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June Confession/ Update

6/5/2013

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    I have a confession to make.  I haven't really done much over the month of May.   I set very high goals for myself and for Flames in the Midst.  When I did not reach them, I got discouraged.  I know I have potential as a writer.  I know both my first novel and the sequel have potential.  I know I have to get more books out, and the only way to do that is to work hard, but I still let the minor disappointments of the present get to me and create a wall in my mind and in my heart.  A little nagging devil on my shoulder has been whispering,             "Maybe you should quit while you're ahead.  Maybe writing is not your thing.  Maybe it is time to stick with your day job." 
    To confess further,  I let those thoughts get to me.  I let that self-doubt pool up around me until I practically drowned in it.  Then I went to the beach for my best friend's birthday on Memorial Day.  When I walked onto the orange sand (we have orange sand on our beaches due to the broken pieces of coquina), my friend's mother called out to me.
    "Why?  What makes you think you have any business coming to the beach?"
    It took me a moment to recover.  I had to make a mental check.  I was invited to the beach, right?  I wasn't infringing on a private family party.  As I unfolded my chair and let the water-laden mini-cooler slip off my shoulder and land with a soft thud by my feet, I let her explain.
    "Don't you have a book you should be working on? Shouldn't you be home writing?"  She had read Flames in the Midst only out of obligation at first since I practically grew up in her home half of my teenage years.  When she finished, she was hooked.
    Part of me wishes I could tell you I dropped everything (or rather picked it all back up), turned around, and headed back to my house to sit for the next eight hours at my laptop while my children whined about missing the beach in another room and I put 3 or 4 chapters into the document for Dreams in the Midst.  That's not what I did.  I spent an amazing day at the beach with my friends and family.  The kids played on their boogie-boards, we ate lunch, we built sandcastles, and I turned my daughter into a mermaid. 
    She told me, "Mommy, you're really good at this.  How did you get so good at this?" 
    Practice?  Imagination?  Patience? Creativity?  A little of everything?  This was a moment of joy for me. She helped me to focus.  I like creating things, and I like bringing joy to those around me, as well as those I may never see.  I brought joy to my daughter by making her a mermaid, if only for a moment.  I brought joy to my friend's mother when she read my book.  I can't give up on any of these things.  They are too precious and too valuable. 

So, next steps?
  1. The May pricing of .99 worked out okay.  I had more sales than normal, but not as many as I would have hoped.  I am going to stick to the pricing experiment simply because it is worth finding out.  I don't think I will see a significant increase until book 2 comes out.  I have just changed the price to $1.99 for the remainder of June, but you should still be able to get it for the next 12 hours or so at the .99 price.
  2. For whatever reason, The Caffeinated Diva appears to be behind schedule.  I am sure she is much like me in that there are other obligations in her life that contend with her time.  I will keep checking to see if she reviews Flames in the Midst, but for now, I am not worried about it.  I still appear to be on her reading list, and she is still making posts, so who knows.
  3. Write.



    That's it.  That's the plan.  Wish me luck!  I want to continue building sandcastles and mermaids.  When they get picked up in the wind or carried away by the waves, I hope they are not destroyed but merely living a life of their own to bring joy to others the way they bring joy to me.



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The Writing Experiment: Day 4

5/3/2013

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Results of Days 1-3

Flames in the Midst had some great results for the first 3 days of our experiment. 

  • Flames hit #1 on two separate genre lists (the pic to the left is from the top 100 Free Books in Urban Fantasy) and came close to breaking into the top 100 free books on Amazon. 
  • I had set a very high goal of reaching 10,000 downloads in five days.  The first time I offered Flames for free, in four days more than 8,000 people downloaded the novel.  This time around, the total number reached 1987—just shy of 2,000.  Perhaps this is due to being a second free offer.  It is also possible that offering the book at the beginning of the month played a part in these numbers.  Despite the fact that Day 2 only brought a few hundred downloads, this was the day we hit the #1 spots in two fantasy genres.  This makes me think that competition must have been very high during this period of time. 

Next Steps

  • On Monday, The Caffeinated Diva will review Flames in the Midst.  I am interested to see if that will increase sales. 
  • For the rest of May, the price will remain at 99 cents. 
  • In June, I may raise the price by $1 or $2.  

For now, it is a waiting game.  Overall, I know the best chance for success is to get more books out.  So while I wait to see the results of the experiment, I am busy writing.  By July, the rough draft of Dreams in the Midst should be complete.  I plan to include a few sneak peeks as I go.  So, stay tuned, and thank you for your support on my journey! 


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The Writing Experiment: Day 1

4/30/2013

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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. 

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The Writing Pricing Experiment

4/22/2013

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    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:
  1. Spend this week editing Flames in the Midst one more time.
  2. Schedule 3 free days (April 30-May 2) with KDP select.
  3. Advertise my free days on free sites.  
  4. 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.)
  5. Change the price of Flames in the Midst to 99 cents. 
  6. 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. 
  7. If sales slow way down, I do have 2 additional free days I can use.
  8. 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!



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    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.

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