My First Year as a Published Author

A year ago on May 1, 2013 I started my life as an Indie Published Author. I say my life because it has been an all consuming project for the last twelve months.

My goal last year was to post all twelve of my completed books to the Kindle store on Amazon. I accomplished that plus one more, thirteen in all. But, I also accomplished so much and met so many wonderful folks along the way.

No one gives you a blueprint of how to become a successful indie author. Like child rearing, it does not come with a manual. Everything is trial and error. What works for one author may not work for another.

I’d like to detail my journey thus far. Not necessarily just for you, but also for my records so I do not forget all the delightful folks who have assisted me on my journey thus far. This will just be a ‘mind dump’ and not really in the order things happened or in their importance. But really, each one is important - each step is helping me build my bridge closer to the readers I hope are awaiting my stories.

Twitter connections – Right after I posted the first book, The Helavite War, on Kindle, my students suggested I get on Twitter and work actively to market the books. Sarah and Julia (friends, employees and former students) stepped in and made up a lovely profile that would ‘brand’ me as the author, reader, gardener and dreamer that I am. I found twitter to be my ‘cup of tea.’ I really enjoy chatting and twitter is the place for that. I began to pick up followers quickly and made a slew of friends.

I found there were a folks who enjoyed flower and animal photos. I have a good sized garden and started to tweet photos of flowers. 

There are "Dragon Folks" galore on twitter and one little kitten that is precious. We tweet and hug and I scratch ears on a regular basis. So often in fact that one of the dragons had a picture of me drawn scratching his ear.

There are very supportive women and men that will assist you in achieving your claim to fame. I have been honored and privileged to have been adopted by these folks and propelled up the twitter chain. You all know who you are and I send huggles to you all.

Mentors & Helpers – I have met so many helpful and supportive people on Twitter. Carla, in Italy, gave me my first opportunity to write an author article about character development and from that article I met one of my most devout and supportive fans, Max. We will come to that story a little later, but for now I will tell you one of the biggest thrills of my life was the day Max contacted me on Facebook to say he was laying in bed reading my scifi book. What a rush! A total stranger reading my scifi book in Italy. Luckily, I can say he is a stranger no longer.

Richard gave me my first, behind the scenes, instructions on how to use twitter properly and not be obtuse or overwhelming.

Mike directed me to his book on twitter etiquette and how to build an audience of readers. He gave me pointers on how to look my best on Amazon.

David went out of his way to assist me with marketing pieces and was the one who prompted Farloft’s “Follow Farloft” pin contest. Farloft is my dragon for those of you who have not had the pleasure of meeting him either through his books or on Twitter. He loves Twitter almost as much as I do and spends the last Friday of every month tweeting on my account.

There have been many, many more helpful folks, but these were just a few I spoke with personally and who guided me toward the right path. I cannot thank all the wonderful folks who retweet me and promo me on their own, there are just too many, but you know who you are and you know I appreciate each and every one of you more than I can say.

Retweeting and Followers – What can you do to show your appreciation to all your lovely Retweeters? I have tried many things. 

I kept a spreadsheet for a time and made sure that I reciprocated every retweet. But I wondered after a time if that was really getting all of us anywhere. The stats went as follows: first week I received 178 retweets, 2^nd week = 363, 3^rd week = 580, 4^th week =720, yet my sales did not increase or even change. I made a point of thanking each retweeter in person. I sent pictures and cute images, but the whole idea for all of us was to get more readers. At one point I put all my retweeters into an “award certificate” and posted it on my website. I had people think it was an app and wanted it, so I know there are others who want to find a way to reciprocate. I built it myself in Powerpoint. The result of all this retweeting was loss of time writing and no visible results for any of us that I could see. So I have taken to a new strategy and will let you know if it works.

We all need more reading followers, so I am doing shout outs (#SO) for all my retweeters and then thanking them in some general retweets at the end of the day. This is something George and Richard do and they think it works. I can only try and see. I have also started to mix retweeters with new followers, so my followers hopefully meet new folks too.

Beta reads – When I first started on Twitter I was amazed at how many indie authors there were. There is a huge community, a nation of indie authors. I thought, ‘what do they need? How can I find a place among them?’ The indie author can sell more books if they are reviewed than if they are not. I am told that if a reader is surfing for a read they go to the genre first, the cover image second, the description third, and the reviews fourth when choosing a book. Also, there are twitter sites that will help you promote your books for free, provided you have ten to twenty-five, 4-5 Star reviews. They will not help unless you meet this criteria. So I chose to read and review. I did my best to be an honest reviewer. I was an actor at one point in a last life and I think constructive criticism is permissible and in some cases I did do that. The process brought me into contact with numerous folks I would have missed had I not been on Twitter. The idea that an indie book is inferior in any way is insane. I read many that were superior to paperbacks I had read in the past.

Reviews – Reviews are what authors crave. We indie authors do not have a publisher to tell you how great our current book is and most of us do not want to hit you over the head with the “please read me” tweets. It is so wonderful when someone reviews you and you can quote them as saying you are well written, clever, prolific, a multi-genre genius, whatever. We live for reviews and always are thankful to those who give them, which is why in the back of each book there is a call for a few words and a sprinkle of stars on any social, media or platform site.

Interviews – Interviews are the next best thing to reviews in my opinion. I get to show some of my human side and get to talk about my books. Sometimes I even take Farloft along with me and he is a great asset as long as he doesn’t break something or set off the smoke alarms. I have done blog interviews and radio interviews and even a YouTube appearance. They are all good for tweeting and letting folks know more about you as a person and an author. Besides, they are just fun to do.

Bio and Trailers – A couple of months ago a fellow author and follower decided to change direction in his career. He wanted to not only write, but to try doing book trailers, bios and voice-over work. He put his heart and soul into it. The results are on my Author Page on Amazon, my Blog and my YouTube channel. He did a fine job and I am honored to have been one of the ones he chose to be his first. I will list his twitter handle here for your reference. Check him out and his work. @Hamburger_Fry

Radio interview – I work with a non-profit called VoiceCathers. They support women artist and authors in the Portland/Vancouver area. I was lucky enough to be chosen for a radio interview based on my association with them. It is a channel that caters to authors, readers, publishers and librarians. It has not been posted on the internet yet, but it was a fun experience and I got to meet two other local authors in the process. The opportunity to get your name and your books out there to the public eye is greatly appreciated by all indie authors.

Blog following and Newsletter – I have had a blog for years. I love my blog and the folks that support it by reading. 

It is a story blog. I alternate between posting a Scifi story and a fantasy. I am pleased to say that every month or so it picks up one thousand new hits. It is followed by many internationally. I recently put an email capture on it for a newsletter. I have not printed one yet, but when I finish posting my work on Smashwords, I will make a general announcement of their availability on multiple platforms using this tool. As I have heard other authors say, ‘I wish I had put it on sooner.’ I missed the first ten thousand readers.

Profiles and Author sites – I did not know, until a reader told me, that my author page on Amazon Central did not hook up to the Author page on Amazon Central in the UK. These things are the types of things you lose out on if you are a newbie like me. I went a half year thinking I had a profile on Amazon everywhere. Silly me… I have put my profile and book links on other Author promoting sites like iAuthor, Wattpad, and Bubblish in case someone is just surfing the site and bumps into me, but I still focus my push to my own page on the internet, because everything is there.

QR codes and Advertising fliers – Daniel is my techie friend and so on top of new and cutting edge technology. He created a QR code for the first Farloft Chronicle audio book. He is the one who set up my download on the site, my YouTube garden videos and built my server for my twitter program. I couldn’t have made it without his talents.

Out of the blue David flew in. A fellow author and follower he created some lovely marketing pieces for me which I have used and expanded on of this last year. He and I have brainstormed and confided in each other our hopes and dreams as indie authors. We will succeed. I am sure of it.

I made up flyers that are a little larger than a business card. They state where to find my Free Audio Book. Since it in on my website, this also gets the curious reader to my site and exposes them to the other things I write. I like this better than a business card, because (1) I am giving something away, the audio book (2) it does not have my personal info on it (3) I can make it colorful by putting the cover of the book on it and (4) I can literally leave them anywhere. I have been known to place them in movie theatre bathrooms, on retail counters and on tables in food courts.

Cover redesign – The Farloft Chronicles were originally posted with a cover design I did in Publisher. I am not a graphic designer and you could certainly tell it. It was a ‘quick fix at the time,’ just something to get them posted. In October 2013, Sarah, that dear friend I spoke of earlier who helped to fix up my twitter profile, took up the challenge of creating a visual of Farloft, James, Clearair, Thrax and Anna. Now they all have a face. I cannot thank her enough for her hard work. I am sure the covers make the books far more appealing on Amazon’s Kindle shelves.

Revamp of website – Sarah and Julia stepped in again late last summer and revamped my blog. It is where I direct all my followers and tweets for any information, whether social or book links. They gave it a great facelift and a lovely new banner. Sarah tells me I need another rework soon since I am now writing in four genres and have a host of new links. I am anxious to see what she comes up with.

Follow Farloft Fridays – Where did this insanity start? I get up at 2:00 am so Farloft, my dragon, can tweet to the folks who follow him in the UK. Farloft (I) continues to tweet through the morning, mid-day, afternoon and evening as the globe rotates. He manages to get to all his followers around the world. It makes for a very long day, but also very satisfying and it is all due to a blogger in Singapore named Damyanti. Sometime mid-year she posted a review of Farloft’s First Chronicle, James & the Dragon. People responded and she suggested I respond to comments on her blog. Well, it was Farloft’s Chronicle, so I had him respond. Damyanti and her readers loved it. She tweeted and said she was going to miss Farloft when she posted the next review and she thought he should have a twitter account of his own. My, my, my…What she started. I spent two days trying to calm followers down and dissuade them from encouraging Farloft to have a twitter account, Facebook page, blog etc.

When all was said and done, Farloft got his headset and he tweets the last Friday of every month on my account. He has a blog where he writes the occasional story from his vast selection of memories of his life and times. After all, he is a thousand years old. He has a lot he can recall.

He posts his scrapbook pages which I build from the photos he is sent of his Farloft pins/buttons/badges.

The pins were originally meant as a ‘thank you’ to the folks who interacted with Farloft the most on his Follow Farloft Friday’s. He and I were really surprised when they started showing up like ‘The Traveling Gnome’ on twitter. David is the one who started this craziness with ‘Biker Bears who Follow Farloft’ and ‘Water Dragons who Follow Farloft.’ The pins/badges have been to Las Vegas, the UK, Malta and Greece. They have flown high on planes and been in local gardens. They have shown up among gryphon, dragons and sheep. And they are still traveling. In January of this year, Farloft launched a contest wherein he gives away a set of his Chronicles to one of his followers posting the button/pin each month. We have seen some fun photos and the buttons are now available in his Fanwear store ‘Farloft’s Hoard’ on Zazzle.

Music – I adore music and could not live without it. Should our world as we know it come to an end, music is the thing I would miss the most – being able to turn on the radio, phonograph, MP3 player, iPad or smartphone in order to listen to music. Words can still be spoken, but if we lost all the instruments, musicians and technology to produce it I would wither and die. I have found some great musicians on twitter and have purchased music from as many as I could afford. They, like the authors, are all trying to get their music heard and I want to help as much as possible. Richard and Michelle are high on my list of folks I would like to see succeed in my lifetime and since they are much younger, I think I just might.

Gifts Given – If I give a gift of one followers work to another follower, both benefit. My first gift was a photo from a photographer follower to a musician follower that I admired. It hangs above his desk. I gave a certificate for pizza to a follower who was kind enough to edit my tweets. It was a joke and we have been friends since. Of course, I have sent out the pins/buttons I told you about which continue to plague twitter. I have given music from one follower to another, and Farloft has given out books by the score. I have even given ‘Dazzlers’ from Farloft’s personal hoard, sparkly chains of beads to be worn in the hair, to two or three folks. And I have sent B-Day cards and emails. It is one of my favorite things to do – giving.

Gifts Received – My follows have become friends. They are so very kind. I have received tea, marmalade, and candy from the UK and New York, a lovely needlepoint of a pink dragon which hangs in my bedroom from Idaho, marketing material from Britain and a t-shirt from Alaska. I am still marveling at the wonderful people I meet on twitter.

Twin Cities project – Drew approached me around Christmas of this past year. He wanted to get four or five authors together to write a series of books set in the same location with the same set of rules much like the multiple authors write in the Star Trek series. Five of us bought into his idea. It is called the Twin Cities Series and we chose it to be a setting of the imagination. The Realms is the place where creatures live which humans think are paranormal, mythological, or fanciful. It was my first dive into paranormal and I love it. The series is a commitment for all of us. We look at it as something that can evolve and change with us as we grow as writers.

Audio experience – After I posted all my books on Amazon I consulted with other authors as to how to proceed. Should I put some in paperback form? Should I do audio books? Should I just sit tight and continue to market and promote the books as is. I was encouraged by several to put some of the books in audio form. It was a general agreement that they were too short to put in paperback form and still recoup the funds. I was lucky enough to have a connection at that time with a friend who had a relative that did voice over work. He had never done anything as long as my sixty-three page book, but he was willing to try. It came off nicely and as of this writing has had over two hundred downloads. It has not gone viral, but I am happy with the results. I am having another put into audio and will post it in May sometime.

Effortless English experience – Earlier I was talking about my friend Max. He is a reader, friend and has also become one of my biggest promoters. He reads my work to improve his English and because it is middle-school and YA it is ideal for that purpose. He belongs to a group called the Effortless English Club. They are all English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students who follow A.J. Hoge, the founder of the club. He teaches how to learn English by reading authentic English material (meaning books written originally for English speaking children).

Max got me involved with his group on Facebook and then introduced me to AJ himself. We hit it off well and I started suggesting a #Dailybk for his readers on twitter. Last Sunday AJ invited me to appear virtually on his show broadcast over the internet from San Francisco. I jumped in via Goggle+ Hangout and we had a lovely chat about reading and writing. He and his members are very inspiring and dedicated.

Facebook – one page, two page, one page – Facebook has never been my friend. I don’t like to play games and I get tired of hearing about people’s children. However, I was told by one author who actually lives off his work that you should have a presence on Facebook, that Twitter is like a cocktail party with new aquantances, but Facebook is like asking a friend over for dinner. Your readers want to get to know you. They can do that a lot better without the limitation of 140 characters of twitter.

At first I thought there was an advantage to having an author page on Facebook, but after a while I just realized that it was more work. I don’t get the whole ‘Like’ thing. What I want is someone to come and follow, hang out with me, get to know me and my work and then maybe, just maybe become a reader. So though there was an author page at one time, there is no longer. Now it is just me, myself and I. I post what interests me and I like and share the same.

Farloft’s Hoard – Farloft’s fanwear site started from an idea I had to thank his followers on Follow Farloft Friday. I thought I would send them a shirt or a cap. Sarah, my graphic guru, whipped out a great logo and we printed some test shirts and a mug. Then I found out how much it cost to mail something to the UK or Singapore. A pin/button was all I could afford, so the pins, which I mentioned earlier, went out. The shirts, sweatshirts, caps, mugs, and pins went up for sale in his store for those who are interested. They are print-on-demand so the company that makes them gets the lion’s share of the profit, but Farloft gets the joy of knowing folks are walking around wearing his logo. He gets a delight out of that.

YouTube and the garden – I have a 1,100 square foot garden. It has basically five rooms, Shade Garden under the willow, Mosaic Garden, in front of the Moroccan room, Pond & Daylily Garden, Vegetable Raised Beds and Orchard Garden, and the East Garden. From the first days of twitter, I tweeted pictures from my garden. A month or so ago Charlotte suggested I make a video so they all could see it and get the full picture. From that suggestion I was prompted to record my very first video. Folks have been so kind and it has been received so well, that I intend to upload one a month to YouTube for anyone who chooses to watch how ‘my garden grows.’ A little something that gives you a glimpse into my personal life. I love Our Quiet Corner.

Amazon vs. Smashwords – Originally I was advised to post my books on Amazon by a fellow author  and that is what I did, but I have found in the last year that many of my foreign readers do not have access to Amazon. I have spoken with other authors and they suggested posting with Smashwords, the largest ebook distributor in the world. In March I posted the first book in The Farloft Chronicles there. It makes the book accessible on all platforms from Nook to Kobo, from iApple to ePub. Formatting for Smashwords was beyond my capabilities, but it was not beyond eBook Launch, one of many companies Smashwords suggests for help. They are attentive, quick and reasonably priced.

Writing & Buying – During all this there were two things that went on almost non-stop, writing and buying.

I don’t think an author can sit around and just rake in the cash. You need to continue to produce if you want to keep your readers coming back. Not only did I produce another book, but I edited and published the twelve original books in my collection. There is also all the tweeting, blogging, emailing, texting, interviewing etc, etc, etc.

Buying was the fun part. I started my reading campaign by reading ebooks on my smartphone. I remember tweeting Lee during Memorial Day that it was difficult reading on your phone when you had bar-be-cue all over your fingers from the ribs you were eating. But hey, I couldn’t put his ebook down. I read both of his that weekend.

Daniel was of invaluable assistance in all my purchases and installation of technical equipment. Upgrading to an iPad was a nice change. We chose it because I wanted something I could read and do social media on that was lighter than my six year old laptop.

There was the camera and headphones to buy for the online interviews and appearances. The Tweet Adder program was a handy purchase and the computer to be used as a server so that program could run 24/7.

Payment for the graphics for all twelve books and the logo for Farloft’s Hoard had to be made.

My wallet was always open, my cards at the ready. What is that old saying? It takes money to make money. Well, I was in the hole at the end of this first year. We will see how the next year goes.

Future Goals – What are my plans for this, my second year, as a published author? I intend to post all the books currently one Amazon to Smashwords as well. I want to make my work as widely available as possible. Some of the Effortless English folks do not have access to Amazon in their countries. I want to be able to reach them.

I have a plan to do an interview a month on either a blog, radio, website etc. I need to keep trying to get the word out about the books

.

I will continue to write. I have the next scifi in the Star Traveler Series in rough draft and the next Farloft Chronicle almost finished. I am always writing a story on the blog. The current one is a Farloft memory from his earlier years. I will move it to his blog and tweet about it when I have completed it. And I want to get back to the Twin Cities project to carry on with Cody’s story and see where that takes us.

I have found there are always more things to write and never enough hours in the day to do it all.