Jane (I'm Still Single) Jones -- 1 Year Anniversary

On May 27, a year ago, I published the romantic comedy JANE I'm-Still-Single JONES. Join me in a cyber toast to the 1 year anniversary of this book's digital publication.

Jane, as I fondly call this book, was an immediate hit. It made the Top 100 Paid list faster than its predecessor Just One Look. To date, it has sold about 60,000 copies or more. (I really need to find the time to collate all the sales numbers from the various ebook sites.)

In December, I sold World French Rights for Print and Ebook to Bragelonne. The print book is being publishing this month, and I can hardly wait to see the book in French.

Jane (I'm Still Single) Jones: The Storyline

What could be worse for a former high school beauty queen who never landed the only man she ever loved than attending--alone--a 10-year high school reunion in a small town teetering on the edge of a time warp?At least that's how successful textile designer Jane Louise Jones views her situation and her hometown, just south of nowhere in the rolling hills of Louisiana, where a woman is still looked at as a failure if she isn't married. At least, that's what her grandmother and all the other blue-haired women of the Vernon Ladies Bridge Club would have her believe.

Jane is used to dealing with challenges, but she's decidedly nervous about her reunion. What if Morgan Sherwood, the town boy-wonder who made good in a big way, shows up? Morgan was once her secret love, a geeky teen who stole her heart and then broke it before leaving town forever.

Fortunately, her best friend assures her that Morgan will be a no-show. It's terrible when you can't trust your BFF! Morgan arrives with his entourage in a stretch limo. He's not a geeky kid any more. He's six feet of tanned, rippling muscles, and he plans to focus his high-powered brain and use every masculine charm he possesses to seduce the lovely Miss Jones.

With a former classmate intending to claim him as husband number four, a Hollywood starlet who shows up to party with him, and an old boyfriend intent on stealing Jane's affection, Morgan has more obstacles than he'd expected.Throw in the Ladies of the Bridge Club, lots of southern charm, and a ten-year old betrayal, and you have all the ingredients for a heartwarming, funny, sexy romantic comedy. Can Jane and Morgan get it right this time?

Jane wants to resist. She really does. Her brain says no, but her body says, oh, baby! Yes, yes, yes. Smoldering desire, thwarted for ten years, explodes into passion. Will it burn away their doubts or turn their love into ashes?

Takeaway Truth

Jane (I'm Still Single) Jones is a fun romp of a story. I love this book, and I love being an Indie Author!

Cheryl Bolen: A Stunning Anniversary

This morning I welcome my friend Cheryl Bolen to SlingWords. Cheryl is celebrating her 1 year anniversary as an Indie Author. Take it away, Cheryl!

A Stunning Anniversary
by Cheryl Bolen

I started my awesome ebook journey the last week of May, 2011, with four full-length Regency historical novels for which I had gotten my rights back after they went out of print. During this first year I have indie published 16 books, have sold 200,000 copies, and have made more money than I made in the past 14 years publishing ten books with New York publishers.

Things Change

Recently I had a long talk with my fabulous agent. Though she wanted very much to sell my humorous Regency romance mystery trilogy, she told me with great honesty she couldn't get me the kind of money I'm making indie publishing. She also said few of her authors can get their publishers to release more than two books a year, and she pointed out the $15,000 advance (per book) she could expect to get me would be split into several payments.

It was a sad decision to make, but most of my books from now on won't be available in book stores — if book stores manage to still be around. (Probably my last New York-published book, Marriage of Inconvenience, will come out in October.)

Ebook Journey

My initial strategy when I went indie was to price one book (A Lady by Chance) at $.99 and the other three (Brides of Bath series) at $3.49 each. My first month I sold a modest 1,000 books. At Joan Reeves' urging, I added my World War II love story, It Had to be You, during that first month.

Things didn't heat up for me until the three-month mark when I published three original Regency historicals, one of which was a novella. My pricing philosophy on these was that since they had — for one reason or another — failed to garner a publishing contract, I would offer them for just $.99. That's when the sales really took off.

One of those ebook originals, My Lord Wicked, went to number 2 in Regency romance on Amazon (of about 6,000 titles), and The Earl's Bargain skyrocketed to number 1 its first week and was my first book to break into the Top 100 sellers in the Kindle Store. The Earl's Bargain stayed at number 1 in Regency (at Amazon) for weeks and in the Top 20 for months. It is still in the Top 40. To date, it has sold 40,000 copies.

Sales & Royalties

Since ebook royalties for indie books at $.99 are only about $.35 a book, you can see I have earned just $14,000 on Earl's Bargain, but these books will stay in cyberspace — and hopefully sell — in perpetuity. Also, having books in the Top 20 gets an author awesome exposure. Between four and five months into my indie publishing I had seven different books in the Regency Top 20. When readers like one of your books, often they will buy all of them. There has not been a single day since August that I haven't had a book in the Top 20 Regency.

I have had two more $.99 titles — ebook originals — capture the number 1 spot on Amazon's Regency bestsellers, my novella Christmas at Farley Manor (which also broke into the Top 100 sellers in the Kindle Store) and my March release, His Lordship's Vow.

Ironically, those three books which hit number 1 were "traditional" Regencies, shorter books with no consummated sex scenes. This is a genre New York abandoned a decade ago, but which my readers love. The best reviews I have ever gotten in my life have been for His Lordship's Vow. Even though it wasn't "hot," readers thanked me for writing a satisfying love story.

My best month I sold 38,000 books. I'm tapering off now between 14,000 and 18,000 sales a month. Half of my 16 indie books are priced $2.99 or above, and on books $2.99 or more, I make a gratifying 70 percent royalty. My New York published books netted me just 6 percent royalties — or less if they was sold through a book club or other distribution channels.

All the previously mentioned bestsellers are from Amazon. While I sell fairly well at the iTunes store and have had several bestsellers there, I have yet to figure out why my books aren't selling like that on Barnes & Noble.

What I've Learned


• Though the $.99 books won't make you rich, they bring you readers, as do free books. I've done very few free days on my books, though I recently moved one of my Regency novellas to free to attract new readers. I'm also going to offer one of my contemporaries free permanently to attract readers to that four-book contemporary series, Texas Heroines in Peril.

• Inventory is important. I've got 11 books in the same genre, the genre which accounts for most of my sales. It's extremely difficult for a person with just one or two books to have the number of sales I've experienced. It's the kiss of death to jump genres with each book.

• It's not easy to get readers to switch genres. More than ninety percent of my sales are in Regency romance, the genre for which I was already established when I began indie publishing. Eleven of my 16 indie books are Regencies (and Harlequin offers a couple more of my Regencies as ebooks). Though my World War II love story has sold steadily, it only accounts for 1 percent of my sales (2,000 copies). Ditto for my four-book romantic suspense series, Texas Heroines in Peril. Most of those who are buying my Heroines in Peril "also bought" my Regencies; so, they followed me. But romantic suspense readers are not finding me.

• I have done almost no promotion and no advertising. I rarely Facebook, rarely visit Goodreads, and I'm not on Twitter. I blog occasionally and maintain a simple website. I do believe social networking can be helpful, but I'm just too busy writing. It took me almost five months to finish Marriage of Inconvenience to fulfill my last New York contract, and I've written several novellas this past year and am finishing up the second book in my Regency mystery series.

• Because of the proliferation of indie authors and indie books, it's almost impossible to get an indie book reviewed through traditional channels.

• Even though I have a degree in English and have massive editing experience, I can't proofread my own books. I pay eBook Editor, run by my journalist son, to find my errors.

Today on Amazon I was pleased to see that first book I put up one year ago, A Lady by Chance, is still in the Top 20 Regency bestsellers. Is this a great business model, or what?

Takeaway Truth

Many of my friends have embraced indie publishing, just as I have, and it's given all of us a new lease on the writing life.

Chris Keeslar & Boroughs Publishing

Most writers know or know of Chris Keeslar, formerly of Dorchester Publishing. You also know that Dorchester is defunct, but Mr. Keeslar edits on. He is now the Editor-in-Chief of Boroughs Publishing.

Romance Fiction Contest

Boroughs Publishing is sponsoring its First Romance Short Story Contest. (See @ FIRST SIGHT -- remove spaces of course.) No entry fee!

Here's what their newsletter announcement said:

Looking to get noticed? Boroughs is offering a great opportunity for you to show off, whether you’re published or unpublished, whether you’re a first-time author or have a trunk full of novels under your bed. Short fiction is the simplest of all art forms—and the trickiest. With a limited amount of space to show us your world, your characters, their conflict…and then prove why they just have to be together, you have to be smart, be sexy, be different. And it has to happen in the blink of an eye.
Think you can succeed? We know you can.

About The Contest

The contest is open to published and unpublished authors alike. You may enter more than once, but please submit each story separately.

Each story should be self-contained enough to feature a resolution of any inherent conflicts and provide at least a happy-for-now ending. Looking for a place to get started? Here’s a thought: Use side characters of your previously written novels or back story connections of your characters that part and meet again.

Entry Details

1. Contest is now open and closes 11:59 p.m. PST, July 1, 2012.


2. Send your entry to submissions at boroughspublishinggroup.com

3. ROMANCE story of 6,000 to 10,000 words, double spaced, Times New Roman 12 point, with one-inch borders, submitted in MS Word

4. Please put your story title in the header flush right.

5. DO NOT put your name on the body of the story, as the rounds will feature anonymous judging, but in your query letter include your name and contact information, the story title and its suggested sub-genre.

6. In the subject line of your submission email, please put “@FS: [YOUR STORY TITLE]”

7. Include “the pitch”: a 15 to 25 word encapsulation of the story. Be brilliant. You will be judged on this!

How It Works

Phase 1: On July 3, 2012, story titles and pitches will be posted ANONYMOUSLY on our website for open voting. Those that receive the top 25% of the vote in their sub-genre will be selected as SEMI-FINALISTS to go on to…

Phase 2: On July 17, 2012, the story’s first page (or first ~250 words) will be posted ANONYMOUSLY on our website for votes along with the title and pitch. In addition, our Editors will weigh in. The top three stories in each sub-genre will be selected as FINALISTS to go on to…

Phase 3: On July 24, 2012, the first three pages of the story will be posted for voting. Bit by tantalizing bit you’ll see who has what it takes—and so will we. The announcement of the winner of the @ FIRST SIGHT contest will be made at 5:45 p.m., Friday, July 27, 2012, at our Publisher Open House at the RWA convention in Anaheim, California, and the results will be Tweeted and publicized on our website.

How To Vote

Beginning on July 3, 2012, and for each phase of the contest, you and everyone you know should visit www.boroughspublishinggroup.com, find the link to the @ First Sight contest, then cast your votes for stories that tickle your fancy and make you want more. You may vote for every story you like.

Prizes

All Finalists will be offered:

• A contract to have their story published and sold by Boroughs Publishing Group.
• A full editorial process to make their story shine.

 The Finalist with the most popular website votes will be offered a critique by an editor of a full-length manuscript submission to Boroughs, with a turn-around time of two weeks.

The Winner, chosen from our Finalists by our editorial staff, will receive:

•  cover art specifically tailored to the story
• A critique by our Editor-in-Chief of a full-length manuscript submission to Boroughs, with a turn-around time of two week
• 75% of the winning story’s net royalties

Takeaway Truth

Someone will be one of the finalists. Someone will win. Maybe it will be you -- but only if you enter.

Honoring Those Who Died

On this Memorial Day, take a break from the barbeque and games and gatherings of family and friends to remember those who gave all in the name of freedom.

Takeaway Truth

"How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!" ~ Maya Angelou

The High Cost of Freedom

Tomorrow we celebrate Memorial Day here in the United States. On that day, we honor those who have fallen in too many wars and conflicts.

From The Old Issue by Rudyard Kipling:

"All we have of freedom, all we use or know - This our fathers bought for us long and long ago."

Takeaway Truth

I give my respect, admiration, and heartfelt gratitude to the men and women who have served and are serving in the United States Armed Forces.

3 Sales Rank Tools

Authors are obsessed with book sales. Many are addicted to the sales numbers published daily by the ebook sellers.

If you want to track your book sales or sales rankings, here are 3 ways to do it:

NovelRank

NovelRank is a free website where you can track your Amazon Sales Rank at all the countries where Amazon has a sales outlet: UK, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, China, Italy, and Spain. They offer the ability to track print and ebook sales along with charting, RSS feeds, and real-time data.

Book Chart Info

BookChart.info is tracking "180,046 books by 95,133 authors. These books have appeared on the iTunes charts about 15,702,000 times across 54 genres in 6 countries since 1 May, 2011."

This website charts sales at iTunes. Use BookChart for a number functions including viewing past iTunes Book Charts. Use the chart pages to find out which books moved up on a chart, which books have fallen on the charts, and which books are new. BookChart.info is currently tracking 180,046 books by 95,133 authors. These books have appeared on the iTunes charts about 15,702,000 times across 54 genres in 6 countries since 1 May, 2011.

RankForest

Rankforest is another way to monitor market performance and Amazon sales trends. The Basic Account is free. You can change account status at any time. With paid accounts, you can view historical data, export, read reviews, set up alerts, compare multiple titles.

Takeaway Truth

Like it or not, if you want to be successful as a writer, you must also be a good business person. Studying statistics to see what's working and what's not is crucial to long-term success.

Defining A Series

I've been engaged in a couple of email discussions about series. One is with a writer who's thinking of turning indie, and the others are friends who are print published and indie published. I thought I'd share some of my thoughts about series with you since it's occupying my brain at the moment.

(By the way, just in case you're interested, all of my books mentioned in this article are available at all major ebook sellers.)

I have 3 series in progress: Texas One Night Stands; The Good, The Bad, and The Girly; and San Antone Two-Step. When completed the Texas series will have 4 books and so will The Good, The Bad, and The Girly. San Antone Two-Step is, as the name implies, 2 books.

I also have a set of romantic comedies, each with cover art depicting black lingerie. I call these books The Lingerie Covers. Some call them a series, but in actuality the only elements joining the books together are the cover art work and the fact that they are all romantic comedies. I've published three from my backlist with these covers. I'm getting ready to publish the 4th this month and that will be all of The Lingerie Covers.

I'll come back to these series and pseudo-series in a moment.

(This article previously appeared in Writing Hacks, my subscription newsletter for writers. Subscribe today if you want to read articles like this as soon as they are published.)


What Constitutes A Series?

A lot of writers want to do series because readers like series books. Witness the popularity of not just mystery series, but fantasy/SF novels and romance novels of every niche sub-genre that contain continuing characters and often "world-building." In fact, some writers want to create series so much that they often take what amounts to stand-alone books and try to group them under some umbrella.

Of course, planning a series and then writing it is the "easy" way to get a series going. However, if you're taking already written books and packaging them as a series, be careful. Not all books co-exist harmoniously unless planned that way in the beginning.

Pointers To Get You Going

Whether you're starting at the beginning or taking already written books, here are some questions to consider to help you focus your ideas.

1. Who is your target audience? Age, gender, and other demographics. This is who you want to sell to so look at other series in your genre that seem to appeal to these same demographics and see how those books are packaged. Don't copy, but learn from what they're doing and model your project in the same way.

2. Do you have a series name? Is the series name reflective of the unifying elements in each book?

3. If you look at all of the books -- written and planned -- what are the unifying concepts that identify  them as a series?

4. Can you write 1 sentence that states what the series is about? Do it now, just as you wrote a 1 sentence (called a logline in screenwriting) for each book in the series. It's important to be able to do this because it shows you have a firm focus on each story and on the series as a whole.

5. Do you have a cover art concept including fonts that visually links each book in the series?

Back To My Series/Pseudo-Series

Texas One Night Stands is set primarily in Alton County, pure fiction, and the characters are linked through Book 4. In Book 1, The Trouble With Love, heroine Susannah Quinn and hero D.E. Hogan are destined to live happily ever after. Susannah's cousin Judy Anne Palmer is mentioned in this first book at the beginning, middle, and end. A secondary character in this book is Allison Platt who will be the heroine of Book 3, Forever Starts Tonight.

If I had been smart, I'd have made cousin Judy Anne Palmer have a more prominent role in the first book. She becomes the heroine of Book 2, Romeo and Judy Anne, along with her hero Roman Carlisle. In this book, she refers to her cousin Susannah, but Susannah doesn't appear "on stage" at all. Not smart. In this book, Judy Anne's best friend Heather and Roman's brother Brian are at crossed swords from the moment they meet each other. Naturally, they're fated to be the stars of Book 4, Crazy For Love.

By the time I finished Book 2, I'd learned my lesson. Everyone will appear in Book 3 and in Book 4.

Moral of this story is to fully use the characters you create. If readers liked them, they want to see them in future books and know that they truly had their happy ending.

When I started my series The Good, The Bad, and The Girly with Book 1, Old Enough To Know Better, I'd learned my lesson. In that book, which is Stormy and Sean's story, I introduce Stormy's daughters who will each be a star of the remaining 3 books.

San Antone Two Step was previously published as a book and its sequel. Both books are set in San Antonio, Texas, with Darcy Benton and Chase Whitaker in Nobody's Cinderella and Darcy's brother Bruce appearing again as the hero in the sequel which I have titled Cinderella Blue to be published in June.


Takeaway Truth

Give a great deal of thought before your get started on writing a series. You can save yourself a lot of backtracking and headaches if you do it right from the beginning.