It's the morning after my big Facebook fiasco and my body is slowly readjusting. I was up thinking all night and I heard somewhere that "failure is the universe pointing you in another direction". Pretty good, huh? So, these are the mistakes I've made so far.
5. Accidentally deleting my Facebook "Like" page.
I don't like FB anyway. The only reason I created one was because I was made to feel I needed one. But, perhaps it was a blessing in disguise. I'm not in a hurry to create one again,it was time consuming and quite frankly I didn't generate enough customers to justify the $98 price tag anyway. I sold 4 books with my FB ad, so that come out to...about $24.50 per person. I could have sent out 20 free copies of the book for that amount.
4.Not negotiating the price terms of the ad with the Girl's Life people.
When the ad exec asked me what my budget was I gave her the high amount instead of the low amount because I felt like a small fry and wanted to impress her. What I should have done was ask her how much the ads cost first. Don't get me wrong; she's super nice and is willing to throw in all kinds of sweeteners but I'll always wonder if I could have gotten the deal for less.
3.Stopped sending out giveaway and interview request to YA book bloggers.
At one point I had 4 giveaways with bloggers going simultaneously. I was sending out 10 request per day and I got lazy and stopped. Now, I don't have any exposure out side of Goodreads.com going on right now. I have to be consistent with communicating with the bloggers, they are necessary and valuable and I dropped the ball.
2.Stopped editing.
I was supposed to be editing with my editor but I've spent so much time on social media that I forgot the whole point; THE BOOKS!
I mean, what the hell? I have a series and I stopped working on the most important thing. I can't be so involved in the marketing of the product that I forget about the product. I was trying to spend 2 hours a day on my editing. I'd read through a chapter and send it to my editor, wait for his notes and make corrections. But, I dropped the ball on that too. This lack of focus caused me to be late getting "junior year" out but I finally sent it off to be formatted and now I'm slowly working on editing "senior year" but at the pace I'm working, that'll be late too.
So, don't forget about the book!
1.Not spending quality time with my family.
How could I let this take over my life so much? I'm forgetting what's important; family, friends, myself. The lesson I learned last night was sobering; I spent a lot of energy on something that in the end didn't matter a whole hell of a lot and who did I turn to for help? my family. I went into this project determined to be a successful indie writer, I wanted to beat the odds, I was like the hare that comes charging out of the gate only to run out of steam right before the finish line. I'm only six weeks into this project, a lousy six weeks friends. I need to slow down, regroup and pace myself. And never forget what's important.
Now, since I'm forever the optimist, here are some of the finer points.
I met some kick ass writer friends who are supportive and sends me virtual hugs all of the time. Thanks guys.
I actually have published in the adult genre with relative success. So, why am I reading your blogs? One got forwarded to me several months ago on my Paper.li, and I followed until I got here. You have more useful information, throughout your struggles and successes, than many other blogs I've seen. Enough that I rss your feed so I don't miss any. I've been writing for a few years, and I see myself in a lot of what you're experiencing. I'm branching into YA under another name as a co-author with a friend. I'll switch blog accounts then. I just wanted to let you know I think your blog is great, and the fact that you even have a plan puts you miles ahead. I don't mean this as a bash, but you've helped me decide that maybe things I considered for promotion and didn't do, might have been for the best. I wish you the ultimate success. The name of the game is perseverance, determination, and a love of our craft.
ReplyDeleteVici,
ReplyDeleteI see you got your paragraphs to number down - like the top 10 reasons and that they aren't all jammed up together - kudos for that - now your blog is starting to look more professional. As far as making the mistakes, that is part of the process - you have to learn from those mistakes in order to move forward. I think many of us authors have been where you are at some point on our road to success. I'm more interested in learning about your giveaway and interview requests (just so you know, I'll be happy to have you on my general blog for an interview or anything you would like to post that way).
The difference for me is that I don't have an editor to be editing with since I'm self-publishing and everything I do has to b on my own shoulders. I do have a couple of friends who do my editing and then I go through and revise and send to my lovely illustrator who does some magic and gets the books ready for publication.
And your ad efforts with Girls' Life - how about some insight into that - like your process of what you went through to get an ad with the magazine.
Keep up the good work - and you will go far - E :)
Elysabeth Eldering
Author of Finally Home, a YA paranormal mystery (coming very soon)
The Proposal (an April Fools Day story), a humorous romance (now available)
Butterfly Halves, a YA fantasy (coming soon)
The Tulip Kiss, a paranormal romance (coming soon)
Bride-and-Seek, a paranormal romance (coming soon)
http://elysabethsstories.blogspot.com
http://eeldering.weebly.com
Ma America, The Travelin' Maven
Author of the JGDS, 50-state, mystery, trivia series
Where will the adventure take you next?
http://jgdsseries.blogspot.com
http://jgdsseries.weebly.com
Dear Vici,
ReplyDeleteI just published my first crime novel. I realized the fact that I'm not rich, established or for that fact someone that has any connections in a field I only dreamt of success in. Your story is one of triumph because you are published. and I know that is not enough. It never is. You had a plan and the guts to follow it. That is awesome in the sense you had the foresight to do so. I learned a lot from you and applaud you. You are a pioneer in the wilderness of uncertainty, mush like myself. My friends and family look at me like a hero. Published author even though I self pub'd. We have to realize what we are overcoming. We are not established. Your book is your soul. Be proud, excited, but most of all love yourself for it.