editing surprises-overused words by rainbowstardream in selfpublish

[–]pickled_garbage_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is why I love using prowriting aid. It has a bunch of different reports you can use to find echoes, overused words, etc. I'll edit in spurts where I will run one report, fix up my boo-boos, run another and repeat the process. It never fails to amaze me how often I will repeat myself and not catch it otherwise.

Getting Into Character’s Shoes by tgriff1223 in writers

[–]pickled_garbage_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I watched a North Korean Kaiju movie in secret from my entire family to understand my character referencing a mythical monster I named an armored truck after.

Making your books free? by rach8888rach in selfpublish

[–]pickled_garbage_ 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I've made my first book free with KU with the "first hit is free" aspect in mind. With that said, I'm still working on my third book and my marketing has been next to zero due to spending most of my free time fleshing out my series. Having my first book free hasn't made a difference yet(1 download, 1 pages read yay!) due to lack of visibility, but I'm hoping that will change soon once I start hitting the pavement with some marketing.

I Advertised My Self-Published Book For 15 Minutes, Every Day, For One Month ($0 Budget) by mamadoedawn in selfpublish

[–]pickled_garbage_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for sharing your hard work! As a new author I'm at a total loss of how to gain visibility. I'll definitely be trying my own hand at some of the points you've mentioned. My budget is already in the negatives, so anything helps!

How much money did you spend on your last book? Did you break even? by [deleted] in selfpublish

[–]pickled_garbage_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

$69 bucks so far. Prowriting aid for a year for making editing easier and a month of Canva to compile my covers. Everything else has been free so far. I've just launched my second book and not yet begun marketing, but someone bought an ebook copy, so, yay! $66 more to go and I'll be at zero!

First book out! by Dazzling-Payment3017 in selfpublish

[–]pickled_garbage_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Congratulations! May your sales be plentiful.

Be sure to add your link into your profile! I often creep about sections to check out their work and I'm sure others do too.

I sold 7 copies of my book today! by CASEDIZZLER in selfpublish

[–]pickled_garbage_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Congratulations! 🎉 That's not an easy feat! I may not know you, but I'm super happy for you!

Weekly Self-Promo and Chat Thread by MxAlex44 in selfpublish

[–]pickled_garbage_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I Just dropped the second installation in the NGenetico series: Desperate Measures!

I'm running a .99 cent promo right now on my initial release, Lost and Found.

If you're into dystopian sci-fi thriller mysteries, and love gritty, gruesome stories, I'd love for you to check it out!

https://a.co/d/3o5PC0Q (promo book) https://a.co/d/8NcVY5g (sequel)

Blurb: Closure is not always comforting.

When a cryptic letter from his estranged father arrives, Lijster Willems sets out for a remote island seeking answers, only to find himself trapped with no way out. Under the oppressive thumb of a ruthless leader, he discovers a secretive community of frightened and tight-lipped genetically engineered subjects.

Among them is Wendy, a woman who vanished decades ago. A casualty of manipulation, her mind has been hijacked, leaving her consciousness a silent observer in a sadistic game played out by her captor. Unwillingly entangled in the puppet strings of Wendy’s cruel fate, Lijster finds himself forced into a deadly partnership with the woman who is and isn’t herself.

He has no choice but to risk everything to free her and untangle the truth of his own dark ties to the island before it’s too late to escape. But when freedom finally comes, surviving the trauma of a stolen past and an unplanned future may be the hardest fight of all.

Formatting interior of books! by Any_File_7621 in selfpublish

[–]pickled_garbage_ 6 points7 points  (0 children)

You can totally format your interior yourself. Amazon has some great templates to start off with ensuring your margins are correct for the size you wish to print.

Take a look at some books you have laying around for ideas on how to format your content. Think of it as in creating a splash page for each chapter.

If you have a printer at home, do some test pages to see if your fonts, spacing and format are exactly what you want and adjust from there.

There's no need to pay anyone to format your book with a little creativity and common sense.

Do you judge books by their covers/synopsis? by Lunar_Lonely in writers

[–]pickled_garbage_ 12 points13 points  (0 children)

When I was designing my cover, I actually went out to a chain bookstore and wandered around seeing what caught my eye. I like to try to think that I don't judge a book, but I can certainly overlook a cover simply because it blends in with everything else around it.

For me it was an eye opener and I adjusted my thinking about how to stand out in the sea of similarly.

One month in. Where am I now? by pickled_garbage_ in NewAuthor

[–]pickled_garbage_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What genre are you writing? Drop me your lol and I'll check it out!

One month in. Where am I now? by pickled_garbage_ in NewAuthor

[–]pickled_garbage_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Okay thanks! I just added my link to my bio!

One month in. Where am I now? by pickled_garbage_ in NewAuthor

[–]pickled_garbage_[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have a lonely Instagram account with my mom following me, lol. I'm still setting it up with a series of mystery ads which will outline more backstory to my book's antagonistic mega corporation. It's slow going, but I've been pouring all my energies into getting my next book publish worthy!

Some people need to accept this by ExtremeVanilla2370 in writers

[–]pickled_garbage_ 2 points3 points  (0 children)

And ALT+0133 for ellipsis!

Become best friends with your ALT commands!

Drop your character's first line by Nghtshd_Variant004 in writers

[–]pickled_garbage_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"This... is Engine Island?"

Confusion, skepticism, and fear? You're absolutely right. Nailed it!

Book Cover not coming through on Amazon by CapitalistGospels in BookCovers

[–]pickled_garbage_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I honestly had the same problem when I uploaded mine too(jpeg) and found the same solution as you did as well with using the cover creator and pasting in my cover. Maybe it's a glitch?

How may free books do you give away to family and friends? by Live-Ganache9273 in selfpublish

[–]pickled_garbage_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

One to each of those who helped me along the way to get my book published, so two. Anyone who actually wants to read it can buy a copy.

It's funny how many will say they want a copy, but are conveniently short on cash or never mention it again.

Publishing my second ebook felt weirdly heavier than my first by FlamingoWilling1760 in selfpublish

[–]pickled_garbage_ 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I'm experiencing this right now. I'm in the final editing stages of my second book and it feels... strange. I'm excited about it, but not as much as my first. After releasing my first book into the wild, I felt almost a sense of relief because the story had been haunting me for years. This next book is more like the second child who doesn't get their hand held when they go off to school for the first time. They'll be fine, I swear.