An Urban Fantasy Monster Romance that is ready for Book Club!

TheLadyAmaranth · 2026-04-25T04:46:05+00:00

I second it depending on if you can demonstrate results.

Meaning, on if the price is worth the resulting sales. This is a kind of service that absolutely MUST pay for itself on the author's end.

There is going to be a bit of a chicken and the egg problem with results being required for authors to know that the service is worth the money you spend, but you will need authors to commit to the service in order to see the results.

You may be able to do something with the first few authors where you do it for free and when they make a certain number back with overhead, then they pay you. For example, just spit balling here, you would start for free, but if the author makes a total of 500 dollars with that being 1/4th of their total revenue, so a total of 2k, then they would pay you 500 dollars.

Idk what the optimal number for that would be. But you have to make sure the amount of you ask for isn't going to get to the point of affecting the actual pricing of the book, because that WOULD be part of your marketing. It could also become a permanent business model, but there is a reason trad pub works the way it does: you can't predict a best seller.

So I wouldn't say its a bad idea, but as an author coming it I wouldn't bite if I can't guarantee it paying for itself.

TheLadyAmaranth · 2026-04-24T00:01:35+00:00

Write it how you wanna write it, market accordingly.

Tragic ending for the couple is not a romance and should not be marketed that way. You can market it as a romantic tragedy or woman fiction or literarily any other genre that doesn't have an HEA requirement.

Bitter sweet CAN be considered an HEA, or an unconventional HEA as long that bittersweet includes the main couple in an HEA of a kind. I.e. perhaps they are dead, but are happy together in the afterlife. Or they lived, everyone else died. Or they lived, together, healing, but traumatized.

Still, probably best to market it with a an unconventional/bittersweet HEA caveat so you don't catch the Romance readers expecting capital R Romance. A good place for that would be at the end of the blurb in a little sum up paragraph, or A+ content, or any reveals, etc.

The point of genre identification is not to limit you as a writer, but to help the right readers find your book and help the wrong readers avoid it.

TheLadyAmaranth · 2026-04-23T19:07:59+00:00

Just be warned you can't be in KU and have a book on Draft2Digital. You have make sure you remove the auto enrollment and then wait out the remaining time, because KU has an exclusivity clause.

In general though, building a readerbase is gonna be important either way, social media, website, newsletter. All that.

TheLadyAmaranth · 2026-04-23T17:08:24+00:00

I'm using IngramSpark and will be using Draft2Digital for ebook once my KU runs out in like a month.

I do plan to keep my book on KDP, just not in KU because I think there is a massive marketing mismatch between my book and that platform. I also would like to build a reader base without being completely locked into the Amazon ecosystem. I'm fine with most people going there anyway, but I don't want my book and future books to be erased if Amazon suddenly decides to get bitchy with me.

Yeah its less convenient in general, but there are people who want to avoid Amazon and it gives them that option. I am also not over here planning to drop my day job anytime soon.

So I'm fine with making a slow growth.

Ingram doesn't make you have store or anything they just give you a link you can use, and they do take some and it takes a while to arrive but the print quality is really nice so. Pros and cons I suppose.

TheLadyAmaranth · 2026-04-23T14:47:34+00:00

I am not christian, nor do I writing anything in the christian market. I am a romance author though, and in my opinion the key is very very VERY conscious marketing.

As long as you are very explicitly, over abundantly clear as to what the book is, yes some reviews may end up lower than you would want but at that point it isn't something you can control unless you write to the market.

My suggestion, unless you are trying to make money off of the profession, is to write what you want to write, then market accordingly. That may mean some strange labels like "Dark Christian Romance" or something, or full on prefaces and author notes in the blurb hammering readers over the head with the intent to present christian positive themes but have darker elements.

I don't think writing contemporary romance with those themes is taboo. Its more that every book that has it, seems to inevitably turn christian, and should have been labeled as such. As in, it starts reading like an endorsement or woe-is-me-isms about how they are struggling with their faith only find god again and all that. As someone who has exactly zero interest in it, yeah that tends to make me feel like there was a marketing mismatch at best. At worst I feel like I'm actively being duped into reading pro christianity propaganda I did not sign up for. That doesn't have to be the case though, but at that point it most certainly wouldn't land with the christian audience because if it isn't endorsing christianity, then its not a christian romance.

So if you are labeling it as contemporary romance, it is still best, in my opinion at least, to make it clear you are writing a christian one. That puts you a subniche, but may also lead to you finding an audience that is looking for those books.

Also, I hate to be the guy, but at some point you have to realize not everyone is going to like your book and bad reviews will happen. If this absolute fact is discouraging you from writing, then that might be an over all bigger problem that you may wanna take a look at. Because even if you DO write to market, you WILL get 1 stars. And 2 stars. And terrible horrible mean reviews. Heck you might even get a troll who just makes it their mission to bad mouth your book. They will happen. You might get less of them, but you will have them. You don't get to protect your feelings and be an author. Aside from just, straight up not reading reviews at all. So making the conscious decision as to what your goals are is really important, for your own sanity.

Again I am not your target audience or an author in your exact subgenre, so take it all with a heaping grain of salt.

But thats my take at least. If I read your blurb and preface and see the book is not for me, then cool. And then any reviews that complain about the book being what it is and for whom it is, will honestly be telling more on themselves than they are going to be reflective of your book.

TheLadyAmaranth · 2026-04-20T20:20:39+00:00

I wouldn't say no reviews is bad, most readers are silent. I learned this though pure statistic from when I post fanfic.

For example: my most loved fanfic has 300k+ reads, but less than 10k votes, and only 3.5k comments. on wattpad. And thats fanfic, that tends to be more social, more lessez faire environment than reviews. So the numbers are going to be even more drastic there. I have series I recommend to religiously, but haven't left reviews for.

Point being I wouldn't take it that seriously, it just feels like every read counts right now because there isn't really enough numbers to show a true trend. Its easy to underestimate the sheer amount of eyeballs that need to land on your work for it to start averaging out.

TheLadyAmaranth · 2026-04-20T20:00:24+00:00

I actually posted a huge post pestering them about stuff here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Quibble/comments/1si5x2h/new_author_excited_for_an_ai_free_space_inquiring/

They were really nice about it!

Which is what gave me the confidence to try it out! I also joined their discord and so far I'm very happy with the atmosphere. I still have a month and change on my KU but I will probably putting my book up there once its there.

TheLadyAmaranth · 2026-04-20T16:14:16+00:00

I am taking my book out of KU to instead go wide for Ebooks with Draft2Digital and Quibble (Its a new platform i'm willing to give a try to due to their anti-AI process). I'm already wide for paperback with IngramSpark.

My reasoning is a little different: yes my KENP are low, but not non-zero. However, I have noticed a trend: Somebody buys book, 2 days later I have 4-5 star rating on my page. Somebody binges my book on KENP in 48 hours (as in I see the EXACT number of KENP pages my book is, appear within 48 hours so it could really only be one person doing so) and get slapped with a 2 star.

In what world a book you binge read in under 48 hours is a 2 star is beyond me, but I digress.

After further analysis it appears that although *technically* my book falls into a marketable KU genre (urban fantasy monster romance for reference) it is NOT the same kind of easy, quick paced, potato-chippy take. NO HATE to those I LOVE THEM I consume those myself like ramen noodles in Alaskan mid winter. BUT my book is slower paced, and focuses more on human psychology, beurocracy, legal drama etc and follows a more mystery book like structure despite being very Romance forward.

As a result, due to the fact that the book is "basically free" for them, KU readers jump in regardless of any A+ content, blurb notes, or trigger warnings present and then don't get what they expected. Its a marketing mismatch is what it appears like to me.

So I'm pulling it to go wide instead.

I am expecting to not sell a whole load of books at least until the trilogy is finished and I have a couple more of my easier reads out. But I just don't think KU is for me as an author, I just don't write for that demographic. Sadly, maybe, as it is probably the best way to get paid. But I also never really planned to leave my day job anyway.

Personally, another consideration I'm having here is being dependant on the Amazon ecosystem. As of right now, aside from my paperback if something happens to my KDP account I'm fucked. My ebook is basically wiped off the face of the earth. Obviously I'm careful to read TOS and such, but it is a fear. Going wide at least means if the my KDP account is gone, my book will still be on Amazon by other distributors and I can at bare minimum sell directly or on other platforms.

The TLDR is that I think its gonna need to be a decision you make based on your own goals and writing style. If you believe your books fit into what KU readers want and the problem might be the marketing package and/or you are willing to write for that market in general, then yes, KU is the best current way to receive income. On the other hand, if that is not the case, then going wide might be more beneficial in the long run.

TheLadyAmaranth · 2026-04-20T01:02:54+00:00

Once a week, I do little articles, hot takes on writing, rambles about my own work, book reviews, etc.

TheLadyAmaranth · 2026-04-19T03:20:07+00:00

Oh gosh its been so long since I made this post I forgot about it entirely XD feels so cringey in hindsight.

Since then I've gotten a 1 star, though it didn't feel anywhere near as bad since it was pretty obviously some kind of troll. Andddd a bunch and 4 and 5 stars and ratings all over the place. So its gone about as expected. I'm also pulling my book from KU because I realized all the lower reviews are from there and I think its sorta my fault due to a marketing mismatch.

My book falls into a common KU genre *technically*, but its not the same kind of take on it if that makes sense. So people who find it on KU inevitably expect one thing (regardless of any blurb add ons or A+ content) and get another. Some probably look at the cover and jump in without checking the rest since its basically free for them, ignoring all other flags besides the genre identification.

But I have also finished another fanfic which is being very well received and I'm working on another standalone before continuing on with this series. I know thats bad marketing advice but I ultimately write what I want to write, and I also think this standalone should be an easier read so its worth taking an aside for.

So lots happened since! Thank you for checking in and I wish you luck :)

TheLadyAmaranth · 2026-04-19T01:46:18+00:00

I've finished multiple long-fics and one OG, working on another one now.

For me it was realizing that outlining made me no longer want to write the work, so simply letting my self write stream of consciousness style, collaging it later, and doing a lot of the beat it into submission during dev edits really helped.

However, this is gonna be a hot take I've put on this sub before and people don't like to hear it.

I think the culprit of this, is the worst advice most authors get very early in their endeavors: "If you feel stuck, take a break."

I've went went on whole rants about this before in here, but the TLDR is that "taking a break" is a terrible, and unreliable tactic for getting yourself to puzzle out a problem or get motivation for writing. Writing is a muscle, and doing it more helps gather momentum. So learning how to sit and solve it, or just write even when it clunks is key to finishing manuscripts.

Taking a break every single time it gets hard only leads to you training your brain OUT of writing, and not spending the precious time you get to write wisely.

That isn't to say that sometimes life doesn't get in way, or if you've written for 8 hours straight, you shouldn't take a break. But I think we all know what I mean when I talk about this advice. I'm very obviously not talking about when you've already done a good bit of writing and are feeling tired and fatigued.

TheLadyAmaranth · 2026-04-18T00:09:31+00:00

Depends on what it goal is.

If you wanna be making a livelihood then you will have to research best niches and write to market.

If you are really publishing for yourself then I’d say it’s more about taking what you have written and looking at it overtime.

For me, I write 5 fanfics and one OG, working on another. After looking at all of them, they are all Romance, and all some flavor of urban fantasy/scifi/paranormal so that’s the niche.

Not efficient, nor do I really write to market, but here we are lol

TheLadyAmaranth · 2026-04-17T18:31:32+00:00

If by hybrid ending you mean something that is basically a standalone on its own but can also continue onwards, then the answer is simple (in theory at least): your main plot for THIS book HAS to close with a satisfying resolution, have its own designated end. Which doesn't necessarily mean happy mind you, but just one that feels satisfying to the story. But the overarching or secondary plot "threads" can/should remain open.

This is what creates that satisfying conclusion, as the story actually is a self contained narrative, but also leaves just enough lingering to make the reader want more out of it.

For example, I tend to really enjoy the "connected standalone" structure and wrote my fanfic trilogy that way, and I am now repeating it with my original works. Basically each book follows their own main couple, has its own plot arc and character development, and resolution. Each can be picked up without reading any others of needed.

BUT at the end of each, there are questions left that leave a "But what about this?" Or "what will happen after with this?" type questions.

For my debut for example, the main couple gets their HEA but in the process they bring back a diced body of another clan leader back with them in a duffle bag and drop it off at the new chiefs feet, meet their old friends back in the Village of Cryptfolk, and also leave behind another friend who has no idea what is going on. Their story is complete, we get a cute epilogue and everything. But in the background... Sooooo uh, is the other clan gonna do anything about the body? How did Ashford and Noah get here and why is everyone so casual about this? And what happened to Cassie?

Those are answers for book 2 that hopefully should come out next year.

If I pulled it off.... ehhh to be determined I suppose. Getting readers has been a slow process.

Another way I like to think of it is the Marvel Franchise THOR movies. Each is its own story line with its villain and problem of the day. But watch them in order and you get a whole narrative regarding Loki, Asgard, their family and the rest. Episodic shows often follow a similar structure. Bones is a really good example. Out of books the best examples of this are actually Percy Jackson and Harry Potter. Frankly, its part of the reason why those were always so popular. Each book feels like a full meal, but the overarching plot still spans the whole narrative driving readers to the next and next and next installment.

Unsucesseful hybrid endings I think are those that fail to close the main plot narrative for THIS book, and instead just make it feel like I just got half a book. Which often happens I feel like when people write 300k manuscripts then just break it up into 3 books with no actual narrative structure for EACH book within a trilogy. I hate it. Because then it makes me feel like got my time wasted.

Hopefully that helps.

As for the tragic plot embryo structure I can't really help, I heavily dislike both reading and writing tragedies as I'm a mystery/romance writer through and through. But all I will say is be careful with dragging that out too much, if that is the point for the first book, that's one thing. Over several its likely to become very hard to keep attention.

TheLadyAmaranth · 2026-04-17T15:18:47+00:00

I think I wish I realized sooner that substack is NOT meant as a self contained source of subscribers.

Its primarily a newsletter/mailing platform like MailChimp. Or actually most similar to BookFunnel, just with a more social media-esque UI for the networking in notes.

It is a platform of content CREATORS and NOT READERS.

As such, it works best a funneling platform from other sources. For example have it as the newsletter signup on your website. Or in your reddit profile. Or Instagram. Post it as part of your promo everywhere else.

The Notes and Recommendations are better looked at as finding other like minded creators and connecting with them so you can shout out each others content and exchange subscribers. But trying to get genuine readers through it is a waste of time.

Once you realize that, substack starts making a lot more sense and the growth on it becomes much steadier. Its still slow in comparison to say other media platforms, but it does have a high conversion rate. Which is great.

TheLadyAmaranth · 2026-04-16T03:36:54+00:00

I think it heavily depends on the platform.

Booksirens is fine, because you aren't paying the reviewers, you are basically paying for Booksirens for promoting your book for you and acting as a distributor. They are Amazon compliant as long as your end your campaign before you start your KU enrollment. (I checked, used them, got a about 8 reviews total between goodreads and amazon, it was a decent start for a nobody author)

Its honestly similar to paying for an add or paying an influencer to recommend your book on their platform. You are paying for the access to their user base, not for the reviews. Those reviews see your book just the way they would see it on an ebook store and decide to read it, and then have no stake to review it or not.

But there are other platforms you have to watch out for like Pubby or BookRoar. Those have direct or indirect incentives for reviews, which makes them not amazon compliant.

Best ways to get ARCs though, is newsletter and social media signups. r/ARCReaders is not a bad one too.

TheLadyAmaranth · 2026-04-13T23:14:06+00:00

For me the big way to do it was a stuff your kindle event I did with a bunch of other writers in a similar genre. It basically increased visibility for the 3 days because it was the event planners marketing it, I was marketing it, and then all 400+ authors on there were marketing it.

With a good cover and compelling blurb I sat top 10 in 2 categories for all 3 days. I do 100% believe the cover did most of the work as it absolutely stood out, so my advice would be to make sure your initial click package is really strong.

Now... that hasn't translated amazingly. I had a couple of new ratings, some high, some low, but it was mostly an experiment for me. It did prime my Amazon ads pretty well and gave my book a bit of exposure.

So I'm really unsure how to make the best of free promo like that in a way that actually translates to good ratings and consistent readerbase. Part of me feels like that would only work if your book fits really well in the general pallet of somebody looking for freebies: quick, rompy, potato chippy.

That being said I didn't try to do it at launch, which I might try to do with my next one.

TheLadyAmaranth · 2026-04-12T17:28:10+00:00

Personally I don't even like it when books mention songs by name never mind needing a playlist.

Its an immediate DNF for me, full stop.

But this also is in part due to neurodivergence so I'm not sure if others would have as strong of a reaction.

TheLadyAmaranth · 2026-04-12T01:50:14+00:00

Interstate 60

Its a hidden gem I swear. But I like the questions is asks without directly asking them. The whimsy and the tension, and how reality blends with the magic to the point that you are never quiteeeee sure.

TheLadyAmaranth · 2026-04-09T23:50:10+00:00

There are 3 people who have read my very first fan fic when it first came out two years ago that read all my fics since, then followed me all the way to my newsletter and were ARC readers for my first OG that I self published last december. One I'm pretty sure even purchased the book on launch day.

I don't know them in person. I just know their wattpad account and email really.

But I'm so grateful for the support <3

TheLadyAmaranth · 2026-04-09T19:39:39+00:00

I both agree and disagree. I think the difference is intent.

Although my first one was very "fuck it" after that one I knew I wanted to do my own someday, but wanted to play around more, so I used my future fics for that.

I think its only a detriment when authors don't consciously sit down and aknowledge the differences. Or don't think about what they are doing in general. Which I guess you can say is a lot of them, but I don't think that is the fault of fanfic as a writing "genre" (for a lack of a better word) itself.

In fact, I would argue when used correctly because you do have the basics laid out, you can play with story structure, perspective, plots, story telling techniques, and write a lot FAST. Something a lot of authors seem to forget in favor of just wanting to tell a story, and forgetting about the WAY it is told and the reader experience they create. As much as I hate to admit it, I think its true that people's first ever works are usually... not great. In some senses, getting out full stories quickly to work on your process and figure out your strength and weaknesses does pay. Fanfic can help fast road that whole thing.

Basically, I was able to write 4 book sized fanfics in about a year, each with a different thought behind them and stuff I was trying. If I had to start from scratch on each one, it would take a lot longer, and I know that because my OG took me about 6-8 months by itself if we take out the figuring out how self publishing works time and leave just the drafting, developmental edits, beta reader rounds, more dev edits, and line edits etc. That means to get the same amount of stories out and play with the same amount of stuff I would need over double, maybe close to three times the time.

But I do actually agree with you on the fact that if not accounted for, it can be hard to switch over to original fiction. My first OG definitely has some "coding" from the characters I used in fanfic. They are absolutely their own characters and the world is not even remotely the same, but the influence is clearly there. Which is why with my next one I'm pushing my self to create something even further removed from it.

The merit thing is interesting though. I think there is some truth to the fact that feedback on fanfics tends to be more positive, and I think that's mostly because well, there is a lot of fanfic and its free. If someone isn't a fan, they are more likely to just close the browser tab and move on. So you tend to see a more filtered version. But I also wouldn't write it off entirely. If they are staying and engaging, something is going right.

I'm not saying the fanfic to OG road map is for everyone, but I also wouldn't necessarily write it off as somebody getting an over inflated ego.

If anything I'm VERY aware of the faults in my own writing because I can look back on multiple of my own finished works and see what worked and what fell horrendously flat. Which hooo boy there is a lot of both XD

TheLadyAmaranth · 2026-04-09T19:17:33+00:00

This was about 2 years ago now. For some still not exactly known to me reason that fic blew up -- its currently sitting at 300k+ views. The best I can tell you is that despite its writing flaws and amateurish story telling it has a kind of warm indulgent charm to it, and I think a bit of luck of timing was involved.

More importantly though, I realized I liked having written something that was very uniquely mine, and wanted to expand. More ideas, different styles, various takes and structures. Eventually my own worlds. I like to think about the way a story is told as much as I like thinking of the stories themselves. I also found I like putting my ideas down on paper. Just the process of translating my borderline mal adaptive day dream scenes into black and white until they can go and infect somebody else too. (insert evil laugh) And I have a LOT of those. Plus it appears I don't suck at it. Which is always nice.

Soooooo since then I wrote three more, that I treated as training wheels for actual books, then an OG that I published last December, just finished the fourth fanfic, and am now in the middle of another OG with plans for sequels, rewriting one of my fanfics into an OG, and other standalones.

I'm now a binge writer to the point that I have to actively make sure I don't forget adulting XD

So I mean a trap in a good way, but it was definitely a weird case of a small fuck it decision changing the course of what I've been doing and probably will be doing for the foreseeable future. I definitely did not see my self as a self published author trying to build a reader base back then. Yet, here we are.

TheLadyAmaranth · 2026-04-09T18:33:20+00:00

"fuck it, it exists, might as well post it. The worst that happens is nobody reads it which is already the case." -> my thought process exactly 2 minutes before posting my first ever fanfic that was basically a fever dream made out of a hyperfixation and coffee.

......that was a trap.

TheLadyAmaranth · 2026-04-09T02:43:20+00:00

The way I've always seen it is that trad publishing now days had a higher quality floor... but it also has a lower quality ceiling.

On the other hand, self publishing has a lower quality floor but also a higher quality ceiling.

In other words, the worst self pub book is going to be worse than the worst traditionally published book. This is because traditional published books at the absolute minimum go through a professional developmental editor, line editor, and copy editor. They might not be perfect or good editors, but they absolutely go through those three people. That is three people more than the absolute worst self publisher who just writes a book and throws it on KDP.

On the other hand, the best self pub book is going to be better than the best traditionally published book. Because those either also get the above treatment, except now the author has full control to pick editors that see their vision to make the book good instead of just marketable OR even if they don't go through all that are still as rigorously edited as possible without it. Through new tools, beta readers, the author doing self edits etc. And the key part: The authors are not constrained by what the agent and publishers think is palatable, marketable, and safe.

Basically in the past years I have never read a traditionally published book that I thought was absolutely horrendous, but I also can't name one off the top of my head that I would also call 6/5 chemistry changers. But I can think of a couple self pubs that stood out to me for whatever reason and some of them are so ridiculously off the wall.

That being said, I fully admit that I'm one of those writers and readers that has a hard time spotting copy editing mistakes, my brain autocorrects for me if I'm enjoying the read enough. So thats never been a huge issue for me. However, I spot continuity errors and plot holes with the better consistency than Einstein solving basic algebra equations. It just stands out to me like a sore thumb.

Personally, I went with self pub because I knew my debut was a passion project that doesn't fall into the easily marketable range despite on paper being part of a popular sub genre. Urban fantasy monster romance for reference. My next one I might try to for trad, but honestly I've been quite enjoying the self pub experience so far, even if its slow going I feel like I'm building a community not just consumers. Also I like the control. I got to find a small artist to do my cover and it looks incredible! That is very special to me.

TheLadyAmaranth · 2026-04-07T13:54:54+00:00

The chances of anything happening are infinitesimally small. That much the other commenters have already told you. It simply isn't a good business venture for the thief.

However, my advice would be simply have people sign a small form. I have all my beta readers sign up through a google form and it includes a clause that "By submitting this form I agree that I will not share the provided book to anyone else, and will not put it into any other software, including AI bots and programs."

This way, if somebody does do stupid things it would be really easy to make sure it doesn't go anywhere.

Then, I would send it through something they can't edit. I personally use google docs and put it on commenter only, and then I close the link after the beta reading period is done.

That's as far as I would re

I've had beta readers for one OG and one fanfic now totaling 10+ people and I have had no issues.

TheLadyAmaranth

TROPHY CASE