C.L.’s Comments (group member since Jan 14, 2017)

C.L.’s comments from the Navigating Indieworld Discussing All Things Indie group.

Aislinn wrote: "I have over 300 subscribers on my mailing list, but so far none of them seem interested in my books. *sigh* Many of these are through Instafreebie, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

I've asked ..."

I have 500 from Instafreebie, but then I created a secondary list by offering a bonus story which takes place after the end of my first book. So if people actually read to the end of the book, they can sign up to get the bonus story. And I used THAT list, which is smaller, to get my reviews. That's my fan list.

After building up an email list of 140 fans who wanted to download the free bonus story I made for them, I emailed and asked for reviews. I got five more reviews overnight, all raves, bringing my Amazon total to 43. So close to 50!

Very nice article. I work hard to make sure that my character's story arc is central to the plot, so it was a self-affirming read!

The Hemingway app is great for screening this sort of thing.

Amy wrote: "Brilliant thank you so much, I forgot it was funny! All the commas are in the latest version which came out yesterday. I had a re-edit last week.

ETA I think I have requested an update via the co..."

Huzzah!

I'm all for Vegas - it's cheap!

David wrote: "Yes, you did all that good plot stuff...but your dialogue still rocks, your characters still quirk (?) and it's fun to read! "

Thanks, David! I really like your online stories so I'm looking forward to Personal Pronouns. But I'm slow about E-books so it may take me a while.

Finally finished Amy's book, Modified! Sorry it took so long, I just don't like ebooks so whenever I get sidetracked by a paperback my ebooks languish for a while until I can get back to them. Review is here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I'm planning to go to Geek Girl Con in Seattle this October. I'm a member of Broad Universe and they should have a table there that I can sit at. If it goes well I may try Emerald City Comic Con, which I always attend anyway...

My cousin doesn't sell his books on Amazon or anything, he sells exclusively at Cons and seems satisfied with that.

As Carole says, it's hard to be sure when you're too close to it, but based on my reviews, it's my quirky dialogue/humor. That's what gets called out in almost every review.

I'd LIKE to think that it's my avoidance of cliche storylines. I make a point to try to write a fresh story, by paying attention to and trying to avoid/write the opposite of common tropes. I don't want to tell the same story that has been told sixteen ways from Tuesday. I want to turn all of that upside down and write something fresh and different.

...Says the person whose book is a Twilight spoof. But that's the thing. I took all of the stuff that bothered me about Twilight - the abusive behaviour, the gender roles, the sparkling, and turned it upside down.

Alex wrote: Thank you, I do believe you are the 20th person to claim a copy so *hands over virtual prize of your preference*

Nope, I'm afraid I can't claim that prize. I downloaded it when you first posted the link! Some other hero is out there...

Thanks guys - they sent me a publishing contract and everything. Very cool! Alex - I claimed a copy and it may take me to read - I'm not an ebook fan so my paper books tend to get my attention first - but when I'm done I'll review for sure.

I write hunched on the couch while my husband tries to talk to me and ends up feeling lonely, rejected and ignored.

Diet Pepsi during all activities all the time. Canada.

I just got a very personal, not at all spammy email from the Tapas serial story app asking if I'd like to put my book on their app. They said that my anti-Twilight schtick and my sassy heroine would go over well with their readers!

Also, I just got my 100th Goodreads rating!

Mine are matte and I know what you mean about the schmutz (agreed - good word) but I got a glossy as a comparitive and decided to stay with the matte. For my genre it just makes it fit in better than glossy.

I do this. I upload it to Bookfunnel, which has a great delivery process - super easy to load onto the device and gives them their choice of epub, mobi, or pdf. I use the MailMunch plug in on my website for people to sign up - you can check it out here: http://www.cllynch.com/bonus

You can even sign up and go through the process to see how it looks if you like. I'm on a monthly plan so it doesn't cost me any extra.

I have an autoresponder set up through MailChimp (but you can set one up directly through MailMunch as well) that thanks them for their interest and gives them the BookFunnel link. I have several stories so I actually have a whole sequence set up - I give them the first story, then they get an email the next day if they had any trouble downloading it, and then a couple days after that they get the second story and I ask them what they thought of the first. People actually reply which is fun.

Chances are the people wanting to take part were contacted directly. The organizer usually gives a contact email or a google doc form.

Good luck! Check out the instafreebie forums for a group giveaway on your genre that you can ride the coattails of!

I really liked the beginning and was very interested in the story but then the plot began to sound too complicated. The killer seemed tacked on, given how much was already going on. Maybe pare down the info... don't tell us the whole plot. Just give us the first big character decision and then hint at what is come.