Thanks for the feedback…and an update on my eye situation and my game plan going forward.

I appreciate the feedback I received in the poll I posted close to two weeks ago. There’s so much information out there on the internet telling authors what to do. Given my limitations, I can only do so much. There’s no point in wasting my time on avenues no one here is interested in.

Ebooks

I already have been doing this, but it’s nice to see where people prefer to get my books so I know where to focus my efforts. I have had no real interest over at Payhip. I will start linking BookFunnel to new releases on Payhip. I don’t know if the couple of people who said they were interested in BookFunnel are interested in buying through BookFunnel at Payhip. I did add Secret Admirer to BookFunnel as a “direct sale”. I will address this more below in the “BookFunnel” portion of this post.

But in the meantime, I will continue to keep uploading my books on as many retailer sites as I am able to, and I’m very happy to see that a variety of retailers were selected in the poll I ran.

Paperbacks

It’s going to be a slow process because I have so many books, but I have found someone to help me with making the paperback covers look better. I am focusing my efforts on the new books and will slowly go through the old ones. I had to stop using Amazon’s dashboard to make paperbacks. I switched everything to Draft2Digital, and they use Ingram’s printing system. The books can still be sent out to retailers like Amazon and Barnes & Noble. If I think about it, I’ll add links over here on my blog as I get these new additions up. (I might forget, so if there is a specific paperback you want to buy, let me know either in a comment on this blog or by filling out this form: https://ruthannnordinbooks.com/contact/ from my main website.

Audiobooks

I’m happy to see interest in these. These days, I can only “read” books that are in audio form unless they are short stories. I have everything up on Google Play and some on Kobo. I don’t know if anyone is interested in the Kobo audiobooks. I know I have an interest at Google Play because I can see that in my dashboard. I can only put audiobooks on Apple through Draft2Digital, and right now, I only have Secret Admirer and Midnight Wedding in that dashboard. The other romances are on my Smashwords dashboard. As for Audible and Amazon, that is all through ACX, and at the moment, they do not allow AI (or digital) narration. When they open that up to authors and allow me to use their AI technology to create audiobooks there, I will do so, BUT only if this option allows me to be wide with the audiobooks. I will not be exclusive to any retailer. I want my books to be widely available because not everyone wants to use the same retailer.

BookFunnel

I already put my ebooks on multiple retailers, but the one place I haven’t done that garnered interest was BookFunnel. That one will be slow going because I can only be on the computer a couple days a week. I have given this thought and have decided I will focus first on the books I currently have available for free since ARCs and the group promos are the most popular features on that site. I did set up a sales page for Secret Admirer over there at this link if anyone wants to see it. Ironically, the only way I can do a “direct sale” on BookFunnel is through Payhip, and I already have my books available over there. I don’t know how beneficial adding a “purchase direct” option is. This is the link for that. I am new to BookFunnel. Perhaps there is an easier way around this, but at the moment, I am having trouble making this easy to find within BookFunnel itself.

My guess is that I have to join group promos to be easy to find over there.

I haven’t tried to run an ARC or post a landing page over there yet. I can only handle one thing at a time. My priority is getting new books out there, and I’ve been struggling with this. I do want to figure out how to run an ARC campaign, but right now, I haven’t had the time to scroll through the information on doing this.

Regarding my eyes and my plan moving forward:

I went in for an eye check with an ophthalmologist last week to compare the results with what the optometrist found. The results didn’t find much difference, except that in addition to the narrow tear ducts, I also don’t produce enough oil under my eyelids. While this is good news, I have to figure out how to best take care of them.

One thing I am looking into is altering my diet. I believe that the healthier I am, the better my eyes will be. While eye drops are an option, I would rather not rely on them if I don’t have to. (By the way, the ophthalmologist warned against eye drops for “red eye” like the Visine I used to take. Those particular drops damage the eyes. So avoid anything that takes care of “red eyes”. You’re better off with something like Systane Complete.)

My second plan is to restrict all screen time. This will mean writing less books, and I am pretty much done marketing in any meaningful way. Getting off of social media was a smart move. I was slow in responding to emails before, so I feel bad that I’ll be even slower now, but even screen time on the phone has it’s problems. It all strains my eyes. Reading things on paper or in magazines also strain my eyes. I just can’t do these things like I used to. If I can’t listen to it, it’s pretty much out of the question. This is a challenge since I have always been more of a visual learner. For example, when I could read the Bible, I understood is so much better than I am now that I have to listen to it. Fiction is easier, and I can get engaged well with those in audio. But nonfiction, like the Bible, is something else.

My third plan is to incorporate a lot of outdoor time to my schedule. I have found that going out for walks has had a great impact on improving my eyes, especially when it’s warm and sunny out. Thankfully, I am in state now where there is a longer summer season. In Montana, it got cold around early October, and I was not able to start back up with my walks until some time in April. In Nebraska, the length of time for walking extends longer. I was able to start walking this year in March, and there were days in February where it was warm enough (with my coat on, of course) where I could get out.

My goal will be publishing three books a year.

I think I can make this happen. Last year, I was very slow. This year, I have been slow, too. I think my new pace is just going to be three books a year. I used to handle six to eight, and while a part of me is disheartened that I have to slow down, I’ll have to adjust to this. Even dictating won’t change this. I stumble with talking a blog post or a book just like I stumble at listening to nonfiction. It doesn’t come easily to me. Also, in dictation, there are errors that pop up that require more editing time to resolve. I might find I’m better off typing slower instead of having to edit something that’s been dictated. Whatever is the easiest way, I’ll do that. I’m sure there will be some trial and error on this front as I proceed forward.

I am going to aim for three days a week on the computer. I used to do five. Those five days were also fit with about five hours (on and off as I did chores). Now I am going to limit myself to three hours on my computer day. This includes writing, editing, marketing, emails, and stuff for the accountant. That will make things tighter on how much I can get done. I am not sure how I will balance all of this yet. My son isn’t really all that interested in helping me out, though he has been my “eyes” in the last blog post and in a few emails. He was also the one who told me what features BookFunnel had before I signed up for it. But this isn’t a passion for him like it is for me. I can’t even begin to describe how “excited” he was to read The Earl’s Jilted Bride for me so I could edit it through him. I had to keep asking him to slow down and speak up since all he wanted to do was get it over with. My husband has even less interest in it. These are initial edits, and initial edits are where rewrites happen. So it’s not a simple proofread.

I was hoping to get The Earl’s Jilted Bride out in September. I think I’ll have to wait for October now. Worth the Risk is planned for January. My edits used to take one month. Now they are going to two months. I admit this is frustrating, but I need to remember the quality of the book is more important than speed, and it’s not worth damaging my eyes more than I’ve already damaged them with all of the screen time I’ve put them under for the past 15 years.