Thursday Thoughts: Pen Names and Passion Projects

It's been almost three full years since I embarked on my self-publishing journey and embraced the Indie world. I've certainly had a lot of ups and downs, and wow have I learned a TON! Looking back, there are definitely things I'd do differently, but now I know and I can adjust moving forward. I have a huge list of things I've learned, but there are two that have really been resonating with me lately, and I want to share them in the hopes they might help another writer.

NEW PEN NAMES:

A lot of authors write using a pen name--this is nothing new. Some authors even have multiple pen names for various genres. I used to have two different pseudonyms. One for YA (Kara Leigh Miller) and one for adult (Lexi Lawton). But when I began to focus on self-publishing, I dropped the Lexi name. Mostly because I knew I just didn't have the time to build two separate names, and honestly, I can only write one book at a time, so I'm either writing YA or Adult, but never both at once. 

However, in my quest to learn the business side of publishing, I joined the Wide for the Win Facebook group. Seriously, if you're an author and don't belong to this group--and you're selling your books on places other than just Amazon--go fix that right now! The wealth of knowledge in that group is astounding and so, so helpful. 

One of the biggest takeaways I got from this group is how multiple pen names are often necessary. See, when you publish on vendor sites, after a certain amount of time, you'll begin to notice a section called "Also Bought." These are books that are, hopefully, similar to yours. It gives readers a chance to see what other customers have bought that are like the product you offer. 

So, using me as an example, if I write and publish YA paranormal romance with limited foul language and no graphic sexual situations AND I also write and publish steamier / erotic adult romance under the same name, my "Also Bought" section will get messed up, because in theory, I'd have a mix of books. And sure, a lot of readers buy and read across a variety of genres, age categories, and heat levels. But stop for a moment and think of what this does should a teen find my books. The "Also Bought" recommendations won't just list other YA books, it will include some very adult books. 

Before anyone comes at me with "yeah, but..." I do realize there are quite a few authors who write a variety of stories under one pen name. And huge kudos to them! I truly wish I could do that, too, but I know I'm not a big enough author to make that work for me. 

With all of this in mind, along with knowing that I'm not the type of writer who can only write one age category / genre all the time, I have decided to branch out into more than one pen name. Yes, I still have my adult pen name, Lexi Lawton, who writes steamy New Adult romances, and while I'm not actively writing or publishing anything under that name right this moment, she's still alive and kicking ;-)

I'm working very closely with an author friend of mine, and together, we're launching a new pen name -- one that we're not going to publicly name just yet -- and we'll be focusing on some darker, steamier romances. 

PASSION PROJECTS: 

When I first began writing Eternal Curse, it was what I called my passion project. It was a story I wanted to write for ME. I never had any intention of publishing it, but rather it was something I would work on when I was stuck on other things. It was my safe, fun space. I had no expectations, no rules, no pressure--and then that single book turned into a seven book series. The words poured out of me, and I rediscovered my love for the act of writing. 

But then I published this, and to be clear: I do not regret that decision in the slightest! I have actual readers now, people who loved my books and want more. That's a huge accomplishment that I'm very proud of. But with that comes pressure -- pressure to write more books faster, to write the books my readers want, etc. Suddenly, writing once again became a chore rather than a joy, and I found myself struggling again. I didn't *want* to write, and well, that made me grumpy. lol. 

So, my second most important lesson learned is to ALWAYS have a passion project handy. I realize not every author can jump from one project to another, and I'm extremely lucky that I can. I've also realized that I simply cannot write without a passion project which, oddly enough, is what pushed me to finally embrace my second pen name. This has also led me to the co-authored venture I mentioned above. Once again, I'm feeling excited about writing and publishing, and I hope 2024 will yield a lot more book releases. 

Are you a writer as well? 

Do you keep passion projects on the side? 

{TEASER TUESDAY}: Time to Move On?

 Only two weeks until Everlasting Hope releases into the wild! Who else is excited?? 

As I mentioned in last week's #TeaserTuesday post, this is Abby's story, and there's a lot happening with all of the characters that you've grown to love. But poor Abby is really struggling, and she's drowning in grief. Chloe tries so hard to help her, but Abby's a bit... resentful of her cousin. So, of course, Jax jumps in and offers his unique brand of help. Read on ;-) 

FULL EXCERPT:

“Want to tell me what’s going on around here?” Arms crossed, I slouched back and stared at the TV.

“What do you mean?” Jax’s gaze never wavered from the game.

“Don’t play stupid. You suck at it.”

He glanced over at me, the corner of his mouth lifting in an almost smile, his blue eyes sparkling with mischief. Whoa. The breath rushed from my lungs at the sight of him looking at me like that. Anyone with half a brain would agree Jax was sexy, but when he gave that look? I had to refrain from fanning my face with my hand. Chloe told me once that this very look Jax was currently giving me was his I’m-going-to-say-something-to-piss-you-off look, but it had never failed to make Chloe’s heart race. I could totally understand why.

“Seriously, Jax. What’s going on?”

“We’re all wondering the same thing.” He returned his attention to the TV.

“What?” I asked, confused. “Please just stop with all this... whatever this is. It’s not cute or funny.” I huffed and glanced up at the ceiling to collect my thoughts. “Chloe once told me that you were the only person who wouldn’t sugar coat things, that you always told her how it was, even if she didn’t want to hear it. Can you please do the same for me right now?”

Jax paused the game, tossed his controller onto the table next to Wyatt’s, then twisted to look at me. “Chloe talked to you about me?”

I rolled my eyes. “You’re pathetic, you know that?”

He laughed, and despite my mood, I laughed, too. Jax leaned back so we were shoulder to shoulder, and the physical contact set off a chain reaction of conflicting emotions. The touch was both comforting and disconcerting. On one hand, I missed the intimacy of having someone—a guy—close to me like this. On the other hand, I couldn’t shake the guilt and awkwardness. For so long, Isach had been the only man to touch me, and this was Jax, the guy who was still very much in love with my cousin.

“We’re just worried about you. That’s all,” he said.

I shifted to put some space between us but didn’t say anything.

“We know you’re not handling things very well, but we have no idea how bad it really is because you refuse to talk to anyone about it,” he continued.

My chest constricted at his words. Chloe hadn’t been lying when she said Jax would lay it all out with blunt honesty. I was no longer so sure I wanted to know what was going on.

“I tried to talk to you this morning, and you barely said anything. Chloe’s tried every day since Isach’s death, and you’ve shut her out. Even Trent tried to offer some help.” Jax shook his head. “We’re at a loss how to help you, Abby.”

I swallowed around the lump in my throat. “You mean you haven’t asked Whitney or Wyatt to read my thoughts?”

“They offered, and Chloe threatened them with severe bodily injury if they invaded your privacy like that.” His lips twitched with a smile. “She even made me fear for my life, and I wasn’t the one doing anything wrong.”

“For once,” I muttered, which earned me another deep laugh from Jax. “I really do appreciate everyone’s concern. I do. But I need to deal with this in my own way. When Rachel died, I locked myself in my room and didn’t come out for days. Same thing when Marc died. But eventually, I came around. I will this time, too, but it’s going to take a little longer.”

Jax nodded. “What helped after Marc and Rachel died? What made you want to start living again?”

“Isach,” I whispered and closed my eyes. “He made it so easy to forget all the pain. Of course, back then, he’d been using me. Probably used his magic, but at least it had helped.”

“So, is that what you need this time, too? A guy to pay attention to you, help you forget?”

I gave Jax a dirty look. He wasn’t serious, was he? Replacing Isach wasn’t going to suddenly make everything better.

“Why? You offering to be that guy?” I asked.

Pre-Order Now!

Haven't started the series yet? No problem! 

You can get Eternal Curse: The Cursed Series, Book 1 for FREE!

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!

Looking Back on 2020....

Hmm... Well, this was certainly "A Year" wasn't it? Between politics, the pandemic, and the rollercoaster that is publishing, 2020 has not been a great year on a global scale. While I, too, had to deal with all of this stuff in my everyday life, I had an overall amazing year! And I'm reluctant to even type that because I know for so many, this year was truly awful. But because it's been so awful, I'm not going to feel bad about my accomplishments. If anything, we need more reasons to celebrate this year, so buckle in and let's take a look back on the year to see what I accomplished, what I didn't, and what big changes I faced in 2020.

My original 2020 goals included: 

(1) FINISH BOOKS 1 & 2 OF THE GEORGIA CORBINS SERIES

These books... I both love and hate them. LOL. They are very near to my heart, but I'm still really struggling with what direction to take them, so while I thought about them quite a bit this past year, I didn't actually open the docs and work on them. But that's okay. Maybe next year. 

(2) WRITE BOOKS 2 & 3 OF MY YA PARANORMAL ROMANCE SERIES

Bahahahahaha! Wow, has so much happened with this series! Originally, it was only supposed to be three books. That turned into four. Then six... All of which are now written. Four are now available for sale with the final two up for pre-order. 

(3) RESURRECT MY PEN NAME

For those who don't know, I write steamy New Adult and adult books under the name Lexi Lawton. After a surprising (and wonderful) email from my publisher, I found out they are re-investing in my books with some new marketing efforts, and I couldn't be more excited! So, I've revamped Lexi's website and social media, and I'm actively working on some new stuff for her. In the meantime, if you want to stay up-to-date, you can follow her (me) on social media: newsletter / Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads / Amazon / AllAuthor / Bookbub. 

(4) OFFICIALLY LAUNCH FIRECHICKEN PRESS, LLC

I didn't just launch this with one book as I'd originally wanted to--I launched it with the entire Cursed Series! And I did so several months earlier than I'd expected, too, so that's been fun. 

(5) KEEP ON EDITING

I'm still with Anaiah, and I've still been editing. I don't foresee this changing any time soon. I also managed to snag a couple new freelance clients. 

(6) FIND MY PASSION

My official word and state of mind going into 2020 was passion. I wanted to find that spark again, to fall in love with writing and editing and life in general, and despite everything, I did. I'm exactly where I've always wanted to be in terms of loving what I do, and this is probably the best thing to have come out of 2020.

While I kicked butt with my goals this past year, so much more has happened that I never expected or planned for, so here's the quick rundown: 

Professionally: 

• I wrote a total of 680,227 words (!!!) That's the most I've ever written. 
• I blogged a total of 19,393 words.
• I released 6 books: Warped Remains, Perfectly Imperfect, Eternal Curse, Eternal Choice, Eternal Bond, and Eternal Love.
• I wrote approximately 5k of a spinoff from The Cursed Series.
• I rewrote the ending to Lexi's 3rd book (Resisting Ryder) and submitted it to the publisher for consideration. 
• I've re-signed with my former agent, Dawn Dowdle of Blue Ridge Literary Agency!! 
• I dove headfirst into self-publishing. 
• My book, Perfectly Imperfect, released as an audio book! And I've since started moving The Cursed Series into audio, too. 
• For Anaiah, I edited 8 full length novels and 5 novellas. 
• I freelance edited 6 manuscripts.
• I had professional author photos taken--finally! It's only been 10 years. LOL. 

Personally:

• I went on my dream vacation--A Caribbean cruise with my BFF, Emily!
• I survived an ongoing global pandemic without getting sick. Well, not any sicker than usual, anyway.
• Despite the gym closing, I managed to continuing working out on a regular basis -- thanks to my wonderful husband investing in an elliptical for me. 
• I maintained my weight loss from last year! In fact, I even managed to drop another couple of pounds. 
• Caught up on lots more TV... I finished the final season of The 100 (severely disappointed) then began a rewatch but stopped midway through season 4. I made it through every single episode of Supernatural, and then watched the finale with my daughter (when we both cried our eyes out). I watched the only season of V-Wars, Daybreakers, and The Society. Oh, and I watched Shadowhunters, too!
• My daughter is on track to graduate from high school early, and I've gone on a couple of college tours with her. I'm beyond excited that she's been accepted to her top choice. 
• My son, who does not do well with online learning, passed all of his classes this first semester, and he's on track to graduate next year, too!
• My other daughter got a new kitten. 
• Two of my girls have gotten first jobs this year--one at Subway and the other at Little Ceasers. 
• We got a new puppy on Christmas eve. Her name is Maggie May, and she's absolutely adorable.

I even managed to read a lot more this year than I normally do: 

• City of Bones, City of Ashes, City of Glass, and City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare
• Kissing the Wrong Twin by Christina Herrara
• Risen by Cole Gibsen
• Crave and Crush by Tracy Wolff
• Twin Souls by K.A. Poe
• Flight by Alyssa Rose Ivy
• Fading by Cindy Cipriano
• The Immortal Mark, The Immortal Truth, and The Immortal Bond by Amy Sparling
• Vampire Crush by A.M. Robinson
• The Vampire's Promise by Caroline B. Cooney
• Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer
• Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare
• Hex by Thomas Olde Huevelt
• Uncomfortable and Unavoidable by Nessa Page
• A Cowboy's Pride and Winning the Cowboy's Heart by Karen Rock
• The Country Vet by Eleanor Jones

Overall, it's been a pretty great year for me professionally, and I'm excited to see what I can accomplish in 2021. Stay tuned for my official goals post :-) In the meantime, tell me in the comments what YOU did this year! 

The Journey to Self-Publication, Part 12: Audiobooks

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

Earlier this year, the publisher for my Christian YA romance, Perfectly Imperfect, moved into audio books, and so for the first time ever, I heard my characters come to life, and let me tell you -- it was surreal! And SO exciting. Because I had been through the process with them, I knew I wanted to put my Cursed Series into audio, too. 

Why? Lots of reasons, but this article written by Nana Malone outlines it so much better than I can. Go check it out. I'll wait....

All set? Good! 

I chose to use ACX because I was familiar with them, and they are extremely user friendly. They also have various payment options available, which I love, especially as a new Indie author who isn't rolling in any money piles just yet. LOL. They offer three options:

• Pay upfront per completed hour recorded
• Pay some upfront per completed hour recorded plus a royalty share between author and narrator
• An equal royalty split between author and narrator

The best part is, with any royalty sharing options, ACX handles the distribution of those payments, so you don't have to worry about paying royalties to a narrator. As I mentioned, the platform is super easy to use, and each step is given very clear, guided instructions. It's very hard to mess up, even if you're like me and not super tech savvy. 

When I made the decision to move Eternal Curse into audio, I already had my eye on a narrator--the same woman who'd narrated Perfectly Imperfect: Andy Garcia-Ruse. I was more than pleased with how she brought Grayson and Isabelle to life, and I had no doubts she'd do Trent, Chloe, and Jax justice, too. I invited her to audition, and she eagerly accepted. As soon as I listened to her sample, I knew I was going to go with her again. She's got a very easygoing tone, and she's smooth to listen to. 

So, I thought it would be fun to interview her for this post and get some behind-the-scenes info on what goes into producing an audio book. 

1. Welcome, Andy! Thanks for joining us today. Please start by telling us a bit about yourself. Who are you? Where did you come from? What made you decide to become an audio book narrator?

My name is Andy Garcia-Ruse. I’m an audiobook narrator, and I live in Kansas City, Missouri. I’ve always been an avid reader and have listened to audiobooks since early 2000s (except back then they were on CDs).  

Over the years as I was listening to books, I would find myself stopping the book and narrating previous lines and making the book how I would want it read. I dreamed about narrating and started to follow some of my favorite audiobook narrators to learn more about the industry. 

Then, fast-forward in time, I was hit in a car accident and suffered a traumatic brain injury, which ended my career as a mental health therapist. After having spent over a year in physical therapy, speech therapy, vestibular therapy, occupational therapy and trauma therapy—from which I was able to start speaking again—I began narrating audiobooks for fun and as part of my cognitive recovery. I fell in love with it. I loved everything about it. I loved narrating in a small, dark space with no noise or light—nothing but myself and the beautiful words on a page to act out (people like me with a brain injury struggle with sensory overload, so noises and lights are difficult for us). And thus, I embarked on the journey of professional narration. 

2. Wow! That's one heck of a journey. I'm so glad you're okay now and able to do something you clearly love so much. If you hadn’t become an audio book narrator, what would you have done instead? 

I would probably still be in my career working as a mental health therapist for the fire department, but I would have eventually done narration, as it was always an interest. 

3. Awesome. So, what’s your favorite genre of book to narrate?

I LOVE having a bit of romance in anything I narrate--those are my favorite books! My favorite genres are: YA, Teen, romance, sci-fi, Christian, cozy-mystery, paranormal, supernatural, dystopian, etc. I also enjoy narrating non-fiction in addition to fiction. I personally don’t care to narrate anything in the horror genre. 

4. I'm the same way. I have to have romance in the books I read (and write!) How do you choose which projects you want to audition for?

Like many readers, I look at the cover first. Does it catch my eye? Then I look at the genre. Then I read the author blurb. If those 3 are all checked off, then I will read the book. 

5. During the audition process, narrators are given a very short (2-4 pages) excerpt to read, and let’s be honest—authors are going to choose what they feel is the best part of their book. Have you ever auditioned, gotten the job, and then realized that you really disliked the book? If so, how do you handle that? 

I’ve been very blessed and not encountered that. Probably because I always read the book first. (I will go on Amazon and buy an author’s e-book first). I don’t even audition for a book unless I’ve read it and loved it. That being said, there was one book that I narrated, in which the writing style was harder to translate into spoken word than anticipated. Thus, it was not as enjoyable of a process because it took numerous takes to narrate various sentences throughout the book (because I had to perfect how to inflect the words within the sentence structure for it to make sense to the listener/reader). 

 

6. When you get hired to narrate a book, the author then sends you the full document. Then what happens? Walk us through the process of receiving the book up through submitting the final product. 

Prep: I re-read the book, but this time it’s my actual manuscript prep, in which I’m marking up the book (i.e. making notes along the way of specific special words, pronunciations to research, developing character voices, summary notes of the feeling of a scene, etc.) I will use this information in combination with any notes I’ve received from the author regarding character pronunciations, etc. This process takes a little time because it’s not reading for pleasure, it’s breaking down a book and analyzing it. 

Narrate the book: Every narrator is different in their speed, but I average anywhere from a 1:1.0-3.00 ratio (1.00 for non-fiction, average 1.5-2.00 for the average book and 3.00 for sci-fi or fantasy books with large casts of characters). This means that for very 1 hour of a book it will take me between 1.5 hours up to 3.00 hours to actually record it (this happens for a variety of reasons including doing re-takes of lines and scenes, giving your voice a break, etc.) 

Post-production: After I’m done narrating, I send my audio files to my post-production team where a proofer listens to the entire audiobook and notes any errors I’ve made (e.g. skipped a word, added a word, mispronounced a word). When I receive the proofing report, I go back and do “Pick-ups” (which is when I re-record any errors). Then I send my pick-ups and audio to my audio engineer, who edits the audio (i.e. makes sure sentence and paragraph spacing is correct, etc.) and then masters it (makes sure there are no weird noises, etc. and that the audiobook is listen-ready for retail).  

Send off: Then I receive the audiobook from my post-production and submit it for the author or rights holder (sometimes a publishing house holds the “rights” to an author’s work), for review. 

Wait: Then I wait for the audiobook distributor (e.g. Audible, etc.) to approve the book and release it for sale. 

7. Do you read the book from cover-to-cover before you start narrating to get a feel for the story and characters? Or do you read it for the first time while narrating?

Always read.  

8. As an author, I get asked a lot what book I’ve written that is my favorite, and answering that feels a lot like naming which of your kids you like the best. LOL. So, I’m totally turning this around on you now. What book have you narrated that was your absolute favorite and why? And don’t worry – you won’t hurt my feelings if you don’t pick my book 😉

Agreed! What a tough question, because as a narrator, the book becomes your baby, too. I dream of my characters, and I am sad when I’m done recording. It’s a goodbye, and it’s bittersweet. The closest answer I can give is that my answer is always changing. I feel like one book is my new favorite and then I read another and it becomes my new favorite. I think this is due to the fact that I only pick books to record that I absolutely love. There are a lot of other narrators that aren’t as picky as myself when it comes to what they narrate (which is absolutely fine, to each their own), so this may happen to them more than me (encountering books that they don’t love). 

Some books that have stood out to me are:

• Eternal Curse: I want this book to become a movie!! I loved it that much! I literally had to stop myself throughout recording because I would be squealing with excitement about a part that just happened or about to happen (don’t worry, no spoilers 😉 )—and I’m not kidding LOL. I’m obsessed with this series. 
  
  
• Branded Covenant: The intensity of the characters draw you into their story with such emotions that I ended up crying while recording numerous times. I LOVED this book and so glad it’s a series I get to continue. 
  
  
• Perfectly Imperfect: My love for this book came from the rawness and vulnerability in it. It’s such a realistic view into life and the love was so pure and real. 
  
  
• Soul Mates Magic: Having to do a French accent, Scottish accent, Irish accent, Greek accent, and a Goblin accent was such fun (and HARD work) that I fell in love with the story even more. 
  
  
• The Source: Experiencing the uniquely creative mind of a sci-fi script was very enjoyable! The storyline left me intrigued as the book ended. 
  
  
• APIDAE:  Doing a book as a dual-narration (recording with a male narrator record every other chapter) was awesome. The collaboration we did on character development was terrific and the storyline was fresh and unique. 
  
  
• Hidden Danger: I deliberately didn’t finish the book because I didn’t want to know who the murderer was. So my reactions in the narration were genuine. It was SUCH a blast! 

9. Okay, final question... What advice would you give to aspiring narrators?

There’s a great video called “So You Want to Be An Audiobook Narrator” Everyone should start here and follow-up with me if you have further questions. It’s so much harder (and way more expensive to get into) than I ever thought, but worth EVERY minute! I love it or I’d not do it.

If you want to stay up to date with Andy, visit her website or follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. 

Thanks so much, Andy! I hoped y'all learned something helpful about audiobooks, and come back next week when I'll be talking about what happens next on this journey. 

Got questions?

Drop them in the comments!