Making an Effort

In an attempt to do something, I'm making an effort to market again.  Not sure whether anyone knows this, but DYING EMBERS is only 99c and is now available from a variety of retailers.  

Anyway, here's the marketing copy I posted a short while ago*...

It's been ages since I did any marketing, so here goes...

When a string of deaths is linked together by a killer’s fiery signature, Agent Jace Douglas must face her fears and track down a murderer before another man is burned alive.

DYING EMBERS is available now from a variety of retailers for only 99c. Pick up your copy today!

https://books2read.com/dying-embers

With, ya know, this pretty pretty cover...

Anyway, I figured it was about time I got off my buns and tried to sell some books. I'll market some more later this morning. You know, after I get some sleep and have a cup of coffee... or five. ;o)

*No, this post wasn't scheduled. I was up at midnight. And since I was up, I figured I might as well do some marketing before my inner Piglet took over again.

Updates... Finally

Sorry that it's been a couple months since I posted here.  If you've been following along over at The Writing Spectacle, you know why.  If not, I was helping a friend prepare to move.  That's done now, so I am trying to get back to my regularly scheduled life.  Which means writing... or rather writerly pursuits.

Yesterday, I picked up Untitled Fantasy again and got back to making edit notes.  I was a little over halfway through.  Now I'm a little bit more over halfway through.

I feared I wouldn't be able to get back into the groove after six weeks away, but I picked up right where I'd left off and it was like I hadn't ever stopped.  Which was totally cool.  Usually my brain is all like 'what the hell is happening here' and then I'm forced to go back and figure out where I left off.  Yay for brain cooperation.  

This is still a behemoth and I still have 42% of the book to make edit notes on, but I'm progressing again.  Now, let's see if the notes I made in July and August make any sense when I circle around and start inputting them into the manuscript.  

I've also been playing with the idea of writing that Christmas short story set in my genie world.  Don't get your hopes up.  I started that thing a few years ago and never got back to it.  But it would be a nice thing to finish and get out there in the world in time for the holidays.  We'll see.

One thing I really need to do is get back to marketing, but I'm not sure where to start and how well any of it will be received after all this time.  I mean, it's been a while since anything sold, so the rankings are in the basement and generally, whether we like it or not, that means people are less likely to want to take a chance on a new-to-them book with craptastic rankings.  It's best to market when you have a reason to market - like a new book out.  Since I don't have a new book out and I'm not going to any time soon, I guess I'll have to make up my own reasons and go for it.  Halloween is always a good reason.  Maybe I'll do a sale on the genie books around Halloween.  Maybe the model books.  We'll see.  Stay tuned.

Also, looking forward, we have a little less than three months to the end of the year.  Yeah, I know you don't want to think about that, but I need to.  Spreadsheets arem't going to make themselves and all that.  

So, what's on your plate these days?  What's up for the rest of the year?  Any plans?  Or are you hiding from the 2022 workload for a bit longer?

Sales and Marketing Updates and Junk

It's the last day to get UNEQUAL for free.  Starting tomorrow, BLINK OF AN I will be free for 5 days.  Then the sales begin.  RUMOR HAS IT will be on sale from 6/2-6/8.  The first three genie books will be on sale from the 9th through the 15th and WISH HITS THE FAN will be free from the 9th through the 13th.

I'll schedule additional sales for other books for later in the month.  

The thinking on the Once Upon a Djinn series sale this time is this:  A lot fewer people have read the fourth book than the others.  And I really want them to read that last book.  It's the one where everything comes together and I'm really quite proud of it.  So I made it free, while the other books are cheap.  We'll see if it works.  If you haven't read that last book, you're missing out.

As of this morning, I only moved 12 copies of Unequal, which is kind of depressing.  Dystopian is hard to move anyway, but I guess right now, living in a pre-dystopian world makes it so people don't actually want to read about one.  :shrug:  We'll see what happens with Blink.  

I still don't have money in the budget for advertising, so I'm doing the best I can with the free outlets available to me.  Two of my go-to FB groups have gone to archive - which means they aren't live anymore.  (One of them went to archive in the middle of my advertising campaign, which blew my mind.  One day it was open and the next it was closed.)  FB keeps glitching out on me and making life difficult, but I am persevering.  I have a couple book groups I belong to on MeWe, but the reach still isn't there yet.  

Anyway, thanks to all of you who have read and reviewed my books.  I really do appreciate it.  If you haven't read or reviewed yet, I'd appreciate it if you did.  Every download helps.  Sales help more.  Reviews are icing on the cake.  

Talking Marketing Again

Okay, so I did the free thing for Dying Embers.  That ended yesterday and I saw 49 copies move out to readers.  Two more than the last time I did the freebie thing for DE.  Remember, this is sans paid advertising, so no huge numbers, but hey, it's something. 

Additionally, I have had Fertile Ground and Early Grave on sale for 99c each since Sunday and that sale is still on through Saturday.  (The logic behind Amazon letting you have a sale for 7 days but only free for 5 days escapes me.)  To date, I've sold 3 copies of FG and 2 copies of EG.  Plus there were some page reads for FG that I hope will continue.  

Facebook finally forced me to go with their new format, which makes advertising in FB groups a wee bit different.  Actually, it's a smidgen easier once you get the hang of it.  (The only good thing I've found about new FB, so far.)  Unfortunately, one of my go-to groups went to approving every post before it posts and the administrators aren't quick about approvals, so I won't be posting there anymore.  I get why they're doing it, but the delay harshes my game.  I also found and joined a new to me group I hope will find me some new readers.  :fingers crossed: 

If you want to sell through FB without giving FB money, posting in book groups is about the only way.  I mean, I've paid FB for ads and never saw a sale, so why pay them more?  That and I refuse to throw any more money their way.  I'd leave FB entirely if I could get the same return on posting at MeWe or elsewhere.  Hell, I'd pay MeWe if I thought I could make money there.  We'll see what it looks like in 2021.

In other news, I'll be doing another sale thing starting next week.  Not sure which book(s) I'll be doing.  Stay tuned.  Might be Accidental Death and Natural Causes.  We'll see.

I came across a potential new reader out and about in the world the other day.  But she only reads hardcopy books.  I stopped by and saw her this week, with books in the car, but I chickened out on actually trying to sell her any.  I'm so bad at hand-selling my books.  Thank goodness for Amazon.  (Although I rarely ever sell paperbacks even then.)

Okay, that's about it for me.  Any questions?  Anything to add? 

Why the Pre-Order?

 In case you missed it on The Writing Spectacle yesterday, Cinder Ugly is now available for pre-order.  Why the pre-order?  Well, I'll try to explain my thinking...

First there's the whole brilliant idea I had a couple weeks ago to put all of the genie books on sale this week.  I honestly didn't think there.  Or maybe I was thinking that I wouldn't have CU ready to publish until after the sale and then when I did have it ready, I didn't want a release to interfere with a sale and vice versa.

Then there's the whole link thing.  This is the last book in the series.  In order to have links for the new book in the previous books in the series, I needed to have a link available.  Put it up for pre-order and there's a link available if someone should happen to buy and read the other two books. (Unfortunately, someone snagged a copy of Ugly and the Beast yesterday before I uploaded the updated version, so the line for Cinder Ugly still says 'Coming Soon'. :shrug:)  I also now have links to CU in all the genie books, so if anyone buys those, they'll be able to buy CU if they get the urge. 

This pre-order thing also gave me the opportunity to get clickable links on my blog sidebars and on my A Model Curse page.   And get my Goodreads listing all nice and stuffs. 

It's marketing.  I think.  I hope.  We'll see.

On the bright side, the book will be in your hot little hands on Monday.  So you really only have to wait a few days.  And if you haven't read Sleeping Ugly or Ugly and the Beast, you have time to read them before Cinder Ugly drops.  

And I hope you will.  This was a fun little series to write and from what I've heard, it's a fun little series to read.  This paranormal mystery follows supermodel Jeni Braxxon from the moment she's cursed and trying to figure out who did this to her, through a maze of murder and intrigue, to the end when it all wraps up.  There should be some 'laugh out loud' moments* in there along the way and a couple scenes that might tug your heart a little.  (I know mine were tugged.)  

*Best proofer comment was simply a long string of laughing.

Release Update and News of A Different Release

Yesterday was full enough of life stuff that by the time I had time to work, I was too tired to do anything but sit.  But that's okay.  

In an effort to be more 'marketing minded', I've decided to put the release of this book off until November 2nd anyway.  Since I already have a sale set up for the genie books starting on Monday and running through the 1st, that is.  I don't want to release right before the sale for another series and I don't want to release in the middle of that sale.  Hopefully, the genie sale will build interest for the model books.  You know - paranormal series sales leading to sales for the other paranormal series.  Or some such thing.

If I can get the 'A Model Curse' series finished and Cinder Ugly loaded for pre-order, then I could conceivably have links to the whole series in the 'Once Upon a Djinn' books.  Umm, I don't actually see that happening unless I get off my dead ass, but there's hope in there somewhere.

Anyway, if you're looking for something to read and you like spicy/sexy in your paranormal, my BIF (best internet friend) released her latest book last night - NIGHT WISH (Nightrider MC Book 5).  It's only $2.99 right now.  I scored mine this morning, so I haven't read it yet, but I know it'll be awesome.  Her books are always full of awesome.  (And I'm not just saying that because she's my friend.  I loved her books long before we became friends.)

As for my book, hang in there.  It'll be out soon.  And to that end, I will be having a sale for Sleeping Ugly and Ugly and the Beast once I know for sure when Cinder Ugly will be live.   If you haven't tried these books, they're fun and snarky paranormal mystery.  (And as a slight warning - if you're offended by swearing, they probably aren't for you.  Jeni swears a lot.)

Pandemic-Based Marketing and Other Sundry Stuff

The bandwagon in marketing these past few days seems to be 'self-isolating? read my book'.  Initially, I thought I might use a variation, because I'm trying to market the SCIU books right now and it seemed like a fresh take, but I missed the window.  Now, mere days later, it's already overused and obvious.

Why obvious?  Well, people are trapped at home - whether because they chose to be or they have nowhere to go because their work, their entertainment, their schools, etc. are closed.  Of course, they're going to read if they're inclined to read.  Otherwise, they'll be surfing the net or watching TV or watching TV on the net. 

Me?  I'll be reading, of course.  And watching TV.  And surfing the net.  Although right now, being on social media is a minefield of crap.  The pendulum swinging between 'don't worry' and 'worry lots' is making me dizzy.

In addition to reading and vegging, I'll be working*.  Because that's what writers do.  We're already self-isolated 90% of the time anyway.  I started in on the edits for Ugly and the Beast yesterday.  When I get this done, I'll go back to writing new words - because, at this time, I can't seem to focus on new words while I'm editing.  While I'm writing new words, I'll be reading through UatB again, just to make sure I didn't insert new typos while I was fixing old ones.  Because that happens.

When I get closer to having UatB done, I'll give you a release date.

Anyway, I'm well here.  So is Hubs.  If you hear me coughing, it's because I smoke.  And I smoke more when I'm stressed.  And guess what?  This whole thing has me stressed.  Which is why I locked my keys in the car on Saturday (see yesterday's post on The Writing Spectacle).  Because stress also makes me stupid.  Blerg.

Hang in there out there.  Check in on any old or infirm people you know because they may not have the resources to weather this shit.  And keep your head down.  This may get uglier before it gets better.

What are you up to these days?  Pandemic-based marketing - yea or nay?  Talk to me, folks.

*I'd also go fishing, but it's raining and it's supposed to continue raining through Thursday.  Yippee.

Sale Time Again - SCIU Edition

Ack, it's Wednesday.  I should've already written and scheduled this post.  Derp.

Anyway... 

I know you've all heard this before, because, like, you're my regulars, but just in case someone stops by who hasn't been hanging around...  All of the SCIU books are on sale starting today. 

Here's what went up on FB this morning:

Tales from the files of the Serial Crimes Investigation Unit. Standalone novels connected by a common purpose - tough heroines and heroes hunting down serial criminals wherever they prey on the innocent.

On sale starting today! 99c/99p each. (Always free with Kindle Unlimited.) Buy one or buy them all.

US: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078MQ9RX9

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07CNRVNXH

#suspense #ebooks #SCIU #99c #99p #reading #entertainment #fun #serialkillers #murder

 

Fingers crossed it generates some sales.  I'm sitting at almost 16 books sold this year for about $16.  This, as you know, is not good.  I mean, of course, it's better than a sharp stick in the ear, but yeah.  And yeah, I'd probably sell more if I paid for advertising, but you know how it goes.  

Now, back to your regularly scheduled lives.

Make it Easy

The other day I was scrolling down my FB feed when I saw a link to the review of a book that sounded really interesting.  I clicked over, scanned the review, and found it more interesting.  At the bottom of the review, there were links going to various ways to access the author.  But no link to the book.

That was the first mistake.

Okay, still interested in the book, I clicked the link to the author's Amazon page.  Umm, it went to my author page.  I checked the URL and it was the general 'author page' link, not a link to that particular author.

And that was mistake #2.

So, I clicked the link that would take me to the author's Facebook page, still hoping I'd find a place where I could actually access the book in question.  And it sat there, trying to load but not actually loading.  I waited and waited...

Mistake #3 and I gave up.

While none of these mistakes are necessarily the author's fault, they lost the author a sale.  (Or at the very least a future sale because I would've at least wishlisted it.)

All of this brought something to mind, though.  I see a lot of posts where the link is broken or there is no link at all or it takes forever to load or... something.  My point is that authors need to make it easy for readers.  You put all that work into marketing your book, from creating a really grabby blurb to writing the marketing copy to creating pretty graphics that encourage readers to click through, don't waste it.  Post a link that goes directly to the place where they can buy.  OR at the very least to a page where there are additional links that go directly to a place where they can buy.

As for the reviewer thing... if you have someone reviewing your book, make sure they have all the right links.  Check their links and let them know if they're broken.  Say 'hey, thanks for the awesome review, but the link to my author page should be X' or something.  Anything.  (Of course, this only works if you know they reviewed your book.)  If you are a reviewer, check your links so you're not putting up that awesome review and then frustrating the readers.

Just sayin'.  And now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go check all my links and make sure I'm not being a damn hypocrite.

Oh, and I updated the photo on my About Me page here.  Gotta remember to do that stuff every now and then.

Speaking of making it easy, I almost forgot... Blink of an I is free now through Friday worldwide.  If you haven't read it yet, now would be a good time to snag a copy. 

2019 Sales and Marketing Wrap-up

Happy New Year!  Well, that's another year in the can.  I can't say I'm sorry to see 2019 go.  :waves buh-bye:  Let's just go ahead and get this wrap-up out of the way so we can put 2019 away.

It was not a banner year for the whole writing/selling books thing.  I had hoped to get two books out in 2019, if I remember right.  That didn't happen.  I started the year in a slump and it pretty much lasted all year.

I did get Ugly and the Beast written.  I also got it kind of edited.  Then I started Cinder Ugly and the wheels came off.  I wrote part of a Space Bunny thing.  I also did some noodling around with ideas for another SCIU and another Dennis Haggarty.  I participated in NaNo and got another big chunk written on a YA fantasy I started 6 years ago.  Oh, and I started a short Christmas story involving the genies.  Not much to crow about considering there were 365 days in there with which to work and how little I actually worked on writing.

In the selling books arena, here are the numbers.  It's easier to deal with numbers sometimes.

Total sales $: $469
Total copies sold: 484

Not as much money as last year, but better than 2017, so I'm not crying into my coffee too much.  With no new books hitting the market, I should be happy I got that many sales.  This year, I did roll over 3K books sold over the entirety of my publishing life.  It averages out to 603 books and $712 a year.  (2015 was a big year, so it skews the average.)  Woohoo.

Dollars spent on marketing: $316
Sales $ earned from paid ads: $353

So, I finished the year in the black on paid marketing, but not by much.  If it weren't for marketing, I wouldn't have sold much in 2019.  I mean, take the $353 off the $469 and you get $116 worth of books sold without any paid advertising. 

Average per book income: 97c

Considering that I only sold 24 books at full price, I'm amazed I averaged that much.  I attribute it to Page Reads, which, while not netting me the same dollars as selling a full-priced book outright, certainly nets me more than a discounted 99c book.  I sold 316 books at the sale price of 99c, of which I get about 64c.

Speaking of Page Reads...

Number of books sold through the KU program: 72.82
Dollars earned through Page Reads: $126.04

And the majority of that can be attributed to paid ads.

It's getting harder and harder to sell books as a self-published author.  For me, anyway.  I'm sure there are writers out there doing much better than I am.  They're probably dropping new books at least 4 times a year, spending a bunch more on marketing, and have more social presence than I do.  I can only do what I can do, so I'm trying not to come off as whiny.  Like I said, this was a hard year but not the worst year ever.  Sure, I'd like it to have been better.  Who wouldn't?

My goals for the year ahead depend mostly on having the funds to pay my editor.  If I can swing that, I'd like to see Ugly and the Beast and Cinder Ugly hit your ereaders in 2020.  I'd also like to get another SCIU and another Dennis Haggarty at least written, if not out there in public.  Beyond that, I can't commit to anything.  Not yet.  I hope to under promise and over deliver.

Ah, hope. It's a thing.

Do you have any questions for me?  How was your 2019?  What are you hoping to accomplish in 2020?

Whatever You Do, Make it New

I've seen three different books marketed as 'retellings' of Beauty and the Beast on FB and/or book newsletters this past week.  Which is kind of sad for the authors who put all that work into their books only to have them all marketed around the same time. 

It's possible they were all published at different times and just ended up being marketed at the same time.  Maybe when each of them came out there weren't that many retellings of that tale...  Except people have been retelling that tale in one way or another since the tale came out.

So, how does one differentiate oneself in the marketplace when the stories are all so similar? 

Perhaps the answer there is to NOT market your book as a retelling of BatB.  It doesn't change the story, but perhaps it changes the readers' perceptions of the story.  Tell readers what your story is about instead of falling back on the 'this is a retelling' thing.

John is a beast of a man--rude, belligerent, and definitely in need of a shave--who has learned to stay the hell away from other people.  Mary's a beauty whose looks could launch a thousand selfies.  During a hike in the Rockies, Mary gets lost and winds up on John's property.  She'd leave, but he's holding her until the cops arrive to arrest her for trespassing.  A snowstorm forces them together and love ensues...

That sort of thing.  Yeah, the blurb sucks, but it ain't my story to tell.  Still, you get the drift.  It's BatB retelling, but it doesn't wave a big banner in your face telling you, it shows it to you.

Show vs tell... just as important in your blurbs as it is in your writing.  Imagine that.

I mean, look at You've Got Mail.  It's a retelling.  It's Shop Around the Corner for the 1990s. (By the way, SatC was also retold as In the Good Old Summertime.)  And all of it was apparently a retelling of a Hungarian play, which makes sense if you've seen SatC because it's set in Hungary.  Imagine if YGM was marketed as a retelling instead of a whole new story.  It probably wouldn't have done as well as it did.  No one is as excited about a regurgitation as they are about a new thing.

Imagine if West Side Story had been marketed as a retelling of Romeo and Juliet.  The common moviegoer would've been all "Shakespeare?  :yawn:"

Whatever you do, make it new.  Find something to set it apart.  Maybe then, readers will be encouraged to buy your book instead of yawning and passing on yet another retelling. 

Just a thought.

Author Pics

Part of marketing, I guess, is putting yourself out there.  So, in an effort to improve my business image, I had a set of author photos done over the weekend.

Okay, I had Hubs take a bunch of pics with my old Nikon, which I then sorted through, cropped, and tweaked for optimum jazziness.  Cost = $0.

I picked out the best two.  They're now splashed up everywhere I could think of that had my old author pic - which Hubs also took - from 2017.

This one...

... against the siding of our home... is on my personal FB page.

This one...

... in the front yard next to the cedars... is on my business FB page, at Amazon (US and UK), on Goodreads, MeWe, Pinterest, the NaNo site, and here on my Blogger profile.  (I feel like I'm forgetting somewhere.  If you see the old pic of me in a blue t-shirt anywhere, let me know.)

I set aside these:

in front of one of fiction bookcases in the office

Passed on that because it feels slightly blurry and this one because I look a little confused.  Plus there's the guy wire in the background.

next to one of our big cedars

I tossed all the pics that made me look fat.  Or the ones where I had a weird look on my face.  And the one where I was basically stinking my tongue out.  (I must've stuck the tip out to wet my lips right when he snapped the pic.  Blerg.)  Which stunk because otherwise that one was good.

Anyway, Hubs and I had fun with it.  With him saying, "Work it, baby." and me making goofy faces and taking one 'bathroom selfie' with the two of us in the bathroom mirror.

So, you see, taking author pics doesn't have to be expensive, or a trial, or 'professional'.  Of course, you need someone who can take pics and a good camera (these days it seems like everyone's phones take pretty good pics, so no need to shell out for an expensive digital) and something to edit photos with.  I used MS Office Picture Manager for the tweaking and cropping.  But I think it's worth it.

And I'm glad we did it.  These are much better pics than the old one I was using.  Mainly because I actually put some effort into it.  Got cleaned up, made my hair behave, tried on several outfits until I found one I thought looked professional and that I also felt comfortable in.  No makeup, of course.  I'm not even sure I have makeup in the house anywhere anymore.  Hubs was a champ and very patient.

Do you like your author pics?  Do you get them professionally done or wing it the way I do?  And the big question, do you like having your picture taken at all? 

On Being Social

Recently a writer I follow on FB has been doing a series of posts on how being more social online is helping with book sales.  According to him, interacting with other human beings is actually gaining him sales.

Yeah, it sounds kind of obvious, but I admit that it's the last thing I think of when I'm thinking about marketing.

You know me.  I am not social.  I'm a hermit.  Oh, I used to be more social online.  I commented on blogs and belonged to forums and interacted on FB.  Lately?  I've been crawling into my hole.  My safe, warm, cozy, comfortable hole. 

And that ain't good.  At least not when it comes to getting my face out there and people buying my books.

When I first published Dying Embers, I was out there - online and in person (to a certain extent).  I was schmoozing and stuff like the dickens.  Okay, not as much as I could've been even then, but loads more than I am now.

So, I'm trying to be more social.  Not in a 'in your face, buy my book' sort of way, but more natural like.  Commenting on FB statuses again when I feel like I have something to say about the topic, contributing to the NaNo local forum by being a cheerleader...  I need to start going back and commenting on blogs again.  I read a lot of them, but I don't comment much. (As I suspect readers here are doing, so I'm not getting after any of you.) 

The problem now is how does one restart being social after having been silent for so long?  "Oh, hey, remember me?  I used to comment here, but I stopped and now I'm back" seems weird.  As does "You don't know me, but I'd like to talk, too" in writing forums.  It's all very daunting.  It's not like you can just jump in anywhere and not have people looking at you like you're the foreign exchange student from Greater Dorkistan. 

Anyway, I'm going to try to be more social.  And if it fails miserably, I can always crawl back into my hole.

How about you?  Are you a social animal? 

SCIU Sale Wrap-Up

As the year progresses with no new books to show for it, the sales get weaker and weaker, so I probably shouldn't expect much.  You need to be constantly putting forth new material.

Anyway, I said I'd share the results of the latest sale, so here we are.

First, an update on last month's OUAD sale.  It finally made enough money to pay for the ad I placed.  And with page reads still coming in, I'm ahead a little.

Now, the SCIU sale.  It ran from the 10th through the night of the 16th.  Dying Embers was 99c, Fertile Ground and Early Grave were $1.99.  I placed an ad with Bargain Booksy that ran on the 12th for DE ($55).

As of this morning, I sold just under 36 copies of DE, 5 copies of FG and 5 copies of EG.  I'm still seeing page reads, but the hope of actually paying off the ad is slim.  Which kind of blows but like I said, not unexpected. 

Overall, I'm still ahead on ad revenue, showing a 8.91% profit.  $271 spent on ads.  $297.50 earned off ads.  That'll change a little as the month progresses and page reads continue to come in, but not in any major way.

I didn't keep track of rankings this time.  At one point, DE made it into the 300s in its genre specification and into the teen-thousands in overall books.  Not quite enough to effect sales greatly. 

Prior to the ad, I had no sales this time around.  I fell down on the job of pushing on FB.  That may account for lower sales from the ad because the rankings of all three books were so poor when the ad came out.  I made a pretty, new graphic that seemed to get a lot of Likes on FB, but didn't really equate to more sales. 

Could be that because one of my pre-ad push days was Sept 11th the pre-sales fell apart.  It wasn't really a great day for book buying or looking at ads.  But when I set my sale dates, it wasn't even on my radar.  My mistake. 

Anyway, live and learn. 

Not sure what lies ahead for marketing this year.  I have sales penciled in for October, November, and December.  Whether I'll be able to advertise remains to be seen.  Gotta make money to spend money to make money... Ad infinitum.

As for overall sales for the year, I just passed the 400 books/$400 mark.  Not sure if I'll pass last year at this rate, but I've already passed 2017, so this won't be my worst year ever.  That's gotta count for something.

And that's it.  Any questions?

Sales and Advertising Update

It's Labor Day.  I'd like to say I wrote this post as a nod to that - because like it shows the fruits of my labors - but in reality, I forgot it was going to be Labor Day today.  

At the beginning of the year, I made a goal to have paid advertising at least once a month this year.  So far, with the exception of March, I have stuck to that goal.

Here's how the paid advertising has broken down so far this year...

January - ad for SU.  Spent $6, made $8.53.
February - ads for WIOH and OUAD.  Spent $50, made $57.14.
March - Derp.
April - ad for AD.  Spent $15, made $29.30.
May - ad for WIOH.  Spent $40, made $53.71.
June - ad for DE.  Spent $15, made $21.96
July - ad for AD.  Spent $55, made $46.04.
August - ad for WIOH.  Spent $35, made $32.66 so far.

That's a total of $216 spent and $248.34 made, so I'm ahead overall.  By like $33.  And I've made like $100 on books where I can't directly attribute the purchases to any paid advertising.

I set up an ad for DE for next month.  DE will be 99c.  FG and EG will be $1.99.  Fingers crossed it doesn't go the way of my July ad.  That would suck.  I like to think it was July's fault.  July always sucked back when I was selling electronic components.  Maybe July is just a sucky month for sales of anything.  (Although, when I hop into the wayback, July of 2015 was my 2nd best month ever, so who knows?)

Anyway, I'm still chugging along.

A while back, I wondered whether I should save my advertising money and put it toward editing.  Umm, no.  Like I said, I've spent $216.  That wouldn't even pay for half an edit.  Even if you add in the $55 I spent for next month's ad, it wouldn't pay for a whole edit.  And imagine how bad sales would be if I didn't pay for any ads.  :shudder:  So, I'll keep advertising and keep my fingers crossed something else breaks so I can set up editing again.

As always, this is just an informational post and your mileage may vary.  What works for me, may not work for you... or it may work way better than it did for me.

Any questions?

A Little Marketing 101

Okay, so FB has this thing now where you can use bold and italics in group posts.  Which is cool.  (Wish they'd let us use them for personal and page posts, too.)   But I've noticed certain people going a little BOLD crazy out there.  (And this holds true for non-FB marketing, too, btw.)

Just because you can put stuff in bold, doesn't mean you should put everything in bold.  Bold is for emphasis.  So having your entire marketing verbiage in bold means you're emphasizing everything.  And therefore nothing sticks out.  Same with italics.  Bold and italics together should be used very sparingly. 

Now, look at the above paragraph.  Which words do you see first?  You want to pick certain words to draw your audience's eyes to.  Those emphasized words are the ones that will stick in a consumer's head. 

verbiage TITLE verbiage verbiage verbiage.  On sale now!  more verbiage.  Only 99c.  links and junk and hashtags.

verbiage TITLE verbiage verbiage verbiage.  On sale now!  more verbiage.  Only 99c.  links and junk and hashtags.

See?

Your brain picks up on the bolded words better in the second example because those words stick out.  'Oh, look,' it says, 'Title is on sale for only 99c'.  And you'll be more likely to go back and read the verbiage if the bolded words are interesting to you.

Plus, I look at entirely bolded posts as input overload.  EVERYTHING IS SO EMPHASIZED that my brain skips past it.  (I do the same thing with all caps, so sorry about that.)

When I see an entire marketing post in bold, it makes me sad.  I'm not sure what the thought is there.  Perhaps they're thinking that their whole post in bold will make them stick out from other posts.  I don't think it works that way.   As you scroll along reading stuffs, each post is an individual thing, not part of a whole.  If it was part of the whole, then I guess emphasizing all of your message would make it stand out from the rest.  Like if I bolded this entire paragraph, it would stick out from the rest of the post.  But when you're in the middle of a bunch of individual posts?  :shrug:

Think of emphasizing elements like seasoning on your food - sometimes a little goes a long way.  Choose your emphasis wisely and you might just get more attention.  Jus' sayin'.

Lord knows, I am not the goddess of all things marketing.  This is my opinion.  Take it for what it's worth.

By the way, Once Upon a Djinn is still on sale.  And I'll talk about the success or failure of that sometime next week.

Stuffs

I was going to skip posting today because I don't really have anything to talk about.  But hey, it's Friday and chances are you're here because you expect me to say something.

I got a survey thing from the last place I marketed.  They were fine.  Sure, I didn't break even on that one, but I suspect it was less their fault than mine.  Not sure why they send out a survey right after the sale is over and ask about page reads in it.  Page reads generally don't come in that quick for me.  Gimme another week and I might be able to accurately answer that question. 

Right now, I'm waiting for ENT to get back to me on whether I can have an ad with them.  One thing about ENT is they're not that good about sub-genres.  They have paranormal, but it's paired with romance - which is totally not the place to put Wish in One Hand.  I went with 'fantasy' this time, cuz, like, it's urban FANTASY.  We'll see what happens.  I gave them a date range and told them I'm flexible, if that helps them decide anything.  Worst they can say is no.

If ENT rejects WIOH, advertising will be with Bargain Booksy again.  But I think BB is almost tapped out.  They recommend advertising a book every 90 days, but I'm afraid of market saturation, so I don't follow their advice. 

Oh, and I discovered a new thing with BB specifically targeting Kindle Unlimited subscribers.  It's $25, but it only reaches 10K people.  And the book has to have more than 20 reviews.  Might give it a whirl in September with Dying Embers (my only 20+ review book.)

Also 'oh, and', this month is the four-year birthday for Wish in One Hand.  Four years... whoda thunk it?

What's going on out there in your world?

I Joined Pinterest... Lord Help Me.

Okay, so I took the leap Saturday and joined Pinterest.  I'm here if you want to check it out.  I spent a chunk of time over the weekend uploading book covers and images, linking them to Amazon, and categorizing things.  I also have a board of 'writerly quotes' and one of 'books I've enjoyed'. 

I'd heard somewhere around the webz that this can potentially help me sell books.  It's worth a try.   Can't hurt things. right?

It is a tremendous timesuck.  I hope it'll all be worth it down the road eventually.

I'm trying to follow authors I know or love, so if you have Pinterest page, mention it in the comments. (No links, please.  I'll find you.)

I'll be pinning things that strike me as interesting or pertinent as time goes by.  This might also include recipes and pictures of cute animals.   I also have plans to make my own images and throw them in there.  Maybe once a week.  We'll see.

I'm also looking into something called Parler as an alternative to Twitter.  Or in conjunction with Twitter.  Or something.  We'll see.  I'll let you know.

Any place I can market, I need to market.  Right?  But first, I need followers.  Otherwise, I'm marketing to myself.  And I've already bought all my books.  ;o)

Anyway, if you're there, see ya there.  If not, I'll still be here.  And on FB.  And Twitter (sometimes).

What social media sites do you use?  Anything else I should be giving a whirl?  (Not Instagram.  They won't let me upload anything from my desktop and I don't own a smartphone.)

July is Sales Month

I went a little nuts yesterday morning.  Starting tomorrow, July 4th, at least one of my books will be on sale every day through the 29th in both the US and the UK.  (As long as Amazon doesn't brainfart.)

Here's how it shakes down:

July 4th - 10th - Project Hermes
July 10th - 16th - Blink of an I
July 16th - 22nd - Sleeping Ugly
July 23rd - 29th - Accidental Death and Natural Causes

All of them will be 99c/99p on their respective dates.  I'll let you know if I manage to secure advertising for any of them.  With the sale for PH coming so soon, there definitely will not be an ad for that one.  The others?  We'll see. 

I do know I'll be doing my damndest to generate sales in other ways.  As unobtrusively as possible.  And, of course, as inexpensively as possible.  Which means I'll be busting my hump on FB.  A little twitter (which I hate, but it's there and I'm using it). 

Not sure what'll be happening next month.  Probably another Once Upon a Djinn sale.  Maybe Unequal.  We'll see.  I can't think about August right now.  Gah, next month is August?! 

Okay, back to the grind.  What have you got going on this month? 

Budget Quandary

Budget-wise, I'm not sure how other writers do this self-publishing thing.  Obviously, they are selling more books than I am, so their budgets have more padding than mine.  But is it only that?  Or do they have a second job to help fund this venture? 

I've pared my budget down to the barest of bones.  I do most everything myself.  The only exceptions are certain covers (because I do not have the skill for paranormal covers like my artist does) and the editing (because unless you are an exceptionally objective person, it's hard to edit your own books to the level they need to be for publishing).

The quandary I find myself in at the present point is: spend my limited resources on marketing or save it up until I have enough money to pay the editor?  (I've already paid the cover artist for the next two Sleeping Ugly covers.)  These past few months, I've been paying for ads. 

Without ads, my sales would be totally ghost town and crickets. 

On the other hand, if I don't put out new books, my sales will continue to dwindle as I reach market saturation. 

Blerg.

I've thought about getting a second job - especially since I don't seem to be doing much on the first job lately - but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to work outside the house after all these years.  Most places would allow me to be as flexible as I need to be. 

And I can't make myself take any more money out of the house budget to fund this.  Every time I think about how much money I've spent vs how little money I've made... the guilt... it burns.

For now, I'll keep marketing and hope something breaks.  (Hopefully, this writerly dry-spell breaks along with it.)

How to do decide where to spend your publishing monies?  Or is that not a problem for you?