Monthly Archives: December 2021

December 27, 2021 · 12:06 pm

Counting the Days ’til Book 4 Goes Live

It’s nearly January! I’m champing at the bit, ready to start the New Year with my long list of new publishings and refreshed publishings:

1. NEW Waterspell Book 4, both ebook and print, becoming available for pre-orders in January.
2. REFRESHED Books 1-3, ebook and print editions, going up at Amazon, Google, Smashwords, Lightning Source, etc.
3. NEW Complete Series Boxed Set, Waterspell Books 1-4, available for pre-orders in March, I think.
4. NEW Complete Series Audiobook Boxed Set, to be published in Spring 2022.

If I was better at social media, I would know just how to tease the new Book 4 with a tantalizing and intriguing Cover Reveal. Even without that, though, I’m pretty pleased with the success of my marketing efforts for the series-starter, Book 1: The Warlock. It has made it onto an Amazon Best Seller list.

To feed my need to be doing something ahead of January, which will be a flurry of publishing activity, I’m using this week to make my lists and check them twice, ensuring that every file and graphic is in readiness for January 1. I seriously doubt I can wait any longer than that, to get Book 4 out there and then begin the painstaking process of refreshing the Original Trilogy, in every edition and format. I’m committed to publishing wide, but it does take organization and forethought to ensure completeness and consistency across multiple publishing platforms, booksellers, and databases:

Yep, I think January is going to be busy! I can’t wait.

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December 18, 2021 · 11:25 am

Two Months Out: Laser-Focused on the Plan

Two months? Have I messed up the countdown? In November, you may recall, I was Four Months Out.

Coming Soon: Waterspell Book 4 

The fact is, things are going so well, I’ve moved up the release date by a full month. Waterspell Book 4 will be available for pre-orders not later than January 18, with the book to be officially released on February 18. Hallelujah!

Amazon bestseller: Waterspell Book 1

One reason for the accelerated plan is that Waterspell Book 1: The Warlock has hit the Amazon bestseller lists! All of my promotional efforts have paid off. My inexpensive promotions at Bookraid, ManyBooks, and especially The Fussy Librarian have produced the following results:

Amazon sales chart

The short little lines at the bottom of the above graph were the products of my ongoing advertising via BookBub, before I wised up and quit wasting my promotional dollars there. I have found BookBub to be overrated and WAY overpriced. Clicks there were costing me about 60 cents, whereas the cost-per-click ranges from under a penny to about 3 cents, max, at the other sites.

Ranked in order of their cost-effectiveness, based on my results:

  1. BookRaid
  2. The Fussy Librarian
  3. ManyBooks

BookBub is totally off my list now. I won’t bother with them again. Nor will I continue with Story Origin, which has also proven to be ineffective, for me anyway. Some people may have the time and interest to work through the complexities of Story Origin’s interface, but I think my time is better spent elsewhere. I’ll fulfill my obligation to support the December 2021 “Passing Through Portals” promotion sponsored by Story Origin, but I won’t continue with a $10 monthly account there.

Passing Through Portals

That’s my monthly promotional report, shared for the benefit of any authors who might profit from my personal experiences with paid book advertising. Ads in selected (and selective) newsletters are working for me.

Social media? Not so much. My friends give me wonderful support at my personal Facebook profile, but my efforts to “go viral” via my public accounts (Bookstagram and Facebook author page) are generating only modest interest. As is this blog. But I have things to say, so I’ll keep posting!

Many thanks to all of the readers who have downloaded Waterspell Book 1: The Warlock, vaulting it onto the Amazon bestsellers lists! I am deeply grateful to you. ♥

 

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December 1, 2021 · 9:06 am

Passing Through Portals: Fantasy Review Copies for Readers

First, let’s define it: A portal fantasy is a story about a character who gets transported (perhaps voluntarily, perhaps not) into a fantastic or alternate world. They pass through a portal of some kind (a wardrobe? a tunnel? an interdimensional hole?) and find themselves in a reality that’s different from the world they left behind.

“As anyone who reads science fiction and fantasy can tell you, life is full of doors … appearing unexpectedly, leading to unexpected places. Other worlds, other times. Narnia. An alien planet. The Bronze Age.” James Davis Nicoll

During December, you’re invited to explore a couple of dozen portals and doorways, via “Passing Through Portals,” a month-long promotion sponsored by StoryOrigin and 20 or so participating authors, myself among them.

You can pick up a free review copy of Waterspell Book 1: The Warlock. And while you’re there, please check out all the other titles, also free to download and read, in exchange for honest reviews.

Enjoy your otherworldly travels!

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