Tag: writer

marketing, newsletter

The one where I share what I learned about tags and journeys for newsletter subscribers on Mailchimp…

Elodie

…Yes, I know it’s a long title. 🙂

Long story short…

This is what I learned:

  • In Mailchimp, you can assign tags to new subscribers who subscribe from a landing page. The advantage? You know exactly where subscribers signed up from and you can tailor some of the emails based on that tag. In addition, you can then keep only one list with different automations.
  • You can then create a “journey” for them based on that tag.
  • At the end of the journey (since I have an essentials plan and not a standard plan), I add an additional tag to those subscribers.
  • They then start on the “regular” journey I have created for people who sign up through my website.
  • Let’s say, reader A finished reading FEAR ME, FEAR ME NOT and would like to read a bonus scene, he/she/they click on the link at the end of the ebook, subscribe(s) through the landing page (example here of said landing page) and then get(s) assigned the tag “FMFMN Bonus scene”.
  • Reader A then receives:
  1. The exclusive bonus epilogue.
  2. Then, an hour later, an other tag is added to Reader A through the “journey” called “Welcome emails”. Reader A then starts the “Welcome Emails” journey.
  3. Reader A receives about one to two hours later a Welcome Email with a password to access more bonus content.
  4. A week later, reader A receives another email with more info on the newsletter, info about free books, audiobook promo codes and pictures of Plato The Dog and Bobbie Voltaire The Cat.
  5. So reader A receives a total of 3 emails within a week.

Here you can read much more about tags, journey, landing pages:

Long story long:

Authors are usually told that newsletters are very important because, unlike social media, one keeps the contact info of people who subscribe and is not subjected to the whim of the ever-changing algorithm of social media.

What does this mean? It means that you can reach people without relying on them using social media. You also can reach people without boosting your posts, because you land directly in their mailbox. When algorithms change on Facebook or Instagram, it can affect how often your audience sees your posts…and then your audience may leave social media, but might keep their email address.

It doesn’t mean that it’s free. Hosting a newsletter can get costly, depending on which provider you decide to use.

The ones I hear most about are Mailerlite and Mailchimp. I personally still use Mailchimp. But it’s mainly for convenience, and I still have a plan from years ago with them, and I haven’t reached the number of subscribers that would make Mailchimp very expensive.

Because it can get expensive. Did I mention that?

If you’re interested in the different platform and their pros/cons, here are a few articles.

I used to have different mailing lists, depending on where I was getting my susbcribers. This made sending newsletters a bit cumbersome, and then I had some duplicate subscribers. So, I’ve been consolidating my newsletters into one. And that’s when I started looking more closely at tags, and journey, and automation, and …. and …. and…

I chatted with Mailchimp employees several times to understand fully what the best solution for my needs was and decided on creating different landing pages, depending on where subscribers signed up. That way, I can attach a tag to said subscribers and they can have personalized “welcome” emails.

I’m still working on some landing pages but here are two of them if you’re interested in taking a look:

FEAR ME, FEAR ME NOT exclusive epilogue (link is at the end of FEAR ME, FEAR ME NOT encouraging readers to leave a review, but they don’t have to leave a review to receive the epilogue…): https://mailchi.mp/elodienowodazkij/fearmefearmenot

Website subscribers landing page: https://mailchi.mp/elodienowodazkij/website

  1. Website subscribers receive a password to a bonus content page which has all the bonus content as their first welcome email.
  2. FEAR ME, FEAR ME NOT subscribers first receive the exclusive FMFMN epilogue and then another tag is added to their profile and they go on the same “journey” as website subscribers. Their second email is the password to the bonus content page.
  3. The last email both sets of subscribers receive as part of their “welcome journey” is more info about the newsletter, as well as pictures of Plato The Dog and Bobbie Voltaire The Cat, and info about free books and audiobook promo codes.
  4. FEAR ME, FEAR ME NOT subscribers receive three emails within a week. Website subscribers receive two emails within a week.

And this is it, today, for “The one where I share what I learned about tags and journeys for newsletter subscribers on Mailchimp…”

Don’t forget that if you’d like to receive my blog posts directly into your mailbox, you can sign up here (I blog more often than I send newsletters).

revising, writing

One word at a time…

Elodie

I posted this on Instagram this morning. A little Motivation Wednesday if you will. And it’s stayed with me all day. I am looking forward to adding words to my manuscript. I am gathering them in my mind right now.

I am writing this post from our desktop under the sleeping eye of Bobbie Voltaire The Cat. My laptop’s keyboard is still writing its own story and I can’t really write on it. I did order a new one and it should arrive tomorrow, after some delay. I managed to download Scrivener to the desktop despite the wireless card being a bit problematic so I am gearing up to write. And I am very much looking forward to writing the chapters I’ve unlocked in my last writing session.

Today, I also wrote other words…not manuscript words, but newsletter words. As you probably know I have a newsletter and Mailchimp gives me data on the percentage of people opening said-newsletters. Sometimes newsletters end in spam or maybe my subject lines are not appealing enough or maybe people get busy. And it is important to make sure subscribers are still interested in the news I send. From a business perspective, deleting subscribers who are no longer interested mean I may pay less monthly for Mailchimp 🙂 and from a personal perspective, it’s nice to see higher open-rated on my newsletters….

I’m also working on the back-end of previously published books to keep them updated.

And I just wrote those words.

One word a time.

What are you currently writing or thinking about writing?

writing

My writing process…

Elodie

Today’s prompt for #ASummerInWriting is Plotter or Pantser.

A plotter is someone who plans their story before writing it. They outline. They usually know what happens in each chapter.  I wish I could underline “usually” because they are many varying degrees and ways of being a plotter or pantser.

When you’re a pantser, the idea is you sit at your computer and write without a detailed outline or a roadmap. A pantser is someone who “flies by the seat of their pants.”

There are a lot of articles detailing both processes as well as the way some authors can be pantsing scenes while plotting chapters or vice-versa 🙂 Jami Gold has a comprehensive article entitled “Pantser vs. Plotter vs. Something In Between” if you’re interested in learning more.

I am a little bit of both. 

I don’t have a very detailed outline. I do have a bit of a roadmap. I usually know how the story ends. I mean it’s a romance so there’s a happy ending, but I usually have the epilogue scene playing in my mind like a movie. I know some of the plot points. Buuuuut…I learn about the story and more about my characters as I start typing. Which means that things change. A lot.

Since I started using Scrivener, I write scenes out of order.

I revise them and re-write them as needed and so when I type “The End” on my first draft, it’s in a much different place than for my first novels.

Because I learned that if I just go to the end without going through that process, if I just push through and continue writing the story without going back to change some things, to polish other scenes, to get more into the head of my characters, I end up needing way more time to re-work said first draft. I’ve been known to completely re-write books because that first draft wasn’t working. And I found that it’s more motivating to me and less time-consuming if I write the scenes out of order, re-write them or delete them if they don’t work and if they do work, make them shine as much as I can before typing “The End.

That first draft is not my final manuscript. Far from it. Revisions still happen of course. But once I type “The End” on my first draft, it’s much much closer to being ready to be sent to my critique partners.

So now, my first drafts may take me a bit longer (depending on the novel but I should do another post on that :-)), but they require less work after typing “The End.

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FEAR ME, FEAR ME NOT has a cover and a giveaway :)

Elodie

Facebook Cover

My new book, a YA romantic suspense novel FEAR ME, FEAR ME NOT has been in the making for several years. I could say I wrote it in 3 months, but it’s actually taken me 3 years to get the story where I wanted it to be. It will be published on September 27th, 2016 and you can already pre-order it here. 

While browsing the pre-made covers of Najla Qambers , I came across one I fell in love with for a book about another character. The photographer was Lindee Robinson, so I reached out to her to see if I could see more pictures of different couples and I found Erin and Dimitri 🙂

Thank you so much Najla and Lindee!

Fear Me, Fear Me Not Cover

SCREAM meets FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS in this new young adult romantic suspense novel by Elodie Nowodazkij.

Fear is power. They fear me. They don’t fear me enough. Every year a girl disappears in Gavert County, Texas. Their bodies are found days, sometimes months, later with an angel wing carved on their face. They call me “the Angel Killer” and I’m on the hunt again. But this time, it’s personal.

Seventeen-year-old cheerleader Erin Hortz has been warned about the Angel Killer all her life. She never walks alone in the dark. She doesn’t talk to strangers. She doesn’t accept drinks at parties. All she wants is to finish her senior year with a win at the Miss Junior Queen of Hearts pageant, capture the perfect light over the lake with her new camera, and finally catch the attention of her best friend Nadia’s brother—former football star Dimitri Kuklev. Since his injury, they’ve been spending a lot of time together. And getting to know the real Dimitri—not the one she put on a pedestal in her diary is better than she could ever have imagined. And she’s falling hard.

Nineteen-year-old Dimitri’s injury brought him from football superstar with universities from all around the country knocking at his door to not knowing what he wants to do with his life. Taking classes at the local community college is supposed to get him back on track, but all he wants is to be on the field again. The only person who seems to understand him is the one he swore to keep in the friend zone: Erin. His sister Nadia’s best friend and the reason why he can’t keep a girlfriend. Between their early morning jogs, their time spent at the lake laughing, and their late night conversations, he’s having a hard time remembering why it’s such a bad idea.
But when Nadia doesn’t come home after a party, Dimitri and Erin know they must find her before it’s too late—even if that means risking their own lives and everything Erin’s ever known.

Because the main suspect is Erin’s father.

Amazon preorder

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Annnnnd you could win a $50 Amazon Gift Card by participating in The Cover Reveal Giveaway…

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THANK YOU 🙂

Currently

Currently…

Elodie

In an effort to blog a bit more regularly, I’ve decided to  Katy Upperman‘s “Currently” posts 🙂 Don’t hesitate to join us. (Find the origins of the idea HERE.)

Loving

Planning again!

Reading

I am finishing up HATE LIST by Jennifer Brown and man this book is breaking my heart.

Watching

The hubby and I started watching 30 Rock…Otherwise, I may or may not have Gilmore Girls (again) in the background when doing housework.

Listening To

My very eclectic playlist on my iPod while jogging and writing. I wrote at B&N yesterday after working and having my music on helps me to blur out everything that’s not my main characters.

Thinking About

Ways to make my characters even more real.

Anticipating

Family visit! At the end of April, the hubby’s mom and aunt are arriving and then my parents are joining the fun beginning of May.

Wishing

Hmmm 🙂 You know if you’re on Goodreads, you can add FEAR ME, FEAR ME NOT to your TBR 🙂

Fear Me, Fear Me Not

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annnnd if you’ve read any of my books, don’t hesitate to leave a review on the e-retailer of you choice 🙂 (Amazon, B&N, iTunes, Kobo)

Making Me Happy

Walking the dog with the hubby almost every night and definitely every weekend. Quality time in the midst of our busy schedule is definitely making me happy.

What’s currently making YOU happy?

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News about my next book!

Elodie

I am so so excited to announce that my next book, FEAR ME FEAR ME NOT, will be out in the world this summer. It’s a YA romantic suspense novel. I’ve been working on it for several years. And I may be scaring myself revising it. You can add it to Goodreads now 🙂

Fear Me, Fear Me NotEvery year a girl disappears in Gavert County, Texas. Their bodies are found days, sometimes months, later with an angel wing carved on each girl’s face. And the Angel Killer is on the hunt again, looking for his next victim.

Seventeen-year-old cheerleader Erin Hortz has been warned about the Angel Killer all her life. She never walks alone in the dark. She doesn’t talk to strangers. She doesn’t accept drinks at parties. All she wants is to finish her senior year with a win at the Miss Junior Queen of Hearts pageant, capture the perfect light over the lake with her new camera, and finally catch the attention of her best friend Nadia’s brother—former football star Dimitri Kuklev. Since his injury, they’ve been spending a lot of time together. And getting to know the real Dimitri—not the one she put on a pedestal in her diary is better than she could ever have imagined. And she’s falling hard.

Nineteen-year-old Dimitri’s injury brought him from football superstar with universities from all around the country knocking at his door to not knowing what he wants to do with his life. Taking classes at the local community college is supposed to get him back on track, but all he wants is to be on the field again. The only person who seems to understand him is the one he swore to keep in the friend zone: Erin. His sister Nadia’s best friend and the reason why he can’t keep a girlfriend. Between their early morning jogs, their time spent at the lake laughing, and their late night conversations, he’s having a hard time remembering why it’s such a bad idea.

But when Nadia doesn’t come home after a party, Dimitri and Erin know they must find her before it’s too late—even if that means risking their own lives and everything Erin’s ever known.

Because the main suspect is Erin’s father.

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On Wednesdays we talk about writing…

Elodie

On Wednesdays we talk about how writing and today it’s all about how amazing it can be.

So, if you’re a writer, you know being a writer isn’t as easy as it sometimes seems. And it’s sometimes not as poetic or romantic as what seems. Dirty laundry piling up, those petrifying moments when you think you suck, the sentence that doesn’t want to cooperate…you know the drill.

If you’re not a writer, you may wonder what the heck I just talked about 🙂

But no matter what: being a writer can be pretty awesome. And here’s one reason:

Reading manuscripts early on. Before anyone else.

Being a critique partner, a beta reader isn’t only awesome to gain skills as a writer, it also means you get to read manuscripts early on. And some of the manuscripts I’ve read are getting published later this year and next year.

And I’m so excited for those authors 🙂

28239308KISSING MAX HOLDEN by Katy Upperman (expected publication: 2017)

When Max Holden’s father suffers a life-altering stroke, seventeen-year-old aspiring pastry chef Jillian Eldridge has no idea how to help her longtime friend. Max, once bright and bold as lemon meringue pie, is sinking into a spiral of self-destruction. Then he knocks on Jill’s window late one night, and she can’t turn him away. Her dad catches them in the midst of a sizzling kiss and gives her a choice: Stay away from Max or fund culinary school on her own.

Still, Jill is drawn to Max like sugar to butter. When her parents’ fights escalate after the birth of her sister, Jill sneaks to Max’s for escape. Then she discovers that her dad’s keeping a secret of his own, one that could shatter their fragile family. Only Max—who’s more involved in the Eldridges’ drama than he realizes—might be able to help Jill put the pieces back together.

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Wanderlost.jpgWANDERLOST by Jen Malone (publication date: May 31st)

Not all those who wander are lost, but Aubree Sadler most definitely is on this novel’s whirlwind trip through Europe.

Aubree can’t think of a better place to be than in perfectly boring Ohio, and she’s ready for a relaxing summer. But when her older sister, Elizabeth, gets into real trouble, Aubree is talked into taking over Elizabeth’s summer job, leading a group of senior citizens on a bus tour through Europe.

Aubree doesn’t even make it to the first stop in Amsterdam before their perfect plan begins unraveling, leaving her with no phone, no carefully prepared binder full of helpful facts, and an unexpected guest: the tour company owner’s son, Sam. Considering she’s pretending to be Elizabeth, she absolutely shouldn’t fall for him, but she can’t help it, especially with the most romantic European cities as the backdrop for their love story.

But her relationship with Sam is threatening to ruin her relationship with her sister, and she feels like she’s letting both of them down. Aubree knows this trip may show her who she really is—she just hopes she likes where she ends up.

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Amazon preorder

 

TheLastThingYouSaidTHE LAST THING YOU SAID by Sara Biren (expected publication: 2017)

Everything changed for Ben Porter and Lucy Meadows after Ben’s sister – Lucy’s best friend – died. Now, as summer returns and the first anniversary of Trixie’s death approaches, Ben and Lucy can no longer avoid their grief or their feelings for each other.

Publication is planned for 2017.

 

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If you’re a writer, what book have you read recently that is/got published recently? 

If you’re a reader, what book are you looking forward to read? 

 

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#TeaserTuesday – Love In B Minor…

Elodie

TeaserTuesday

You know what’s pretty amazing? Having friends texting you while they read your book is pretty amazing 🙂 Riley Edgewood mentioned those lines would make a great teaser…so here we are.

Have you already grabbed your copy of Love In B Minor?

AmazoniTunes2d318fcc27640279a7e91b35dc9feab8download (1) download (3)

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My writing routine…And some random thoughts.

Elodie

I remember reading On Writing by Stephen King a few years back and highlighting the heck out of that book. So many quotes resonated with me.

Like this one:

“Sometimes you have to go on when you don’t feel like it, and sometimes you’re doing good work when it feels like all you’re managing is to shovel shit from a sitting position.”
― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

Or this one:

“Optimism is a perfectly legitimate response to failure.”
― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

 

And so many more…

I used to work more than 50 hours a week. It used to take me more than a hour to get to work so I would be out of the house  before 7 a.m. and would not usually be back well after 7 p.m.

During that time, I wrote super duper early in the morning, in the train, on the weekends. I trained myself to write in sprints. And I wrote an entire novel in-between work and business trips and trying to stay on top of things, One, Two, Three which came out on June 26th, 2014.

But now? Now, I work part-time as an adjunct faculty. I’m home a lot more. I have a different schedule, and I am way more productive writing-wise but sometimes it feels like my writing sometimes becomes invisible.

Like it’s in a way more challenging to explain the time it takes to write. Before, I was so busy working, travelling for work, on my blackberry every few seconds, answering phone calls, organizing conferences and bigger events that people didn’t understand when I had time to think about writing a book, let alone actually write a book. I had to make the time.

I still do.

I still have to make the time. Because one can get distracted so easily. One can always find something else to do. One can always find excuses about not writing.

Writing isn’t easy. Writing takes time. Revising takes time. Editing takes time. There’s that one sentence that can take you weeks, even though the rest of the book seems easier. Writing isn’t yet supporting me and my family, financially-wise. And I know I’m lucky to be able to work part-time and have more writing-time than before. So, I need to make sure it stays a priority. It’s not only my passion, it’s not only a hobby, it’s one of my jobs.

And it makes me happy.

In a year, I wrote a novelette, a novella, and two novels. I handled designing the covers of three of those books. I handled marketing, formatting. I handled foreign translations, those covers, part of their marketing. I’ve been busy.

I still wake up before 5 a.m. during the week.

I still struggle with wondering if it’s all worth it. If I will ever make a living out of writing.

I still think writing helps me to stay sane.

I do have more time for myself. I have more time to clean the house, walk the dog, spend time with friends, cook, watch TV, read. I have more time to relax.

It’s not as chaotic time-wise that it used to be. But it doesn’t take away from the fact that writing sometimes consumes me. That it’s still hard to write. That I haven’t it all figured out.

And I think it’s okay.

Because I am a better writer now than two years ago. Because I’m still learning. Because I realize that I’m lucky to be able to dedicate more time to my writing.

Not everyone can. I wasn’t able to before. And I wouldn’t be able to if it weren’t for my husband supporting us financially at the moment.

And I’m also lucky because Stephen King was right about one more thing.

Blog Post.jpg

Now, time to get my ass on the chair and write (in this case, time to get my ass on the chair and face the blank page to outline)