Ruth Ann Nordin's Blog, page 35

Being True To Yourself May Not Be Easy, But It’s Worth It

Today’s post is inspired by the You Tube video I posted below. (The video is a little over seven minutes.)

Okay, so now for my take on this topic.

I think there is value in being honest with yourself and with those around you. This is something I’ve been working on recently. I had no idea that when I made the decision to write for passion in March 2018, I started a series of events that changed everything in my life. These changes weren’t just writing related; the changes are impacting how I deal with money, personal relationships, and my walk with God. I think once you start to seriously examine one area of your life, other areas end up coming into play. It’s like a domino effect.

But all of this did start with my decision to write for passion. Writing for passion requires honesty. It requires a writer to sit down and ask, “What do I really want to write?” On the surface, this seems like it would be easy to answer, but the reality is that the answer is surprisingly complicated because the writer has to come face to face with what he/she truly values in life. The writer has to tell the story in a way that lines up with what matters to him/her.

As soon as you start being true to yourself, you will upset some people. This can’t be avoided. Not everyone is going to like the changes you’re making. They would prefer you to stay the way you used to be. I think that’s because your new way of dealing with the world is not always compatible with the way those people deal with the world. This new path isn’t going to be a good fit with everyone in your life. Whatever your truth is, you will have people who don’t like it. That’s okay. Your mission is not to change other people’s minds. Your mission is to be true to who you are. If someone doesn’t like it, let them go.

Speaking as a writer, I have received criticisms from people ever since I decided to write for passion. Quite a few of them were pretty vocal in letting me know how much they hated my new characters and/or stories. When I wrote to market, I rarely received criticism. Now I receive it about every other month, and some people aren’t even kind in how they approach me. There is an upside to this. The more criticism you receive from other people, the tougher your skin gets. And I’m almost at the point now where the criticism doesn’t even bother me anymore. The thing that matters is that I wrote the story I wanted to write. So there might be that period of adjustment where you have to push through the negativity in order to continue down the path you started walking on. I think the criticisms are worth it because it’s fine tuning me as a writer.

Sometimes if you are catering your story to the greatest number of people (aka writing to market), you won’t be writing something that has the ability to touch people’s hearts. Stories that resonate with people are those in which the writer has invested him/herself into them. These are stories people will remember. These are stories that people will want to read over and over. These are stories where people are connected with the characters so intimately that they forget they’re even reading a book. I’m not looking to win popular approve or to make a lot of money. I’m looking for stories that matter to me and to those who like them. I will say that while I’ve had my share of critics, I have also received lovely feedback as well. The key is to focus on the positive.

Don’t be afraid of taking that first step toward being true to yourself. What matters is growing as a person. I’ve found that the first few steps are the hardest. There will be fear while you’re going into this. When I made the decision to write for passion, it was hard because I was giving up some nice money and I knew some people wouldn’t like my stories. I had days where I had to remove myself from the Internet just so I could be alone to figure myself out.

My original goal of being true to myself as a writer has led to my new goal of being true to myself as a person. (This is the domino effect in action.) Just recently, I have been working on establishing healthy boundaries in my personal life.  And these were boundaries that I had overstepped and others had overstepped. No one is perfect. We all have room for improvement, and It can be difficult to speak the truth to someone else, even when you are being kind and respectful. But if you’re dealing with people who can’t accept you for who you truly are, then are they really worth associating with? The answer, of course, is no. You want to honor other people’s truth, but they should also honor yours. Otherwise, the relationship isn’t healthy. (As a side note, by honor I don’t mean “agreement”. I mean “respect”. You can agree to disagree and still maintain a good relationship with someone.)

The bottom line is that as soon as you start being true to yourself in one area, I think it starts this snowball where other areas of your life start coming into play. The road isn’t easy. There will be some pain along the way. But if you think about it, babies have to fall before they learn to walk. Children fall off the bike before they can ride. There will be scrapes along the way, but if you keep going, you’ll be much better off for it. And you never know… Maybe you’ll impact someone else’s life for the better, and they will impact someone else’s life for the better, too. You might just be one person, but you can make a difference.

Things I’m Working On For The Summer

Got My Publishing Schedule in Place for the Rest of 2019

I finished up the first drafts of the four books I was working on. Lesson learned from that experience is that I can’t work on four books at once and have time for exercise. LOL So in the future, my limit is three. But I am glad I did four books because these books will take me through the rest of the year.

Here’s what my publishing schedule looks like:

The Wedding Pact: July 14

This is Book 3 in the Marriage by Fairytale Series.

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Fairest of Them All: August (Publishing Month)

This is Book 4 in the Marriage by Fairytale Series.

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Nelly’s Mail Order Husband: September (Publishing Month)

This is the first book in the Husbands for the Larson Sisters Series.

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Forever Yours: November (Publishing Month)

I’m going to try to slip this into the Nebraska Series. (Not sure if Amazon will let me do that. I know I can on the other retailers. Amazon can be a bit “touchy” when it comes to linking books in a series.)

COVER NOT DONE YET

(Cover artist will be working on it when her schedule is freed up.)

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I don’t have specific dates on exactly when Fairest of Them All, Nelly’s Mail Order Husband, and Forever Yours will be out. I’ll do that in the next few weeks. Right now, I have too many other things to focus on, which I’ll mention below.

Time to Think Of the Next Three Books I’ll Write

I’m taking the summer off from writing new books. My kids are now 16 (will be 17 in August), 15, 14, 13. I want to take advantage of the time I have with them. For the past three summers, I kept writing. I’ll still be engaged with the business side of writing, but those are things I can do a little at a time. Writing is more focused for me.

Anyway, during this time, I am going to thinking over what three books I’ll start on at the end of August.

I know I want to do another book for Tom and Jessica’s daughters. Nelly was the first one. Time to work on the second.

From the Archives: The Best Ending

Warning: This Post Contains Spoilers!

I thought I’d do something different for a change and post memorable scenes from my past books. Today’s post is from If It Takes A Scandal. Out of all the books I’ve written so far, this one is my favorite ending. If you read the book, you know a certain group of meddling gentlemen had this trick coming to them.

Kidnapping the Viscount is Available!

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This is the final book in the Marriage by Fate Series.

Here are all the books in the series:

Book 1: The Reclusive Earl
Book 2: Married In Haste
Book 3: Make Believe Bride
Book 4: The Perfect Duke
Book 5: Kidnapping the Viscount

This series wraps up the sub-plot with Ladies of Grace. I transition things from the point where Lady Eloise lost control of the group (in Married In Haste) to when Tara finally gained the advantage (in Kidnapping the Viscount). The group from this point will be much more positive.

I know this is a minor thing, but it’s something I’ve been wanting to get to ever since I wrote The Viscount’s Runaway Bride (Book 1 in the Marriage by Bargain Series). That was the book I introduced Lady Eloise and her group. As a side note, that book is free right now if you would like to see what Ladies of Grace was like in its beginning. Click on this page to get the links. The Viscount’s Runaway Bride is the first book on that page.

Sometimes it can take a couple of series to finally work out everything I had envisioned at the beginning. This is why these Regencies all take place in the same world.

Okay, so on to Kidnapping the Viscount. There really is more to this book than the Ladies of Grace group. At its core, Kidnapping the Viscount is a fun romantic comedy about a hero who is so determined to have the lady of his dreams that he’ll let her think she’s kidnapping him.

Here’s the description:

Miss Heather Duff met the love of her life. Then she let him go. And now she’s determined to get him back.

If there’s one thing Heather regrets, it’s that she let Lord Powell go. She listened to other people tell her what to do, so when Lord Powell proposed, she said no. It was the worst mistake she’s ever made, and now she’s determined to prove to Lord Powell that she wants a second chance.

Gill Easton, Viscount Powell, has never stopped loving Miss Duff. But a gentleman has his pride to protect. He can’t just let her walk back into his life as if nothing ever happened. And this puts him in a dilemma.

He’ll have to resort to unusual methods in order to get the lady of his dreams to marry him. In this case, the unusual method is to convince her to kidnap him…without letting her know he’s the one behind the whole scheme.

Don’t miss this romantic comedy featuring a feisty heroine, a hero who has to play hard to get, a meddling brother who doesn’t take even a minute to listen to what someone is trying to tell him, and a friend who doesn’t mind any kind of scandal so long as the cause is true love.

If this sounds like your kind of book, you can find it at these retailers:

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Barnes & Noble

Kobo

Apple

Google Play

Smashwords

 

 

The Decline of Self-Publishing

I’ve been taking in what authors have been discussing in author groups and speaking privately with a couple of author friends. My gut feeling has been telling me that I better make plans on what I should do when self-publishing is no longer the best venue for publishing. I wish I could dig up a comment someone had made back in 2010 about trends in publishing because what he said seems to be playing out in front of me. But one thing he said was that self-publishing would take off for a while, and then there would be a point where it went into decline. From the decline would come the resurgence of traditional publishers.

I have to admit, I thought that guy had a gloomy outlook on things at the time. Nevertheless, his words had stuck with me over the years, and the more I look around at what’s going on, the more I’m convinced he’s right. He based his assumptions off of the history of publishing. His argument was that things are cyclical. What has been is what will be.

Thinking over his words, I can see why publishers would become more attractive than self-publishing. I don’t have time to break down all the different scams going on, especially within Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited (KU) program, but people who are gaming the system at KU have weakened the integrity of self-publishing. In the author community, these people are called scammers. Now, I’m not going to say the scammers are the only reason I think self-publishing is in a state of decline. It’s just one part of several factors. But scammers have definitely hurt the quality of self-published books to a degree I’m not sure KU can ever recover from. This will probably mean the end of KU in the long run, and a lot of self-published authors’ careers have been built on KU. Since it’s a lot harder to get noticed on other retailers (Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple, Google Play), I don’t expect those KU authors to hold out for things to take off on those retailers. Amazon has made visibility easier, which is why so many authors have embraced exclusivity with them. Now it’s even harder to get visibility on the other retailers than it was a few years ago. This only makes an author new to a retailer harder to get noticed. It’s not impossible, but it’s harder, and a lot of KU authors will give up.

Another factor contributing to the decline in self-publishing is the “pay to play” trend. If authors don’t have money to spend on ads, they’ll see sales decline because ads give them visibility. In the end, those with the money can stay relevant. Those without the money won’t. There’s no way I can spend significant money on ads every month. Most authors budget $50 or so a month. But there are some who spend $1000 or more. That’s every single month. Those authors who have the most money will get the most exposure, and exposure means sales. So the more you pay, the more you sell, which leads to the more you can play. Hence the term “pay to play”. Already, I’m hearing rumblings from authors who said their ads are no longer effective, and it’s because they can’t afford to spend more than they already are. Thus, those who can’t afford the ads will end up being weeded out of the self-publishing business.

And another factor in the decline of self-publishing is the saturation of books in the market. There’s no way anyone can read all of the books out there. Even if someone reads 2-3 books a day, they’ll never read all of the stuff that’s currently available. This glut of books in the market means that it’s going to get harder and harder for authors to get noticed or even stay afloat. For example, I’ll search for particular things within romance that I want to read, and most of the results are sponsored ads (that often don’t even match what I’m searching for). I might find one or two promising books within a few pages of scrolling through my search terms, but even those aren’t fitting exactly what I want to read. I have to rely on the Freebooksy emails, Bookbub recommendations, or running into an author on social media by accident in order to even KNOW the author/book exists. Of all of that, I probably go on to buy about 5% of anything I come across. That’s a very low number of books. But it’s hard to find what I’m looking for. This makes it hard for authors to get noticed, especially new ones who haven’t had time to build a platform.

So, I think these are the major forces that will eventually drive out a lot of self-published authors.

I don’t think self-publishing will completely go away. With the internet being the way it is, it’s hard to imagine that people won’t be able to keep publishing their own books. The question, however, becomes whether or not the people can afford to publish their own books. I’ve mentioned this a couple of times in the past on this blog, but most authors are not financially independent. They need to earn money in order to make publishing books worth it. Authors have bills to pay, just like everyone else. If authors can’t make enough money from the sale of their books to pay their bills, they will have to find another job. It’s just the way it is. It’s not that they want to stop writing. It’s that they have to.

I see no reason why any author should be asked to write for free. On average, a book costs about $500-$1000 to produce (that factors in editing, covers, formatting). So they need to get back the cost on making the book, and after that, they can pay their bills. If they aren’t selling books, the math doesn’t work out. I guess one could argue the author can work a job outside the home and use that money to pay for producing a book, but it’s more likely that the author will need to spend that money on bills or save it. So I think the financial angle will weed out a lot of self-published authors, too. And, since publishers take on the cost of book production (getting the edits, covers, and formatting done), it will make traditional publishing more attractive to the average author.

Now, these are just my own thoughts on the topic. I don’t have a magic ball. But I believe we’re looking at the decline in self-publishing, and I believe this will lead to a rise in the traditional publishers.

This is Why I Publish My Books On More Than One Retailer

I just found out Mitch’s Win, Boaz’s Wager, and Patty’s Gamble are not available on the Amazon UK site. I knew Patty’s Gamble hasn’t been available on the Amazon Australia site.  Meanwhile, Google Play isn’t showing Shane’s Deal, Just Good Friends, or the pre-order for Kidnapping the Viscount.

This hasn’t only been limited to those two sites. I’ve had this happen on Kobo in the past, too. As far as I know Apple and B&N have been okay. But I haven’t received feedback from people telling me they can’t find them on those sites, so at one time, maybe there was something missing. I have no idea what to think.

Sometimes there’s a glitch in the system. It’s no one’s fault. It just happens. But this is why I have never been exclusive to only one retailer. No matter what the retailer is, I refuse to be exclusive to it.

Okay, in the course of writing this post, someone in a FB group said they found Just Good Friends and Kidnapping the Viscount on Google Play. So within ten minutes, the books went from missing to being there. True story, guys. I’m not making this up!

See what I mean about unpredictability? Sometimes there’s no rhyme or reason to some of this stuff.

But that’s why I’m on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple, Google Play, and Smashwords (and the smaller channels Smashwords distributes to). I want to be available in as many places as I can. I don’t know if you will want to go to another retailer to get a book that isn’t on the one you prefer. (I, myself, am pretty loyal to my retailer, so I understand why you might not want to.) I am sorry if you can’t get one of my books on the retailer you prefer. I am doing all I can to rectify that issue, but I can’t promise my efforts will work.

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I wrote the stuff above yesterday evening. Then I put this post in my draft folder since I wasn’t sure I wanted to publish the post. This morning I got an email from an author friend who had a pre-order up on Barnes & Noble. The book had been on pre-order without any problems. Then the book released today. And it disappeared from the Barnes & Noble store this morning. She had no warning. This is a horrible thing to happen on a book’s release day. So now I know of a case where this happened on Barnes & Noble.

This tells me that no retailer is immune this kind of thing. And this is why it’s best for all authors to be on every retailer possible. It’s also best for readers. I know it’s inconvenient to buy a book from another retailer, but at least there’s the choice to do that. If the author only published the book on one retailer and that retailer didn’t show the book (for whatever reason), at least the book can be found somewhere else.

Shane’s Deal (Montana Collection: Book 4) is Now Available!

For those of you who wanted to see the Montana Collection complete, Shane’s Deal is finally here! Thank you for being patient and waiting.

Shane’s Deal (Montana Collection: Book 4) is Due out April 5

I’ve gotten a few questions about when Shane’s Deal will be out, and I can now point everyone to the links were they can go to get it if they want to pre-order it. The only place it’s not on right now is Google Play, but my publisher does have it ready to go over there, so it will be there.

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Click here for the pre-order links!

This is the last book in the Montana Collection. For easy reference, here are the other books:

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When I was working on Shane’s Deal, I had the covers changed for the series has an updated look. That’s why you might not recognize them.

Write What You Want To Write

This post is for writers, especially those who need some encouragement.

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ID 44809591 © Ayse Ezgi Icmeli | Dreamstime.com

The quickest way to kill your enthusiasm for writing is to write what someone else wants you to write.

Seriously, it’s as simple as that. This is your story. You are the only one who can write it. While I know the urge to please everyone is a strong one, it’s an impossible goal. If your books reach enough people, there will be someone who hates it. Whether it’s the main character, the plot, some technical inaccuracy, the writing style, etc, there will be something someone doesn’t like. You can’t avoid it.

Go on and check your favorite traditionally published authors who’ve been around for years. Do they all get 5-star reviews? No. There are people who don’t like their books. Take a good look at the 1 and 2-star reviews. Now, keep in mind that these are your favorite authors. Do you agree with the reviewers who didn’t like those authors’ books? Or do you think, “Wow, those people don’t understand how brilliant these authors are”? Or maybe you can see some value in their criticism, but you enjoy the authors’ books anyway, so you really don’t care what the critics had to say.

I mention all of this because there’s one truth in writing that often gets overlooked.

Taste is subjective.

People’s tastes range in a variety of areas. Not everyone likes the same songs, same movies, same art, same food, or the same houses. I could go on, but you get my point. If we all liked the same thing, life would be boring. Case in point, I hate mysteries. If the only books available to read were mysteries, I’d never read anything. Also, there are certain types of heroes I can’t stand. I hate the hero who sleeps around. As soon as one pops up in a story, I toss the book out.

So you see, readers come to every book with a set of biases. Is that wrong? Of course not. Writers come to every story they write with a set of biases, too. I have my biases, and you have yours. This is why I am the only person qualified to write my story, and you are the only one qualified to write your story. Stories should be as unique as a fingerprint. People who love your work should be able to read your story and see “you” in it. Your voice, your writing style, the type of stories you write, and the types of characters you use should all be like a fingerprint.

Does this mean you should write the same stories over and over? No. You definitely want to write different stories. If you wrote the same kind of story all the time, it would bore people. But you will have things you lean toward. You’ll naturally lean toward a certain genre. You’ll naturally lean toward certain character types. You’ll naturally lean toward a certain time period, whether it be historical, contemporary, or futuristic.

The key is to embrace those things that most excite you. Instead of asking, “What does someone else want to read when they pick up a book?”, ask, “What do I want to read when I pick up a book?” If you are the person you are writing for, you will have an enthusiasm for writing that energizes you. You’ll come to your work with overflowing excitement. You’ll be anxious to get out of bed just so you can write.

I’ve approached writing both ways. I’ve written for others, and I’ve written for myself. Each and every story I’ve written for me has been my best work. When you write the story you want to write, you will naturally do your best. The characters will come alive. Everything will be like a movie playing out in your mind, and all you have to do is type out what you’re watching. The story takes on a life of its own. You end up falling in love with your own work.

This is what writing for passion is like. This is why writing for passion matters. Writing for passion means you write what you want to write. You kick out the critic who’s telling you what others want you to do, and you focus on the creative part of your brain that tells you what you want to do.

And as inspiring as all that sounds, I know it’s not easy to do. Sometimes you’ll be tempted to give into the critic. I get tempted, too. But I have good news.

There are some ways to help combat this temptation so you can focus on writing what you want.

1. Take yourself offline when you write. No emails, no messages, no texts. Set aside a routine where you get away from all distractions and just write. You can have your favorite music in the background, white noise, or silence. The point is you learn to write when you’re in a relaxed atmosphere where there are no distractions. After a while, it will get easier to focus on the creative side of your brain that wants to tell the story.

2. Embrace positive people. We need to watch who we choose to let into our circle. Writers who are negative will end up bringing you down. Now, we all have our bad days, and there’s nothing wrong with venting one’s frustrations. But if someone in your circle is continually negative, you’re better off parting ways. These people are toxic, and they end up draining you of your enthusiasm. Also, avoid the nitpickers who like to find fault with everything. They will never approve of anything you write. Don’t give them power over you.

3. Stop listening to authors who write to market. Their goal isn’t the same as someone who’s writing for passion. These authors want sales. They’re interested in the bottom line: money. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s not going to help you find the inward fulfillment in writing that only passion can bring. If your goal is to have joy in writing, then you can’t focus on the same things they do. It’s easier to put your focus on where you want to go if you choose to listen to other authors who have the same mindset that you do. So find authors who also want to write for passion and listen to them.

4. Remember this is your book. You are the writer. It’s your name (or pen name) that is going on the cover. This should be something you’re proud of. It should be something you get fired up about. This should be something that you will want to read over and over again in the future. Yeah, I know that sound egotistical, but if you aren’t 100% excited about reading your book, then why should someone else be excited to read it?

5. Keep the end game in mind. The end game is for you to be happy with your book. If someone doesn’t like your book, it’s not the end of the world. There are so many books out there that there is NO reason why you have to write the book the critics want to read. They need to go find an author they can enjoy, and if they can’t do that, they are free to write their own stuff.

6. Focus on people who love your books. Ignore the critics. We are writers who write what we want to write, and we shouldn’t be ashamed of it. Take joy in what you do. I promise you that someone out there will love your book exactly the way you wrote it, and people who love what you do are the ones you should focus on. My advice is for you to print out the positive feedback you get on your books and put them in a place where you  can read them whenever you start to doubt yourself. Repeat this to yourself as much as you need to: “I do not write for everyone.” You will never please everyone. It’s pointless to try. But you can please yourself, and in doing so, you will please some people.

Updates On What I’m Doing

It’s been a while since I gave an update on what’s happening, so I thought I’d do that today.