Having being live for a short time already, the numbers have proven this is more successful than pushing them across all the different platforms at the cost of missing the largest of them all.
That’s it for now. Don’t forget I’m serialising the fourth Louise Miller book over on my substack, An Unquiet Pen, which you can check out by clicking ‘TIL IT BLEEDS. I’ll be posting new chapters every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
I've just posted a new short story over on Substack. Seriously, that is where you need to go to be reading my latest posts, short stories, novel samples and much more. Lots of free content and several paid subscription offerings as well.
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I've brought forward the release date of the three paperback editions of DIRTY LITTLE SECRET, FROM SORROW'S HOLD and CUT AND SHUT from September to Tuesday July 1st.
You can still pre-order now, but they are released July 1st.
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Well, to put it simply, launching an indie-author career is tough and you have to look for every opportunity to bring in a little extra income while you work on the next book. I currently have a day job, selling toy soldiers to hobby stores. It's a job I love after being in the toy soldier industry in one aspect or another for over 30 years.
But I'm in my 50s now, and don't want to be shilling plastic models forever. I want to go into my twilight years writing novels of crime fiction, fantasy and adventure - all the stories I've had mulling in various forms for decades. It's time to get them out of my head and on the page.
It would be great if thousands of people suddenly started buying the books out now, both in digital form or paperback when they release in September, and then be hammering at my digital-doors for the next one ahead of its release in November. Yet I am a realist, and while those would be fantastic and every authors dream, the chances of that happening are slim.
So I go to work each day, sell toy soldiers and work on my writing career at the weekends. But there are ways other than buying their books that readers can support their favourite indie-author and I've adopted two of them which I hope you'll consider.
As I posted earlier, I am using Substack to send out an email newsletter to readers. I am still getting my head around how best to use the platform as it is a curious mix between website, blog and newsletter, giving writers the freedom to use it how they see fit. Videos, audio, images and, of course, text, can be used to create engaging posts that can be sent out to subscribers via email or simply posted to the site.
There is also the option for readers to become paid subscribers for a small monthly cost. This gives them access to posts free subscribers don't get: novel extracts, short stories, longer articles that go more personal or indepth or even live Q&A sessions.
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I aim to send out a new post each week - most will be free but there will be several just for paid subscribers like this, so please consider upgrading to paid as it is just the cost of a Costa latte each month.
Speaking of which...
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I have seen several authors using this site to encourage support, used in a similar way to Substack but avoiding the newsletter email that is sent out. Not everyone likes to get regular emails and this seems like a non-intrusive way to get either one-off or regular monthly support.
An added bonus is I can post content here that only subscribers can see, so I'll be adding the same paid content that is on Substack, again for those who don't want emails all the time. Another bonus is that I can set goals, tasks or events that can happen when I reach certain milestones.
The first is nice and simple:
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I'm even considering serialising my next novel across both platforms.
So, as you can see, these platforms offer the subscriber more than just a random email. New stories, longer content and behind the scenes info that hopefully captivates, engages and draws the reader in to my worlds of fiction, as well as inform about the highs and lows of being an indie author.
Funds can be used to help pay for the editor, get a new cover designed or even pay a household bill. That's the harsh reality no-one ever speaks about. Earnings are slim and few and far between when you are first starting out. It becomes a real struggle to stick to any deadlines if sales go slow for whatever reason - you can't let the day job suffer.
I've managed to cut down a lot of my outgoing author expenditure over the last few months by researching new and better ways of doing things. As an example, my email marketing before I discovered Substack was costing me in excess of £45 a month. Add to that website hosting, integration of platforms and promotion/marketing costs of another £75 a month and you can see that I need to be selling a lot of books already to just break even.
I say this not to bitch and moan about it; it's the harsh reality of being an indie author.
Suck it up, buttercup!
I'm doing what I love to do - write stories about characters I love and hopefully entertain a few people while writing about topics that mean a lot to me.
So, if you can spare the price of a medium latte at Costa each month, that will be greatly appreciated and truly help me reach my dream of making this a full-time career.
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As of today I'll using Substack for my newsletter, posting Random Ramblings every month. You can read that Awkward First Post here and sign up for the free newsletter now. You can also upgrade to a paid subscription which will get you extra posts each month with longer articles about writing, novel extracts and even short stories.
I've decided to bring this release forward 2 months, and release books 2 and 3 in eBook together on May 30th. It seemed like a very long time to wait, and it gives people more time to read all three books before the fourth is out in November.
The paperbacks will still release on September 27th.
After a lot of work, the covers have now been locked in. As you can see there are quite a few changes from the previous version.
We also added our publishing company logo and website, which is now active.
I'm really pleased with how these look, and in creating them have now streamlined the process making it easier to replicate, meaning future books in the series will match. I know that sounds like it should be obvious, but noting the steps are followed exactly the same each time is harder than you'd think.
The joys of being an independant author and publisher!
Working on the CUT AND SHUT cover was the hardest, as the original sub-heading needed to be erased from the saved image-file, a process that took the best part of 4 hours as it had to be done pixel by pixel. Once done, the new sub-heading could be placed.