INTERVIEWS WITH SUCCESSFUL AUTHORS
I've been spending the past week on my Discord server, and I've been compiling advice through interviews with successful, full time authors! Currently I've interviewed two authors, All Those Roadworks and Reagan Davis of the Knitorious Murder Mysteries Series.I'll go in order with my compiled advice :
From All These Roadworks : "My three pieces of advice for audience growth are: (1) Post on a regular schedule. Doesn't matter if it's daily or weekly, just make sure you have new content coming out reliably and predictably. Don't drop three things one day and then go silent for a month. Break up big content into small bites if necessary. (2) Stay on brand. Make everything you release on a given channel immediately identifiable as "you", make it all the same kind of stuff, and don't overly indulge in personal whims. Definitely don't get into political arguments (or at least pick the ones that really, really matter). (3) Hustle. If you intend to make money, every last thing you post should include a link back to the place where people can give you money. There's a million ways to do that without seeming insincere or pushy. But don't be shy to remind people that if they like your stuff, they can pay for it. I guess also, at a more basic level, make sure the places you're promoting are places that (a) facilitate discovery by new users and (b) allow you to monetise."
"the biggest and most unique part of my business model is releasing tons of free stories. It's how I advertise, and without it I simply wouldn't get customers." (edited)
: "I write two chapters of ongoing serials a week. In theory, those serials eventually get finished and collected into e-books..."
[Roadwork's book] has sold 142 copies in the two months since it released, for a total gross of $563 USD, and I expect it to have a pretty long tail." (edited)
"Down the track it will get collected into a bundle. I sell the bundles at about 25% discount over the cost of the books individually, and that works out because I get a much bigger total sale (and Paypal gets a correspondingly smaller percentage)."
The trick is having a lot of items in your catalogue. The person who buys the book for $3.99 is nice, but what's much better is the one who then buys your entire back catalogue for another $100+."
From ReaganDavis "The best promo for my backlist is my front list. Nothing promotes my last book better than releasing a new book. I rapid released to maximise the Amazon algorithms. The schedule led to burnout, so I’m rejigging my production schedule for next year. I suck at AMS ads. I keep trying, but they’re a mystery to me. My FB ads do well. I believe three BookBub featured deals launched me to six-figures. I also like paid newsletters and BookFunnel promos and swaps. " (edited)
"[About BOOKBUB] I made sure my submissions met their criteria and I applied frequently. Then, when accepted, I stacked promos to maximise the exposure. My books have been awarded 12 best seller tags in multiple categories in 4 marketplaces (US, Canada, UK, and Australia)" "Prior to release, I wrote a flash fiction reader magnet (a prequel to the series) and used it to build my email list. I also did a lot of newsletter swaps with other authors in my genre. I found the social media platforms where my readers gather, and built a following by interacting with them organically. Then, I rapid released the first three books to maximise algorithms. I believe this contributed to my initial success"
"Consistency is key. Write and release at a consistent pace so your readers know when and what to expect from you. Write in a series for maximum profitability. Produce professional-quality books if you want to be seen as a professional. Don’t use paid advertising until your 3rd or 4th book, otherwise the reader has no backlist to consume."
"Most of my marketing budget goes to book 1. Most of my income is from read-through. The longer your series, the longer the read through. Know the LTV of your readers - know how much they are likely to spend if you hook them with the first book."
"I published the first three books 28 days apart to maximise amazon’s algorithm."
"Study the leaders in that genre. Not flash-in-the-pan leaders, but authors who stay in the top 100 of the categories where your books belong, or who have multiple titles in the top 100. Study their story structure, plot beats, and everything else about their books. Join their email lists and study how they market and promote." (edited)
"My readers are female, 35+, married or divorced, have kids, and are avid readers. That’s the reader avatar for my genre, so that’s who I speak to and appeal to in my marketing. They are mostly on FB. I dislike FB, but my readers are there, so I am too. you have to meet your readers on their terms. If they are on IG, you need an IG presence. If it’s a platform you dislike, get a VA who will interact on your behalf. I have a great VA. Also, interact organically, as a fellow reader and fan. No one likes to be sold to all the time. Once you have followers there, lure them to your email list. You own your email list. It is your biggest asset. FB, Snap, discord, etc can delete you whenever they want and you need a secondary method to connect with your readers."
"My email list always preorders my books. I use preorders as a measure of success. As long as each book has more preorders than the book before it, I assume the series is still growing."
"Bonus content, newsletter swaps, BookFunnel promos, contests and exclusive giveaways only for my email subs. My email list gets everything first. They are the first to receive bonus content, find out about promos, see new covers, etc."
"This is genre-specific, but in general make sure your story hits all the tropes and archetypes the readers in your genre expect. Make sure your cover and blurb also conform to genre expectations. Genre-fiction readers know what they expect when they choose a book. They want familiar, but fresh."
If you want to see the interview transcript itself, feel free to join our discord and see for yourself and ask the two any questions you have!
Our discord link https://discord.gg/MdrUazSzhq
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