Hey ,
This is the weekly Thursday NL for S.M. McCoy for all things fantastical sci-fi fantasy and paranormal adventures with a splash of romance.
If you are on this NL it is because you joined a giveaway like AuthorsXP, BookSweeps, grabbed a copy of My Abett, Kingdom of Acatalec, or spotted my Divine series around and thought that author seems cool, and I would like to stay in touch!
MILF: MORE INTERESTED IN LUSTING FOR FANTASY!
A new definition created by yours truly.
I made stickers! I'll have them in next week, I'll include it freesies with any purchase from my author store, like... this sticker arriving next week too! Glitter Chibi Dion and the Krag from Taking Medusa, designed by yours truly.
Okay, with my excitement of stickers discussed, I wanted to talk with you about how IMPORTANT you are as readers to authors like me!
I've been thinking about this a lot lately, because of the wonderful response rate I've been getting with Taking Medusa versus the response I received with my launch of Kingdom of Acatalec.
Don't get me wrong, Kingdom of Acatalec has 41 reviews on GR with a 4.41 average, many of the reviewers loved the book, including receiving gold review badges, Firebird award, Top10Indie, but I launched the book in early October of last year, and still have only 41 reviews on it, and only 28 reviews on Amazon, not even breaking the 50 reviews mark.
https://books2read.com/u/4Ajr8e
So, despite how much praise and enjoyment the people who have read the book have given, it just didn't get passed around to reader's groups, and it sits pretty and unread.
When Taking Medusa officially launches it will have been a year since its launch. It's been picked up by a few libraries, and I'm sure some of you on this email are excited to see book two launch for Kingdom of Acatalec, but many of you on my newsletter have no idea what the book is beyond what I've talked about, and a trope image/reviews I keep at the bottom of my emails from time to time.
I have more than double the amount of readers for Taking Medusa on my ARC team than who have reviewed/rated Kingdom of Acatalec. I love the story, and I still think about what's going to happen in Acatalec Chosen (most of the book has been written, just needs edits) but, it does cost time and money to go the next step of editing, cover design, and launching a book. Kingdom of Acatalec is basically a negative investment at the moment. And since it isn't a standalone, I can't expect to earn enough to balance the cost of producing book two, if book one hasn't had enough interest to reinvest in the series.
Essentially every other one of my books is already making back the cost of launching the book, and the Kingdom of Acatalec series hasn't. Part of me blames going traditional on this instead of staying indie. And the other part of me has to admit that not enough people have shared the book for it to reach more readers, and that is a reflection on my ability to get people hyped about it, and possibly just not enough interest in a drone pilot FMC, aliens from a parallel world attached to Earth, magical latent abilities, and slow burn romance.
That's okay, not every concept is going to have a hit with the market, and possibly when I get my rights back from the publisher I can relaunch it with better reception, but the point that I make is that you, as a reader, dictate supply and demand.
Reviewing, rating, and sharing books is your currency to motivate authors to continue writing in a particular fantasy world. Firefly is a great example of this, being cancelled after one season, And even my alien romances for instance. I thought I'd just write a story here and there as a fun cleanse between writing my romantasy and sci-fi fantasy romance books... but then, the response of readers was so supportive I ended up writing three books in one year for it!
I wrote Her Alien Exchange for funsies, gave it away as a newsletter exclusive and thought I'd just write Jewel of the Alien Bandit first, then get back to the alien romances when I had the time....And from zero readership on this pen name, I suddenly had enough interest that I wrote two more books, Her Alien Prince and Her Alien Savior in the same year. THAT'S FOUR BOOKS! And Her Alien Savior has already paid for its base cost of launching it (Without paying me for my time writing it, yet!) before it's even officially launched on August 1st, which is amazing.
Now, that is a sustainable platform. The book pays for its startup costs before it's launch date, and when it's launched then I can actually see some income for my time. It's an uplifting feeling to know people want to read my books, and Her Alien Prince already has 77 ratings on the zon and it only launched two months ago!
Thank you to all of you who are supporting my worlds and working towards my goal of being a full-time author by next year! We are heading in the right direction to keep on bringing more stories to life!
Thank you to the ARC readers for Taking Medusa who have posted their reviews on the ZON:
This helps Amazon find more readers who may like the book, but also for indies, books are more likely to be seen after they've reached 50 ratings. So, we are well on our way, and the excitement I'm feeling from my ARC readers really does get me amped up to write book two!
Review GOAL 7/50 on Amazon
We are currently averaged at 4.76/5
LAUNCH DATE: OCTOBER 3rd!
Thank you to Ketty, for your thoughtful and detailed review on GR! OMG, I was just dying when I read the Skywalker reference. haha.
"It is the start of a series and it is a very good start. I am ready to see where this goes. Does the triangle continue or do we move past that? Is the character I am dubbing Skywalker for spoilers purpose going to die a horrible death because I hate their guts and hope they get put on an intestinal crank (one can only hope)? Can't wait to find out." - Ketty
Haha, for those of you on the ARC team that have read the book, you know who she's referencing as Skywalker, and those who haven't yet, then you will soon enough!
You can read her full review on GR: Ketty (Phoenix, AZ)’s review of Taking Medusa | Goodreads
Taking Medusa has had such a great response from you all so far, and you can support bringing book two to life by grabbing the book from the zon here: https://books.steviemarie.com/takingmedusa
or grabbing a signed book from the author store: Broken Books Publishing - Payhip
Chat later! And I hope you have a lovely weekend! I'll be going to a reggae concert with the hubs while grandma watches the tiny hooman.
~Stevie, author of all things fantastical and otherworldly adventurous, mom of a few humans in training... including my hubby. Overall booknerd, and yes... I am writing this in my pjs. Why not?
Thank you for being part of my author tribe! Please take a moment to follow me on the socials if you haven't already:
Check out Dark Gods Rising- Taking Medusa:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C6NXSN7X
Check out Kingdom of Acatalec: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B4V9867P
Check out the Divine Series:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MB9JJ7K
Check out the Treasures of Trillume Series:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BSRBF8T9
Author Store: Broken Books Publishing - Payhip
Disclaimer: Sometimes, not all the time, I do use affiliate links, at no cost to you, and I only recommend or promote things that I personally trust, checked out, want to read or have read myself. Books that I myself would share with friends and family. I do not sell your email/information.
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