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Celebrating Indies with Their Own Magazine: InD’Tale

May 15, 2014 by A Slice of Orange in category Archives tagged as book review, promotion, publicity

InD’Tale’s TJ MacKay & me

Recently, I met T.J. MacKay, the brilliant, savvy blonde and very vivacious lady behind the new on-line magazine, InD’Tale. The magazine is for readers and indie authors, blending industry information with behind-the-scenes looks at the writing life. Her passion for those folks who forge the road less traveled with their literary vision and are now paving it with their talent, is unparalleled. Her emphasis on romance is just the tip of the iceberg. For Mothers Day, here is an interview with a lady who just gave birth to a magazine every author should read.

Rebecca: InD’Tale is a great play on words. Why the focus on Indie Authors?

T.J.: When Indie was just starting to boom, there was no really credible platform in the industry for all the talented authors. I wanted to provide the singular place where they could learn some of the tricks of the trade and be celebrated through interviews and reviews.

Rebecca: To follow up on the word play, is there such a thing as an Indie Reader?

T.J.: Almost everyone could be considered an â€œIndie Readers.â€ I donâ€™t think readers give a hoot whether a book has a publishers stamp on it or not – they just want a really good, well-crafted story.

Rebecca: Tell me about two articles in upcoming issues – one for authors and one for readers.

T.J.: Mark Coker of Smashwords.com – one of the first to celebrate indie authors – just signed on to be a re-occurring contributor. He has an article on the way in June. We are finishing up a great three part series on screenwriting by one of Hollywood’s newest talents. For readers (as well as authors) we have a behind the scenes look at an industry photo shoot that takes us step by step through the process of creating amazing book covers We do an in-depth feature interview on a favorite best selling author each month. This is done in a personal, conversational style so readers can really get to know the author … oh goodness, I could go on and on!

Rebecca: You specifically talk to USA Today and NYT bestsellers for your in-depth interviews. Why?

T.J.: The feature interview is a 7 – 8 page layout, so the highlighted author needs to have the experience and credentials to be able to help teach those who are working to achieve that same level of success.

Rebecca: Do you know the requirements for an indie author to hit those lists so we can try really hard?

T.J.: The NY Times requires sales in multiple venues, which – when traditional was the only way to go – seemed fair and reasonable. Now that Indie is such a huge portion of the industry, however, itâ€™s become quite a conundrum for them. Indie authors are making money but it is from one or two distributors (almost always Amazon) which doesnâ€™t qualify them. I asked the Vice-President of Amazon about it and he said, â€œUntil we can convince New York to change their policy, authors may be faced with a choice: get rich or get on the list.â€ I think this will eventually change.

Rebecca: How do you choose the books you’ll review?

T.J.: As of right now, we review all books that are submitted and qualify. You can see our guidelines on the website. We review between 80 – 100 books a month and are working two months out right now.

Rebecca: Who are your reviewers?

T.J.: Currently, we have 24 reviewers. All have professional credentials and are strictly screened and trained. Professional reviews require a reviewer to set aside their personal views and look at a book from a strictly objective point of view. We have very specific guidelines that must be adhered to in order to maintain consistency and credibility. I also randomly read some of the books that are being reviewed to make sure that standard stays consistent.

Rebecca: Your emphasis is romance. Will you review other genres?

T.J.: Actually our emphasis is NOT just on romance. We review almost all genres and require only that there be a romantic thread within the story.

Rebecca: Are you or have you ever been an author? You are pretty darn passionate about books.

T.J.: Actually, Iâ€™m just pretty darn passionate about people and books! I doubt I’ll ever write a book. I was a journalist and my passion is in helping incredible authors become successful. Iâ€™m also an avid reader. I read an average of 5 to 6 books a week just to keep up!

Rebecca: What else do we need to know abut the TJ MacKay brand and the way you want to bring readers and authors together?

TJ: The most important thing to know about me is how deeply and sincerely I want to help talented authors find success and readers find the books that will spark their love of reading. It truly is a passion. Only those who have felt that drive to write, no matter what it is they write, can honestly understand how deeply that desire can run. Every single thing we do at InDâ€™tale is for that one purpose.

Find T.J. at: http://www.indtale.com

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My Results Using Ads and Specials by Kitty Bucholtz

April 10, 2014 by A Slice of Orange in category Archives tagged as advertising, It's Worth It, Kitty Bucholtz, Little Miss Lovesick, promotion, self-publishing, Unexpected Superhero

Most writers are curious about what is and isn’t working for other writers when it comes to selling books. I’m grateful for what others have been willing to share, so it’s only fair to share in return. Even though my results are a bit embarrassing.

I’ve only bought ads three times. I bought an ad last year with The Wordsmith Journal Magazine (online) for Little Miss Lovesick. After one month, I had zero new sales. Ouch.

In August, while Unexpected Superhero was enrolled in the KDP Select program (meaning it was only for sale on Amazon for the first 90 days), I took advantage of the program’s free days option and made the book free for five days in a row at the end of a conference I was attending. I also bought an ad from BookBub that appeared on the first day of the promotion.

There were a whopping 17,561 free downloads during those five days! Over 10,000 copies were downloaded the first day, which I attribute primarily to the BookBub ad. During the next two weeks, I sold only 24 more copies when the book went off sale (back to $3.99). Then the sales dropped back to the 0-3 per week average that has been more common for my books so far.

A month or two ago, I dropped the price of Unexpected Superhero from $3.99 to $2.99 to see if I could see a change in sales. There might have been a slight increase. At 0-3 sales per week, it’s a bit hard to say. 🙂

My third promotion-with-paid-advertisement was last week. I dropped the price on Little Miss Lovesick and promoted it with 19 other lovely romance authors and their books last Friday. I also took out a then-free ad from eBookSoda, a newer email list like BookBub that advertises free and reduced-price books. (The ads were free, then $5, and I’m sure they’ll keep increasing in price as they grow their list. The problem with this ad is that I don’t know if it went to 100 people, 1000, or 20,000.)

I dropped the price from $2.99 to 99 cents a week before the promo with Smashwords so it would be 99 cents at the other outlets by the day of the promo. I decreased the price on Amazon two days before, and it went into effect the day before. I saw that I sold one copy on Amazon a day or two before the promotion, then two more copies total during the weekend of the promotion and ad.

That’s it – 3 sales. At the high end of “usual” for me.

Little Miss Lovesick got a new (second) cover a few months ago, but it’s barely changed the sales. Unexpected Superhero got a new (second) cover at the end of March, too early to tell if it has affected sales yet. I took out another eBookSoda ad (the free ad that went to $5 when I did it this time) for Sunday, May 4 (my third choice date, Fantasy category, same as last year’s BookBub ad). I’ll leave Superhero at its current $2.99 price and see if anything happens when it’s not on sale but advertised.

And that’s about all I know so far. My second superhero book was to be ready next week for WonderCon, and which I expected to help sales of the first book. But my husband’s motorcycle accident and injuries trumped anything and everything that used to be on my To Do list. 🙂

I’ll keep you updated so you get a well-rounded view of self-publishing and advertising. (It’s less embarrassing to write about your successes, so there are a lot more of those stories out there.) It would appear that my experience underscores what other successful writers have said about success coming after you have several books out. Unfortunately, “life” has thrown a wrench in making that happen soon, but as the Brits (used to) say, Keep Calm and Carry On.

And keep writing! 🙂

Kitty Bucholtz decided to combine her undergraduate degree in business, her years of experience in accounting and finance, and her graduate degree in creative writing to become a writer-turned-independent-publisher. Her novels, Little Miss Lovesick and Unexpected Superhero, and the free short story “Superhero in Disguise,” are now available at most online retail sites. Superhero in the Making will be released this summer.

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emaginings: Romance Boxed Sets

October 17, 2013 by Linda McLaughlin in category The Romance Journey by Linda Mclaughlin tagged as Amy Gamet, boxed sets, emaginings, Ilona's Wolf, indie authors, Linda McLaughlin, Lois Winston, Lyndi Lamont, promotion, Romance Super Bundle, self-publishing, Wendy Ely

Life has been pretty hectic since I started down the self-published road. I am so impressed at the energy and innovation I’m seeing in the indie author community. But now that I’m a publisher as well as a writer, it seems there’s always something to do and not enough time for everything.

My latest project was to get involved in one of the popular e-book boxed sets we see popping up at Amazon and other online retailers. I was fortunate to team up with a bunch of knowledgeable and savvy indie writers, and we published the Romance Super Bundle in late September. Our fearless leader, Amy Gamet, has been the driving force behind the project. She also created the gorgeous 3-D cover.

My contribution to the bundle is my historical romance, Rogue’s Hostage. We priced the boxed set at $5.99, but it’s currently on sale for 99 cents. We still hope it will hit one of the big lists like USA Today.

On Oct. 7, we had a dynamite Facebook Launch Party guided by the dynamic and extremely organized Wendy Ely. It was attended by a lively bunch of readers, and the messages were flying fast at times. (It was all this old broad could do to keep up.) The event page is still available if anyone wants to see what we did.

Today, one of the authors, Lois Winston, is at Inkspot where she discusses this new way I’m thinking outside the promotional box, and does it more coherently than I can. I like her analogy of promotion being like “shouting into a tsunami” though I tend to think of it more as a lone voice crying in the wilderness.

At the same time, I’m still working on re-issuing my back list. In the last week, my werewolf novella, Ilona’s Wolf: A Fairy Tale Romance, was published at Amazon and Barnes and Noble, just in time for Halloween.

Blurb:

Imagine a world filled with magic, a tormented knight, a damsel in distress, an evil sorcerer…

While picking herbs in the woods, Princess Ilona is rescued from a woodsman by a wolf. When the creature licks her wounds, it is suddenly transformed into a man. A very handsome, very naked man who makes passionate love to her in a glade. She has dreamed of a handsome knight to aid her cause, but a werewolf?

Cursed by an evil wizard, Rolf was trapped in wolf form until he tasted the blood of a royal. Now he must escort the princess on a hazardous journey back to the castle to stop an ill-fated wedding and face the evil wizard who placed the evil curse on Rolf.

Passion flares between them, but both know there is no future for a princess and a werewolf. Or is there? In a world where magic and passion combine, anything may be possible.

(Previously published by Amber Quill Press)

The beautiful cover was designed by Carey Abbott of Safari Heat.

What is keeping you busy and energized these days?

Linda McLaughlin / Lyndi Lamont

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emaginings: Blog hops and Tours

December 16, 2012 by A Slice of Orange in category Archives tagged as blogging, emaginings, Lyndi Lamont, OCC/RWA, promotion

Tara Lain’s November talk on blog tours inspired me to throw together a last minute combination of blog hop and mini-tour to promote my latest self-published release, How To Woo… A Reluctant Bride.

It all starts tomorrow with the Secret Santa Blog Hop. I won’t be the only OCC member participating. I saw Tara’s name on the list and Beth Yarnell’s and there may be more of us.

Here’s my schedule:

Dec. 17-19, Secret Santa Blog Hop
Dec. 20, Servants of the Muse blog
Dec. 21, The Romance Studio blog
Dec. 22, Love in a Book Reviews

TRS is the prize and I’m not sure how I lucked into a date there at such short notice. Next month I’ll report on how my blog hop/tour worked out.

You can find an example of one of Tara’s blog tours here.

One of the best things about our Orange County Chapter is the way we all support and help each other, and I know we’re all grateful for our wonderful writing community.

Happy Holidays!

Linda McLaughlin aka Lyndi Lamont

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When You Learn, Teach

October 19, 2012 by A Slice of Orange in category Archives tagged as Helping, Mona Karel, My Killer My Love, New and Old, promotion, Published and Unpublished, Teach Me to Forget

â€œWhen you learn, teach, when you get, give.â€ Maya Angelou

“One hand reaching forward, one hand reaching back” Orange County Chapter Romance Writers of America

We sometimes forget as we dash through our days full of deadlines and proposals and promo work what it was like to first put pencil to paper, to first send out a proposal, or meet with an agent at a conference. We might have buried the memory of that first rejection letter, or the second, or the fiftieth except as an anecdote while we share our (current) success story.
When a newbie writer asks a question so basic we feel they should have learned the answer in elementary school, how many of us remember angsting over lines per page and perfect format as if that alone would guarantee acceptance by one of the publishers? Or buying the best quality typing paper we could afford in hopes of recognition. I sure do.
In discussion with authors from chapters across the country, I hear stories of chapters imploding from expectations of unpublished authors who demand help from the published. On the other hand I hear stories from unpublished authors who can’t even get an answer to how to set up a blog. Somewhere in the middle is that healthy place of compromise and share.
Orange County has that great program of “Ask An Author,” but OCC has been innovative in so many ways. But it’s not just the published authors who can step up. Anyone who has attended a GMC talk can tell a neophyte GMC stands for Goal, Motivation, Conflict. NaNo refers to a mad dash to produce a book in a month, at the end of which you either love or hate your characters and it’s a tossup whether your hands or your bottom are more numb, All of us have knowledge to share.
I’m hoping these ideas spread to other chapters, large and small, to keep the chapters and RWA healthy and supportive of romance writing.

Monica Stoner writes as Mona Karel, and has two books available for your perusal
Teach Me To Forget and My Killer My Love
When she’s not blogging about basic promo or low carb cooking Mona’s Blog she’s enjoying life at 6500 feet in New Mexico, surrounded by a bunch of silly skinny dogs. And writing, writing, writing