I'm going to self publish!

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Celeste Carrara

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After a few weeks of ups and downs I have gotten my 1st book, Give Me Forever back from my editor. She did copy edits for me and boy did I need it!

Now that I have it back and have looked over her corrections, I'm lost on how to proceed. It's a word doc & she used the editing tool and I get how I can accept or deny her changes, but I don't know where to go from there. How do I exit that editing program and save the doc to then have it formatted? (I use a company to do the formatting for me) Is there a tutorial for this lol?

While I waited for my book to come back from the editor, I completed a novella. It's a stand alone having nothing to do with my series. It's also not a paranormal, it's an erotic romance. I'm not sure if I will self publish it though. I think I might try subbing it to a publisher like Liquid Silver. I'm curious to see if there is any interest in it.

I've also been working on my next 2 books in my series.

I need more beta readers. I've lost a couple due to their schedules. So, I'm going to be looking for new ones.

In the month of Feb. I offered a sale on my books but only had a few sales. I'm not even sure how many. I have not been advertising my books in any way. I'm very active on Twitter but not so much on other social media.

I have now changed the prices of my books.
Novel (75,000 words) was $3.99, now is $2.99
Novella (20,000 words) was 2.99 now is $1.99
Novelette (10,000 words) was $1.99 now is .99

I feel more comfortable with these prices and will follow this model for my next releases.

More reviews have come in for my 2nd & 3rd books and they have all been very good. Average is about 4.5 stars for both. That makes me very happy!

Once I have my 1st book completed with the new edits I will rerelease it and then try to get out there to spread the word! I plan on doing a blog tour, a Goodreads giveaway and offer a giveaway on my website. We'll see how that goes.

I have been trying to keep up with my blog but I'm not so great at it! I'm working on that.

I'll post back with my sales figures for this year so far.

I also wanted to add that I went through a lot of self doubt about my writing recently. I had gotten bad reviews of my 1st book and I couldn't help taking them to heart. But, after reading them all (100x's lol) I realized something. It was all about the editing, not my story or my writing. When my editor (whom I respect very much & is a professional) confirmed what my reviewers said (I write well, my stories have great plots & they are enjoyable, it's just the errors in silly things like run on sentences and misspelled words that are the problem) I felt a renewed sense of confidence. I can do this! And I will do this the right way going forward. I will always use a copy editor!
 

Celeste Carrara

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Here are my sales so far this year:

Amazon
January:
Give Me Forever - 1
Give Me Your Trust - 1
Give Me My Destiny - 0
February:
Give Me Forever - 1
Give Me Your Trust - 3
Give Me My Destiny - 2
March:
Give Me Forever - 0
Give Me Your Trust - 0
Give Me My Destiny - 0

B&N
January:
Give Me Forever - 0
Give Me Your Trust - 0
Give Me My Destiny - 0
February:
Give Me Forever - 1
Give Me Your Trust - 1
Give Me My Destiny - 1
March:
Give Me Forever - 0
Give Me Your Trust - 1
Give Me My Destiny - 0

I have had no sales of any of my books at Kobo & All Romance Ebooks this year.

Also, I gave 5 books away for free for reviews.
 

SelmaW

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Good on you for figuring out you needed an editor, and finding one! Sounds like you've been very busy. :)
 

merrihiatt

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Wishing you all good things as you move forward and congrats on the upcoming re-release.

I'm not familiar with the editing tools in Word, so have no advice to give.
 

stranger

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Now that I have it back and have looked over her corrections, I'm lost on how to proceed. It's a word doc & she used the editing tool and I get how I can accept or deny her changes, but I don't know where to go from there. How do I exit that editing program and save the doc to then have it formatted? (I use a company to do the formatting for me) Is there a tutorial for this lol?

Go to Edit>Changes>Record (Switching this on and off changes whether Word records changes os it can be shown with color changes and strikethroughs)

Edit>Changes>Show (Switches on and off whether the color changes and strikethroughs will be shown or whether the present doc will be shown.)

I think that's what you were asking.
 

Celeste Carrara

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Good on you for figuring out you needed an editor, and finding one! Sounds like you've been very busy. :)

Thanks!

Wishing you all good things as you move forward and congrats on the upcoming re-release.

I'm not familiar with the editing tools in Word, so have no advice to give.

Thank you Merri!!

Go to Edit>Changes>Record (Switching this on and off changes whether Word records changes os it can be shown with color changes and strikethroughs)

Edit>Changes>Show (Switches on and off whether the color changes and strikethroughs will be shown or whether the present doc will be shown.)

I think that's what you were asking.

I tried that and couldn't find what you were talking about. Maybe it's different because I'm on a MAC?
Anyway, I googled & researched & finally figured it all out!
Thanks for your help! :)


It's all ready to go but I'm going to do the release on Friday. Now I have to spread the word! :)
 

Celeste Carrara

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Update!

I'm going to start first with posting my sales for March.

Amazon
March:
Give Me Forever - 0
Give Me Your Trust - 2
Give Me My Destiny - 1

B&N
March:
Give Me Forever - 3
Give Me Your Trust - 3
Give Me My Destiny - 0

*No sales on allromanceebooks.com or Kobo.
*I did not give away any books for review in March
*The new, edited version of my first book was rereleased on March 15th. All I did to plug it was posts on FB, Twitter, and Goodreads

This month I didn't get to do the promotional things I wanted to do, like a giveaway on my blog or on goodreads.

I did however finish my novella that will be the 4th book in my series. It's out with 1 beta now & I'm waiting for another to get back to me to see if she can beta read this one. (she has beta read for me in the past)

I contacted 15 blog sites that specialize in my genre to see if I could get my book read & reviewed. Only 4 replied back and out of the 4, only 1 is able to do it. I'm waiting to see how that review goes, crossing my fingers the reviewer likes it!!

I have focused my social media efforts on Twitter mostly. It's just easier for me to use than the other sites. I have over 1000 followers which is exciting but who knows how that helps in sales.

I've gotten better with blogging, I was able to post 4 in March.

I would like to have more reviews, but I've learned even if you give out books for free and you get a promise for an honest review, there's no gaurantees you'll get a review at all.

This past month I jumped in and tried to help other writers. I beta read 2 novels for AW members and I have to say it was a great experience! I really enjoyed it and along with helping the other authors, it helped me as well. It was nice to take a break from my work and read the work of fellow writers. It's helped me learn a lot about my own writing. The best part was, being helpful to another writer. It felt great that my comments and opinions have helped someone perfect their work.

The erotic romance novella I wrote (that has nothing to do with the series I've self published) was sent to Liquid Silver. I'm anxious to see what will happen. If I get a rejection, I'm going to keep trying with it.

Right now I have to find another copy editor. It doesn't look like the one I have will be able to continue working with me due to health issues. This saddens me because she was really great & talented and I feel badly for her not being able to do what she loves. She got me & my writing & enjoyed my work & has read the whole series. I don't know how to start fresh with a new editor. It was so tough finding the one I had. I had contacted numerous ones & very few bothered to return my email inquiry.

This month my goals are:
1. Find a new copy editor & get my novella up for sale
2. Advertise on allromanceebooks.com
3. Stay active on Twitter
4. Post a blog every week
5. Get busy on my next full length novel, book 5 in my series

I'm hoping for a sucessful April :)
 

Ann Joyce

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It looks like you're moving right along, Celeste. Glad to see you making progress. And interesting that you had more sales at B&N than at Amazon. I wish you a lucrative April!
 

Celeste Carrara

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It looks like you're moving right along, Celeste. Glad to see you making progress. And interesting that you had more sales at B&N than at Amazon. I wish you a lucrative April!

Thank you so much. I also thought it was interesting that I had more sales at B&N. It was the first time that has happened for me. I have no idea how it happened though lol

It must be a relief to have the edited version of your first book out there now. Way to go! Forward motion = a good thing. Thanks for the update!

Thanks Merri and yes, it is such a relief. :)
 

Tienci

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Thanks for the updates! I don't say much, but I'm watching and appreciating all the details. ;)
Hope this month brings more lovely surprises!
 

FionnJameson

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I've been lurking for a while, but I wish you the best from a fellow uf writer!
 

robertbevan

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Right now I have to find another copy editor. It doesn't look like the one I have will be able to continue working with me due to health issues. This saddens me because she was really great & talented and I feel badly for her not being able to do what she loves. She got me & my writing & enjoyed my work & has read the whole series. I don't know how to start fresh with a new editor. It was so tough finding the one I had. I had contacted numerous ones & very few bothered to return my email inquiry.

sorry to hear this. i'll be lost if my beta is ever unable to continue beta-ing for me.
 

FionnJameson

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Celeste, let me know if you need a beta reader. I'd love to exchange manuscripts with you.
 

OliverCrown

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I'm rooting for you hardcore. Allow me to explain a bit.

I was in a similar boat (no pun intended given the title of this thread) with releasing a book, but not having an editor. I was able to connect with one that has been AMAZING (deserves all caps) and have just updated the new version. To say it's a quantum leap forward is to put it mildly.

I've had some of the same challenges that you have, and seeing your success has boosted my confidence. So while we write different genres, please know that you have a big fan in the person leaving this message.

Take care and have a huge April,
Oliver Crown
 

Celeste Carrara

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I have some good news to share!

My editor is still able to work with me!! I'm so excited about this, I cannot even explain it!

My novella is going through a second pass with one of my betas. I still haven't heard back from my other beta so I am in need of one still. As soon as that's all taken care of, my editor will get it and I'm planning on releasing it sometime in May.

The cover for it is done and I must say it's amazing and I love it! I haven't revealed it yet. I did reveal the title and blurb this weekend on my website but haven't started to promote that just yet. This weekend I worked on the webpage for the novella and that's looking great too. That won't be uploaded until about a week or two before the release.

My website has been updated with a playlist for the novella as well as an updated author bio. That author bio also replaced the author bio on all the sites my books is listed at.

No sales in April, yet. Trying to keep positive ;-)

I heard back from another blogger and she agreed to read & review my first book! That's exciting and nerve racking. lol

This week I will be giving my next novel the full attention it deserves. I'm hoping to have it released in the fall.


OliverCrown
Thank you so much for your kind words! Good luck to you in your journey!

FionnJameson
I will send you a PM, thanks!!

Colleen Cowley
Thank you very much!!
 

John Olexa

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This is fun! I am enjoying reading this. Wishing you the BEST of luck!!
 

Celeste Carrara

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Great news, Celeste!

Thanks Merri!!

This is fun! I am enjoying reading this. Wishing you the BEST of luck!!

Thanks John, I'm glad you are on board and following my journey!


Ok, it has been a very productive day!
I heard back from my other beta reader and for some reason she never got my message but the good news is, my novella is in her hands now & she is reading it!!! Yay!!

I have Tweeted, and Facebooked the info about my new book title & blurb and even managed to get a blog post up today.

Since I am notorious for slacking on blog posts, I wrote 4 today and set them up to post one a week.

My editor and I have been in touch & she is on board and ready to start working on my novella!

Ah, it feels so good to have accomplished these things today :)
 

K. Victoria Chase

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I'm reading through your story and it's been great, Celeste!

Not sure I'd be worried about the blogging, though. I know others would think differently, but I've found that it takes time(and brain power) away from writing books and even though I had a few dozen followers, not many actively participated anyway. I've read that readers don't usually buy books based on an author's blog (I'm sure there are exceptions). I'd rather write books and have readers find my, now website, to find more books to read. They can chat with me via Goodreads/Facebook/email. But blogging may be a creative outlet for you so do what you want to do, of course. :)

Wishing you MUCH success!!!
 

Celeste Carrara

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Thank you K. Victoria Chase :)


Just wanted to pop in here and add a small update.

In my quest to offer my readers the best possible product I can produce, I'm happy and proud to say that all 3 of my books have now been professionally edited and are uploaded to all the sites that offer my books.

It is such a great feeling! :)
 

Celeste Carrara

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So far, I have only sold 1 book this month and that was on B&N. I'm actually surprised with the sales I've been having lately at B&N and none at Amazon.

In my attempts to get myself noticed, I am still active on social media sites and am writing a blog weekly.

I have set up a blog tour but I don't have those exact dates just yet. I went ahead and used Goddess Fish Promotions for the blog tour. I choose to use them because of their great reputation and expertise. I'd rather let someone who knows what they are doing and who has connections with bloggers set up the tour for me. It's just easier. So far they have had great communication with me.

Also, I will have my cover in an ad in the Aug issue of RT magazine which will be handed out at the convention. It will be on the page with allromanceebooks ad with about 20 other covers. I'm hoping this will get me some readers!

On Library Thing I have offered members a free copy of Give Me Forever in exchange for reviews. I'm offering 25 ebooks and in 2 days 15 people signed up for a copy. The offer ends on the 19th. Here's a link:
http://www.librarything.com/er/giveaway/list

On Goodreads I have started an author Q&A. It starts today and runs for 2 weeks. So far I only have 2 members. I don't have many friends on Goodreads & have no idea how I get people to see the Q&A other than me Tweeting about it and Goodreads having it on their Author Q&A page.
Here's a link at what that looks like:
http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/101173-ask-celeste-carrara

My book will be featured on a blog that an indie author has started to help other authors gain readers. I did a Q&A about Give Me Forever and here's a link to the blog. It should have my book there in a few weeks. The way I look at it, every little bit helps!
http://soulofvoodoo.wordpress.com/2013/04/14/write-it-forward-indie-author-initiative/

I have been writing but not as much as I would like. I'm doing a bio for a friend of mine who is a singer/performer for his prtfolio and website. That's helped me with writing something different, and given me more writing experience.

I have written about 10,000 words for my new novel, but something's not feeling right with it. I haven't been able to give it the attention it deserves though. Too busy with other things personally and also with self promotion.

I'm hopeful that with the release of my novella in May, it will help with my sales. I wish I could write faster!!
 
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