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Archive for April, 2012

Should I Continue Keeping My First Novel Free?

Posted in self-publishing, tagged , , , , on April 30, 2012| 11 Comments »

Okay, so I’ve promised some hard numbers to let you all know if it is a good idea to make your first book of a series free and here it is. Due to so many different price points were experimented with, borrows, and different royalty rates, I’m only going to report the quantity sold to avoid confusion.

(Please bring your expectations down a bit before I divulge since I’m in no ways a bestseller at this point, but I’m so pleased with the progress this promotion has brought.)

Before this free promotion, I’ve sold a total of…

(wait for it)

9 ebooks of Infinite Devotion since publishing in mid-February to mid-March!

(I know pretty underwhelming.)

Since publishing Infinite Sacrifice since mid-November—not including free promotions—I’ve sold 50 ebooks.

So, up until my prolonged free promotion, that’s a total of—hold on I need to whip my calculator out to compile such a monstrous number—59 sales!

Since the free promotion began mid-March I’ve given away 7,070 copies of Infinite Sacrifice.

Yay!

I’ve sold 73 ebooks of Infinite Devotion since the promotion, with an additional 2 copies of Infinite Devotion and 6 copies of Infinite Sacrifice in the UK (still hasn’t price matched there yet).

Yippee!

So, I’ve sold more and made more money this month than I have since November.

Plus, I’ve received stellar reviews and ratings on Amazon, Goodreads, and Shelfari. (Priceless!)

Wahoo!

(It doesn’t take much to make me happy)

I saw increase in the second book immediately and the sales have been steadily increasing. If even 10% of the 6,700 people who have downloaded it this month alone, return to buy the second book that will be 670 sales!

Well, I probably shouldn’t count all my eggs yet, but I’m hopeful that this trend will only improve.

This only makes me wish I had Infinite Loss to release since my sales would probably double, but I can’t rush it out. It is motivation to finish it since the more books I have out, the better my sales. If sales continue at this rate (or increase *crosses fingers*) then it will chip away at the $3,000 expense of getting both books out. Once I pay that all back, the rest will be profit from then on. That is the beauty of ebooks, once you pay back your investment it can continue bringing in income without additional expense.

So will I be continuing this free promotion?

Yes, I’m going to keep this up. It’s getting my book out there.

Now if I could only make it free on Amazon UK!

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Playlists

Posted in writing in general, tagged , , on April 25, 2012| 15 Comments »

I thought it would be fun to share with you all the playlist I listened to as I wrote Infinite Sacrifice. Even though they’re not the exact songs I listened to (I couldn’t find them on YouTube), they’re similar. I kept these songs on repeat every time I wrote, hoping it would help me create the ambience I needed for world building. I especially recommend doing this when you’re writing historical pieces.

 

 

Ancient Egypt:

 

 

 

 

Ancient Sparta:

 

 

 

Viking:

 

 

Medieval London:

 

 

 

 

 

I happened upon this little jewel and included it just for kicks 🙂

 

 

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The Power of Positive Reviews

Posted in self-publishing, writing in general, tagged , , , , on April 20, 2012| 10 Comments »

 

One of the best things about making my first book free for the last three weeks (full promotion report due out at the end of the month!) has definitely been the increase in ratings and reviews.

Yes, these are gold for reader confidence and promotion, but they’re priceless for restoring my faith that this was all worth it. All the hours I stayed up late after putting my kids to bed; all the hours I spent researching; all the time in writing workshops; all the forums I joined and books I bought seeking out self-publishing advice; all the money I spent on getting the best product out—all had to be appreciated by someone.

I honestly never expected my books to make much money. Never expected to be the next Amanda Hocking. I would be very happy if I could just pay back the expenses. But the one goal I’ve had this whole time was to simply hear from a fan that appreciated all the things I set out to create. I worried that maybe the series was too complicated; that readers might not like tracking each character through time; that people might not like the fact this was a true series.

Besides my friends and family, I didn’t know how the world would see my book.

Well, I cry every time I read a kind and thoughtful review. I don’t think I truly felt like a writer until someone completely enjoyed what I set out to deliver.

I’m actually connecting to strangers through my story.

After reading these reviews, I wish there was some way I could personally tell these people how much it’s touched me. The only thing I can do is print the reviews out and frame them to start a little inspiration collection over my writing-table.

Anytime I have any doubt, I’ll just look up and they’ll be there. All my fans 🙂

The more these reviews come in, the more I want to write! Even if negative reviews come in, it only matters that some people are fans and those are the people I’m envisioning when I write my next book. Some of them haven’t left many reviews for other authors, and that has meant even more to me since they probably read my plea for reviews in the forward and went out of their way to help me.

If they’re reading this, truly, thank you. You have no idea how much this has meant to me.

It’s so important to tell a writer after you enjoy their book. Let them know what you loved and how they’ve touched you. I’ll never put down a book again without leaving a note for the author. It’s extremely rewarding.

For those who have published, has a fan ever inspired you? If not published yet, who has given you confidence?

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MS lost its spark?

Posted in self-publishing, writing in general, tagged , , , , on April 16, 2012| 8 Comments »

How many revisions does it take for your MS to lose its spark?

“Let’s find out.

One…

tWoo…

thhhhreee”

*CRUNCH*

I wish I only had to do three revisions. Three, and I might still be gushing about it for launch. But I find when I’m reading my novel for the twentieth time my MS loses its spark.

Finish the MS—Wow, this is the best thing I’ve ever written! Perfect!

First revision after letting it sit—Wow, this needs work but what great scenes and dialog! I love it!

Second revision—Wow, I can’t believe how many mistakes I missed after that last edit, but it’s still awesome!

Fifth revision—Wow, still so much work. I’ve got to rewrite a few scenes, but it’s pretty good stuff.

Tenth revision—Wow, I think I need glasses since I’m still finding mistakes! Eh. It’s okay.

Fifteenth revision—Wow, another revision, I don’t think I can read it again. I hope I’m going in the right direction.

Nineteenth revision—Wow, this has to be the last revision! I’m so sick of it! That’s it. I’m done.

Twentieth revision—Wow, is this even any good anymore?

I’m sure this happens to every author, but I imagine it must be harder for the self-published author since you have to feel confident about the piece you’re about to release to the world—on your own. You don’t have team cheering you on from behind. A team that has thought so highly of your project that they have invested in it.

Of course, even LOTR and Pride and Prejudice would lose its spark after twenty reads within a short amount of time. So what do you do when you start to question if your MS is still good when you have worn it out like a pair of comfortable sneakers?

You must have rounds of beta readers. You need someone at every stage of processing to tell you that you’ve got something there. You need someone to see your twentieth revision with fresh eyes. You need them to tell you it’s amazing and which parts they laughed and cried at. Then they tell you two or three small things that they would change and you’re back to revision twenty-one:

Wow, they loved it, so this must be good. I just have to fix a few things and it’s off to the editor who will be so impressed with how much work I’ve done this time.

After the editor—Wow, I can’t believe I missed all these mistakes. Am I ever going to learn comma placement? *bangs head*

So what about you guys? How many revisions does it take before your eyes bleed and doubt sets in?

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Mail Chimp—Critical for Self-publishers

Posted in self-publishing, tagged , on April 10, 2012| 8 Comments »

 

You may have noticed my new spiffy link over on the right—thanks to David Gaughran’s post introducing his followers to the wonders of Mail Chimp.

At first, I glanced over the idea of a mailing list. Why would I need a mailing list? I have a blog where I can send out promotional news to my followers. But then I put the first book of my series on extended promotion (5,000 downloads in one week!), and I realized all those people were my market. How would they know about the next release of the series?

Most self-publishers don’t have a promotional team with a brick and mortar marketing budget, who can spread the word of a new release to the world. In a year, when my third book is planned to release, my readers most likely won’t be waiting with bated breath. I needed a way for those fans to ONLY get the announcement of releases.

The majority of my blog focuses on my self-publishing journey and the struggles I face as a writer. Most fans wouldn’t want to follow my blog. They usually VISIT my website for the historical background information, book trailers, and my bio page. So, I needed to find a way to get release news to these readers.

Mail Chimp.

As usual, David Gaughran is ahead of the game. A self-published author NEEDS a mailing list. You must have an option for fans to sign up only for release news. You need to capture these readers and continue to market to them. Um, and have I mentioned that it’s free!

Go to Mail Chimp’s website and follow the simple instructions to create your own mailing list. Remember, I am NOT tech-savvy. If I could figure this out you can. Once you’ve signed up and put the link on your widget, Mail Chimp sends you emails over the next few days, slowly introducing you to how the mailing list operates. Very easy.

Just be sure to specify that the mailing list will ONLY be used for release notifications. Folks are so  spam wary now-a-days and don’t want to be notified every time your book changes price, interviews on such-and-such’s blog, or the you’ve just received a rave review. If they did, they’d follow your blog.

This is especially a good idea before a major promotion or free day. You want to hold the attention of that new market and have a way to advertise to them later.

If anyone has any questions, shoot me an email and I’ll be glad to help you out.

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Infinite Devotion Print Copy Giveaway

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , on April 7, 2012| Leave a Comment »

 

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Infinite Devotion by L.E. Waters

Infinite Devotion

by L.E. Waters

Giveaway ends May 07, 2012.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

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Just a Little Free Promotion Update

Posted in self-publishing, tagged , , , on April 3, 2012| 3 Comments »

Wow, I’ve never seen my book fly this fast!

Yesterday afternoon, Infinite Sacrifice took off and I couldn’t believe how quickly it’s being downloaded. It’s now #1 on both the historic fantasy and Epic free list, and #84 on the free kindle list. Best of all, I’ve sold five times the usual sales for Infinite Devotion. I can’t believe I’m seeing results this soon.

I hope it keeps up!

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Why I’m Making My First Book Free…

Posted in self-publishing, tagged , , on April 2, 2012| 9 Comments »

The birds are chirping, the trees are budding, and I’m trying out a new promotional strategy!

Spring has arrived early and made me want to get outside more to write in my hammock. So where am I going to find that time?

Less time promoting.

*Cheers!*

I got this idea after I noticed there were a bunch of first books of a series hanging around at the top of the free kindle charts— month after month. I watched to see if they fell in rankings over time, but the downloading stayed strong and they ruled the free top ten. I also noticed that many of these authors’ other books held high positions in the paid rankings.

Then I read this wonderful guest post on David Gaughran’s blog by Sarah Woodbury. She revealed how she needed something to boost her lagging sales and stay afloat as many authors experimented with the new KDP select option. So she made her prequel free for the last four months and, wow, was she successful.

Well, that blog sold me, and it took a few weeks to make my first novel free.

Reasons:

  • This type of promotion works well with a series.
  • I made my first book shorter specifically so that I could have the option of doing this sort of promotion at lower cost (i.e. editors & formatters charge less for shorter books).
  • I’ve sold it for five months and made back enough that I can make it free for a bit.
  • I want (need) to write more and promote less, and being on the free list can do my promoting for me. I’ll never get this third book out if I have to keep flagging people toward my book.
  • Truth is, I want readers. I know that it’s hard to trust a book with an unknown author and, with the happy price of free, more people will pick up my first book. If they like it, then I’ve got a reader for my whole series.
  • I would like more reviews. When you have massive downloads of a book, odds are some of them will leave reviews. Like it or hate it, I just love to see what readers experience after reading my book.
  • I made my second book, Infinite Devotion, $3.99. That way, if a reader enjoys my series and writing style they will invest more. Then I can make up for the sale of the first book with a happy costumer. If someone didn’t like the series, then they lose nothing.

I’m going to see how well this works for a month and then decide if I want it to stay free for longer. I will report back here to let everyone know how it worked out.

If you haven’t picked up a free copy yet, grab one up either on Amazon or at Smashwords.

Of course, if you want to thank me for the freebie, please, please, please *kneels* let me know what you think of it on Amazon, Smashwords, or Goodreads (or anywhere else!).

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