My editor sent Apalach Affair back and all this past week, I've been reviewing, revising, and rewriting. That's finished and the manuscript is now with my final proofreader, before it goes to Nick Sullivan for recording the audiobook.
Caribbean Adventure Series
Today is International Moon Day.
I've got a story about that...
I've been having trouble with my editing software and after a couple dozen attempts, we upgraded to something more robust. So, if you missed the live stream from TWO WEEKS AGO, with Axel, Kat, and Debbie, here's the edited recording.
A recorded livestream from Monday, 7/1/24, with guest author, Axel Blackwell, along with Dawn Lee McKenna's daughter and cousin, discussing the ...
youtu.beTalkWrite S5E3: "She’d wake me up, and she'd have to read the section over again."
Swift and Silent was released on March 1.
Bad Blood was released on June 1.
Apalach Affair is with my editor, and will be released September 1.
I'm 25% finished with Dominica Blue, slated for December 1.
Four solo novels in one year, each exactly four months apart, following a... schedule I created last fall.
First time authors often ask me what advertising or book promotions will help get their first book off the ground.
My answer, for the last ten years, has always been the same. No amount of marketing will create more sales of book one, more effectively, than the release of book two.
And ...that's not just true for new authors. A second and third book in a brand new series, by a well-established author, will do the same thing.
The graph below shows monthly income from A Seller's Market, the first book in my new Tropical Adventure Series. The upper part of each bar shows revenue from KU page reads, and ebook sales are at the bottom. The thin line separating them are paperback sales.
This prequel series has the same main character, Jesse McDermitt, but it begins 20 years prior to Fallen Out, the first book in my primary 28-volume Caribbean Adventure Series.
On June 1, the second book in this series, Bad Blood, was released.
Neither book has received a single penny in advertising or marketing, because I know how fruitless and expensive that can be. Sure, I could have spent thousands in advertising it, but I know without a doubt that releasing book two will sell more copies of book one. So, A Seller's Market just sat there for eight months. And when Bad Blood was released on June 1, Market's sales more than doubled.
Past experience tells me that July will be better than June for both books, since they're now both ranked well in their genre, and are more visible. The main character being much younger, is attracting a new audience, and some of those will go on to my other books.
Once book three in this new series, Cocaine Cowboy, is released in the spring, then I will start promoting A Seller's Market.
"It's a marathon, not a sprint." That's the typical mantra, but it's not quite correct.
It's a never-ending series of marathons, where the finish line is also the starting block. The same day I type The End in one book, I open a new document and write "Once upon a time." Actually, it's several weeks BEFORE that. My latest book was just sent to my editor this week and I'm already over 10,000 words into the next marathon.
But one thing I'm sure of is this. No amount of advertising, marketing, or social media stir, will sell more copies of book one more effectively, than releasing book two.
The TalkWrite Show is live in ten minutes.
Our guests are Dawn McKenna's co-author, Axel Blackwell and her daugher Kat and cousin Debbit. We've got some really cool announcements coming.
The TalkWrite Show will be live in one hour on YouTube. Our guests tonight are the late Dawn Lee McKenna's co-author, Axel Blackwell, along with her daugher, Kat, and cousin Debbie.
Join in the chat on YouTube at 6:30 Eastern to ask questions while we're live.
You can find my ...YouTube channel by simply searching my name.
Apalach Affair, third draft is complete and in the hands of my editor for the next two weeks!
