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Indie Feature NEW RELEASE!
Check out Wolf's Enemies to Lover's Howl newly released TODAY!!
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Check out Alpha King's Captive on Kindle Unlimited with OVER 100+ 5-star reviewers with well-developed characters and shifters of all kinds!
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What if Robin Hood and his outlaws were powerful shifters…and Maid Marian didn't have to choose just one?
Check out Captive of Outlaws a shifter reverse harem romance Robin Hood retelling!
It's me again! And I hope you like the selection of indies this week!
Today I'm going to talk a bit about the struggles of an indie author, not to be a downer or anything, but more of a transparency and reflection of what it takes to be an indie author.
Many indie authors, including myself, have yet to make a single penny from their books. I don't mean that our books haven't sold a copy, or haven't been read by some readers, but that we have yet to make more than we have spent on bringing the book to life.
It is the end of MAY, and Taking Medusa made me a total of $5.85 with 1 e-book and 571 pages read in KU in the entire month of May. This is actually less than what it costs me to maintain my author platform, as it's $11 a month just to keep my subscription to Bookfunnel, 7.5/mo for Booksprout, and $10/mo for Canva. Those are just a few of the expenses for indie authors, not including webhosting, and marketing.
We are currently 20% of the way towards covering launch costs of Taking Medusa, and at the current rate of $6.00 a month, it would take me around 18 years for Taking Medusa to break even, without ever paying myself for my time to write it.
This is actually typical of most indie authors, many of us will not pass the threshold of making it a career, or finding that boost that pushes us into breakeven.
I'm not sharing this for a pity party of Taking Medusa's slow growth.
On the contrary, I am betting there will be an uptick in engagement with the story after the launch of book two Breaking Fate, and hopefully push the book closer towards break even.
But the engagement with Breaking Fate will determine if the series continues after book two, or stays as a duology. I had intended for the book to be a trilogy, and though I do intend to finish the trilogy. There are two ways this series will go.
One: engagement flatlines even after the launch of Breaking Fate, and I finish off writing book three as time permits and then launch it exclusively with my Author Store for those who have supported the series to have a completed story. Book Three would not have funding to be edited, and would simply have a basic Canva created cover to save on costs.
Two: engagement increases with the help of supportive readers who leave reviews, share the love of the series in reader's groups and social media for Breaking Fate's launch to fund the costs of launching book three. A beautiful cover, editing, and perhaps commissioned artwork.
Three: I do a last effort to gain launch costs with a Kickstarter Campaign to gather investments from readers to bring book three to life and possibly, with unlocked rewards, have special editions of the books launched with commissioned artwork in a beautiful boxset.
This is the conundrum of most indie authors, as I'm not even considering or including paying myself for my time, but simply the costs associated with sharing a story.
You as a reader are book heroes every day that you help support an author by:
Leaving a review in all the places
Joining an ARC team to support a launch
Sharing a book in reader's groups/social media
Reading Indie authors in Kindle Unlimited or Kobo Plus.
Grabbing our books from Author Direct Stores, where authors keep more of the pennies for themselves to support future books.
Asking your local libraries to carry a book! That's right, you can request indie books be added to your local libraries! The more requests, the more readers, and hopefully more reviews to help boost the reach of the book!
Do you like Greek Mythology?
Mermaids/Atlantis?
Gods and monsters?
Think Medusa was a protector, and her story needs a fresh story from a different perspective?
You like a slow-burn romance that builds across a trilogy and is filled with plot twists and adventure?
Check out Taking Medusa, available in Kindle Unlimited
Author Updates/Writing Progress!
Breaking Fate Progress! 62K / 90,000 word goal (68% completed)
That's right, the time has come! I've finished up launching Her Alien Insurgent in May and NOW I get to refocus on Breaking FATE!
What does that mean?
I've finished re-reading through my Work in Progress and am now creating new words in the story towards that ending goal of book two!
Book Stats: Breaking Fate currently has 17 preorders on Amazon, and 1 pre-order from my author store! The total cost of launching Breaking Fate is currently at $1080 (including 450 set aside for editing costs after I'm done writing.) and around $36 in preorders, makes us at 3% of launch costs covered. Goal of 225 preorders by October to cover editing costs, or I will have to rely on the ARC team and volunteer typo-killers to reduce launch costs.
If you would like to help support future books, and this series, you can preorder Breaking Fate on Amazon here: https://books.steviemarie.com/breakingfate
Or grab the pre-order from my Author Store here: https://payhip.com/b/CDfku
For those on my ARC team, This is great news, because it means you don't have to wait until October to start diving into book two! I will email when the book is finished being written to ask who out of the team wants to BETA and typokill before launch to the rest of the ARC team.
I'm usually pretty productive and I have a goal of finishing up this draft BEFORE the kids are out of school in late JUNE. Then... I'll send the book over to my editor Tracy, or to the typokillers, for a polish before ARC launch in JULY/AUG for readers to gobble up during their summer reads for a Fall October launch!
Do you want to join my ARC team?
https://forms.gle/zcXKjfRiEhsUhh5z5
(This form is for people who are not already part of the ARC team, if you were part of Taking Medusa's ARC team, there is no need to reapply. My goal is to have this completed BEFORE the kids are out of school in late JUNE.)
If you haven't checked out book one, this is a series, these are not standalones, and I highly recommend reading Taking Medusa first, even though I do write my books to be easily read regardless of having read a previous book, there are plot reveals and spoilers if you start with book 2 instead of reading book 1 first.
Taking Medusa mood board vibes:
Help support more books by yours truly by reading Taking Medusa in KU, or grabbing a copy for yourself. https://books.steviemarie.com/takingmedusa
Convincing you to read Taking Medusa in KU and reach 50 reviews on Amazon!
Mermaids! Medusa is kidnapped to Atlantis for killing the last daughter of King Triton with her poisonous blood. To be fair.. she was trying to kill her first, and she has no idea how she survived it. She has no memory of being Medusa at all!
This is modern day and she believes that she's a normal mortal after her sister (a gorgon) stole her stone body from the watery depths and reunited her head after stealing it from Athena's shield, conveniently left in a museum instead of guarded by gods.
Enter DION! An Atlantis sentinel, who has some strange connection to her, and TRITON, who is apparently a glutton for falling for nymphs and collecting brides that don't survive long past their marriage vows.
There are mysteries, and romance, and adventure as Medusa (Aless) is lured back into the chaos and schemes of the gods. She's destined to protect them all, but fate has a funny way of trying to repeat itself. Can she keep her head this time around or will she sacrifice herself all over again?
This is a slow-burn romance fantasy adventure, so there is no clapping the cloisters, tickling the tentacles, or fishing for fins in book one, but this is a fated mates romance that will keep you turning the pages, and twisting your expectations of myth and legend. <3 Read Taking Medusa in KU!
https://books.steviemarie.com/takingmedusa
Already read Taking Medusa? Did you know Breaking Fate is available for preorder.... I'll just leave this here... (sparkles) https://books.steviemarie.com/breakingfate
Check out Michelle A. Bailey's Sci-fi & Fantasy Romance Reader Giveaway!
Check out indie Romantasy reads with BookFunnel:
https://books.bookfunnel.com/fantasyandmythology/2kgsyqowle
More into space vampires? Check out the Necia Warriors!
Chat soon!
xoxo
Stevie
Getting too much email? Reply back to this email with "Monthly" in the message and I'll move you over to my once a month letter usually sent out around the 15th of the month.
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