New Year's Resolutions

Everyone makes New Year's Resolutions. But I make goals. I would like to have at least eighteen books out by the end of the year. Dream Therapy is coming out Jan. 30. Filth and Death is looking at the end of February. likely the 27th. Synner and Sainte will be available on Kindle Unlimited March, 12.

I have made a lot of mistakes in my Indie writing career so far, but being my own boss is great. In this line of work, there is no one to tell me what to do but me. That is both a good thing and a bad thing. (What am I supposed to be doing? That is the real question.)

But the mistakes were good too, because I learned a lot from them. I'm not in the business of reviewing book publishing formats. But several readers have asked me why most of the books are on Amazon and nowhere else. So I thought it might help some people if I explained my current line of reasoning for my choices in publishing and marketing. (Keep in mind that there is no budget for these things.) The answer is really simple. Half of all my royalties come from my Kindle Unlimited readers.

When I first began publishing in May of 2018, I did not exactly understand what I was doing. I mean I knew I wanted to self publish because that was an easier learning curve than trying to learn how to pitch my book to a lot of different traditional publishers. (I still have no idea how to write a synopsis of the plot arc? Not totally sure what the plot arc is as I write in scenes not chapters, but whatever!)

Also no budget to pay anyone like Lulu or Dorrance to publish for me really left only one option. I don't know if any of these companies are legitimate or not. You be your own judge. But if I could learn how to do it myself, then I could save a lot of up front money. I had time but not money. So from the beginning, it was Indie All The Way! 

I learned how to navigate four of the larger platforms. (Google Books, Kobo, and Barnes and Noble) Synner and Sainte is actually for sale on those sites as I type this. I honestly believe that it helped me gain a broader reach on google to have the books posted on multiple sites. But that did not help me sell more books. So I have been slowly migrating my titles to Kindle.

Having only one sales platform cuts down the amount of time and money I have to spend on advertising as well. I learn one platform better and become faster at publishing and even updating my titles. For my readers this means that I write more, and you get the stories faster. Which of course is what we all want. 

Will I keep it this way? I don't know, but for now, focusing on Kindle is the right move for me. Since enrolling most of my books in Kindle Select so my readers could read for free on Kindle unlimited, my sales have improved. (That's good because I really need more computer equipment in order to make better book trailers and get the YouTube page optimized.) 

If you have read a book or bought a book, I want to say Thank You again for supporting my endeavor to tell the story of Draoithe. As always, I am a real person, and I would love to hear your questions or comments.  Leave me a message, and I will try to get back to you.

To my reader Frank Grimes, I read your review of Synner and Sainte. Thank you for the review. They are hard to get. (Please leave reviews! Pretty Please with sugar on the top! I will mention you here if you do! I can not afford to pay for them.)

I agreed with your assessment of the book, so I have altered the book and added about ten thousand words to it. For anyone who bought the book in December, Please download it again and read the new material. It will not cost you anything. If you have not read the book, the updated version is only available on Kindle. For my Kindle Unlimited readers, I realize that I have slighted you. I will correct this March 12. (It is as fast as I can commit to Kindles' terms of exclusivity. If they would stop that requirement, far more books would be there I am sure.)

If you love to read, please leave reviews. You might not know if the book belongs to an Indie Author or not, but if it does, you will be helping them out. I know of no rich Indie Authors. We all just love to write the stories that you want to read. Paying for reviews is in my opinion unethical. So I will simply beg all my readers to write honest positive reviews.

2020 is going to be an awesome year for Draoithe. Kindle is going to be your one stop shop for the dream! If you are just now finding Draoithe, you might want to start with A Pack Forms. The new and improved updated ebook is available now! All of the paperbacks have been updated as well. Check back here for updates about audio books, book trailers, and free stuff that is coming in the future!

Be Careful!
Happy reading,
Ophelia Kee