Day 20 - Getting Down to the Wire

It’s finally hitting me. Holy shit. I’m running out of time!

For those of you savvy readers, you may have noticed that this project isn’t EXACTLY thirty days. It’s more like 37 days. That’s because the thirty-day mark landed square on my fifteen-year anniversary of my first date with my husband. Whoa. Really? Fifteen years? Yep. Every year, we go to the same place we had our first date; a retro diner in Los Angeles. So, I moved the date to the following Tuesday. 

Tuesdays are typically the release days for novels. At least, that’s the industry standard. I figured: why buck the system? I also don’t mind the extra week. I’m not nearly where I want to be. Part of that is because as good as the novella is, I’m a consummate perfectionist. I want it to be the best it can be. I did some scene re-writes while I was out of town and I think it’s finally in a good place. Hey, even if it isn’t…the deadline’s coming, right? I will stick to the deadline as best I can. My goal is to make it. 

Today I started formatting the paperback manuscript, but ran into a snag. It has to be edited. OMG! Why do I keep forgetting about the editing? Maybe because I hate when other people edit my work. I hate when someone points out a missed comma or I used a word twice in one sentence. In the end, I have not hired a “professional” editor. There just wasn’t enough time. I’m a copy editor and my husband is doing the final edit. He worked on his high school paper, so…between the two of us, I don’t expect too many egregious errors. I find the self-publishing audience to be slightly more forgiving in that arena, anyway. Last year I read a self-pub novel with some of the worst grammar and spelling errors I ever saw - and yet, it was rated five stars on Amazon. I don’t know. Maybe the author bought reviews. Still. My novella is in pretty decent shape. I feel good about it. 

I plan to spend the weekend formatting the novel for paperback and eBook. I can’t design the cover until I know how many pages I have. While I could just go with an eBook (make my life easy), I kinda want that paperback out there, ya know? There is something magical about seeing your words in print and knowing people are reading it. Even if it’s just for my own library shelf to be donated to the Goodwill after I die at the ripe old age of one hundred and twenty. 

My third giveaway is underway. It’s much shorter, so if you read this before Sunday October 6th, get on over there. It’s a good one. A ten-dollar Starbucks Card and a steamy romance novel. A new one starts on Tuesday October 8th. 

Also on Tuesday, I’ll be sending out a PDF to the Reader’s Collective of how I create and structure my characters for my writing. Specifically, the characters for Lessons in Love. I know some cool tricks, some of which I’ve learned over the years and others I’ve picked up at writing workshops. I do not SPAM and I’ll only send out three to four emails per month. In case you were worried. 

As for Launch Teams, there has been almost no action on that front. To be honest, I haven’t really been pushing it - and I think you need to push it. In further honesty, it seems like a hassle. Bugging people so that I can give them a free e-copy of the novella and then bugging them to review it? Perhaps I’ll have better luck for the next novella. That said, if you’d like a free e-copy of the novella and would be willing to review it, join the Melanie Squad. I also tried to join some launch teams and again, no bites. I posted on Twitter, joined some Facebook groups, and even contacted authors directly. Is no one doing Launch Teams? When I asked if anyone had a launch team on Reddit, no one answered. Does this mean Launch Teams are a dead art? Must be. 

In other news, I recently read yet another blog where the author has decided that teaching is the way to go. If you missed my rant on writing and self-publishing teachers, go check that out when you’re done with this. Long story short, it’s not the way to go. First off, you’re not a teacher. You’re a writer. Second, often the teaching takes priority and the farther you go, the less a writer you are. Unless you’re a master, please don’t teach. And by master, I mean, more than one book published. Look, it doesn’t take a genius to self-publish a book. One thing I’ve learned in the last few weeks is that all it really takes is persistence and a willingness to learn marketing. Both take time. I’ve seen bad books do well because they had a great advertising strategy. Of course, who am I to talk? I don’t even have ONE book published. Self-publishing, like everything, is a roll of the dice. You can have a perfect novel, a perfect advertising campaign, and plenty of money to spend, but it still doesn’t guarantee you’ll hit the lottery. Do it because you love it, not because you want to quit your day job. My dad used to say, do what you love and the money will come. What I didn’t understand about that phrase was that the money will indeed come - after blood, sweat, tears, and lots of time.

Days 18 and 19 - Getting it All Done

I’ve found that getting anything done during the week is almost impossible. As I mentioned (when? Last Tuesday?) I’m starting to feel the burnout. It’s not the project. In fact, learning to self-publish has been my savior, my fun. It’s almost relaxing. Here’s what my mid-week days look like: 

• Up at 5am

• Coffee, write (usually this blog)

• 6:30am - Shower, get ready for school

• Out the door by 7:30

• Walk to coffee house for coffee, call Lyft

• Lyft to train station - arrive 8-8:30am

• Train to school (45 mins)

• Walk to school (ten mins)

• 10am-12:30pm class

• Walk to train (10 mins)

• Train home (45 mins)

• Lyft home (10 mins)

• Home by 1pm-1:30pm

• Feed the cat, eat lunch, watch something (usually an episode or two). Sometimes I fall asleep, sometimes I’m up

• Homework between 3pm and 6pm - intermittent breaks cleaning the house

• 6pm: Start dinner

• Husband home by 7:15pm

• Eat dinner, watch some TV - depending on what we watch, I try to be done by 9pm

• 9pm: Time for bed

• In bed by 10pm - usually, my husband and I are chatting, I’m getting ready for bed, sometimes I’m desperately trying to work on Melanie stuff until 11pm. If I don’t go to bed by 11, I’m wrecked in the AM. 

The afternoons look like the best time to get stuff done, but by the time I get home from school and start my homework, I’m pretty tired. It’s also during this 3pm-6pm window that I try to work on house stuff (mail, organization, whatever needs to be done). It doesn’t help that my 3rd semester of copy editing started last week and I have anywhere from 45-100 pages of reading every week. Plus, homework and workbook exercises. 

I can’t even imagine those of you who have kids. I know there are people out there who raise children, go to school, and work a full-time job. I tip my hat to you all. You are amazing. Please tell me how you do it. Truth is, I’ve been more organized on this project than ever. It’s not just organization, it’s time management. For the first time in my life, I’m mostly sticking to a schedule. But as you can see, when do I have time to write? I see all these people on Twitter posting about their wordcount for the day and I’m like: uh, none? I haven’t written a word in a week - and that was while I was out of town, stuck in our hotel, and I added a new scene to LESSONS IN LOVE. 

And then there’s the weekend. My family wants to hang out. My mom wants me to go with her to buy a new couch. I’d love to, but when can I work on Melanie? 

This has been my problem forever. How do I manage to do what I want, work on the things I want AND keep the house from falling apart, spend time with my family, and not be wound in knots? In my 20s, I would always succumb to what everyone else wanted - thus, my dreams were put on the backburner. In my 30s, I became a step-mother and all the tasks that came with it. I learned how to assembly-line their lunches, so there’s that. 

This isn’t so much a complaint post as it is about commiseration. I know the uber-organized ladies on YouTube are insane. The people who write books about getting it all done are monsters created to make the rest of us feel bad. Marie Kondo is a robot. They don’t show us their freak outs, when they lose their shit on their kids, or smash a dish out of sheer frustration. I’ve been there. I once got so mad while I was washing dishes, I took a cup I hated, walked out to the backyard and smashed it on the concrete. That felt good. 

Ok, so we’re all stressed the F out. Right? I assume so. Is this why so many moms post about needing that glass of wine every day? I don’t drink anymore, but I also don’t seem to have an adequate method of venting. The kids are all grown and gone, but I still find it hard to manage my time. Perhaps I need to take a step back and reorganize. I can squeeze a few moments out - like the train ride or not take so long a lunch break. Or should I value my long break and really soak it up? Share your thoughts in the comments. How do you stay organized and keep your stress down? If you’re feeling the burnout, go ahead and vent. I say bah-humbug to the perfect Instagram moms and crazy organizer ladies. They don’t represent the majority of us. Do they? My sink has a funny smell. Clean it out or write a chapter?

Day 17 - Getting Stabby

Today my husband was sick. I went to school and sat through a boring, two-hour lecture on financial aid - which I won’t qualify for anyway. Came home, ate lunch, and fell asleep on the couch for a solid two and a half hours. Woke up groggy and attempted to read the 40-some pages of copy-editing homework I have. I didn’t finish. My mom is feeling needy and I had to talk to her on the phone for an hour. Meanwhile, my husband is walking around making noises because he wants attention. And then the cat starts in. She hasn’t shut up all day because she thinks it’s time for treats. It’s not. I need to apply for the Winter semester and their website isn’t letting me log in. I can’t create a new account because it says I already have one. But it won’t email me a new password. I didn’t do my math homework. I’m constantly being distracted by family, cats, school. Not to mention, my step-kid is coming into town on Thursday. Yay, but holy hell I have a lot to do. 

All I did today for the novella is put the latest giveaway Starbucks card into an envelope. I wrote a nice letter, addressed it and put a stamp on it. I also read a bit about Amazon advertising - which I’ve decided is the key to getting that coveted “bestseller” title. Hitting the advertising market hard makes sense. When I’m ready to advertise, I’ll write about it and keep you updated, but I’m starting to think this is why bad books make the bestseller list - bad books, good advertising. 

I have a metric shit-ton of work to do on the novella and I’m falling behind in school. Sort of. I’m about to fall behind and it’s stressing me the F out. Here’s what bugs me (and tell me if you can relate): When you get busy and start working on your passion projects, everyone starts feeling neglected and clamors for your attention. This is where the saying “when it rains, it pours” comes from. Why does everything land all at the same time? Why? I don’t freakin’ know. 

I am in therapy. It’s a long story, but at times like these, I think about what my therapist would tell me: Lock myself in a room, turn off the phone, and tell everyone to F off. 

I may do that. Of course, now it’s 10pm and it’s time for bed. I have school in the morning. I didn’t get much done on the novella yesterday, nor today. The good news is (let’s focus on the positive for a minute) I’m much more organized in school than I’ve ever been. I did amazing on two math pop-quizzes today. I don’t even know how that happened. No one’s dying, everyone is healthy, and the sky is blue. OK. I’m trying here. Like a lot of women, I tend to keep it all together until I burst. Today I’m bursting. Could be hormones, all the crappy food I ate while I was out of town, or the Schumann Resonance. Sun spots? EMFs? I’m a bit tapped out. 

Self-care dictates that when you feel tapped out, you tap out. It’s 10pm, I’m yawning, and there is no more Ican do. Go to bed. Sleep. Recover. Start again tomorrow. 

This is about what life feels like right now.

Days 13, 14, and 15 - Catching up and Having Doubts

Now two weeks into this, I feel like I have a pretty good understanding of how Kindle Publishing works. Anyway, I feel confident enough to jump and build my net on the way down. 

I spent the last few days out of town with my husband. My first real vacation in three years. And what did I do? I sat in the hotel room and wrote, edited, wrote new scenes, worked on social media. To be fair, it was raining where we were, but I went out as much as I could. 

If you’re a writer, you know we must re-read our work almost a million times. By the time it’s ready, you’re practically sick of it. You know it inside and out. Yet, you still ask yourself, “What’s missing?” You might be in the shower and it hits you…More conflict! A funny line of dialog! Oh dang, the part where they kiss is cringeworthy - must re-write! When you have your story on your mind, you live in that world. I think about my characters all day. I dream about them at night. I wonder who they are. Does everyone do this?

I don’t think any writer ever has submitted a finished work and thought it’s perfect. Self-doubt is part of the game and I’m learning to live with it. I don’t know if I’ll ever get to a place where I love it, but I think I can accept it. It will never be perfect, but it will be done. All I can hope is that there aren’t any heinous grammar or spelling mistakes. Homophones are a weakness: Led, lead. Passed, past. Mail, male. See, sea. To, too. 

Which leads (leds?) me to my biggest mistake of this whole process: Not getting it edited in time and not doing any kind of beta reading at all. I’m a copy-editor. I should know better. The editing process takes time. Weeks at best. I have twenty-one days until I launch. Groan. Is that enough time to get it edited? I’ve put my feelers out and haven’t had a lot of success. A few editors have responded, but it’s going to cost a ton and I’m trying to keep costs down. Problem is, I don’t feel like the story is exactly ready for editing. I feel like I need to sit on it more, let is marinate, something’s missing. I’m going to try a last-ditch effort this week to get it beta read. I just kind of need to know if anything’s missing or if it’s good or what. If you’re a writer, you know what I’m feeling. I think it’s good, my husband thinks it good - but will the world? If you read this before October 4th, 2019 and would like to beta read the story, get in touch and let me know if you’ve ever beta read before - not a criteria, but helpful. 

I’ve joined a beta reading group on Facebook, but the odds of my getting fast results seems slim. I may also post on Twitter asking if anyone wants to beta for me. I don’t know why, but the beta reading process has me shook. I worry people won’t read it, will take too long, steal my ideas, who knows? Worst case scenario, responses will be bad and I’ll have to re-write the whole damn thing in two days. So yes, big mistake not doing all of this first. Had I started with a FINISHED and TESTED manuscript, I’d be less panicked. Big lesson here: Make sure your manuscript is ready! Duh. 

Ok, so live and learn. If I miss my deadline, I miss my deadline. I’m going to do everything in my power to smash that deadline and get this thing rolling, but I want to do it right. As I’m writing this, I feel like switching the season of my story to Autumn because the leaves on the trees are changing color. Oh man. I need to stop. 

In other news, my second giveaway has ended and I received exactly the same entrants as the first one. That seems uncanny. I’m ramping up the giveaways all the way until the release of Lessons in Love and starting a new one on Tuesday (October 1st). Romance fans, stay tuned because I think you’ll like this one. 

One thing I learned so far about these giveaways is that most people enter on the final days. I had almost no entries until Friday - I started on the previous Sunday - and them bam! Thirty entries. That’s why I’m starting this one on a Tuesday - to see if a shorter run makes a difference. 

Finally, I’ll be sending out the first chapter of my novella to the Readers Collective soon so get on there. I’ve found what looks like a great service called Book Funnel that helps indie authors distribute their books and chapters to mailing lists. It’s a bit more complicated than that, so I need to research more. Have you used Book Funnel? What do you primarily use it for and is it worth it? Answer in comments below. 

DAY 10 - Joining a Book Release Launch Team and What I Learned

I’m fascinated by the concept of Launch Teams. The following article comes from the point of a reader/fan, not a marketing guru.

Launch Team

Melanie’s Definition: A group of devoted fans who love you so much they review your book (pre-release) on multiple platforms in exchange for a free book and other goodies.

Everyone (and I mean everyone) who is releasing a book is hitting up people for their launch teams. Or are they? I typed in “Join Launch Team“ in Google and received tons of pages - most of which use the same written text and ideas for their teams. Most of the posts were several years old, but have common threads:

1. Ask potential LT member to pre-order book (they pay)

2. Tell your potential LT members to apply for the honor to work for you for free

3. Tell them how amazing being on a launch team is going be

4. Ask them to write reviews on various book review sites

5. Ask them to tweet, blog, and post extensively everywhere they can (because they love you so much)

6. Offer them a free copy of the ebook (and unnamed other free things). Wait. Didn’t I already buy it?

7. Allow them to join an exclusive Facebook group just for LT members. Wow! Unless you’re J.K. Rowling, who cares?

8. Rare: Offer one on one calls with the author. Again, are you J.K. Rowling?

Launch Teams are trade. The concept of trade is as old as humans. You have a thing I want, I have a thing you want. Let’s trade! Trade is commonly a mutually beneficial exchange. But here’s the thing: Do people really get so excited about receiving a free ebook they’ll help you promote your release? Let alone from an unknown author? I put my high school newspaper journalism skills to the test (I was kicked off the school newspaper for writing an article that offended the booster club FYI).

What I found in my Google search was a bunch of old posts for books that were released years ago. Nothing new. I then switched to Twitter and searched “Join my launch team“ and a few posts appeared. I clicked the links, signed up, and waited. I received one automatic reply very quickly. I have not been choosy. I’m surprised that It’s so hard to find new release launch teams when you want one, so I’ll take what I can get. I also posted on Twitter to #WritingCommunity asking if anyone’s looking. So far no replies.

When I woke up the next morning, I had an automatic email from the first team I joined. 300+ words telling me what I could expect next. He used the words “much appreciated“ and “thanks” only once. For privacy sake, I will not be using the author’s name.

---

Greetings, reader!

Thanks for joining my launch team. As you likely know by now, joining my team means you'll receive a free copy of my future books in return for your agreement to publish a book review on Amazon the day of each book's official launch.

My next novel is REDACTED, the latest installment in the REDACTED series. It is scheduled to publish in early 2019. I'll let you know as soon as I'm sure what the actual launch date will be.

Here's what you can expect to happen next.

1. Three weeks before REDACTED launches in a digital format to the public, I will email you a copy of the book to download in three different file formats; .MOBI, .EPUB and PDF. At that point, you can begin reading the book in whichever format you prefer!

2. Over the following weeks, I'll send no more than two check-in reminders asking that you get ready to write a book review for REDACTED and publish it on the book's page on Amazon on the launch date.

3. On the book's launch date, I will email you one final time to ask that you please post your review on Amazon.

Because Amazon recommends books to other readers based on several factors including the number of reviews each book has, your contribution is very important. Book reviews published on a novel's launch day are particularly helpful since they help Amazon determine the book's overall sales rank (a high rank, as you might expect, increases the likelihood Amazon will recommend the book to other readers).

So your timely response will be much appreciated!

Thanks so much for agreeing to serve as a member of my launch team. I'll be in touch soon with details about the book's official launch day and if you have any questions in the meantime, please don't hesitate to contact me at EMAIL REDACTED.

---

First off, this is too long. The only reason I read it all the way through was because I’m writing this article. Second, he’s not near grateful enough for the time investment I’m about to give. It feels a bit mansplainy overall. He places an exclamation point after “much appreciated” to let you know he really means it. He explains in boring detail what’s expected of you and even uses the word “serve“ as a member. He doesn’t have a release date. Am I expected to wait around? He also says it’s coming out early 2019. It is now Fall 2019. Why is it taking so long? Already, he doesn’t sound reliable, so why should I be? I’m sure I’ll forget about this by the time I get the book. I wish I was doing a video of this so I could post my line by line responses, but in a nutshell: This is all wrong. For starters, you lost me at the length of the email. Don’t waste my time.

Points you need to get across:

1. What book? Remind me with a brief synopsis.

2. When it’s coming

3. What I’m getting in return for my hard work

4. How much you appreciate me working to sell your book for you.

That’s all. I don’t think you have to gush, but a little ass kissing might be nice. Assume your readers aren’t idiots and don’t act like you’re doing ME a favor. Even if you are J.K. Rowling. I’m essentially working for free because I’m a nice person and I like you. If you feel you must explain how ebooks work, do it at the END of the email in a separate section and don’t waste the time of seasoned readers like myself. If I’m going to SPAM my network for you, you should be grateful as hell. No really. This might sound greedy, and I’m not asking for a free car, but a little gratitude goes a long way. Just saying “thanks” isn’t enough. Obviously, I’m doing you a favor and the free book is a given. You have to give me the book if you want me to review it.

Think of it like a band passing out demos to radio stations. The stations that will play (or listen) to your demo are doing YOU a favor. Act like it. Assume your launch team is made of fine silk and treat it as such. Assume they read the sign up page and don’t repeat yourself too much. You don’t necessarily have to bribe them.

Here’s the thing, I went searching for launch teams, actively posted on social media that I wanted to join and got no responses. I even posted on Reddit asking if anyone actually had a launch team. No response. Don’t y’all need help? Anyone? Or maybe it’s just people don’t trust some rando on Twitter raising their hand and offering to help because humans don’t trust each other. We have lots of reasons not to. No one knows I really want to help, that I’m a decent person. OK, I believe I’m a decent person and I really try. No one knows me. Makes sense. I wouldn’t just contact some dork on Twitter who posted, “Hey! Let me help sell your book for free!“ Does genuine help sound scammy? It must. I did join a few groups on Facebook so we’ll see where it goes. If this goes any further, I’ll post an update, but it feels like a lost cause. I’m a little baffled that it’s this hard to join a launch team. I feel like I’m begging.

If I’m missing the point? Email me and let me know. Got tips? Share ‘em.

Day 9 - A (Sort of) Day Off

School was cancelled today which meant I had the first free day I’ve had in a weeks. Maybe more than that. I actually can’t recall when the last day was I had a WHOLE day to myself. Sadly, I wasn’t feeling too great, but I rested, watched Christian Mingle (it’s not as bad as you’d think), and worked on hammering out some issues with the novella. I re-read, edited some, added a bit, and re-wrote some scenes. It’s really coming together nicely. The more I work on it, the more I love it. I’ll be honest, when I first started this journey, I felt the story wasn’t my best work - but it’s really come together. I’m super proud of it. 

I’ve crossed over a hundred followers on Twitter - which is amazing. I almost can’t believe it. Thank you to everyone that’s followed me. You’re the coolest! That’s the good news. I’ve had almost no traction on my second giveaway. It’s been up for over 24 hours and I only have one entry. The first giveaway was online for three days and got thirty-three entries. What’s the deal with this one? Started on a Sunday? Everyone hates Mondays? It ends on Sunday the 29th, so you’ve got plenty of time if you’d like to win a $10 Starbucks card. Why not. It’s free to enter. 

I’ll be going out of town this week so I won’t be able to do much of anything while I’m on the road. I will keep up with social media and I might be able to work on the story editing, but otherwise this is a lost week for the book biz. It’ll be interesting to see how much I get done, but I don’t expect much. This is basically a mini-vacation - I haven’t had a vacation in three years. But, I’m still on a deadline. 

As for Christian Mingle, let me preface by saying I’m not Christian. I was raised a Catholic, but I don’t practice. I believe in being a good person and doing the right thing. I do like Lacey Chabert. She’s grown on me. I didn’t used to like her. The movie is basically one long ad for the Christian dating site, but it’s was actually cuter than I expected it to be. It’s got some funny moments and Lacey really puts on her big girl acting pants. I was surprised, to say the least. It’s no secret, I love The Hallmark Channel. I love sweet romances and when you read Lessons in Love, you’ll see that. I think I’ve always loved romance. When I was a little girl, I used to play Barbies and the story lines were always about love and relationships. My Barbies had story lines. I would play for hours and then pick up where I Ieft-off the next day. Long arcs too. Marriage, death, drama. 

Almost every story I write has some element of romance - even the apocalyptic ones. I just love love. I also love a good cheesy chick flick. If you like Hallmark movies and can handle the two-hour advertisement for Christian Mingle, it’s a cute movie. The message about finding Jesus is obviously heavy handed, but in the end, I felt it was mostly tolerant. At least, the overall message was about being true to yourself - which I liked. It’s on Netflix if you have nothing better to watch. Did you see Dark Crystal yet? 

 What I did today: 

• Installed a countdown timer (elfapps) to Books page

• Edited and rewrote several scenes in Lessons in Love

Day 8 - Building an Audience (The Numbers)

My second week is underway. You know how in old movies, doctors have a nurse to wipe the sweat away? I need one of those. Any takers? It’s not paid, but you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing you’re saving lives. 

Don’t let anyone tell you building an audience is easy. There are no tens steps, no shortcuts, and no magic wands.

OK, there are ten steps: 

1. Set up your accounts

2. Find a cool pic that represents who you are as a person - your soul in photographic form

3. Post like crazy - just kidding. No more than 3x per day

4. Provide interesting content - WTH does that mean? 

5. Connect with your audience. Talk. Be a real person. 

6. Watch your follow count like an obsessed ex-girlfriend who was dumped on her birthday

7. Participate in follow threads

8. Use gifs to express your inner most thoughts

9. Wait

10. Make sure you tell everyone (just kidding) you reached 1000 followers like it’s the greatest accomplishment in the world. 

 And there are shortcuts: 

1. Buy followers on Fiverr, eBay, Craigslist, or other unscrupulous sites…you faker.

Just so you know, about a year ago, I purchased a hundred Twitter followers (for another account) for $3.00 on eBay - just to see what would happen. Within minutes, I had a hundred followers. By the next day, they were all gone. Worst $3.00 I ever spent. It’s also frowned upon by Twitter and can get you banned. 

There are magic wands. They sell them at Harry Potter Land at Universal Studios - but they don’t work. At least, not for me. Still working on my spellcasting. When I figure it out, I’ll let you know. 

 I’ve been hustling all week to get new (organic) followers and likes and here are my results: 

• Twitter: 75

• Facebook: 1

• Instagram: 84

• Readers Collective: 33

Twitter is a bit easier to gain followers, if you know how. A little trick I discovered is getting involved with people who do Follow Fridays and follow threads. Or start your own. This might be why you see some authors with thousands of followers - even though they haven’t released anything yet. We all know having followers makes us look popular, even if we really aren’t. There are lots of amazingly helpful Tweeters who do follow threads, so get involved. This is a give and take situation. If you want followers, you have to follow back. Be kind, reciprocate. The Twitter writer community is filled with wonderfully supportive people. To all the kind and lovely people who followed me this week, I know this is sudden...but will you marry me?

Facebook is a tough nut to crack. Last week I boosted a post about my first giveaway. I spent $10. While I got over forty likes on the post itself, I only managed to grab one new follower. To that one follower…I know this is sudden…but will you marry me? 

Let’s see how I do this week. I don’t just want empty followers. I want people who really like my work. Of course, they have no idea what my writing is like yet. If you’re in the Readers Collective, you’ll be getting the first chapter soon. 

On Instagram, I’d already built a small following with a book selling business I had. Many haven’t bothered to unfollow now that the content has changed. When I post, I get a few likes, but it’s not overwhelming. It’s harder to post on Instagram. I’m not exactly sure about what content (exactly) I should be posting. Many pictures of my laptop? It’s where I live right now. My cat? She’s pretty cute. 

In the Readers Collective are the thirty-three entrants to my first giveaway. None organic. Over time, I expect the numbers to fluctuate. Thirty-three isn’t how many people are reading or getting excited about my project. It’s people who are there for now. I sent out my first email this morning and have one unsubscribe, zero link clicks, and a 21% open rate - that means only 21% of the thirty-three actually opened the email. Seven people, for those of you keeping score. I’ll be interested to see what the open rate is at the end of the week. 21% isn’t bad. That’s almost 1/4 of the people. Math!

Am I discouraged by these numbers? Not really. The fact that I have any followers after one week is amazing. In fact, I’m wowed anyone is sticking around at all. If I sell one book, you know what that means? It means someone I didn’t pay (who paid me) is reading my work. I know I’ve written a cute story. If people like it, I’m thrilled. I’ve said this many times before: I’m not here for the money. Writing is my passion and I want to share my stories with others. 

What now? Just keep swimming. I’m curious to see how long it actually takes to get a decent, participatory audience. Many of the day to day functions of my website and social media are now set up and ready to go. I often schedule posts ahead of time and let it ride. The blog is the only thing that isn’t pre-scheduled. I write the blog post, do a quick edit, and try to have it up the same night. Most days I’m finishing it up before school at 6am. Right now, I’m doing a daily blog - how my day went - for the first thirty days. Once I release the book, I’ll probably set up some automated posts, once a week or something. I know…it sounds robotic. But it’s not. It’s how it works and it’s what everyone does. You have to. You want to get your business to a place where it’s basically running itself so you can concentrate on what really matters: WRITING.

 GIVEAWAY #2 IS NOW UNDERWAY: Enter here. 

 What I did today: 

•  Wrote and scheduled social media posts about Day 7 blog post and the start and 2nd giveaway

• Decided to write all my blog posts in Word first and then copy/paste into Squarespace

• Spent the day with my family. Bit of a day off. 

• Wrote this blog post

• Emailed my copy editing teacher asking about editors. If you can recommend anyone good, let me know. Looking for a medium edit for 15k words. Would appreciate someone who can comment on the story itself. Thanks!

• I’m looking to join a launch team. Do you (or someone you know) need help? Email me. I’d love to help out. 

Day 7 - End of the First Giveaway

Congratulations Cyndi Butler for winning a $10 Starbucks gift card. You rule!

My first giveaway ended today and although it wasn’t the massive influx in potentials I’d hoped (dreamed about), I’d call it a success. It ran for three days and I picked up 33 new future fans for the Readers Collective, learned how to run a contest and boost a post on Facebook. I don’t know what percentage of people will STAY ON or READ the mailing list, but I’ve scheduled my first email to go out on Sunday. 

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not in this for the money. If I make a couple of bucks or break even, I’m happy. As of today, I’ve spent about $50 total for this experiment. 

The weekends are proving to be difficult to get much done. I have LESS time to work on this than during the week. With my husband being home and our families wanting to go out, I’m having to squeeze in a little time here and a little time there. Still, I managed to get a lot done today. 

• Played around on Twitter, met some cool people. I’m falling in love with the writing community there. 

• Purchased an adorable gift for the mega big giveaway that will coincide with the launch day. It’s a surprise. Stay tuned. 

• Ended first giveaway - temporarily disabled website pages that refer to it

• Chose and contacted winner

• Heard back from winner with their address and permission to use their name on this site. See Winner’s Circle on the Giveaways page. 

• Unpinned all the pinned giveaway posts on social media

• Wrote and tested first email to Readers Collective. Time: About an hour

• Wrote and scheduled 2nd giveaway to start Sunday

• Updated giveaways page and links

• Wrote and schedule Facebook post about 2nd giveaway

• And then it was bedtime for all hardworking babies. 

 I still need to do a final edit on Lessons in Love - I’m hoping to outsource this. I also need to design the cover and format the book pages. I imagine these will all take time. I’m fairly skilled at Photoshop and Word, so I don’t expect too much trouble here. We’ll see. All in all, this experiment is going well and I’m feeling extremely positive about it. 

 My second giveaway should be running now, so go enter! It’s fun and if you really hate being on the mailing list (which I hope you won’t) you can unsubscribe very easily. My hope is to cultivate a group of people who want to be on the list and I’ll do everything in my power not to annoy you. 

Day 6 - Digging into Kindle Direct Publishing, Formatting, and Templates

Another busy day. Got organized a bit and started delving into the dark pits of Kindle Publishing.

What I did today:

• Made a to-do list. Not at all exhaustive, but some important things to get finished. Or start

• Searched and found some romance novel podcasts - contacted for interviews. Fingers crossed

a) All the Kissing

b) Journeys of Romance

• Started working on a blog post for future publication. Jotted down some ideas.

• Created Melanie Brodie Facebook Page. Come say hello.

• Created FB post for current giveaway.

• Boosted post for $10 and one day. I’ll post “reach” when it finishes. Target: Females age 18-65+, United States, Romance novels fans (about 4 categories). Took about an hour for Facebook to approve my boost.

• Driving myself crazy watching the Facebook page for new likes. Focus, Melanie!

• Participated in #WritersLift on Twitter. Whoever started that is a genius. I’ve gained 40 new followers today. Thank you everyone! I hope you stick around for the fun.

• Learning about ISBNs. Read: ISBN for Self-Publishers: Answers to 20 of your Questions

• Here’s is Kindle Direct Publishing’s (KDP) page on ISBN. It looks like they provide one free of charge for both eBook and paperback. I don’t understand the benefit of buying your own, unless you plan to market your book with other booksellers. At the moment, I’ll only be using KDP for both print and eBook. I think.

• Looking up trim sizes for paperback books. Found Picking a Popular Trim Size for Your Book - It looks like I’ll be going with a 5.25x8 trim size.

• Read: Kindle Direct Publishing Paperback Cover Templates - as I will be designing my own cover.

• I want to do it all, so I’ll be formatting the manuscript myself. I feel very comfortable using Word. I don’t expect any issues. Here are Kindle’s eBook Manuscript Formatting Guide.

• As for PAPERBACK, I read through the instructions for self-formatting and thought: Someone has to have a template online somewhere. Yes, Kindle does. Totally cool. You get a zip file filled with ALL the manusript sizes. Pick the one you want to use and it’s all ready to go. At this point, I can change the fonts and elements myself. Easy.

Day 5 - The First 24 Hours of my Giveaway

Using King Sumo, at the recommendation of a pre-recorded webinar by Nick Stephanson, I started my first giveaway. Twenty-four hours later, I have eight contestants. I posted notices on Reddit, various giveaway groups on Facebook, I got my husband and sister to share it, and I’ve mentioned it on Twitter twice now. Eight. Not to sound like an ingrate, but I kind of expected hundreds. I mean, come on. It’s a free Starbucks card!

So why don’t people enter free giveaways from a writer they’ve never heard of and have never seen a writing sample from? Good question and the answer is self explanatory. I know from my experience; I join as little as possible. I know that once they’ve got my email, they’ll sell it to the highest bidder and they’ll re-sell it again. I’m not selling emails (ever), but random people who find my contest don’t know I’m honest. In fact, using a giveaway to get people onto my mailing list feels shady. Is it? Or is that how it works and everyone understands that? To do this, must you turn a blind eye to the blatant and unrepentant sales techniques? One of Nick Stephanson’s selling tips is “don’t be sleazy” - yet, to get people on his list, he started out by giving away a Kindle loaded with his books.  I mean, come on. This is bribery, right? Or am I being too much of a Pollyanna? 

Saying, “Come on. Everyone knows when they enter a contest, they’re getting added to the mailing list” doesn’t seem to make me feel better. Yet, in order to sell my novella (or even give it away) I need people to find it. It’s not practical to SPAM every message board or post a hundred and fifty times on every social media platform every day. The quickest method to get the word out is a mailing list. How you get people on your mailing list is by offering something of value. The idea here is sort of a “gift with purchase” concept. You give me your email address, I give you free things (chapters, e-books, goodies). Is Yves Saint Laurent bribing me when I buy a perfume and they give me a pretty make-up bag along with it? Yeah. Technically. 

Let’s look at the definition of a bribe: 

Persuade (someone) to act in one's favor, typically illegally or dishonestly, by a gift of money or other inducement.

OK, so I’m not doing anything illegal here. Doing a contest and adding contestant emails to the list isn’t illegal, but it’s not charity work either. 

Someone help. 

As an unknown and only five days into this experiment, I have nine followers on Twitter. Thank you all. Honestly. I mean it. From a business standpoint, that’s not so good. From a “Yay nine people followed me!” standpoint. It’s pretty awesome. This means it will take longer than I thought. I really thought the contest would be a major success and the emails would start rolling in. There is no fast track to a following - unless you buy fake followers on eBay; which you can do, but that’s more unscrupulous than a gift with purchase. And there’s a marketing word for keeping those email address and turning them into fans: Conversion. Now, to convert my nine followers and eight contestants into fans. I’ll probably lose a bunch on the way. Not everyone is going to love a sweet romance about a small town school teacher. Hopefully, over time, I’ll find my niche. I know you’re out there and I believe in my work. Now to get the rest of the world to think so. 

Or…is a gift with purchase a thank you gift? Thank you for buying this perfume. Here’s a cute make-up bag as thanks for your patronage. If I look at it like that, I feel better. If I give my mailing list cool things they want, it’s a win/win. Right? So - how well does this work? I’m not J.K. Rowling. I’m Melanie Brodie and no one knows me. No one cares what I write, because no one’s seen my stuff. For all you know, Lessons in Love is a dud. My husband thinks it’s pretty cute, but you’ll tell me when it’s released. BY THE WAY, members of the Melanie Squad will get a free copy of the e-book in exchange for writing an honest review. Your idea of a good time? Send me your email address and I’ll add you to the exclusive list. 

I have not studied marketing, but I’ve read a few books and watched some videos on the subject. I’m not an expert, but I do know that marketing can look altruistic even when it isn’t. Like when a company donates portions of a sale to a charitable cause. It’s their niceness that attracts you. You’re happy to give your money to this company. This might fall under the category of the Dale Carnegie method: Give the customer what they want (a nice, charitable feeling, a product they feel proud owning), and you get what you want (money, sales, good reputation). Think car commercials that sell adventure, sex, throbbing engines, freedom. Or beer commercials that show cool looking people hanging out on the beach. I want friends, I should buy that beer. 

Emotionally, it’s complicated. I believe in honesty, but honesty doesn’t sell very much. So what then? Hope my content is so amazing, hordes of fans will accidentally find me, love my work, and buy everything I write? No. It doesn’t work that way. If J. K. Rowling hadn’t had a kick ass agent and marketing team, she’d be where I’m at right now. Unknown and pondering. She’s also extremely talented and persistent. Think about it - if you were alive when the first Harry Potter book came out - how many times did you hear the story about a single mother writing her story on a napkin? A lot, right? That’s marketing. It might be true, but it also makes a good sales pitch. A hardworking mother? Raise your hand if you’re a hardworking mother. Broke? Raise your hand if you’re broke. You get the picture. J.K. is just like you. She’s a normal mom who just happened to have a great idea and hit the lottery. Maybe you’ll be lucky too. It’s that “maybe I’ll be lucky too” mentality that keeps self-publishing thriving. 

Here’s the god’s honest truth about self publishing: If you want to quit your day job, you’re gonna have to be a shark. You’re gonna have to shelve some of your morals and sell like a mo-fo. Some people, like Nick Stephanson, are really good at it. Others like me (and probably you) range from so-so to terrible. We’re not sales people. We’re writers! We actually like sitting in a dark room falling in love with our characters. Talk to people? OK, if I have to. Sales is not necessarily a skill you learn or a set of ten steps. It’s a mentality. It’s a way of thinking. Can I think like a shark? I’m going to try.

What I did today:

• Rough day at school. I cleaned my house and organized my furniture.

• Wrote this blog post