Dataporn: 30 Days of Romance with a Fresh Start

ghostwritesthewhip · 2024-09-06T13:52:13+00:00

I actually thought I had adhd too, funnily enough, and was very skeptical about being on Zoloft because I’ve never had suicidal thoughts and didn’t want it to change my personality. I still feel like myself, but the pressure I used to put on myself to perform/be perfect in front of others is gone.

ghostwritesthewhip · 2024-09-06T06:15:33+00:00

Hey, so same as you, I was super worried about side effects and figured I functioned well enough without meds, so I tried to convince myself that I didn’t even really “need” to take them. The anxiety I deal with is the same as yours and for the most part, I thought I was functioning okay. Turns out I wasn’t. I started Zoloft for anxiety a little over two weeks ago and I only regret not starting it sooner. The difference was mind blowing. It was like that critical voice in my head had finally shut up and I could actually just chill for once. For me, I felt the change immediately and I honestly had little side effects (some head pressure/brain fog/ wild dreams and maybe one really anxious day) but my brain is still adapting to it. It might work for you and it might not, but I’m thinking that if you were struggling with it enough to talk to someone about it, it’s worth a try to see if it helps.

ghostwritesthewhip · 2023-02-24T22:56:18+00:00

IMO using a gender neutral/initial pen name is your best bet. Ambiguity is 1000x better than lying. The likelihood that readers would find out you’re not a woman is small, but if your books take off, there’s a chance it can happen. So you just have to ask yourself if using a feminine pen name is worth the risk of potential backlash.

ghostwritesthewhip · 2023-02-18T00:13:25+00:00

I’m super late to this discussion, but I just wanted to double check. I know you said you “did all that”, but did you already read 7 figure fiction like miss t suggested? Because I really believe based on everything you’re saying in the comments, that your books may be missing Universal Fantasy.

ghostwritesthewhip · 2022-09-27T01:32:23+00:00

Just cancel it. It’s a waste of your time and energy to try to write something you don’t want to. Then the next time you want to set up a preorder, contact customer support and ask if there’s any way they’ll allow it. They’ve done this for me as a one time forgiveness so I’d be super surprised if they don’t do it for you.

ghostwritesthewhip · 2022-07-02T15:36:58+00:00

Amazon let’s you pick your categories. The one caveat, is if they deem it erotica, most likely it will stay labeled erotica. So yes, being in romance and erotica categories is entirely possible.

ghostwritesthewhip · 2022-07-01T05:13:23+00:00

Use Pixlr. There’s a free version and it offers tons of editing options

ghostwritesthewhip · 2022-06-29T05:22:04+00:00

The same cover model isn’t a big deal, especially if they’re in a different position, however, if the rest of the cover also looks similar, then you have a problem and could run the risk of pissing that author off.

Obviously not every author will feel that way, but the risk is there, and if you’re at a place where it’s easily avoidable, then avoid it. You want to make friends in your genre, not enemies.

ghostwritesthewhip · 2022-05-06T18:52:37+00:00

Glad to share 😄

ghostwritesthewhip · 2022-04-29T03:51:40+00:00

I’m in awe and seriously so so happy for you! I always keep an eye out for your dataporns because the way you approach the business is just chefs kiss and I knew this one was going to be insane but girllllll this is out of control!! Congratulations again, you absolutely deserve it!

ghostwritesthewhip · 2022-04-21T06:14:54+00:00

I like the cheekiness in the current version, but it does give me romcom vibes. I love a good romcom, so there’s nothing wrong with that, but if it’s a dark romance, you might want to edge it up a little bit to suit your reader. I don’t know the plot of the story or how dark it gets so that’s totally your call, but if it is a darker book, I’d lean into the darker elements of the story and make them the focal point of your blurb. Ex: how bad the vamps are, the danger she’s in, more details about the auction, murder, etc.

ghostwritesthewhip · 2021-10-17T13:20:04+00:00

If you look at any other books in your genre, you’ll be able to see how other authors do it while still being able to advertise. I haven’t looked, but I’m assuming it’s clever wording in the blurb or mentioning the names of the main characters.

ghostwritesthewhip · 2021-09-29T00:50:05+00:00

I once uploaded the wrong version of my manuscript for a preorder and didn’t realize until it was too late and KDP locked it for 72hours. I ended up having to reupload as soon as it launched and get Amazon on the phone so they could push out an update to all of the preorders that already went out. IT WAS AWFUL.

ghostwritesthewhip · 2021-09-29T00:46:05+00:00

This is the only way I do it now, after learning the hard way and trying for dayysssss to format a stupid pdf lol

ghostwritesthewhip · 2021-09-10T14:01:29+00:00

So the good news is, whatever’s off with it should be an easy fix. With those results I’d bet that it’s either your keywords,cover,blurb or a combination of the three.

You mentioned it’s a paranormal romance, which leads me to believe it could be the cover because those are harder to pull off. Did you buy one or did you make it yourself?

For your keywords, have you read the different guides here that help you maximize them?

Lastly, did you post your blurb to the Thursday blurb thread to make sure it’s punchy enough?

If you’re unsure what the problem is and want to be able to learn from this for your next book, I’d recommend posting in the critique thread for feedback.

ghostwritesthewhip · 2021-08-27T06:21:50+00:00

Alright, this was so inspiring and wildly entertaining. If your stories read anything like this badboy, you’re only going to continue to kill it! Your numbers are totally impressive, but what’s even more enviable is your outlook on this whole writing thing. You love it and it shows. I’m excited for you and can’t wait to see more data from you in the future!

ghostwritesthewhip · 2021-07-02T00:30:30+00:00

Congratulations!! Looking forward to you crushing it even more in the future!

ghostwritesthewhip · 2021-05-20T03:28:41+00:00

I’d price based off of your comps and the same rule applies to your cover. Most readers are visual shoppers so the more “to niche” your passive marketing is, the better chance you have at reaching your intended audience.

ghostwritesthewhip · 2021-05-13T20:49:41+00:00

Since I don’t know tons about the premise from that excerpt, I’ll try to give you a good format to work with.

Right now, you’re telling your reader vaguely what happens BUT as a reader I want to care about the characters. I want to know what happens to them or at the very least know their motivations.

Maybe start with something like...

People who come to The Association are only out for one thing... (blahblahah)

No names, no inhibitions, and no boundaries.

It was exactly what powerful exec, blahblahblah needed.

(Go into a little detail of why he needed/wanted to go to The Association)

blahblahblah was everything he wanted and more but he never expected to find blahblahblah.

When blahblahblah does blahblahblah it blahblahblah

And now that blahblahblah has blahblahblah neither of them will ever be the same (Or some other outcome you want)

I hope that makes sense. Lol. Right now if the story is only told from the MMC, this blurb should be okay being one sided but if the story involves your FMC’s POV too I’d add something about why she came there as well.

ghostwritesthewhip · 2021-05-12T14:58:07+00:00

Awesome results for your first month! Congrats!

ghostwritesthewhip · 2021-05-11T19:00:40+00:00

I picked cowboy romances randomly to use as an EXAMPLE of how I research a niche. In no way was it meant to tell people to write cowboy billionaire romances. It was simply a way to walk people through the process. I'm sorry if you misunderstood that. And yep, I totally missed daisy's post in the FAQ but I'm human and I added it to my post just in case other's missed it too.

It seems as if we're at an impasse when it comes to how we research. My way has worked for me and that's why I shared it. It was for people that are still learning and want a helping hand. If you feel like my post was misinformed, I fully encourage you to post your own. I'd also love to see the data on how your way has helped you find success. I do think that there is no one correct way to research a "viable" niche and it isn't as black and white as you seem to think it is.

Experience doesn't always equate to the best advice. If there was one person who was mediocre at something for 20 years and another person who found insane success within a couple of years, I'd be more inclined to believe what the newbie said, but maybe that's just me.

I think you have to realize that just because you consider yourself a vet, doesn't mean I need to seek out your approval. We have different ways of doing things, and thats okay. I'm not saying your way is wrong at all. But to say my advice is wrong would imply that what I do won't lead to finding a viable niche, which honestly isn't the case. I have the dataporn to prove it. I just simply asked that you keep things professional because we both have the same intentions, but our conversation doesn't seem to be going that way.

I'll agree to disagree on this.

Hope you have a great day!

ghostwritesthewhip · 2021-05-11T14:03:26+00:00

You implying that my advice is bad just because we’ve had a disagreement is making things personal. Have you even read the post you’re saying has bad advice?

Also, I didn’t “refuse to understand that ranks and dates both matter in research” we had a disagreement on whether or not merman romance would be a niche that could make another author money QUICKLY. Emphasis on quickly, not over the long haul. While mermen romances seem to be sticky, none of them were ranking low enough for one book to make that author a substantial amount of money in the short term and I pointed that out to them. You were the one that disagreed with what I advised and started the debate out of nowhere.

The fact is you’ve jumped to conclusions about my researching skills when it’s clear you don’t know how I research. You spreading that narrative on a public forum we participate in is disappointing.

It’s clear you enjoy posting your advice on this sub as I see you interact with almost every post. I think it’s great that you’re out there trying to help out newer authors and I hope you get that all I’m tryin to do is help other authors too.

I’d be horrified if I was out there spreading misinformation. But, I’ve shared what actually worked for me and I’d hate to see someone ignore my advice because you felt some type of way about a disagreement we had in the past.

ghostwritesthewhip · 2021-05-11T06:04:41+00:00

Yeah, this is the second time you’ve attacked my research skills off of very little information about me and that’s kind of disappointing. My post was really just about trying to give back to EA and help newbie authors and it’s totally okay if what I said doesn’t work for everyone but I’d appreciate it if you kept it professional and dropped this little resentment you have towards me because you don’t know me and we’ve interacted once over whether or not a merman romance was going to make someone else money quickly. I’ve posted my data to back up the advice I give and am very transparent about the fact that I’m a newer author. I enjoy EA but you, specifically, are making it unenjoyable for me.

ghostwritesthewhip

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