Goals Check-In
February 5, 2022 by Tracy Reed in category Pink Pad by Tracy Reed, Writing tagged as #writing, goals, new release, New YearsHappy February. Happy Love Month. Happy Valentine’s Day or Galentine’s Day.
Let’s get to it. Last month I made a bold post and shared some of my goals with you. I did this because I felt the accountability would help me achieve them.
Here are my goals:
Get my letters
Triple my income
Triple my mailing list
Master Facebook ads
Update covers
Learn how to write a sellable blurb
Use Ingram Spark
Direct distribution
Increase my prices
As of this post, I’ve completed one goal…Increase my prices. I was a little nervous about raising my prices because I didn’t think readers would be receptive to the increase on the smaller books. So far, there hasn’t been any negative feedback. Raising my prices also helps with tripling my income.
My strategy for tripling my income, is Facebook ads. Last year, I took Skye Warren’s Facebook Ads Intensive and did well. I still haven’t reached the sales goal I desire, but that will come in time. 2020 wasn’t a good sales year for me. I can’t blame the poor sales on the pandemic because I didn’t release anything new. Nor did I push my back list.
Last year, I released one book prior to doing the Ads Intensive. I really wish I’d known about the Intensive sooner, because I think the first half of the year would have turned out differently. I ended last year by multiplying my income by 4.8 times.
Fast forward to 2022 and a price increase across the board…I made all of my ebooks $4.99. This bold move helped to boost my income by 39% as of this post. Meaning I already made February 2021s income. Grant it, I had a release on February 2nd with the majority of the preorders paid out on that day.
In addition to Facebook Ads, I’m also doing BookBub ads. I turned off my AMS ad because they weren’t working. I heard Amazon doesn’t like racy covers, which could explain why the ads performed so poorly. However, the FB ads, have been consistently making the daily spend back…plus or minus two dollars. So far, I’m ahead and considering increasing my ad spend. I have a BookBub New Release For Less ad scheduled for February 8th. The tails will determine when I increase my FB ad spend.
To summarize, increasing my prices and running facebook ads are pushing me towards my goal of tripling my income.
Update my covers. I don’t have as many to update as I thought. I have seven covers I need to update and two are almost complete. I also have four I’m on the fence about. This project is time consuming because it’s not just the cover, but the chapter headers as well. Thank God for Vellum because it makes creating print copies easy.
I need to add one additional goal. Offer all books in large print. I have one live already, The Good Girl Part One. If you haven’t done large print, I recommend doing so.
The other goal I forgot to list was my new release goals. I went super bold and set up preorders for three books this year. Setting up Amazon preorders was a way to make sure I fulfilled this goal. I don’t want to end up in preorder jail, so I have to keep this goal. I am so grateful Amazon offers an extension without penalty which I am taking advantage of.
One goal down, ten to go. How are you doing with your goals?
Why Self-Publishing by Tracy Reed
December 5, 2021 by Tracy Reed in category Pink Pad by Tracy Reed tagged as Agents, Authors, Edgy Christian Fiction, self-publishing
Tracy is busy today. While she’s away, she thought you might like to read a post from our archives. Why Self-Publishing was originally published on Jan 16, 2015.
Why Did You Chose To Self-Publish?
This is the first question most Self-Published Authors are asked. However, what’s really going through the mind of the person asking is, “So you couldn’t get an agent or your work wasn’t up to snuff.” That’s so not true.
I’ve learned a lot on the road to becoming a self-published writer. First, I had an agent. A well-respected agent in the world of Christian Fiction. Let me preface this by saying, she knew my writing style. She’d read the first five chapters of my book. Actually, it was a different book. [That’s a story for another time.] She got my book to ‘Board.’ Two years later and I’m still waiting to hear if that publisher wants to move forward with my book. I think it’s safe to say, they passed on it.
I need to back up. I write what is classed as Edgy Christian Fiction. What is that you ask? ECF [Edgy Christian Fiction], is fiction with Christian themes. What makes it ‘Edgy’ is that it includes elements not common in traditional Inspirational or Christian fiction. In my books, that means the kisses are a little more passionate, there’s sex between the married couples, language with a little bite, lots of physical descriptions voiced by the characters, wine, talk about abortion, divorce, fornication, lust, not liking your in-laws and anything else that goes on in everyday life. The men are hot, the women are loaded with curves and both are quick to render their appreciation of the opposite sex.
As a Christian, I wanted to read stories about women who weren’t ashamed or embarrassed to express their feelings, with strong personalities and business owners. Let’s be real, when you’re sitting down with your girlfriends talking, you’re not talking in prose. No, you’re very descriptive in your comments on how amazing Idris Elba, Matthew McConaughey, Johnny Depp or Daniel Craig looked in their last movie. So why not write stories from that POV.
I feel it’s a little difficult to convey to the reader the heroine’s attraction is to the hero by not being descriptive in this manner. Traditional Inspiration Fiction, the heroine’s feelings might be described with something like, ‘His thick black hair was beautiful blowing in the wind, brought a smile to her face.’ That’s nice, but in my world, it would have a little more umph, like, ‘She wondered how his thick black hair would feel brushing against her chin as he placed hot kisses along her neck.’ Or maybe, ‘When he kissed the back of her neck, she lost the ability to stand.” Statements like this aren’t necessarily acceptable CBA approved.
In my GENERATIONAL CURSE, I wanted to tell a story about a man who never turned down a drink or a woman. But when he hit rock bottom, he went cold turkey and fell in love with God. His priorities changed and he refused to let anyone or anything destroy that relationship. The heroine, is the complete opposite. She hasn’t had a relationship with God since she was a child. And even then it was more forced. Now as an adult, the only part of marriage she wants, is a married lover. She has no desire to be with a single available man. In her mind, a married man is less complicated. But she is intrigued by the hero and he her.
In order to tell the story, I had to take the reader on a journey with the heroine. I had to show how complicated and empty her life was by detailing her relationship with her married lover. I’m sure the story could have been told without the sex, but I don’t think it would have had the same impact. I don’t want to give too much away, but in the end it all makes sense.
So Why Did I Choose To Self-Publish? I wanted to tell the stories I wanted to read. I met an agent at a conference and she gave me two options: tell the story with the sex and no God or tell the story with God and no sex.
I wrestled with that statement for quite a while. But, I felt God had given me a great platform and I refused to back down. Also, I wanted covers and titles that were a little racy, another thing not really permitted in Inspirational or Christian Fiction.
So here I am, a newbie writer taking a chance writing stories with a little heat and taboo subjects. I know my style of book isn’t for everyone and that’s fine. For those willing to read something a little different, I think they’ll enjoy it.
Funny thing, a few weeks after I published my book, I got a LinkedIn request from my former agent. I’m still deciding if I should accept it.
That’s why I chose to self-pub.
Books by Tracy Reed
THE HARDEST THING I’VE HAD TO DO THIS YEAR
November 5, 2021 by Tracy Reed in category Pink Pad by Tracy Reed
Happy November…Happy Thanksgiving.
The past two years have been challenging for everyone. I talked about this before, but I missed my writing goal for this year. But last month I was faced with the reality that I wasn’t going to meet my deadline and release date. Let me clarify. I could have put the book out, The Good Girl Part Four, but I would have been shooting myself in the foot because it would have been rushed.
Part of my release process is do a simple read through when my editor returns the manuscript to me. Then I wrestle with some of her edits. I step away a couple of days, then return to the story and review the edits. It’s usually during this process that more words are written and I do another mini edit. This process can take a couple of weeks. Then, if I can I’ll send out ARCs. To do this step right, I need to factor in another month at the least. Confession…I haven’t done ARCs on my last two books. Reason, I was rushed and didn’t want to disappoint my readers by missing the release date I promised. As it is, I’d already broken my promise not to end it with a cliffhanger. I forgot, I’m an Indie Author and I control my production schedule.
Now I was faced with breaking a few promises. Missing the release date. I have pushed the release date back several times and finally settling for a more realistic date of January 18, 2022. The other promise I broke which my readers don’t know yet is Part Four in The Good Girl Series ends on a cliffhanger.
It was never my intention to do that, but the book was getting way too big. When I split the book in half, the first half was at 62,000+. The book I sent to my editor was 74,000+ words. After tweaking and pre-editing, I had added an additional 12,000+ words. This lets me know that if I had kept the story as one book, it would have been HUGE. I felt that would have been too large for a romance.
The other reasons I pushed my release date back was personal. My mother had double eye surgery and she needed my help. Then I had an allergy attack which had me on a lot of meds. (If you’re on my mailing list then you read the email and know what happened.) My family and health come first. For these reasons, I had to do the hardest thing I have had to do this year, announce the pushed back release date of a book I promised would be out this year and that wouldn’t have a cliffhanger.
What made me feel better about sending that email was that I had received one from a best selling romance author explaining why she pushed her release date back. As writers we have to remember our health and family are the priorities. Self-care is one of the new buzz words, but it’s also a necessity if we want to continue doing what we love.
I really wrestled with sending out such a personal email, but I felt it was necessary to explain why I had pushed the release date back. When I sent the email I was prepared to refund any pre-orders for the book. Thank God, only one person cancelled their pre-order and I’m fine with that. I believe God will restore that one sale with many more. I was surprised to receive emails from readers sending their prayers and blessings to me and my family and fully understanding why I pushed the release date back.
So where does that leave my book now? My editor has it and the cancelled pre-order was restored. It was only on pre-order at Apple Books and D2D, but now it’s also at Amazon and Kobo. And as soon as I figure out Google Play I’ll load it there as well as Eden books. FYI, I just received my first Eden Books pay out. Adding more books to the site is on my To Do List.
I’m also going to be bold and put Part Five in the series up for pre-order as well. I’m doing a little experiment. I’ve never had a pre-order for more than a month at Amazon. I’ve read posts where writers said they really benefited financially and rank wise with a longer pre-order. We’ll see what happens.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and stay safe. See you next month.
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To Cliff-Hang Or Not
August 5, 2021 by Tracy Reed in category Pink Pad by Tracy ReedTo Cliff-Hang or Not
It’s August. Wow. So far this has been a busy summer. We have been cleaning our backyard, a task we’ve put off since we finished the last round of renovations. We’re hopeful we’ll get it cleaned up so we can spend at least one weekend outside lounging. I have this fantasy of sitting outside with a glass of wine and a charcuterie board reading and writing. I’m very hopeful this will happen this summer. I may even open one of the bottles I brought back from France.
The other thing I’m hopeful will happen this summer is the completion of my book The Good Girl Part Four. Man, this book is turning out to be way more than I expected.
Mid way through writing The Good Girl Part Trois, I felt myself rushing to finish. I was so confident I told readers that I would have everything tied up with Part Trois. The joke was on me. It’s amazing how characters have the audacity to tell you when their story is finished. These characters made it very clear they were telling the story and not me.
I figured I’d go with the flow and once I realized there was going to be another book, I told my readers. I even promised it wouldn’t be long before the next book. Again, the characters put me in my place.
I have been working hard to bring this series to an end, but it seems like it’s not done. As much as I don’t want to admit it, there just might be a fifth book. I was faced with the possibility of a fifth book a few weeks ago. So far The Good Girl Part Four is 97k+. I was shocked. I haven’t written a book that big since my first book. And that was the first draft, which I later attacked with an electric saw.
So here’s my dilemma. Keep writing and see where the story ends or end book four with a cliffhanger like the other books in the series. Where I am in the story right now, I feel there’s a good six thousand more words…at least. That would make the book well over 100k words…way too big, I think.
I’ve been kicking around the possibility of a fifth book long before the word count got this high. When I was selecting cover images for the series, I held back one just in case. So finding a cover won’t be an issue. I’ve even been thinking about possibly using “book five” as an entry to a spin off series featuring Gabriella’s brother. If I do that, it would allow me to tell a little more of Gabriella and Phillippe’s story as well.
If I go with this plan, Part Four would definitely end with a cliffhanger. Adding a fifth book to this series would throw a monkey wrench in my publishing plan for the balance of the year. I really wanted to finish Unexpected Love Part Two this fall. I also wanted to write a holiday novella. Neither of which seem possible if I add a fifth book to The Good Girl Series.
The upside to adding a fifth book is I would have about a third of it complete. I did a read through and found a good spot to end Part Four. In doing so, it would give me a strong opening for Part Five. Because of where Part Four would end, I’d have about thirty thousand words to start Part Five.
As a reader, I’m of two minds when it comes to cliffhangers. If I like the characters and the story, a cliffhanger will not stop me from reading the next book. I have bought (at full price) into series without thinking about the price. I can think of three series right now where I purchased deep into the series without giving any thought to the price. Not only did I buy the books, but because I really enjoyed the series, I told others about the books.
I think if your readers are used to your giving them cliffs, it’s not a problem. However, if you’re new to reading an author and are presented a cliffhanger it can be annoying especially if the next book isn’t available. In the case of The Good Girl Series, each of the books ends on a cliff so I might be able to get away with this series plan.
Cliffhangers are a subject riddled with debate in the world of romance fiction. Everyone loves an HEA (Happy Ever After). In my writing world HFN (Happy For Now) and Cliffs are common. No matter how hard I try, cliffs seem to be inevitable and dare I say, my writing style.
What would you do…end book four with a cliffhanger and write a fifth book or make part four a super novel?
2 0 Read moreThe Value Of A Free Promotion
July 5, 2021 by Tracy Reed in category Pink Pad by Tracy ReedHappy July. I hope you had a safe Fourth of July.
Last year before the pandemic I made a bold decision. I wasn’t going to do any book signing events. Let me clarify. I wasn’t going to do any signings out of state and very few local events. For me, it was cost prohibitive. It isn’t my attention to sound pretentious, because I’m far from it.
I do signings so I can meet and gain new readers. I discovered I was doing more selling and not getting sales. More specific, I was trying to convince people to buy my books. I know that’s part of the process, but it was a little disconcerting when you see most of the other authors in the room making sales, earning out their fees and you’re going home in the deficit. In some cases, not even getting new additions to my mailing list.
Of course there have been some incredible book signing exceptions. My favorite book signing event and one I hope to participate in again is the LA Times Book Festival. I love the diversity and atmosphere. I’ve met some amazing authors and the readers are fantastic. I met a reader who asked if I’d come to her book club meeting. I told her if she invited me and I was available, I’d attend. Ironically, she invited me to her book club a month before the shelter in place order hit California. I had a good time at the meeting talking about a variety of subjects including my book. Plus the food was amazing. But here’s the icing on the cake. One of the club members was someone I grew up with. We hadn’t seen each other since we were kids. Some of the ladies from this meeting are part of my reader group and mailing list.
Fast forward the pandemic and things changed. There were no signing events. I felt sympathetic to all the authors who had put out money for events that were cancelled or postponed. I saw the occasional virtual signing, but let’s be real most of those events yielded few if any additional readers. I set a goal to increase my mailing list. That was one of the main reasons I did signings. Now because of the pandemic I was forced to stand by my decision.
I searched for paid promotions and found a service I liked. I did pretty good…up a few hundred new readers. But shortly after the promotion the freebie seekers left.
I have worked hard to grow my list. It’s not huge, but respectable…3700+ and an average open rate. I think I’ve lost about twelve percent pre-pandemic.
I started participating in group promotions and that’s when things changed for my mailing list. I started last year with 2379 readers. Hallelujah. However, prior to the pandemic at the list peak it was approximately 3000+/- readers. In a matter of a couple of years, I’d lost about twenty percent of my readers. I was upset, but found solace in knowing that was normal and there’s a good chance they were freebie seekers.
I set a goal to get my list to 3000 and started looking for promotions. I did a couple of paid free giveaways and newsletter swaps. Those events added over 1300 readers to my list. But like any free promotional event, there’s some loss. So far, I’ve lost less than 200 readers, putting me around the 3700+ readers.
The other reason I am a huge fan of the freebie promotion and newsletter swap, is reviews. I have asked my readers to leave reviews and some will. I’m glad they bought the book, but it would be even better to read a review or even post a star rating. After my first newsletter swap, I noticed a few new reviews on the book in the promotion. But I really saw an uptick in reviews the second time I did a newsletter promotion. I talked about this before. I paid a service for reviews which was good. I got forty plus reviews. However, with the newsletter swaps the book I put up has more than tripled in reviews. I’m on my way to my first 100 reviewed book. Did I say that correct?
Another plus to a freebie giveaway promotion or newsletter swap event, backlist sales. I talked about this strategy before. For me, it’s a matter of selecting the right book for the giveaway. Let’s be real none of us wants to give away a book, but if me giving away a book hooks the reader they’ll keep buying until they’ve completed the series. And if I’ve done my job well, they’ll pick up one of my other series. When you look at it that way, heck yeah, I’ll give away a few books.
Heres some numbers. Last year, I gave away 7416+/- books, but I gained 500+ new readers. So far, this year I’ve given away 14276+/- books and gained 400+ new readers. Plus, I earned reviews on all the books in the promotions and backlist at Amazon and Apple Books. The pièce de résistance of this, during those events my books shot up the ranks…top ten in their categories in the Kindle Store, US and a few foreign markets. I think the thing that surprised me the most was hitting the top 100 Free Romance in the Apple Books store US and Germany.
I’m convinced because of the number of downloads and ranking, it effected the Amazon algorithm in my favor helping me sell my back list. This jump in free downloads has increased traffic at Apple Books as well.
If you ever get invited to a newsletter swap giveaway or a paid freebie promotion, do it. The benefits far out weigh the imagined loss in revenue.
Enjoy the rest of the month.
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