Happy First Anniversary "Next Draft" (pt 2)
Where I'm at and hope to go
To celebrate my Substack's first anniversary, I'm publishing a couple of articles about the newsletter - how it came about and where it's going. The first piece on what led up to "Next Draft" was published last week. Today I'm going to look at where it is now and what I see happening a bit down the road.
The newsletter is divided into separate sections, and I make a point to let people know how to subscribe to only what they want. I figured this was best because I can talk about the Law of Attraction one week and then the benefits of indie publishing the next. And not everyone will be interested in everything I am.Â
I've also started a monthly zine where I'll mention the previous articles from that month and add exciting tidbits I come across. It's a roundup plus for the month. I like that model, so I plan to keep writing that way.
My biggest challenge is the time it takes to write each piece. I tend to do a lot of research and edits, so I'm still trying to find my routine between writing, publishing books, and doing "Next Draft." Once my book is out, and things settle around it, writing for the newsletter will be a bit easier.
And speaking of the book, my latest drama is that I've left Lulu, where I was going to indie publish Rock Gods. (Well, they're really only a distributor. I'm the publisher.) I've had SO many problems that I'm waiting to hear from Amazon on taking the page down through Lulu. I can then re-upload my book through Amazon and probably distribute it globally through a company called Ingram Spark.Â
I hate to say this because I'm not an Amazon fan. But Amazon seems the most logical and viable way to get my book out to the public.
The ebook can be pre-ordered now - Rock Gods & Messy Monsters comes out September 7th. And it's only $4.99 for the online version! Feel free to order a copy. I might also do a promotion around it - I'm still researching the ups and downs of that. More on that in a future post.
I'm switching distributors with the paperback because I happened to go to some sites that list the book - Lulu claims the book goes to 40,000 outlets. Well, they might send book info there, but there were no links to buy it on some, no description on others, not even a photo or link on another. I got so mad because they take a massive cut of sales - and for nothing!Â
My royalty rate through Lulu is about the same as through a traditional publisher - and they aren't doing anything for me! At least a traditional publisher does things like edit the book and design the cover. Such a ripoff. My royalty on the Amazon distributed ebook at $4.99 is twice as much as the paperback at $15.98.
I don't care if I have to get a new ISBN or delay the launch - I will never publish books through that company again. I'm never planning to go through any POD (print-on-demand) company except a company like Amazon and Ingram. Unless something much better comes along.Â
Because of all the book work, and because I couldn't find one place that explained everything to me, my next book is going to be on indie publishing. I'll continue writing the next fiction book as I work on that. I hope to help others avoid my mistakes with my indie publishing experience.
So how does this tie in with the Substack? My plan has been to use the newsletter to write about themes in my work and any research I might be doing. I lean toward discovering self-love, spirituality, and finding oneself. I'll also continue writing about the writing and publishing process.Â
And I'm hoping to build community among people who read my books. I don't think social media creates community anymore; it probably does more to destroy it these days. I read that Facebook is changing its algorithm so we won't see our friends' posts anymore. We'll soon see what Facebook suggests, so we'll get posts from strangers. Which is not what Facebook is about to me.
I'm still figuring out what social media I'll focus on to promote my work. I'm considering Substack as one outlet, and Facebook might be the other - I don't know. It'll depend on this algorithm change. I've read that one should focus on no more than three social media accounts. Things get too diluted otherwise. Once I lock down my target audience, I'm hoping it'll be easier.Â
All this to say, my plans for "Next Draft" are to sync it with my other writing and build a community of indie writers and people searching for their true selves. Okay, maybe that's two communities.
Now I need to figure out how to publish Rock Gods & Messy Monsters. I'm down to two and a half weeks to launch!
The second video trailer for Rock Gods is out now! Actually, this is the video’s premiere. Enjoy!
***Next Draft is broken up into different sections to cover several topics, including the main Next Draft category (monthly zine mainly), Self-Care/Spirit, My Books/Fiction, Business of Writing, and a couple others. If you’d like to receive one or a couple of these topics but not all, please visit my About page for instructions on selecting specific areas. (Scroll down the page.)Â
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