If I had my author career to do all over again, I wouldn't make these same mistakes.
WHEN MY FIRST BOOK CAME OUT, I WAS ON TOP OF THE WORLD.
Truly. Change of Hart shot out of the gate at number 49 on the entire paid Kindle store. And this was after Kindle Unlimited had launched so the algorithms were working against me which made that number even more impressive.
Being that I was a first time author, though, I didn't know what was normal. I didn't know that this was an incredible feat and not at all the norm. I also didn't know that in order to sustain sales like this, I HAD to have a solid business plan.
I didn't even have a weak one.
Consequently, every release after that was worse than the one before and the idea of even being in the top 1000 again seemed like a far off dream I would never be able to make happen.
To make matters worse, I was so far off the mark on what it takes to run a business, a truly successful business, my writing was all over the map. I tried to stay within sports romance but I did everything from sweet romance to contemporary to teetering on the edge of erotica to romcom. There was no rhyme or reason as to why I wrote what I wrote and no one could keep up with what to expect next. Not even myself.
I share this because I don't want you to learn lessons the hard way like I did. I want you to have an effective business full of lots of sales and lots of loyal readers. I want you to know the things I didn't.
The problem I run into now is I still have ideas that jump all over the place. I still like writing different genres, and sometimes really need to in order to keep my brain from "locking up". There had to be a way to use all these random stories too, right?
This is where Anabeth Carston comes in.
Andrea Johnston and I write romantic comedy together. When you see our names on the same book, you know what you're going to get—fun, light, happy. There's always a swoony HEA. Unfortunately, the state of the world today has dried up some of those stories. Others, however, have taken over.
The idea for a paranormal romance suddenly hit us, and was so far out of norm it got us out of the "funk" we had been in. Words were flowing and world building was percolating. it was so fun to be able to do whatever we wanted with characters. Everything from magic to shifting to medical treatments that make no sense in the human world. It was writing for sheer pleasure.
Knowing that paranormal is so far out of lanes, we decided to make this easy on you, our readers.
Anytime you see the author "Anabeth Carston", that's Andrea and I. That's us writing paranormal romance. It might have a bit of small town. It might have some humor. It might have some sports. But overall, it's your direct sign that what you're picking up is a nice, cozy paranormal romance. When you see "Anabeth Carston" you'll know exactly what to expect.
So here's to not making the same business mistakes I did! And here's to always giving readers what they want—transparency and ease of information.
And fingers crossed this helps you stay focused on your own journey.
Speaking of...
~~
Just in Time for Halloween
PANTHER by Anabeth Carston
Clara Norton's infant daughter is dying and no one seems to know why.
To make matters worse, the man who swore to be by her side has disappeared and left her to handle it all on her own.
When a strange woman makes a dramatic entrance into Clara's life, the solutions to her life-or-death problem is right in front of her.
But it means everything Clara thought she knew is about to be challenged and her life will never be the same.
Amazon https://amzn.to/3kms016
Apple Books https://apple.co/2VRJh90
Kobo https://bit.ly/2XGdeK3
Nook https://bit.ly/3AD6tY1
~~
BOOK NEWS!!
Exciting things are happening. Here's what new!
Did you see the new cover of Matter of Fact?
Yep, I changed it already. Just in time for it's release in November!
Don't forget to preorder the FINAL BOOK in the Hart Series! You're going to love how it comes full circle!
Apple Books: https://apple.co/3ABAY0A
Nook: https://bit.ly/3AxHjdu
Kobo: https://bit.ly/3qQcJqW
Amazon US: https://amzn.to/3hDkkVP
Amazon CA: https://amzn.to/3yveBbi
Amazon AU: https://amzn.to/3wmB5Ki
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/3ACu5Mv
~~
Care to help a friend out?
I'm looking for feedback from readers like you! This information will help me as I plan books and marketing for the future. If you're interested just fill out this form.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FA...
Thanks for your help!
Truly. Change of Hart shot out of the gate at number 49 on the entire paid Kindle store. And this was after Kindle Unlimited had launched so the algorithms were working against me which made that number even more impressive.
Being that I was a first time author, though, I didn't know what was normal. I didn't know that this was an incredible feat and not at all the norm. I also didn't know that in order to sustain sales like this, I HAD to have a solid business plan.
I didn't even have a weak one.
Consequently, every release after that was worse than the one before and the idea of even being in the top 1000 again seemed like a far off dream I would never be able to make happen.
To make matters worse, I was so far off the mark on what it takes to run a business, a truly successful business, my writing was all over the map. I tried to stay within sports romance but I did everything from sweet romance to contemporary to teetering on the edge of erotica to romcom. There was no rhyme or reason as to why I wrote what I wrote and no one could keep up with what to expect next. Not even myself.
I share this because I don't want you to learn lessons the hard way like I did. I want you to have an effective business full of lots of sales and lots of loyal readers. I want you to know the things I didn't.
The problem I run into now is I still have ideas that jump all over the place. I still like writing different genres, and sometimes really need to in order to keep my brain from "locking up". There had to be a way to use all these random stories too, right?
This is where Anabeth Carston comes in.
Andrea Johnston and I write romantic comedy together. When you see our names on the same book, you know what you're going to get—fun, light, happy. There's always a swoony HEA. Unfortunately, the state of the world today has dried up some of those stories. Others, however, have taken over.
The idea for a paranormal romance suddenly hit us, and was so far out of norm it got us out of the "funk" we had been in. Words were flowing and world building was percolating. it was so fun to be able to do whatever we wanted with characters. Everything from magic to shifting to medical treatments that make no sense in the human world. It was writing for sheer pleasure.
Knowing that paranormal is so far out of lanes, we decided to make this easy on you, our readers.
Anytime you see the author "Anabeth Carston", that's Andrea and I. That's us writing paranormal romance. It might have a bit of small town. It might have some humor. It might have some sports. But overall, it's your direct sign that what you're picking up is a nice, cozy paranormal romance. When you see "Anabeth Carston" you'll know exactly what to expect.
So here's to not making the same business mistakes I did! And here's to always giving readers what they want—transparency and ease of information.
And fingers crossed this helps you stay focused on your own journey.
Speaking of...
~~
Just in Time for Halloween
PANTHER by Anabeth Carston
Clara Norton's infant daughter is dying and no one seems to know why.
To make matters worse, the man who swore to be by her side has disappeared and left her to handle it all on her own.
When a strange woman makes a dramatic entrance into Clara's life, the solutions to her life-or-death problem is right in front of her.
But it means everything Clara thought she knew is about to be challenged and her life will never be the same.
Amazon https://amzn.to/3kms016
Apple Books https://apple.co/2VRJh90
Kobo https://bit.ly/2XGdeK3
Nook https://bit.ly/3AD6tY1
~~
BOOK NEWS!!
Exciting things are happening. Here's what new!
Did you see the new cover of Matter of Fact?
Yep, I changed it already. Just in time for it's release in November!
Don't forget to preorder the FINAL BOOK in the Hart Series! You're going to love how it comes full circle!
Apple Books: https://apple.co/3ABAY0A
Nook: https://bit.ly/3AxHjdu
Kobo: https://bit.ly/3qQcJqW
Amazon US: https://amzn.to/3hDkkVP
Amazon CA: https://amzn.to/3yveBbi
Amazon AU: https://amzn.to/3wmB5Ki
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/3ACu5Mv
~~
Care to help a friend out?
I'm looking for feedback from readers like you! This information will help me as I plan books and marketing for the future. If you're interested just fill out this form.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FA...
Thanks for your help!
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