IWSG Wednesday: New Releases & Learning the Art of the Facebook Ad

Happy Insecure Writer's Support Group Wednesday. Thank you again to Alex J. Cavanaugh, the creator of the group. The first Wednesday of every month is dedicated to this group of supportive writers. If it's something you're not familiar with, then please click on Alex's link above for more information and to sign up!

The new editions of Provex City, Le7el, and SUSY Asylum are finally up on Amazon. Today I just finished fixing up the fourth book in the Lorne family Vault series, Doria Falls. I plan to get it to the ebook formatter by the end of the week while I'm working through my final read through of Archanum Manor. I'm planning to release Doria Falls in early December and Archanum Manor in late January (or early February).

I've also started thinking about and planning my next project. Organization and productivity is key moving forward. If I want to get to a point where I can write full time, one book or less a year will not cut it. I need more content, preferably in different worlds, to gain potential readers. My next project will be planned as a seven-book series. I will be more careful with cliff hangers this time, but the books will build off each other. So this will also be a series to read in order. I'm setting myself up for quite the challenge, but I'm excited to dive into a new universe. This series will be YA contemporary distopian (if there is such a thing), which will transition to NA by the end (it will follow the protagonist from 14 to 21 years old).

I had wanted to submit a short story to the IWSG short story contest. Not doing so was my major fail for the month. I had the story planned and everything; I just needed to write it. At some point, I'll just have to write it for myself. I'm sure there will be a lot of fantastic entries. Best of luck to everyone fighting for a spot in the anthology. I'll be sure to pick up a copy when it come out.

I signed up for Mark Dawson’s course on Facebook Ads, which I think closed yesterday. I've gone through two thirds of the modules so far: the basics and ads for building a mailing list. Ads for building a mailing list is where I need to start since I don't have much to sell at this point. When I get my box sets out, then I'll start testing out sales ads. The importance of building a mailing list is emphasized on every podcast I listen to, including countless interviews with successful indie authors. It makes sense. The online retailers continually update and change their platforms which affect author sales (look at how the introduction of Kindle Unlimited and the change to the subscription service this summer has affected author earnings). Facebook can change their rules at any time (like how the reach of using Facebook author pages was greatly reduced this year, so you're now lucky if 5-10% of your fans see your posts). There is so much uncertainty when relying on these other companies for the health of your author business. But if you're focused on growing your mailing list, then you own those email addresses. You have a better chance of getting information to your fans, especially if you're focused on building trust, confidence, and engagement through your emails and exclusive offers. So that's my plan, to build my email list. I've already set up my exclusive offers for signing up (free copies of Provex City and Le7el). Now I'm putting the finishing touches on my welcome automation email sequence. By the end of the week, I want to have those pieces fully in place and start building my first Facebook ads following all of Mark's advice. I'm a little nervous, but looking forward to the experimentation process.

I've recently started listening to The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. They've been around for the past decade, with a few songs occasionally on the radio. I'd heard the name before, but never paid much attention to them. From a recommendation, I gave them a real listen and now I've gotten hooked on two of their albums: Don't You Fake It and Am I the Enemy. I guess I would consider them Christian emo. I'm usually turned off by Christan bands, but RJA's songs are more subtle than most. And they have so many catchy songs. I'm not one to judge based on a category (or genre); good music is good music (like books). The song I've included here is You Get Me High, a bonus track on the Am I the Enemy album. Enjoy the song and happy writing!