Because sharing the downs of self-publishing is also important: a day without earning. Still: Vella is helping me earn a part-time income and making business decisions and writing progress.
Today is all about my Kickstarter not getting funded for #TheLeftoverBride audiobook: what I would do differently, what I learned and what I did after it didn’t get funded …
Self-publishing can be a roller coaster of emotions and is filled with ups and downs. Last week, I heard words every romance author wants to hear (during a pretty stressful day), one of my Vella stories lost a crown … and then regained it. Plus, I get to fangirl over Eloisa James.
Today I also talk about my dream of having Fear Me, Fear Me Not adapted for Lifetime or Netflix… And I have my first voicemail!!!!
And in case you’re wondering what the heck I’m talking about when I say that my Vella story lost its crown…
What is Kindle Vella?
Kindle Vella brings you stories released one short episode at a time, available on the web at http://www.amazon.com/kindle-vella and in the Kindle app. The first few episodes of every story are always free–after that, purchase Tokens and redeem them to unlock episodes. The first few episodes of every story are always free — after that, readers can purchase Tokens and redeem them to unlock episodes. As readers, you can follow the stories you like to keep up with, give an episode a Thumbs up, and when you unlock episodes, you receive one Fave a week you can award to the story you’re enjoying most that week.
I do not know yet what my bonus will be for April 2022 as there’s always a delay between the month when the reads happen and the announcement of the bonus.
Near the 20th of each month, we’ll post the previous month’s bonus amount in your Kindle Vella Dashboard. We will pay your bonus with your total KDP payments approximately 60 days after the end of the month in which the bonus was earned. For example, if you earned a bonus in July, it will be paid with your September payments.
I am thoroughly enjoying writing serialized fiction. Publishing every week is fun for me. And having that schedule is giving me more consistency in the way I write. Plus, I think it’s helping me write in a different way: I’m raising the stakes faster, digging deep into the characters and I am definitely learning how to write very strong endings for each episodes.
And I love love love knowing people are reading my work. The thumbs up? The polls at the end of each episode? It’s a plus for me.
And you know what else was a plus?
Having one of my story with a crown…
I am currently publishing two stories under my pen name and one of them had a crown for three weeks. It took me totally by surprise and when the crown stayed days after days, week after week, I was stoked.
First, that means readers are loving the story. They only have one crown to give and they chose my story? Awwww!
I have no idea who reads my story (except maybe one wonderful reader who got the link from my newsletter). I do videos on TikTok (flip pages) and that’s it. Since it’s a pen name, I don’t post about in Kindle Vella Authors Readers groups. I don’t share the link on this website. I don’t talk about it on my other social media.
And yet… Yet, people who have never read my other books are finding them and giving them thumbs up and crowns?
Yes, I will use this gif over and over again… 🙂
For three weeks!!!
How many crowns? I have no idea because the Kindle Vella dashboard doesn’t show that info… (and yet it’s used in the calculation of the bonus. Hmmm).
Those crowns should help my May bonus (which I will only find out about next month).
But… today…. today, I checked to make sure the latest episode was published.
And the crown is gone!
I mean I know there are hundreds and hundreds of stories readers can choose from. And maybe they fell more in love with another story last week. Or maybe I didn’t release enough episodes. Or maybe the episode wasn’t their favorite ones.
I am thinking of releasing another episode tomorrow as I ended the last one on a pretty big cliffhanger.
And the latest episode is getting a lot of thumbs up, so I think the story is going in the right direction.
And who knows? Maybe releasing that episode on Sunday (or at the beginning of the week) might keep the story fresh in their mind as they decide on which story to give the crown to.
Today, I share with you my book promo results using BargainBooksy as well as my audiobook promo results using AudioThicket. But first, I start by sharing some good news as well as explaining why sometimes it feels like I “need, need, need” to write. And more advice from writers on TikTok:
Pick one thing at a time and master it. You don’t have to be brilliant at everything right out of the box.” by @mckennadeanfiction and
I am back from holidays. A bit jetlagged. Very grateful for the time spent with loved ones in Germany and in France and getting back into a writing routine (and podcasting routine).
For the first time, I recorded this episode live on TikTok (before editing it for the podcast). Today, I talk about writing using the Pomodoro method again, my Kindle Vella bonus (more than I expected). Plus, I share an excerpt of the audiobook of Trust Me, Trust Me More and more…
Mentioned in this episode:
Instant Data Scraper (saw this on Bryan Cohen’s Amazon ads course – he mentions it was first introduced to him by BookBub & FB Ad coach Alana Terry):
Today, I share the four reasons I decided to try Kindle Vella as an author and what my experience has been so far. I also share some resources that I’ve been finding helpful and some events I’m looking forward to.
Today I share with the costs of my cover as well as the strategy for its reveal. In addition, I start learning how to apply the 7 rules of marketing as an author (will definitely dig deeper into this topic as I research more and try different strategies). I also share an update on my amazon ads.