I'm going to self publish!

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cwbrowning

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Great job! It's amazing what a few good reviews can do for our confidence, isn't it? It never ceases to amaze me.

Just another reminder that, even though this is a very hard and discouraging road, the dedication does pay off eventually. :) It really is a comfort and encouragement to me to read that there can be light at the end of the tunnel!
 

RLMcKeown

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I haven't been on here in ages. Yikes! But, I'm so glad your books are doing well and that your family and friends are being supportive. I'm not glad about the creepers, though. Ugh!
 

Celeste Carrara

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True, self-publishing is hard, discouraging work... but the occasional bit of positive feedback is incredibly intoxicating! Here's to more good reviews!

Thanks!!

Great job! It's amazing what a few good reviews can do for our confidence, isn't it? It never ceases to amaze me.


Just another reminder that, even though this is a very hard and discouraging road, the dedication does pay off eventually. :) It really is a comfort and encouragement to me to read that there can be light at the end of the tunnel!

Yup! :)

I haven't been on here in ages. Yikes! But, I'm so glad your books are doing well and that your family and friends are being supportive. I'm not glad about the creepers, though. Ugh!

It's so good to see you back here!! :)
 

Celeste Carrara

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Intimate Desires is doing really well! Sales have increased and sales of my series have increased too!

The project I'm working on, that I didn't want to get into previously, is moving along and I'm really excited about it! I'm writing an erotic romance with a male author! He's writing from the male MC's POV, and I'm writing for the Female MC. We write really well together and feed off of each other's thoughts perfectly. His writng is very different from mine but our styles are flowing well. It's so interesting to see how the male mind works lol

I'm still working on my erotic romance with my editor & it's a labor of love lol It's not moving along as I would like it too, but I did have a breakthrough with it Sat night so we'll see where that leads.

My poor 5th book to my Paranormal City Series has yet again been pushed aside :( I need to give it attention & I plan on doing that at some point ;)

The book blast for Intimate Desires, I consider to have been a success. The feedback I got from readers and bloggers was great. I got 2 reviews from it and I noticed an increase in sales since it went live. The best part was all the Tweets that went on long after the book blast.

I've spent a lot of my time on Goodreads and other social media and it kind of started interfering with my writing. I need to find a balance & I'm limiting my involvement with the social media while I concentrate on writing more.

I do have a promotion going on in May where Intimate Desires will be promoted on a FB page called "What To Read After 50 Shades Of Grey" The info will be emailed to over 7,500 subscribers. I'm curious to see if this will actually deliver any significant sales.

I'm just finishing up the printed version of Intimate Desires on Createspace & once I approve the proof, I'm going to offer a Goodreads giveaway of 2 autographed copies. I've had luck with these before so it's worth doing again.

I'm also still working on the cover for my new adult novella and hopefully it will be ready for release the end of this month.

Yeah, I've been busy lol but it's all good! :)
 

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Celeste, thanks for the update. Looking good!
And the partnership/co-writing project sounds super exciting and fun.
 

Celeste Carrara

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I've been absent from this board for awhile, for a reason.
So much has transpired for me personally and I have had to make major changes in my life and career. I'll just leave it at that.

Anyway, I did want to come here and post an update because I know how much these diaries help others because so many of yours have helped me!

I paid for advertisement on a Facebook page called "What To Read After Fifty Shades Of Grey" I consider it to be a success because I saw a huge increase in sales for Intimate Desires the day the ad went live. I'm very happy about that.

My Goodreads giveaway for 2 autographed copies of Intimate Desires just ended and it did well. I had 644 entries and a little over 300 people have it on their "to read" shelf.

Reviews are great for the book, but I wish I had more! But, sales have been fantastic!

As far as my writing and marketing goes I've made some changes. I no longer market my books. I have friends that have graciously taken over all my social media and marketing so I can concentrate on my writing. They post all kinds of things for me mostly on my author Facebook page, Twitter and Google+. They do Man Candy Mondays, post mini interviews, post about updates, market the books, and talk about music since it's my inspiration when I'm writing. They post pictures too, letting my readers "into" my life a little more. I check up on the pages and I'm really happy with how it's all being handled.

I know how important social media and marketing are for getting my name out there and my work noticed, but I simply cannot engage in it anymore. My focus has to be on my writing.

I've pushed aside all my writing projects except for book 5 in my Paranormal City series. I've been making good progress with it and it deserves attention and I really want to get this novel out this year. I kept letting myself get sidetracked with other stories when this is the one that I should be focusing on so now I am!

I did set a goal for myself to get 3 books published this year and that will be accomplished! So far I self pubbed a short story for my series, and Intimate Desires (an erotic romance novella) and I will get my New Adult Contemporary Romance Novella (Rediscovered Love) out this summer, probably in July.

So if I get book 5 of my series out this year, it'll be a bonus! lol

Since my absence I've learned a few things:
There has to be a balance with my career as a writer and my family.
Don't be so trusting of people you meet online.
Goodreads is great for finding readers and doing giveaways.
Sometimes paid ads do pay off!
Social media and marketing are a full time job better left to people I can trust to handle it for me!
Focus on one project at a time and give it my all and all will be good!

*This is what's good for me, YMMV ;)
 
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AgathaChristieFan

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Great job, Celeste! It's cool to see you doing so well. I hope those creepers leave you alone eventually. Jerks. I hear ya on making decisions on promoting yourself with social media or focusing on your writing. I've been bad this past month, online is addicting :)

Congrats on your sales! I bought Intimate Desires, so I'll make sure to post a review after I read it :)
 

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Welcome back, Celeste. I hope all is well. I hear you about trusting people online. Dang, sometimes that can be a hard lesson to learn. Congratulations on the great output.

Here's to your bonus goal of #5!
 

Celeste Carrara

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Thank you all!

I forgot to mention that Intimate Desires will be available in print via Createspace by June 20th. I got the proof and it looks fantastic. I chose a matte finish for the cover and I love how it turned out. Again I'm happy with using Createspace!
 
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RLMcKeown

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Glad things are going well, Celeste. I noticed the change on your Facebook page--it seems to be running smoothly!
 

cwbrowning

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Welcome back Celeste! I'm sorry to hear that things have been challenging for you. It sounds like you're approaching the best way you can, though, and that is always positive!

The balance between social media and marketing is very difficult. I am focusing more on writing, myself, then marketing. Time will tell if that's a wise move for me or not, but I am honestly not any good at marketing. I am horrible at keeping up with Goodreads and my blog as well. I do a little better with Facebook. *shrug* Some people are good at multi-tasking and balancing the two. I am not.

Good luck with the bonus goal! Sounds like you're well on your way!
 

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Glad things are looking up for you! Sorry you had some bad experiences with online. :( The world wide web can be scary and people not always so honest.

It's nice to know about the paid ads, I've been debating on what to do and wondering if it's really worth it. Hearing that it can be is helpful!

Good luck with reaching your goals! It sounds like you are well on your way!

Thanks for posting and giving hope and insight to those of us just getting started. :)
 

Judy Koot

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Very nice to hear "Intimate Desires" is doing well.
You sound (re-)energized, looks like the changes have done you good.
Thanks for sharing, and here's to even more sales!
 

Celeste Carrara

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Glad things are going well, Celeste. I noticed the change on your Facebook page--it seems to be running smoothly!

Thanks! Yes, it is going smoothly and I really like how things are going!

Welcome back Celeste! I'm sorry to hear that things have been challenging for you. It sounds like you're approaching the best way you can, though, and that is always positive!

The balance between social media and marketing is very difficult. I am focusing more on writing, myself, then marketing. Time will tell if that's a wise move for me or not, but I am honestly not any good at marketing. I am horrible at keeping up with Goodreads and my blog as well. I do a little better with Facebook. *shrug* Some people are good at multi-tasking and balancing the two. I am not.

Good luck with the bonus goal! Sounds like you're well on your way!

Thank you! I'm not good at multi-tasking the two either! ;)

Glad things are looking up for you! Sorry you had some bad experiences with online. :( The world wide web can be scary and people not always so honest.

It's nice to know about the paid ads, I've been debating on what to do and wondering if it's really worth it. Hearing that it can be is helpful!

Good luck with reaching your goals! It sounds like you are well on your way!

Thanks for posting and giving hope and insight to those of us just getting started. :)

Thank you! Not all paid ads work though so choose carefully ;)

Very nice to hear "Intimate Desires" is doing well.
You sound (re-)energized, looks like the changes have done you good.
Thanks for sharing, and here's to even more sales!

Thanks!

It is a tough balance for sure between writing and family. Glad to read of your success!

Thank you :)
 

Celeste Carrara

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Time for an update!

I had a great June, but (so far) July is falling flat!

I still have review copies out (since March) of Intimate Desires, but still haven't gotten many reviews. Only 9 on Goodreads and about 5 on Amazon.

My new adult contemporary romance novella release date has been pushed back because of cover art issues.

I have been writing, but not nearly as much as I should be.

At this point almost all of my sales are from Amazon. My sales at B&N are only a handful a month. I have had no sales on All Romance Ebooks in months and only a couple on Kobo. I use Draft2Digital for Apple, Scribd, & inktera and have only had 1 sale on Apple, nothing from the other two.

I'm thinking I need to do something to boost sales for the rest of the summer. I know when my new release comes out it'll increase sales, but I want to do more. Just don't know what to do! I'm open to suggestions :)
 

cwbrowning

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July is falling flat so far for me as well, so you're in good company there. I am toying with the idea of running another KDP promotion on either the first or second book in my series to try to boost something, but I know you're not enrolled in that.

What about running a sale on one of your titles and seeing if it boosts anything?
 

Celeste Carrara

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July is falling flat so far for me as well, so you're in good company there. I am toying with the idea of running another KDP promotion on either the first or second book in my series to try to boost something, but I know you're not enrolled in that.

What about running a sale on one of your titles and seeing if it boosts anything?

I'm sorry July is falling flat for you too, but I do like the company! ;)

I was thinking of doing a sale. Or maybe it would be worth it to take book 1 in my series off all other markets besides Kindle & then enroll in KDP select and see how that goes for a little while. I've never tried that before. Hmmm
 

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Sorry your July numbers haven't been where you wanted (you aren't alone). Hope you have a pick up in August. :)

I've been on the fence with the Select program. I don't really like the idea of excluding people, but the numbers on the other channels haven't been as high, so it's still something to really consider.
 

Celeste Carrara

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Time for another update and I'm happy to report I'm back in the swing of things so to speak!! ;)

The cover for my New Adult Contemporary Romance, Rediscovered Love is finally done and I will release the book on Aug. 22nd. I'm excited and nervous to see how this book will be received. I'm also just really happy to get this book out there and have another book complete this year! I've reached my goal of 3 releases in a year!!!

I have been writing a lot and am happy to say that I have finished three, yes, THREE new stories!! Two short stories and one novelette. They are all with my editor and I have a few ideas on what I'll do with them. I *think I'm going to offer one of the shorts free and make that a serial. I've been dying to try this and just experiment a little with it so I'll wait until I have a couple of installements done, then release one a week for free. As for the other short, I'll probably put that out for free too as a way to attract readers to my other books. Hopefully it'll work. The novelette I'm going to put up for .99 on all channels. While my editor is working on them I'll be working on the covers with my cover designer.

I feel a huge sense of accomplishment because all three stories have been sitting on my computer (unfinished) for months.

I'm still not even half way done with the 5th book in my series, but that is coming along too. For some reason I was trying to write this one in order. That didn't work with my first novel, so I don't know why I thought it would with this one! I have all these scenes in my head that I just need to get on paper and worry about putting them together later.

Not sure if I've mentioned this before, but I also started writing a YA fantasy novel. Totally out of the genre I write, but YA fantasies are books I love to read so we'll see how it all unfolds!

As for sales, July turned out to be pretty good. Aug is not so good so far.

Also, I've noticed that even though I've had a lot of sales, very few people are leaving reviews. And, more people leave reviews on Goodrads, than Amazon & B&N. For example, on Amazon, Intimate Desires has only 5 reviews, and on Goodreads it has 14. But I've sold a ton of that book so I'm kind of bummed I don't have more reviews, especially on Amazon.

Oh, and I had an old friend message me telling me she bought Intimate Desires to read on her plane ride home from vacation. She loved it so much, told me how great it was and I don't have to explain to you all how great that feels! :D
 

Tienci

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Sounds great, Celeste! Quite exciting, actually. :)

The whole reviews thing--always a source of stress for me, too, although a lot less now than before. Maybe you can ask some of the GR reviewers to cross-post to Amazon? Maybe not even directly, if it makes you feel icky. Maybe a general blog post?
 

Lady MacBeth

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Congratulations Celeste! I know how hard it is to have unfinished stories.
 

HistorySleuth

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Well that sounds good, Celeste. I don't have a lot of reviews either, but steady sales everyday keeps me in the top 100 for my category. So I think what category you put them in to get noticed is important. I played around with one of them on Amazon, until I started seeing more sales.
 
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