Quest for Self-Publishing Answers
When I say I've been writing...
I mean I've been writing. A ton. I have three Liz Lee books almost ready to go. I'm waiting until they're all done so there won't be a log between books again. I have a Mary Beth Lee book, the third (YA Paranormal) Sharlene Gallagher book, ready too.
I don't know if I'm doing this right or not. I guess I'll see.
I feel torn. Like I should post the books as soon as they're done no matter what. But then I feel like it's a LONG wait time between books for readers. I could have gone through my backlist and cleaned up some old books. I don't know.
It's so strange. It's like I get in this mindset of I need to do more, write more, publish more because author YXZ is. I know that's not the way to do this, but it's tough not to sometimes.
The one thing I know for sure is I've had a blast writing the the books that will release over the next few months. It's fun to see these stories come to life.
It's fun to write every day. It's fun to find the perfect soundtrack for the stories and to push the conflicts and to challenge myself to do better every day.
It's also fun to reconnect with writers. I can't wait to see what happens over the next few months. How will sales pan out? I ask myself that constantly. I sell around 100 books a month right now. And I do that without advertising. I don't want to spend time advertising when I work long hours. I want to write in my off time.
Should I offer audio on everything?
I belong to two loops that say yes. They say I should offer the books in every format possible everywhere. I don't know. I'm torn. My first books were KDP Select. They've sold the most.
Should I focus on social media? I LOVE twitter. My @marybethleeybnp profile is far more active. But I can't stand reading constant book ads on twitter. I think I've clicked on one and bought a book. One. In four years. Or however long I've had an account.
Should I do contests? Do I need a street team? What about blog hops? Do I need a DBA? I read a GREAT book, The Naked Truth About Self Publishing. It answers a lot of these questions, but then I'm face with do I do all that, or do I write and never have these long lags between books again. OR is it a you need to do it all type of thing?
I don't know.
My friend Mel is a prolific writer and she's an amazing promoter. I can't do all she does, and I have nowhere near the number of books she has. So maybe that's the real answer. Maybe I just need to focus on building my list of books and be aware of when I hit the place where I need to focus on marketing. But focusing on marketing almost seems...I don't know...salesman-y. But then, that's the point. To sell the books.
I'm sure I'm not the only self-pubbed author looking at all this and wondering what the right asnwers are. I'll keep people posted here.
In the mean time, I'm going to write and write and write.
This is my dream, and I'm not giving it up.
I mean I've been writing. A ton. I have three Liz Lee books almost ready to go. I'm waiting until they're all done so there won't be a log between books again. I have a Mary Beth Lee book, the third (YA Paranormal) Sharlene Gallagher book, ready too.
I don't know if I'm doing this right or not. I guess I'll see.
I feel torn. Like I should post the books as soon as they're done no matter what. But then I feel like it's a LONG wait time between books for readers. I could have gone through my backlist and cleaned up some old books. I don't know.
It's so strange. It's like I get in this mindset of I need to do more, write more, publish more because author YXZ is. I know that's not the way to do this, but it's tough not to sometimes.
The one thing I know for sure is I've had a blast writing the the books that will release over the next few months. It's fun to see these stories come to life.
It's fun to write every day. It's fun to find the perfect soundtrack for the stories and to push the conflicts and to challenge myself to do better every day.
It's also fun to reconnect with writers. I can't wait to see what happens over the next few months. How will sales pan out? I ask myself that constantly. I sell around 100 books a month right now. And I do that without advertising. I don't want to spend time advertising when I work long hours. I want to write in my off time.
Should I offer audio on everything?
I belong to two loops that say yes. They say I should offer the books in every format possible everywhere. I don't know. I'm torn. My first books were KDP Select. They've sold the most.
Should I focus on social media? I LOVE twitter. My @marybethleeybnp profile is far more active. But I can't stand reading constant book ads on twitter. I think I've clicked on one and bought a book. One. In four years. Or however long I've had an account.
Should I do contests? Do I need a street team? What about blog hops? Do I need a DBA? I read a GREAT book, The Naked Truth About Self Publishing. It answers a lot of these questions, but then I'm face with do I do all that, or do I write and never have these long lags between books again. OR is it a you need to do it all type of thing?
I don't know.
My friend Mel is a prolific writer and she's an amazing promoter. I can't do all she does, and I have nowhere near the number of books she has. So maybe that's the real answer. Maybe I just need to focus on building my list of books and be aware of when I hit the place where I need to focus on marketing. But focusing on marketing almost seems...I don't know...salesman-y. But then, that's the point. To sell the books.
I'm sure I'm not the only self-pubbed author looking at all this and wondering what the right asnwers are. I'll keep people posted here.
In the mean time, I'm going to write and write and write.
This is my dream, and I'm not giving it up.
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