So, I'm Taking the Plunge

Well, not exactly a plunge so much as putting on my sunscreen, goggles, floaties, and flippers and taking a well-planned swim across the English Channel that is self publishing.

It was always my plan, but I got sidetracked and thought maybe I should send this thing to some small publishers. I got some interest with several requests for full manuscripts, but as I anticipated, they were rejected. Some gave me detailed responses, others did not, but what I gathered is that my story breaks a cardinal rule of my genre and it cannot be reconciled with these smaller pubs.

So I am going back with my original plan and self pubbing. I have business experience and online marketing experience, so I am excited, albeit nervous. I also lucked out in that my highschool English teacher is a professional editor and copyedited the book for me, and a close friend of mine is bartering with me to design the cover. This gives me a budget to pay for some online book tours which I hope will get me at least a little initial boost. If I make money from it, that would be great, but I initially took up writing because I love it and want to share my work. So if I can do that and make a little extra money on the side, that would be great! No doubt I will bust my butt trying to make more than a little money though I feel a lot of pressure to write the sequel since I know more books equal more sales, but I think I need that to get off my butt...

Funny thing is, during this time, my hubby got a request for non-fiction book proposal from a major publisher in his field. He will likely get an offer since they solicited him. I can't say where without giving away our identities, but at least it looks like one of us will be a traditionally published author!

Thanks all! I enjoy following the other self pubbers on here and I am learning a lot from everyone's journeys.

I had a cover reveal today (now in my sig). Book launches August 1st. So excited and nervous!

My Self Pub Diary

Hey all!

Just another self pub diary thread!

My first book, Strapped, launched today. I have a release week event with several blogs blasting the book over the course of a week. I also have the book in some blogger's hands for reviews.

I also did a giveaway on Goodreads. My goal right now is to get some reviews up. I have a couple from people who I provided ARCs to on GR and Amazon.

I am currently working on book 2 because I know the key is to have multiple books out. I don't want to rush it though, because the storyline for book 2 will be most complex out of the 3 (it's erotica but also a mystery/suspense with twists and turns).

So far, 3 sales. What is surprising is when given the option to go to Amazon, BN, Kobo, or get a pdf direct from me through Ejunkie, 2 of three have gotten the pdf.

I'll keep posting along the way. I work in marketing, so I know what an exhausting part of the process it is, but I also know consistency is key, so I am going to keep my head down and plug along!

Thanks

First check in. Before I went to bed last night, I was at 9 sales, woke up to a couple more at Amazon for a total of 12. Majority is from KDP, with 2nd place being my Ejunkie pdf, then BN and CS.

I had the most traffic to my website ever, which was nice.

These were people (I assume since I can't see names) who have been following my page on fb since I started writing, so I expected them to purchase. Now I have to keep building that following. Hoping these blogs will drive some traffic.

Just another self pub diary

I started another thread, but then I realized it was easily found on google with my author name, and I wanted to minimize that by not putting my name in the thread. So I am sort of starting over.

Last week, I launched my first novel. I had some issues with Amazon censorship, which made me scramble to get it on other platforms (BN, Kobo, AllRomance), which has actually been nice as it helped me get some additional sales.

As of last night (officially one week), I have sold 31 copies. As of right now, 36. This has exceeded my expectations greatly since I was only counting on some friends purchasing this first week. I also gained a good amount of FB followers. I am really happy with these numbers and my only worry is loss of momentum, but I will keep plugging to keep the momentum going.

My biggest concern now is getting more reviews on Amazon. People will tell me they really enjoyed the book, but then don't make an effort to write a review. I know I can ask, but I hate to ask when I already am grateful for their purchase. I mean they know about reviews, it's not like it's a foreign concept to people. So I am just going to wait patiently on that.

I do realize that. I am not concerned with people on this board clicking through, just that if a reader googles my author name and book name, that this particular thread does not appear high in the ranks of what would come up on a search page such as goole.

Sorry, that first one, I didn't consider a diary, more just of a "hey all, I am going to start self pubbing" post.

I tried to delete the diary post with my name in it because the title of the post has my name in it, which I cannot delete (or at least could not figure out), but I don't think I can do that (I think it's a mod thing). MacAllister was nice enough to edit my username for me, and I thought that would solve it, not realizing the title of the post was something I could not edit.

Old Hack, can you help me with that?

Thanks for helping fix the mess.