Author Archives: Bonnie Taylor Writes

This year has been different (for my writing and my level of success)

It’s hard to believe that we’re almost half way through 2019! It seems like we were celebrating the start of 2017 two weeks ago. Thankfully, this year, I didn’t make any resolutions about weight loss or self improvement. This year, I decided to kick start my writing career!

Let me start by saying that though my sales hadn’t stalled, they were nowhere near where they would need to be to finally achieve my goal of being a full time writer. They still haven’t hit that coveted level, but with the changes I made going in to 2019, that goal looks more achievable than ever before.

The first thing I did was start listening closely to the advice that was being given by successful authors. They tell you that it’s best to build a fan base, make a marketing plan, and plan a full series before ever releasing a book! But what if you’ve already released books? You can’t just erase your online presence and start over, right?

No, you can’t but you can consider those books that are already published a good start to a back list and start fresh with new material following the model outlined above so, on the recommendation of a fellow author, I spent $60.00 on a Book Sweeps promotion to giveaway the first book in a fresh new series that I was working on. As promised, I added over 600 email addresses to my mailing list. It cost $60 plus two free digital copies of The Wisdom of Coyotes but I’ve managed to retain 90% of those subscribers and, if you know anything about mailing list subscriptions, that’s an amazing number! Several of these new followers also followed my Facebook Author Page and engage on it regularly. Another win!

How do I feed these hungry new subscribers? I started a serial in my true genre, (paranormal/ghost), that consists of short reads released monthly. Each story is a case investigated by my paranormal research team, (who are the main characters in my first novel series). When I release my monthly newsletter, I introduce the next installment and give away the last in series free for five days. I immediately see in increase in downloads and collect my royalties on page reads. (They’re all enrolled in Kindle Unlimited).

That brings me to my next point. Wide is not always the right answer. All of my previous releases are wide and while I do see a few sales on Apple and Nook, they aren’t enough of an income source to deter me from releasing my new books exclusively on Amazon. If my success in KU continues, I may pull my back list from those other sites and advertise them on Amazon.

The next thing that I learned? Series are the in thing. I have two stand alone novels that could easily turn in to series but all of my new writing will be series, period. And the marketing strategy is simple. With each new release, advertise the first in series, not the new book! It works. Trust me on this one.

Another, more controversial topic is rapid release. Some say that rapid release leads to poor quality but the two things don’t have to be synonymous. If you set a daily writing goal, keep in mind the time necessary for quality editing and book cover design. It is possible to release a quality work in thirty days and the more you do it the more disciplined and faster you become. I currently write under my own name and a pen name (for a different genre) and release two or more works per month. Granted, they are not all novel length but I’m steadily building a back list in two genres and seeing sales or page reads every day on my Book Report!

Lastly, I’m writing what I love but also following the market. I see what’s trending in my genre and try to accommodate my readers changing tastes. I pay attention to the covers and blurbs of the top 10 in my genre regularly and shift accordingly. I also play with my keywords and recently learned that a keyword space in the Kindle set up is not necessarily a space for a keyword. It can be used to add a key phrase so you get more keywords out there without going over your preset limit. So, the keyword Ghost becomes Ghost hunting haunted houses. Paranormal becomes New Adult Paranormal Shifter Romance. See how that works?

It’s been an interesting start of the year and I couldn’t be more excited with the boost in book sales! My next great adventure? Figuring out the secret to better ROI on Amazon and Facebook Ad Campaigns. It’s a scary thing for me but I’m determined!

New Releases

I am currently working on a serial fiction collection entitled, The Haunted Collection. The Kindle edition of the third short work went live today on Amazon!

Remembered – The Ghosts of Katrina

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina ripped through New Orleans, Louisiana leaving devastation and ruin in its path. Following a mandatory evacuation order, many people fled to safety. For reasons of their own, others stayed to ride out the storm. Many did not make it, but those who did faced days of isolation as up to three feet of water covered the city when the levees broke.

In this fictional tale, one unlikely couple bunker down in the French Quarter and wait for the waters to recede. They think they’ve found safety among friends in the abandoned city but one of them encounters a presence so evil it will turn their world upside down.

When psychic genius Thomas Lynch sees accounts of paranormal activity in New Orleans on the news, he convinces his boss, paranormal investigator David Dean, to take him there to investigate. What they find there will change them forever.

My Quaint Little Space

In keeping with the cleaning of my mental cobwebs, I have also cleaned and reorganized my writing space. This is a very important step for a reemerging author. You need a space that sparks your imagination. One that keeps you focused, but that feels like a safe space to put your most sensitive work on paper.

I know that most writers, like me, believe that a cluttered space is a sure sign of a writers mind at work, but even I can’t focus on writing while thinking about the last time I vacuumed my office! I have now surrounded myself with things that I love, including my new X Files Pop Vinyl collection, and I’m ready to grow some creative clutter!imag0673

I’ve Been A Very Bad Writer!

A lot has changed in my life in the past few years and, unfortunately, I fell off the writing wagon again. With multiple unfinished manuscripts and commitments, I needed to go out in to the world and earn a living that would sustain a freshly single mother with a mortgage and plethora of two income bills!

I can finally say that I have comfortably reestablished myself and can now commit to writing again! Just typing those words feels like freedom!

As the days turn to weeks I hope to have completed the third book in my paranormal series and continued work on a young adult piece that I am creating for my nephew. Both are long overdue.

Stop by and see my progress! I’ve missed you!

Ghost Hunter Interview

Meet Brenda

Brenda Williams Archer grew up in a small community in the middle of Cajun country on Bayou Beouf.  The house she grew up in was built in the 1950’s on the site of an old plantation.  The plantation house was torn down because of all the paranormal activity associated with it.  Doors and windows being opened, objects being moved, etc.

The house that was built on the plantation site started having similar activity, but only when she was around.  Once she moved out, all of the activity stopped in the house.  However, it never stopped for her.

She started doing research on paranormal happenings and haunting.  The more she read, the more excited she became because she realized she was not alone and that others experienced the same things.  She began going with friends to graveyards and old houses trying to find things and “speak” to spirits.

Over the years, she’s had different experiences. She has seen visions of things that happened in certain places.  She has had names pop into her head, only to find that someone with that name was either buried in the particular graveyard she was in or lived at the house she was investigating.

About a year ago, she learned of Louisiana Spirits Paranormal Investigators.  She contacted them and requested to join.  Now she belongs to the largest paranormal team in the South and she hasn’t looked back.

Brenda is very passionate about the paranormal and doesn’t mind sharing her experiences with those who may be interested. I asked Brenda to share her knowledge and experiences with m. To read my interview with Brenda, click here: Brenda Williams Archer Interview on Hubpages

Why I hate that I love writing … sometimes

I usually hate my love of writing when the bills are coming due. The mortgage company doesn’t want to hear that book sales are down and job prospects are low. The same is true for the mechanic when the car breaks down and the kids when they want a new gadget or trip to the mall.

 

I hate that I love writing when I remember what it was like to have regular bi-weekly pay checks and the ability to budget and plan because I always knew how much money was coming in even though my work did nothing to fulfill me or make me feel whole.

 

I used to hate it when, after a long day of work, I settled in to my bed and couldn’t sleep a wink because some imaginary character was prodding me like an insistent child, demanding that I go jot down his story.

 

I hate the uncomfortable feeling I get when I run in to former colleagues who ask, “What are you doing now?” and look at me with credulity when I say, “I am a writer, now.”

 

Finally, I hate that the modern writer needs to be a supreme marketer in order to survive. Writers are generally introverts by nature and the fact that they must become overt sales people is psychological trauma.

 

Thank goodness for the all the times that I love my love of writing. Like when someone reads my work and tells me, exuberantly, how much they related to the characters, or how my advice on a subject helped them out or made their life easier for a day. If it weren’t for those times, I would go back to pretending to be someone else.

 

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Short Story Submission – Cutting My Fluff

I completed a short story for submission to an anthology today. When I completed the first draft I realized that I had gone over the maximum word count per the guidelines. I’m not sure why, but I convinced myself that it was 5000 words when it was actually 4000. I cut roughly 700 words from the story and thought, with this limited word count, the story will surely suffer from the loss! When I reread it, however, it was a much cleaner, crisper, better organized piece. It’s funny how well you can identify and erase your “fluff” when you have to! It was definitely an eye opening exercise for me, anyway.