About the Episode

Just to let you know, this episode was recorded on Thursday the 6th of January, so this show is primarily me looking back at November. If you’re on YouTube, you’ll notice that I’ve gone back to an audio-only version of the podcast. I’ve had to pull the plug on the video podcast episode because I couldn’t do everything, and something had to go.

If you’re new to this podcast, I want to say a huge thank you for stopping by and trying out my show. To those of you who have been faithfully listening, thank you for regularly listening in and supporting me; your support means more to me than you know.

BookSirens

In November, I pulled the plug and signed up for BookSirens after getting next to no, ARC signups on BookSprout. I signed up for the “promote” pricing plan, which costs US$10 plus US$2 per download. For the sake of full disclosure, you are being charged by Book Sirens for finding you a reader and not for reviews.

On the first day, I received three downloads. By the end of the month, eight readers had signed up to read The Candidate. And I received two five-star reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. One of those reviewers also left a five-star review on BookBub. Over on Amazon and Goodreads, I received one four-star review. Those were my first three reviews, and I was happy that things were going better this time around.

But good things don’t last.

At the close of November, I received my first three and two-star reviews.

Harsh Critics and Snarky Reviews

I’m not sure whether I should discuss this, but I think there is value in having the conversation.

After reading my reviews, which I shouldn’t be doing but did anyway, a couple of readers questioned my choice of title and said I should name the book after James. To be honest, I feel that comments like this are overstepping boundaries. And, I’m not sure what to think about these comments because traditionally, a series is named after the character and the book title is named after the plot, which is what I’ve done. My book is about figuring out who killed the Candidate and why. In order to figure out the “who” of the murder, the why needs to be investigated because the “how” is super obvious.

For the sake of full disclosure, I have not responded and will not respond to reviews.

Also, in the reviews, I have received comments about the plot that isn’t quite correct. Over in the book, I could highlight sections of the book that relate to these comments. It’s not a matter of interpretation. I’m wondering whether this is due to the book being read too quickly or reading multiple books at once then getting confused about the plots in each book. To be honest, this seems to be the biggest issue with using services like this that source advanced readers on your behalf. Along with the fact that I’m inviting criticism by enlisting in these services, some people will criticise everything and be snarky; it’s in their nature.

Perhaps, what you’ve already picked up on is, I’ve fixated on the harshest and snarkier reviews and not the positive. Both are valid and should be taken with equal weight. But, because I’m a pessimist, it’s hard for me to take praise; it’s scary. And, this is why I shouldn’t be reading my reviews.

In future, I’m wondering whether there is any value in using these services instead of waiting for reviews to naturally accumulate as a by-product of sales. This experience also makes me pause and reconsider whether I want to hire a coordinator for a book blogging tour. I’ll keep you posted about my decision about the tour in the next episode.

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The Candidate

During the first few days of November, I received an email from Amazon alerting me of the cut off date to upload the final version of the Candidate because it was on preorder. Because I’m a pessimist, I panicked. Much to my relief, on Monday the 8th of November, I received the proofread manuscript back from my editor. After three and a half hours, the proofread for The Candidate was completed.

In Microsoft Word, I accepted the tracked changes and copied the manuscript on a chapter by chapter basis to Scrivener and Vellum. Each time I made changes to the manuscript in Scrivener, I created a snapshot, just in case I made a mistake and needed to revert back to an earlier version. Next, I exported the ebook files from Vellum and uploaded the novella to all the stores. Because the proofread was completed, I copied the edited chapters across to the various sample ebooks that I created earlier and updated them on BookFunnel.

Book Marketing

At present, I’ve decided to hold off on paid advertising until I have a few book reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. And, I’m going to put off doing the book blogging tour until I can get a better idea of what readers think of my story. Even as I’m saying this out loud, I realise that I’m publishing or writing to the committee, which can be a dangerous game to play with your long-term writing career. It’s a dangerous game because the committee is often divided.

Above screenshot highlighting other creators experiencing drama with the Etsy payment reserve.

Le Villain Book Covers

Now, for the good news.

At the same time the reserve was set, a client purchased my set of three witch cosy mysteries. However, Etsy struggled to process the payment and cancelled the order. This led the client to come over to my website and purchase from me directly. As a result, I managed to fix the issues I was having connecting PayPal to my website and made a sale.

Yay!

New Cover Designs

Also in November, I designed two sets of three Premade cosy mystery covers; that’s six ebook covers. One set of three features a travel blogger. The second set is about a magic library. There’s no witch on the front cover, just a black cat, magic dust and a tonne of books. After this, I got a bit of cover design fatigue and couldn’t design another cover, so I had to pivot and focus on something else. 

Concluding Thoughts

So, that’s all of the tasks I completed in terms of writing, book marketing, and email marketing. By the end of December, I want to have written the first draft of the second story in the Rookie Reporter Mystery Series and have at least fifteen reviews on Goodreads for The Candidate. Also, in December, I will make a decision about the book blogging tour for the Candidate.

If you have any questions or have tips on book marketing that you would love to share with me, please come on over to the blog post share your thoughts in the comments section.

Thank you for listening, and happy reading and writing, everybody.

With love,

Amelia xx

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