A blog by suburban Chicago romance writer Nicki Elson. She shares her perspective on novel writing, marketing, and other random bits of a writer's life. Every post ends with a happily ever after.
4.11.20
No Stress Book Launch #IWSG
7.10.20
Insecure Writers Support Group October 2020 Edition: Successes & Failures
Hello, fellow IWSGers! I hope October finds you doing well - er, at least as well as one can expect to be in the year 2020. Aren't we all so lucky to have our writing to distract us? After writing this post (on Sunday), I'm heading out for summa dis on this fine autumn day in the Midwest:
October Optional Question
When you think of the term working writer, what does that look like to you? What do you think it is supposed to look like? Do you see yourself as a working writer or aspiring or hobbyist, and if latter two, what does that look like?
To me, a "working writer" is someone who consistently earns a decent chunk of change through writing. They don't necessarily have to make a living at it, but it should at least be a substantial supplement to their regular income.
I guess technically I could be considered a working writer since my day job involves a lot of writing, though it's mostly in blurb form for social media, marketing emails, catalogs, etc. I occasionally get to write longer form for blogs and newsletters.
As for fiction writing, I'm definitely a hobbyist. What that looks like for me is: I write what I want, when I want. I promote when I publish a new book, but I don't expect to earn a regular income from my novels...not that I wouldn't take it if it came to me.
But that doesn't mean I haven't learned a thing or two about marketing a book, mostly through tips from other independent authors and lots of trial and error. I've experienced a couple of successes with my latest release - and some failures - so for the next few IWSGs, I want to share with you what's worked for me and what hasn't in the hopes that you'll find some tidbit to help you with your own publishing adventures.
I'll get into more detail on all of the below in future posts, but for now, a quick overview of MOLLY UNPLANNED's path so far:
Failure: Put her up for pre-order too early without marketing, so she entered release day behind the proverbial eight ball with low rankings.
Success: Released at a 99-cent sale price and advertised the heck out of her in cheap-reads newsletters. (She hit #19 in two of her categories and 3,358 overall in Amazon. But could these have been even higher without the failure above?)
Modest Success: Got a handful of reviews at Amazon on release day by offering Advance Review Copies through my author email list and LibraryThing.
Failure: I had no set marketing plan for after publication week. Molly's sales & rankings plummeted immediately after release week.
Failure: I panicked and advertised in cheap-reads newsletters at the book's then full price of $2.99. Response was abysmal. People subscribing to those newsletters only want free and .99c books.
Meh: I placed targeted Facebook Ads emphasizing "Read FREE in Kindle Unlimited." Seemed to give a small bump in KU reads and rankings, but I probably didn't make my money back. (If you're not familiar with KU and KDP, you can read all about it here.)
Working Well So Far: In September and October, I've focused on getting more reviews & ratings through new means of free and paid outreach. Molly's up to 37 Amazon ratings/16 reviews. She's offered at NetGalley this month, so wish me luck! Sometimes those romance reviewers can be pretty tough. *gulp*
Unexpected Success: One of my means for gathering more reviews & ratings was to offer the book for free through KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) - coupled with paid promotions in cheap-reads newsletters - and this surprisingly resulted in a big boost to KU reads throughout the following weeks.
Like I said, I'll dig more into each of these, but this post has gotten too long, so I'll leave it at that for now. Thanks for stopping by. 😊 See ya at your place soon. 😉
This post is part of the:
5.8.20
Stories Unplanned #IWSG
This post is part of the:
3.6.20
Estoy Triste #IWSG
You see, I was supposed to be jetting to Peru today (and by jetting, I mean crammed into the cheapest economy seat).
A few months ago, when we were daydreaming, I posted a picture of some ruins in the Andes Mountains surrounding Ollantaytambo. I WAS GOING TO CLIMB TO THOSE RUINS and spend a day with local women, learning how to weave and do a hundred other super cool things.
But it's not just the heartbreak of a cancelled trip that has me so down. I'm concerned for all the wonderful people I'd hoped to meet and spend my soles with: the independent hostel owners and staff, the restaurateurs, the street vendors, the craftswomen, the waiters, the cab drivers, the colectivo drivers, the boot polishers, the tour guides.
In an attempt to control the spread of COVID-19, the Peruvian government acted swiftly and aggressively to shut down the country's borders and put its people on lockdown—now one of the longest lockdowns in the world, even longer than in Italy, Spain, and China. The hardships we feel during shutdown in developed nations is nothing compared to the toll it takes on people in countries lacking our infrastructure and resources. I'm not saying aggressive measures aren't necessary to combat the aggressive virus. I'm simply saying, this sucks.
And hey, in the spirit of 2020, how about some sudden death for my darling pet rabbit. Sure, why not?
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Frolic in peace, sweet angel Gamgee girl. |
Until then, I'll visit the gorgeous Andean Condor I adopted at Brookfield Zoo (once it freaking reopens), enjoy a purse woven by amazing Awamaki craftswomen near Ollantaytambo, donate to hard-hit organizations in Peru that are close to my heart, drink Inca Kola, and attempt to make a traditional Peruvian dish. And I will pray, pray, pray that when I return to that beautiful country, I'll find its beautiful people thriving.
Ohhhh golly, this didn't have much to do with writing, did it? Wait a minute—yes, it totally did. Writing this post helped me work out some of my angst and redirect it toward better places. It's a classic example of writing as therapy. Thanks for reading. :)
This post is part of the:
6.5.20
Get in the Zone #IWSG
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1.4.20
S'up, Insecure Writers? #IWSG
I believe we writers are uniquely equipped to deal with the quarantine portion of this pandemic. I mean, we sort of live for shutting out the rest of the world so we can be alone with our characters, right? I have zero fear of getting bored if this thing goes on for several weeks...or more.
The financial part's a bit different. I'm among those whose employment status is in the darkest of gray areas. Oh well, it's not like I made much money, anyway, and my husband, who works for a big telecommunications company, is busier than ever keeping people connected, so it could be worse.
I'm going to enjoy my time of "disconnecting" from daily duties to refocus on things I want to do. I've come up w/ a list of 10 Clever Things to Do from Home - for FREE, and these are some of the things I'll be doing (in addition to getting caught up with my writer life).
So, how the heck are you?
This post is part of the:
5.2.20
A Picture Inspires Two Thousand Words #IWSG
ANYWHO! Let's get onto this month's optional question:
8.1.20
"Holy Hell" - This is Why I Write #IWSG
I love that this question came right now. I was just reminded of the very first novel-length story I ever wrote and why I wrote it. But first---how did I come to write it? My journey to writerhood was the result of 3 major factors:
1. I've always been a daydreamer. As a small child I'd spend hours rocking in the La-Z-Boy with my parents' easy-listening radio station playing in the background, just thinking and imagining to the likes of Olivia Newton-John and Barry Manilow. The clouds are still my favorite place to put my head...but I listen to better music now.
2. I dig words. I'd always thought of myself as more of a numbers person, but as I forged a career as an investment analyst and my (tor)mentor beat me down until I finally mastered the written portion of our quarterly reports, I realized that writing had become my favorite part of the job.
3. The Harry Potter series ended. I'd been a bit obsessed (when I say obsessed, I mean OBSESSED), and I couldn't stand how it all ended for one of the characters. So, I daydreamed a story for him. That daydream had more teeth than all those previous and wouldn't leave me alone until I started writing it out. By the time the story was complete, I was prisoner of a new obsession---writing fiction.
The other day, when the review below came in on Fanfiction(dot)net for that vert first story I ever wrote, I was thrilled (still am):
Isn't that why we all keep writing and putting our work out there? To give someone the story they've been looking for for a LONG time?