 

Need to catch up on previous posts? Find them here:

Part 1: Making the Choice

Part 2: Creating an LLC

Part 3: Writing the Book(s)

Part 4: STILL writing the Book(s)

Part 5: CPs, Beta Readers, and Editors

Part 6: Cover Art!

Part 7: Formatting and Distribution

Part 8: Pre-release Marketing

Part 9: Release Week Marketing

Part 10: First Month Sales and Efforts

Part 11: Marketing Book Two

Part 12: Audio Books

So, I've hit the point in my self-publication journey where all the books are written and edited and pending approval on Amazon for pre-order status, and I'm left wondering, "What now??" And I've been wondering about this for a while because I knew that I was going to get to this point, and even though I hate to plot books, I do love to plot out my next steps :-)

(1) Obviously, I will continue to work hard to promote this series, especially with new books still releasing up through February 2021. (I'm going to talk about this a bit more next week with a sales check-in post.)

(2) I'm currently working on a new book--a spinoff story that picks up at the end of book 6 (but with new leading characters), that I hope I can finish and edit in time to release shortly after book 6 goes live on February 9, 2021. 

(3) Write something new! While I love this series and these characters, I'm ready to move on to something else -- a new world with new characters. Though, I have no idea what that might be just yet. I do know it will be another YA series. 

Recently, someone asked me -- "You just finished this massive series. Don't you want to take a break?" My answer is both yes and no. Yes, I would love a break, but I know myself. I know if I take any sort of extended break, I'll lose the momentum I've built, and I'll lose the excitement for this series. And, I have scenes and dialogue racing through my head, and I need to get it written before I forget all of it. 

Also, from everything I've read, one of the key factors to success in self-publishing is a fast and consistent release schedule. Is it grueling? You betcha! But I'm just launching my Indie career, and I realize I need to put in the time and effort to make it work. Here's hoping I get to the point (soon) where I don't have to work quite so hard every single day of the week. Until then, I'll keep moving forward!

Come back next week when I'll be doing a sales check-in to see how the series is doing, what new strategies I'm using, and what hasn't worked out so well. 

Got questions?

Drop them in the comments!

The Journey to Self-Publication, Part 11: Marketing Book Two

I've gotten quite a few questions about why I finally decided to delve into self-publishing and how I'm doing it, so I figured why not create a new blog series!

Every Monday, I'll be sharing a piece of the self-publishing puzzle---from how I came to this choice to writing, editing, marketing, sales, and everything in between. Please remember that this is simply my experience, how I chose to do things. Others do things differently, and that's fine! So, your mileage may vary, but in the end, I hope seeing yet another way of tackling self-publishing will help you on your path. 

Need to catch up on previous posts? Find them here:

Part 1: Making the Choice

Part 2: Creating an LLC

Part 3: Writing the Book(s)

Part 4: STILL writing the Book(s)

Part 5: CPs, Beta Readers, and Editors

Part 6: Cover Art!

Part 7: Formatting and Distribution

Part 8: Pre-release Marketing

Part 9: Release Week Marketing

Part 10: First Month Sales and Efforts

Book two in my series officially releases tomorrow, and so I've been busy working to get the word out about that one, but promoting this book hasn't really been my priority. Why? Because it's the second in a series, and while it can (and has) been read as a standalone, it's much better when read after the first book. So, my efforts for this one have been a lot less aggressive. Here's what I'm doing, though:

1. Reviews. I've had the book listed on BookSirens, and it's gotten a handful of early reviews already that will hopefully hit Amazon during release week. 

2. Newsletter. I'll be sending a newsletter the day of release to announce the book. In there will be extra sneak peeks and a fun giveaway just for my subscribers! 

3. Paid Ads. Having run a ton of ads for book 1 via both paid and free avenues, I've been able to see what does and doesn't work, so I was very selective in what ads I chose to run for book 2, and I hope I'll see a better return on my investment. I have an add set for release day along with one the day after. 

4. Push Book One. As I mentioned above, this is the second book in a series, and I read somewhere once that you'll never sell more copies of the second book than you will of the first. And that makes sense when you think about it, so for me to get readers to invest in book 2, I need to get them to invest in book 1. In the back of book 1, I have a teaser for book 2, along with a direct link for them to go buy it, so in theory, once a reader finishes one, then can go buy and start two. So, part of my efforts for book 2 include continuing to be aggressive with book one, and I have some rather larger (and expensive) ads scheduled for book 1 to coincide with the release of book 2. 

Will all of this work? I have no idea. LOL. But stay tuned, and I'll circle back around eventually to share more sales numbers to see how it worked out. Next week, though, I'm going to talk about audio books, and I have a fun surprise for that post! 

Got questions?

Drop them in the comments!