Blog Archives

The Writing Experiment: Day 1

4/30/2013

My pricing experiment starts today. I don't know if all or any of the 8 sites I chose to advertise on will advertise my free days. I chose not to pay for the advertising this time around, so there are no guarantees. The goal: 10,000 free downloads in three days. The snag: I just read that the worst day to have a free promotion is the first of the month. Technically, my free promotion incorporates the first of the month, but it does not start on it. By the time I read this tidbit of advice, I had already notified the advertising sites and possible book bloggers.

By the way, I am super excited. Kim, The Caffeinated Diva, has agreed to review Flames in the Midst. Her review is due out on May 6th. I really hope she enjoys the book. So, Day 4 or 5 will bring the final results of the free promotion (I discovered last time there can be a lapse in the reporting of free downloads). Day 4 brings the next step: 99 cent sale for the month of May. Day 7 (May 6th) will include Kim's review. Who knows where we will go from there.

0 Comments

The Writing Pricing Experiment

4/22/2013

1 Comment

    No one seems to know the best price for a novel by a new author. I've read blogs that say 99 cents is the way to go. John Locke recommends this in his book How I Sold 1 Million ebooks in 5 Months! I recently stumbled across another Indie/Self-pub author, Sarra Cannon. Sarra has sold over 110,000 copies of her books. Although she doesn't price her books at 99 cents anymore, it was the strategy she used for building her audience. This makes sense.
    However, there are other strategies. I attended a presentation at a Florida Writers Association mini-conference on utilizing Amazon's KDP to publish your books. The presenter recommended upping your price to $5.99. The reason for this is because some readers will not look at a book priced below the five dollar threshold. Apparently there are those who think if a book is priced too inexpensively, it must not have any value. Now, that's a double-edged sword. On the one side, I've written a lengthy novel, and I would spend much more than 99 cents for a novel of the same length in the grocery store. On the other hand, the fact that I can price my novel at 99 cents allows me to build an audience as an unknown writer. The author giving the presentation already has a readership, so it was easier for him to push the price of his books up.
    So, what is my pricing experiment? I am leaning towards the 99 cent price to build my readership.

The plan:

Spend this week editing Flames in the Midst one more time.
Schedule 3 free days (April 30-May 2) with KDP select.
Advertise my free days on free sites.
Find book bloggers to read Flames in the Midst. (By the way, last time I ran free days through Amazon's KDP Select, I didn't know about marketing. I made about $400 after 8,000+ free downloads with no advertising or work on my part.)
Change the price of Flames in the Midst to 99 cents.
After one month, evaluate. I will either stay at the 99 cent rate or move up to $1.99 or $2.99 for the next month.
If sales slow way down, I do have 2 additional free days I can use.
In August/September, release book 2 in the Jade Hale series, Dreams in the Midst (tentative title).

So, the pricing experiment starts next week! I am nervous and excited to see what will happen. So far, I have sold about 150-200 books (I need to download all of my sales data and add it up). Let's see where Flames in the Midst can go from here!

1 Comment

Writing is Scary

4/19/2013

0 Comments

Today, I made a decision. My goal is to write full time within the next four years. I know four years seems like a strange time frame, but I recently took on a new job with a grant that runs for another four years. In my new position, I keep finding myself thinking about my future. I think about going to graduate school for an EdD or a PhD or going to law school. All of these things are just a distraction for what I really want to do. I want to write.

The thing is, writing is scary. I can follow the steps for another degree with reasonable certainty of success if I am willing to put in the effort and the hours necessary. There is no similar guarantee for writing. I can put in the hours and the mental effort, and I can fall far short of my goals. I can sell a handful of books. I can amass large quantities of rejection letters. I can spend more money on workshops, conferences, and book covers than I earn.

I have a confession to make. When it comes down to it, I have never really tried. Finishing my first novel, I had dreams of grandeur. I would be discovered. I would sell thousands of books right out the door. When that didn't happen, I became discouraged. I looked at writing as something to do in my free time, and when I didn't find any free time, I didn't write.

With that in mind, I have begun looking at writing differently this week. I am committing to writing 500-1,000 words per day. So far, I have met my goal every day this week. More than that, I am committing to a writing experiment involving Kindle Select, my current novel Flames in the Midst and the sequel. My next post will detail the plans of the experiment which will begin next Thursday, April 29th.

Writing is scary, but I'm up for it! By the way, if you are a writer, I invite you to share your average daily word count below.

0 Comments

Violence in Our World: Boston and beyond

4/16/2013

0 Comments

We survive the violence around us, for the most part. Sitting in relative safety in Florida, I watch the news, and the devastation from Boston floods my home and my mind. Each day we tune in, there seems to be a new tragedy. Has the world always been this way, technology bringing it to the forefront? Or is the violence around us building and changing our world?

I cannot begin to imagine the way lives have been ended or permanently altered by the events of yesterday in Boston. The scenes on the television are eerily reminiscent of other terrorist attacks broadcast to the population. Time passes, and we eventually feel safe again. We feel indignant when our civil liberties are infringed upon at airports in the name of safety. But, for a little while, we are engrossed in the terror of the moment enough to allow such infringements without grumbling.

When we are faced with these dangers, we realize the safety we perceive around us may only be a facade. At any moment, we could be amid the images on the television screen. We could be thrust into a nightmarish reality and our lives could be changed in an instant. So we hug our children a little tighter. We dismiss our frustrations with our spouse or our parents or our children. We take time out to spend with our family. Then the pace of our lives catches up with us, and we fall back into our same routines until the next blast hits.

Today, I pray for the victims and their families in Boston. But I also pray for the victims and their families in Connecticut, in New York, in Columbine, in Oklahoma. The pain each person experiences will be a permanent scar, a permanent change in them to be carried throughout their lives. It will dull with time, but it will always be there. Beyond that, I hope the change we experience in reflecting on these events can last in our own lives. The increased gratitude and appreciation for what we do have and the knowledge that our time is not a guarantee can help us each day to show love to those around us--family, friends, neighbors, strangers. Let's refuse to become complacent in the love we show each other. Let's treasure each day as a way to remember and honor those who have been touched by these tragedies.

0 Comments

Author

A teacher, a writer, a mother, a wife and a friend. All people wear what feels like a million different hats at any given time. In this place, I choose to have freedom. That doesn't mean I'm not still juggling my hats; it just means I choose which of them I balance on my head as I write.

The Writing Experiment: Day 1

The Writing Pricing Experiment

Writing is Scary

Violence in Our World: Boston and beyond

Author

Archives

Categories