30 Days to Self-Publishing - The Aftermath and The Math

I came up with this idea on the 14th of September 2019 and implemented it on the 15th. I had no website, no name, no book, nothing. I wanted to see if I could self-publish a book on Amazon in 30 days. I wanted to challenge myself. I wanted to see how far I could get. 

I wrote the novella in under twenty-four hours. I set up my online universe, hit social media like gangbusters, started running giveaways, and uploaded both the paperback and eBook to Amazon on September 17th; the 32nd day. I didn’t consider it finished because Amazon takes up to seventy-two hours to approve your book. Both the eBook and the paperback were approved by morning of the 33rd day. So technically, I made it. Kind of. Not exactly. I’ll be honest, I didn’t think I would get this close. The last few days have been a bit of a gauntlet. There I was, just a few days before the deadline and I still hadn’t finished my proofread. 

Thirty-three days is as good as a month. To answer my initial question: Can you self-publish a book (start to finish) in a month? Remember, on the 15th of last month, I didn’t even have a book. It ended up being a novella, but I digress. Yes, you can. Do you want to? Not really. 

Have I come up with a good product in thirty-three days? A book I can be proud of? Hell yeah! I’m so proud of Lessons in Love I can’t stand it. Not only is it good (if I do say so myself), I did everything right. This was not a half-ass job. I put the work into it. Let’s look at exactly what I accomplished in thirty-three days: 

• Wrote a 18,000 word novella

• Created, set up, and filled an entire author website

• Ran four giveaways

• Built a small following on social media

• Designed a book cover

• Managed social media with posts and handmade graphics

• Shot and edited a video ad for the big launch giveaway

• Edited the novella

• Proofread the novella

• Formatted both eBook and Paperback 

• Figured out Kindle Direct Publishing and other digital distributors

• Created several handouts for the Readers Collective

• Sent out four newsletters to the Readers Collective

• Formatted and prepped the first chapter preview for the Readers Collective

• Created a Spotify soundtrack to the novella

• Started a side-Twitter for the Apple Creek Gazette

• Wrote and pre-scheduled two weeks for the Apple Creek Gazette posts

• Posted on social media everyday

• Wrote and posted on the blog daily

Yeah. That’s a lot. There’s probably more I’m forgetting, but you get the idea. It’s weird that it’s kind of over now. I’ve been go-go-going for a month and now that the novella is uploaded, I can actually take a break. It feels weird. 

Let’s look at how much I spent: 

Because I didn’t hire-out for the major tasks, I was able to keep the cost around $500. Some items were wastes of money, like Publisher Rocket, the Facebook ads, and an accidental stock photo purchase. By accidental, I mean I didn’t know I would hate it until after I bought it. Further, some of those costs are for the entire year. I also probably could have gotten away with NOT buying a new font, but a professional font makes a big difference. And I love fonts. 

I do not recommend you DIY certain jobs unless you have the skills necessary to do so. For example, I’ve been doing graphic design for years. I’m also a trained copyeditor. Even so, I’m not a book designer or a professional book editor. There will be typos. Hopefully not too many. 

The costs add up. Will Lessons in Love make my money back? Probably not. If I take away the operating and set up costs, I spent far less just on Lessons in Love alone, not including creating and maintaining the Melanie Brodie brand.

Will Lessons in Love recoup those costs? Probably not. If I make ten bucks, I’ll be a happy camper. I’m considering doing an ad-run on Amazon and spending some real money. I’m not sure yet. I’ll keep you updated. 

I hit social media like a tornado. Let’s look at what I built in a month: 

• Facebook: 20 followers

• Twitter: 672 followers

• Instagram: 133 followers (increase of 49 - I started with an old account that already had some followers)

• Readers Collective: 57 

• Good Reads: 0

• Amazon Author Page: 0

• Website Traffic 30 Days: 293 visits

• Blog Post Comments: 0

• Emails from Fans: 0

Handouts via Readers Collective and Website Links: 

1. Lessons in Love Character Structure Sheet: 1 download

2. Lessons in Love First Chapter - 1 download

Twitter is the clear winner, but that’s because the #WritingCommunity is awesome and I engaged in some serious engagement. All in all, I spent more time on Twitter than anywhere else. I put the second-most amount of effort into Facebook and got little-to-no return on my investment. I spent money on boosted posts, but got hardly any engagement and a few clicks that amounted to nothing. I’ve gotten almost no engagement on the Readers Collective. That is, no one emails me. I’ve gotten a few clicks from handout downloads, but nothing to write home about. As of today, only one person has downloaded the first chapter of Lessons in Love. That’s sad. 

Social media is a slow boat to China - unless you’re already in China, then it’s a slow boat to America. Building a following takes time. Even so, the numbers aren’t bad for the first thirty days. Will all those people buy my book? I predict under 1% will. 

So now what? 

Now that the novella is uploaded, I’ll announce the launch on the 21st as planned. I’ll continue to promote the book on social media, run a new giveaway, and start on the second book. Yep, I already have an idea for that one. 

How do I feel after all this?

There is a woman online selling entrepreneur courses to authors who claims she had 100,000 downloads of her book in the first three days and after only a few months of set up. She claims she was an unknown. Is she lying? I’m not sure. I’ve watched her videos and while she seems smart, I’m pretty sure she’s not telling the whole truth about where those numbers came from. She claims she created a launch team, but what else? Did she spend $500 on Facebook and Amazon ads? I can’t see any other way. Now, she says downloads…she doesn’t say sales. She only has 104 reviews of her book on Amazon. I checked. Her book has 131 ratings on Good Reads, 3.25 stars, and 15 reviews. Does that sound like 100,000 downloads? Where are those downloads coming from? She’s clearly not telling the whole truth. That said, I feel AWESOME about my accomplishment. I don’t expect 100,000 downloads. I’ll be ecstatic is someone reads my book and gives me a good review. And I mean, bouncing off the walls ecstatic! Because this project isn’t just about making it big. This whole thing has been an exercise in stepping out of my comfort zone, putting my work in front of REAL people. OK yes, I’m still hiding behind a pen name, but up until a month ago, the only person who read my work was my husband and some writing colleagues. 

I’m thrilled because I accomplished so much in a small amount of time. I’m a published author. I have a book out that people will read - and hopefully like. I feel amazing. A year ago this was impossible. Hold on. I’m not quite ready for a break. There is still work to be done to keep the momentum going. Starting now I will only blog a few times a week. I’m glad about that. Blogging every day is a grind. I might spend the weekend writing blog posts and scheduling them for later dates. We’ll see. Or I’ll just watch Hallmark Channel. I must also prep the launch day posts and graphics. Now I have to SELL the book. 

I’m not one of those girls who goes, “woooo!” every chance they get. I wear my heart on the page. If you met me, you’d see I’m not an excitable person, but I am excited. I just looked at the Amazon page for the eBook and paperback and I’m actually trying not to cry here. This past month has been epic in ways I can’t fully explain - even for an author. It’s like, it hasn’t hit me yet. I did it! I published my own little novella. People are going to read about my characters! It’s weird because this isn’t the first time I’ve created something and worked hard on it. I ran an online music magazine for ten years. I ran a web design business for two years. I ran a decently successful wedding photography business for seven years. But this…this is different. Writing has been my truest love since I was in the second grade. I’ve been published before. I wrote a (paid) review column for a year, I’ve had work published in literary journals. I’ve been out there. But this is different somehow. I don’t know why yet. All those other ventures were fruitful and fun. They didn’t make a million dollars, but I learned a lot. Self-publishing is the culmination of everything I’ve learned and it combines all the things I love and am good at. This feels like a real win for me.

Thank you for being here, reading, and watching it all unfold. We’re just getting started!

Day 31 - Can you Self-Publish a Book in 30 Days?

If you’re reading this and thinking, “Wait, you said it was a thirty day journey.” You’re right. I did say that. I also said that the exact end of the thirty-day journey fell on my fifteen-year anniversary and I didn’t want to launch on a Wednesday. The industry standard for book releases are Tuesdays. I figured, why buck the system? So I pushed the release to the following Tuesday. I later realized that uh…the 21st isn’t actually a Tuesday. It’s a Monday. When I made the announcement for the 21st, I could have sworn it was a Tuesday. I assume I wasn’t thinking clearly. Anyway, I’ve been saying “the 21st” for weeks and don’t really feel like back tracking now. Monday it is. 

So no. You cannot launch a book successfully in thirty days. Thirty-seven days, maybe. I won’t know until the sucker is actually online and for sale. My planning wasn’t so good on this one. I should have said forty days and then I would have beat the time limit by three days. Live and learn. Truth is, I came up with this idea on a Monday and implemented it on a Tuesday. Literally, overnight. There was no forethought, no planning, no talking it over with my confidants. I started on a whim; although I’d been contemplating the idea for several years. Just as a “what if.” 

Actually, you can launch a book in thirty days - start to finish - zero to sixty - if you don’t have anything else going on in your life. No kids, spouse, pets, job, etc. The biggest challenge of this project has been juggling real life with self-publishing. Most weekends have been flops. My family wants to hang out, I’m pooped, and I literally just want to watch Hallmark Channel all day. I do most of my work in the late afternoons (after school) and early in the mornings (before school). I’ve neglected my school work in some cases and taken days off I shouldn’t have. That’s not good. If you have a life (like most of us) the least amount of time I would recommend for this (again, starting from scratch) would be two months. And that’s pushing it. Three months means you can take your time, do it right, and not grind your teeth down. 

But what about those authors that upload one book a month? Those people are in beast mode. They must have the freedom to write and market all day long with no interruptions. They also look at writing as a factory. Books are their widget and they are the machine operators. Once you get the foundation down, you can churn a book out once a month if you don’t care if it’s good. The fact that some writers look at books as something repeatable and easy to mass produce is hard for me to understand. See, I look at books as unique little flowers that take time to cultivate. Like orchids. I could create a formula and implement it exactly the same way every time, but it wouldn’t feed my soul, it would be a machine. Machines are cold. 

There are two types of writers: The churners and the dreamers. I’m the latter. I don’t believe Lessons in Love is the most original story ever told, but it’s cute and it has heart. Churners know (and abuse) the secret that only seven plot variations exist. 

1. Overcoming the Monster

2. Rags to Riches

3. The Quest

4. Voyage and Return

5. Comedy

6. Tragedy

7. Rebirth

Some argue there are more, but this is the basic idea to all of human storytelling. Lessons in Love is a quest - the quest to find love. It has elements of all of the above, but its principal theme is an emotional expedition, something to be discovered. Learning about the seven basic plots is helpful if you’re just starting out. 

If you’re a quick and talented writer, you can mass produce a series without giving it much thought. Take a well-loved novel and do a re-telling. Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy wins girl back. And then write the sequel. You can totally do that, but I don’t like that some people crank out books at lightning speed. To me, it seems false. You don’t have to be a tortured soul, agonizing over every word, but put some love and thought into it. If you’re reading this, you’re probably not a churner. Churners focus on marketing and not writing. You’re a dreamer looking for some helpful words to make your journey lighter. All I can say is, love the journey. Enjoy the scenery and write because you love it, not because it’s something you can mass produce. Self-publishing has introduced the idea that you can make a six-figure living on your writing. It’s a myth. If you’re here for the money, you’re in the wrong place. My goal is to be comfortable. I care about comfort now. When I was in my twenties, I could easily live off Top Ramen in a shabby apartment with three other people. Now, I like paying my phone bill. I like having a phone. If my writing can fund a comfortable life, I’ll consider that a success. 

Once Lessons in Love is settled, I’ll focus more on work/life balance, and helping you do the same. 

Days 28, 29, 30 - The Gauntlet

It’s the final grind uphill to the finish line. I’ve actually written the last three days of blog posts, but they’re sloppy 1st drafts and I don’t have time to edit and upload. I’ve been basically non-stop for a month, but somehow these last few days feel the hardest. As you know, I’m currently in school part time, but I have a long commute. I don’t get home until after 1pm and then it’s lunch time and I’m tired. Even so, I’ve been working like a dog. This hasn’t been exactly a thirty day journey. The 30th day (yesterday) landed on my fifteen year anniversary with my husband and I didn’t want to launch middle of the week. So I pushed the date out to the 21st and that extra week is a godsend.

Quick sum up of what I’ve been doing: 

• The cover is done! I spent all day Monday working on it and I think it’s awesome. I’m so proud of it. 

• Social media takes up a lot of time. I still don’t know where I should be focusing my efforts. Twitter is a black hole that sucks you in and absorbs you. It’s almost too fun. 

• I’m still working on that final read through. I started a line by line edit yesterday and I’m about a quarter of the way through. It has to be done today. I wish I could skip school. 

• My Facebook boosted post is still running. Thirty dollars, fourteen days. So far not much traction. I’ve run four boosted posts and have received approx. eight new page likes and only a handful of people actually entered the giveaway. Facebook appears to be a wasted effort. 

• The big launch giveaway is slugging along. Only nine entries so far. It’s definitely not performing the way I’d hoped, but I’m grateful for those nine entries. Thank you all and good luck! It ends on Sunday and I’ll be announcing the winner then. 

• I’ve started an adorable second Twitter account for The Apple Creek Gazette. My story takes place in the fictional town of Apple Creek and I thought it would be fun to post news from the town. Follow the AC Gazette here. 

• I wrote and sent out the newsletter to the Readers Collective. I included the first chapter and a music playlist for the novella. I’ve had two downloads on the chapter (one of them was my husband). To that other person, I hope you love it; and I do apologize for the typos I found after I sent it out. Those will be gone by the time the novella is published. 

It’s starting to feel like I can’t get arrested in this town. I’ve had very little traction on all my efforts, it’s a bit depressing. I’ve learned so much during this thirty day gauntlet. And it’s been a gauntlet. I’m ready for it to be over. I’m excited about the journey and getting my book out there, but it’s been difficult - not skill-wise, time-wise. At least, I’m ready for a break. Now that the machine is running, the second novel should be much easier. The third will be a piece of cake. The trick here is figuring out the schedule. What to do and when. I have a better sense of all that now, but make no mistake: I’m tired. I must take my own advice: Just keep going.

Day 27 - How to Convince People You’re Not a Sleazy Scammer

Selling has an inherent grime to it, doesn’t it. Sometimes you feel like you’re begging people to buy your stuff. While writing social media posts, I think, wow…does this sound gross? Buy now. Enter my giveaway. Blah blah blah. I know a fair deal about marketing, but what I don’t know is how to sound cool; like a cool person who isn’t going to sell your email address to Beelzebub.

I’d wager we all feel that way. I’ve said this before: we’re not sellers, we’re writers. The marketing portion of the game is why so many writers give up after a while. There is a science to selling; to showing people they want something even when they don’t. Mutually beneficial-ness - that’s not a real term, but it sounds good. You get something, I get something. It’s the basic tenant of Dale Carnegie’s book How to Win Friends and Influence People; worth a read if you want to improve your dealings with other humans. 

I’ll be honest, I hate posting every day, “Please! For the love of everything, enter my giveaway. Someone? Anyone? Help?” I feel like a used car salesman. I’ll be honest, I thought this final giveaway would bowl everyone over. It’s so cool and I made that awesome video and everything. But I also know that I don’t easily enter giveaways, even if the prize is amazing. Why? I’m afraid I’m going to get spammed. And not just spammed by the person running the giveaway. I’m afraid they’re going to sell my email to highest bidder and I’ll get spammed by a million other sleazy salespeople. What a hassle. There’s still a week to go and who knows, maybe things will pick up at the end of the week. 

So how do you convey that you’re a good person without outright saying you’re a good person? My motto has always been: if you have to say it, it’s probably not true. Think about the cool kids in high school. They didn’t necessarily advertise with signs and words. They looked cool, acted cool, lived cool. It was obvious they were cool. Except, the internet doesn’t know what I look like and you don’t know me in person. I may use a pen name, but even if I didn’t. I’m totally unknown. 

Selling is mutually beneficial-ness. I provide a service, you get a thing. This is all in my mind, by the way, the sleazy feelings. I’ve talked a lot about selling in the last three weeks because that’s the bulk of self-publishing and I won’t lie: it’s stressful. The novella was written a month ago, it’s over. Now it’s about getting it in front of people, hoping they’ll like it, and will buy the next one. I’d say, self-publishing is less about writing and more about selling. It’s like 75% selling and 25% writing + everything else. I can have the greatest novel in the whole world, but no one will know unless I market the heck out of it. 

So what’s the magic tool? I think it’s trial and error. I’m sure if I took an advertising class, we’d talk about mistakes Coca Cola has made, Nestle, Walmart, everyone. And it may not just be trial and error. It’s that frustrating thing called “time.” These things take time and lots of it. I have this icky feeling in me where I want everything to happen overnight. It can’t possibly. I have to remind myself that it’s only been three weeks. Persistence is the name of the game. All I can do is be honest, do my best, and don’t give up. 

This leads me into buying reviews. Can you? Should you? Yep and yes. You can do it and it’s probably how a lot of no-name authors get so many reviews. I’ve found several companies that promise legit reviews from legit readers. I’ve looked into them. They look legit. I even joined one to see how it works from the reader’s perspective and it’s a really great idea. Wish I’d thought of it. The concept is that you submit your book, pay a flat fee, and then pay a buck or two per review (good or bad) thereafter. Conversely, a bad idea would be to hire a company that writes fake reviews without even reading your book. These authentic companies claim to have willing participants reading your words. It’s networking, in a way. They act as a middle-man. Readers want to read, writers want reviews. They’re a facilitator. Kind of like a match-making service. If a matchmaker sets you up on a date with someone you’d never meet otherwise, are you cheating at dating? No, you’re asking for help and paying for the go-between.  

I didn’t find this information through some online author guru or any book. I found it on accident because no one wants to divulge you can BUY reviews. I just happened to be reading a Twitter thread where someone mentioned he’d submitted his book to Hidden Gems. I was like *ears perk* what’s that? Yes, you can buy reviews and you probably should. The difference here is that these two companies I found will put your book in front of REAL readers. And that’s what you want. Is it skeezy to pay someone to read your book? A little. But then you remember that there are millions of authors selling books just like yours and you need an intermediary. If you published your book the traditional way, your publisher would have someone putting your book in front of readers any way possible. 

I think I question morality too much. It doesn’t help The Good Place is back on. I can get into a morality tornado just like Chidi and worry myself sick. I have to pull back. The service exists, the readers are not sitting in a smokey office in Bangladesh hammering away at a keyboard. They’re real readers, right? Let’s call this an experiment. I will be using these services to help promote Lessons in Love and I will post my results when I have some good data to share. Real readers you say? OK. Let’s do it. 

By the way, I’m putting together a hand-out which will include ALL the services (secret and otherwise) that I’ve found - and it’s a lot. No one outright tells you this information, not even the self-pub entrepreneur gurus. They want you to believe they are so good at marketing, they sold their work based on merit and a little elbow grease alone. It’s not true. They also want to give you a taste of their secrets so you’ll buy more. I’m going to give the information away because I hate to see people struggle. Sorry gurus. I imagine there is also this sense that if they tell you all their secrets, places like Hidden Gems will be inundated with wannabes. Or… Hiddens Gems will fuel an entirely new market of “pay for real readers” websites and we’ll all be OK. By the way, Hidden Gems’ romance category is currently booked until October 2020. The secret’s out. 

Day 26 - Cover Designing and The Jigsaw Puzzle of Digital Distributors and Social Media

Ah. The weekend. Time to relax. Gonna just put my feet up on the coffee table here and…oh crap. I still have to do the cover! Oh crap! I just looked at Draft2Digital and it looks complicated!

As for the cover design, since my manuscript is formatted (well, almost - I have one last anal-retentive read-through I want to complete) I can now start on the cover. You need to know how many pages you have before you design. I have 69 pages. LOL. Too bad I didn’t write an erotic romance. I’ll download a cover template from somewhere and get that party started. I feel pretty confident I can get it done this weekend. I know Photoshop. Let’s just put it this way, I got my first bootleg copy of Photoshop 3.0 somewhere in the late 90s and used to design websites using raw HTML code in the web 1.0 days. Yep, there were no WYSIWYG programs. In fact, applications were once called programs. Back then, we walked two miles to school in the snow with no shoes and didn’t have indoor toilets. I used to sell newspapers on a street corner and shouted, “Extra! Extra! Read all about it!” - I’m kidding, but it was a long time ago. It’s true I know a lot about Photoshop and I did run an online music magazine for ten years. Of course, this doesn’t make me a great book cover designer.

A Couple (Rookie) Tips for Designing Your Book Cover: 

• Don’t design your own cover unless you’re actually a designer. Just don’t. There are thousands of artists out there, you just have to find them. Start with UpWork, Twitter, and Fiverr. This is one place you want to spend a little cash. Look at it like an investment.

• If you feel like giving it a go and don’t want (or can’t afford) to use Photoshop, try Gimp, Affinity Photo, or Canva. Canva is the path of least resistance; they make it really easy. 

• Post your completed cover on your social groups and get feedback. Many times, the biggest suggestions I see from the hive mind are the fonts. Knowing how to use fonts is actually a skill and an integral part of design. Font choice is just as imperative as your overall design and color scheme. I’m not going to tell you how to design your cover because I am not an expert. I do know this, however: make sure both your image and title are readable in a small thumbnail. If you don’t know the difference between a serif and sans font, hire someone. 

I understand the need to DIY your cover. For me, it’s an issue of time. I would have preferred to hire someone with more experience than me, but there’s no way to get it done in a week - blame the fact that I didn’t know how many pages I had until two days ago. I can whip something out this weekend. Whether it will be good or not remains to be seen. I think it will be passable. I will post it as soon as it’s done. Your cover can make or break your book…no pressure, huh? 

I’ve also realized that there is a steep learning curve with digital distributors. DDs are everyone other than Amazon/Kindle who can or will distribute your book. And there are many. To name a few: Kobo. Draft2Digital, Nook, and Apple iBooks. There are also some designated to your country so you’ll have to look them up. I’m not exactly sure how they all work and I figured I would jump and build my net on the way down. Some of them are more complicated than others. To be honest, I haven’t quite figured out what the benefits are to each one. I just know everyone says you have to use them. I’ll find out. 

This weekend I will also plan out the “week before launch” week in my planner. I will schedule some social posts, work on the newsletter, and keep learning about social media. How to use social media is also a complex subject. There are so many things to consider, groups to join, plans to make. It’s a whole job onto itself - which is why companies hire social media managers. Social media is also a slow-moving train going uphill. It takes time to build momentum. What I’m doing now will be less effective for this launch, but more helpful toward the next. Use your first book as a platform for all that will follow. Interesting, huh? By the time the second one comes around, everything will be in place and things will be a lot easier. 

Today I’m really tired. Must just be the end of the long week. I kinda feel like napping all day instead of doing all the things I need to do. I must remind myself that self-care is important - just as important as (if not more) than marketing and social media. 

Day 25 - Kindle Create, Formatting in Word, and Learning What You Don’t Know

At this point, all I’m really doing is managing social media, monitoring my traffic, writing newsletters, putting together free handouts, and planning the sequel to Lessons in Love. I hadn’t intended it to be a series, but if you’re a writer, you know how it goes. You don’t want the story to end and almost immediately, you start thinking of new adventures your characters can go on. 

I was going to save the following information for the end of the 30 Days, but I might as well tell you now. The hardest part of self-publishing is setting everything up and figuring it all out. Twenty-five days ago, I didn’t know what KDP meant and now I feel like a pro. OK, maybe not a pro, but a skilled amateur. At least, I understand how it all works. Mostly. My next hurdle will be uploading the files and hoping they turn out OK. I can imagine a scenario where I order an author’s copy of the paperback and find many typos, misuse of homophones, something dreadful. Let’s hope not.  

I’ve spent the last few days formatting. Not continuously, but in small chunks. It’s actually very simple since Kindle provides lots of guides and templates through Kindle University. I copied and pasted Lessons in Love into the template, worked out a few kinks, and voila! It looks great! I’ve printed it out and I’m going to give it one final read-through and we’re done with the paperback.* I’ve played around with Kindle Create (a free, stand-alone app for formatting eBooks) and have toured the various digital distributor sites. I feel confident I won’t have too much trouble. In fact, I’m surprised by how easy this has all been. 

Early on, when I posted that I was starting this project, someone said, “Good. People need to know how much work goes into self-publishing.” That’s true. There are a million little tasks. And not just working on the book - there’s also this blog. When I say I wrote a blog post, this is what actually goes into a blog post: 

• Coming up with the idea

• Writing it all out (in Word)

• Reading it three or four times to check spelling, grammar, etc. 

• Pasting it into the blog section of Squarespace. 

• Fixing formatting issues, italicizing, bolding, etc. (For some reason, Squarespace doesn’t retain the formatting when I copy/paste.) 

• Finding images

• Resizing images

• Uploading images

• Adding images to the post

• Finding and entering links

• Publishing it - making sure it has the right settings and date

• Posting about it on Twitter

• Posting about it on Facebook

• Reading it again to make sure I catch any last-minute mistakes

• Having my husband read it so he catches any mistakes I missed. What a sweetie.

Total time per blog post is often several hours. I tend to write these before bed or early in the morning before school. 

So you see, there are a million little tasks attached to every item on your checklist. Speaking of checklist, I’m working on a really (actually) handy checklist for getting your book self-published. I’ve been through about five different ones and they’re all missing crucial information. You know why? They want you to buy their courses. Nope. Not me. I’m going to put as much as I can into it. It’s going to be long, but it will be thorough. It will also include links, helpful apps, and more. It will also evolve over time. I’ve been keeping track of everything I’ve done and I’ve learned a lot. I’ve worked out some kinks in my own routine that will definitely help with the next book. If you like and need checklists (like me), keep an eye out for this one. 

The bulk of the hard work is over, I think. Getting set up. It’s not hard, it just takes time. Yesterday I created accounts for all the main digital distributors (Barnes and Noble, Draft2Digital, Kobo). It took about half an hour and I wished I’d done it earlier. Most of these require verification. Setting up is lots of busy work, building your foundation one brick at a time. And that takes time. In the beginning, I felt overwhelmed by all the little jobs. Now, I have a system in place and things are running like clockwork. And it took me, what…a few weeks?

Once your book is written, there are three main stages to self-publishing: 

• Setting it all up

• Running it

• The aftermath

Think of it like a large music festival. On the Main Stage we have Setting it All Up. Those are the big bands everyone has heard of. On the East Stage we have Running It; the smaller bands, you may have heard of one or two. And on the West Stage, we have the Aftermath, the bands no one knows and you might go see if you get a chance. If you’re not too drunk and sunburned. What you don’t know is that the bands on the East and West Stages are just as important as the acts on the Main Stage. They’re going to make it big someday. You need to see them. And like a musical festival, many of the performances overlap. You’ll be doing a lot of running back and forth. Further, each stage has 50-billion bands playing. Don’t worry, you can do it.

I’ll break it down for you fully in an upcoming post. I don’t see many people doing that, especially not for total N00bs like me. They assume you know what Kindle Create is or what ROI (return on investment) stands for. Remember, I didn’t know what KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) meant twenty-five days ago. And here I am, nearing the end of the Fire Swamp about to publish my first novella. I’m gonna show you how and I’m not going to charge you. A great deal of what you’ll find on the net is geared towards directing you to their courses. It’s like how drug dealers get kids hooked: the first taste is free. Think I’m kidding? Almost every guru I’ve encountered uses this method. It’s the same idea behind free samples in grocery stores. Get your customer to have a taste, they’ll want to buy. You, the seller, come off as helpful (good feelings for everyone) and the customer feels good about trying your product for free - especially if they’re hungry. What you don’t see is the repercussions when two months later, the customer realizes they’ve subscribed to something they won’t use. I can say this because I’ve fallen for it. They provide just enough information to pique your interest. As I said, I’m publishing these reports and lists as a public service. They may not be here forever… so get ‘em while they’re hot.

I don’t want the hassle of setting up a course, but I do want to share what I’ve learned. If you didn’t read my rant on YouTube teachers, check it out. It’s super ranty. Does this mean I’m a saint? No, of course I have a secondary motive. This is a lot of work. I’m doing it because I want you to be a part of my community and I really hope that if you find this stuff interesting, you’ll thank me by buying my books. But even if you don’t, the information is still here if you want it. I’m trying to be as close to altruistic as I can be. Anyone watch The Good Place? I’m trying to rack up Good Place points. My dream of dreams is to build a community of excited Melanie Brodie fans who can’t wait for the next release. I can dream, can’t I? 

*Oh, right — the cover. More on that this weekend. 

Day 24 - How I Manifested a Small Town Out of Thin Air

Unlike a lot of authors, I don’t agonize over names. I give my characters normal/average names because they are often normal/average people. My towns are often named whatever’s easiest. For example, the small town in which LESSONS IN LOVE takes place is called Apple Creek. Here’s how I came up with that: I looked up Ohio’s major exports. I saw a few things…corn, for example. Meh. Corn Corners? That might be funny, but then I saw, to my surprise, that Ohio also exports apples. Who knew? Well, I guess if you live in Ohio, you knew. Appleton? Maybe. Apple Valley? Nah. Apple River? Apple Creek! I checked Google to see if there was actually a town called Apple Creek in Ohio. I couldn’t find anything so…hooray! We got a winner! 

About a week later, my husband asked, “Did you look up to see if there’s a real Apple Creek?” I replied, “Yes, of course. There isn’t.” For whatever reason, he looked it up again. And there it was. Not only did Apple Creek now exist, but he found a photo of the elementary school, Apple Creek Elementary - which is also the name of the school I made up in my story. He found photos of the school and it’s almost exactly how I described it in the novella. Red brick and all. Further, I mention The Dollar General - they have one of those too. Their main drag is Main Street. Yep, same as mine. The real Apple Creek has approx. 1200 residents. That’s about what I imagined (give or take) for my little town. I’ve never been to Apple Creek, Ohio. They have a Methodist church on Main Street, I made mine Presbyterian.

Sounds like I’m a terrible researcher, right? I mean, how can you go wrong with Apple Creek Ohio? Even if I spelled it wrong, Google is smart enough to correct me. Further, there are now photos of the town and I swear, it’s like the universe read my mind. Did I manifest this small town the way a Sims player creates a town? Why didn’t Apple Creek show up when I first looked for it? And how is it possible the school is named exactly the same name and looks like the one I conjured in my mind? Coincidence? Am I a magical god capable of creating worlds not only on paper, but in the real world as well? 

OK sure, I’ve been to Ohio and I know what it looks like out there. I’ve been to the Midwest and there isn’t much divergence from small town to small town. They’re all adorable. It’s easy to call this a coincidence, but it just feels uncanny. There is a real Apple Creek Ohio that I’ve never been to, yet somehow I’ve described it almost perfectly. How did I do that? An amalgamation of all the small towns I have been to and lucky guesses? Probably. Science might want to tackle this one. Until then, let’s just call it serendipity. 

The plot thickens. I searched again and found a blog post that starts with: 

Apple Creek, Ohio, is a real place. It is a village set in the heart of Wayne County, Ohio, eleven miles from Dalton and ten miles from Wooster. There are real streets and real people in Apple Creek.

Uh. Yeah. We know that now. But for some reason, the universe wants me to truly-really be aware of the real Apple Creek. And if I had known there was such a thriving Amish community in Apple Creek, I would have included it. There’s still time, I’m starting on the sequel already ;) I got your back, Amish folk. 

There is also video of someone driving through Apple Creek on US 250. I swear, none of this existed a week ago. Maybe I’m loosing my mind or I’m in touch with some higher power that allows me to create real worlds without ever seeing them. It’s probably because I love small towns; those sweet little places in between the big places. I love them and they’re on my mind. I can see them clearly when I close my mind. This isn’t a case of “you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all.“ I got so many things right…I’ve surprised myself.

To the real people of Apple Creek Ohio, if any of you ever read my novellas, I hope you like them and I hope I do loving justice to your home. Although, in my mind, Apple Creek, Ohio is still a fictional place. Maybe someday I’ll go there. I see you have a Johnny Appleseed Festival - which is weird, because Johnny comes from Massachusetts. Did he spend time in Ohio? I have no idea. You also seem to have a Yoga Fest. You sound like my kinda town. 

Day 23 - Busy, but Running Out of Time - Launch Giveaway Video

I may or may not be a day off. I am basically working on this project during all my free time. 

Big things I’ve done in the last 72 hours: 

1. Created some neat handouts for after the launch - lists of helpful strategies and tips I’ve learned that go beyond what’s already out there. 

   “But…” you’re wondering, “You’ve been complaining about teachers making bucks off their knowledge!” 

   “Yes,” I reply. “I’m not going to sell these and they’ll be available - if anyone wants them.” I’ll post those after the launch. 

2. Plotted out the final two weeks in a Bullet Journal-inspired journal. It’s way less intense than an actual Bullet Journal

3. Created a video for the final launch giveaway - took most of Sunday to make

4. Posted video on social media (a few teasers on Instagram)

5. Created a boosted post for the final launch giveaway on Facebook

6. Loaded some scheduled posts into Buffer

7. Wrote and scheduled the Readers Collective mailer for Tuesday the 8th - this includes a handout of how I create and structure my characters - specifically for Lessons in Love

I admit, I’ve become a bit sidetracked with the handouts. I kind of just love editing handouts. When I worked in an office, I had a habit of re-designing the inter-office memos. I’d change the fonts, clean up the text and grammar, and organize the layouts better. Even If it was just a reminder to clean out the break room fridge. Office memos always suck. I love doing this kind of thing, but I could never figure out how to make a living at it. LOL. I hate bad design, especially if you’re expecting the entire office to read it. Come on, people. Stop using Comic Sans and Papyrus. I once got reprimanded for updating a memo. My boss said, “No one asked you to do that!” But the employees in the office told me (confidentially) they loved it. I suspect she was upset because by changing her design, I was criticizing her memo skills - which I was. They were horrible. 

The handouts have been fun, but guess what I haven’t done yet? That’s right. Finished the formatting for the paperback or eBook. This means I need to haul butt and get it done - like today. I keep thinking it won’t take that much time, but you’d be surprised what takes longer than you’d think. For example, making the launch giveaway video took around four hours start to finish. Putting up the Facebook boosted post took about an hour - only because I messed up the first one, had to cancel it, and start over. I also experienced some issues uploading the video via Buffer. I just wouldn’t load - which means I have to upload manually. Not that I mind, it’s just time consuming and the attempt took about an hour only to fail. The Readers Collective mailer took several hours. I’m not quite settled on the design of it and I tweaked it more than I should have. Meh.

I also have not designed the cover, if you can believe it. Again, I feel over confident in my skills to get it done fast. I have a feeling that won’t be true. I wish I could stay home from school today, but alas, I cannot. I’ve already missed a day and I only get four days. Don’t want to upset my grades - which are going to be especially bad for this math class I’m taking. Not enough hours in the day. 

I’m super proud of this video. Many thanks to my hubby for the skilled cinematography ;)   

Day 22 - The Complicated World of Facebook Ads

As an experiment, I attempted to use Facebook Ads to gain new followers and get people to enter my three giveaways - which in turn expands the Readers Collective mailing list. All in anticipation of my novella launch on October 21st. This has, by no means, been the most extensive or scientific experiment, but I’ve used it to get to know Facebook Ads and see what a minimal investment can buy me. Spoiler alert, it’s not much. I ran three boosted posts over a three week period. “Boosted” means Facebook will show your ad to more people than it would get on its own. Supposedly. If you are not familiar the difference between Facebook Ads and Boosted Posts, read this.  

Good to Know: Ad Center and Ads Manager are two different things.

• Ads Center gives you basic information (reach, engagement)

• Ads Manager is more complicated (???)

First off, the Ad Center and Ad Manager aren’t easy to find. I wanted to get all that juicy data into a spreadsheet so I could analyze it. Nope. Once I found it, I discovered that the copy function (ctrl v) is blocked throughout the Ads Manager and Ad Center. I had to enter my data by hand. Why doesn’t Facebook want you to copy and/or paste your information? 

Further, I was unable to export my ad data. The export function is also difficult to find. When I finally found these mysteriously hidden links, I tried twice and all I got was garbled mess. I attempted both .xls and .csv files. 

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TOTAL SPENT: $40 = 16 page likes at $2.50 per page like. 

Time to Approve: Facebook must approve every ad you submit. Boost 1 was approved in a few hours. Both Boost 2 and 3 took twenty-four hours. I assume this is because Boost 1 only ran for a day and was given a priority. 

OK. Which ad did the best? Obviously, I spent more money ($20) on Boost 3, so that one did much better reaching people, but had less *conversion than Boost 1 and 2. 

*Conversion: An action that's counted when someone interacts with your ad (for example, clicks a text ad or views a video ad) and then takes an action that you've defined as valuable to your business, such as an online purchase or a call to your business from a mobile phone.

	Days	Engagement	Reach	Spent	LinkClicks	Shares	Comments
Boost 1	1	47	439	$9.96	4	2	0
Boost 2	7	43	404	$10.00	11	2	1
Boost3	3	292	1234	$15.43	2	1	0

I had to count my own page likes by memory. Nowhere does Facebook tell you how many people liked your page as a result of your ad. Probably because there’s no way to tell if you have new likes because of the ad or it’s just a coincidence. 

• After the 1st boost: +1

• After the 2nd boost +9 (10 total) ß did the best

• After the 3rd boost +7 (16 total)

Forget about reach and engagement. What really counts is conversion. Conversion is where your likes and clicks turn into some action (usually a sale). The action I’m looking for here (pre-book launch) is page likes and entries to my giveaway. Based on the data above, Boost 2 did the best converting; I got the most link clicks and a higher surge of her followers. By surge, I mean eight more than then week before. However, I got exactly thirty-three giveaway entrants during both Boost 1 and Boost 2. Boost 3 only got twelve entries; which was a bigger prize and ran for a shorter time. Boost 1 only ran for a day and received twice as many link clicks as Boost 3. Are you confused yet? Me too. 

I’m sure there are factors that make a difference: time of day you start the ad, photo used, copy text, and length of campaign. I would argue that Facebook makes this process difficult on purpose. The Ads Center and Manager are not easy to use, it’s hard to find information, and exported data looks like vomit. I spent a great deal of time fishing for information: clicking, looking around, forgetting where a page was, having to look things up on Google. When creating or analyzing an ad, there are almost too many options to consider and it’s overwhelming. There’s definitely a steep learning curve. 

If you’re going to use Facebook Ads, I suggest reading a book about it or watching videos on YouTube. It’s so complicated and doesn’t quite make sense. How do I use the data above to make better ads? It’s overly complicated on purpose. There is no way to tell WHAT worked. Keywords? Day of week? The photo I used? The only thing I can think to do is use a modified version of Boost 2 (which did the best) and see how that does. I’ll post results next week. Facebook Ads are made for those beefy dudes who sell entrepreneur books; the ones that scream at you on YouTube. I actually watched a guy yesterday that called his audience “stupid morons.” Yet, he has a wide audience, sells books, and claims to make six figures. Go figure. 

I don’t think anyone is stupid. I think Facebook deliberately makes the ad game complicated and addictive. It’s gambling. And gambling is intermittent reinforcement. You win some, you lose some. It’s the winning some that keeps you coming back. 

In behaviorism, Intermittent Reinforcement is a conditioning schedule in which a reward or punishment (reinforcement) is not administered every time the desired response is performed. On an intermittent reinforcement schedule the mouse would only receive food every few times (it is typically random and unpredictable). There is an increased likelihood the desired behavior will continue with intermittent reinforcement conditioning and the behavior lasts longer than continuous reinforcement. Gambling is an example of intermittent reinforcement. You don't win every time or win the same amount when using a slot machine- this wouldn't be exciting or fun. The reinforcement is intermittent and causes a positive and euphoric response in the brain that in some circumstances can lead to gambling addiction.

As a small business owner (yes, Indie Publishing is small business), you just want to do well. You want to get a return on your investment (ROI). You want to make a living, feed your kids, take a vacation now and again. But Facebook doesn’t care about that. All it wants is your money. To get your money, it gamifies the system. Makes it a “hunt and peck” - which humans inherently love. Women, especially, are naturally inclined to enjoy searching because we are hunter/gatherers. It’s the same concept behind popping zits or shopping for groceries. Why do we like searching for things? The simplest answer is: human nature. Facebook augments its honey pot by providing tons of useless data. At first glance, it looks like they’re really trying to provide you with all the information you could ever want. In the end, most of it is truly useless. 

I spent $40 and converted nineteen people. Is it worth it? Who actually SAW my ad (engagement) is useless information if they didn’t convert. Facebook shows you a big number: 236. Wow! Uh…what did they engage with? They didn’t click my link, didn’t click the photo, and definitely didn’t like my page or enter my giveaway. So what exactly did they engage with? What does that even mean? 

So, I spent hours searching Facebook for answers only to come up with basic information: reach, engagement, etc. Nothing I can really use. 

Many fans of the Facebook Ad system are pro-users - number crunchers, left brains. Are you a number cruncher? I’m not. Facebook Ads isn’t made for writers. But we’re told that if we want a wide reach, we HAVE to use it. It’s the best place to get those readers. But is it? Unless I dig really deep into the numbers and go all, A Beautiful Mind on it, there is no way to tell what’s working. My sister, who loves this kind of stuff, tells me it takes time. I didn’t expect my first run of ads to do well, I merely wanted to learn. I’ve learned a lot. 

Day 21 - Finished Editing, Thinking about the Audio Book

I’m a copy editor and my husband worked on his school paper. What could go wrong? We started the final edit last night and we’re done. Is it done? I’ll probably do one final read-thru. Will it be perfect? Nope. If you look hard enough, even major publishing houses miss typos from time to time. What we want here is “pretty damn good” and I think it is. I hope I’ll be forgiven for one or two misplaced commas. 

Should I celebrate? Nope. No time. Plenty more work to do. 

Now it’s time to format the manuscript for both the paperback and the eBook. This process should be easy. I’m not anticipating any issues since I’ve watched plenty of videos, read the KDP tutorials and even messed around with their templates a bit. 

When I was a wedding photographer, one of the first things people asked was, “How long will it take to get the photos back?” If I had one thousand RAW photos and knew I was delivering five hundred, I could safely estimate four to six hours total. And then I doubled it. Nothing ever takes as long as you think it will. I could usually work six hours per day, which meant two days to complete. And then I doubled that. Four days. Let’s call it a week, just in case. Life gets in the way, things happen, expect the unexpected. A week is actually really good turn-around for wedding photos. When I was juggling multiple couples, I would double that week. “Two weeks,” I would reply. 

So, to format the book, I’m thinking I can get it done in four hours. Double it. That’s eight hours. I can’t work eight hours per day. I’m in school and have homework. During the week, I can do two hours per day (realistically). That’s four days total. I can’t double that estimate because I’m running out of time. If the formatting takes four days (two hours per day) I’m done by Thursday. Maybe? Let’s see. We’re talking both the eBook and the paperback. I don’t actually expect the formatting to take that long. 

And then it’s time to design the cover. Font choices, readability, color schemes, design, downloading photos, Photoshop. Good thing I know what I’m doing. I mentioned before, I have twenty-five years experience using Photoshop. I’ve done some print work, but mostly I’ve done web-work. Here’s where Melanie gets nervous and puts way too much emphasis on the cover because everyone will see it and the cover makes or breaks your book. 

OK, so I have my work cut out for me. I’m up for it. However, I’m also simultaneously managing social media, writing correspondence for the Readers Collective, putting together goodies for subscribers, and writing this blog. I mentioned school, right? I frequently have forty-five to a hundred pages of reading per week, plus math homework. How many hours are there in a day, again? Oh. Only twenty-four? Cool. I can do it. Me and my best friend, coffee. 

I spent today finishing up the final edit with my husband. Mom came over and hung out for a bit. Not like I can ignore my mom. I only see her once a week and she’s getting up there in years. When she left, I turned on the Hallmark Channel and became engrossed in Harvest Moon - which has me thinking I really need to change the season of LESSONS IN LOVE to Fall. Add to list. 

But then I started thinking about the audio book. Should I record it myself? A million years ago I ran a podcast. Check this out: it was in the olden times before podcasts were a thing. Yep. Everyone told me I was crazy. There were few resources, iTunes didn’t yet have a podcast category, and it was actually the wild frontier. In fact, I’m not sure YouTube was a thing yet. Wow. We used to have to self-host our podcasts on our own websites. Soundcloud was around, but they didn’t allow long form audio. I did all that for about a year and had a small, but loyal audience that boosted my ego by telling me I had a great voice. I did all the audio recording, sound engineering (what it was at the time) and editing. Was it professional-grade audio? Meh. It was OK. Great for the time when there wasn’t much to compare it to. 

I can rent a soundproof studio and record my own audio for less than hiring a narrator. I got a few quotes from narrators and we’re talking in the thousands of dollars here. If you know someone good and affordable, let me know. The best part is, the studio is within walking distance of my house. I live in a lively neighborhood where the local bar often hosts obnoxious drunks who like to go, “woooooo!” all day long. My place is also right next to the elevator shaft. VROOOOOOM. CLUNK. All day. Not to mention the neighbor’s barking dogs, police sirens, clacking high heels in the hall, and airplanes flying overhead. Finally, since I live in a loft, audio sounds like it’s being recorded in a very large tin can - no matter what I do. So studio it is. I can get twelve hours for $250. If I can’t record a novella in twelve hours, I’m in trouble. I should buy some of that lubricating throat spray voice actors use. 

Instead of formatting the paperback, like I should have, I spent the afternoon looking up what it takes to be a good audio book narrator. I watched some videos, found some vocal exercises, and learned a few tips. Not to brag, but I’m pretty good at impressions. I think I can learn how to impersonate an audio narrator. Do I see a lucrative side-hustle in my future? Heh. Maybe. The hardest part of audio narration will be fatigue. When your mouth stops working and your tongue starts to twerk. I’m also a bonafide tongue thruster. It’s a thing. Look it up. I could record a few hours per day. Of course, this is all AFTER the paperback and eBook are rolling. 

Are audio books necessary? If you believe every self-publishing guru, they are. But are they really? The concept is: wide distribution. You want to get your book in front of as many people as possible. Audio books cover an entirely different audience: commuters, the disabled, and people who just like listening to books. I listen to audio books all the time. It makes sense to have that as an option. I do really like recording audio, but my concern is the cost. If I spend $250 on studio time (forget manual labor time) will I even make that back? What are the odds Lesson in Love will sell enough copies to cover my expenses? It’s slim. That said, once it’s up and online, it’s there for the foreseeable future. There’s also all the nonsense of ACX, Audible, and more marketing. Different marketing. It’s something to think about - and soon. The quicker I can get the audio book done, the better. 

Things are a bit tight right now, but overall, I’m feeling great that the finish line is on the horizon. I can actually see it.