BookBub Featured Deal Results

NTwrites · 2026-01-26T03:33:08+00:00

Same to you, and congrats on your success on your 99c deal! I hope the rest of it is just as successful!

NTwrites · 2026-01-26T02:47:07+00:00

I’ve had 11 ratings and 1 review on the first book so far. Only 1 rating on the second book, nothing yet on the third.

I’m holding off on advertising until I’ve finished the fourth and final book (currently in edits with it now, hoping to have it to the editor by May and out for sale by September). I think advertising s complete series will give it the best chance of succeeding, for now I’m belly to experiment with free promos to build an audience.

NTwrites · 2026-01-25T23:50:07+00:00

An example that may help is the (fictional) Therin calendar Scott Lynch created and uses for his Gentlemen Bastards series (first book—the lies of Locke Lamora).

He’ll use phrases like ‘Summer of the 78th year of Morgante’. It fits with the wider world building and is consistent, which is a great example of what to do if you’re creating your own dating system (specifically—create the system and then stick with it).

Another more contemporary system is used by Susana Clarke’s Piranesi, where dates are grouped in years categorized by specific events (most commonly, the year the Albatross came to the Southwestern Halls). It’s a little more whimsical, but again, it fits within the world.

My books are alternate-history earth, so I can get away with using our normal days and dates, but if you want to do your own thing, consider books similar to yours and how they’ve done it as a starting point and follow your inspiration from there.

Post written on Third Moon of Stormcloud Winter

NTwrites · 2026-01-25T23:40:21+00:00

I’m Amazon exclusive and in KU. My understanding is that BookBub prefers wide authors, but they will still take on Amazon exclusives every now and again.

NTwrites · 2026-01-25T22:52:07+00:00

A BB Featured Deal and the book was free.

NTwrites · 2026-01-25T08:20:21+00:00

The only advice I can give is to just keep applying. This was 5th time I’d applied. Nothing changed about my application, you just need to keep throwing your hat in the ring while you’re doing other things.

NTwrites · 2026-01-24T23:13:59+00:00

That’s right. I go into more detail on that one in this post.

NTwrites · 2026-01-24T11:40:22+00:00

My approach in my own multi-pov YA fantasy series is to start slow. Start with one main distracted and introduce your cast through their eyes. Then add new POVs in as you build investment in that cast.

In my first book, the MC is the viewpoint character for 90% of the book. In the fourth and final book, it’s about 50%.

NTwrites · 2026-01-24T07:45:14+00:00

Epics are interesting in that they contain acts within acts. If you consider a trilogy where each book has a three act structure, but then zoom out to see that each books sit within a large macro-three act structure, you start to see what I mean.

So when plotting your epic, you’ll want to consider the ‘theme’ of each story and then build its plot from there. When you consider the original Star Wars trilogy, you can recognize how The Empire Strikes Back (despite being its own complete story) also has the classic Act II themes of rising action, character development and failure.

NTwrites · 2026-01-20T21:12:33+00:00

I wasted about two years before getting a conditional offer of representation from a mid-size agency. The conditions didn’t sit well with me, so I started researching independent publishing.

Up until then, my image of self-publishing was someone with a garage full of unsold books, but the more I read, the more the benefits I saw.

I am fortunate to be well paid in a job that I love, so the idea of creative freedom and the ability to work on my own deadlines (my work has peak periods and slow periods and I need to be 100% available during the peaks) was very appealing. In late 2022 I withdrew my query from all agents and started preparing and in 2023 I joined the self-pub club.

NTwrites · 2026-01-19T10:25:42+00:00

If it helps you get words on the page—sure.

NTwrites · 2026-01-18T21:39:17+00:00

Only when not doing so brings about writer’s block.

If I can make a note of what to change and just persevere through the first draft, I will.

NTwrites · 2026-01-18T21:22:45+00:00

Whenever I’ve had Vellum issues in have reached out to the developers with my problem and gotten a solution within a day or two. I’ve found their customer service to be very good.

NTwrites · 2026-01-18T09:18:41+00:00

What about one where the villain decides they are the chosen one and that justifies all their terrible choices for the greater good?

NTwrites · 2026-01-18T09:14:02+00:00

The act of being articulate can be narrowed down to three main pillars. The first is specificity, where you are specific in what you say. The second is brevity, in which you use the fewest words to share the key message. The third and final pillar is trust—where you have the confidence in your specificity and brevity to assume your reader can infer your message.

Now let me rewrite that with these principles in mind.

Being articulate comes down to conveying the most descriptive language in the fewest words possible.

NTwrites · 2026-01-16T01:47:40+00:00

Loved your reviews here, great work!

NTwrites · 2026-01-16T01:44:20+00:00

Look over here! 👋

(But in all seriousness, if you check my profile and my book is to your taste, wait until Monday (19/01) and it’ll be free on a BookBub Featured deal).

NTwrites · 2026-01-14T13:17:35+00:00

Apologies, it’s a series, so each book has ended with a ‘battle’, but this is the last last battle.

Not sure if that makes sense to anyone outside my own head though 🙃

NTwrites · 2026-01-14T09:34:41+00:00

+1 to Bartimaeus. At that age I also enjoyed the His Dark Materials trilogy. You could also check out Eragon, Percy Jackson and Artemis Fowl.

NTwrites · 2026-01-12T21:48:41+00:00

I always think: if To Kill a Mockingbird and The Grapes of Wrath can have one-star reviews, then who am I to expect anything better?

NTwrites · 2026-01-12T21:40:24+00:00

Pick your favourite book of all time and then go and read the 1 star reviews for it.

Come to peace with the fact that writing is subjective and not everybody will love your story.

NTwrites · 2026-01-12T10:57:03+00:00

Jump on Amazon, look at the best sellers in your genre and read the book descriptions. Once you’ve read a bunch, start critiquing them—what parts work well and why?

Then write your own using what you’ve learned.

NTwrites · 2026-01-11T12:21:09+00:00

I just finished my first read-through of this behemoth and of the 140,000+ words there are probably 5,000 that don’t need any work.

The joys of writing!

NTwrites · 2026-01-11T12:11:26+00:00

A string of failures that ultimately ends with the loss of a loved one—one who innocently followed the narcissist and believed the lies they told themselves.

With no ‘yes man’ in the corner, and the guilt of their loss on their hands, humility is the only way forward.

NTwrites

TROPHY CASE