My 7 biggest self publishing mistakes: what I learned
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- Опубликовано: 1 окт 2024
- I've had many successful indie publishing releases...and then there are the misses, flops, and failures. I'll walk you through what went wrong!
Thank you to my sponsor FlexiSpot (www.flexispot.com), and if you want a fantastic reading chair, check out the Power Lift Recliner XR4.
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Instagram: / lidiyafoxglove
The Hidden Lands books:
The Sorcerer's Concubine: books2read.com/...
Doll Girl Meets Dead Guy: books2read.com/...
The Broken Queen: www.amazon.com...
Per request, I have also put the illustrated The Vengeful Half up for sale again! Just know it's unfinished and will be rewritten, but if you want my only illustrated novel and to see how the story evolves from 2016 to its next incarnation, have at it:
www.amazon.com...
Inquiries: fabulousfrock@mac.com 
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I'm so impressed to see how well you've taken these "failures", I would have been destroyed 😭
ohhh man, I mean...MANY TEARS! but...the next idea still teases with prospects of success, I guess.
I may never recover from the idea of Moomin S&M.
L O L
the poor Moomins really got it just from being in a pile near my RUclips filming zone 😂
right?!
I rarely laugh out loud at anything, and this made me cackle like a crow !
As a reader, I too dislike the change to the "also bought" section. I found some of my favorite books that way! It's especially difficult now, because I have very particular taste in what I like in a book. High fantasy, not "cozy" but also not grimdark, without a criminal MC is so difficult for me to find!
Ooh, I might hate it as a reader even MORE than I hate it as a writer. And I hate it both ways, a lot, haha. Honestly the reason I initially loved Amazon, like 1000 years ago when they just sold books, is because the also-boughts were great for finding books, and I still don't think anything else works quite as well. But now they're gone or nearly gone.
My 5 books have failed…😂 It’s not humorous, but since I have a career and steady paycheck, I am able to play around with my side hustle (my passion!) and try different strategies. I’ve taken all my books down, am redoing the covers, and have a launch plan, which includes re releasing the books with new line edits one every three months. I’m so excited for the first release!! 😊
My 3 failed too. Lol back to the drawing board.
It’s good to have the lightness in our approach, I think. Otherwise we might go mad! That’s the awesomeness of self publishing, you get to do what you want and start over.
You succeeded in creating 5 books. Good on you
A very profound statement, thank you! I have the 5 that I had published plus another 5 that I’ve written and are waiting. 😀
As a new indie author this video is super helpful!! Thank you for sharing your knowledge 🫶
Thank you for sharing your experiences with us, even the “failures”!! I really appreciate getting to see the side of being an author that people don’t always talk about, it gives me tons to think about in terms of being “realistic”!! :D
The rapid flux of the marketing landscape is probably the number one thing I was ill-prepared for when I started self-publishing. I went in thinking: I'll learn the methods to market successfully, then use those methods forever (Ha!). Discussing the adaptability that book marketing calls for was a really nice way to end this video. And you're totally right, the shifts in the landscape can sometimes work out for the better.
Thank you for talking this through. Hopefully, these RUclips videos will be a consistent revenue stream because they are so very good and appreciated.
Oh yes. Definitely this. A lot of the world building is for the creator, not the audience.
I enjoyed Doll Girl and dead guy. 😊 I bought it after seeing your RUclips videoa.
Congrats on the sponsor!
I've never published a book before so it can be paralyzing and overwhelming. The biggest takeaway, for me anyway, is that just because one book flops doesn't mean that it's' the end of the world. You live, you learn, you try something else.
Yes that is exactly true. Part of what has given me a long career is not having any big success or amazing marketing skill (well, certainly not that) but just continuing to try and adapt. (And also...luck.)
And thank you, I was so excited to get a sponsor, especially since I figured the first sponsor to approach me was probably going to be something that I didn't need or want. I can't believe i was just thinking "man, the furniture in this house really is sad"...and it motivated me to get the room rearranged. The library is so much more swank now.
Not the MOOMINS 😂
Oh my God, literally cackling at your Moomin Papa and Mama scene 😂
Thanks for being so open with your experiences. And a sponsor! Yay!
I really like you putting out videos of your failures and learned wisdom like this! It really helps a writer like me who is going to begin their indie publishing journey within the year. I'm a professional illustrator, comic book artist, and digital painter and as someone who can appreciate your covers, I do feel fortunate being able to make my own. Really taking notes on what you said about your covers, as I do have the idea of adding versions of my epic sci fi and fantasy series with my artwork in it.
What i love is you don't take it personally when a book of yours doesn't sell as well as you hoped. I really needed to hear this as i am apt to take my success or failure way too personally.
Congrats on the sponsor 😮👏🏾 ❤ and I'm soooo making note of the mistakes. You're always so upfront and honest!
Love your channel, Lydia. In a weird way, it's kind of ASMR-ish. But with actual content. Great stuff.
This type of video is pretty rare to find when talking about writing, thanks for sharing! I'm sorry that this stuff happened, though. It's devestating when you make a choice that doesn't pan out, especially when you put everything you can into it, but everyone is just trying to make the best decisions based on the information they had in the moment.
I'd love to read your Moomins romance!!!
One of my biggest writing regrets is not finishing my fantasy romance novel before romantasy took off. Even if I could buckle down and finish it in a couple of months now, I’d be chasing a trend that is becoming more and more over saturated by the day. 😭
The positive thing is that the 'trend' has been popular for decades. There's certain modern tropes that are more expected now, but there will always be readers for it, and readers will always be looking for more books that suit their tastes. You're never gonna miss the train on fantasy romance, as it's probably the most popular subgenre of romance behind contemporary.
@@jadaw644 Thank you, you’re right of course. I guess I spent too long around the Twitter discourse and the real time collapse of YA dystopian. 😂 Thank you for the encouragement.
But if you had released it years ago, you wouldn't have Lidiya's advice! 🤔 Now that you have Lidiya's advice, once you finish your book it will have an even greater chance of success than before! 🪄❤️✨️
I was not prepared for the moomin bit when I clicked on this video lmao It seemed like something out of a particularly unhinged episode of Drawfee 🤣
It's a shame the vengeful half didn't do well, it seems like such a fun concept! More books with silly comics drawn by the author, I say!!
I agree!! But. Sadly. Never say never, but I probably won't be doing that again...so many hours...
@@lidiyafoxgloveauthor Yeah hahah time passes by double fast when you're drawing 😆 It's both a blessing and a curse!
I really wanna check the book out after I'm done with the cursed soul trilogy, but it's unavailable on Amazon 😅 Is there anywhere else I can get it?
@@phoebs987 I might just see if I can make it available on Amazon again. I delisted it because it's like...I'm gonna rewrite it and I'll never write the sequel, but that way if anyone is just curious to read it and see the comics and see how I change it later...you can if you want. It's sort of like a comic book in that way where the characters get rebooted!
@@lidiyafoxgloveauthor That would be awesome!! Yeah, I love checking for earlier iterations of the same story, it does have a comic book feel to it! 🤓
I see! So you're thinking of tying the loose ends this time when you rewrite it? Because there are two books, right?
@@phoebs987 Yes, that's true, I actually wrote 2 1/2 books in that series and intended to write 4 ultimately. It probably will still be a 3-4 book series when I get back to it.
Your chair looks so comfy! Thank you for sharing your flops. I can relate to them, I always wish I had more time to invest in my indie career and as many I struggle with marketing. Looking forward to your next video!
I've been watching and really enjoying your videos since finding you about a month ago. Your videos are very cozy, but also jam-packed eith super insightful and interesting information and perspectives. I wanted to buy your Vengeful Half book to give a try (as I feel that if I want to take someone's advice, I should probably see if I like their work - the fruit of their own wisdom, you could say), was sad to see I couldn't buy a copy, then absolutely shocked to see "Magic Under Glass". I mudt have only looked at the works you published under your oen name because I distinctly remember reading that somewhere in my late teens, early adulthood and absolutely LOVED it! Something about the worldbuilding and characterization really stuck with me. It was very charming, heartfelt, and full of personality!
Oh wow! That's so cool! I'm shocked that a few of you out there have actually read Magic Under Glass!
I feel that discoverability is the hardest part of making creative products. If I needed parts or equipment for something I can search for them make judgements on price, brand, statistics and so on. That clearly doesn't work for a book, unless you are buying books based on the characteristics of the construction of the book, which I think might actually have a plot for a story hidden in that idea.
If a large platform pushed one product to everyone even if it was a bad product it would likely sell more than a superior product that was only presented by directly searching for it. A bit like being famous for being a famous person.
You have lots of good ideas! I am now on a mission to read all your stuff. 😊
Thank you for the video. So much of what you said was relatable and made me feel better about my own mistakes. Congrats on the sponsorship and that is a GREAT new chair!! I also wrote a shifter book called Stray!! It did... okay I think? Not a flop not a great seller, but I love it!
Maybe it is a cursed title, LOL...although I would definitely call mine a true flop. Oh well.
Thank you so much for mentioning that trad authors rarely outsell their advance and that the publisher makes money back before the author. I worked as an editor and the biggest misconception inspiring authors had was that they'd earn money right away, they didn't realize how little they make and that the advance was against royalties until explained to them. And that was followed by the misconception that if they didn't sell out the advance that the book didn't break even or profit the publisher, but we could break even without you selling out because the percentage we earn compared to what you earn. I love seeing other people breaking down the gatekeeping so the playing field for new authors is more even.
I love reading unfinished series. It's not as daunting and I have time to catch up before the next one comes out!
It has been fun to watch your channel grow! A sponsor…awesome!!
The cover isn't any good? That Vampire's Doll cover is one of the most stunning covers I've seen! It may be more that the cover doesn't convey what the book is about, which I can see. But just as a cover. Wow. All your covers, even if the ones that aren't working are spectacular. Were they all done by the same cover artist?
I also thought the vamp cover was great!
No, all different! But yeah in a lot of ways I guess the point is, stunning covers don't sell books. Marketing language sells books. Sometimes they overlap, of course, but the latter might actually be more important!
Lol...anyone who puts Frasier clips in their videos max out the cool meter as far as I'm concerned. I love your personality and your videos!
Frasier was sooo good
I am loving Doll Girl Meets Dead Guy, been reading it for about 2 weeks whenever I have some down time. It has so many layer that would appear to lots of readers.🙂
The vengeful half is such a beautiful cover though!! So wonderful!! Totally get it though, doesn’t fit the tone. Would fit Coraline a lot better lol
i think the greatest art comes from when people write truly from their heart and give no thought to what other people might think of it
it is not always immediately successful but can become a classic..
jk rowling got rejected over 80 times for her Harry Potter idea (i met her at a creative writing group in Edinburgh when she was starting out and my idea (i told the group about when we were asked to say what our ideas were) for my writing was going to be for a normal young guy who was learning how to do magic.. i didn't know back then to keep my ideas secret until i had come completed them)
could you republish that book but with one of the goofy cute illustrations as the cover?
Yeah, I'm glad that I'm learning about marketing and genre expectations early on in my career. I've read a lot of books that totally miss the mark where you can tell they don't actually read that genre. Or heaven forbid, the authors who say they don't read at because they'd rather be writing.
Congrats on the sponsorship and new chair - glad it's kitty-approved! I'm struggling with covers! Ugh. And trends. Finding things within my small niche that both satisfy our mission and may have some viability.
Another wonderful video! Thanks for your honesty and candor, as well as your amazing insight into your "failures." I noticed your new chair in your last video and I'm so envious. Congrats on your sponsor. Imo, you are exactly what a lot of writers are looking for: casual, real, informative, and fun. Love seeing the cats too. Best of luck with your channel, although I don't think you need it at this point. 😸
When you describe your failures, I don't see them as failures. I see it as opportunities to fail upwards:)
I dipped my toe into AMS ads in 2021 and that was when the shift between sponsored books and Also boughts began. Are you still planning to do AMS ads despite the costs and lack of organic sustainability?
Also, I was aware that early Booktok was blowing up books but I figured it was only blowing up spicy romances and 1 random rom com, so I procrastinated to the point that I still haven't made any videos 🤦🏻♀Like you, I don't enjoy short form video and I probably would have made like, 3 videos, and failed to be consistent with it so even if 1 video blows up, what's the point if you don't stick to it?
I've made my share of cover art fails. My first commissioned covers were beautiful (I'm a sucker when it comes to aesthetics) but failed to convey the dark tone and unexpected bloodiness of the story. My one successful book cover is also, ironically, my first attempt at cover design. This cover hit the right tropes and the right audience. I would say that I'm intentional with all my cover designs, but the successes and failures are all a roll of the dice. This one cover *stumbled* into success. My problem is that rom com animated covers all tend to connote "clean" and may attract a clean audience unless you add content warnings in the description (which I really don't like to do). For the most part, readers will accept a bit of spice, but my covers tend to draw a few "extremely clean" readers who are offended by any spice and I don't know how to change that given the cover trends of the moment🤷🏻♀
Yeah, that is still my problem with BookTok. You're only going to succeed if you make it a regular part of your strategy, and I know that is never going to be me. I also can't see doing many AMS ads anymore (I still one tiny one running). I'm going to do one for the Broken Queen for a RUclips video. I don't expect much out of it though...
I'm not sure how anyone tells clean vs. spicy or even YA vs. adult with romcom covers right now! But I'm sure it'll evolve in some way or other...
Your failures are still success because you learned from them. Thanks for the advice!
Amazing video topic and I love the look of the chair ❤
I hadn’t noticed that the Also Bought recommendations had changed on Amazon until you mentioned it! What a bummer… 😞 I’m looking now and on Amazon Canada I do still see SOME Also Boughts below the sponsored recommendations, but they’re definitely more buried…
Loved hearing all of these! Thank you so much for sharing! So interesting from both a writing and illustration perspective!
Yes, they seem to come and go now...I feel like I get them about 25% of the time and they're definitely low on the page. Ick.
I had to pause this after the first tip, pull out my notebook, and take notes. 😊 For the first tip, when referring to age, do you mean the age of the characters or the target audience's age?
Target audience age.
Just here to appreciate Char Aznable on your shelf
Thanks for your insights.
My anxiety just tripled. Thanks though
I actually really like the vamp cover. Did not like the other one at all.
This is such valuable information. I would definitely read a writing craft book from you.
A writer must realize that what they think( or their editors think) is "quality" may, not rise to the level of quality needed to sell 10x or 100x more books.
Love your attitude. x
first x]
As a Vampire fan, we are feral for our Sanguine lovers. I hate to say it, but we want the same tropes served on a platter over and over with the same vibes sprinkled on top.
And there is certainly no shame in that, especially if you read voraciously, I think! I feel as if I want the books I read most often to be comforting and familiar and then sprinkle in something surprising now and then.
@@lidiyafoxgloveauthor 100%, I like a good surprise. A unique trait. A different mythos. Maybe a mix, I do like vampires in fantasy, so long as it still hits on some of the dark themes and traits I like in vampires (biting, bloodlust, traumatic pasts, non-immortal love interest who has to decide if they'll change.)
I was wondering if you market some of your 'fairy tale heat series' as monster romance, instead of just fairy tale, as that would appeal to perhaps both audiences.
I'm not sure it's monstery enough to appeal to the monster romance crowd!
ah drat! I spent the morning repotting plants before it warmed up too much and missed the premier XD
I'm sorry! I put this one up early because I had stuff to do later in the day, but so far you are still #1 for winning the attendance award! 😂
@@lidiyafoxgloveauthor i will prepare my acceptance speech
I self-published 3 poetry books and haven't sold one copy. Think I missed the poetry train. I'll try a novel next.
I have watched a few of your videos now, I just realised why you seem so familiar…! I used to watch regular show and Aileen was my favourite character, you are Aileen personified ❤
your videos have been so helpful to me as someone currently planning the publishing of their first book (well... first COMPLETED book lol we all know how that goes.)
thank you so much for your openness.
i know what you mean, i write songs that have real heart that have made tough guys cry ("I'm Not The Only One".. "Blaze") but when i post them online i get about three views a week
then someone that looks great in a thumbnail gets hundreds of thousands of views in a few days
As a designer/illustrator, I completely agree with you on how important the cover design is. The artful nuances of design and topography are the first impression. I would love to do that for a living but that is a whole topivmc unto itself.
Typing words is not my strong suit, lol
Yes. Whenever I try to design my covers myself...just tweaking the fonts is like 3 hours... It is really not just "a pretty cover" (though one hopes for an attractive one) but also marketing/packaging design.
All the things you mention about what you want in your book (around the ten-minute mark) are also things I want to have in my books :)! I think it is so sad, that so many romances have weak world-building because all the author's attention goes into the character development. Also, is the doll idea inspired by Plachta of the Atelier series? And boy oh boy, I also started to write a sleeping beauty retelling and thought I would market it as dark romance until I realized what people expect with dark romance :D. It is really inspiring to see how you manoeuvred through the mistakes and adapted and learned!
The doll people date back to 1993, so...totally inspired by the Nightmare Before Christmas (with a dash of Oz and Mannequin). (This video goes through the whole origin story of the world: ruclips.net/video/fq1RYNFkdr0/видео.html)
I've always been pretty nerdy about world building, clearly, although character development is great too...in fantasy I just feel like it's hard to have one without the other. So much of what we are as individuals comes from our culture and our parents, grandparents, etc! The deeper the world, the deeper the characters.
So.... will there be Kindle editions of the Vengeful half and the Vampire's Doll? Because I would very much like to read them. Parsons was a very interesting character to me, especially because she was very nuanced and completly different to Flower, even though both were antagonists and both were motivated by the treatment due to their body.
Yes! Those are definitely on the slate. Especially the Vengeful Half, because those characters are very core to the story! Actually the very first appearance of Grau was Alfred approaching him to make contraband potions. He was described as an eccentric, reclusive Fanarlem sorcerer from the marshes who used to be a flesh and blood person, and I started getting very curious about who this guy used to be. I'm going to rewrite them all and re-release them with new covers and titles.
@@lidiyafoxgloveauthor I see, so .. I have to be patient and meanwhile read the reverse Harem stories (For which, to be honest, I lack the spatial imagination to fully render most of the spicy scenes tbh 😅 I stopped trying when Phoebe admits she is glad that there is a sketch in the book) To get my worldbuilding fix from you. .. Oh, Well..
@@i.b.640 LOL at lacking spatial awareness. Admittedly some of those scenes are like...um yes don't even try to logically line this up in your head. Well, I am DONE with that phase, it's all Hidden Lands from here on out!
13:24 This is hilarious because the Moomin universe is actually already pretty dark (for children’s books and cartoons, anyway). So, for me, there was a bit of that genre shock already without surprise smut. However, that genre shock kept me hooked and anyone who comes in contact with me has to be ready for me infodumping Moomintroll lore on them if ever I have them trapped in an enclosed space.
Some of the very BEST children's literature is so deep and philosophical and often dark. I kind of miss this about being in the children's publishing sphere when I wrote young adult novels. I really loved being around that tradition.
very interesting!
My first reads were the entire Moomintroll series in the sixties. My own children (largely homeschooled until High School) also love them. Now my grandchildren are reading them. My oldest son is also self published- So many people have no idea about this wonderful group of books. I am enjoying your videos.