Aisha Urooj's Blog - Posts Tagged "writing"

Do you know about Indie April? During the month of April, readers on twitter are encouraged to read and support independently published authors. Indie authors can use the hashtag #IndieApril to talk about their books, novellas, short stories etc.

As an indie author myself, the support is encouraging and uplifting. Finding the writing community on Twitter has been a pleasant discovery. Someone once tweeted a gif of bugs bunny flexing to describe the feeling of being in the writing community. The image made me laugh however I agree with the sentiment.

If you are a budding writer and want to find like-minded support, I do encourage you to find the writing community. There you will find reviewers, people who spotlight indie books and authors, writing tips and lots of other information to hone your craft.

If you are a reader supporting #indieapril, you can help me by purchasing my book 😅

My Dear Ellie by Aisha Urooj

https://buff.ly/3aOvceQ

USA: https://amazon.com/dp/B083JJK8TY

Canada:
https://amazon.ca/dp/B083JJK8TY

This is an update on my current writing pursuits. As you know, I just finished the second book in the love and friendship trilogy, Eleanor’s Travels. I thought that after I completed this book, I would either:

1. Complete the sequel to my dark comedy novella, Divine Error. I was already halfway done.

2. Start on the final book for the YA trilogy. I have the first few chapters ready.

So, what am I working on now? I am working on 3. A brand new project because inspiration struck and refuses to let go 😅 So, all my other projects are on hold while I work on this new book.

So far, this is what I know. It will be a standalone, epic, love, fantasy novel based on a mythical creature (I won’t reveal what yet). It will also be my longest project to date. I hope that it will be 90k in length, but as I have mentioned before, underwriting is my weak point… so wish me luck 😔

The good news.. if all goes well, it will be ready in a few months. I will excited to share it with all of you. I have already work on the book cover, and it is so pretty 😍🥰

I also think I won’t do pre-order this time, and I will publish it straightaway. I am a small fish author in the large ocean of literary works, and my pre-order rates are just depressing at this moment lol 🐟🌊

Thank you for stopping by, and following me on my writing journey.

I thought I end the year by talking about my latest project, one that I hope would be ready by February.

I am 53k into my 90k YA fantasy book. This is in a way most alarming to me 😆 I hadn’t expected this rapid pace, but I am sure it will be slower now that I am stuck. The ending is done, it is just the middle part and the action packed climax that I have to write. I am still not sure that would be enough for my total word count goal.

I still won’t reveal the cover or the premise of the story. I will drop the book on you when it is complete 😁 I will, however, share with you one little tidbit. In my newest project, I like the male protagonist better than my female lead.

This is rare because I love all my characters equally in all my books, regardless of gender, even if it is a minor character. But he is a complex being, equal parts frustrating, tragic, and oh so charming ❤ I can’t wait for you to meet him.

I end this blog post by wishing you the very best in the coming year. My hope is to improve my writing, my books and share with you all my triumphs and challenges. I hope that you will continue to follow me on my writing journey. Thank you for reading 😊

I thought I would surprise you with preview for my next novel: Sleeping Beauty No More. The book will be released on June 17th, 2021, if you want to grab a copy. This is again a fantasy book and a fairy tale retelling.
I hope you like it 😊

Her prince never came.

She woke up after sleeping for a hundred years. She had been forgotten in her tower. Now she needs to find out why. What happened in the past? How could sixteen-year-old Aurora reclaim her lost kingdom?

Aurora meets a handsome thief named Devon. He had been using her tower as his hideout. Devon and his gang of thieves, known as the Circle, promise to help defeat the witch who put Aurora under the curse. Together, they will help her end the wicked witch’s tyranny over her kingdom.

Can Aurora change the lines of her destiny, or will she forever remain the princess that was forgotten?

Pre-order link: https:/books2read.com/SBNM

Sleeping Beauty No More
Release date: June 17th, 2021
Thank you for reading and supporting me on my writing journey 🥰

Hi everyone! 😊

I wanted to share some exciting updates with you this week.

Eleanor’s Travels is now available worldwide here: books2read.com/ELT

This is my contemporary romance, world adventure story. It is the second book in the Love and Friendship trilogy, which can be read as a standalone, where Eleanor goes on an epic trip around the world. She goes to twenty one countries, seven continents. It is a story of self-discovery as well as celebration of the wonderful cultures and people of our world.

Another exciting news (something I spend this week learning), this blog is now available in podcast format. I am slowly transferring my back catalogue of blog posts to this format. You can check it out here: anchor.fm/aisha-urooj

The podcast will be on Spotify, Google podcast, Radiopublic, Breaker, and many other podcast show distributors.

Thank you for reading 😊 I hope you have a wonderful day.

This is going to be one of those writing update posts, so bear with me 😉

Eleanor’s Travels is now available as an audiobook on audible and iTunes 🥳 The narrator, Jojo Parks, did a wonderful job with the accents. This is her first time narrating an audiobook.

Jojo parks, 20-year-old voice actor and book-lover working from her home studio in New Jersey, has performed in plays and musicals since 7 years old. In addition to musicals, she also has experience with Shakespeare and straight plays, as well as podcasting.

She can do variety of accents, including British, Irish, French, Midwestern American, Southern American, Eastern European, Australian, and Scottish 🤩 Jojo has also been an NJACT Perry award nominee for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical.

I hope that you check out her talent!
www.backstage.com/vo/jojo-parks/
http://mybook.to/Eleanors-Travels

All of my books are now available on Google play books 🥳 I hope I can reach more readers worldwide!

My Dear Ellie and Divine Error both have a new price of only $0.99. If you like to check out my writing 🥰

My marketing attempts had me lose my book earnings for the previous two months (not that I made that much). Paid newsletters were a bust. It is tough being both a writer and marketer, but I am going through the steep learning curve.

Hopefully, I will emerge smarter, wiser and with profit 😆 I have one more paid newsletter for this Sunday. I hope it goes much better than the last two 🍀☘

Being an Indie author comes with challenges, especially when it comes to visibility. That is why I am always grateful when readers leave a review 😊🙏 I am usually seen floating in the clouds when someone likes my books 😂☁️

Thank you for following me on my writing journey. It has both ups and downs, but it is a wonderful and worthwhile experience.

It is currently tax season here, so I have been busy adulting. I will come back next week with a movie, art, animation, or book post for you. Stay tuned and stay safe! As always, this blog will be available as an podcast on anchor.fm/aisha-urooj

I hope that you have a great day today ⛱

Hi everyone,

I was glad that my Indie April blog posts were productive and that I was able to review many great Indie books last month. Since it has been a while, I wanted to update you all on where I am in my writing, and what my goals are for the coming months.

Book review goals:

I would love to get more ratings/reviews. It is always a thrill to hear back from readers (and to know that they are enjoying my books). The Stone Mermaid has received a few reviews since its February release, which is wonderful. I hope that more readers will give my romance fantasy a chance, and add it to their reading list ❤

Book marketing/promotion/ads:

This still remains a elusive, magical unicorn to a mere mortal like me 🥺 The ultimate dream is to have people buy my books because of word of mouth and others readers’ recommendations. I will continue working hard. I won’t stop until I can write a book that is emotionally resonant and that moves your hearts. I promise you this 😊

My current WIP (work in progress):

Sleeping Beauty No More will release in mid July. Each book that I write seem to have different writing challenges. I went through a dull phase while writing, which thankfully has passed. I feel like this book will be better shorter, but we will see. I was feeling meh about this book until I added a Romeo/Juliet side arc. I will also pay homage to other scenes that I feel are the most romantic in literature. The book became more exciting by adding a dragon 😆🐉

Writers write about writer’s block (😅) but there is another challenge that I face: When the ideas/thoughts rushes in like a flash flood. In those crazy moments of crashing thoughts, I get paralyzed and can’t type/write fast enough. I know that some writers use dictating programs to record their ideas. Maybe I will look into this, but I hesitate as I will have to get used to hearing myself recording, lol. I have lost a few great ideas/dialogues/scenes because I couldn’t write them down, and then I forget them when I sat to write 😔

These are all the thoughts for today 😊Thank you for reading this blog post and for following me on my writing journey.

I hope that you have a wonderful day!

My upcoming book is available on Pre-order if you like to check it out: books2read.com/SBNM

This blog can be found as a podcast at anchor.fm/aisha-urooj

For this edition of Things You Might Not Have Seen, I will talk about the song lyrics for Voila by Barbara Pravi.

I rarely watch tv, but when I do, I somehow stumble upon gems. This year I caught the Eurovision song contest and the song represented by France. Let us just say that my reaction was this 😍 because my words were incoherent. To describe the feeling? It was like coming across a part of you, out in the world.

I poured over the song lyrics and the feeling became even stronger. This song is a cry of all artists. It is the vulnerability we share after each artistic creation, whether it be a painting, or a piece of writing, music, or anything else. “Love me”, our hearts collectively ask, but are too vulnerable to say out loud.

To say I am obsessed with this song would be an understatement. I hope Voilà can convey to you how much artists want to be heard, seen, felt through our arts (that includes me with my writing).

I hope that you liked today’s blog post. Thank you for dropping by 😊

For this edition of Things You Might Not Have Seen, I will talk about the book The Successful Author Mindset: A Handbook For Surviving the Writer’s Journey by Joanna Penn.


A successful mindset is important in any career; it makes sense to be in writing too. Joanna Penn highlights problems that haunt authors, such as self-doubt and perfectionism. She also offers antidotes to these situations. Her best advice: Don’t let self-doubt stifle your creative spirit. Keep writing.

Joanna offers to the readers snippets from her journal, which adds a personal touch to the book. Her voice is clear and compassionate. She has been on the writing journey too and it can be lonely at times. For instance, Joanna shares how anxious she used to get before her early public speaking appearances, but onstage, she would mask her nerves with a smile. She talks about about uncreative she used to feel, and how she took ownership of her self-doubt by naming her podcast and blog as the ‘Creative’ Penn.

Joanna encourages writers to keep a journal to write out their thoughts and feelings when going through a really tough phase. She says that writing about your challenges can help you to become more objective about the situation and perhaps even find a solution. I think that keeping a journal is a successful habit that can help in other professions too.

I haven’t finished this book yet (because I am in the editing stages for my next book, soon to be released 😬) but I know that I will read Joanna’s book time and time again for all the wonderful advice and insights.

This is a great book to learn from if you are a writer, want to be a writer, or are just interested in reading about the creative challenges that writers go through.

I hope that you liked today’s blog post. Thank you for reading! 😊

You can also find this blog post as a podcast at anchor.fm/aisha-urooj

If you have been following my blog, you know that I share the good and, er, not-so-good aspects of being an Indie author. You might remember that my last marketing effort wasn’t successful.

But like any worthwhile endeavor, be it writing, business, or career, persistence is key. That, and quickly forgetting about past failures 😆 Optimism amnesia, it is!

So, was I successful in my latest effort?

Maybe 😬

Depends on what I look at.

I used paid newsletters (again), combined with a discounted book. If you didn’t know, on Amazon the royalty rate for a book below $1 is only 35% (or 33 cents). It is slightly better at other retailers (maybe 60 or 70 cents).

Why would I list a normally $4.99 book to less than $1? (What is this madness, you might say) I want to reach readers who will give my book a chance at the lower price point. The hope is that they will like my writing enough to give my other books a chance, too.

How did I do?

I will start with the good.

I got a shiny new #1 Bestseller banner on Amazon (that I will etch eternally in my mind, remembering it fondly during the harder days as a writer).

The other good: reaching international readers in Australia, New Zealand, UK 🥰

The not so good: The expensive pricetag 😭

I made back 18% of what I spend (so far). I remind myself that being an Indie author is a looooong commitment. The adage is: It is a marathon, not a sprint.

The sale is still ongoing for a few more days, if you like to grab a copy of Eleanor’s Travels for only $0.99: http://books2read.com/ELT

In other news, I am currently running along to release my latest fantasy romance book, Sleeping Beauty No More on July 17th, 2021.

Thank you for reading today’s blog. I hope that you have a great day! 😊