Kayla Hicks 📚📖🦸‍♀️

When preparing to release a new book, authors want to build momentum by introducing readers to the concept of their book beforehand.

Authors can offer book comparisons, provide talk through videos, or talk with other authors in the genre.

• Book comparisons- If you compare your upcoming book to others in the genre, this is going to give readers a starting idea of what they can expect.

• Provide talk through videos- Each week for a month leading up to the release of The Backup Superhero, I released a video where I introduced and talked about characters in the story. This generated buzz and sparked an interest.

• Talk with other authors in the genre- If you can host a Space on Twitter, a podcast, or a YouTube video where you talk about your book concept with another author, this can build momentum. It also helps to have other authors validate your ideas to readers.

Taking these small steps helps readers know you are coming.

When I chose to break into the superhero genre, I took it on with a totally new concept.

By doing these three momentum builders, I was able to introduce my concept to an audience who expected a certain outcome for superheroes. This got my foot in the door and helped establish me ahead of time. I also found that I got more reviews and sales as an effect of doing this.

What mattered the most was that I lead with my hook, giving them a taste right off the bat.

What if you could be a superhero, even if you were a backup superhero? Even if you were doing all of the work and getting none of the credit?

In my experience as an author, book promotions are the most successful among new concepts in a genre.

Social media is intended for the social aspect.

While our follower count increases, our assumption would be that our sales would too, right?

This would seem to correlate to more sales, but, in my experience, social media is most useful for the social aspect. I have connected with numerous authors in all the genres I write in, which thankfully has brought me a decent amount of sales, but, I also made connections with their reader bases. This comes from being featured on their site or mentioned in their posts.

With that being said, I do come to wonder how many readers I am actually reaching through social media rather than just other authors.

Social media has been successful for new concepts in a genre.

When I say this, I am referring to my series, The Backup Superhero.

1. To start, I was a woman writing in a genre/topic that many women don't write in, which sparked some interest.

2. I explored the superhero concept in a new way. Superheroes who didn't have powers, and who were the bottom of the totem pole in regards to getting recognition for their work. The backup superheroes were really saving the day.

Because I explored a familiar topic in the superhero genre in a new way, when people saw my posts, it made them go the extra step.

Social media is a 50-50 shot at success in promotions.

Like everything else, putting a promotion on social media is a shot in the dark.

But, if you make a great pitch, it just might work.

When you don't plan accordingly for your book release, it's easy to find yourself crunched at the last moment.

Planning out a timeline for your book launch can be the difference between success and a miss.

As you perfect your processes in the beginning, why not start out on the right foot.

Make things easy for yourself by creating a blueprint that can be used time and again for future projects. By doing so, you can eliminate the tedious work of extra planning, later on, leaving more time for the important details. Like planning the book.

Your timeline should include the following:

• Manuscript milestones- Being sure to list the milestones for your manuscript such as the first draft, second draft, edited draft, beta reader draft, and final draft makes navigation easy. This also makes it easier to check your progress later on.

• Marketing schedule- Part of your timeline should include a marketing schedule. This will list when and how often you are marketing your book. Even simple posts at the beginning as plain as, I just started my fantasy book! So excited to see how the story is panning out!

• Reveals- Create a section titled reveals that includes character reveals, location reveals, description reveals, and the cover reveals. Doing this along the way helps build that momentum.

Creating and completing this timeline not only organizes you but builds your momentum.

Commit to creating this timeline to help not only yourself but to build your platform and reader base.

Indie authors can measure their success in these three wins: social media growth, a growing body of work, and knowledge in the industry.

Indie authors can start to see success the longer they're diligent.

Success in the writing world isn't instant.

What most authors forget is that you need to be diligent and take the time to make a name for yourself. This means remaining consistent with content creation and engaging with others. If you aren't continuously building, your reader base won't either.

Put in the work, and the rest will come.

Measuring success in three small wins proves your brand is growing.

Social media growth: As an author, we need to engage and make connections on social media. Once I started engaging with more people on these platforms, not only did I learn more, but I started seeing more sales. Others started becoming curious about my work as well, and that's a huge win.

A growing body of work: Most indie authors don't start to see traction until they grow their body of work. I didn't start to see more sales and more readers until I had 4 or 5 books to my name. Readers would read one book and then hop to the next.

Knowledge in the industry: The longer indie authors have skin in the game, the more they learn along the way. When the sales are low in the beginning, you find ways to cut costs but not corners. We research how to make covers, how to upload to platforms and how to make promotions.

Success may take time, but seeing progress in these three wins means it's working.

Using the subject line of the email as bait and then following through on that promise is the key.

Author emails often get lost in the shuffle of promotional emails.

How do we grab our subscriber's attention to keep them opening our emails?

No matter how hard we try, our emails are typically surrounded by numerous other promotional emails in the inbox. Because this is our reality, we need to figure out ways to catch their eye upon receipt. But how?

This is where we need to get creative.

Author's need to find ways to grab the subscriber's attention.

We grab the subscriber's attention by giving them a reason to open it.

That small subject line is where we hook our subscriber bait. What can we put in that subject line that will prompt the reader to open the email? Better yet, what instant win can we provide the subscriber with?

This is when the reader magnet concept comes into play.

Author's need to provide the subscriber with an instant win.

When we provide the author with a reader magnet or an instant win, they feel prompted to open the email.

By listing that instant win they will receive in that email in the subject line, you have a better chance of that subscriber opening that email. This could be a short story, a sneak peek, a new blog post, an exclusive subscriber piece of content, or a unique update. What will make it enticing?

When you advertise this instant win up front, your chances of the subscriber opening the email increases.

Without alpha readers, editors, and beta readers, authors risk missing mistakes that taint the reader experience.

Writers confuse the roles that alpha readers, editors, and beta readers do to get their book published.

• Alpha reader- the first person who reads your book for grammatical and developmental mistakes while it's in the first draft.

• Editor- a person who provides revisions based on the grammatical and development needs of the story.

• Beta reader- a person who reads the final product before publication and lets the author know their likes and dislikes from a reader's point of view.

Without using these types of readers before publication, authors run the risk of ruining the reader experience.

No matter how hard we try, mistakes get missed.

But, when you use these important readers, you decrease the chance of missing mistakes that a reader will find. Mistakes that could potentially ruin the story experience for the reader.

When the reader experience is tarnished, the chance they tell others about your book decreases.

Finding these three types of readers is easier than you think.

• Alpha readers- these can be found in family, friends, other writers, or people within your genre you connect with in critique groups.

• Editors- found on platforms such as Upwork, Reedsy, Manuscript Wishlist, and Fivver.

• Beta readers- you can ask trusted friends and family or critique group members.

Giving these readers direction is important to obtaining the right feedback.

Each set of readers has a different job, which has different roles to fill.

Alpha's and Editors are looking for plot holes and grammar mistakes. Beta readers need more direction, so provide questions so they know what to look for. Ask them what they didn't like about the story.

What they didn't like is the most important.

After I finished my first book, I decided it was my last book.

I felt as if all my creativity had vanished after publishing.

After that liberating feeling of finishing my book, I said, now what?

I had spent so long diving into the plot, these characters, and creating an entire fictional world. I had spent so many hours editing, revising, and rewording. I had used every ounce of my creativity.

What was I going to do with a now dry well of creativity?

I made the decision to stop writing books.

The hardest decision I made was to stop writing altogether.

If I didn't have any fresh ideas, what was going to spark them? I found myself staring day after day at a blank page, waiting for something to happen. And when it didn't, I felt like a failure.

What was worse was that some readers asked when I was going to release another book.

Then one day, inspiration struck, and the ideas started flowing.

Who knew that taking a break was what I really needed.

No writer's journey is the same. Some writers have ideas pouring out of them, while others need to ride the waves of creativity. This was a hard lesson to learn.

Despite my dry spell, inspiration struck for whatever reason, and I was able to start writing my next book.

When writers release a piece of content into the wild, they don't want to have to backtrack and make changes based on an audience's attention to detail.

Ruining the reader experience

Readers pay attention to every detail and analyze so many things within a book.

When writers don't take the time and spend the money for proper editing, they risk ruining the entire experience their book has to give the reader. If the most important scene in your book is riddled with grammar mistakes or has a gaping plothole in the middle, the only thing the reader will take away is that you rushed to push your book out of the nest.

Why is each important?

• Grammatical Editing- This is tightening up the basics of your word structure and readability. Despite how many times you edit your book, the person you pay to edit your book will find completely different grammar mistakes. One's that we, the writer, tend to auto-correct in our head. Don't let bad and simple grammar mistakes get in the way of your reader enjoying the story.

• Developmental Editing- Having another set of eyes look over your plot, story arch, character development, and more is crucial to ensuring your story is going to provide the reader with an enjoyable experience. The last thing you want is for readers to point out flaws with your storyline that could have been fixed by having someone edit your story's developmental aspects.

Don't cut corners

When you cut corners to publish quicker, you risk tainting not only your reader's experience but their future business.

When you hear the title author, what comes to mind? Is it novels, short stories, flash fiction, or maybe...novellas?

What sets novellas and novels apart?

I admit it, when I first took in the concept of being an author, my mind immediately jumped to several great authors who had already established themselves as great novelists. Never would I ever have considered writing a novella.

What sets novella's and novels apart are some key points.

1. Time: Novels have a plot, subplots, characters, and sub-characters storylines that span 50k-80k wordcounts. This takes time and planning to create a stellar timeline and avoid plotholes throughout 200 pages. Novellas mainly focus on word counts between 15k - 30k, consisting of one major plot and focusing on a handful of characters. Novella's cut down the process significantly.

2. Stamina: I myself have been able to release 3 books in a year, but the big difference was that one of them was a novella. By choosing a novella, it opens opportunities for you to produce and release more books in a shorter time frame. You could also create a series of novella's acting as episodes for readers, similar to the Kindle Vella idea.

Hone your skills as an author with novellas

Novellas are similar to short stories in regards to fitting a deep, meaningful storyline into a smaller word count. A challenge for sure, but not impossible.

With practice, you could be creating novellas back to back, which in turn could keep your name in the reader's mind.

Just be sure not to burn out. Plan, pace yourself and accomplish it.

We all hope that people will have something nice to say about our work, but what about when they don't?

What happened?

Not only was I working on a book series for the first time, but it was from my very first book, from when I was a brand-spankin'-new writer.

I sent out the second book in the series to 4 beta readers (people who give you feedback before you proceed into the publishing process) and received some mixed reviews until the last beta reader's feedback.

This last beta reader was honest with their feedback, which was exactly what we need as authors. They explained that they appreciated being able to read my story and felt honored to do so, however, they hated every minute of my story, especially the ending.

...ouch!

So, what positives do you take from that?

At first, it hurt. Something I had been nervous about doing, to begin with, had literally taken a swift kick to the gut.

So, I asked them why they hated it. If I really wanted to make it better, I needed to take this feedback constructively, because this was reality. Not everyone was going to like my storyline. The least I could do was hear them out.

They informed me that I had the bones of a good writer but I needed to work on my showing vs telling. I needed to help my readers connect with the characters.

They were a writer too, so they even gave me examples of showing vs telling using my own lines! Once I took all of this into consideration, I did a rewrite and had a much better book for it.

What many authors don't know is that writing blog posts improve several parts of your writing skill.

Why should you have a blog?

As a writer, the best thing you can do for your writing is to try every type of writing you are willing to try.

One of those things that enhances your writing skills is blog writing. And this is because it is totally different from writing long-form, novel-like writing.

How does it help you exactly?

• More exposure: By creating a blog, you have the chance to show your work to tons of people. People who are looking for specific topics...and who may want to check out other work by you. (By this, I mean books.)

• Quicker feedback: The difference between writing novels and blogs, is clear. People reading online aren't paying for most of the content unless the content is part of a paid subscription plan. This means, as more of these people see your blog, you have an increased chance of not only receiving feedback but quicker feedback on a piece.

• Topic choices: With a blog, you have more freedom to choose which topics you write about. It provides the ability for you to share your experiences and knowledge in a quick and more direct way with readers.

• It sharpens skills: When writing a blog post, you are getting directly to the point. With this writing comes fine-tuned skills to deliver your message by delivering it within a certain word count.

Dig in

When you take the plunge and dig into writing a blog, you open a new kind of audience.

Indie authors fight an uphill battle to be seen in the reading world, so having a successful book launch is key.

Why should you be using these three keys for your book launch?

The most important thing about a book launch is build-up and planning.

Without a plan for your book launch, it's as if you are sailing into the ocean without a compass. You want to make a plan of action to make sure as many readers as possible know your book or work is coming.

What are the magic keys?

1. Start marketing before the book is done. It is never too early to market your book. As your write the book, talk about your favorite characters, a difficult scene you're writing, or even ask readers in your genre what they think about your description.

2. Research. Be sure to research your keywords (for marketing and description), target audience (find out what's trending with them, helps to market your book), and the genre (again, marketing).

3. Connect. Reaching out to book reviewers before the book releases and offering them a free copy in exchange for an honest review goes a long way. Be sure to promote them too! (Give more than you take!) And seek out ARC readers through a social media post, offering them a free copy before release for an honest review. Getting reviews early on helps readers find you.

Follow-through

By making this plan, you are doing everything in your power to ensure a successful book launch for yourself.

Know that your book needs marketing before launch, during launch, and afterward to help readers keep finding you.

As an indie author, building a brand is difficult.

Setting yourself up for success

If you had the possibility to build a foundation that would draw in your audience, would you build it?

Many authors don't consider what building an author platform could do for them. How it can open avenues for readers to find you and your work.

Imagine your brand like a tree. You, the author, are the trunk of a tree and your branches are how readers find you.

• Branch one is an author's website. This is the home base for you and your work. Readers can find updates from you, your works/ content, and possibly a blog.

• Branch two is your social media. The twigs are Twitter, Instagram, Linked In, Facebook, and Tik Tok. This is how readers are going to find daily updates from you.

• Branch three is any other opportunities you create to connect with potential readers. This could look like courses you create or informative YouTube videos.

When you picture your platform, I want you to imagine it as a way that you create ways for readers to find you and the content you create.

What you need to remember

When you start building this platform, the key is consistency.

What do I mean about consistency? I mean regularly posting on social media. I mean keeping your website up to date. I mean being consistent in building this platform of yours.

If you aren't creating ways for your audience to find you, then who will?

Did you know that many authors don't consider themselves entrepreneurs?

What makes authors entrepreneurs?

According to the dictionary, an entrepreneur is a person who organizes and operates a business, taking on greater than normal financial risks in order to do so.

I want you to look at that and compare it to what authors do throughout their careers.

Actually, let's break it down.

The definition breakdown

• A person who organizes a business: Author's run a website or even an Amazon KDP account which is a doorway for them to start earning money for their work. They themselves are the business, churning out content.

• Taking on greater than normal financial risks to run this business: This in itself applies to so many aspects of the writing journey an author goes through. Marketing, hiring editors, ordering merchandise and inventory (hard copies of books).

Thinking in a different mindset

I know that not many authors consider themselves entrepreneurs, every one of us starts out purely enjoying our writing.

However, if you want to build a career as a writer, thinking of yourself as an entrepreneur will change your perspective on your career.

Do you read as much as you write?

How often we fail at reading

Unfortunately, more times than I'd like to admit, my love for writing has trumped my love for reading.

Once you start writing, there is no other feeling in the world. The curiosity that sparks from the surprises that arise as the story takes on a life of its own. The excitement and anxiousness of someone else's eyes reading over your work for the first time.

When there are numerous storylines, character paths, and such to think about, where does reading fit in?

Why you shouldn't stop reading

As excited as we are about the possibilities of the stories yet to be written, yet to be finished, our love for reading should never wane.

Reading also sparks creativity. It increases your vocabulary and introduces you to different styles of writing. Oh, and did I forget that it improves your writing if the other points didn't already drive that home.

Make that reminder

I also need to remind myself to keep reading, because it will keep me growing as an author.

Take it as research for your writing career if that makes it more important.

I spent $3,000 self-publishing my first book...which was way too much.

Ready to get my first book in front of readers, I paid Amazon's self-publishing services $3,000 to do so. I was a first-time writer, with high hopes and little knowledge of the self-publishing business.

When I only earned $115, I felt defeated.

You can self-publish for nearly free, with the right tools

If you are thinking of publishing for the first time like me, I suggest you try some of these tools to help cut your costs.

Let's be honest, self-publishing is going to cost you something. How much, however, is dependent upon your skills. Many authors shell out tons of money for cover creation, editing, formatting, and even publicists.

If you take the advice here, you can save yourself a pretty penny.

#1. What can you do yourself?

Assessing what you can do yourself is key in determining what services you need.

Can you create your own cover using a service such as Canva? Have you used Reedsy to format your book for free?

#2. Paying for editing is a must.

Editing is not something you skimp on.

We all have that person who's 'great at grammar and editing' but they won't catch everything. You can find quality freelancer for cheaper. (But, check their reviews and ask for a sample edit.)

#3. Publish it yourself

Post your book on Amazon, or Ingram Spark yourself. Don't pay someone to do it.

Don't be like me and spend tons of money. The same goal can be accomplished with a much smaller budget.

When we move away from focusing on the number of followers we have on Twitter, we take a hard look at the engagement aspect of Twitter.

What comes from engaging more on Twitter?

Engaging on Twitter means looking at responses and Tweets with a different mindset.

Each time you read a tweet or a response, how are you taking in this information? Are you actively reading it? Are you thinking of answers, solutions, or related information to start a conversation?

What's even more important is being able to respond by highlighting something the other person did well and showing them the connection you made in reaction to what they wrote. Doing so will demonstrate how active a reader you are, as well as how willing you are to engage in a conversation.

The benefits of engaging

Plain and simple, the more you engage, the more connections are made and the more that you learn.

Twitter is a social platform, after all. A free way to learn things from other seasoned people in the particular area or field you are interested in. A way to make connections and build upon not only yourself but a community.

If you want to have more engaging conversations, align yourself with more people that lift you and enable you to learn from them, change the way you engage. Make a conversation.

Where are the readers? The most common question among writers today.

It's up to you to find your readers

For writers, finding readers for our stories feels like searching for a needle in a haystack.

But the truth is, we need to make it easier to connect with readers. This means it's up to us to create bridges to find our readers. These bridges come in the form of a website, a universal link, or consistent social media posts.

When you open these bridges for readers, you provide them accessibility to your work.

Dedication and hard work

No matter where you are on your journey, your dedication and hard work need to remain consistent.

Without your dedication to producing a revolving door of content, engaging social media posts, and connectivity opportunities, that needle sinks deeper into the haystack.

This haystack I speak of is the thousands of other writers competing to stay in the eye of readers every second of the day.

When it all boils down

If your goal is to grow your audience, you need to find your readers. That means building connectivity bridges for your readers to access your work.