Tuesday Tips: 5 Author Tools That Will Change Your Life

 

All authors, regardless if they are self-published or working with a traditional publisher, have to do so much more than just "write the next book." We need to engage on social media, attend book signings, cultivate a mailing list, and often times we also have to create our own promotional images and content. Naturally, all of this takes time away from what our main job is--which is writing books. 

Personally, I'm all for streamlining things and working smarter not harder. I've recently been made aware of some programs that have changed my author life and have made things so much simpler for me, which in turn frees up more of my time to write actual books. 

And so, here are my top 5 Author Tools that I think every author should check out: 

1. SmarterQueue 

This is a massive game changer in terms of social media management. You can link your profiles and schedule posts. Now, I know there a lot of programs like this out there, but this one beats them all. Why? Well, for starters, you can create variations of the same posts with different media (images, videos, etc) and then you can recycle those posts so that they will always keep going until you tell them to stop. And with the variations, you'll never have back to back posts that are the same. 

You can use the calendar feature to create a posting plan, you can create and organize your posts based on specific categories that YOU choose. You can find free images and content to post. You can import your blog and share others' blog posts. And the best part is -- this is hands-down the simplest program I have ever used! 

They offer a standard 14-day free trial, but if you use this LINK you'll get a 30-day free trial. Beyond that, they have tiered plans that can be paid monthly or yearly. 

2. Author Content Calendar

If you're like me, you probably struggle with coming up with constant, new content to share on social media -- that's not all "BUY MY BOOK! -- am I right? Well, the Author Content Calendar has you covered! This is a one-time $39.00 fee for lifetime access to the calendar that offers an entire year (over 600 posts) of social media content that you can use. They also offer Canva templates for a variety of bookish posts, and that saves you time trying to create your own!

Did I mention this has LIFETIME ACCESS? Which means once you buy it, it's yours forever. You can use it for multiple pen names, if you want. And if you purchase this multiple years, you can mix and match the content as you see fit. 

3. Canva

A lot of authors are already aware of Canva, but this list wouldn't be complete without mentioning this specific tool. 

With Canva, you can create just about anything you want to help build your author brand, promote your books, fun things to engage with your readers. And now, you can even create products that Canva will print and ship to you (for a fee, of course) and this is a great feature for those of us who need physical swag for giveaways and / or book signing events. 

Canva offers a free plan that's really quite useful for being free, but if you want all the added bells and whistles, you can upgrade to the pro plan, which is what I use. And I don't regret the upgrade at all! I use this daily for just about everything.

4. Buffer

This program offers a LOT of various tools, but I use it for one specifically -- the landing page that lists all of my social media accounts. I can't tell you how much of a time saver this is. When someone asks where they can find me or follow me, giving them a single link that lists everywhere else I'm on social media is so much easier! And you can create and publish your start.page for FREE! You can add images, text, links, and videos! I love this and have found it to be so incredibly easy to use. You can see mine HERE.

5. Bookfunnel

Every author should have a mailing list, as this is the best way to communicate directly with your readers / fans. But once you create a newsletter, you need subscribers -- and finding them can be difficult. This is where Bookfunnel comes in! You can list a free book, sample chapters, or whatever you want to entice readers to sign up for your newsletter. Once you have the content to give to subscribers, you can then join in on various promos hosted right on bookfunnel! They offer group promotions for both building your list and for sales. There is a little bit of a learning curve with this platform, but there are plenty of helpful articles that will walk you through it. 

I have a lot more tools that I use, but for the sake of keeping this post a reasonable length, I'm going to stop here for now. I'll do a second post soon with more helpful tools. 

If you have tools you use that you just can't live without, share them in the comments!

Thursday Thoughts: Marketing Genuis or Mad-cash Grab?

 

Recently, I read an 8-book series that started with a very short (50-ish pages) freebie prequel. As I often do, I studied this series and how the author did things in terms of the cover art, the blurbs, the style of the books, the overall marketing, etc. I mean, this is how most Indie authors learn: by watching how other authors do things. And I noticed a few things that led me down a deep rabbit hole. 

Here are my overall observations:

1. This free prequel was basically the inciting incident that would then lead the characters through the rest of the series. It ended abruptly and on a huge cliffhanger. (I find this very unique because what if I hadn't read the prequel first? What if I'd just jumped into book one? I wouldn't have seen some really important scenes / characters, because book 1 picks up exactly where the prequel ends.)

2. Each subsequent book in the series was short, too. Most came in under 150 pages each. There were 7 books in the series (not counting the prequel). 

3. Each book ended abruptly and on a cliffhanger. At the end, a direct link was given to click through and buy the next book. (This is very handy, and I think all authors should do this!)

4. The prequel was free. Book one was $0.99. Each book thereafter was $2.99.

5. Each book has essentially the same cover image with different color schemes and the corresponding titles. (Personally, this bugs me. I love an eye-catching cover, but if every single cover is different only in color and title, that easily confuses me and makes it hard to keep the books straight.)

Now, I'm not slamming or shaming this author at all! I fully support all artists being paid for their hard work. In fact, I really enjoyed the series, but the more I think about this, the more I'm left wondering: 

Do readers prefer books like this? 

Short continuous stories that feel more like serials than full novels?

I paid just shy of $16 for this series, which isn't bad when you think about it. I got 8 books in total (including the free prequel), but if you take time to think about the numbers (which I did), I'm not sure I got my money's worth. The author could have very easily combined all of these into 3 or 4 books, and at the end, as a consumer, I probably would've paid less overall. 

My Cursed Series is 7 books long, and they do end on cliffhangers, but each book is well over 300 pages / 100k words. So I don't necessarily feel "bad" about asking readers to pay $2.99 or even $4.99 for my books. I honestly feel like they're getting their money's worth. 

So my question to readers is this: Do you prefer a lot of shorter books all priced the same that also look the same, or a series of longer books all priced the same with all different cover art?

At the end of the day, the blurb is what ultimately sold me on this series, and I didn't pay much attention to the covers and pricing scheme until after I'd already finished buying and reading all of them. Am I mad that this type of marketing worked on me? A little, but I'm much more intrigued by this method, and that rabbit hole I fell down -- yeah, a LOT of indie authors are employing this publishing method. And a lot of them seem to have high rankings and stellar reviews. Maybe they're on to something here... 

 

Spill the Tea Tuesday: Judging a Book by its Cover

Don't judge a book by its cover! We've all heard that, and I'm sure a lot of us have said this at some point, too, but personally, I think this is terrible advice. I mean, let's be honest, we all judge books by their covers. How can we not? The cover is often the very first thing we see. If a cover is ugly or amateurish or confusing or hard to read, I'll keep scrolling (or strolling the aisles if I'm in an actual bookstore). Do I miss some good books because of this? Probably. But on the flip side, I've seen some absolutely gorgeous covers that make me stop and take notice. Then the blurb doesn't entice me or the story itself is just bad. 

Now, I realize this means I should take the above advice--don't judge a book by its cover--right? But again, no. Why? Because as an author, especially an Indie author, it's your job (my job) to create a cover that will grab a potential reader's attention. But my work doesn't stop there. I also need to ensure the blurb and the contents of the book are just as stellar. If my cover snags attention, I then need to guarantee my blurb will make that reader open to page one. And then I need to hook them enough to want to keep reading. 

So, while I agree we shouldn't judge the contents of a book by its cover, we absolutely need to use the cover as a tool to decide if it's something we want to invest our time and money in--two things a majority of people are in short supply of lately. 

You're probably wondering what prompted this post, so let me explain...

When I published my YA paranormal books (The Cursed Series), I hired a professional cover artist who I'd worked with before in various other capacities, and I truly adored her work. I gave her ideas of what I wanted, and she exceeded my expectations. 

I absolutely LOVE my covers, and when I'm at a book signing and have the entire series lined up on my table, I get so many compliments on the covers and how stunning they are--and how perfectly they all fit together from a series branding standpoint. And people really tend to love the colors, too.

But then I paid for a consultation from a successful author who reviewed my catalog and offered insight into how I could better brand and market my series in an effort to increase sales. Now, I learned a lot from this author, and I'm so glad I did the consult--it was definitely money well spent. However, one of her biggest "issues" was with my covers. She felt they didn't fit within the current market trends, didn't properly portray my genre and age category, and that, because the last book had an object as opposed to people, it didn't fit well with the rest of the series. 

I disagreed. Vehemently. 

And I refused to change my covers. 

Yes, a big part of this was sheer stubbornness on my part, but an equally big part was the cost of doing a total cover re-brand on seven books. I just didn't have the funds. Yet, I couldn't seem to shake her advice. Was she right? Did I need to re-do my covers? So, I do what I always do in this situation... I reached out to my trusted circle of friends and asked for their opinions. They all agreed that my covers were fine, and sales were steady. I let the advice go and kept going as I had been.

Recently, though, sales have stagnated. Not stopped, mind you, but I haven't really seen any increases, either. Can you guess where this is going?? LOL. 

For those of you who haven't seen today's social media posts, I'm finally taking the plunge and rebranding my Cursed Series. But not just the covers--the interior formatting, the editing, and the blurbs. Will this help boost sales? No idea, but it's worth a shot, right? 

My question for all of you readers: Do you judge books by their covers? How do you feel about authors switching out book covers like this--love it? Hate it? Don't really care? Drop your thoughts in the comments and let's spill some tea. 

Spill the Tea Tuesday: Do's and Don'ts for Being a Professional

Today, author Laurie Wood is spilling the tea...

Today I’m “spilling the tea” on a pet peeve of mine—professional authors who don’t act like professionals! This may be a bit of a rant, so settle in with your coffee and see if you recognize anyone you might know in these examples.

We’re all busy, overwhelmed people with deadlines, marketing to do, families with multiple activities, and pets to look after. However, just because most of us work from home, doesn’t mean we get to behave in our work life as if we’re the only ones who count in our professional lives. And I believe it all comes down to—you guessed it—common courtesy.

Let’s talk about those group writer activities we get invited to take part in, or those we might start ourselves.

Have you ever been part of a Facebook party? Check. A group blog for a few months to a year? Check. A newsletter swap? Check. A group promotion for your publisher? Check. An anthology with multiple authors? Check.

Okay, let’s look at some Do’s and Don’ts of this wonderful world of being a professional author in a professional space:

DO:

1. Be polite, and prompt with emails to the group.

2. Get whatever written material, graphics, and photos to the person in charge ON TIME. 

3. This shouldn’t even need to be said but proofread/edit/spell check your work first!

4. Follow the directions of the other author you’re working with—she has reasons she wants certain things done that way! I once had an author write to me, “I’m too old to learn new technology so I will not use bitly.com.” Ahem. If you’re too old to know how to cut and paste, then I’m assuming you’re still working on an IBM Electric typewriter, and shame on me for not checking out the quality of your books before I agreed to have you as a guest on my blog! It turned out it was a good thing I double-checked her quality because it wasn’t up to the standards I have for my blog. We canceled.

5. DO what you’ve agreed to do. If something goes wrong, and you don’t have time to write the blog, make the graphics, etc. then be up front about it and let the other author know right away. Honesty is always the best policy. 

DON'T:

1. Invite an author to be a guest for your Facebook party, and then ask her to make up graphics for the party. She’s your *guest*. She’s bringing her readers with her to fill out your party attendance. It’s up to the host to make the party graphics. If you need her to make her own graphics for her time slot, that’s a different thing. I’m talking about making Facebook headers, teasers, etc. Just…don’t.

2. Ask for a newsletter swap and want the other author to provide you with a cover jpg, back cover blurb, buy links, and her headshot, and then just put her cover jpg in as a *thumbnail* and say, “I haven’t read this book, but I thought the cover was pretty.” Don’t then assume you’re going to get the coverage you asked for in HER newsletter. Shame on you. Again, common courtesy and integrity apply here.

3. Invite an author to be a guest for your all-day Facebook party and insist that *every* post she does must include a giveaway! Seriously? Not only is she going to spend hours making up graphics and games for her time slot to entertain your guests, she now has to give away and ship prizes on her own dime? That’s just tacky, and enough said about that…

4. Forget what time zone your group blog is in. I’ve been guilty of this myself (lol) BUT I’ve always stayed the course and written my post in real time to get it up so that it hits in the middle of the night on the other side of the world. I’ve never pooched out on my compatriots and left them with a blank spot on the blog, although I know others who have…yes, life comes at us but unless you or one of your kids is in the hospital in surgery you write till you drop.

So often, I see authors who think they only need to be “professional” with their publisher, agent, or editor. But you know what? We need to be professional with *each other* as well, because when we’re between contracts and the pickings are slim, or the words just aren’t coming some days, we need our writing friends to keep us going. 

So, play nice, be a friend, and be professional! Your reputation is all you have in this business and it’s everything.

Laurie Wood has followed her RCAF serving husband across Canada, raising their two special needs children to adulthood while she began her writing career. She's a member of Sisters in Crime International and SinC Canada West, as well as Faith, Hope & Love Christian Writers. Laurie writes both romantic suspense and historical novels and is currently working on her next book. You can learn more about Laurie on her website, blog, Facebook, and Twitter.

The tea has been spilled! Who's gonna clean it up? 

Drop your thoughts in the comments!

Spill the Tea Tuesday: The Power of a Like

Today, author Connie Ann Michael is spilling the tea...

“You get followers by doing things people like so you’re popular with the world and not just in high school or your inner circle. You don’t know how many people don’t care about you until you get a like on your phone, and it’s addicting.”

-Students from church

I work with youth at church and have had a front row seat to technology in today's world, and the funny thing is, for the older students, they totally know how they are prisoners to social media--they just can’t stop. It reminds me of the saying, ‘if a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, did it makes a sound?’ If you post something on your Snapchat/Instagram and no one likes it, did it happen?

This generation has never been without technology, and their perspective on the world they are in is very different than the one I grew up in. Appropriate use of technology is foreign to them or maybe there just aren’t any rules. 

During our church services I watch as texts, videos, snaps, whatever…are sent across the room like a wave. They are literally all at the same place, sharing the same experience. 

I live very near Yellowstone National Park and see visitors who miss all the fun animals and thermal features because they need a selfie that will get them likes. Or that a goring by a buffalo will get them a million likes on YouTube. No one steps in to help each other because it will disrupt the video or the shot. There is an entire site available for people to just post pictures and get likes. These pictures have to get more and more inappropriate as they fight for the likes. 

I was on a plane with a group of middle schoolers and listened to a very serious conversation they had on whether or not they had permission to take photos of each other. They didn’t want candids of them going out without a chance to filter them. I was impressed they were taking the initiative but sad they had to. 

Personally, I cannot stand watching people taking selfies, but what really gets me is when people are talking into their phones, listening to videos, anything that brings the world inside their phone to my world. I have unwillingly been a part of conversations I want no part of, but I've been in the same aisle at the grocery store. Custody battles, therapy sessions, divorce conversations, you name it.

When did talking at your phone become a thing?

When did the amount of likes we get value or devalue an activity we do?

My son went in the Army five years ago, and when he was in holding, the lonely place they go before basic, all phones were taken away. The people with him went nuts. A small number even went as far as trying to commit suicide because they couldn’t handle being cut off from this cyber world. They were at a loss at being able to document their every move. It happens again and again when they deploy and all service is shut off. The value of a day has come down to how many likes we get.

I feel it.

I get wanting to know what is going on. I remember rushing home to see if the little light on the answering machine was blinking. BUT! This is getting ridiculous.

On the other side of the coin are those who are addicted to giving the likes. Those who hold the key to validation. I have students who can’t hear the buzz of a phone and not need to see what happened, even if it isn’t their phone. It drives them nuts that I have the ability to not check my phone for an entire day. The minute they walk out the door, they are back on and liking the posts they missed. Even my own mother, who is older, can’t not look if she gets a notification and is quick to send a like or a heart. Kids freak out if I take their phone before they get a chance to take photos to keep a streak going on Snapchat. They get mad if I don’t let them respond to a crazy post--it’s a give and take, and we need both sides to make it work. The glow of the phone is hypnotic, the anticipation of the thumbs up or the like is addicting. The waiting for instant gratification from a returned text can drive them to immediate thoughts of, ‘he’s ignoring me’. 

But we can’t live without them, right?

I have tried to adjust. I have tried to understand. I try not to yell for people within my vicinity to turn down the volume, but I can’t overcome it. I can’t stand the sound. I can’t stand the feeling of needing to be available all the time. I can’t stand feeling I need to filter my photos and post my daily life.

Misophonia, which literally means “hatred of sound,” is a condition that causes strong emotional reactions to specific sounds.

My friend said this is what I have, it’s just directly related to cell phones. I have a strong emotional reaction of wanting to grab a phone and toss it in the road and jump on it. But I think it is so much more. And the problem is, no one knows how to make it better.

So, for all the great things about our world and the technology we now have at our fingertips, we have become an impatient and very self-centered civilization. We spend way too much time looking at ourselves, altering our appearance so we look better than ever, and then trying to get people to like the fake person we are becoming. 

Connie Ann Michael was born and raised in the city of Seattle but after attending Washington State University she turned into a country girl and moved to a small...very small town. She has two teenage boys that provide countless amounts of material for her books. Her boys have left for college, and now she occupies her time playing with her three dogs, mountain biking, kayaking, and anything else she can do outdoors. Learn more about Connie on Facebook and Goodreads.

The tea has been spilled! Who's gonna clean it up? 

Drop your thoughts in the comments!

 

Spill the Tea Tuesday: Brand Your Sh*t!

Today, blogger and PA Kris Riley is spilling the tea...

Hey y'all. Today I am spilling the tea on branding for your business and why you as authors, PAs or any business owner should be making sure your business is branded.

What is a brand? A brand is how you get recognized. It is a name, logo, tag line, brand voice and design that makes yourself or your business stand out from all the others. Branding helps create clarity and focus for your readers or clients. The benefits of branding are immense but just a couple that I think are the most prominent are customer recognition and consistency.

1.Customer recognition is huge. When someone sees your logo or hears your tagline they are going to automatically envision your company. 

2. Staying consistent in any business is crucial, as we all know. Changing up a logo happens. It is best to keep the same colors just so that while the logo may be new people will know the tagline. Same for when you change your tagline. 

Branding is one of the easier ways to bring attention to yourself and business.

As a business owner and PA, I make sure to brand all of my clients graphics. Living in the world of the internet and memes we all know how people save whatever snags their attention. Imagine working hard on a new graphic and having it swiped and used in a million places without anyone knowing who created it. Yet, if you have your logo and brand on it, everyone will know where to go to find more. 

Branding is an easy way to help further your career. The best part yet... starting a brand costs very little. There are so many apps that will help you make a logo. Canva and VistaCreate are great places to start. Make sure to choose your color palette to something that will age gracefully in your market. Fonts should be easy to read. A tip for when you download your logo - make sure you download one that is transparent. It makes it easier when you have a different colored background.

Once you have your logo make sure to place it on everything you make. It can be the focus point or it can be small. Which you choose will be based on the graphic you are creating. I hope this bit of tea helps you understand more about how important branding can be to you and your business. 

Kris Riley is the owner of Blissful Services. She started out as a reviewer/blogger and tiptoed into becoming a PA. While Blissful Services is a little over a year old, Kris has been deep in the indie book community since 2015. When Kris is not busy with Blissful Services she is usually found with her nose in a book, taking classes to further her skills as a PA, or playing in her digital planner. Kris has been happily married to the love of her life for 17 years. Together, they have 3 children and a spoiled pit bull. Learn more about Kris and Blissful Services on her website, blog, and Facebook. 

The tea has been spilled! Who's gonna clean it up? 

Drop your thoughts 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!