Should you go exclusive with your retailer?

I asked what you guys wanted to know about and you answered. Thank you for all your questions. I'm working up posts for all of them now, but it's not too late. If you have a question, feel free to email me or leave it in the comments.

One of you wanted to know my thoughts on going exclusive with services such as Amazon KDP select. If you are unfamiliar with this program, the author grants Amazon exclusive rights to sell the eBook version of their book for a period of 90 days. The advantage to this is that Amazon allows you to participate in borrows and makes your book part of the Kindle Unlimited program and gives you 5 days to list your book for free. The disadvantage is that your book is only available on Amazon to Kindle users.

Should you put all your eggs in one basket?

Here's the deal. We can talk all day about the pros and cons of these services. And I could never answer the question of which option is best. Every book is different and so everyone is going to have a different option.

But I do want to talk about short term versus long term gain.

I chose not to use Select for Rite of Rejection. I used an eBook distributor so my novel is available on a ton of retailer sites. In the interest of full disclosure, I have not sold very many eBooks outside of Amazon. I've received one quarterly payment from those sales so far and the amount was so small I haven't bothered to transfer it out of my PayPal account yet.

And yet, I'm not really tempted to switch to Select.

Because I'm concentrating on the long game.

You see, while I only have one book on the market so far (yes, I know, I'm working as fast as I can on the sequel), Rite of Rejection is only the first of what I hope to be many novels by yours truly to hit the market in the next few years. And yes, I'm pleased with my success so far, but I certainly have my sights set on bigger and better.

I could probably make more money right now if I were in Select. I'm guessing I would recoup at least the $10/month I'm making elsewhere through random borrows. But right now, my goal is not to make as much money as possible. As a new author, I'm just trying to get out there to as many readers as I can. The more people who hear about this book, the more people who will already be familiar with me when the next book comes out.

For me, right now, it just doesn't make sense.

But that doesn't mean it's a bad program. If you have a large back list of  books, I think it would be smart to occasionally cycle one of them through the program. See which of your books tends to get borrows. Find out if you can make free days sell your books on other platforms. Experiment and figure out what works for you. This might also work for you if you have a book written for a small niche genre or one that is time sensitive, because no one generates reader recommendations quite like Amazon and they do a decent job of promoting the books that are a part of the Select program.

Is an exclusive deal right for you? I can't say. But before you decide, figure out what your goals are and then put your book in the best possible position to help you reach those goals.

Once, Twice, Six months an author

I'm breaking out the cupcake cannon today. It's officially been six months since the release of Rite of Rejection. And since I set myself goals that lasted six months, now is the time to take a look back and then plan for the future.

Goals are a tricky mother trucker. Going into this without any idea how my book would be received, I have to say I was clueless on my goals. The good news is that I reached them all, and that's worth celebrating. That said, if I could do it again, I might change things up a bit.

For example, I had no idea just how difficult it would be to get 50 reviews in the first month. This goal was based purely on my own perception of books I perused on Amazon. I tended to lend more credibility to books that had at least 50 reviews. In my head, it would be nearly impossible to cajole 50 family members and close friends to leave glowing reviews. Therefore, a book with that many reviews had to have a good number of legit readers.

I stand by this assessment. However, I didn't take the time to research how many reviews other debuts received in their first month. If I had, I probably would have cut my goal in half.

But, Sarah, you say scratching your head, you did get 50 reviews.

I did, but honestly, I don't think that's a realistic, duplicatable goal. Seriously, I had to work my tail end off to get that many reviews. I spent months working behind the scenes lining up reviewers and sending emails. I didn't write any new words for over a month because all of my extra time was wrapped up in finding readers and reviewers. It was exhausting.

That said, I thing having that many reviews out of the gate played a huge role in how the book was received and how it continues to do. While that goal nearly killed me, it was worth it in the end.

Other goals I missed in the opposite direction. Like selling 1,000 books in the first six months. I don't want to go into too many specifics, but let's say this goal was set way too low and because of that it stopped being a goal. It was no longer something to work toward and that made it easier for me to slack off on promotion.

The point here is that there's no way to tell with goals. I could set these exact same goals for the next book and miss all of them. Because there's no sure thing in publishing.

Moving forward, it's almost time to set the goals for book two, Rite of Revelation. I'm done with my first read through, which was painful...so, so painful.

Now, I'm digging in and rewriting. I'm also building in my subplots and layers and working my secondary characters back into the story. Then it's on to line edits. Because, you know, writing the book is the easy part.

I'm also thinking about how my marketing strategy will be different for book two. With a sequel, you're promoting more to your existing readers rather than the bigger world of readers and that means more targeted efforts. And while it's great that I have a fan base now that will buy the book regardless of how I market it, I'm also limited in that pool. So at the same time I market book two, I'll need to throw some love toward book one. It's sure to be interested and just like last time, I plan to document the process with all of you here.

And I'd love to hear from you. How have your goals changed over the course of your career?

A little Friday fun!

Confession time!

My brain is currently tapped out. It is submission city for my client roster right now. Between writing pitches, researching just the right editor and trying to get new words for my next book down on paper, I've got nothing.

My game plan is to chug through today and then give my brain a little break over the weekend so I can recharge. The good news is I'll be back on Monday and I'm sure I'll have something good for Agency Lessons. The bad news is I came up empty for a marketing post for today.

But, wait...no one goes home empty handed on my blog!

Since I am failing you in the witty/helpful marketing sector, please accept this Rite of Rejection crossword puzzle as a consolation prize. Because crosswords are fun and Fridays are fun. Therefore, Fridays are made for crosswords. This is sound logic, people!

So feel free to print this sucker out or copy/paste it to make it huge on your computer screen. You can download an excel copy from Google Drive. Whatever works for you. I'll post the answers at the end of Monday's Agency Lessons post so you can check your work. Now go have a fantastic weekend!

Maximizing your Amazon Keywords

There are approximately 1.2 billion* blog posts available at this exact moment about how to use Amazon keywords. They are all full of helpful information that can be a great starting place for your keywords.

Unfortunately, I think they focus on the wrong area and don't serve authors as well as we hope.

The goal for most keyword selection is to get on the various best sellers list. Like these:

 

And these lists are great. They make us feel good as authors, give us goals to shoot for and make it feel like our books count. But when it comes to marketing, they don't count for much. I'll give you the fact that it looks impressive to a reader if you are checking out a book and see that it's hit lots of lists. It gives your book more social proof that it is worth reading. But that only helps once a reader has found your book. For discovery, these lists are not helping you.

Here's why. When was the last time you searched one of these lists when looking for a new book? And if you have searched these lists, how many pages are you scanning? I don't know any readers who are going searching on a very drilled down list and then flipping to page five to find their next book to read.

That doesn't mean keywords are useless. It just means we need to stop focusing on these lists. Instead, we need to use keywords the way readers use them. Amazon is a huge search engine that rivals Google. Readers type in what they are looking for in the search box and you want your book to be among the top results.

So instead of focusing on the words and phrases that will get you on a list, use the terms that readers are using to search for books. How do you know which phrases those are? Use the Amazon search bar.

I literally sat down one day and started typing in words. I started with YA and looked to see what other words are commonly searched for with YA. Same thing with Teen and Dystopian, since those are my big categories. After that, I simply matched up the phrases that were most searched for with the ones that best matched my book. It's really that easy.**

And it works. After making this simple change to my keywords, I watched my daily sales slowly double and then triple. Wow, that sounds like a late night infomercial, except this doesn't come with a bonus set of kitchen knives.

The best part of this technique is that it isn't about gaming the system or tricking readers into buying something they don't want. It's all about helping readers find the books they already know they want to read. And that's really the essence of marketing.


Keep in mind this isn't a magic wand for book sales. Before you implement these changes make sure your book looks great for when readers do find you. That means an eye-catching cover, a compelling description, meaningful editorial reviews and a professional bio. If you want readers to take your book seriously, you have to take it seriously as well.

So go ahead, experiment and see what happens. If it doesn't work for you, you can always change it back. But if it does work, you'll find yourself with a lot more happy readers.



*I absolutely made this number up, but you get the idea

**A note on traditionally published authors. You probably don't have access to your back end SEO, but that doesn't mean you can't put this in place. It never hurts to ask your publisher/editor what keywords they are using. They've probably already got the best phrases in place (they are professionals), but it doesn't hurt to check. You both have the same goal of getting your book in the hands of more readers so it's a win-win for everyone.

Publication goals...and why mine don't matter

So...Rite of Rejection has officially been out in the world for three months, and because I'm a chronic over-sharer let's talk about where things sit with my goals.

Here's a refresher of the goals I set for myself pre-publication

1. Hit 50 Amazon reviews in first month (Goal achieved, woohoo!)
2. Make back my investment in three months
3. Sell 1,000 books in six month

First, I never really talked about goal #1 other than the fact that I hit it. As of writing this, I have 61 reviews. Other than being awesome, this tells me that there is no way I would have hit 50 reviews if I hadn't made it such a focus of my first month. Reviews don't just show up, at least not in large numbers when you're a new author.

So, this month is the check in for #2, probably the one most people are interested in. Yeah, sure we want to write because we love it and want people to read our work, but we also have needs. Like food, shelter, chocolate and coffee. We hear stories of people that hit it big and then the stories of folks that after years haven't made enough for a happy meal. So, you know, there's a lot of grey.

Before we can discus if I hit the goal. You need to know how much I spent. Here's the breakdown again. You'll notice there are a few more expenses than last time.

Content Editing     $383
Cover Design        $225
Proofreading         $187
Domain Name      $42
Proof Copy           $9
Netgalley              $80
Giveaway             $39
Review Copies     $242
Postage                $53.50
Total                    $1261

The good news is even with these added expenses I earned back my investment with several weeks to spare. And thanks to a really good February, I'm on my way to having my expenses for book two saved up before I have to start shelling out the cash again. Woohoo!

For goal #3, I've still got three months left so this one is a bit off my radar. That said, last month I was feeling a little nervous about this goal. Book sales were steady, but slow so you get the idea. But then February was randomly a really good month for me. And (this is key) I have no idea why. I'd like to think that all the heavy lifting I did in the beginning of the release kicked in, but who knows. So thanks to a stellar month I am pretty close to my six month goal now. Still, no one ever knows what's going to happen, so counting hatched chickens and all. You get it.

Now that you've got a little update, I want to talk a bit about why you should totally ignore all of this. Seriously, one of the great things about the indie community is that so many authors are willing to share their information and push back the curtain on topics that were previously not discussed openly among authors. It's also one of the worst parts, because it leads to comparison. Authors who look at someone else's numbers and don't understand why they aren't doing as well.

Keep in mind that authors who are just barely breaking even (or are running in the red) are unlikely to write a blog post about it. Well, I would have, but I think we can all agree I'm an odd duck. That means that you are seeing a skewed picture of publishing. So take my journey for what it is: one singular example of what indie publishing looks like. Try not to focus on how you compare. Instead try and learn from where I've had success and where I dropped the ball to improve your own process.

So that's it on goal updates. I won't have another one until we hit the six month mark since that's my next milestone goal. Until then, please don't hesitate to ask me questions. You can do that here in the comments, email me, hit me up on social media. Whatever works for you. I share all of this because I want to help other authors on their own journey. Because in the end, no matter what we write or how we publish, we're all in this big publishing family together.

Writing marketing into your novel

When I wrote Rite of Rejection, how I would market it was the furthest thing from my mind. I was focused on creating the best book I could, and gave some thought to my publication plans after I finished. I did not think about reviewers, press releases and giveaways.

But I should have.

The light bulb moment came for me as I was prepping my blog tour giveaway. I knew I wanted items that related to the book, that were useful and would appeal to readers. Thank goodness I actually had items like that in the book, or I would have been in deep water.

I got lucky, but I should have been smarter about how I wrote the book. I should have thought ahead to the types of promotions I would want to run and make sure that I'm incorporating useful elements into my book.

Now, before you start railing about selling out to the man or turning a book into some literature version of an action figure, hear me out. I'm not talking about throwing objects and symbolism into your book all willy-nilly where they don't belong. I'm saying you need to think about the symbols and items you do use.

For example, in Rite of Rejection, Rebecca starts out the novel with a simple necklace that has a type of Celtic knot charm. I never gave that much thought in the book. I only knew I wanted the necklace to be simplistic and not overtly flashy, just like Rebecca. The necklace becomes a symbol in the book (I don't want to give any spoilers here) and though it wasn't my initial intention, that necklace ended up on the cover of the book.

Now, as I'm working on book two, I'm giving more thought to what that cover will look like and I'm thinking more about the objects in the book. I ask myself if that object will be important, what is its significance, and would it look good on the cover of a book. I'm not going to add something to the book that doesn't belong, but I am making more marketing-driven decisions about what I use.

I lucked into having some good symbols and tangible items in my book that I could use. But I know better, or at least I should have. Lesson learned.

Maybe this is an aspect that you ignore in the first draft. But as you go back and evaluate your manuscript, dedicate a read-through to looking at your objects and symbols through a marketing eye. When it comes time to present your book to the masses, you'll thank me.

Around the self-publishing world in 60 days

It's been two months since the release of Rite of Rejection so it's time for another look at where I'm sitting with my goals.

First, a little housekeeping. I wanted to say thank you for all your kind words on Wednesday's post about paying with kindness. It was a little more touchy-feely than my usual posts, and I appreciate you all going there with me.

Second, I sent out my February newsletter this week and it had two exclusive bonus scenes inside. If you aren't on the mailing list yet, and don't want to miss out all the magic, be sure to sign up!

And now, on to the goals. Here's a quick refresher of my pre-publication goals:

1. Hit 50 Amazon reviews in first month (Goal achieved, woohoo!)
2. Make back my investment in three months
3. Sell 1,000 books in six month

We are now a month away from my second goal of recouping my initial investment. When I posted my expenses back in December, they totaled a little over $900. Since then I had additional expenses (as I expected) to cover the author copies I purchased and my blog tour prizes. My expenses now sit at just under $1200. This may increase again as I'm thinking about getting some bookmarks made, but I'm holding off on that for now.

At this point, I'm feeling pretty good about hitting this goal in the next month. I have a paid speaking gig next week and I'm counting that towards my book income since the book is the only reason I was invited. This is easy to attribute with only one book, but in the future I may have to figure out a different way to label this in my records.

With that speakers fee I will almost recoup my total expenses. So long as book sales don't fall off a cliff, I'm pretty confident I can hit this goal.

Goal number three is the one that has me a little nervous. To date, I've sold a little over 400 books. Don't get me wrong, I think this is fantastic. And if you do the math, it would be easy to think that hitting 1,000 with four more months to go should be easy. The problem is you can't use past performance to project future sales. It just doesn't work that way. I can hope that sales remain steady and do my part to keep them that way, but there's no crystal ball for this sort of thing.

Which brings me to marketing efforts. I really put this on hold after the holidays so I could focus some much needed energy on my agency clients and allow myself to unwind after the hustle of release month, traveling and the holidays. But now it's time to get back in the saddle.

I've been lining up some guest posts that should come out shortly and I'm hoping that will draw some new attention to the book. I am also anticipating a high profile review soon, though I don't have a firm date. I don't want to share more details on that just in case it doesn't come through, but I will let you guys know as soon as it's posted.

In my blog post on Netgalley, I mentioned reaching out to the reviewers on the site who indicated they would like to make contact. I've been working on getting them all into a spreadsheet (you know how I love spreadsheets) and coming up with an introductory email to send them. Hopefully, that will generate some guest posts/interviews/exposure.

For PR, I dropped the ball big time when it came to press releases. I let myself get behind and didn't send out a single press release when the book came out. No one's perfect, I'm far from it. So on the docket is getting press releases written up for all the schools I attended, organizations I've been a part of and several local media outlets.

So those are my big efforts at the moment. I'm trying not to plan for too much since I'm still trying to finish the first draft of the next book. Eventually, I'll need to start planning the marketing efforts behind that release. The fun never ends.

How are your writing goals going for the year? If you're hitting your goals, share some tips. If you're missing the mark, share some strategies for getting back on track. We all need a little helping hand to succeed.

I read my bad reviews and so should you

Allow me a minute for business, if you will. I just wanted to let you know that my monthly newsletter will be going out this weekend AND it will have two, yes two, alternate POV scenes from Rite of Rejection. Ultimately these will find their way to the public sphere, but if you want to see them first, get thy name on my subscribers list!

Now, let's talk reviews.

Obviously, I'm a big fan of the five star variety. I'd have to be the world's worst liar if I even tried to say otherwise. Glowing reviews are the little sugar nonpareils that get sprinkled on top of the icing that is someone taking the time to leave a review. In this analogy, someone reading the book is the cake, but maybe we should quit while we're ahead. The point is, those reviews are fantastic and can do wonders to feed an author's soul.

Then it would stand to reason that reviews that fall toward the other end of the spectrum are little black holes that eat happiness for breakfast and then hold out their bowls for more. And they absolutely could be, but only if we let them.

This idea that we shouldn't read our reviews is a bit odd to me. In almost every other consumer driven market, the powers that be pull out all the stops in order to get customer feedback. At tons of restaurants they offer you the chance to win anything from free food to cold hard cash for giving your feedback. Last night I gave a presentation at my local library and they asked me to fill out a comment card to help them improve services. There are entire corporations that exist only to call and solicit feedback from customers about their experiences with everything from products to health care.

So why are we so afraid of our reviews as authors?

I get it. Harsh reviews can be tough to read. No one likes to hear that they didn't measure up. But a reader telling me exactly why they didn't like my book might as well be passing out bottles of liquid gold. As writers, what better way to improve at our craft than to hear right from the readers' mouth what isn't working.

I read in several of my reviews that readers wished there was more information about how the world of Rite of Rejection came to be. That was shocking for me. I originally had all the history included, but took it out because I thought it slowed down the story and would be boring. While I stand behind my decision to cut it, now I know that I need to find a way to work in at least some of this information into the next book. So thank you, reviewers. Not only does that knowledge allow me to give readers more of what they want, it makes me think about the kind of information I include in my other work.

Look, negative reviews are never going to be fun. You'll never see me fist pump and bad dance over a two-star review. But I'm not going to ignore it either. Instead, I'll put on my big girl pants, strap on my thick skin and dig in. 

Readers want top notch stories and I want to give that to them. Listening to my readers and working to improve my craft gets us all a little closer to getting what we want.

Weighing in on Netgalley

Netgalley has long been one of those special places that was only accessible through a major publishing house. Not because Netgalley is rude or anything. It was just cost prohibitive.

That recently changed with some new rules that allowed for co-ops. A co-op allows authors to share in the cost of listing books by splitting up the number of listing and how long each stays available. If done well, this is a low cost option that opens door for Indie authors that were previously locked.

I opted to use a co-op organized by the lovely ladies of Patchwork Press. My book was available to reviewers both in the month before and after release. Now that it's all said and done, I want to do a follow-up post to give you my thoughts on this new marketing opportunity.

Cost
For the co-op I used there were several options available. I decided to go with a two-month package since I was a debut author. That way, reviewers who might be hesitant to give me a try would have a bit longer to think about it after the early reviews started coming in. For two months, I paid $80. Compared to the thousands I would have had to pay to do this on my own, I felt this was more than fair. Plus, the co-op handled all the uploading, reviewer approval, and feedback chain. After sending them the digital files for my book, I literally didn't have to do anything else. With so many other moving pieces to my marketing plan, this was a real blessing.

Numbers
The listing for my book was viewed 2257 times. That's new eyeballs seeing my book. I got 409 requests, 205 of which were approved. Like, I said, the co-op took care of weeding out the folks who never post reviews, don't run blogs, aren't librarians, etc. Basically, the folks who just want free books. As of the end of December there were 59 reviews submitted on the site, with several more that have come in after that.

Exposure
I tried not to read all the reviews, because honestly, that's asking for trouble. However, I did note that many of them posted reviews on their own blog sites so that is an added bonus. Also, several of the reviewers self-identified as teachers or librarians who would be adding the book to their collections. Yeah win. I have to imagine that some of these reviewers went on to post their thoughts on other sites such as Amazon and Goodreads, but I really have no way of knowing that.

The Sting
The folks requesting books on Netgalley are hard core readers. They do not mess around. As such, they aren't going to pussyfoot around issues they had while reading. I will say that not a single reviewer was nasty or posted anything that wasn't 100% related to the book. I can absolutely respect that and was really pleased by how professional everyone was. Still, it was a bit of a shock when those first reviews came in. Nothing crazy, but not the flood of 5* reviews I was hoping for. Just a fair bit of warning that you need to have thick skin if you want to pursue a Netgalley listing. It all evened out in the wash, but those first few days had me pretty nervous.

Bonus Exposure
I can point to Netgalley as being directly responsible for one additional marketing opportunity I received. My review on the USA Today Happily Ever After blog only happened because the fabulously friendly woman who reviews for that site found my book on Netgalley. I didn't even think to send it in to them directly since the book is Indie published, but having the book listed gave me the extra exposure I needed to catch her attention.

Overall, I can say without any reservation that I will absolutely post future books on Netgalley. The cost is low enough that it isn't going to break the bank and the extra exposure is priceless.

In regard to how to maximize your Netgalley listing, here are a few tips:

1. Cover is key
Readers are giving lots and lots of options and their initial view is based on cover alone. They can see the description and other info once they click on the cover, but they have to get there first. If your cover is bland, unprofessional, and easily overlooked, it probably won't get much attention on the site. Viewers can up or down vote covers on the site and I was tickled pink to see that the cover for Rite of Rejection was a real crowd-pleaser.

2. Share
Once the book was live, I received a direct link to my listing. So long as it is done sparingly, I think it's fine to post this on social media or share it with your newsletter.I actually didn't share this as much as I could have and this is something I will definitely do more of next time. I did, however, let all my blog tour reviewers know about the listing and asked them to pass it along to any other bloggers they knew that might be interested. Several of them thanked me and let me know that they did pass it along.

3. Follow-up
Now that most, if not all, of the reviews are in, I'll be going back through them and looking for one specific area. Reviewers are asked if they would like to connect with the author. For those that said yes, I'll be reaching out thanking them for their review and offering to do a guest post or interview on their blog. This is a great way to meet more readers and keep up marketing efforts without going overboard.

If you have any questions about using Netgalley, feel free to ask in the comments. If you're interested in signing up for your next book, be sure to check out the awesome folks over at Patchwork Press.

How I used my newsletter for book marketing

So let me start with one thing, newsletters are not there to sell your books. Nope, they are not. They are there to give you one more way to connect with your fans and readers and reward them for being awesome.

Okay, now that that's out of the way, let me also say that if you can't email you newsletter folks about your new book, who can you email? Are you confused yet?

So, you should let your subscribers know about your book. You should engage them early and often because...by subscribing they have told you they want to be contacted. So don't make them hunt down information about your book. That said, you don't want to turn you mailing list into one big sales pitch. Even though people opt in to your list they don't want an advertisement every time they open your email. It's a delicate balance, but if in doubt ask yourself if you would want to receive that email from an author you enjoy.

Here are the emails I sent out to my newsletter subscribers to create early buzz for Rite of Rejection. Did this help me sell book? I have no earthly idea. But for me, that doesn't matter. I wasn't trying to sell to these folks. Just get them engaged. And I can tell you, that did happen.

1st email
This went out a few days before I announced the book release on my blog. I let subscribers know the book would be coming in December and how I would be using the blog to let everyone inside my marketing efforts.

2nd email
I gave my subscribers a sneak peak of the first chapter (way before it went live on the blog...see benefits). I also invited them to participate in the cover reveal. I didn't do an open ask on the cover reveal. Frankly because I had enough moving pieces without throwing something else into the works. Everyone I reached out to about the blog tour got a cover reveal invite, but that's it. So this was the only way other people.

3rd email
Free books! I offered everyone on my mailing list a free eBook of Rite of Rejection in exchange for an honest review. That's right. A free book and they got it weeks before release day. The idea here is that they would be among those who could leave a review as soon as the book was available. Some of them even snuck it on to Amazon using the paperback version and surprised me with pre-release reviews. Bonus!

4th email
On the day before the book released I send out an email to thank everyone for their support and to remind them to please leave a review. That's also when I let them know they could get a free bonus scene if they emailed me a link to their review.

That's it. Four emails spread out over about six weeks so nothing too crazy that people would start deleting the avalanche of me in their inbox. And every email was focused on something I could give them, be it a sneak peak at information before everyone else, free books or extra content.

This is important: Never once did I ever ask my subscribers to buy the book. Maybe when I'm a little more established this is something I would be okay with. After all, you can't offer a 10K subscriber mailing list a free copy of your book. There is a line somewhere where you gift yourself out of selling books. But keep in mind that I'm focusing on discoverability here. I'm a little baby author in the book world so it's all about getting my name out there. 

I'm not suggesting this is the right path for everyone, this is what works for me and so far, it seems to be doing okay.

Oh, and if you would like a free bonus scene from Eric's POV, just send me a quick email with a link to your honest Amazon review and I'll send it to you pronto. :)

I'm an author, now what

So yesterday was a real day and I am now officially a published author! Woohoo!

 

Yesterday was a bit of a blur. My kids stayed the night with some friends so I slept in super late, drank some coffee and settled into my comfy chair. I spent some time on Twitter and Facebook, took fun pictures during the day, and even got a little bit of work done. My best friends surprised me by dropping off lunch, flowers, and dark chocolate (because friends are awesome). I was then gifted a beautiful necklace that is exactly what I picture Rebecca's necklace to look like AND matches my cover perfectly. There were tears. :)

I ended the afternoon with a trip to the post office to send out a few signed copies and then waited for my husband to get home so we could go out for a celebratory dinner. All-in-all, it was a perfect day.

The book is doing well. Sales are still steadily flowing in. I danced on and off the top 100 list for Teen ebook Romantic Dystopian throughout the day, which was exciting. And my knowledge of this is evidence that I did not take my own advice to stay off Amazon. In my defence, I was tinkering with keywords and not just stalking sales rank.

I was also overwhelmed by the number of well wishes I received. I tried and failed miserably to keep up with them all to say thank you. So if I missed you, THANK YOU!

As of writing this, I am at 19 reviews on Amazon which is fantastic for release day. Seriously, for a debut author I am tickled pink with that number. It is still my goal to hit 50 reviews by January 4th, so I'll keep plugging away at this until then.

And speaking of reviews, I've decided it might be kinda nice to reward anyone who has taken the time to read and review my book. So, if you write an Amazon review and send me a link to it at SarahNegovetich(at)gmail.com, I will send you an exclusive bonus scene. This is a scene from Eric's POV that takes place "off camera" so it's not in the book at all. It's a bit spoilery, so don't cheat and write a review if you haven't read the book yet. You'll be bummed if you ruin the surprise.

So, starting on Monday I'll be back to my regular posting schedule. I still have the blog tour going on so there will be random reminders to check that out. Also, I'll continue to share my marketing efforts as part of my regular posts. I'm moving into more offline marketing now that the book is out and I'm really excited about some new adventures heading my way.

That's it for now. Thanks again for all your kind words and support as I tried not to go crazy in public. And be sure to send me your review link if you want the bonus Eric POV scene. 

#RiteOfRejection: Believing after rejection

It's release day for Rite of Rejection! Woohoo! The blog tour is going strong with a ton of amazing stops today, so be sure to check them out over on the tour page. To celebrate all this awesomeness I've invited several authors to come talk about their own brushes with rejection. We are keeping the party going, with my last guest author. Let's hear from Eliza Tilton, author of The Daath Chronicles.

Rejection is never easy, but it’s even tougher when the reason is one you can’t fix. Late 2012, I was querying a YA Contemporary Romance called SOULSPARK. This novel is my heart. While I love my fantasy series, this romance was something special. I had a few full requests, but nothing panned out—and the reasons for rejection were completely opposite. Then I found an agent who loved my voice, but passed because the story fell in between the CBA and the ABA markets and they didn’t think they could sell it.

What does that mean exactly? I’ll explain. The CBA stands for Association for Christian Retail and the ABA is American’s Bookseller Association. SOULSPARK revolves around a teen who lost her mother, is hooked on Xanax, and falls in love with the Pastor’s son at her mother’s church. The MC deals with issues of faith throughout the story, but that isn’t the focus. The agent passed because there was too much reference to drugs and sex in the beginning for the CBA market, and too much religious talk to fit into the general market.

I tried to tone it down a bit, but I couldn’t remove certain aspects without affecting the story. So what did I eventually do? I put it to the side and moved on. Another agent may have felt differently but I was worn out and a few months later, I received a contract for Broken Forest.

Sometimes we’re rejected and there’s nothing we can do, but if you love the story, and believe in it, there is one option: Self-publishing.

After a year of thinking, and some praying, I decided to self-pub SOULSPARK. The novel is set to release late spring.

Don’t let rejection stop you, and don’t give up on those tales that just won’t go away. There’s someone out there who needs to read your story, and wants to.

Eliza graduated from Dowling College with a BS in Visual Communications. When she’s not arguing with excel at her day job, or playing Dragon Age 2, again, she’s writing. Her YA stories hold a bit of the fantastical and there’s always a hot romance. She resides on Long Island with her husband, two kids and one very snuggly pit bull.

Her novels, Broken Forest and Wicked Path, are published by Curiosity Quills Press.

Find Eliza online:

Website / Twitter/ Facebook / Goodreads / Instagram / Pinterest / Google+

 

Broken Forest   Wicked Path

In Wicked Path: Book Two of the Daath Chronicles brother and sister are forced to opposite sides of Tarrtainya on a fast-paced adventure where the wildlife isn't the only thing trying to kill them.

Three months have passed since Avikar defeated the Reptilian Prince, and he still can't remember his battle with Lucino. On the hunt for answers, he returns to the scene of the fight and discovers a strange connection between his family's dagger and the mysterious kingdom of Daath, and it seems only his distant father can reveal the truth behind it all.

Before Avikar can travel back home, Lucy assaults him in the market and forces him to flee to Nod Mountains--a place few dare to enter, and even less return from. With Raven and her childhood friend by his side, they must survive the treacherous journey through the pass with a vengeful Lucy hunting them. If they don't, they'll never see home again.

Jeslyn's new life in Luna Harbor is the perfect remedy for her confused and broken heart. But when a group of mercenaries kidnap her beloved Grandfather, interrupting her daily routine as his jewelry apprentice, she's forced to join forces with the one person from her past she tried to forget.

And his assistance comes with a price.

#RiteOfRejection: Undervaluing ourselves

It's release week for Rite of Rejection and the kick off of the blog tour. Check out the tour page for a full list of all the stops. To celebrate all this awesomeness I've invited several authors to come talk about their own brushes with rejection. Today, we hear from Natasha Hanova, author of Edge of Truth.

I'm not going to lie. Rejection hurts. As a writer, I know this better than most. I have my share of writing-related rejection stories, but wanted to share one that taught me a lesson.

 

When I first graduated college, I was determined to find the perfect job. For me, that meant a place where my creative side could flourish. I took on temp jobs to pay bills while I scoured wanted ads and online employment sites. Then, I came across an ad from an outdoor theater, the ideal environment to surround myself with other artistic people. The position wasn't too challenging, but I could always work my way into a better one and use whatever downtime I had to work on writing.

The company planned to hold open interviews. Happy dance! The job was as good as mine. I always do well because I force friends and family into mock interviews, while I’m wearing a carefully selected interview outfit. Don't judge. I entered the office feeling confident. According to my interviewer's body language, things were looking good.

The session ended with words that altered my way of thinking: You sound like a great candidate, but you are over qualified. At the time, my disappointment was great. Reflecting back on the rejection, I now see that it was for the best. It certainly changed how I searched for work, taught me not to undervalue myself. I did eventually landed a job in marketing surrounded by creative types.





Natasha Hanova is the author of Edge of Truth, a YA dystopian. She enjoys sliding around the house in her socks and loves nibbling Peanut M&Ms while reading or writing paranormal, dark fantasy, and dystopian books with heavy doses of romance. Find Natasha on her blog, Twitter, or Facebook.    

Citizens who report to work on time, obey the Overlord’s laws, and stay off the Synbot’s radar, live long lives. Long, dull, monotonous lives. It’s not a bad plan for sixteen-year-old Rena Moon whose emotions trigger earthquakes. In a world pitted against her, she strives for a life beyond working herself to death at the factory. Seeing an alternative, she risks selling relics from the forbidden lands at Market. It becomes the worst decision she ever made. Someone kidnaps her best friend in exchange for the one thing that would end her oppression. Driven by loyalty, Rena and seventeen-year-old Nevan Jelani, soulful composer, green thumb extraordinaire, and the secret love of her life, plot to rescue her friend and reclaim her salvage. Still, the thought lingers whether Nevan is a true hero or another thief waiting for his chance at her loot. Events spin wildly, deepening Rena’s suspicions and pushing her limit of control. With more than her chance for freedom at stake, she must decide if she’s willing to kill to protect what’s precious to her. For once, the Overlord isn’t holding all the power, but can Rena live with being reduced to what she’s struggling so hard to escape?

#RiteOfRejection: Flying through Rejection

It's release week for Rite of Rejection and the kick off of the blog tour. Check out the tour page for a full list of all the stops. To celebrate all this awesomeness I've invited several authors to come talk about their own brushes with rejection. Up today is today is Nichole Giles, author of the Descendant Series. And here's Nichole.

Years ago, I was part of a group job interview, at which point the interviewer asked the four or five people present to describe a time when they had been rejected. My mind went blank. Rejected? When had I been rejected? She couldn’t have been asking about my dating life. I was married, and had been for several years. How was I supposed to remember rejection from something so long past?

Since the job was in retail, the interviewer probably meant for us to tell her about when we had been rejected on a sales pitch, but it had been a while since I’d worked retail, and I could think of nothing there either. I came up with a lame, vague answer and we moved onto the next question.

I did get the job, despite that blunder, and did well in retail. While it’s true that I didn’t sell everything I pitched to consumers, the store where I worked was specialized, and people shopped there because they liked the brand, so I never felt utterly and completely rejected in that position.

During that same time, I discovered a deep and profound joy in creating stories and began the arduous journey to becoming an author. The agony of rejection was something I learned swiftly and deeply. It is the kind of rejection that cuts to the core of a person and changes how you see the world forever. It is also the kind of rejection that, for me, did not end within weeks or months, but lasted for years that felt endless. In this industry, rejection is a necessary part of the process.

I’ve been writing for a long time now, and I still get the occasional soul-crushing rejection. All authors do. We understand this, and use these rejections to learn, grow, and become better.

Now I have signed with a literary agent who cushions my rejections for me, two published novels which are doing well, and two more novels scheduled for release in 2015. I have found success, despite my setbacks. I have learned to fly, despite having repeatedly fallen.

In the event that I someday happen upon that interviewer again, I hope I get the chance to share my very real experience with rejection, and how I overcame it. I hope I get to tell her how rejection has made me fearless and strong. I hope I get to tell her how rejection has given me wings.  

Nichole Giles had early career plans that included becoming an actress or a rockstar, but she decided instead to have a family and then become a writer.

She was born in Nevada, the oldest of seven—a number which increased to eleven with the addition of four step brothers—and has lived in Utah, Nevada, Arizona, and South Texas. 

Her future aspirations include owning a home on a tropical island, even if it's just a vacation home. For now, she plans to travel to as many tropical locations as possible, scouting for her future paradise.

 

Two months ago, Abigail Johnson saved the life of the boy she believes is her destiny and defeated an army of demons that have pursued her ancestors for centuries. Now, she and Kye should be taking their place as leaders of the new generation of Gifted, but the curse they thought was broken has returned, and every minute together brings them closer to death.

When remaining shadow demons attack again, the Dragons send Abby to Mexico. But she isn’t any safer here than she was back home. The shadows have tracked her, the locals expect her to help with their own demon problems, and the more time she spends away from Kye, the more she doubts the destiny that ties them together.

When the demons destroy her safe house, Abby has no choice but to take the fight to them. The arrival of an old nemesis throws their careful plans into disarray, and Abby and her friends find themselves facing new adversaries in a battle that turns fatal. This time, not everyone will make it out alive.

Descendant on Amazon        Birthright on Amazon