I’d always heard that landing a Bookbub deal could really help with marketing your book.

I’d tried a couple of times before with no luck. But recently, I submitted my historical fantasy, The Curse of King Midas, and was selected for a BookBub Featured Deal.

But there was a catch—it wasn’t for the U.S. market. My deal was for international readers only.

When I realized that, I wasn’t so sure about moving forward. I did some research and then decided to go for it.

In this article, I’ll discuss my experience, share my results, and tell you whether it was worth it.

How Much Does a BookBub Featured Deal Cost?

Cost is one of the biggest factors in deciding whether to apply for a BookBub deal. Prices vary depending on several factors:

• Your book’s genre
• The price of your book during the promotion
• Whether your deal includes the U.S. or is international only

For my deal, I promoted a fantasy novel at $0.99 (the second-lowest pricing tier available, after “free”). My international-only deal (which included the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia) cost $196.

The price would have been significantly higher if I had been selected to include the U.S. Since this was my first experience with Bookbub’s featured deals, I was kind of glad to have been chosen for international only. It gave me a chance to see what the deal would do for me without spending as much as a U.S. deal would cost.

The trade-off between price and royalties is important to consider. A lower-priced book will sell more copies but yield lower earnings per sale. (At 99 cents per book, I earned only about 30 cents per copy, for example.) Plus, the Bookbub featured deal costs less.

A higher-priced book (you can go up to $4.99) means fewer sales but greater royalties per copy. It also means a higher price for the Bookbub deal, though. (You can find the prices here.)

I’ve also heard that you have a better chance of being selected for a Bookbub deal as an indie author if you price your book on the lower end of the spectrum.

I opted for the $0.99 price point because my primary goal was to increase readership rather than maximize immediate earnings—and I wanted to improve my chances of being accepted for the deal.

What Was My Goal with This Bookbub Featured Deal?

My main objective was to introduce more readers to The Midas Legacy series before the release of Book II in June (2025). I wanted to get my book into as many hands as possible so new readers could discover the series. I was hoping to earn some of my money back, but I wasn’t overly concerned with breaking even or turning a profit from this deal alone.

Results from My BookBub
Featured Deal

BookBub estimates that a deal like mine (in the fantasy genre) could result in between 10 and 2,250 copies sold. Thankfully, I sold more than ten! Considering my book remains relatively unknown to the general fantasy audience, I feel pretty good about the results.

My BookBub email went out on February 12th, and by the end of the next day (February 13th), here were my total sales:

• 124 copies sold (all ebook)
• Amazon: 102 copies
• Draft2Digital: 22 copies
• Total royalties earned: $46.93
  • Amazon: $36.40
  • Draft2Digital: $10.53

By the end of the day on February 15th, I had sold 50 copies total on Draft2Digital (all international buyers), bringing my Draft2Digital earnings up to $23.24. Additionally, I sold eight more copies on Amazon (not counting U.S. sales), adding roughly $2.40 to my total Amazon royalties (I’m not sure how the exchange rates may affect this).

Updated Totals:

• Total books sold (excluding U.S.): 160 copies
• Total royalties earned: $62.04

(A few more sales trickled in later on that I didn’t include here.)

Since this was an international-only deal, I’m counting only UK, Australia, and Canada sales. I did have some U.S. sales at the same time, as I ran a concurrent 99-cent deal in the U.S. to take advantage of the opportunity. (I sold nearly 200 books with the deals combined.) I’m not counting those sales here, though, as they were not due to the Bookbub international deal.

Was My BookBub Featured Deal Worth It?

Based on my primary goal—introducing more readers to my series—I’d say yes, it was worth it.

Did I make all my money back? No. I spent $196 and earned $62.04 in direct royalties, meaning I recouped about 31% of my investment. But that wasn’t the only metric I was tracking.

Here’s why I still consider this deal a success:

1. New Readers Found My Book – 160+ new people in international markets now own my book. Some of them may read it, love it, and go on to buy Book II when it releases in June. That’s my hope, anyway!
2. Potential Long-Term Impact – I’ll be watching to see if I gain new reviews, email subscribers, or follow-up sales in the coming months.
3. Exposure in Key Markets – The UK, Australia, and Canada all performed well. These are valuable markets for fantasy books, so getting my foot in the door was beneficial.

Would I do it again? Possibly! If I see strong engagement from the readers who picked up my book, I’d consider another international deal—or, ideally, a U.S. BookBub deal to see how it compares.

If I do get another chance, I think I may go for a higher price point. One drawback of the 99 cents is that many readers will purchase, but then not read the book. They’ll leave it to languish on their ereaders. A higher price point may result in fewer sales, but inspire purchases from readers ready to read—though I’m not certain on this.

If you’re a writer considering a BookBub international deal, I hope my experience helps you decide whether it’s the right move for your books!

Note: Get more articles, free reports, and free chapters of Colleen’s award-winning books when you sign up for her motivational newsletter for writers!

COLLEEN M. STORY - Resident Writing Coach

Colleen M. Story is a novelist, freelance writer, writing coach, and speaker with over 20 years in the creative writing industry. In addition to writing several award-winning novels, Colleen’s series of popular success guides, Your Writing Matters, Writer Get Noticed! and Overwhelmed Writer Rescue, have all been recognized for their distinction.

Colleen offers personalized coaching plans tailored to meet your needs, and frequently serves as a workshop leader and motivational speaker, where she helps attendees remove mental and emotional blocks and tap into their unique creative powers. Find out more about our RWC team here and connect with Colleen below. Free chapters | Master Writer Mindset

The post I Tried a BookBub Featured Deal—Here’s What Happened appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

As you may know, Angela and I have recently reached the unbelievable milestone of having sold a million books.

I say “unbelievable” because this was never in our sights. We started out as two writers with no formal education in the field. We had no publishing experience. What did a couple of stay-at-home moms really know about succeeding as authors?

Needless to say, when we sold our thousandth book in 2012, we were over-the-moon excited. And then we hit the 10,000 mark. Then 100k… With every milestone, people asked us how we had done it—because I think a lot of writers can relate to our feelings of uncertainty, of having a goal but not knowing how to get there, and not wanting to dream too big.

But here’s the truth: if we can succeed, you can succeed. Full stop.

Granted, it would have been easier with a little more information when we started. So we’d like to share some of the things that have worked for us, because we believe they can work for you—no matter what you’re writing or what goals you’ve set for yourself.

Give the Readers What They Want

Some of you may not know that the very first thing we blogged about in 2007 was The Emotion Thesaurus. As critique partners, we had both struggled with how to show emotions in new and realistic ways, and we knew it was also a problem for the other members of our group. So we thought: maybe this is something other writers need help with, too.

That suspicion was confirmed almost immediately. We started putting up a new emotion post each Saturday, and our readership just blew up. Before long, people were asking for the content in book form. And that’s when we knew we had something people wanted to read.

Takeaway: Whether you’re writing nonfiction, cozy mysteries, thrillers, steamy romances, or a memoir, you have stories that people want to read. Write what excites you. Hone your craft so you can write those stories well. And start building connections with the people who want to read what you’re writing.

Take Risks

Angela and I had always dreamed of being traditionally published, so when it came time to turn The Emotion Thesaurus into a book, we assumed we’d go that route. Then we started seeing our thesaurus content popping up on other people’s sites, and being distributed as a PDF. Suddenly, we couldn’t afford to wait two years or more for our book to be available; we had to get it out quickly before someone else did, and that meant publishing it ourselves.

But this was 2011. Self-publishing was openly poo-poohed in the industry, with many people bemoaning the substandard quality of self-pubbed books (and some asserting that authors only went this route if they couldn’t get a traditional contract). Oh, and we had zero idea how to publish a book. Going down this path was a huge risk for us, but Ange and I knew we needed to do it, so we got to work figuring out file formats, and distributors, and cover designers, and the logistics of co-authoring a book. And we made it work, and in 2012, we launched The Emotion Thesaurus.

Takeaway: Don’t be afraid to take risks with your writing. Try new things. Dive into uncharted waters and educate yourself. Sometimes, the scariest opportunities have the biggest payoffs, but you won’t reap the rewards if you don’t try.

Put Your Own Spin on Your Work

Another thing that made us nervous was the unconventional format of our books. Instead of the typical narrative structure, our thesauruses consisted mostly of two-page entries full of lists and phrases. It was a risk to deviate from the norm, but we went for it because our blog readers liked it.

Not only did readers love the “user-friendly” structure, other writing books with lists soon began popping up all over Amazon.

Unfortunately, it’s also led to copycat covers and many books that have similar titles to those in our series. We feel bad every time someone tells us they bought a book they thought was one of ours only to discover it wasn’t. So if you are trying to find our thesaurus guides, just look for the Writers Helping Writers® logo.

Takeaway: Always put your own spin on your writing. Infuse it with your unique voice. Explore the themes that interest you and the subjects you’re passionate about. Write as your authentic, one-of-a-kind self and you’ll end up creating books that will stand apart from the others in your genre.

Make Your Books Available to as Many Readers as Possible

Because readers have their own preferred storefronts and formats, we wanted to reach as many of them as possible by going wide and making our books available in lots of places. We also offered PDF versions, since people like having their book files open on their computer while working. We even created a Character Traits Boxed Set to sell directly from our website.

The bulk of our sales do come from Amazon, but by distributing through many digital storefronts and independent bookstores, and making our books available in PDF, we ensured that readers could get our books where they liked to show and in the format that worked best for them.

Takeaway: Make it easy for people to buy your books. Sell through multiple distributors, in different formats. Listen to what your followers are saying about how they like to read and make those options available to them.

Explore Every Opportunity

As you grow, opportunities are going to come along that you never considered. Ange and I had published three books and were working on the fourth when we got an email from a publisher asking if the Korean rights to The Emotion Thesaurus were available. Foreign translations weren’t on our radar at all. We didn’t have an agent, couldn’t negotiate an international contract ourselves, and couldn’t market a book overseas if we wanted to. So it would’ve been easy for us to dismiss the request as being too far outside our wheelhouse and something we just didn’t have time for.

Instead, we looked into it. We found an agent who specialized in negotiating rights deals with foreign publishers. We talked to her about the email we’d received, and we realized this was a gift that had fallen into our laps. So we sold those rights. And, boy, was that the right decision. We now have books in 9 languages that have sold almost 400,000 copies to date in markets we never would have reached on our own.

Takeaway: No matter how busy you are, explore every opportunity that comes your way. You don’t have to invest a ton of time. Just do some basic research, keep an open mind, and see if it’s something you should pursue. When in doubt, see Point #2.

Run Experiments

It can be hard to know if an opportunity is a good one or not. In those cases, it doesn’t hurt to experiment.

In 2018, KDP started contacting us with requests to highlight our Kindle books in their daily and monthly deals. We were skeptical about how this would affect our sales. Sure, more people might buy our Kindle book if it was priced at $1.99. But wouldn’t we end up making less money that way? Would those discounted sales cannibalize our paperback sales?

So we ran an experiment and started participating in those deals. It became clear that while we made less per book, our revenue still increased. Why? Because it lowered the barrier to test out one of our thesauruses, and if the person found it helpful, they would often collect more volumes in the series. Also, because we have observed our readers prefer print to digital, some kindle deal buyers would go on to pick up a print copy also. So this experiment has really paid off for us.

Takeaway: New opportunities don’t have to be permanent. If you’re not sure about something, set aside a prescribed period of time to test it out. Setting a timeline and recognizing that the experiment is temporary can ease your mind about trying new things.

Know When to Cut Bait

But remember that not every experiment is a success. Prior to 2019, we hadn’t utilized ads on any platforms. Sales were flagging a bit at Amazon and a lot of people were finding success with ads there, so we decided to give it a shot. After eight months, we realized that the investment just wasn’t paying off, and we stopped.

Takeaway: Accept that some experiments won’t pan out. Keep a close eye on those trial runs and the risks you’ve decided to take. And do the same with your day-to-day tasks—you know, the processes and systems you’re using because that’s the way you’ve always done them. Be deliberate about monitoring what you’re doing and assessing if it’s worth the ROI. If it’s not working, stop doing it or find a new way.

Seek Out Multiple Revenue Streams

Let’s face it: it’s hard to make a living from book sales. But Ange and I learned early on that our skills as writers lent themselves to other ways of bringing in money. So we branched out as speakers, running workshops for local writing groups and at larger conferences. Then we explored another collaboration that resulted in One Stop for Writers, a subscription-based website that contains all our thesauruses (not just our books) and writing tools and resources designed by us that help writers in a new way.

Workshops and One Stop for Writers have provided additional revenue for us in and of themselves, but they also generated more sales by introducing us to new people who had never heard of our books.

Takeaway: What additional career opportunities could you pursue that utilize your writing skills? What else could you be doing “on the side” while you’re writing books? Here are some options you may not have considered.

Partner with the Right People

If there’s any one secret to Angela’s and my success, it’s that we found each other. It’s really, really hard to do this job alone. I can’t imagine having to handle everything by myself. At some point, most writers will need to partner with other people, be that a business partner, editor, agent, cover designer, copy editor, bookkeeper, etc. Those partnerships can save you—as long as you choose wisely.

Takeaway: Research potential partnerships carefully. Look for people who complement you, people who are strong where you’re weak. Find people who share your values and work ethic and are pulling in the same direction.

There’s more we could share, but this post is long enough already, and we’d rather hear what has worked for you. Let us know in the comments!

More quick facts about the books
Enter our celebratory giveaway

BECCA PUGLISI

Becca Puglisi is an international speaker, writing coach, and bestselling author of The Emotion Thesaurus and its sequels. Her books are available in five languages, are sourced by US universities, and are used by novelists, screenwriters, editors, and psychologists around the world. She is passionate about learning and sharing her knowledge with others through her Writers Helping Writers blog and via One Stop For Writers—a powerhouse online library created to help writers elevate their storytelling.

The post Selling a Million Books: What Worked for Us (and Can Work for You, Too) appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

Two novice writers met in an online critique group called the Critique Circle and became fast friends. Angela (a Canadian) wrote about zombies and pirates and a magical bookstore that kidnapped customers. Becca (an American) wrote everything from a coming of age YA during California’s Gold Rush to a dark tale of a doughy gingerbread boy being baked alive (and here you thought Angela was the weird one).

The two also shared something else: a passion for learning and helping others. So they turned to studying the craft of writing and how they could help others work through common writing struggles.

One of the bigger hurdles writers faced was showing and not telling character emotion, so the two collaborated on a list of ways to show fear. This brainstorming list was well-received, and led to the next, and the next. Then in January 2008, they decided to start a blog so they could share these lists more widely. At The Bookshelf Muse, this collection of lists was given an official name: the “Emotion Thesaurus.”

This thesaurus became the first of many on different aspects of description, and finally, on May 9, 2012, they self-published their first writing guide: The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression.

Truth be told, it was terrifying. The industry wasn’t so keen on self-publishing back then, and some experts were vocal about how they believed writers were throwing their careers away if they self-published. To know about this bias and then put a book on the same industry-dominated shelf anyway took a lot of inner convincing, especially as this was their first publication, meaning they had no bestselling-this or editor-that to give them credibility.

But they did have something special. You.

Right from that first list, first blog, and first book, YOU were in their corner. You supported, cheered, and encouraged. You helped spread the word, told other writers about the helpful nature of this book, and then did the same for all the ones that followed.

Thank you for being in our corner!

Becca and I are stunned that a million of our books are in the world. Never could we have dreamt of being able to help so many writers, but we’ve been able to because of all of you. Your kindness, generosity, and support is unmatched. We are so grateful–thank you so, so much!

(Find Out More: Press Release & Quick Facts)

Giveaway Alert

A milestone like this calls for a special giveaway, so we reached out to our Resident Writing Coaches for help.

And boy, did they ever deliver!

Look at this incredible load of writerly things you can win…

The Prizes

A Story Audit from RWC & Editor, Lisa Poisso

This small but powerful diagnostic examines your one-page synopsis, a comprehensive assessment of the story’s narrative elements (story structure, plot, character arcs, conflict, and more), and an overview of the writing in your full manuscript. It will help you determine if your book is ready for editing, saving you time, energy, and money by diagnosing any big-picture issues before you pay someone for editing. A winner can redeem this Story Audit anytime after July 2023. (Psst. Lisa is great to work with!)

First 5000 Critique from RWC & Editor Michelle Barker

Your query letter and synopsis are important parts of the submission package, but your writing sample is the true test. In fact, many agents read the sample first. This service includes a developmental edit of your first 5000 words & complimentary access to Query Quest. Find out more.

Online Confidential Platform & Networking On Demand Course from RWC, Script Editor & Author, Lucy V. Hay

Marketing and platform building can be a challenge, but this step-by-step guide will help you utilize the online space to your best advantage as a writer or screenwriter. If you feel you aren’t getting traction online now, or you just don’t know where to start, this course will help you! Find out more.

A Wicked Good Bootcamp Seat from RWC, Editor, & Author Suzy Vadori
The 8-week virtual book coaching experience will teach you to write a book that readers will love. Get clear on the story you’re dying to tell (and WHY you want to tell it), so you can turn it into a book readers actually want to read without compromising your creative vision. Skip the writers’ learning curve and get over a decade’s worth of Suzy’s insider writing industry tips in just 8 weeks to make your writing as strong as possible. Come away with a detailed action plan to get your ideal book written and into the world this year.

A Crime Scene or Climax Critique, (Winner’s Choice) from RWC & Thriller Author Sue Coletta

Attention, mystery, thriller & crime writers! This unique prize has been designed just for you from an expert in crime scenes, serial killers, tension, and suspense! (Did I mention she has her own Murder Blog?) Sue will assess your scene and offer feedback to help you ramp up the intensity. Note: the winner will need to provide a short synopsis of the story so Sue has context for the scene.

A $150 credit toward a Cruising Writers Writing Retreat with RWC & Author Christina Delay

Have you ever dreamed of joining a bunch of writers on a writing retreat in some beautiful location? Then imagine a situation where you get to visit several stunning locations, be pampered as you relax, and have a chance to learn and network with industry pros! Cruising Writers is a fantastic option for retreaters – rest, relax, and fill your creative well aboard a stunning cruise ship. The winner will get a hefty $150 discount on your package when you book! (Stating the obvious, but you must be a writer to win.)

A 20-Page Critique of Your Middle Grade or YA Novel by RWC & Editor, Marissa Graff

Wouldn’t it be great to have help with the opening of your story, especially from someone who was a freelance editor and reader for former literary agent Sarah Davies (ranked #2 in middle-grade fiction sales) for over seven years? Someone who has had clients go on to nab agents, sell their books, and even win the Newbery Award? Heck yes it would! Marissa Graff will help you bring out the best elements of your MG or YA opening by critiquing your first 20 pages.

A Full Picture Book Critique from Our WHW Blog Wizard & “PB Fairy Godmother” Mindy Alyse Weiss

Mindy is the mastermind behind PBParty, an annual contest that connects talented picture book writers and author/illustrators with agents and editors. This has led to many success stories. Mindy has a ton of experience in what agents and editors are looking for in a picture book. The winner of this prize can send up to three PB manuscripts. Mindy will give light comments on two and in-depth feedback on the PB with the most potential.

A 1-Year Subscription to One Stop for Writers from your biggest fans… Becca and me!

We have created many thesauruses over the years, but not all of them become books…some go straight to a THESAURUS Database at One Stop for Writers. This web app is how we help writers beyond our books and where we’ve built powerful tools that make it much easier to plan, write, and revise your way to a publish-ready book. Take the tour, start a free trial, and make sure to enter below for a chance to win a 1-year membership! We’d love to help you bring your best story to the page.

To Enter:

Want a chance to win one of these amazing prizes? Click the link below.

WHW’s 1 Million Book Milestone Giveaway

(Final day to enter is May 9th, 2023, EST).
Winners are being notified! Watch your inbox!

Note, one entry per person. Prizes have no cash value and cannot be transferred. For full legal rules and conditions, please go here.)

Thank you again for all your kind support. We are honored to be part of your storytelling journey!

If you’d like to help us celebrate this milestone, feel free to share this post. And good luck in the draw!

ANGELA ACKERMAN

Angela is a writing coach, international speaker, and bestselling author who loves to travel, teach, empower writers, and pay-it-forward. She also is a founder of One Stop For Writers, a portal to powerful, innovative tools to help writers elevate their storytelling.

The post We’ve Reached the One Million Books Milestone! appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

In our current climate, you’ve probably heard that piece of trivia about Shakespeare writing King Lear in quarantine roughly a thousand times. You’ve also probably noticed tons of people taking up new hobbies to stay busy — baking, knitting, or (you knew it was coming) finally getting started on that novel they’ve always wanted to write.

According to anecdotal evidence hitting us from all sides, now is the perfect time to tackle a new creative project. But I’d suggest a slightly different undertaking than writing a whole new book: translating your existing work(s) into a different language.

If you’re already multilingual, this could be just the challenge you need to stay productive (not to mention sane) for the next few months. But if not, researching the book translation process, weighing your options, and hunting down the right translator should still occupy you for a solid week or so! That said, if you’re unsure whether translating your book is a good idea, here are five reasons to consider it — plus some helpful resources for those who decide to take the leap.

1. You’re missing out on the global market

This one might sound obvious: if you’re not publishing in any other languages, you won’t be able to reach every corner of the international market. But what you may not realize is just how sizable that market is! While the US and UK account for 34% of the global ebook trade, the other 66% stems from non-English-speaking countries. And if you can get your book into print translation, you’ll access an even greater proportion of readers in each country, potentially gaining mainstream recognition there (more on that in a bit).

However, you should choose your new language(s) carefully, as each separate translation comprises a new project in which you have to invest. So before you do anything else, check to see how other books in your genre or on your subject perform in any country you want to target. If you can’t find many books similar to yours, there’s probably no market for them. Conversely, if you’re overwhelmed by results, the market may already be over-saturated.

Also keep in mind the demand for ebooks in the specific country you’re targeting. For example, it might seem like a good idea to translate your book into French, Spanish, or Italian, but did you know that China’s ebook market is larger than all those countries’ combined? Lastly, you’ll want to think about the relative popularity of translated works in each country. As foreign rights agent Marleen Seegers points out, literary translations perform much better in some countries (such as Poland!) than others.

An international book tour is probably the last thing on your mind right now, but there’s no time like the present to start contemplating where you might go. And planning that book tour could be particularly relevant if this next reason turns out to be true…

2. Your work might be more popular other countries

Ever heard the expression “big in Japan”? Though it’s taken on ironic connotations in recent years, back in the seventies it was used to describe bands from the US, Sweden, Germany, and other countries that were better-known in Japan than in their homelands. And believe it or not, a similar thing sometimes happens to authors who have their works translated: for whatever reason, their stories are much more interesting to readers in languages other than their own.

In other words (no pun intended), not only can you access foreign markets via translations of your work, but you might become even more celebrated within them than in your own language! This is exactly what happened to Edgar Allan Poe, whose work was deemed unremarkable in America during his lifetime, but who found immense literary acclaim among French audiences — all thanks to his brilliant book translator, Charles Baudelaire.

But while the translator often deserves the lion’s share of credit, this unexpected success can ensue for other reasons as well. Sometimes, without even meaning to, an author taps into some element of style or storytelling that simply works better in another culture. This was the case for Laura Kasischke, who’s a well-known poet in America, but whose novels have become wildly successful in French translation; Kasishke hypothesizes that French readers are more accepting of unlikable characters and obscure endings, both frequent elements in her books.

Of course, you can never completely predict how readers will respond to your work in other languages. But if you suspect that certain elements have been lost on your current audience, it’s worth giving translation a shot (especially if you can find a translator on par with Baudelaire).

3. If you’ve written a series, readers won’t have to wait

Another compelling reason to consider translation is that, if you’ve written or are currently writing a series with multiple installments available, readers in other languages won’t have to wait too long between books. This can go a long way toward maintaining momentum and acquiring new readers, especially in new countries where you’ll have to build your brand from the ground up.

Though it may not have been an intentional strategy, this was likely part of what made the Millennium series by Stieg Larsson such a hit in the United States, despite the fact that it was originally published in Swedish. With three books already written, Reg Keeland and Alfred A. Knopf were able to translate and publish The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and its sequels in less than two years — enough kindling to stoke an English movie and three additional books.

The Millennium series was published traditionally, but this is still an important lesson for self-publishing authors who control their schedules: the less time you take between titles, the better. And though you can only cut writing time down by so much, translated books can usually be released in fairly quick succession.

You might even hold off until you’ve had all the available books in your series translated to release them in foreign markets, as a bundle. That way, readers won’t have to wait at all between finishing one book and starting the next! Of course, if you do this, you should be 100% sure that your book will sell well enough to justify translating multiple installments (hence why the aforementioned market research is so crucial).

4. It’s an impressive detail to flaunt when marketing

Though you shouldn’t get your book translated for the marketing cred alone, there’s no denying that having “Now translated into X languages” in its blurb makes your book seem pretty damn cool. Even if it’s only because you wanted to translate it, readers will assume there’s enormous demand for your work abroad and that you are a Very Important Author — never a bad identity to cultivate.

And your book description isn’t the only place to drop this impressive info! Once you’ve gotten your book translated, you could write a whole newsletter or blog post about it, detailing your experience and humble-bragging about how awesome it is to have your book available in various languages. You might try using it in ads as a headline — it’ll grab readers’ attention and, again, give them the impression that you’re a culturally significant writer. And of course, the next time you attend a writing conference or any kind of networking event, you can casually say: “Oh, did I mention my work has recently been translated into German?”

Basically, any way you can incorporate your translation(s) into your book marketing plan, you should go for it. For example, an indirect bonus of translating your book is that it gives you the excuse to commission a new cover, which can be an excellent marketing tool in and of itself. If you can afford it, look for a designer who specializes in creating covers in your genre and target language, ensuring the translation appeals to readers the second they see it.

5. Translation services today are better than ever

Finally, you should consider translating your work because book translation services today are more accurate, accessible, and affordable than ever before. There’s a plethora of options, including translation service companies where you pay a fee in exchange for a complete, anonymously translated manuscript, or in-house translation services for those who choose traditional publishing.

That said, if you’re an indie author who’s committed to getting high-quality, individualized translation of your work, your best option may be to hire a literary translator. This allows you to ensure their talents are suitable for your project, and to keep them personally accountable throughout your collaboration. And though you won’t be able to read their previous translations unless you know the target language, it’s easy enough to Google Translate the reviews of those and get a sense of their aptitude. (Needless to say, using Google Translate to translate your own book is a no-go for any author with even a modicum of self-respect.)

Only you can decide whether translating your works into other languages is a viable course of action. But again, there’s no time like the present, especially with all the time you likely have on your hands right now. If you do end up taking the translation route, buena suerte and bonne chance — here’s hoping you’ll be the next Poe, Kasischke, or Larsson of your generation!

Savannah Cordova is a writer with Reedsy, a marketplace that connects authors and publishers with the world’s best editors, designers, and marketers. In her spare time, Savannah enjoys reading contemporary fiction and writing short stories (and occasionally terrible novels).

You can read more of her professional work on the Reedsy blog, or personal writing on Medium.

ANGELA ACKERMAN

Angela is a writing coach, international speaker, and bestselling author who loves to travel, teach, empower writers, and pay-it-forward. She also is a founder of One Stop For Writers, a portal to powerful, innovative tools to help writers elevate their storytelling.

The post 5 Reasons to Consider Translating Your Work appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

In January, Becca and I hit 10 years of blogging. TEN YEARS. That’s a lot of time, but also not a lot of time, because we all know time flows differently in the book business. It’s all hurry up…and wait. Repeat. Forever.

Writing, publishing, book selling…it is one crazy roller coaster ride. As much as we can sometimes hate parts of it, we also love it. Deeply.  (If not, we all would have gotten off by now, right?)

So much has changed in 10 years, including us being busy to the point where we didn’t even realize it had been 10 years. *facepalm*

That’s also something we all understand: the writing roller coaster isn’t just a maze of loops, drops, and cloud-touching peaks, it also forces a person to contort and twist constantly. Being a writer these days means thinking on the fly, mastering business skills, navigating deadlines, building a brand, and becoming a subject matter expert in many things. You need a live example of adaptability, persistence, and grit? Look at any writer who is steering their career.

Rewinding the Clock

Fact: when Becca & I started blogging at The Bookshelf Muse, we were clueless. Utterly. No idea what we were doing, no idea of where the roller coaster was leading. We just had a dream of publication.

That blog is only a landing page now because we moved everything to Writers Helping Writers. But, thanks to the Wayback Machine, I was able to find an archived version of that first welcome post.

We chose the name “Bookshelf Muse” because we liked the idea that maybe something we did could inspire writers and help them see they could succeed at this book thing we all love so much.

We started with a feature called “Thesaurus Thursday” to explore different emotions and the body language that went with them. We struggled with this and thought if others did too, it might bring some traffic our way. Our first post was “FEAR.”

(Note our “Esteemed Bookshelf Stalkers” list: 24. We were thrilled that 24 people read our blog!)

In 2012, we took a huge leap of faith and decided to turn the Emotion Thesaurus on our blog into a book. *whispers* A self-published book. We did it because people were pirating our content and selling it. Plus, we felt that a) traditional publishing probably wasn’t ready for a “book” made of lists, b) finding a publisher willing to take on two newbies to teach others about writing was unlikely and c) it would take too long to publish. The industry had a pretty negative attitude toward SP back then, and we knew we were half-crazy to do it, but we uploaded the book anyway.

Our hope, factoring in the long tail of self-publishing, was it might sell 50,000 copies in its lifetime. That would put us over the moon.

Never did we imagine it would become a staple for writers, or be used in university programs or analyzed in thesis papers. Never did we fathom it would be translated into 5 other languages or lead to a series of 6 books. We never thought it would also kick off an entire website filled with tools we helped to design so writers could write stronger fiction faster than ever.

Something else happened in January, another milestone that still hasn’t quite sunk in.

We sold our 300,000th book. (About 180,000 of those are The Emotion Thesaurus.)

Ten years ago, we were two writers grappling with how to get our fiction published. We were trying not to make utter fools of ourselves by blogging. We had 3 comments on our first emotion thesaurus post.

We never could have imagined this. Our gratitude to you, our supporters, champions, biggest believers…off the charts. We have no words (oh, the irony for two thesaurus-makers!).

But this post is more than a thank you…it’s a message, too: 

You’ve got this!

Don’t get caught up in where you are (or aren’t) right now, or how steep the roller coaster incline is ahead of you.

We believe in you. Always have, always will.

Thanks for joining us, and we hope you’ll stick around for the next ten years, too.

ANGELA ACKERMAN

Angela is a writing coach, international speaker, and bestselling author who loves to travel, teach, empower writers, and pay-it-forward. She also is a founder of One Stop For Writers, a portal to powerful, innovative tools to help writers elevate their storytelling.

The post Milestones that Provide a Valuable Opportunity to Look Back appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

200,000. Books. Sold.

Back in 2012 when Becca and I dipped our toes into the self publishing waters we never imagined it would lead here, but it has…because of all of you. Again, I can’t think of the appropriate words! All the kind ways you have helped and supported us…Thank you seems so unworthy, but it’s all we can say, a thousand times!

When we started down this road with our crazy idea for an Emotion Thesaurus, I had told Becca I would be ecstatic if it sold 50,000 copies in its lifetime. We underestimated just how many other writers struggled with emotion. What a thrill to know this book, and our others, are helping writers all over the world!

It’s been a long time since we shared numbers. I know some find sales transparency helpful and hitting this milestone seemed like a good time to update ours.

 So here’s where we’re at, as of Feb 2017:

The Emotion Thesaurus, English only, Pub date: May 2012 (Print, ebook, PDF): 120,101

Foreign rights: Japan, Korea, Romania, China, Taiwan

The Positive Trait Thesaurus, English Only, Pub Date: Oct 2013 (Print, ebook, PDF): 31,659

Foreign rights: Japan, Korea

The Negative Trait Thesaurus, English Only. Pub Date: Sept 2013 (Print, ebook, PDF): 34,874

Foreign rights: Japan, Korea

The Rural Setting Thesaurus, English Only. Pub Date: May 2016 (Print, ebook, PDF): 7,206

Foreign rights: Japan

The Urban Setting Thesaurus, English Only. Pub Date: Oct 2016 (Print, ebook, PDF): 6,734

Foreign rights: Japan

Excluded from overall count: Emotion Amplifiers, a $2.99 companion. Pub Date: Dec 2014 (ebooklet & PDF): 37,306

About these numbers:

• Print outsells digital (I think this is common with reference books)
• No books were set to “free” except Emotion Amplifiers. (EA downloads are not part of the overall count)
• No books have been enrolled in exclusive programs to date
• We didn’t play with ebook pricing (instead we chose a reasonable price and stuck with it)
• But we did try a one-day “group book sale” of the ET at .99 to experiment
• To date we’ve tried only one ad in a high-volume newsletter (we lost money)
• No accurate numbers for foreign sales yet (but we will update once we do)
• Our books are at Amazon, Createspace, Kobo, B & N, Smashwords, and Apple, and available as a PDF using Gumroad. We don’t use Ingram Spark (yet)

Rather than re-invent the marketing wheel…

We’ve talked about the marketing approach we’ve taken in greater length in other posts and interviews, so if you like, visit this tag to find other numbers & data posts, look through some of our past events we’ve run, and check out our marketing tag for extra help.

Also, we strongly encourage you visit our tool page for more marketing help, including social media handouts, marketing interview links, a VERY helpful swipe file from our last book launch.

GIVEAWAY (Open Worldwide)

20 Thesaurus eBooks (Winner’s Choice)

5 one-month subscriptions to our writing web app, One Stop for Writers

How could we celebrate such a terrific milestone without a little giveaway? So, if you’ve been looking to test drive one of our books, or have been itching to try One Stop For Writers, just enter using

THIS FORM

Contest is now over–thanks everyone!
Congrats to Paul, Rachel, Robin, Ellen, Wendy, Janet, Kara, Sandy, Silvana, Denyse, Allison, Sussu, Kimberly, Gaye, Donna, Reana, Gifford, Vicky, Tara, Carol, Anna, Susan, Traci, Melinda & Anne

(And all the fun pictures posted to social media. THE BEST!)

We hope our books continue to supply ideas and help push your writing to the next level. Look for The Emotional Wound Thesaurus to make an appearance later this year. 

Legal stuff is here, and prizes will be drawn Monday, March 6th, 6 PM EST.

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ANGELA ACKERMAN

Angela is a writing coach, international speaker, and bestselling author who loves to travel, teach, empower writers, and pay-it-forward. She also is a founder of One Stop For Writers, a portal to powerful, innovative tools to help writers elevate their storytelling.

The post Help Us Celebrate Our 200,000 Book Milestone appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

But it did happen, and all because of you. So thank you so, so, SO much–for your support, for recommending our books and website to other writers, agents and editors, and for of course buying our resources yourselves. We hope they are helping you write deep, compelling characters and stories that readers will love!

Becca and I have a very exciting year ahead, and more content planned to help strengthen your writing. We have two Setting Thesaurus books on the go which should be ready later in the year, and one exciting new project that we hope will knock your socks off. We are still finalizing everything as we head in an uncharted new direction, but as soon as we can share, we will.

Now…let’s talk Celebration!

Becca and I are giving away 10 print copies of our books, winner’s choice. This is a great time for you to snag one of our books if you don’t yet have it, refresh a well-used copy that is worn around the edges, or win a book for a critique partner as a gift. The choice is yours!

Giveaway ended – thanks for celebrating with us!

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ANGELA ACKERMAN

Angela is a writing coach, international speaker, and bestselling author who loves to travel, teach, empower writers, and pay-it-forward. She also is a founder of One Stop For Writers, a portal to powerful, innovative tools to help writers elevate their storytelling.

The post 100K Book Milestone: Celebrate With Us & Win appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

Looks familiar, doesn’t it?

For me, the shock was double. First, that someone would mimic our cover, right down to the color scheme, and secondly, that they would also call their book a “Thesaurus.” To me, these two things together pointed in one direction…the authors were trying to piggyback our book, perhaps in hopes that some of our fans would buy their product, mistakenly thinking it was actually part of our bestselling series.

The idea that people could be taken in by this made me feel sick. The first thing I had to do was get a copy of the book to see inside it. A copied cover was one thing, but if our book content was also being used, that would be catastrophic. The book was on a free promotion, so I downloaded it.

Thankfully, the content had nothing to do with our books. But what it was (a set of simple internet marketing term definitions for things like “HTML” and “Blog” without any teaching content or advice whatsoever) didn’t make it feel like a book (and certainly not a thesaurus!) This, combined with a lengthy legal disclaimer at the start of the book (perhaps a measure taken in case buyers were not happy with the value?), left me with the feeling that this could be a “trying to make a quick buck” situation.

The last thing I wanted was for anyone to think this book was associated with us. Becca quickly emailed Writer’s Beware, who advised us to contact Amazon directly as they were cracking down on “non-books” and could remove it from sale if it fell under copyright infringement. (I emailed our cover designer, Scarlett Rugers, who assured us that the design was ours alone, and we owned the copyright.)

We contacted Amazon and while we waited for a response, I started looking into the authors, hoping to reach them to ask about their intentions. Two authors were listed in the book, while only one was listed on the cover. Every lead I followed turned into smoke. No websites, no amazon author profiles. The publisher had no website either, and a few other books tied to them (things like blank recipe and address books) were uploaded around the same time. The authors of these “books” also had no online presences or websites. I couldn’t help but wonder if they might be pseudonyms, in case one book was taken down the others would be unaffected.

I went to the Kindle boards community to see if they had any idea how to track down the authors of this book. They are such a great group of people, and offered me lots of ideas on how to track him down, in case Amazon refused to pull the book on their end.

The full discussion is here if anyone wants to read it. If you are running up against a situation regarding copyright, it’s worth reading and accessing links. Interestingly, the issue became somewhat of a debate. People were divided…was this a form of copyright infringement, or not? Cover similarities are seen all the time after all, even in traditional publishing. Of course, sometimes this can get publishers into deep trouble. So was this a situation where there was little we could do? Or, perhaps we should even feel “flattered” someone recognized our book’s popularity and sought to emulate it?

I know how Becca and I felt about it. The guy called it a Thesaurus for one. And he didn’t just take inspiration from our cover, he copied it to the best of his ability. There are subtle differences obviously, but it was clear (we felt) this was a case of someone trying to misuse our trusted brand.

Luckily, my local SCBWI hosted a workshop right around this time on Intellectual Copyright Law, led by a IC lawyer. (I’ll mention I live in Canada, and international interpretation of law will vary.)

He discussed a few things: Branding, Copyright, and Trademark. Here are some loose definitions based on my notes:

Trademark: a mark that legally represents something, often a business, by their goods or services.

Branding: distinguishing your product from those of your competitors. When a consumer sees your branding (colors, words or phrases, etc.) or logo, they associate it with your product.

Copyright: exclusive rights granted to the originator of intellectual property to use and distribute.

Businesses are constantly attempting to divert consumer attention from an established brand to their own products by adopting a similar look. If a person could be legitimately confused and assume the logo or brand was the same, then you have a case for breaking copyright.

So when is someone taking the work of another without permission (to use, distribute or to create derivative works), classified as copyright infringement?

The lawyer said that the test for this is not how much of the finished work is unique, but instead how much was taken from someone else. Could a consumer become legitimately confused (as mentioned above)?

One case the lawyer brought up was an author who pitched a TV cartoon to producers but was turned down. A year later, the TV station launched a cartoon that was eerily similar to what he pitched (the series plot scenario, some distinctive characters, etc.) The author went after them, and while the producers argued that there were unique elements that were completely different than what the author pitched (an additional sidekick character, a special talent for the main character that was not in the author’s version, etc.) the court ruled in favor of the author. They felt there was enough similar to his proposed series to classify as infringement.

When I showed the lawyer the cover of The Emotion Thesaurus, and then The Positive Trait and Negative Trait Thesaurus books, and then the copied Internet Marketing cover, he said in my case, the infringement falls under “Distinguishing Guise.” This means that the “look” of our books are the same, and contribute to our established brand.

As you can see, our books are very similar, built to be recognizable. Readers who see our covers associate the look of each with our brand. Therefore, trying to imitate our covers in this way is infringing on our copyright.

Luckily for us, Amazon agreed with our assessment of copyright infringement, and after filling out a legal declaration that we were the copyright holders, they removed the other book from their sites. Hopefully, no one was taken in by the copied look, thinking it was somehow associated with us.

I wanted to share this story in case it might help someone else. Please Note: I’m not dispensing legal advice, simply relaying my own experience and memory of what was discussed at the workshop.

Authors work hard at creating a brand for themselves. Protect yours. If you are an author and having a unique cover is important to you, make sure that the artist you’re working with has no plans of reselling the cover design to others. And remember that copyright is easier to prove if it has been registered.

A huge thank you to everyone who helped us work through this situation, and to all of you wonderful readers who watch out for us. We are so privileged that you have our backs.

Have you run into copyright infringement? Have any insight you can add? Please let us know in the comments!

ANGELA ACKERMAN

Angela is a writing coach, international speaker, and bestselling author who loves to travel, teach, empower writers, and pay-it-forward. She also is a founder of One Stop For Writers, a portal to powerful, innovative tools to help writers elevate their storytelling.

The post Book Cover Copycats: Is It Flattery or Copyright Infringement? appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

I’ll admit my mind is blown knowing there are over 10,000 Emotion Thesaurus books out in the world. Becca and I are thrilled, and so appreciative to all the writers and teachers who took a chance on it. As aspiring novelists, we know just how hard it is to write and the perseverance it takes to create a book. Providing a tool to help other writers with emotion is nothing short of an honor (sappy, I know, but true. Writers rule and we love you guys!)

In that same spirit of wanting to contribute, we thought it might be beneficial to share our focus as we sent The Emotion Thesaurus into the world. We realize this is a non-fiction book, not fiction. Novels are a harder sell–instead of dealing primarily with what a audience NEEDS like nonfiction, it is more about what they WANT, and personal reading tastes are unpredictable. However, much of the strategy we used with the ET can be adapted for fiction, so hopefully novelists will find value here regardless. Apologies for the length, but we wanted to fit everything in one post for east reference.

A Bit of History…

As many of you know, The Emotion Thesaurus started on the blog as a ‘set’ of lists focusing on how to show a character’s feelings. Becca and I struggled with emotion, and when we could not find a good resource to help us, we created one. As it grew in popularity, readers asked us to turn it into an enhanced book version.

We chose self publishing for a few reasons, the most important being TIME. It can take years for a book to find a publisher and then be available to purchase, and writers and teachers needed it NOW. We also discovered someone pirating our content for profit, so waiting any longer to create the book would be foolhardy. We launched The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide To Character Expression on May 14th, 2012.

What We Had Going For Us

PLATFORM. Becca and I have worked since 2008 to build a place within the Writing Community, providing resources through this blog and forging genuine relationships with our audience. Our attitude has always been to contribute and do what we can to add value. It was our hope that our readers would be willing to help raise awareness for The Emotion Thesaurus book.

NICHE. Our book tackled a topic that writers struggle with, yet few resources were available to help. As writers, we knew exactly what type of tool was needed to help with emotion and body language.

 What Stood Against Us

LACK OF CREDIBILITY. Becca and I were not authors (yet), nor accredited editors, and certainly not psychologists or experts on emotion. We had a platform, but no ‘book world’ clout. How could we possibly compete with the biggies in the Writing Resource field, names like Donald Maass, James Scott Bell, James N. Frey, The Plot Whisperer, or the dozens of other incredible, best-selling authors/experts?

SELF PUBLISHING. While the stigma is lessening, we all know bias remains. In some ways, creating a how-to writing resource and then choosing self publishing over traditional could act as a strike against us, meaning we would have to really prove ourselves with readers.

CONFIDENCE. This business is often a murky pool of feeling not worthy, not good enough.  Without a book deal in place for our fiction to give us credibility or a degree/subject-specific education to hold up, we felt naked. Putting ourselves out there and donning the hat of authority that comes with writing any sort of how-to guide was terrifying.

 The Scale Tipper

PASSION, BELIEF & TEAMWORK. As writers, we knew people needed this book. Heck, we needed it! We decided to create the best brainstorming tool we could and put all our effort into making it discoverable to those who might benefit from it. Working as a team allowed us to play off each others’ strengths and aided in decision-making.

READYING FOR LAUNCH

• Set up a business
• Paid for a professional edit
• Hired a cover designer
• Outsourced formatting to a HTML goddess because the book is full of links and redirects
• Test-marketed it with a select group of writers & used feedback to strengthen

MISTAKE:  choosing a launch date and under-estimating the time it would take for setting up the business (two authors in different countries is a pain), uploading, formatting challenges, fixing last minute typos (again, our formatter Heather is worth her weight in gold!)  This created lots of down-to-the-wire stress. Test marketing the book (while super valuable) also meant enabling changes late in the game.

First Hurdle: Launching A Book Without Feeling Like A Timeshare Salesman

For two writers who hate promoting, this was a massive challenge. Look at me! I have a book! Buy it! We needed a way to let people know about the ET but not be eye-bulging, book-waving maniacs about it. After many facetimes, we realized that to do this in a way that felt right, we needed to return to our AUTHOR BRAND: writers helping & supporting other writers.

“Random Acts of Kindness for Writers” became our secret plan: instead of making our release date about us, we would do something to celebrate & thank writers. This was risky in the sense that to do it authentically, we had to steer attention AWAY from our book’s release. However, we felt the reward was twofold–traffic to our site, and it allowed us a way to pour our flag-waving passion into celebrating people who really deserve recognition and yet rarely get it. This event aligned perfectly with our pay-it-forward beliefs, driving us to do all we could to make it a success.

For brevity’s sake, I won’t get into the nuts and bolts of how we set up the RAOK Blitz (but if enough people wish it, I can expand on this in a future post). Suffice to say it drew thousands of visitors and hundreds of writers participated, becoming a huge ‘feel good’ week for everyone that showcased the generous spirits of our Writing Community.

Marketing Boost:  Becca and I gave away a free PDF called ‘Emotion Amplifiers’ as our RAOK gift to writers. This PDF booklet is a companion to The Emotion Thesaurus and has a similar layout. Our hope was that if a writer found it helpful, they might check the ET as well. (It’s still in our sidebar if you want a copy and helps with describing conditions like pain, exhaustion, stress, inebriation, etc.)

Second Hurdle: Reviews

A self-published book that is also non-fiction? Rough. Many professional reviewers will not take on SP books, and those that do usually only read fiction. So, instead of seeking out review sites, we put out a  call out to Bookshelf Muse readers and asked if any of them were  interested in reviewing the book. After all, the ET is BY writers FOR writers. Who better to review it?

We could not accommodate all the requests that came in, so we chose some reviewers strategically for their audience reach, and others through a random draw.

MISTAKE:  We should have arranged for reviews much sooner. Due to not leaving ourselves enough time to get the book ready to go, we were unable to get a decent version out to reviewers until close to launch or after.

LUCK! Many people, after buying and using the ET, were so excited about it they wrote reviews on Amazon and Goodreads.

MORE LUCK! These reviews swayed even MORE people to take a chance on the book, and they in turn became avid word-of-mouth spreaders, telling writing friends and critique partners all about The Emotion Thesaurus. This led to better sales, top 20 ranking in several (paid) writing categories for print & kindle, a strong Amazon Best Sellers Rank, and placement on the Top Rated, Best Selling & Most Wished For lists (writing).

 Marketing Tactics: Swag

We chose to invest in a postcard-sized bookmark that doubles as a Revision Tool.  Many bookmarks lie forgotten in a drawer, or they end up being recycled. We wanted ours to stay right beside the computer during revisions, so we printed a ‘Crutch Word List’ on one side–words we commonly overuse and need to weed out. Our hope was that by making our swag useful, writers would hang onto it!

Spreading the word about a book can be difficult, so we put out a call (again utilizing our blog readers) and asked if people would be willing to take our bookmarks and hand them out to critique groups, or give them out at conferences and workshops. This allowed us to reach out beyond our own circle and hopefully reach new readers.

MISTAKE (?) This was a bit pricey considering the postage involved (some were sent worldwide), and took time to get addresses and mail out. We had no way to track the effectiveness. And while I have heard from people who said they saw them at conferences or were given one by another writer, we are not sure if the ‘mail out’ idea brought a significant return. But, the postcards are super handy to have at events where Becca and I are presenting, and we can pass them out afterward to keep the ET in people’s minds. So overall, this swag was worth it!

Marketing Tactics: Discoverability

The bulk of our marketing energy went into discoverability. Because we have such an amazingly supportive audience at The Bookshelf Muse, we chose a ‘grassroots’ approach rather than solicit big bloggers/sites for exposure. In our initial blog post asking for assistance from readers, we utilized a sign up form so the people who wanted to help us could, and in a manner that most appealed to them. The results of this was amazing–so many people offered to help get the word out!

One of our biggest needs was bloggers willing to host us for a visit. We were overwhelmed with gratitude to see how many people were willing to do this (have I mentioned how great you all are?) and we actually had to change how our form was worded to include offering book excerpts and reblogging previous TBM posts to accommodate the response. We ended up with over 115 hosts all told.

Attempting so many guest posts caused panic attacks, obsessive chocolate binging, feelings of inadequacy *coughs* was daunting. But Becca organized everything (SHE IS AMAZING!) and put us on an aggressive schedule that would allow us to finish them all within a 4 month window. We created a master list of topics, most centered directly on content that would tie into Emotion & Body Language, so that each post was a planned, quality post. The best thank you to those who offered to help us was to write content that would bring them strong traffic, not just exposure for us.

GUEST POST TIP: We did our best to thank personally every person who hosted and helped. We also shared all links on our social networks to bring new people to their blogs.  We truly appreciated their time and energy, and their desire to see us succeed.

MISTAKE #1: biting off more than we could chew. This was an enormous amount of guest posts (with more requests coming in as a result of this visibility) and so it meant we were both unable to write anything but blog content for a good 4 months. We managed to get them done and we have no regrets because of the great exposure, but it also meant other things slipped. There were a few blogging relationships and opportunities we were unable to stay on top of because we were so busy posting elsewhere. We also had a tough time commenting on blogs and getting email written. With such a strict timeline to adhere to, I worried about messing up and forgetting something vital, letting a host down.

MISTAKE #2: not thinking enough about how to keep up with our own blog AND everyone else’s. Luckily as we met new people at different blogs, we found folks who wanted to guest post for us. We were able to give them exposure in return and bring some good content to the blog (LUCK!) So while we made a mistake about over committing, it worked out.

MORE LUCK! These ‘seed’ guest posts led to some writing communities and bigger organizations contacting us. This resulted in book reviews and giveaways that were included in newsletters and offered exposure with bigger audiences. The Discoverability Tour worked!

 Marketing Tactics: Giveaways

We utilized giveaways to generate interest in our book and bring attention to some of the blogs we visited. We purposefully did not host book giveaways during the month of May to encourage people to buy, not wait to win. We had a few giveaways in June and then more in July, August and September. Some were bigger exposure opportunities like being featured in a banner at the Writer’s Knowledge Base and as a prize at Ink Pageant (thanks guys–you rock!) We tried to go where our readers would be, and took advantage of opportunities that allowed us to reach beyond the Kidlit & YA writer’s network we know best in order to create inroads with Christian and other Adult genres who might not know us or The Bookshelf Muse. We also utilized Goodreads and ran a giveaway through them.

Marketing Tactics: Distribution Channels 

Becca and I talked about going KDP Select but neither of us could see the benefit to doing so right out the gate. In our minds, we wanted to ask a fair price for the books and have it available across as many channels as possible to reach readers where they are, not where we ‘chose’ to be. We distributed widely and included a PDF option for those who did not have ereaders or who felt more comfortable with PDF format. For those who like numbers, here’s the breakdown to 10,000 which we hit in September:

(click to enlarge)

 *Prior to September, Kobo sales were bundled with Smashwords. Once Kobo created their own distribution, we uploaded direct. Sony sales are under the Smashwords umbrella.

You will notice that Print is quite strong. We believe this is partly because many writers like ‘craft’ books in paperback. We also have had feedback that some original digital buyers were so pleased with the ET, they later decided to invest in a print version, too.

Pricing: We chose the $4.99 price point for digital, and 14.99 for print. We have not changed the price nor offered the book for free. In the future we may change our pricing, but for now it works well with Extended Distribution, which we sell enough through to make it important to keep.

MISTAKE: not enabling Extended Distribution right from the start. Originally we didn’t think it would do us much good, until we realized without it, we could not get onto Amazon.ca. Seeing as I live in Canada, it is important that the people I meet at events or at my workshops have a way to get the book. Not doing this before May meant a six week lag of fielding emails from Canadians unable to buy the book.

 Marketing Tactics: Paid Advertizing

We opted to not invest in any paid advertising. I think this was the right decision for us, but do see us choosing a few select ads in the future.

 Where We Got Extra Lucky

• Winning Top 20 Best Blogs For Writers with Write To Done a few months before The Emotion Thesaurus released. This raised our profile significantly, and at a critical time.
• Once sales started climbing, Amazon would send out mailers to people who purchased writing related books, and sometimes The Emotion Thesaurus was listed as a ‘Those that purchased X might also like’ pick.
• A price war between B & N and Amazon. For the last week of September, the two duked it out, lowering the book’s price daily until the discount put it under 10 bucks. Average sales nearly doubled for print (although sales dipped that week for Kindle).

A Few Extraneous Mistakes

• Not soliciting endorsements. We didn’t do this in advance of publishing the ET because we were worried about being turned down, worried about getting the cold shoulder because we were newcomers and new authors. Now more than ever we are seeing an acceptance of SP, and of Traditional authors making the leap. Endorsements probably would have helped us greatly and so moving forward we’ll be seeking them out.
• Not believing in ourselves enough at the start. I think we wasted a lot of energy on doubt because we hadn’t published before (except in magazines) and we were afraid that while we felt The Emotion Thesaurus added value, others would not. The response to The Emotion Thesaurus has been nothing short of phenomenal and knowing that Illinois State University is using it in their Creative Writing curriculum makes us incredibly proud. A self published book going to University…who would have thought?

Thoughts to Leave You With

Looking back, I believe we did two things right that led to everything else:

First, we created a book that readers are very happy with, and it fulfills a need in a way that they want to share it with people they know. (We are so, so, SO grateful to this word-of-mouth. Thank you all for doing this!)

Second, we live our brand: writers who help and support other writers. This is who we are! We love writers and have forged genuine relationships with our readers. When we needed help to spread the word, people responded, and more than that, became our advocates. There are not enough thank yous in the world for me to say what this means to us.

If I can encourage writers planning to publish to do one thing beyond the above, it’s to be authentic in whatever you do. When you build your platform, start in advance and think very hard about what your brand will be. Be yourself, be likable, do what feels right and resonates with who you are. Understand your audience, their likes and dislikes, and search them out. Use keywords to find blogs, forum discussions and hashtags that will help you discover people who might be interested in a book like yours. Interact, be genuine and think about how you can add value, not how you can market to them. Focus on giving, not getting. Trust that the rest will come.

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ANGELA ACKERMAN

Angela is a writing coach, international speaker, and bestselling author who loves to travel, teach, empower writers, and pay-it-forward. She also is a founder of One Stop For Writers, a portal to powerful, innovative tools to help writers elevate their storytelling.

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