Author Platform is Important | Self-Publishing
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 15 ноя 2020
- Thanks for joining me for another Q&A Monday! If you found this helpful, please let me know down below!
I chatted about lengths of novellas, novels, etc. Here is some more information regarding that:
www.masterclass.com/articles/...
jerryjenkins.com/how-many-wor...
Hopefully, these articles help!
DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION?
ASK ME ANYTHING FOR MY Q&A MONDAY SERIES: forms.gle/fVbKesmhhCcUDBeP7
Don't forget to follow me on TikTok!
/ lyraparish
Looking forward to chatting with you in the comments section.
//A B O U T M E//
Pen names: Lyra Parish & Kennedy Fox (we're an author duo!)
I've been in the indie scene since 2011. I published my first romance novel in 2014 (Weak for Him). Under Kennedy Fox, we've made USA Today 4 times since 2017. With Lyra Parish, I've made top 100 several times on Amazon. I unpublished my Lyra Parish backlist in 2020 with zero regrets.
You can watch that video here: bit.ly/3k8P6pa
I'm currently a co-host for the monthly youtube show Publishable (Self-publishing versus Traditional Publishing) You can watch our videos on this playlist: bit.ly/2ZvKNwq
___
//J O I N T H E 1 0 K G R O U P //
I have a writing group on facebook where you can earn stickers each month if you write 10K in a day. You can choose your own today. It's a supportive community, that's also fun. If you're international, feel free to join! I've sent stickers to people all around the world since July 2019!
groups/write10kinaday
___
//2020 R E L E A S E S C H E D U L E//
Always Mine - January 2020 - Released
Always Yours - February 2020 - Released
Catching the Cowboy - April 2020 - Released
The Two of Us - May 2020 - Released
Keeping You Away - July 2020 - Released
Needing You Close - August 2020 - Released
Wrangling the Cowboy - October 2020 - Released
The Best of Us - December 2020
//2 0 2 0 U P C O M I N G S I G N I N G S & T R A V E L//
Talkbooks Author Event - April 18, 2020 - Boston, MA - CANCELLED
Wild & Windy in the City - May 9, 2020 - Chicago, IL - CANCELLED
___
//S O C I A L M E D I A//
→ instagram:
lyraparish
kennedyfoxbooks
→facebook:
/ lyraparishauthor
/ kennedyfoxbooks
→ twitter:
lyraparish
kennedyfoxbooks
→ email: lyraparish@gmail.com
#selfpublish #writingadvice #selfpublishing #writingtips #authortube
![Sean Rii, Karyon, Sharzkii - Taungule [My Love] (Official Music Video)](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/eJoMuypbSzQ/mqdefault.jpg)
I love that you always talk about your backlist ... And I'm working my way through your backlist of q&a videos 😆
Always great questions asked and great responses! I always learn something new with ya :)
Yay! Thank you! ❤️
As a beginner writer I really appreciate this
I love these Q&As! Hearing authors talk about writing is so motivating for me.
Getting my author website and newsletter up are my two big goals for the first half of 2021!
Aww, thank you! You’ve got this! I use self-hosted wordpress and mailerlite!
I haven't commented in a while as I've had a crappy couple of weeks healthwise, so my youtube time was limited. But some of these questions hit so close to home that I had to say thank you for giving me so much insight. I love these Q&A Monday videos, I honestly learn at least 2 new things every single time. P.S. I may pad your question sheet with a bunch of questions just to keep this series going lol. Seriously though, I know you may hear this a lot but your channel is a God send for us 'self-publishing newbs'!
Aww, I’m sorry you’ve had a crappy few weeks. I hope you’re okay! ❤️ Sending hugs! Also...please send all the questions!
Garamond Forever! 🙌 Catching up on your videos and feeling motivated to write again. Thanks, Courtney!
Aww, that makes me happy! Good luck writing all the words! 🥰
i so love all the info your putting out, your like an open book and its taking my breath away . thank you for being the person you are and being here for us all
Thanks so much! Means a lot!
I always love soaking up a lot of the information you're sharing with us. Its a great way to learn more!
Aww, thank you! So happy to share!
Thanks!
Thank you for answering my questions so thoroughly! I’m building my platform now, woo hoo!
You’re welcome! 😘😘😘
This is so helpful 😁 I feel like I’m trying to swim through what info I should know and it’s great to hear answers to questions I wouldn’t even have thought about (like formatting)
Awesome! So glad you’re finding it helpful!
So fun seeing you so excited about author platforms! Thank you for this video!
😘😘😘😘 you’re welcome!!!
@@TheCourtneyProject Awww! I'll be tuning in to your next video!
I love Q&A Mondays! I always learn something or have something reiterated which is nice. I didn’t know any of the advice about author platforms when I started mine back in 2016. I’d just decided I was going to go for it with my dreams of being a writer. I finally admitted that’s what I wanted to do so in December of 2016 I started my public author IG account. From there I made a FB page, a Twitter account, and had a website. I just felt like I should probably start building a platform for when I was ready to start publishing. Then later I heard that’s what you should do 🤷🏽♀️ I’m happy I did it because I know it’s helped a lot.
Yes!!! You’d be surprised how many people wait until afterward which makes it so much harder. You did it right!
@@TheCourtneyProject I guess that’s true and it really is a little late by that point. I’m glad I’m an early planner and that I get anxious if I wait to do stuff. Plus, it nags me until it’s done, lol
@@teralynmitchell5444 it’s a good quality to have!
Love the lipstick!
Thank you! Maybelline color stay matte! $7 and stays on for 12+ hours!
This is a very informative video. I was told Kindle create was good for formatting but I don’t know.
Thanks so much! I’ve heard that too, but I’ve never used it! I’m sure it’s much easier to format paperbacks using that than word.
I’ve used Kindle Create but it was only for ebooks. One of the downside to it was that I couldn’t just get an ebook file that I could use or upload somewhere else. When I was done, I had to upload it to KDP. That was my only option at the time. That was earlier in the year so I’m not sure what updates they may have done or new features they have.
@@teralynmitchell5444 oh man, that sucks!
Hi，Courtney. I'm new to self-publishing. Thanks for your video. I have a question: do you have one page as author page or one page for each book you have?
As far as on your website? I’d do an ABOUT page and BOOKS page!
I would love to have your opinion:
that is an insanely great lipstick colour, what is it?
Thank you! It’s Maybelline Super Stay Matte Ink in the color Visionary (#95)! $7 at any drugstore!
@@TheCourtneyProject Thanks, it's going on my shopping list next time I'm out! Great writing/self publishing advice and lipstick recommendations. What's not to love?
Love your content but I must disagree with you. I have struggled with my blurb for months and finally decided to use one just to have it done. I am a good writer - honest to God - I just can't write ad copy for my own work! I have no perspective, I have no market experience. I can't figure out what would hook readers. I have watched every RUclips I could find about it (all both of them) and finally contacted Alexa Donne who graciously agreed to review my blurb. She gave it a pass but my book isn't selling. My Regency romance is about a girl who falls in love with an Irishman and is not allowed to marry him. So, she struggles to overcome grief and battles her way to true love at last. I call it "Love and Loss." I've been told to ditch the title. But, honestly, that title goes straight to the heart of the book (my editor loved it). I did NOT write a lightweight popcorn romance. The story is more serious and more substantial than that. Yet, I am UNIVERSALLY advised to lose the title and the elegant period painting that is the cover and put a faceless heroine in a badly misdrawn ugly non-historic costume executed in juvenile improbable pastels. (At huge expense, I might add). I need to sell books. But, not at the expense of dumbing down my prose and abandoning good taste!
Is this your debut novel? And how does a cover and title change dumb down your work? Without being willing to make change to figure out why readers aren’t willing to purchase your book (based on title and cover) then the people you’re trying to reach may never see it. Sometimes it’s best to step aside from you own biases and do market research. If your book can’t compete with best selling books in your genre, then this may just be a hobby for you. I apologize for the tough love but without a marketable product, regardless how beautiful your prose is, the book may never sell.
Also, try it out. See how it does. If it doesn’t make a difference you can ALWAYS change it back. Nothing is permanent as a self-published author. You have total control.
@@TheCourtneyProject OK, I get that. But how do I tell? Is it the cover? Half of the people I survey think it's genius the other half want me to make it a bright juvenile un-historic mess. Same with the blurb - 50-50 between "that will do the trick" and "this is flat and needs a ground-up re-write. Also, how do I find an artist to do the cover.? I've blown my budget. The cheapest I have been able to find is $400 bucks - and that's just for the art, and does not include the cost of the actual re-design of the cover. Why, why, why do I have to abandon good taste? My novel is a LOT closer to Jane Austen or Charlotte Bronte than it is to Maya Banks or Julie Garwood. How do I do market research? My FB page is useless, I have no followers, so that's out, The few responses I got on Goodreads were divided 50-50, just like my friends. How do I figure this out? Ingram Spark totally screwed up my launch (I hired them for the print books and wanted to go Amazon exclusive for Kindle Unlimited - IS posted an e-book anyway, so now I'm violating my contract with Amazon and nobody can find the Kindle Unlimited version!) So, I'm going to have to pull the book and re-launch anyway. Can I bribe people to answer the survey to be entered in a contest or something? How would I limit that survey/contest to older romance readers who are the target market for the book? Although I utterly loath the prospect, I will even put on a butt-ugly cover. But how can I do any market testing?
@@lindacgrace2973 I can see why the title might not be working. It's kind of generic, which it sounds like your book isn't. Love and Loss may cut to the core of your work, but maybe it isn't the best title. I also wouldn't be able to tell what your book is about with that title.
@@TheCourtneyProject I took your advice and researched Amazon search terms and trialed several combinations of title and cover on PickFu, and I'm re-publishing. The "dumbed down" comes from several suggestions to swipe modern wedding dress photos on Pinterest for the cover. First, there are copyright issues. Second, my readers have watched every Austen dramatisation ever created, and know what the real dresses looked like. Sorry, I think the "steal-with-no-regard-for-copyright and use completely modern styles instead of anything vaguely historic" is pretty dumb on the cover of Regency romance! (So, I'm a snob, I'll admit it!) I did not mean to present myself as stubborn - I am just overwhelmed. There is a LOT to learn when publishing a debut novel! I had to get over all the money I wasted on my first effort. No way to know if I did any better with my second.