Stephanie Erickson's Blog, page 2
September 10, 2016
Protected: The Dead World Sneak Peak
To view this protected post, enter the password below:
Password:
Submit
July 7, 2016
Protected:
To view this protected post, enter the password below:
Password:
Submit
July 2, 2016
Update!!
Hey guys! I thought I might give you an update after some mysterious radio silence. After a rather lackluster release on The Human, despite our best efforts, we had to make some hard choices. So, I pulled all my books off the other platforms, since I wasn’t getting more than ten sales a month total from there, and put them in Kindle Unlimited.
Now, I didn’t do this haphazardly or without thinking of how this would affect my readers. However, with around 10 sales per month across the other three platforms combined (iTunes, Nook and Kobo), I really had to think about my bottom line and not the 10 or so people who would be mad at me.
So we made the leap. We are now Kindle exclusive and I have to say, so far, things are looking up.
The Dead World
I had a bit of a delay with The Dead World after a small publisher showed some interest in the trilogy. What that would have meant for us is that we wouldn’t have to pay any production costs on the book, a very enticing prospect given our most recent flop of a release.
However, the contract they offered me left something to be desired, and we weren’t able to come to a common ground. But I don’t regret the interaction! I learned a lot. And, although The Dead World may be a few weeks later than originally hoped, it will be coming. Alive on the other hand will have to wait until next year.
So Now What?
So if I’m not working on Alive right now, what am I working on? An entirely new project. I’ve done a lot of genre research this month, and am working hard to write a book that will sell, but first I need a golden idea. So, I’m researching, reading, watching movies, and brainstorming. Some of my ideas are fair. Most will go in the slush pile. But soon I’ll have one that’s good enough to go on and I’ll get an entirely new series ready to be in your hands hopefully by the end of this year, maybe next year. We’ll see how the cards fall.
So that’s us. Hang in there with us this year while we try to hold on, and keep bringing you books you love to read!! Want to help me? Buy the books! And leave reviews! Lol!
June 2, 2016
Want a signed paperback???
Hi! So, we’ve been using Square for quite some time to sell paperbacks when Stephanie goes to events.
Its simplicity is fantastic and since we don’t go to events regularly, it makes sense to use a platform like Square that doesn’t charge us monthly maintenance fees. We used to use a different credit card merchant service and they charged something like $12.95 per month just to have it sit there. Um, no thanks.
Stephanie had a reader contact her today asking if she could send a signed paperback to give as a gift. The reader offered to pay through Paypal, which would be ok, but here we’ve got this Square account sitting idle, why not use it?
All this is to say that I just took advantage of Square’s free commerce website utility to allow anyone who wants, to buy any or all of Stephanie’s books with her autograph!!
Go take a look today!!
May 9, 2016
The Human: Release Giveaway!
My BIGGEST GIVEAWAY EVER!
Hello my lovely readers!
Guys, I have a large enough following on my newsletter and social media that if everyone rallied behind me I could be a USA Today Bestselling author. I still work two other jobs in addition to writing to make this dream happen. You could help me say goodbye to these two other jobs and write exclusively.
I want to give you as much incentive as possible to help me do this.
How?
I’ve made The Fate free for many of you one way or another.
If you haven’t yet read The Fate or The Reaper, they’ll be each be on sale for 0.99c May 13th-15th (get them here)
When The Human releases on May 29th, it’ll be available to you for an intro price of $2.99. It’ll go up to $3.99 on the 4th day after release.
And finally, I’ll be hosting a HUGE giveaway during the release period!!
The giveaway up to $500.00 will be open to anyone and everyone. I wouldn’t (and can’t legally) ask you to buy the book to get an entry into the contest. You’ll be eligible to win even if you don’t buy the ebook.
But, when you buy the ebook, you directly contribute to the size of the cash prize!
Here’s the plan:
If sales rank on Kindle (on May 29th, 30th, or 31st) reaches…
Unlimited to 3001: No cash prize
3,000-500: The Amazon Gift Card prize will be $25.00
499-200: The Amazon Gift Card prize will be $50.00
199-100: The Amazon Gift Card prize will be $100.00
OR if The Human lands on the USA Today Bestseller list: The Amazon Gift Card prize will be $500.00!!!! You can buy a lot of books with that kinda money!!
If you haven’t already, make sure you read The Fate and The Reaper. Mark your calendars for the release of The Human on May 29th and be ready to buy it at the reduced intro price!! Remember, your participation will really drive the excitement of this giveaway.
*No purchase necessary. Winner will be selected June 15th, 2016.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
April 25, 2016
I’m trying to clear my shelves!
I have some extra paperbacks sitting around of The Fate and The Reaper. The third book in The Children of Wisdom Trilogy is set to release on May 29th.
I’d like to give the extras away! I’ll sign them, of course! All I’d like to ask you to do to enter is comment on the blog below. Tell me if you’ve read The Fate (and hopefully also The Reaper). Tell me if you plan on buying The Human on its release day in a few weeks. Tell me if you plan on telling all your friends to join in and read. Tell me anything!
Make sure you complete this form AND comment on the blog all the way at the bottom of this page for your chance to win!!!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
March 11, 2016
Protected: Reaper Magnet Giveaway
To view this protected post, enter the password below:
Password:
Submit
July 31, 2015
July 16, 2015
A Look Back, and Making Sure I Still Like What I See
So, the other day I was looking at my calendar. When I do this, I’m always looking ahead. What do I have to do today, this week, this month, next month, how far am I from my next release, deadline, etc? It’s a never ending cycle of work, but somehow I love it, so it’s not really “work” in that “of course I’ll look in the back to see if I have that in your size, even though I just told you we don’t” kind of way. It’s work in that it’s hard, but I enjoy doing it, so I don’t dread it.
But, the other day, I was looking at my calendar, and decided to look back, to see what I was doing this time last year. What was I working on? What deadlines did I have? And how far have I come?
This time last year, I was working on Unseen. I’d just sent it to my brand new developmental editor, who came highly recommended from Denise Grover Swank. Hiring her was one of the best decisions I made last year.
Since then I’ve published 3 books, and written 4. Considering that my first book, The Blackout, took 3 years to write, and The Cure and Unseen took a year respectively, it’s quite an improvement I’d say. I can also look back and see a marked improvement on my writing overall from The Blackout to Undivided, which will be out in September. And I love that so much.
We have come so far in the last 365 days, and it’s fun to look back, but also to look ahead too. I have planned between now and July of next year to release 4 more books. I will have a brand new completed trilogy by this time next year. That is hard for me to comprehend right now, considering I haven’t started writing book 1 yet. And I wonder what changes will come into play that will impact my plans.
All in all, it’s fun and exciting! As I bring the Unseen trilogy to a close in a few weeks, I’m proud of not only where we’ve been, but where we’re going!
June 22, 2015
UtopYA 2015: Writing my own Future
Hey guys!
I just got home from UtopYA 2015 and man was it a blast!! I learned so much about publishing, what’s important, networking, table design, and more. I made a ton of new friends and I already can’t wait for next year’s event! So here’s a roundup of my trip:
Wednesday:
Got to Nashville, they did a fun scavenger hunt during the breaking the ice welcome thing for first timers which was very fun. I met some new people there that I had fun seeing throughout the conference. But most of us were just super pumped for the days to come. That night we got set up, and went to bed starry-eyed about the possibilities of the conference.
Thursday:
Ok, Thursday was AWESOME! After listening to an AMAZING keynote by Denise Grover Swank, I spent a few minutes at my table, before going to a panel with Marissa Meyer and Amy Bartol about word building. It was so interesting to hear the different approaches to writing, particularly as I start plotting an entirely new series! Loved it, and learned so much. Next, I got my copy of Cinder signed by Marissa (AAHH!), had lunch with Amy Bartol (!!!), Rachel Higginson, Heather Lyons, and Jamie Harris. Can you say little fish in a big pond?! That night I got to have dinner with some old and dear friends, which made the trip that much more special.
Friday
Friday I got to get a copy of Love and Decay by Rachel Higgenson, signed of course, and went to a panel with Amy Bartol and Denise Grover Swank to name a few, about the future of the publishing industry. By far, this was my favorite panel. They were all coming from such different backgrounds (some were traditionally published, some were indies like me, others were hybrids) so it was awesome to hear how many different roads you could take to success. Loved it. Friday night UtopYA hosted a Karaoke party, which was amazing and totally fun. All in all, another awesome day in Nashville.
Saturday
Saturday was my last day, since I left at 3 am on Sunday morning so I could get home for Father’s Day. It was the signing day, so basically they opened the doors to the public and let them wander the author’s tables and buy books, chat about books, and do all things books! It was so fun!
Saturday night was the awards ceremony, and Amy invited me to sit with her (!!!). So I got to be at her side when her book, Sea of Stars, was named Book of the Year and she was named Author of the Year. I was so grateful to be able to share that moment with her, and so filled with pride for her. She totally deserved it, and I’m still so freaking excited for her.
That about sums the trip up. Overall, I’d do it again with some small changes. Here’s hoping we can afford to go again next year!! Looks like they have some amazing things planned already!
Did you go to UtopYA this year? How was your experience? Planning to go next year? Let me know in the comments!
