"Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies-"God damn it, you've got to be kind.”
Holy shit, I have to bump this because . . . my books are #1 and #2 in Amazon's Renaissance Historical Romance category! I'm in shock, I've never hit #1 in a category before!!!
It was on my kindle recommended so whatever marketing you're doing is working (I've bought some of your other books)
That's so exciting! It's kind of weird to have MY BOOK at the top of a category or recommended on people's kindles. This is also my 8th fiction book (how did that happen?!?) but it sometimes feels like reinventing the wheel since I haven't published anything since 2019. Guess I haven't forgotten everything.
share.memebox.com/x/uKhKaZmemebox referal code for 20% off! DD1 "J" born 3/2003 DD2 "G" born 4/2011 DS is here! "H" born 2/2014 m/c#3 1-13-13 @ 9 weeks m/c#2 11-11-12 @ 5w2d I am an extended breastfeeding, cloth diapering, baby wearing, pro marriage equality, birth control lovin', Catholic mama.
Thanks so much, everyone! I had my BookBub new release feature yesterday and scored my best day of sales ever! It's been hard to focus on my real work this week because I want to keep refreshing my sales data all the time, lol.
Thanks so much, everyone! I had my BookBub new release feature yesterday and scored my best day of sales ever! It's been hard to focus on my real work this week because I want to keep refreshing my sales data all the time, lol.
I have been trying (and now failing) to resist the urge to ask you a bunch of questions because I'm really curious about the business side of this...so... this is a side gig for you I take it from the comment above? Are you comfortable sharing some of the nitty gritty of how much you make (in as vague terms as you'd like), how you got to this point, the process of getting these published, etc?
Thanks so much, everyone! I had my BookBub new release feature yesterday and scored my best day of sales ever! It's been hard to focus on my real work this week because I want to keep refreshing my sales data all the time, lol.
I have been trying (and now failing) to resist the urge to ask you a bunch of questions because I'm really curious about the business side of this...so... this is a side gig for you I take it from the comment above? Are you comfortable sharing some of the nitty gritty of how much you make (in as vague terms as you'd like), how you got to this point, the process of getting these published, etc?
Absolutely, I love talking about myself! 😉
I started doing National Novel Writing Month back in 2008. Then in 2014 my sister started self publishing historical romance novels. They took off and that became her full-time job. I figured I had all these historical fiction novels just sitting there, so I started publishing in 2016.
I learned a TON from her about the business side of things. But I was writing in a different genre and bringing in maybe $100/mo. I decided to try something I could market as a crossover historical fiction/historical romance and moved into writing series. (Note: my sister writes steamy books. I don't! Mine are all "closed door" and nothing more than kissing. I doubt I'll ever write true sex scenes, just not my strength!)
I also put a lot less work into it than my sister; I run Amazon ads but I don't do a ton of promo sites, guest blogging, newsletter building. For me, the writing is the fun part. She spends at least half her time on marketing.
Sales have been a lot better for the last year but I'm nowhere close to leaving my day job. Then again, I'm a freelance writer during that day, so it's all writing! I make more on the novels than some of my smaller clients but not a living wage. I like the idea of passive income and I'd write for fun anyway, so I plan to keep publishing.
I have been trying (and now failing) to resist the urge to ask you a bunch of questions because I'm really curious about the business side of this...so... this is a side gig for you I take it from the comment above? Are you comfortable sharing some of the nitty gritty of how much you make (in as vague terms as you'd like), how you got to this point, the process of getting these published, etc?
Absolutely, I love talking about myself! 😉
I started doing National Novel Writing Month back in 2008. Then in 2014 my sister started self publishing historical romance novels. They took off and that became her full-time job. I figured I had all these historical fiction novels just sitting there, so I started publishing in 2016.
I learned a TON from her about the business side of things. But I was writing in a different genre and bringing in maybe $100/mo. I decided to try something I could market as a crossover historical fiction/historical romance and moved into writing series. (Note: my sister writes steamy books. I don't! Mine are all "closed door" and nothing more than kissing. I doubt I'll ever write true sex scenes, just not my strength!)
I also put a lot less work into it than my sister; I run Amazon ads but I don't do a ton of promo sites, guest blogging, newsletter building. For me, the writing is the fun part. She spends at least half her time on marketing.
Sales have been a lot better for the last year but I'm nowhere close to leaving my day job. Then again, I'm a freelance writer during that day, so it's all writing! I make more on the novels than some of my smaller clients but not a living wage. I like the idea of passive income and I'd write for fun anyway, so I plan to keep publishing.
Keep asking if you have more questions!
Oh I'm full of 'em. Since you self publish, what's your editorial process like? Do you hire an editor, rely on friends/family, just do it yourself? How much time do you spend on these vs. your day job? Like, combined is it a 50, 60, 70 hour week? more? less?
I have family and friends who write, but none who have taken this route and been as consistent with it as you have.
Oh I'm full of 'em. Since you self publish, what's your editorial process like? Do you hire an editor, rely on friends/family, just do it yourself? How much time do you spend on these vs. your day job? Like, combined is it a 50, 60, 70 hour week? more? less?
I have family and friends who write, but none who have taken this route and been as consistent with it as you have.
I've tried a few different things for the editing/proofing stage. I've had a close friend who's an editor read three of my books and another friend proofread. At the beginning, I had Mr. Smock make my covers. Once I moved more into historical romance, I outsourced the covers but I haven't paid an editor yet––it gets very expensive. My sister edits her own stuff but hires a proofreader. I've tried editing software to catch dumb errors (in fact, I caught a handful in the new release literally right after it published--so if you bought it but haven't read it and want a cleaner copy, PM me!).
My day job is no more than 40 hours. I typically write outside of business hours––the new trilogy was mostly written between 7-8:30pm over a three-month period. I'm a very fast writer and I write a pretty clean first draft (I don't do major changes during editing). Also I wrote nothing and did zip for most of 2020. I seem to get these bursts of creative energy and then I try to get as much written as possible. I did NaNo in November and then set myself a goal of 20k words per month to finish the new trilogy––and I ended up finishing two months early because I got really into it. Maaaybe I cracked 50 hours a few weeks with writing on the side? But I'm not made to work that many hours. I hit a wall and need to back off.
I've learned a ton from the process. It will probably always be a side hustle for me and I try to treat it like a hobby. For me, that means scaling back on some of the business side and mainly enjoying the writing process. I've planned out my next series and I'm already jumping into the research. It should be fun––I'm switching things up and heading over to 18th century England!
Oh I'm full of 'em. Since you self publish, what's your editorial process like? Do you hire an editor, rely on friends/family, just do it yourself? How much time do you spend on these vs. your day job? Like, combined is it a 50, 60, 70 hour week? more? less?
I have family and friends who write, but none who have taken this route and been as consistent with it as you have.
I've tried a few different things for the editing/proofing stage. I've had a close friend who's an editor read three of my books and another friend proofread. At the beginning, I had Mr. Smock make my covers. Once I moved more into historical romance, I outsourced the covers but I haven't paid an editor yet––it gets very expensive. My sister edits her own stuff but hires a proofreader. I've tried editing software to catch dumb errors (in fact, I caught a handful in the new release literally right after it published--so if you bought it but haven't read it and want a cleaner copy, PM me!).
My day job is no more than 40 hours. I typically write outside of business hours––the new trilogy was mostly written between 7-8:30pm over a three-month period. I'm a very fast writer and I write a pretty clean first draft (I don't do major changes during editing). Also I wrote nothing and did zip for most of 2020. I seem to get these bursts of creative energy and then I try to get as much written as possible. I did NaNo in November and then set myself a goal of 20k words per month to finish the new trilogy––and I ended up finishing two months early because I got really into it. Maaaybe I cracked 50 hours a few weeks with writing on the side? But I'm not made to work that many hours. I hit a wall and need to back off.
I've learned a ton from the process. It will probably always be a side hustle for me and I try to treat it like a hobby. For me, that means scaling back on some of the business side and mainly enjoying the writing process. I've planned out my next series and I'm already jumping into the research. It should be fun––I'm switching things up and heading over to 18th century England!
Thanks for indulging me! This is awesome. Im looking forward to the next one
Bumping because I released book 2 today! Wondering what happens next to Serena, Matteo, and Tessa? Check out Belladonna's Embrace!
This was a fun one to write because the story branches out from Florence to visit Rome, Venice, and Forli. Plus the Borgias! More undercover missions! And spies hiding in a wardrobe!
(warning: I'm also gonna bump this in two weeks when book 3 comes out. 😉)