Today, I am very happy to wlecome my long-time critique partner (who I’m also very lucky to call friend) YA author Katy Upperman. And I’m also very happy to run a giveaway for one of Katy’s books…if you’re in the US you could even win a signed copy!
Katy Upperman is a military spouse and mama to two sweet girls, as well as two spoiled kitties and the cutest German Wirehaired Pointer around. Katy is an author, reader, baker, and wanderer. She writes novels for teens and teens at heart. She’s a Washington State University alum (go Cougs!), a country music fanatic, and a makeup enthusiast. She loves the ocean, pedicures, sunshine, Instagram, Dirty Dancing and The Princess Bride, Jelly Bellies, houseplants, true crime documentaries, and Friday Night Lights.
Before diving into our chat, let me give you a short update on my writing, and self-publishing.
Last week, I started by saying I really needed to leave the reviews for two books I really enjoyed: CINDERELLA IS DEAD (Girls team up to overthrow the kingdom in this unique and powerful retelling of Cinderella from a stunning new voice that’s perfect for fans of Dhonielle Clayton and Melissa Albert) and for PRETTY LITTLE WIFE (Darby Kane thrills with this twisty domestic suspense novel that asks one central question: Shouldn’t a dead husband stay dead?) … And I did. Well, I did because I just re-read my blog post while writing this one and it reminded me I needed to do it.
I had not written it on my to-do list. My to-do list right now is basically: catch up on my freelance work. I may have mentioned it but I work as a freelance researcher and audiobook narrator, in addition to my writing. And I have upcoming deadlines. So, in terms of self-publishing, in the past week I’ve made sure to keep up with my newsletter and to put up the final manuscript of EINE ZWEITE CHANCE (Always Second Best in German) on Amazon.
In my newsletter, I sent behind-the-scenes on #TheLeftoverBride which was really fun to write about and following L. Penelope’s example in her welcome email, I also recorded a video of that newsletter so if people wanted to listen or watch a video instead of reading my newsletter, then they could. 🙂 In the podcast I share a tiny excerpt of the video…
Talking about being vulnerable in our writing, her love for the revision process and her dream projects
Today on the podcast (Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and more), YA contemporary romance author Katy Upperman (author of KISSING MAX HOLDEN, THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF US & HOW THE LIGHT GETS IN) talks about being vulnerable in our writing, her love for the revision process and her dream projects. We also talk about her life list, how she pushes through difficult times in her writing and/or publishing and whether or not she thought about self-publishing. Oh and we may spend a few minutes on true crime documentaries. 🙂
When it comes to my self-publishing and writing update: Another busy week with my freelance projects. I work as a freelance researcher and an audiobook narrator. And this hasn’t left me a whole lot of time to get actual writing done on the page. However, I use every moment possible to think and organize my thoughts about certain scenes I still need to revise.
For the business side of self-publishing, I have sent several newsletters – including a Behind-The-Scenes for #TheLeftoverBride with a video (following L. Penelope’s example). On the podcast, I also talk a bit about social media and author branding…
Thank you so much to everyone who has listened and subscribed to my podcast. Don’t hesitate to leave a review and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow on Spotify or Google Podcasts…
And thank you to everyone who’s already added #THELEFTOVERBRIDE on Goodreads and those of you who already pre-ordered it (on Amazon, iTunes, Kobo).
I’ve also been sharing little snippets with everyone who has left a comment on my Facebook Author Page and/or Facebook readers’ group. I will also do the same with my readers’ mailing list and Instagram.
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(2) A newsletter for my readers: full of bonus scenes, updates on my books, shows I’m watching, books I’m reading, exclusive giveaways and more…
Click on this link and just add your email and you’ll receive access to a page full of exclusive content! Plus my emails include pictures of my cat and my dog…and they’re pretty adorable…:-)
So many books came out this week. Which ones did you get? Or request from your libraries? I need to write two raving reviews for CINDERELLA IS DEAD and for PRETTY LITTLE WIFE. Hold me to it. Next week, I need to start with “I wrote the reviews.” Yes, next week on Friday. I am not planning on releasing an episode this Tuesday. In terms of schedule, I will release episodes every Friday and every two weeks on Tuesdays. Don’t worry I’ll continue discussing my self-publishing adventures. Today, after the chat, I’ll quickly talk about time…
I am just about to start reading WILD WOMEN AND THE BLUES by Denny S. Bryce. What are you currently reading? Leave me a message. I’ll select a few to read on the podcast. And don’t forget you have any questions to either leave a comment on my blog, send me an email or leave a voice message. 🙂
Before starting today’s chat: have you seen the Books For Hope auction? The KidLit Community is coming together to raise money for the Covid crisis in India! Bid on Signed Books, Book Swag, Editor and Agent Critiques and more and help raise money for the Unicef USA India Covid Relief Effort! The organizers are US-based children’s book authors with roots in the Indian subcontinent. And there are a lot, a lot of items to bid on. All for a good cause!https://www.booksforhope.org The auction takes place on May 7th to May 9th.
Today for Feature Friday, I am so so happy to welcome Mona Shroff. Per her bio on Harlequin and Mona is obsessed with everything romantic, so she writes romantic stories by night, even though she’s an optometrist by day. If she’s not writing, she’s making chocolate truffles, riding her bike, or reading, and is just as likely to be drinking wine or gin & tonic with friends and family. She’s blessed with an amazing daughter and loving son who have both gone to college. Mona lives in Maryland with her romance-loving husband. She’s the author of: THEN, NOW, ALWAYS and THEN THERE WAS YOU. You can find Mona on Instagram.
Giveaway time!
Do you want to win one of Mona Shroff’s books? Just hop on to my giveaway: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/35c42cc23/?
Writing romance, a baking contest and receiving “the” calls…
Today on the podcast (Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and more), contemporary romance author Mona Shroff (author of THEN, NOW, ALWAYS & THEN THERE WAS YOU) about the time she met Martha Stewart (and almost met Matthew McConaughey), her writing process, receiving the calls from her agent and book deal and how falling in love isn’t the solution for all our characters’ issues.
When it comes to my self-publishing and writing update: This has been a pretty busy week on my side…and while I made progress on my revision, I haven’t made as much progress as I wanted to. I think we all have these weeks, right? Contemporary romance author Mona Shroff who is on the podcast today shared on Instagram today a repost from Emily Duvall which said, “Respect your writing time.” And that’s something we had discussed with L. Penelope last week on planning that writing time…I’ve been doing Pomodoros. 25 minutes and then a short break and I think that if I start talking in Pomodoros instead of saying I will do something for an hour then it works better. I am going to carve some writing time this weekend…
Thank you so much to everyone who has listened and subscribed to my podcast. Don’t hesitate to leave a review and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow on Spotify or Google Podcasts…
And thank you to everyone who’s already added #THELEFTOVERBRIDE on Goodreads and those of you who already pre-ordered it (on Amazon, iTunes, Kobo).
I’ve also been sharing little snippets with everyone who has left a comment on my Facebook Author Page and/or Facebook readers’ group. I will also do the same with my readers’ mailing list and Instagram.
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(2) A newsletter for my readers: full of bonus scenes, updates on my books, shows I’m watching, books I’m reading, exclusive giveaways and more…
Click on this link and just add your email and you’ll receive access to a page full of exclusive content! Plus my emails include pictures of my cat and my dog…and they’re pretty adorable…:-)
In addition to explaining my current process about engaging readers even before the cover reveal, today on the podcast (Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts,Google Podcastsand more), I dip my toe into the way I use social media, some (very just brushing the surface) of my complicated feelings about social media and the fact that I am still learning how to use it as an author. I even started making Instagram Reels and using TikTok!
A little catch-up
Happy release day to Jessica Patrick and THIS IS FOR TONIGHT! “When Andi attends a music festival with one goal in mind – capture an interview with a famous band so she can pay for college – she gets more than she bargained for in this YA novel about family ties and finding your own way.”
I started working pretty early today (well, the day I’m drafting this post) as I need to finish recording an audiobook I got hired for…My to-do list for the day is pretty long and I may be slightly tired because I had one of those wonderful reading moments where you just don’t want to stop reading. I’m currently reading PRETTY LITTLE WIFE by Darby Kane and I told myself I was going to stop at Chapter 11…I read until Chapter 19.
Have you already read it? Any book recommendations for me? Don’t hesitate to either leave me a voicemail or send me an email at either : authorelodienowodazkij AT gmail.com or aselfpublishedauthorsdiary AT gmail.com 🙂
Talking about reels, I made my very first one on Friday at a random moment and it got more than 1000 views very quickly. The reel about PRETTY LITTLE WIFE also got more than 1000 views. I also now have a TikTok.
When it comes to using social media as an author, I don’t necessarily know what I’m doing. Maybe because the author part of me is still me? But at the same time, I am not comfortable sharing certain things . As authors, sometimes we’re told we are the brand. And…well…I’m still learning. You hear: be strategic, but be real. Use hashtags but make sure you use the right ones. Post often but not too often. Don’t spend too much time on social media but connect with people.
And right now, for me, it’s not about growing the number of my followers (even though I guess it would be nice), but it’s more to have more engagement on the posts that I do share.
Right now, I am trying new things. I’ll report back. 🙂
Cover reveal and engaging readers…
When it comes to covers, I either design them myself or I hire someone to design them. I’ve designed all my contemporary romance covers. And the Gavert City book covers have all been designed by Najla Qamber.
Seven years ago, I used to book Blog tours for cover reveals. And I’m wondering how much those still help. I need to do a bit more research…
Mid-May or so, I will send an email to my newsletter subscribers asking them to help me choose between the two covers.
My goals are three-fold:
Get more newsletter subscribers. I’ve announced it on my blog and in my Facebook readers’ group. The reach in that group is very low and I know it’s probably because I do not post consistently enough. It’s easier for me to send emails. And…as mentioned before, I’ve read it is also more efficient.
Get feedback on which cover readers prefer: Both covers will have the same style and to me it will be interesting to see which one readers prefer.
Start the buzz...By asking readers for help in choosing the cover reveal, I might get more engagement for the book itself and maybe start the buzz even before the cover reveal.
Author life moment that made me smile last week
I received an email from a reader telling me how much my books have helped distract her through…*waves hands* everything. And knowing that my books have helped someone smile or get lost in the moment in the world that I created definitely made me smile and gave me a boost in my revisions. 🙂
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(2) A newsletter for my readers: full of bonus scenes, updates on my books, shows I’m watching, books I’m reading, exclusive giveaways and more…
Click on this link and just add your email and you’ll receive access to a page full of exclusive content! Plus my emails include pictures of my cat and my dog…and they’re pretty adorable…:-)
I’m so happy to have L. Penelope on the podcast today. Leslye Penelope has been writing since she could hold a pen and loves getting lost in the worlds in her head. She is an award-winning author of fantasy and paranormal romance. Her book Song of Blood & Stone was selected as one of TIME’s Top 100 Fantasy Books of All Time. Visit her website: https://lpenelope.com/
Publishing, patience, perseverance and cheesecake…
Today on the podcast (Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and more), Leslye and I talk self-publishing, publishing, patience, perseverance, hybrid, description and writing processes, how hard writing is sometimes and moments that make us smile and so much more!
Thank you so much to everyone who has listened and subscribed to my podcast. Don’t hesitate to leave a review and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow on Spotify or Google Podcasts…
And thank you to everyone who’s already added #THELEFTOVERBRIDE on Goodreads and those of you who already pre-ordered it (on Amazon, iTunes, Kobo).
I’ve also been sharing little snippets with everyone who has left a comment on my Facebook Author Page and/or Facebook readers’ group. I will also do the same with my readers’ mailing list and Instagram.
Whoops! There was an error and we couldn't process your subscription. Please reload the page and try again.
(2) A newsletter for my readers: full of bonus scenes, updates on my books, shows I’m watching, books I’m reading, exclusive giveaways and more…
Click on this link and just add your email and you’ll receive access to a page full of exclusive content! Plus my emails include pictures of my cat and my dog…and they’re pretty adorable…:-)
I have published those top 3 self-publishing mistakes a few weeks ago…before I started my podcast. And I have now uploaded this post as a podcast episode as well…:-)
Today, on the podcast, I also mention that I have changed #THELEFTOVERBRIDE pre-order price to $0.99 ( Amazon, iTunes, Kobo). Come discover this second chance romance (think a sexy Hallmark movie).
This is the first book in a series of standalone romance novels and I haven’t published anything in years and…I will change the price to $2.99 three days after publication. I will let you know how this strategy works and will go deeper into my release plan strategy for #TheLeftoverBride soon.
I have also purchased Publisher Rocket to try to change my keywords and categories. I’ve learned that one of my keywords had almost 0 searches. So, that was helpful to know 🙂
What is PublisherRocket you may ask? Short story: it is a dashboard that helps you search keywords and categories (among other things) and it helps you see how many times people have searched for certain keywords. I’ll let you know if investing in this too is helpful. I have used other keywords search in the past but they were pretty cumbersome to use. So far, PublisherRocket is very easy to use. And again does seem to help narrow keywords and categories.
In it, she shares some of her failures and how she has learned from them and now makes 6 figures as a self-published author. It is a really insightful and detailed post!
I failed. A lot. But each stumble taught me something and brought me closer toward the eventual path to success: I now make six figures as a self-published author. In this post, I’ll outline the top lessons I learned from these failures, so you can learn from my mistakes and get a leg up on your leap to six figures.
How many times can I say self-publishing mistakes in this post? I mean the first one I mention I feel is a publishing mistake many authors can make. And let me preface this by saying that I love daydreaming. I still daydream.
Thinking my book would become an instant best-selling success – just because it was good. Let me tell you, that’s not enough 😊. Rationally speaking, I knew it might not be the case, but I thought that most of the early reviews were so positive, even from people I had never met! That was mind-blowing, and I did daydream quite a bit. I still do daydream very often. I sometimes fall asleep dreaming about my books being picked up by Netflix or the Lifetime Movies Channel. Or I daydream about my Gavert City audiobook series being downloaded thousands of times with people raving about Megan’s narration (which they already do, but now we’d have thousands of downloads daily 😊). Anyways…back in 2014, a little part of me thought maybe I’d be that overnight success. The one people talk about, not realizing that overnight usually means years of writing and sometimes years of publishing. I read at the time about authors succeeding in self-publishing, but (a) I didn’t really define what succeeding would mean, (b) I didn’t have benchmarks.
Don’t get me wrong…I hadn’t left it all to sheer luck. Oh, no, no, no. I thought I had it all under control and was set for success. After all, I had a great cover, early reviews, and a release plan (with cover reveal, blog tours, Netgalley…). This meant I would release it and everyone would want to download it and I’d be set for success.
Spoiler alert: In June 2014, when I published ONE, TWO, THREE, I sold 45 copies…So. Not an overnight success. 😊 Granted, that book has now sold many more copies. It has also been picked up by a French publisher, and I even received a message from a French teenager who mentioned that this book, this little book of mine, has gotten her to love reading!
Sometimes, it feels that self-publishing is a sprint. And maybe sometimes it is. But not always…And marketing doesn’t stop with release month…
Advertising to the wrong audience. When I first started self-publishing back in 2014, I thought it was essential to have a Facebook page with lots and lots and lots of followers – which may have been true if I had first analyzed the audience that would be most likely to buy my book. I went for a worldwide audience at a time where my books were (a) only in English, (b) on platforms that weren’t necessarily accessible to readers all around the world. And at that time, I was not really targeting my ads…
So yes, I had many followers, but not an enormous audience of readers interested in my books. This is a mistake I’ve made again but more structured, as I’m still trying to see what ads work the best for different audiences. I’ve succeeded in France (and I’ll get into it in my weekly newsletter in the coming weeks), but my conversion rate (how many people actually buy a book after clicking on a link) is still too low for the US market. But nothing…nothing compared to 7 years ago.
Not focusing on my newsletter. I remember reading years ago…and I mean yeaaaaaaars ago how important it was to have a newsletter because social media algorithms change (and man, do they change). That way, you may build more of a connection with the reader. Some newsletters I subscribe to are only letting me know when the author has a new sale. Others are expanding on the books they’re reading, how they’re writing, maybe movies or podcasts they’re enjoying, or other things going on in their lives.
Have I ever bought or reviewed a book based on a newsletter? Yes. Yes, I have. I have a Facebook readers’ group (if you’re on there, thank you 😊), but I haven’t been spending a lot of time on Facebook. And I don’t have Facebook on my phone. And every single time I post something on my Facebook group, the reach (people who may see it in their feed) is about 35 to 50 out of more than 400 Facebook group members). More people open my emails. And it feels like people unsubscribe more when they’re no longer interested any long…. Still, I’m in Facebook groups I haven’t checked in probably years…so…yep, I’ve been refocusing on building my readers’ newsletter.
I do wonder about that new platform Facebook announced on March 16th. They’re getting into the newsletter subscription area and do mention also the use of groups in there. So, will that change the algorithm? Apparently, it might give writers more tools and could help in audience growth…but again, one might be dependent on changes…
Not like we’re also not dependent on changes with emails. When Google introduced the tabs in Gmail, some newsletters ended up in the Promotions tab, which is not necessarily read as often…Anyhow…😊
Not focusing on my newsletter was one of my self-publishing mistakes, mainly since I don’t publish a book every two months or so. Newsletters help me stay in touch with my readers in-between (which I love doing) and grow my audience.
And those are my top 3 self-publishing mistakes.
Again, if you’d like to see my top 5, you can just click here or on this cover, add your email and you’ll get access to the full pdf…
I’ll be sharing more in the coming weeks as well as what has worked for and my current publishing updates…including some stats about my bestselling format and platforms.
Thank you for reading!
Did you enjoy this post? Do you want to help support me and my writing? You can forward this email to someone who might be interested, buy my books and as always, don’t hesitate to leave me a comment.
If you have any questions about my adventures in self-publishing or anything I shared with you today, don’t hesitate to reach out and I’ll make sure to reply in my email next week.
This article is available as podcast episode on my podcast: “A Self-Published Author’s Diary”. My podcast is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and more…
Before starting, I am very excited to share books I should be receiving very soon. I ordered them on One More Page Bookstore’s website and I loved the commented that those books are great choices. 🙂 I agree of course but it was a nice touch to see those words as I opened my email…
From the author of Once Upon a Sunset and The Key to Happily Ever After comes a heartwarming and moving novel following three Army wives—estranged friends—who must overcome their differences when one of them is desperate for help.
From the author of Once Upon a Sunset and The Key to Happily Ever After comes a heartwarming and moving novel following three Army wives—estranged friends—who must overcome their differences when one of them is desperate for help.
I’m currently still reading CINDERELLA IS DEAD (and loving it). Next, I have a loan from the library: PRETTY LITTLE WIFE and then I’ll read those two. 🙂
On another note: Did you know you can send me audio messages for my podcast via the message button on anchor.fm? That means you can also send me questions. Don’t hesitate. Or you can leave me a comment or send me an email (authorelodienowodazkij AT gmail.com).
Over the years, I’ve given quite a few interviews to bloggers, reviewers, even journalists (like the wonderful Brittany Britto when she worked for the Baltimore Sun). I still remember driving early Sunday morning to several gas stations to get copies. And yes, it hangs over the computer in our office.
I’ve also written quite a few blogposts so for a little flashback Friday, here are some of the questions I’ve received most often over the years.
What was the inspiration behind ONE TWO THREE?
If you do not know ONE TWO THREE was the first book I published. The tagline to that book is: When seventeen-year-old Natalya’s dreams of being a ballerina are killed in a car accident along with her father, she must choose: shut down—like her mother—or open up to love.
I used to love dancing ballet as a kid, and I won a writing contest to go see the Opera de Paris. We saw the dancers train, it was magical. Those moments stayed with me. Then, one day, I was talking about the movie Center Stage on Twitter and Natalya’s voice came into my head. At first, all I knew was that she was seventeen and an accident had killed her hope of becoming a professional ballerina…The accident turned into a car crash that also took her father’s life…
Her voice was full of longing and full of hope and I had to tell her story.
Tea or coffee?
I drink both. If I had to choose, probably coffee.
Dog or cat?
I will not choose.
Are your characters inspired by people in your life?
Ummm, yes and no. No and yes. Some things might be inspired by real life. The mom’s perfume in ONE TWO THREE is Chanel 5 which might be the perfume my dad has gifted my mom for many years. And the mom in ONE TWO THREE is named Natalya which is my mother-in-law’s name.
In FEAR ME, FEAR ME NOT the main character’s name is named Erin like one of my nieces and the book is dedicated to her. There may be a beagle mix in FMFMN. I have a beagle. In one novel, I think I named a dog Friday. And Friday was a wonderful lab. In A SUMMER LIKE NO OTHER, you meet Svetlana…which is my husband’s aunt’s name.
The siblings dynamics (the healthy ones), the ones I get complimented on a lot is inspired by both my sisters who I love very much and are amazing.
Oh and my husband will tell you he has inspired a lot of my characters.
And so much more. Really, I could share a lot more. So again it’s not really a moment, it may be a feeling or it may be something specific or an Easter egg.
In three words:what do you enjoy about self-publishing?
Flexibility, control and creativity.
When you think about writing, what three words come to mind?
When I think about writing, the three words that come to mind are: balance, patience and love.
And I am so so happy to let you know that in the coming Fridays, I will share interviews with wonderful writers at different stages in their careers. Some are traditionally published. Some are hybrid. Some are self-published. Some are not yet published…Some may not even think about getting published…
Next week, I will be chatting with the wonderful L. Penelope.
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(2) A newsletter for my readers: full of bonus scenes, updates on my books, shows I’m watching, books I’m reading, exclusive giveaways and more…
Click on this link and just add your email and you’ll receive access to a page full of exclusive content! Plus my emails include pictures of my cat and my dog…and they’re pretty adorable…:-)
First of all, thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who’s been reading these posts and listening to my podcast “A Self-Published Author’s Diary”. This blog post is also available as episode and you can listen and subscribe and review to “A Self-Published Author’s Diary” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and more…You can also become a monthly support of my podcast by clicking here.
And thank you to everyone who’s already added #THELEFTOVERBRIDE on Goodreads and those of you who already pre-ordered it! If you have already added it to Goodreads and or pre/ordered it (on Amazon, iTunes, Kobo). I’ve also been sharing little snippets with everyone who has left a comment on my Facebook Author Page and/or Facebook readers’ group. I will also do the same with my readers’ mailing list and Instagram.
On Friday, I talked about The Ulman Foundation and how much their work has meant for me, they have a wishlist if you’d like to donate items for the Ulman House in Baltimore. At Ulman House they provide free housing for young adult cancer patients, and their caregivers.
A couple of months ago, I shared the fact that A SUMMER LIKE NO OTHER had 115 reviews on Amazon.com…and guess how many reviews it has now? It now has 155 reviews!
The quick hook for A SUMMER LIKE NO OTHER is:
She’s his best friend’s little sister. He’s the biggest player of them all. They shouldn’t be together. But this summer’s just too tempting. It’s going to be A SUMMER LIKE NO OTHER.
Did you know I wasn’t planning on writing A SUMMER LIKE NO OTHER? Did you know that this is the book that got the attention of a French publisher, got picked up by said-publisher and enabled me to be in French bookstores? Did you know this book now has 155 reviews on Amazon?
I published A SUMMER LIKE NO OTHER in July 2015. Almost six years ago.
Actually, the French translation of A SUMMER LIKE NO OTHER (which is called UN ÉTÉ PAS COMME LES AUTRES) is my most sold book…
I sold more more than 1300 paperback copies of the English edition of A SUMMER LIKE NO OTHER since 2015. And it has been downloaded for free more than 17000 times. I haven’t advertised this book in English for years and just last July, 400 people downloaded it and I sold 56 paperback copies.
The French version has even much better numbers: both for the paid e-book and for the paperback version. Especially since the French paperback version was picked up by a French publisher and was also sold in bookstores and supermarkets and Cultura and la Fnac and in libraries…:-)
I have sold more than 4000 copies of UN ÉTÉ PAS COMME LES AUTRES . I have sold 2992 copies (ebooks + paperback) through my different publishing platforms as well as 1011 paperback copies through my French published (those numbers are from 2019 – I haven’t gotten my 2020 sales numbers from them yet). And this doesn’t count the pages read when UN ÉTÉ PAS COMME LES AUTRES was in Kindle Unlimited.
It is truly the little book that could. 🙂
How do I track my sales…
I track my sales mainly using TrackerBox and BookReport and my wonderful husband, The Chemical Engineer, has also started helping me analyzing some of the data. He’s very very very busy so I do appreciate whenever he takes the time to help me out with some of the business side of things. I mean, yes, he also does inspire some of my characters (as he will tell you) and does listen when I’m talking about plotting my novel…
In TrackerBox I can add all the sales report from all different platforms and I can see all historical data, revenue data, unit data and everything. In BookReport which is a browser extension, I can see my Kindle Direct Publishing Data.
The problem with TrackerBox is that again it uses the monthly report data and some of them (like KDP) do not report that data by day. You can access the historic data by day on BookReport for Kindle Direct Publishing but I’d really like to have the data by day for all e-retailers.
Why? Because as I’m starting again to lean into doing advertisements for several of my books, I need to know what my Return On Investment Is.
In the Ads for Authors class I’m currently taking by Mark Dawson, he provides students with an excel list on how to keep track of Facebook Ads and sales. Buuuuuut, in one of the groups I’m in for the 5 Days Amazon Ads challenge (that is a free class), someone has shared a screenshot of their excel list and it looked great to keep track of all ads and sales and ROI. I’ve tried throughout the years to come up with different tables and such but nothing that really worked for.
I checked on Etsy to see if anyone had made such an excel table available but I still need to dig in other places to see if I can find the excel worksheet that will enable me to be even more strategic and more aware of what works and what doesn’t when it comes to advertising.
155 reviews on Amazon.com and counting…
I mean, granted, not all reviews are raving…the one on top of the Amazon page is a one-star review, telling readers not to read A SUMMER LIKE NO OTHER because it will make you angry. And another one on the German Amazon site talks about the fact that this book isn’t Oscar Wild-esque and lacks moral…
I wanted to share those full reviews, but apparently, Amazon reviews belong to Amazon due to copyright? Something else to check out in more details later.
Why am I sharing that this book has some negative reviews? To show you that all books get negative reviews. And that’s perfectly fine. Not everyone will like what you’re writing. Not everyone likes what I’m writing.
And some of those negative reviews might actually help your sales, believe or not. The sales of A SUMMER LIKE NO OTHER didn’t dwindle since that 1-star review took center stage on the product page.
And while, I still get these little moments where my stomach clenches as I release a new book…wondering about those first reviews trickling in, checking my book page to see if anyone reviewed it or what readers thought about the story I spent months on…I don’t dwell on them as much. Right now for #TheLeftoverBride I am at the very excited stage because I believe in that story, in my writing and this upcoming book has been with me for the past year and a half…
And fine it’s also true and easier not to dwell on them when most reviews are four and higher, and some readers call A SUMMER LIKE NO OTHER the greatest book they’ve read or that they fell in love with the characters.
And did you know A SUMMER LIKE NO OTHER got reviewed in The Guardian? I mean that’s pretty cool.
The story behind A SUMMER LIKE NO OTHER…
I wasn’t planning on writing A SUMMER LIKE NO OTHER.
My goal was to write ALWAYS SECOND BEST as a standalone companion novel to ONE, TWO, THREE. But as I drafted ALWAYS SECOND BEST, I kept on thinking about that summer between Nick & Em. I kept on thinking I needed to really get to know them better. I kept on thinking maybe I should write it out.
So, I did. I did it as a way to really get to know Nick & Em and to make ALWAYS SECOND BEST stronger.
It was only supposed to help me understand the characters better, but I fell in love with that summer story.
And I drafted it very very quickly. It took me a few months only between the moment I started drafting it and the moment I sent it to my copy editor.
My critique partners loved the story and this was one I didn’t need to revise a lot. I had been thinking about it so much while I had started drafting ALWAYS SECOND BEST that I couldn’t wait to dig deeper into their summer.
And it ended up being A SUMMER LIKE NO OTHER (Nick & Em #1). And the rest is history…
Languages and more languages…
A SUMMER LIKE NO OTHER is available in French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Chinese.
I even signed with a French publisher!
Throwback to December 2016: Signing the contract with my French publisher for the French versions of ASLNO & ASB.
The French version of A SUMMER LIKE NO OTHER was translated by Edith Girval. No, I do not translate my own books in French, but I can re-read them and talk to my translators through the process. Me translating my own books in French would take me forever and would require a lot and I mean a lot of editing after. Not because I don’t speak or write French but because I’ve been living outside of France for more than half my life. I’ll discuss this in more detail later. I think it can be an entire blog post or podcast episode.
The reason why UN ÉTÉ PAS COMME LES AUTRES did so well in French is that I think I got into the French-speaking Facebook Ads when there weren’t yet a lot of authors who were advertising on Facebook in France. My cost-per-click was very low (less than ten cents and is still to this day about 17 cents) and converted very well into sales.
I mean look at this…And the ad got so much traction at the time, even though it has text on it which is usually said to not be great for conversion…I replied to all comments and answered questions readers had about the book, about follow-up books and so on…
I released ALWAYS SECOND BEST in French not long after and it also did very very well…and that’s how A SUMMER LIKE NO OTHER caught the attention of a French publisher. And made me a so-called hybrid author (self-published and traditionally published).
On November 21st, 2016 I received an email from a French publisher, who contacted meto see if I would be interested in signing with them for the French versions of A SUMMER LIKE NO OTHER & ALWAYS SECOND BEST. Plus a possible option book.
At first, I thought it was a scam.
Really.
I don’t have an agent and I wasn’t sure how to go about it. I don’t recommend selling your foreign rights without an agent. An agent may have been able to negotiate different aspects of the contract for me. I got lucky, I think. One, because I speak French 😉 and thus, I was able to do my research, see the story of their imprint, look at the other authors they had signed with, and negotiate with them directly. I only sold the rights to the paperback version and not other format or languages. Two, they have been very good with all follow-ups. They, unfortunately, no longer carry the YA line but they were part of a bigger imprint and thus, I still am receiving royalty information and everything.
They also ended up buying the option book! And they acquired the French version of ONE, TWO, THREE as well.
September 2018 – Signing my contract for the option book: The French version of ONE, TWO, THREE…
I got an advance. I got author copies. I got promotion. I even saw my books in French bookstores and grocery stores! Kind of like one of my books making it into Target-level of excitement!
Writing this still feels surreal, even though I signed the first contract for UN ÉTÉ PAS COMME LES AUTRES and UNE SECONDE CHANCE more than 4 years ago.
Bilingual copies…
A SUMMER LIKE NO OTHER is available in several bilingual editions (I really need to add a tab on my blog for those 🙂 – coming soon!):
Thank you to everyone who has given this little book of mine a chance, from my critique partners to my French publisher to all the people who have read it in whatever language and format. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to review it. Thank you to all the readers who have sent me an email to let me know how much they loved this book…
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Ideally, I would have posted this blog article on Friday morning. My goal is to post my self-published Author’s Diary posts on Friday mornings. By mornings I mean by 9 am my time. And my time I mean in Maryland, where we’re waiting for the cicadas.
You know those millions of cicadas that are expected to rise from the ground mid to late May…where they’ll breed the next generation which will come to the surface en masse in 2038. Every 17 years. I wonder: has anyone read a story where this brood of cicadas comes out of the ground?
Talking about books. I just finished reading Wilde Child by Eloisa James…which I loved. If you enjoyed Bridgerton (the Netflix series or the books by Julia Quinn the series was based on): do read Eloisa James and Vanessa Riley and Tessa Dare and Sarah McLean and Courtney Milan and so many more. I’m currently reading CINDERELLA IS DEAD by Kaylynn Bayron . I’m only at the beginning but the first few pages are so so good. The first line? “Cinderella has been dead for 200 years.”
And here I don’t have a great transition to the next topic but…here we go.
So you’ve decided to self-publish for x or y reason. Maybe you’ve always been intrigued by the idea…or perhaps you have a publisher but would like to branch out or you just want to give it a go. Or you’ve been wondering what the heck I’ve been doing the past seven years. Or you started reading my self-published author’s diary posts, and you’re asking yourself: What on Earth is Draft2Digital? Or KDP? What is she talking about?
This post is a glimpse into the different self-publishing platforms (at least the ones I use) and what using those platforms means for royalties. Keep in mind that those are the self-publishing platforms I use. There are many, many more out there. And thanks to my friend Tonya for letting me she’d really like to know more about what I mean when I refer to “publishing on Draft2Digital”.
Yes, self-publishing is technically easy. You could just go on Kindle Direct Publishing, register for an account, fill out the details of the book you want to publish and then upload a word document and use their “cover design” tool and off you go. It’s published. It’s out there in the world.
And who knows? You might hit the lottery (the odds are not in your favor). Or if your purpose is to have a book available for sale and that’s your one goal and one goal only, then you may not need to go through all the different options and spend hours, weeks, months trying different strategies and readjusting your goals. This is why it’s essential to know ahead of time what your goal is with self-publishing.
Self-publishing platforms: which ones do I use for my ebooks?
When it comes to publishing platforms, some focus on publishing ebooks. Others on publishing paperback/hardback. Some are aggregators (meaning they distribute your book for you to e-retailers). Some distribute solely to the platform they’re linked with. For example, if you upload your ebook on Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (their self-publishing platform), it will only be available on Amazon. I’m linking to a Q&A with Draft2Digital on aggregators (keep in mind the source for that one. Of course, they list the positive parts of using an aggregator such as themselves). There are platforms for audiobooks (again, either as an aggregator or linked to the e-retailer). And then there are the ones that do a mix of everything. Some platforms have fees that you do need to pay up-front (like IngramSpark), but there are usually coupons.
I use the following platforms for my ebooks:
Draft2Digital, which, as mentioned, is an aggregator for ebooks distribution to Apple, Kobo, libraries, Tolino and more.
On Kindle Direct Publishing, if you price your book above 2.99, you receive 70% of the price minus the delivery fee. The delivery for example for my 295 pages book is about $0.08. However, on KDP, you will only receive 35% of the ebook’s set price in certain countries (such as Brazil or Mexico)—unless you enroll your book in KDP Select which makes your book available in Kindle Unlimited.
The royalties format in Kindle Unlimited is different as you can make money in 3 different ways. In a nutshell:
somebody buys your book
somebody is a KU member and they read your book (then you get paid per page read)
In the past, there has been a lot of talk about scams on Kindle Unlimited. For example: authors stuffing their books, people being hired to “read” or rather click through the book’s pages, people using pen names and publishing plagiarized content to publish, and publish, and publish more. Here I am linking a The Guardian article entitled: “Plagiarism, book-stuffing, clickfarms…the rotten farm of self-publishing”. This article dates from 2019 and I don’t recall my books in the recent past being automatically in KU so that has changed since.
But some authors (who definitely are not scammers and do not plagiarize) do make quite a bit of money by enrolling their books into KU, even if it’s just for one 90 days.
By enrolling your book in Kindle Unlimited, that ebook should be exclusive to Amazon. One KU period is 90 days. And yes, Amazon does check. I have received emails about this in the past when one of my books was still available at the French retailer Fnac even though I had take it down from D2D. That process is smoother now in my experience. Kindle Unlimited is a bit like the Netflix of books for readers. Readers pay a monthly price and they can borrow up to 10 books at once.
So, how much money would you get for a $2.99 book?
Let’s take my Gavert City series.
Book 1: Fear Me, Fear Me Not (Dimitri and Erin’s story. Think the movie Scream meets Friday Night Lights mixed with Criminal Minds) I am selling this book right now for $2.99
If you’re buying a copy of FEAR ME, FEAR ME NOT on Apple or Kobo for example: my projected royalties through Draft2Digital are: $1.78
If you’re buying a copy of FEAR ME, FEAR ME NOT on Amazon.com, my projected royalties through KDP are: $2.04
But let’s say you’re buying it on Amazon.com.br because you’re in Brazil, then my projected royalties at the time of this post with the current exchange rate are: $1.05
But if had it in Kindle Unlimited, then my projected royalties in all countries would be about $2.04 for each sale and if a KU member borrowed my book and read the entire book, I would get paid per page, I would earn $2.14. Here’s a link to a calculator to know how much your book or any book would earn based on their pages (KU calculates the pages slightly differently I think).
If you’re buying a copy of FEAR ME, FEAR ME NOT on Google Play, my projected royalties are: $2.09
How much money would I get if I sold one copy of a $0.99 book?
Book 2: SEE ME, SEE ME NOT (Tessa & Luke’s story. Her sister was kidnapped years ago. He just escaped a doomsday cult. Their terrifying pasts won’t let them go. Will they be able to save the people they love before it’s too late?) is currently available for only $0.99.
If you’re buying a copy on Apple, my projected royalties through Draft2Digital are: $0.59
If you’re buying a copy on Amazon.com, my projected royalties through KDP are: $0.35
If you’re buying a copy on Google Play, my projected royalties are: $0.69
There are of course many other platforms you could use for your e-book (Smashwords, Lulu come to mind but there are more, again check that Redsy article I had linked up). And you can also decide to sell your ebooks directly on your website or using BookFunnel for example. Those set-ups would require a fee (either a one-time fee or a monthly fee).
Circling back to the beginning, choosing a platform really depends on your goals and strategies.
Several websites look into the ebooks market…which platform sells the most ebooks? Trying to find the actual market share of Amazon’s ebooks sale in the overall ebooks market is pretty difficult. The numbers I found ranged from 67% to 83% – and it wasn’t evident: how does KU factor in those numbers?
I’ll discuss the different strategies and my own experience with those at some point soon. Because both have pros and cons. Having your books enrolled in KU does offer you promotional tools but so does having your book selected for promos on other e-retailers. KU does let you discount your book for limited periods of times…Did I mention I will talk about this in more detail soon?
Quick reminder: if you want to support me, my career and these weekly posts, the best way to do so is to either (1) purchase one of my books and/or audiobooks or recommend them on Overdrive to your library, (2) Subscribe and rate my podcast, (3) sign up for the monthly support on my podcast, (4) forward the post to a friend, (5) talk about my books to your friends/family….
If you have any questions about my adventures in self-publishing or anything I shared with you today, don’t hesitate to reach out and leave a comment and I’ll make sure to reply in my email next week.
Today is all about keeping track. Sometimes, I get so deep into all the tasks involved with each project that it can get difficult to remember all those projects that I did bring to fruition within a month, especially since I’m trying to be more strategic…
Talking about business, if you want to support me, my career and these weekly posts, the best way to do so is to either (1) purchase one of my books or audiobooks or recommend them on Overdrive to your library, (2) forward the post to a friend, (3) sign up to my readers’ newsletter if you’re interested about my books and my writing, (3) subscribe to my weekly emails about self-publishing, (4) talk about my books to your friends/family.
What books and audiobooks did I publish?
Published the A SUMMER LIKE NO OTHER audiobook narrated by the wonderful Megan Carter. In terms of marketing, I’m trying a Buy One, Get One Free promo. Will keep you updated. I still need to announce it to my newsletter. But I did announce it on my blog and on Goodreads and I took advantage of a very good wordpress deal to make this website.
Published a new German/English bilingual book: announced it to the German subscribers of my newsletter, announced it to my blog, and am currently boosting one of my Facebook posts to an audience of English-learning and English instructors in Germany also interested in reading and romance novels on Facebook.
Published another new bilingual book (French/Italian). I still need to announce it on my French website.
Marketing-related: I’m still listening to Mark Dawson’s Ads for Authors course.
Marketing-related: Took a FREE Goodreads online webinar by Alessandra Torre. I am sharing a link in my email. Will be sharing more about that course soon and some strategies that I am trying. I know. Goodreads. But trying a different approach.
Writing-related: Started reading through the Margie Lawson course packet about visceral rules (beyond hammering hearts).
What movie/post/documentary about writing did I watch/read?
One of my very good friends who also happen to be a writer friend recommended the Naughty Books documentary on Hulu. It was very interesting! Lots of thoughts.
And then I wrote. Maybe I didn’t write as much as I wanted to, but I did write. And I think I wrote one of my favorite sentences…I think I am going to be sharing that sentence very soon. But trying to be more strategic about it. (Ha, full circle with the first paragraph). 🙂
Quick reminder: if you want to support me, my career and this weekly posts, the best way to do so is to either (1) purchase one of my books or audiobooks or recommend them on Overdrive to your library, (2) forward the post to a friend, (3) talk about my books to your friends/family.
Did you enjoy this post? Do you want to help support me and my writing? You can forward this blog post to someone who might be interested, buy my books and/or audiobooks and as always, don’t hesitate to leave me a comment.
If you have any questions about my adventures in self-publishing or anything I shared with you today, don’t hesitate to reach out and I’ll make sure to reply in my email next week.
Sometimes, formatting bilingual books feels like a Groundhog day. It starts over and over again and even if I feel like I have perfected the process, there are still issues. I have files that are called UPDATE 1, UPDATE 2, UPDATE 3….and so on and so on. Formatting bilingual books is slightly more complicated, in my view, than formatting my regular manuscripts, just because I have to ensure those pesky page breaks actually happen when they’re supposed to.
And some of you might ask, “But Elodie, why don’t you use all of this time to write and publish original content?” And this is a great question. Because I have plenty of ideas. I have ideas about a series, I’m finishing writing my first rom-com and I’m planning this as a series of standalone novels. So, I have ideas. And I am writing, albeit maybe not as much as I’d like to.
But I know that my bilingual books generate income.
And while I am developing a strategy (which I will share with you on this blog and more in detail in my weekly email) for my upcoming novels and series, I know that working on those bilingual manuscripts is helpful to my business. And as a language learner (currently learning Russian on Duolingo for 250 days straight :-)) and former language teacher, I love that those bilingual books might help people who are learning a language.
Talking about languages, I saw this post on Instagram the other day that really resonated and thought I’d share it with you all. It says, “If someone is speaking to you in a foreign accent, they are smart enough to know two languages and brave enough to do their job in their second.”
Anyways…I spent a lot of hours this week finalizing another English/German book and this was only a tiny portion of the work that I needed to do for this particular book. And I’m happy to report that I did manage to publish EINE ZWEITE CHANCE (TEIL 1) / A SECOND CHANCE (PART 1) – Zweisprachiges Buch Deutsch / Englisch – Bilingual book: German / Englisch. (Amazon.de, Amazon.com, Google Play, iTunes, Kobo…)
To publish this book, I needed to:
(1) Using the manuscript in English and the manuscript in German, format the bilingual edition (manually) with one page in German and the corresponding text in English on the other side.
(2) Have a freelancer language specialist proofread the German translation one more time.
(3) Go through all the changes, review and implement the chances in the translation.
(4) Ensure that the pdf interior has the correct formatting. (that took FOREVER as every single time I would upload the word document, there was something wrong with it…one tab too many and that can really mess with the formatting. I use Draft2Digital to make the interior of the book.
(4) Design the cover.
(5) Add a series page on Kindle Direct Publishing, Draft2Digital and Google Play for “Zweisprachiges Buch Englisch Deutsch Nick & Em”.
(6) Add all the metadata on all platforms (summary, keywords, categories and so on…)
(7) Upload the files for the ebooks.
(8) Create the paperback in Kindle Direct Publishing…
As mentioned…the formatting can be slightly frustrating at times. If my husband would read this, he would chuckle at the “slightly”. 🙂
But the process can also be fun. 🙂 While I cannot listen to music when I am actually in the process of copying and pasting the German text to fit the English text and vice versa, I do sing very badly or lip synch in this case, when I’m making sure the format is correct (headings where there’s supposed to be headings, page break at the right spot, no extra paragraph…).
Did you enjoy this post? Do you want to help support me and my writing? You can forward this blog post to someone who might be interested, buy my books and/or audiobooks and as always, don’t hesitate to leave me a comment.
If you have any questions about my adventures in self-publishing or anything I shared with you today, don’t hesitate to reach out and I’ll make sure to reply in my email next week.
Elodie Nowodazkij 