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The 10-Step Checklist for Self-Published Authors

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Dear aspiring authors,

This post is for you. This post applies to especially those of you who are considering self-publishing your book. I write it, because it needs to be said, and because I want you to avoid the frustration, upset, and anger I see boiling up in the Indie community every day.

For those of you who don’t want to read through the entire list, here’s the main idea: Do your homework. It’s not just about putting your book out there; it’s about doing it in a manner that will reflect well on you as an author and publisher–because that is what you will become. It’s not just about the art of creating something out of nothing; it’s about conducting your business professionally–because that’s what it is: a business. It’s hard work, and it doesn’t stop when you hit the Publish button. Are you ready for that?

If you’re planning to self-publish, you should be. By going this route, you are taking on the responsibility for everything you put out there, from this moment forward. It’s all on you. Even if you hire professional editors, cover artists, formatters, etc., the final published product is yours, and no one else’s. Readers won’t see what you intended, or what you wanted to do. They won’t see your financial or personal struggles–and they shouldn’t. Your readers are your customers; they’re paying for a product that has your name on it, and you owe it to them to give them the best product you are capable of producing.

For those who want more details, here’s my little 10-step decision tree:

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Facebook Advertising: The Second Wave

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For those of you following my marketing hijinks, you might have seen this post from last year, detailing my first attempt at running a Facebook ad. This year, I decided to repeat the experiment with slightly different parameters. Instead of advertising a single retailer purchase page, I directed people to sign up for a free novella. Everyone loves freebies, right? So here’s how it went…

Unlike last time, I only had one ad in my set, and it looked something like this:

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Note the # of people reached… My FB Ad manager gave me different numbers. But I’ll get to that…

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Writer’s Gonna Read: May Check-in

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Cheating again, re-reading books from years ago. It’s like visiting old friends and I can’t seem to help myself. I get nostalgic. LOL But I did read a couple of new ones, so the tally so far stands thusly:

Books I’ve read:

Total New Books Read: 6
Total Old Books Re-Read: 14

Books still to be read:

Technically, I’m still reading. But not much progress is being made on my TBR pile. Ugh… But in my defense, I am writing up a storm, too. Does that make up for it? Yeah, I didn’t think so… *sigh* I swear the next book I read will be a new on. No, really!

Speaking of writing… Have you signed up for CATCH ME yet? The first chapter flies June 1st on the dot. You can still join the mailing list to get the entire novella FREE in your inbox. Just be sure to do it before June 1st. Latecomers won’t get any chapters until the next story in the series starts up months from now.😉

If you have a book you absolutely loved and can’t stop raving about, share in the comments.🙂

The (Non-)Reading Habits of the Terminally Distracted

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When I was a kid in Europe, I remember bookstores were almost luxury destinations. I would walk into one and feel overwhelmed and awed, and I’d touch the volumes with utmost reverence. Books were expensive. All of them, except for a handful of children’s books and pocket atlases, were hardbound with gorgeous covers that were as much works of art as the words held within. They were also a universe unto themselves. Getting an autograph, or even running into an author of any kind was almost unheard of. Seeing one made into a movie was a Very Big Deal.

My great uncle would collect books just to show them off on his shelves. His brother, my grandfather, on the other hand, would borrow them from him to read, because he loved the written word, but couldn’t afford to buy the books he wanted. My mom had entire shelves filled with series by her favorites, all black spines with white text, and a clear number on the bottom indicating its order in the series. She never touched them after they were read, except to wipe dust off the tops.

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Introducing: The Rebel Court

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As writers, we always strive to do more, be better, try new avenues. I’m a firm believer in pushing the limits of what I can do, and to that end, I am about to embark on another new journey. This is another first for me in a number of ways. First, it’s a genre I haven’t attempted before: Erotic Romance/Erotica. Second, it’s presented in a format I haven’t tried before: serial chapters by email. The idea is to have a new chapter in your inbox every week until the story is complete.

To that end, I’d like to introduce a series of serials (that’s not a redundancy, trust me) set after the happy conclusion of Snow White’s epic tale. The Rebel Court will consist of seven novellas, each about 25,000-35,000 words in length, following the stories of Snow White’s old allies. They’ll be a mixture of urban fantasy and high fantasy, with lots and lots of adult content. Don’t expect any dwarves carrying mining tools; these guys are true blue heroes and so hot they will melt your panties off. At least that’s the plan.

 

Interested?😉 Here’s how it’ll work…

 

CatchMe2I’ll be test driving this idea in a few months with the first rebel getting his turn on June 1, 2016 in CATCH ME. Because of the explicit nature of these stories, I won’t be adding anyone to the list automatically, even if you’re already on my Newsletter list or subscribed to this blog. To read his tale for free directly from your inbox, you’ll have to voluntarily join the Rebel Court mailing list.

Also, because of the serial format, and the fact that I won’t be making the chapters available anywhere else until the novella is complete, there will be a time element involved. After the first chapter is sent out, only existing subscribers will continue to receive the story to prevent confusion from jumping into it too late. Newcomers after June 1 will have to wait for the next novella in the series (which could be a while, so sign up early!).

Once each story is complete, it’ll also become available for purchase as a finished eBook, and when I have the entire series, I will release a print version of the entire collection in one volume. There, now I’ve revealed all my nefarious future plans. Please excuse me while I rub my hands together in a way most evil. Mwahahaaa!

Until next time!