My cat’s reaction when I told him I have another book out.
The past few months have been kind of a whirlwind for me. Since the start of the year, I have released three books in different genres: The Rogue Raider, the third in a historical trilogy; Heartbreak & Outbreak, a rom-com mystery; and Elephants on the Roundabout, a travel memoir. I have learned so much in the process:
1. It feels great to complete a trilogy. I have a fourth book in my Islands of the Crown series, but at least my readers won’t have a cliffhanger ending now that book 3 is out. Starting a series is making a promise to a reader, and I fulfilled that.
2. It is possible to have a photo-intensive book like “Elephants on the Roundabout” on Kindle. I probably could have hired someone to do it, but when I asked around, I maybe got one response for a designer who could do this. I persisted on doing it myself not just because I am cheap, but because I wanted to have a file I could update whenever I wanted. I publish books so regularly, my back matter is constantly changing.
Ultimately, my book file ended up 13 MB even after compressing the pics, but it uploaded just fine. Delivery fee on Amazon is $2.00 due to the photos, so I priced the book at $3.99. As I am growing my newsletter, I have also decided to use this book as a magnet. You can buy it here or subscribe to my newsletter and get it free here.
3. The cozy mystery genre must be a strong market. Since launching Heartbreak & Outbreak last month, I have been seeing steady sales and page reads. I really enjoy this genre and hope to continue writing more rom-com mysteries.
4. I have worked non-stop. I am taking just a teeny tiny breather to reassess where I am and to recharge my batteries. I will be attending a writer’s conference later this week and look forward to gaining inspiration there.
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I have a lot of story ideas. Today, I made a list and it covered a whole page, two columns. The question is, what should my next project be? What do YOU think?
a) a spooky story set in the Philippines
b) a Beauty & the Beast historical romance set in 1768 Spain
c) a young adult mermaid fantasy
d) a rom-com mystery with a spunky heroine and a rugged hero
e) a travel memoir
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