It has now been nearly a year since I first began as a self published author with Amazon. I still feel like a newbie but I am a little more wised up to the machinations of being an indie author.
No Readers
When I first set out I put my fantasy series up for sale as a thick book of over 450 pages. Why? Because this is the sort of book I like to read. The idea was I would do a trilogy of thick books. As a new author it simply did not work. Readers do not want to bother with a huge book from someone they have never heard of.
Where Have I gone Wrong
This was where my very inexperienced beginnings at social networking first came in handy. I put a question to other authors on a Facebook Group I had joined, asking where I had gone wrong. I had no sales, what could I possibly do? I truly felt like my book must be terrible. Not one person told me to give it all up.
The Split
First they all picked me up from my bottomless pit. Then a brilliant suggestion was made and it opened up a whole new perspective for my Business Plan that I didn't have. Actually, it gave me a Business Plan. Split the book up it's too thick. Brilliant. Why didn't I think of that. So that's exactly what I did. I was worried that the suggestion of splitting into 3 was going to stretch it thin. However, when I sat and looked at the figures it seemed to make sense. So I split the story up into approx. 50k for each book.
Editing Blindness
This book had taken me approx 10yrs to write. I edited so many times that I became blind to my own mistakes. When I started to re-read for the split, I realised the book was still rough around the edges as far as grammar and spelling were concerned. Sizing it down to smaller sections enabled me to edit each 200 pages much closer. And so my fantasy series was organised. Taking the first 50k (approx) I set about re-editing, changing the title and book cover and re-releasing.
Outcome
So now, 1 year later I have finally released book 3. The last 50k of the original book. I now have three books instead of one. The time has come to go on and produce Book 4 (which is half written). However, I'm not just following this path of prediction. I still aim to achieve my original goal of three big books. Hence, I am putting the first three books together as an omnibus. Still keeping the smaller books on the market. I intend to do this with each set of three books. It is my hope to produce nine smaller books to achieve this goal.
Setbacks
I still consider myself a newbie. I have managed to increase the social networking, tenfold. Aswell as writing I created a blog, a website and an author Facebook page. My sales are still poor but my expectations are more realistic. Firstly, there is so much talent on the market that I am just one author among millions. Secondly, I find myself STILL editing. I am once again re-reading books 1 through to 3 so I can re-edit for the omnibus. Unbelievable that after a million (exaggeration - well slightly) edits I still have mistakes.
Multi-tasking
No pennies for a professional edit. I also produce my own book covers. In fact, my roles are multiple. I write, edit, illustrate, market, network and I'm sure there's more that I just cannot think of at the moment.
Lot of Pleases
So what do I ask of the world:-
1 Buy my books
Book 1 Guardian-Dragons
Book 2 Flight of a Changeling
Book 3 Blood-Bride
2 Leave book reviews on Amazon. They are such a necessary tool for my improvement.
3 Join my blog for more updates on my works
http://onewomansquestuk.blogspot.co.uk/
4 Like my Facebook author page
https://www.facebook.com/catherinelvickers
5 Have a look at my website whereby I am attempting to explain the intricate details of my fantasy world.
The world of Aarabassa explained
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Thank you for visiting my author blog. I hope you will consider becoming a member. I also have a Website totally dedicated to my fantasy world of Aarabassa. Pop along if you have the time http://www.onewomansquest.co.uk/