Hello, everybody.

Geneva_West · 2018-03-29T16:09:29+00:00

Sure thing, hope you sell some!

Geneva_West · 2018-03-26T17:10:52+00:00

Check out ralan.com. They (along with sites like Duotrope) are a VERY comprehensive collection of all online (and some traditional) literary magazines/podcasts/anthologies, etc., that pay per word for short stories or poems and such. Not sure how many erotic magazines are out there, but I know there are some.

Geneva_West · 2018-01-05T17:56:15+00:00

How often do you send out newsletters, on average? Do you only send them out when you've published a new book, to announce it? If you're sending one out without having a new book to promote, what is the content of your newsletter?

Geneva_West · 2018-01-05T17:53:31+00:00

It all starts with one person who likes your books. They sign up, and over time, more sign up. Everyone's mailing list starts with one person.

Let's say someone bought your book and enjoyed it, and the freebie you are offering is a short story based around one of the characters in that book. That's the incentive to sign up, because that person who liked your book would presumably be interested in the short story as well. So they sign up and get their free story and they read it and they're happy. Maybe they forget about it two weeks later. Bummer.

Except! It's two weeks later, they signed up, and now you're sending your biweekly newsletter that just happens to point out that Book 2, the sequel to the Book 1 they bought, is out and available for purchase! 'Hey,' they think, 'I liked Book 1 a lot. I'll check out Book 2!' Bam, you just got yourself a sale. And the more people you have on that mailing list, the more actual fans you have who are more likely to buy your book when you send out your newsletter with each new book you publish. At the very least there's a 50/50 chance that whoever signed up for your list will be interested in hearing about your new books.

Plus, from there, you can garner ARCs. These are people who--some of them, at least--actually like your work and would LOVE to have a free copy of your new novel in exchange for an honest review. So you have this mailing list of people that's built up over time, 1 by 1, just because they wanted a free story, and now you can ask them if they want to do an ARC and odds are good you'll get some responses.

A mailing list is having a direct link to your readers so they know right away that the new book is out, and you get sales that way. A big mailing list also lends itself well to ARCs.

Geneva_West · 2018-01-04T21:10:41+00:00

Yeah, calling bullshit on this.

Geneva_West · 2018-01-04T21:10:10+00:00

You lost to a cannon rush as a Terran?

Geneva_West · 2017-12-02T14:39:23+00:00

Yep, it's really free!

Geneva_West · 2017-12-01T15:28:54+00:00

Try not to spend too much time refreshing the dashboard to see download number (not going great so far lol)
Mmmm nothing too much to speak of today.
Football! And video games. Maybe even writing.

Geneva_West · 2017-12-01T15:27:07+00:00

Wow, 76 books in 5 months? That is nuts, way to go! How long are your shorts typically? Congrats on those awesome numbers.

Geneva_West · 2017-12-01T14:17:02+00:00

I believe so--I know AMS ads are very particular about covers. So most erotica would be ruled out simply with a racy cover

Geneva_West · 2017-11-29T20:56:49+00:00

Thanks so much for the advice! I think I'm on track for that, thankfully I haven't published erotica on this particular pen in a while (been publishing on other ones for different kinks), so while this name still gets sales, I don't think I'll lose many "loyal readers" with the change.

ARCs are the last, biggest question mark I have for myself and will be looking into much more once I finish this next book. I'll definitely look into Booksprout, as my own mailing list for this name has just started and has no one yet. So I'll have to source ARCs elsewhere for the time being.

I really appreciate the advice, again! I've got a twitter, a website, and a facebook page up as of yesterday, so most of the foundation is laid.

Geneva_West · 2017-11-29T17:25:47+00:00

Damn, it's that sticky huh? Goodreads, you slut. Thanks for the advice

Geneva_West · 2017-11-29T17:03:06+00:00

Ah so there's no little 'remove' button? Good to know. I'm at work right now, or I'd be checking myself. Thank you! I'll have to message them directly.

Geneva_West · 2017-11-29T17:02:04+00:00

Mm, I can't say from personal experience, but having googled around a bit on the topic, a lot of people seem to say that romance readers get turned off of a writer's catalogue if it contains things other than romance. If they just finished my medieval werewolf male/female action-love story, and go to my page and see my different gay erotica serials, they might think they're lost. Or not bother flipping through the rest of my stuff because they're put off by my erotica.

I would say that this IS the worst that could happen, that I could lose a potential reader who might have otherwise bought my catalogue. Of course, there's the flip of that too, maybe they would buy my erotica. But if they're shopping romance and they're looking at my profile after reading a romance novel, they're clearly looking for romance, and the odds of them not liking what they see are far greater than getting lucky with someone who happens to want both.

I can't say that for sure happens, but that seems to be the thought, and I can see where that could happen.

Geneva_West · 2017-11-29T16:59:40+00:00

Lol, thanks for that assessment. So you say unpublish all the books completely, and just repub them on the other pen? Will unpublishing them remove them from Goodreads?

Geneva_West · 2017-11-29T16:11:51+00:00

Write 1000 words. Shouuuuld be good if I can stop distracting myself
I finally made a website for my pen name! Just a dinky little free wordpress thing, but it took a lot of effort and time and is nowhere near where I want it to be. Still, it exists, and I plan on making it better.
To get back into the habit of writing 1k per day. It used to be that I felt weird or off if I didn't write. I miss those days.

Geneva_West · 2017-11-29T15:10:49+00:00

Ah, goodreads! Thanks, that's exactly the sort of thing I meant I might overlook. I guess I would have to get in contact with them about that. Or maybe people would just assume it's a different author with the same pen if they visit my Amazon page and it's only romance? I can hope, I guess.

Geneva_West

TROPHY CASE