I fully believe on transparency. I have said a few times now that my budget for self publishing was small, and that I spent money I didn’t need to, and I took risks, but I regret none of it. Here it is. I spent $506 from July through January, releasing my first book at the end of November, and receiving my first royalty check at the end of January. This is how I started. Let me tell you what I did right and what I did wrong, and what I would do if I had a little more money. PO

Author Assets Part 1 So you’ve decided to write a book and become a published author! Great! The first thing you’re going to want to do ISN’T start writing. Why?  Did you know that over 3/4 of Americans feel as though they have a book within them? 75%! That’s huge! Three out of every four people you know feel they have a story to tell. How many of them are published? How many people do you think start writing a book that they never finish? Writing a book is lonely stuff! It’s no wonder people struggle to finish. Do you

Alright, it’s time to start writing. You have an idea, whether it be loose or solid, but you have an idea, and it’s time to put it onto paper. The question is… do you plot? Do you pants? Who are you? What are you doing? I’ll go ahead and spell it out right now – I plot to pants. What do I mean by that? I mean, I plot just enough that, once I’m writing, I can pants it, so long as I loosely stay near the path. If I veer too far off course, I need to stop and

Editing is hard. There is, quite simply, no other way to put that. Editing is hard for so many reasons. You’re reading the same thing over and over again, your eyes are glazing over, you’re ready to move on, you’re second guessing yourself. Over and over and over again. Which is why I create a path for myself to follow, so that, rather than simply sitting there rereading, looking for general errors, I instead have something different I look for each time. Some of edits, I do chapter by chapter, some of them I do the whole manuscript in one

One of the most often questions I get asked, when I talk about having Alpha and Beta readers, is: are they really that important? And to that I say… your work will be released into a world full of readers who will judge you for it. They will be reading and judging your work, assigning an arbitrary star rating to it, and talking about how much they love, or hate, your book. Yes, you need to have other people read your work. Alpha readers and Beta readers are there to do one thing, and one thing only, at the very

Covers Part 1 You know the old adage to never judge a book by it’s cover? Yeah. That does not apply here. 100% your book will be judged by it’s cover. Your cover is the first impression a reader has of your book. Is it eye catching? Does it stand out? Is it well balanced? What’s on the cover? Who is on the cover? When I tell you all that my cover sells my book, I mean it. I have had a number of people contact me to say they saw my cover and bought it, not knowing what was

If you’ve been around for a few minutes, then you may have just glanced at the title and said WAIT A MINUTE! THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE THE PRE-ORDERS POST! Which, you’re right. It is supposed to be the pre-orders post. HOWEVER! How are you going to advertise your book is available for pre-order unless you have pretty graphics?  So, we’re jumping ahead slash falling back really quick for the next three weeks to talk about a few things that you need to learn to do now to make things easier in the future. RESOURCE LINKS Before we even get

This is exceptionally niche, however, y’all have asked, and I get lots of questions about this, so I’m going to share my madness. There will also be a video posted, walking y’all through my journals, so you can see for yourselves if you want more details, but! Here’s the long and short of it. Let’s talk about journaling and planning your week! Now of course, if you are not someone who is writing full time, this will look very different for you. That stated, the root idea is still there, which is, take all of the tasks you have for

I mentioned last week that we would next be addressing Social Media and how to plan that content. Now, I’m going to say some things that y’all don’t want to hear, and it sucks, and I know it sucks, but this is a mooshing weird combination of… How to make social media content easier to make and manage, but also, how to have social media growth. Here’s the hard truth no one wants to hear… you have to make content to see growth. I KNOW. IT HURTS. IT SUCKS. Some people can simply say hi and gain thousands of followers,

Welcome, Welcome, to setting up your pre-order. In order to set up your preorder, you will need the following things: Book Title Series Title Book Release Date Book Cost Book Cover* Book Blurb* Please note, those last two are not actually requirements, however, I do strongly recommend them. Either way… let’s get this show on the road. It’s going to be a lot of images. A lot. But, I’m going to show you everything step by step. Please note, this is Part 1 of Pre-Orders. Part 2 will be about the promotion of your pre-orders, how to announce, etc. Also,

Alright, so you have your pre-order done, and it’s time to start promoting your book. You now have a link with which people can pre-order your book, and even more than that, add it to their wishlist and their TBR!  Now, there’s a few things you need to do before you go any further and start promoting it… UPLOAD YOUR BOOK TO SITES It’s time to start getting your book onto some book reviewer sites. By having them already uploaded to these sites, and doing it yourself, you make sure that the information is correct, AND, you can have people

Am I going mildly out of order once again? Yes, but because this post has been highly requested, we’re going to go ahead and slot it in right here. Why? Because… y’all asked. There’s no reason other than that lol.  But also, this title is a lie. Sort of? I don’t know. Basically, this right here is all about how to plan your publishing schedule. This means for your first book, and then, for all of the works beyond.  Just… stay with me here. Elle’s Project Planner  ALSO OPEN THIS LINK IT’S AN ELLE FREEBIE BUT DON’T DO ANYTHING WITH

The most basic thing I can say about formatting is… find a program that works for you, and stick with it. Not really, but also sort of really. This is going to be a long one, and to be honest, my current feelings on this subject are somewhat wonky, but here we go! Formatting can be something you hate. It can be something that exhausts you. It can be draining and impossible. It can also be something you accept and let go and just allow it to happen. It can even be something you throw money at in order to

First, a welcome. If this is your first time reading one of my posts, this might seem a bit erratic. I write like I talk, which is fast and all over the place, and it never really seems to have a pathway, but in the end, it somehow all makes sense. And secondly, an introduction. I’ve always said I wanted to be very transparent about my author journey, how I went about doing things, how much I spent, and how much I made. Then, I started making a lot more money than I ever dreamed possible… and I also couldn’t

Hello! So… same format as last time? Okay, cool. If you haven’t read my previous post about my 2021 Author Stats, you should probably start there. It will give you a lot of good background about where I started, where I wanted to go, and where I ended up. It should also give you a pretty good picture as to how I’m operating moving forward. Also, I skipped something in my previous post, but, I’ll be talking about that in a bit! First things first… 2022 Q1 Overview: Began production of the audiobook of One Night in Garoureve (January) Started

Let’s talk about ARC Readers and how to find them. For those who do not know, ARCs are Advanced Reader Copies, meaning, they are advanced releases of your upcoming novel. Typically, you would want to send these out approximately two to four weeks before the release date, although in traditional publishing, these can sometimes go out two to three months before release. WHY SEND OUT ARCS? ARCs can be sent out with a variety of different goals in mind, but the main one is to have people talking about your book before it’s actually released so there is excitement on

This is going to be a giant walk through of three different things which I don’t necessarily think NEED their own individual posts, but they might need their own videos, but I’m going to give a walk through of each of these three items, and if y’all have questions or concerns, please ask and I will make a video walking through each of these if need be! Welcome to THE OTHER STUFF!  When it comes to Amazon, they love to make things extra confusing and difficult and give you ten thousand options with no easy way to process any of

When you eventually reach the point of talking to book bloggers, publishing groups, social media influencers, and other authors, you might be requested to provide something that I rarely see anyone ever talk about: a media kit. What is a media kit? I’m glad you asked. The short answer is, it’s a package containing all relevant information which someone might want and need to know about you and your brand. And in particular, when this comes to authors, this means they want to know about your books. Now, before anyone starts getting overwhelmed, I’m going to go ahead and show

I’m going to be honest… this post is going to be a real contrast from the previous post. My numbers are very different, thanks to the fact that my move more or less stole all of my free time. I still maintained good numbers from where I previously imagined myself, but… Well, you’ll see! If you haven’t read my 2022 Q1 Author Stats Post, I recommend starting there! Same format as before. Let’s do it. 2022 Q2 Overview: Audiobook for One Night in Garoureve completed (April) Began work on Book 4 (April) Trapped in Garoureve Released – Book 3 (April)

Let’s talk going wide! (from the perspective of an author who is NOT) Now, depending on who you ask, “going wide” means different things. The general broad term means simply that your book is available on multiple different platforms, rather than via one place of production. This does NOT mean widely distributed, which we will come back to in a moment, but instead is about the SOURCE of production. For many indie authors, myself included, that one source is Amazon. Amazon has my ebooks, my paperbacks, and through ACX, my audiobooks. Many people will say that being wide means ebooks

Part one : Budgeting Are we going out of order? Yes, but this is important information, and I need to share it all. If you have looked at my Author Stats posts, you have seen my budgeting spreadsheets, so part of this you’ve seen before, but I actually want to go into depth on how I organize it and why, but also what I haven’t been doing but should have been doing.  I recently had a conversation with a CPA about what in all I have, and in turn, found out so much more about what I’ve been lacking, but

Huh. So… Let’s do this? Obviously, make sure you’ve checked out my previous author stats if you want to know more about this.  2021 Post 2022 Q1 Post 2022 Q2 Post Cool. So… Alright. Quarter 3. The Quarter I moved. 2022 Q3 Overview: Started working with my CPA (July) MOVED TO A NEW COUNTRY (July) Needed in Garoureve Free Weekend (July) Moved into a new house (August) Released Owen (September) This is like… the shortest list of what I did, and yet it was the longest few months I swear. I am emotionally, physically, mentally, spiritually exhausted from this quarter.

Last March, I shared with everyone via my Patreon how I went about journaling, planning my week, and organizing tasks. I also included a video, showed off my various journals, showed off a new planner I had, and had a very color coded and organized system for tackling all of the things I concern myself during the week. If you think I still journal/plan that way, you’re crazy pants. Original Posts: Step 7 : Journaling Step 8 : Social Media Now, part of this is because life is busy. Part of this is because I’ve moved onto different journals. And

Welp. We survived to the end of the year. Can I believe it? No, of course not, because 2022 was wild and crazy, but we did it, so now, it’s time to start working on some wrap ups! Please note, the 2022 as a whole wrap up won’t be up for another few weeks as I work on some other things and wait for final payouts, but in the meantime, let’s do this… Previous Posts, if you are interested! 2021 Post 2022 Q1 Post 2022 Q2 Post 2022 Q3 Post Also!!! If there’s a statistic or a number or something

Let’s talk marketing. Now, we’ve talked about social media and graphics and ARC teams, all of which are also marketing, but we haven’t really talked about active vs passive marketing, or how to ride the waves, or even how trad pub glorifies the first 30 days when they’re a lie, or even about the push. So much goes into marketing for an indie, things that you wouldn’t normally think of, and a lot of what I’ve already discussed, things I encourage and recommend, are all a huge part of it, but marketing as a whole… it’s a constant. It’s something

I am going to say something that is… not a popular statement, but it is a factual one. It’s something that a lot of people forget. It’s something a lot of people want to ignore. But, the fact is, if you are here right now reading this blog, then you are serious about being an author and publishing and succeeding and doing it right, which means, we need to have this conversation. You, as an author, are running a business. This is a business. And you, as an author, are your brand. Your morals, what you stand for, what you

It is release day! You made it to the finish line! Your book is out in the world! Now what do you do on this day! Wait! Crap! Welp— Alright, I hope it’s not release day for you, because you have stuff and things you need to do and schedule before release, so like… let’s do those things, but you know, if this is release day for you, congrats! There’s lots for you to do. So, pull up a chair, grab your coffee, take a deep breath, and get ready with your calendar and some post it notes. We’ve got

I’m going to go ahead and start this one with a hard truth. I’ve never been anything but honest with everyone, and so even in the hard moments, when we have to say the things no one wants to hear and no one wants to believe… I try to keep it honest. And with this one, I’m also going to keep it blunt, because will argue about it. Your book will be stolen by pirates and posted online. It does not matter if your book is not in KU. It does not matter if you are careful about who you

I honestly don’t even know how to start this post, so, I guess let’s jump right in.  I walked into 2022 with the… wildest introduction any person could have. Because, in the days leading up to the start of the new year, I had pretty good sales, making about six dollars a day, and I was more than pleased with that. I had outperformed my goal for my first book, I had a solid number of readers, and I had a plan for the new year… and then, a few days before the start of the new year, my book

So, you’ve written a book, you’ve released it, it’s out into the world, and now… what. Now, what do you do? Now, what do you work on next? How do you continue momentum? How do you bring in more readers? How do you keep up engagement? How do you progress onto the next project? How do you even pick your next project? And how the hell do you pick between passion and profits? Well, let’s break it down. Let’s talk about it. Let’s figure out how to continue success. MARKETING AFTER THE FIRST THIRTY DAYS Thirty days after release, according

So you’ve written and edited and marketed and published your first novel, and then you get the inevitable question… is there an audiobook for this. It’s a question that seems to pop up almost immediately any time I post about a new book, or even an idea for a book. Is there an audiobook? And of course, your answer will most likely be… Uhhhh… Because the fact is, producing an Audiobook isn’t cheap, it takes time, and it takes resources. But it’s not impossible! So, let’s talk about it. Let’s talk about audiobooks. Let’s talk about your next steps after

WHAT MONTH IS IT? My apologies on getting this up so late. It’s now the end of May, and I feel terrible that I am so behind, but honestly, I’m only just now getting paid for March, and things have been a disaster over here, so you know what? We’re going to just accept that this is the way that things are sometimes, and run with it! Do y’all like the format of these posts? I almost feel like I am dumping too much information that isn’t the right information, so I never really know if this is what everyone

It is time… to assemble a list of resource links. All of these links are links from my various blog posts, along with other things I’ve just never mentioned, plus a few goodies of my own. They are all organized into various categories. I’m sure the categories do not make sense to anyone other than me, but hey, this is chaos authoring, so that’s how we do it.  As you look at the list, it’s obviously… a lot more than just the links. If you want just the links and none of my rambling… CLICK HERE And now, let’s begin.

It is the first half of October, which means we have entered a phase many authors and writers lovingly call PREPTOBER. What is Preptober, you ask? It’s preparing for NANOWRIMO. If you haven’t heard of Nanowrimo, don’t you worry! I’m going to walk you through Preptober, Nanowrimo, some resources you use, and some tips on how to tackle this. This blog post is definitely heavy for all of the aspiring authors out there figuring out how to get started, but if you’re someone who struggles with writing steadily, finding time to write, keeping a schedule, or haven’t ever participated in

Let’s. Talk. Taxes. Now I want to start this off by saying that I don’t care if you are in the red or the green or have no idea how much money you have or haven’t made. It doesn’t matter what you think you should or shouldn’t have to pay. It doesn’t matter if you consider this to be a silly little hobby and what does it matter. I have a few basic rules in life. One of them is don’t fuck with the IRS. Because going to get theirs, whether you want to pay them or not.  DO. NOT.

  So there you are, staring at Microsoft Word (or Google Docs, but Microsoft Word is nice and you’re a professional, dammit!). It is time for you to start writing your new manuscript, or maybe copy and paste it in from whatever writing program you have been using. It’s time to start editing your work, or maybe share it with Alphas and Betas. Maybe it’s even time to send it to an editor! And you have no idea how to format the document or how it is supposed to look. And okay, maybe you’re the only one who’s going to

AKA, HOW TO WRITE FASTER. Yes, you read that right. How to write faster. Well, more specifically, how to write faster when you’re short on writing time. A little hint: you’re going to need to get organized! Something I get asked quite often is how I write so fast when sprinting. I know the silent question is, how do I write so fast and, lately, publish so slow. The second part of that question, of course, is that life has been kicking me roughly in the backside and kept the amount of time I can actually sit down and write

If you have been around for any length of time and hopped into one of my lives where I am writing and typing, you’ve definitely heard me talk about 4thewords. I even dedicated a chunk of a recent blog post, related to Preptober and Nanowrimo, to talking about 4thewords. 4thewords is, in essence, a game where writing words moves you forward. You have monsters which a limited amount of time to defeat them, and you defeat them by typing! Monsters have different words to time requirements, different drops, and different rewards. The quests are sometimes timed, have different words needed