Not sure where to begin with what’s been going on over the last couple weeks. Last time I spoke about dealing with Hurricane Helene, now it’s Milton. My office got a few inches of water and destroyed my beautiful skull rug, my desk, bookcases, and storage cabinet. Thankfully I made sure all of my books and photos were lifted at least a foot off the ground prior to the storm. The weird thing is we didn’t lose power. It went out probably more than twenty times during the storm, but it came back every time. Usually we’re first to lose power, but with underground electrical cables that shouldn’t be the case. Apparently, the crew from Huron Michigan fixed our overhead main cables outside of our neighborhood correctly after Helene. Everything worked as it should during Milton, and we were one of the few with power. A huge blessing, especially since our daughter lost power and water. When they came back to town after evacuating to Miami, they were able to stay with us until their power came back on.
I had a double new release too, but you’d never know it. We didn’t have internet, and I had nothing set up to be online with everything packed to evacuate. So, Origin of Violet and VioleNt were released quietly, without anyone noticing. Which sucks, but it was out of my control, force majeure. Now I need to play catch up with advertising and I’m not in the right headspace to tackle it right now. Despite the obstacles I have a had some sales, some were preorders, but a sale is a sale. Maybe I can boost it with some focus next week.
The Readers Break the Internet Horror Edition was cancelled due to the hurricane also. I was disappointed, but there was no way for me to participate. I’m planning to do something else; I just haven’t worked out the details yet, but you’ll be first to know. I want to do a fundraiser of some sort.
I’m having a raffle for everyone who posted a review for these books from my ARC campaign on October 31st. I’m going to reach out to my ARC readers and remind them to post their reviews, which will hopefully gain a few more reviews for both books. But so far, I’m doing fairly well with reviews on these two. I’m so grateful that I was able to set up Book Sirens for them and between that platform and my ARC campaign I’ve gotten double digit reviews. Yay! Even better, they’re mostly very positive and the average rating is over four stars which makes me really happy. Actually, all of my books are over four stars. Haunted Hunting Camp has the most reviews, and it’s got the lowest ratings at just four stars which is spectacular considering it’s the first thing I wrote and it’s definitely not my best work.
I’m excited for the future of my writing and book sales, I think I’m starting to gain some traction, but it definitely increases when I spend time advertising. I’m going to be filing the paperwork to make E.N. Chanting Author a business so I can file my taxes with business expenses allocated to my business. I’m also working hard on finishing Vile, the final piece of Violet’s Tales: A Duet and a Half. I have most of the story worked out and I hope I can keep it at a reasonable number of pages. As a writer who loves to spin a yarn with plenty of details it’s difficult to edit myself and cut unnecessary words. If you’re a regular reader of my blogs you may have noticed this.
I saw a post by another indie author who was upset with a colleague for not taking their advice and constructive criticism. Yes, it was very kind of them to try to help the other author make their book the best it can be, but…you can’t make someone take your advice. Just ask my kids how often they listen to me. Indie authors come in all shapes and sizes, I mean this figuratively, and they don’t all write at the same level. Should they hire a professional editor? Yes. A professional cover designer? Yes. Should they only put out a quality book that makes sense? Yes. But people do what they want, I don’t think we should be offended that some authors don’t do things the way they should. We especially can’t get upset when they don’t follow our advice. This particular author who tried to help, had spent a good amount of time reading the book and offering tangible advice and I think they were most upset by the waste of their time, which I understand. But they were also upset this author published their book in the state it was in which was apparently a formatting nightmare and lacked any editing, because they believe it will waste reader's time. Thus, the indie author moniker will be tainted by a poorly written product making readers leery of indie author’s books, which may be justified. But I believe readers are smart enough to judge each book individually.
This week I also got my first photo credit. My colleague, JP Stevens book, The Graves, came out and I got a copy. The image for chapter two is my swamp photo, it’s actually on my property in Dixie County, FL. I’m really proud of my photo being in his book because it’s the first time any of my photos have been published that I know about, I have some on photo sites so maybe someone who’s purchased one has published it somewhere, but this is the first I’ve seen. Now I can claim I’m a published author and photographer. Cool.
In the midst of all the natural disasters I’m also still recovering from major hand and wrist surgery. I’ve missed two weeks of physical therapy from the storms, but I think I’m doing well. I can use my right hand some and I’m typing with two hands now. Still only a finger or two at a time, but it’s so much better than just one finger on my left hand. I’ve been diligent with my exercises and I’m hoping to improve my handwriting soon, it’s rough. I feel bad every time I sign a book with my current scribble, hopefully my readers understand.
I’m also working on a craft project for my book signings next year. I’m making phone and bookmark charms. They’ll be themed after Violet’s Tales with bloody knives and cats, I think they’re super cute. I'll also make them available for purchase on my website. I will include them in PR book boxes and for readers who purchase signed copies. They’ll be ideal for horror lovers and horror book lovers.
For the month of September, I finished with 968 orders and made around $45 on Amazon. For October I have around 10 orders so far and the royalties are about $24. It’s weird to think how large that difference is, if I was better at math I’d calculate it out exactly. But math isn’t my subject. I can tell you; one factor is the free event I did for Force of Corruption and Force Majeure. It also has to do with the number of pages read. Ideally the people who got my books free will start reading them and increase my numbers but more importantly, I need more reviews on Amazon. I have quite a few on Goodreads, but not nearly enough to help me on Amazon. I’m looking forward to the day I get into triple digits of reviews. My friend, Louise Glass, author of Dream Lover and the coming Arianna’s Story, has over 200 reviews and she started with her first release around the same time as me. But she’s a machine with advertising, she’s always working on getting her book in front of new readers and it’s so impressive. I just can’t do it. But God bless her, she’s doing really well as a result of her hard work. I wish I could hire her to advertise for me too. Lol
If you’re safe and dry in an undamaged building, count your blessings. Many here still don’t have power or a roof over their head, please include them in your prayers if you’re into that sort of thing, if not, please send some good vibes their way.
As always thank you for reading!
Find my books on Amazon, KU, and my website: https://www.enchantingauthor.com
I have signed copies available and some special exclusive merchandise.