You know what really gets me motivated to make things happen? Reading through progress threads. You know what kills my motivation? Progress threads that abruptly come to a stop, left buried in the FLF graveyard beneath everything else.
WARNING: This is going to be long! If you're looking for the short progress thread that tells you how I went from being broke to buying a sports car in a week - this isn't the thread for you! It's going to be filled with real failures, real progress and, eventually, real success. I can have a bit of a scatter-brain at times, therefore I will try to keep this as organized as possible. I apologize in advance if I confuse/lose people on this.
Aside from a couple members I've had conversations with here, not many know me or what I do. Nobody here knows my intentions, my goals or my motives for being on this forum. Why? I've never publicized them, for a few reasons. The first being I don't like talking very much. Don't let my post replies fool you - I have an extremely introverted personality and usually keep to myself. I usually watch, read, observe and learn. I used to be a huge "talker" and that was the problem, nothing ever developed; it was all talk. Things have been very different for me the past few months, before I read TMF and even more so after.
The Goal
You've read this in every other progress thread and my goal isn't very much different from everyone else's.
What I'm Doing
Initially, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do, but I wanted to do something other than working 13+ hours a day at my job as my mental and personal health degraded for a secure paycheck, so I quit. Currently, I am doing Self-Pub on Amazon (as a lot of us are) as well as another project.
PUBLISHING
Let me preface this by saying I do not have a background in writing whatsoever. As a matter of fact, I don't think I've written much for the past 10 years. So, why did I start? I had to do something different. I had to get out of my comfort zone. I've always been the creative type - I've been a creator for years, but never looked at it from a business perspective.
I started with a few non-fiction titles. #1 was over 150 pages, #2 and #3 were shorter at around 35 pages. #1 was more of a self-help book, #2 was a short guide on making extra income (realistic, not ridiculous) and #3 was about dating.
I ran some small advertising for the first 3 non-fic titles. What I discovered is the "money" book and the "dating" book had way more clicks and purchases than the actual self-help book. For non-fic it seems people are more interested in getting laid and paid rather than taking time to make positive adjustments to their lives. As mentioned everywhere, most people want results NOW, not later.
So, did I make huge profit from those books? F*ck no, actually, the exact opposite. It was pretty much what I expected, although all those videos on youtube and blog articles with Joe Schmo talking about how they make $30k+ a month doing eBooks made me hopeful, deep down I knew it wasn't realistic.
I'd be lying to you if I said I wasn't discouraged. I kept reading about the Erotica buzz. I really didn't want to do Erotica for one reason: it is an extremely saturated genre. I was discouraged from the start to even try it. Then, one day, humoring the idea I actually checked out some of the better selling (not best-selling) erotica stories. A few things I noticed: they were all short stories and, using Kindle's "Look inside" feature, a lot of them were terribly written. "I can write way better than this". Wait, what? Could I? Yes, I could.
I was initially worried that I would be wasting more of my time, worried that people would be expecting crap as per what eBooks usually are now. So, I decided to add some value for readers via QUALITY CONTENT.
I published two short Erotica stories last week and put them on the "Free Download" promotion over the weekend, the results? Over 350 downloads in two days and "Normalized Pages Read" to match. Nothing phenomenal, but compare that to the fact those TWO days and TWO titles gave me more downloads than all of my non-fic titles over the course of a month is pretty eye opening. It even got me a few sales, once again, nothing amazing. I think my current royalties are only $14. Hardly anything to brag about, but a LOT to learn from.
I don't plan on doing Erotica forever, I feel like I'm secretly doing porn or something. Although, if the market screams at me, demanding more, I'll provide more. I'd ultimately like to get into thrillers/mystery, but remember: the market doesn't care about what you want.
The whole goal with the free downloads is to get the book ranked, get the out and start building a customer/fan base. As for the pen name I'm using for those titles - I don't have a platform yet. I've contemplated making one, but want to wait for more results/demand first. If the market shows me it wants more, I'll provide more.
The plan is to knock out 2 short erotica stories a week. So far, so good. In the future, I want to begin writing mysteries and thrillers when time permits. "LULZ, Erotica is all the same! What makes you special?" Well, nothing makes me special, but through research I've come to find most erotica stories are nothing short of porn scenes on paper. They are literally just pounding and pumping for pages and pages, with a very short or lacking story. Therefore, I decided to actually include interesting stories and plots to my works, the smut is just a bonus.
What I Learned (So Far)
-Only outsource if you ABSOLUTELY have to, and even then you'd better find a great writer. Amazon is flooded with outsourced, poorly written crap thanks to the money chasers following the "2012/2013" method of flooding with quantity over quality.
-Advertising works, but it won't work on it's own. Don't rely on your ad's copy to make sales - your book cover, description AND ad description should all be viewed as COPY. I had a lot of clicks, but not many purchases. This showed me I had some good copy on my ads that got people interested and most read the description, but only a small amount purchased. Why? The descriptions needed re-working.
-If you absolutely must do advertising, try not to be cheap with your PPC. The suggested range topped off at around $0.68 if I recall correctly. To experiment, I upped it to $0.75/click. It worked getting more traffic. I recommend everyone interested in marketing to read all of the threads by @Andy Black . Although his threads usually revolve around Google Adwords, the lessons from his overall approach and methods can truly help you out a lot! Also, if you're not sure how to demonstrate value via copy, go read @SinisterLex threads on it NOW.
-DON'T WRITE CRAP! It seems like the quantity over quality strategy has begun to fade a bit. I'm pretty sure this is the reason why Amazon has instilled their new policies, assuring the "quick buck" writers don't get paid as much. Everyone was running around in a panic when these new policies came out while I was actually relieved. To me, it sounded like people who actually are trying to provide great quality content for readers still have a shot.
-On the other hand, Don't try to write a best-seller right away. This isn't me telling you to not put in great effort toward your writing, but don't expect to blow up overnight either. It's all about getting your customer base established.
-Use Free Downloads Wisely! I used to make the mistake of running my free promos consecutively, 5 days in a row. Don't do that. As mentioned, I put up 2 of the erotica titles for free for the weekend only, and will use the other 2 next weekend, then the remaining one at a later date. The whole goal with your free downloads is to get your product ranked and get your content out there for readers. You want to gain enough of a following to not have to rely on free downloads or KDP select. I chose the weekends for free downloads because of the audience I am targeting. I won't go into detail about who the stories target, but they're more likely to read a lot of books on the weekends instead of partying.
-Write now, edit later. As many others have mentioned, the "inner-editor" can be a real son-of-a-bitch. Just start the writing and edit it later or you'll take forever to make any progress.
-Don't pay for bullshit courses. I have to LOL at myself for this. I FINALLY cracked and purchased a course on KDP marketing and selling strategies only to realize *trumpet ensemble and drum roll please* IT WAS STUFF I ALREADY KNEW. Most of the shit in these courses people are selling is easily available on the internet for FREE through basic research and logic. Myself along with another member on here have discussed this heavily. If you need resources just ask Google, or use the best resource - READ BOOKS. I had no clue how to write a fiction book, so I started reading fiction books. Not for plot devices or ideas, but for structure reference.
-Do research and keep your books in a specific genre/niche. I went wrong with this on my first book. The overall idea is great, but it has content from too many niches. I initially thought this would be a great idea since it would get a wider audience, but man, I was extremely wrong. If you have a bunch of topics that you think would fit under one book, split it up into different books. Or, read any posts by @ChickenHawk
-The most important thing I've learned so far: RELAX. When I first started a little over a month ago, I was so anxious to get it done and get it published. This worked against me. I spent 12+ hours in one day writing relentlessly because I was anxious. It killed my focus, it killed my energy and it left me exhausted. It was a great learning experience. The biggest thing I'm struggling with now is my life/writing balance. Get outside, smell the roses, hit the beach, interact with the real-world. This is your palette-cleanser, it will help you overcome blocks.
MY "OTHER" VENTURE
I'm not going to go into detail yet because it hasn't launched. I'll just say it involves something I "love". I figured out a way to utilize something I love in a way to provide value to others. There will always be a huge need for it. Entry is difficult as hell, not because a lot of people are doing it, but because it is DIFFICULT to do, it's quite a long process (for now). I will hold 100% control over it. It can be scaled greatly and, once it's launched, it will be able to provide me with passive income. The actual product creation and platform is what's been taking the most time, but once it's launched, the platform time will be out of the equation, only the product time which I have no problem knocking out.
IN CLOSING
I'm sure this post is ridiculously long, boring, dumb, filled with errors, etc. Whatever. I'm going to be updating it as I go along. The point of it was to just get it up and take accountability.
WARNING: This is going to be long! If you're looking for the short progress thread that tells you how I went from being broke to buying a sports car in a week - this isn't the thread for you! It's going to be filled with real failures, real progress and, eventually, real success. I can have a bit of a scatter-brain at times, therefore I will try to keep this as organized as possible. I apologize in advance if I confuse/lose people on this.
Aside from a couple members I've had conversations with here, not many know me or what I do. Nobody here knows my intentions, my goals or my motives for being on this forum. Why? I've never publicized them, for a few reasons. The first being I don't like talking very much. Don't let my post replies fool you - I have an extremely introverted personality and usually keep to myself. I usually watch, read, observe and learn. I used to be a huge "talker" and that was the problem, nothing ever developed; it was all talk. Things have been very different for me the past few months, before I read TMF and even more so after.
The Goal
You've read this in every other progress thread and my goal isn't very much different from everyone else's.
What I'm Doing
Initially, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do, but I wanted to do something other than working 13+ hours a day at my job as my mental and personal health degraded for a secure paycheck, so I quit. Currently, I am doing Self-Pub on Amazon (as a lot of us are) as well as another project.
PUBLISHING
Let me preface this by saying I do not have a background in writing whatsoever. As a matter of fact, I don't think I've written much for the past 10 years. So, why did I start? I had to do something different. I had to get out of my comfort zone. I've always been the creative type - I've been a creator for years, but never looked at it from a business perspective.
I started with a few non-fiction titles. #1 was over 150 pages, #2 and #3 were shorter at around 35 pages. #1 was more of a self-help book, #2 was a short guide on making extra income (realistic, not ridiculous) and #3 was about dating.
I ran some small advertising for the first 3 non-fic titles. What I discovered is the "money" book and the "dating" book had way more clicks and purchases than the actual self-help book. For non-fic it seems people are more interested in getting laid and paid rather than taking time to make positive adjustments to their lives. As mentioned everywhere, most people want results NOW, not later.
So, did I make huge profit from those books? F*ck no, actually, the exact opposite. It was pretty much what I expected, although all those videos on youtube and blog articles with Joe Schmo talking about how they make $30k+ a month doing eBooks made me hopeful, deep down I knew it wasn't realistic.
I'd be lying to you if I said I wasn't discouraged. I kept reading about the Erotica buzz. I really didn't want to do Erotica for one reason: it is an extremely saturated genre. I was discouraged from the start to even try it. Then, one day, humoring the idea I actually checked out some of the better selling (not best-selling) erotica stories. A few things I noticed: they were all short stories and, using Kindle's "Look inside" feature, a lot of them were terribly written. "I can write way better than this". Wait, what? Could I? Yes, I could.
I was initially worried that I would be wasting more of my time, worried that people would be expecting crap as per what eBooks usually are now. So, I decided to add some value for readers via QUALITY CONTENT.
I published two short Erotica stories last week and put them on the "Free Download" promotion over the weekend, the results? Over 350 downloads in two days and "Normalized Pages Read" to match. Nothing phenomenal, but compare that to the fact those TWO days and TWO titles gave me more downloads than all of my non-fic titles over the course of a month is pretty eye opening. It even got me a few sales, once again, nothing amazing. I think my current royalties are only $14. Hardly anything to brag about, but a LOT to learn from.
I don't plan on doing Erotica forever, I feel like I'm secretly doing porn or something. Although, if the market screams at me, demanding more, I'll provide more. I'd ultimately like to get into thrillers/mystery, but remember: the market doesn't care about what you want.
The whole goal with the free downloads is to get the book ranked, get the out and start building a customer/fan base. As for the pen name I'm using for those titles - I don't have a platform yet. I've contemplated making one, but want to wait for more results/demand first. If the market shows me it wants more, I'll provide more.
The plan is to knock out 2 short erotica stories a week. So far, so good. In the future, I want to begin writing mysteries and thrillers when time permits. "LULZ, Erotica is all the same! What makes you special?" Well, nothing makes me special, but through research I've come to find most erotica stories are nothing short of porn scenes on paper. They are literally just pounding and pumping for pages and pages, with a very short or lacking story. Therefore, I decided to actually include interesting stories and plots to my works, the smut is just a bonus.
What I Learned (So Far)
-Only outsource if you ABSOLUTELY have to, and even then you'd better find a great writer. Amazon is flooded with outsourced, poorly written crap thanks to the money chasers following the "2012/2013" method of flooding with quantity over quality.
-Advertising works, but it won't work on it's own. Don't rely on your ad's copy to make sales - your book cover, description AND ad description should all be viewed as COPY. I had a lot of clicks, but not many purchases. This showed me I had some good copy on my ads that got people interested and most read the description, but only a small amount purchased. Why? The descriptions needed re-working.
-If you absolutely must do advertising, try not to be cheap with your PPC. The suggested range topped off at around $0.68 if I recall correctly. To experiment, I upped it to $0.75/click. It worked getting more traffic. I recommend everyone interested in marketing to read all of the threads by @Andy Black . Although his threads usually revolve around Google Adwords, the lessons from his overall approach and methods can truly help you out a lot! Also, if you're not sure how to demonstrate value via copy, go read @SinisterLex threads on it NOW.
-DON'T WRITE CRAP! It seems like the quantity over quality strategy has begun to fade a bit. I'm pretty sure this is the reason why Amazon has instilled their new policies, assuring the "quick buck" writers don't get paid as much. Everyone was running around in a panic when these new policies came out while I was actually relieved. To me, it sounded like people who actually are trying to provide great quality content for readers still have a shot.
-On the other hand, Don't try to write a best-seller right away. This isn't me telling you to not put in great effort toward your writing, but don't expect to blow up overnight either. It's all about getting your customer base established.
-Use Free Downloads Wisely! I used to make the mistake of running my free promos consecutively, 5 days in a row. Don't do that. As mentioned, I put up 2 of the erotica titles for free for the weekend only, and will use the other 2 next weekend, then the remaining one at a later date. The whole goal with your free downloads is to get your product ranked and get your content out there for readers. You want to gain enough of a following to not have to rely on free downloads or KDP select. I chose the weekends for free downloads because of the audience I am targeting. I won't go into detail about who the stories target, but they're more likely to read a lot of books on the weekends instead of partying.
-Write now, edit later. As many others have mentioned, the "inner-editor" can be a real son-of-a-bitch. Just start the writing and edit it later or you'll take forever to make any progress.
-Don't pay for bullshit courses. I have to LOL at myself for this. I FINALLY cracked and purchased a course on KDP marketing and selling strategies only to realize *trumpet ensemble and drum roll please* IT WAS STUFF I ALREADY KNEW. Most of the shit in these courses people are selling is easily available on the internet for FREE through basic research and logic. Myself along with another member on here have discussed this heavily. If you need resources just ask Google, or use the best resource - READ BOOKS. I had no clue how to write a fiction book, so I started reading fiction books. Not for plot devices or ideas, but for structure reference.
-Do research and keep your books in a specific genre/niche. I went wrong with this on my first book. The overall idea is great, but it has content from too many niches. I initially thought this would be a great idea since it would get a wider audience, but man, I was extremely wrong. If you have a bunch of topics that you think would fit under one book, split it up into different books. Or, read any posts by @ChickenHawk
-The most important thing I've learned so far: RELAX. When I first started a little over a month ago, I was so anxious to get it done and get it published. This worked against me. I spent 12+ hours in one day writing relentlessly because I was anxious. It killed my focus, it killed my energy and it left me exhausted. It was a great learning experience. The biggest thing I'm struggling with now is my life/writing balance. Get outside, smell the roses, hit the beach, interact with the real-world. This is your palette-cleanser, it will help you overcome blocks.
MY "OTHER" VENTURE
I'm not going to go into detail yet because it hasn't launched. I'll just say it involves something I "love". I figured out a way to utilize something I love in a way to provide value to others. There will always be a huge need for it. Entry is difficult as hell, not because a lot of people are doing it, but because it is DIFFICULT to do, it's quite a long process (for now). I will hold 100% control over it. It can be scaled greatly and, once it's launched, it will be able to provide me with passive income. The actual product creation and platform is what's been taking the most time, but once it's launched, the platform time will be out of the equation, only the product time which I have no problem knocking out.
IN CLOSING
I'm sure this post is ridiculously long, boring, dumb, filled with errors, etc. Whatever. I'm going to be updating it as I go along. The point of it was to just get it up and take accountability.
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