Mid Year Goal Check
July 5, 2022 by Tracy Reed in category Pink Pad by Tracy Reed tagged as #NewRelease, goals, Marketing, Tracy Reed
Happy July and belated Fourth of July. I almost forgot I needed to write a post for today. It’s not an excuse, but a reason. My family was hit with an emergency medical issue with my dad. For the past couple of months our schedules were interrupted. During this period I had a release I couldn’t push back.
I had a plan for how I was going to promote this book, but that never really happened…not fully. With all that was going on in my personal life, I found myself second guessing a few things. How to promote a book in a series when it ends on a cliff? How much should you spend on advertising? What about the cover…is it too racy? And let’s not forget my editor hit me with a major curve.
What was my plan? Run Facebook, BookBub, AMS and newsletter ads. I never got new FB ads up. I turned the AMS off. I’m on the fence about AMS ads. Personally, I think they are more effective for Kindle exclusive authors. I’m wide and I don’t experience the returns Kindle exclusives receive. I did run a BookBub ad which produced wide sales. I never set up newsletter ads.
I hear you saying, “It only takes a few minutes to set up ads.” You’re right, but when you’re juggling unexpected doctors appointments, tests and eventually surgery, ads and writing are the last things on your mind. I was grateful to God, the book was finished and edited. I reached out to a couple of authors for advice on marketing which helped alleviate some anxiety.
So what did I do? I had this book up on preorder for a few months and for the record, these were the most preorders to date in my writing career. I reached out to my author and blogger community for swaps and posts. I ran book one in a free giveaway to draw attention to the series (this really works…this is going to be a part of my release plan). I posted to my socials as well. I ran BookBub ads for the free book one.
How did I do? This was my second release this year. I released part four earlier this year which doubled the sales of book three which was released last year. This release has been out three weeks and so far it has out performed book four in the series.
Did I hit my sales goal? No. But some amazing things did happen.
First sale on Google Play
First preorders on Kobo
Kobo Sales have already surpassed last year’s sales
Most preorders to date in writing career
Preorder for book six (which only has one chapter so far)
Gained new readers and increased read-thru in the series
Best release sales to date
What did I learn with this release? Trust God. I’m not preaching, but being honest. The only way this release did well was because I asked God to help me. I was close to stress mode. The other thing I learned was Pre-Release Prep. There are things I can do now even though the book isn’t complete. I have a cover, but I can create the graphics and blurbs now. I already have the book on preorder and as soon as it’s complete, I’ll set it up at Amazon.
The other Pre-Release Prep I’ve done is hired some help. I realized I needed some help. If I’d had help I would have been able to implement more promotion things and done even better. My PA is already setting up swaps for me.
I’m also going to use some advice I received for the last release which I wasn’t able to, because book one was too small. Apply for a BookBub Featured Deal. There’s a lead-in book which meets the BB requirements. Here’s a tip…if you’re doing a series, try to write book one to the BookBub Featured deal requirement. If not, create a box set which can be a series starter. I’ve already added create a box set for The Good Girl series so I can apply for a BB Featured Deal for Book Six.
Let’s do a quick check on my goals for the year.
Here’s my updated goals list:
Get my letters
Triple my income
Triple my mailing list – Working on this. Added approximately 400 new subscribers so far
Master Facebook ads – I made a change last month to how much I spend and it’s paying off. Last month, I scaled back to one ad and it’s paid off. This one ad for a first in series free has led to sales of the books in two of my other series. I’m going to ride this strategy for a little while before scaling up.
Update covers – 13 covers in total to update. 8 completed.
Learn how to write a sellable blurb
Use Ingram Spark – Launching first books this month
Direct distribution – I started with Nook. So far, it’s worked out. Considering selling ebooks direct from my website.
Increase BookBub US Followers to 1000 – Added two hundred new US followers.
Increase my prices
Release 3 Books – Two down, one to go. I also added three short stories for anthologies. One is. My first Christmas story.
How are you doing with your goals so far?
Tracy’s Books
Tracy Reed has a NEW RELEASE and FREEBIE!
June 20, 2022 by Tracy Reed in category Pink Pad by Tracy Reed, Spotlight, Writing tagged as Good Girl part 5, new release, Tracy Reed
Tracy Reed has a NEW RELEASE and FREEBIE!
THE GOOD GIRL Part Five
Gabriella’s decision to become romantically involved with her Billionaire boss, shoots her up the corporate ladder and gives her the happy ending all women wish for. There’s just one problem, she doesn’t want the fantasy.
Excerpt:
GABRIELLA
The problem was simple. I was being thrust into a life I wasn’t sure I could or wanted to handle. It’s one thing to date or be married to a rich guy. But this is different. Phillippe and his family weren’t just rich, they were part of the secret rich. They were the kind of people who build hospitals, community centers, sponsor the arts, fund research, influence politicians…elect politicians.
When things began to get serious, he told me there were things he couldn’t tell me. I just had no idea, they included so many zeroes. I’m not stupid or naive. I knew Phillippe was well off, but this is way beyond my imagination. It’s also a world I’m not sure I want to live in. Sometimes love and great sex aren’t enough to build a marriage on.
PHILLIPPE
I wasn’t used to these feelings. In a matter of months Gabriella had infected my blood stream. I wasn’t the same. I wasn’t a cocky arrogant boorish man. It’s like that man died the moment I laid eyes on the petite curvy ball of love, I was privileged and honored to call my wife.
I thought about going over to the manor, but I didn’t want to face Mere. I was ashamed to tell her, I messed up things and may have lost the love of my life. The other reason I didn’t want to go there was my grandfather. If he were there I don’t think I’d…in my current state, I couldn’t be sure I wouldn’t do him physical harm.
He was the reason I was in this mess. If it hadn’t been for him insisting I get married and me being so stubborn, I never would have gotten involved with Gabriella. Now because of his interference, I may have lost the only woman I will ever love.
NEW RELEASE
Download FREEBIE: The Good Girl Part One at www.readtracyreed.com
0 0 Read moreIS THERE A DIFFERENCE…UPDATED
June 5, 2022 by Tracy Reed in category Pink Pad by Tracy Reed
Happy June. I’m prepping for a new release in a week so I thought I’d modify a post from 2018. When I read it, I was reminded of the relevance of the topic. I have to be honest, I guest blogged a few days ago at Delilah Devlin and I used this post. I’m repeating it…more like updating it because it’s relevant to my upcoming release.
I want to talk about the preconceived notions people have about Christian, Inspirational or Faith based books. When someone hears a story has one of the three aforementioned tones, they immediately shut down thinking the story is going to be sweeter than cotton candy dipped in chocolate and covered with gum drops.
There’s CIF [Christian, Inspirational, Faith] fiction that falls into that description and there’s nothing wrong with it. It’s written extremely well and packs a message for the reader. However, it’s the misconception that all CIF books are like that which provokes a closed mind to experiencing some really great stories. [I swear I’m not preaching.]
When I decided to start writing, I’d dabbled a little in high school and college. Even so far as to writing a couple of plays. I found them later and felt they’d be a good base for a barbecue fire. When I read them again, I realized, although they were poorly written, they had a few things in common. The characters were all Christians in real life situations. Let me explain. In a lot of CIF books, the story centers around the church with conflict between the pastor, the board, the choir director, pastor’s family and some evil person not affiliated with the church. There’s nothing wrong with those books. I’ve read a few and like them, however, they weren’t the kinds of stories I wanted to tell.
I have always loved God, fashion and cute guys. I liked “The Devil Wears Prada,” “Bergdorf Blondes,” “Elements of Style” and “The Debutante Divorcee.” These were characters I could relate to. The books are filled with the most incredible fashion and very handsome men. The only thing they didn’t have was a faith theme. It was reading these books that it occurred to me, why not write a book with similar content, but add a little CIF to it.
My first attempt at writing a book sounded very much like ChickLit. I was fine with it until my beta readers ripped it to shreds. After a lot of re-writes, I finally had a book I was pleased with. Problem was, it wasn’t considered acceptable. Every traditional editor I approached had the same response, “Christians don’t act like that, Christians don’t care about designer clothes, Christians are happy being upper middle class at best, Christians don’t get challenged, tempted, have racy dreams or wicked thoughts, Christians only have sex for procreation and on special occasions. And there is no way a Christian would get divorced, commit adultery, fornicate, swear, drink wine or dance”.
Needless to say, I was stunned at the comments because I know a lot of Christians that have experienced and or faced a few of those things. So I set out to write books for “my people.”
I spoke with an author friend and told her what I had been experiencing with the traditional publishing machine and she suggested I consider going indie. I wasn’t too sure the indie world was for me, but it was. The indie publishing world allows me to tell the stories I want to tell.
It ticks me off when I hear people say no one will read books about Christians [or people of other religious or faith beliefs] in real life situations. I want to read about “my people” dating, regretting, marrying, divorcing, falling in love, wearing designer clothes, traveling and being pursued by wealthy men. I don’t want my heroine to be naive and deceived by an evil protagonist whose only objective is to steal her virginity or corrupt her. What about the sexy, fun Christian girl who works hard and falls for her boss, or divorces her cheating husband or who used to be a little slutty and is now in love with God struggling not to slip back into her old ways. These are great stories and if they’re written well, you can take the CIF elements out and they’ll still be great stories.
My next book is part five of an office romance. The Good Girl series starts out sweet and sassy and escalates to a hot romance. For those expecting a tame romance, this isn’t it. As the series moves forward, so does Gabriella and Phillippe’s relationship. The cover of Part Five reminds me of a scene from the book. Without giving too much away, I’ll say this, Gabriella and Phillippe get what they want. The question is, “What do they want?”.
Since I began writing, my books have gone from being classed as steamy, Christian fiction to Contemporary Romance with faith and heat. My books range in heat from sweet to very sensual/steamy. Personally, I don’t see where they are that hot, but some readers feel otherwise. I’ve even gotten reviews that called one of my books soft porn. Needless to say, that didn’t set well with me, but I had to consider the source. If a reader buys one of my books expecting a sweet Christian romance, they’re in for a surprise.
I recently had to amend my relationship with my editor. We have been working together since I started indie publishing. The reason had to do with the very descriptive sexual content.
Although most of my characters are Christians, I don’t want their passion or desire to be watered down. Here’s a startling fact, Christians like sex. I know it’s hard to believe. Smile. But it’s the truth and that’s why I have chosen to include open door sex in my books. Let me clarify, I only include sex scenes when I feel they are relevant to the story. I also like to share my characters thoughts and reactions to situations. If either of the protagonist are having a lustful thought or are pissed off, I include it. These little nuances make my characters appear real and relatable.…just like in traditional romance.
So back to the original question, IS THERE A DIFFERENCE? Not really, just different levels of intensity and personal preference.
Tracy’s Books
Goals Check-In
February 5, 2022 by Tracy Reed in category Pink Pad by Tracy Reed, Writing tagged as #writing, goals, new release, New YearsHappy February. Happy Love Month. Happy Valentine’s Day or Galentine’s Day.
Let’s get to it. Last month I made a bold post and shared some of my goals with you. I did this because I felt the accountability would help me achieve them.
Here are my goals:
Get my letters
Triple my income
Triple my mailing list
Master Facebook ads
Update covers
Learn how to write a sellable blurb
Use Ingram Spark
Direct distribution
Increase my prices
As of this post, I’ve completed one goal…Increase my prices. I was a little nervous about raising my prices because I didn’t think readers would be receptive to the increase on the smaller books. So far, there hasn’t been any negative feedback. Raising my prices also helps with tripling my income.
My strategy for tripling my income, is Facebook ads. Last year, I took Skye Warren’s Facebook Ads Intensive and did well. I still haven’t reached the sales goal I desire, but that will come in time. 2020 wasn’t a good sales year for me. I can’t blame the poor sales on the pandemic because I didn’t release anything new. Nor did I push my back list.
Last year, I released one book prior to doing the Ads Intensive. I really wish I’d known about the Intensive sooner, because I think the first half of the year would have turned out differently. I ended last year by multiplying my income by 4.8 times.
Fast forward to 2022 and a price increase across the board…I made all of my ebooks $4.99. This bold move helped to boost my income by 39% as of this post. Meaning I already made February 2021s income. Grant it, I had a release on February 2nd with the majority of the preorders paid out on that day.
In addition to Facebook Ads, I’m also doing BookBub ads. I turned off my AMS ad because they weren’t working. I heard Amazon doesn’t like racy covers, which could explain why the ads performed so poorly. However, the FB ads, have been consistently making the daily spend back…plus or minus two dollars. So far, I’m ahead and considering increasing my ad spend. I have a BookBub New Release For Less ad scheduled for February 8th. The tails will determine when I increase my FB ad spend.
To summarize, increasing my prices and running facebook ads are pushing me towards my goal of tripling my income.
Update my covers. I don’t have as many to update as I thought. I have seven covers I need to update and two are almost complete. I also have four I’m on the fence about. This project is time consuming because it’s not just the cover, but the chapter headers as well. Thank God for Vellum because it makes creating print copies easy.
I need to add one additional goal. Offer all books in large print. I have one live already, The Good Girl Part One. If you haven’t done large print, I recommend doing so.
The other goal I forgot to list was my new release goals. I went super bold and set up preorders for three books this year. Setting up Amazon preorders was a way to make sure I fulfilled this goal. I don’t want to end up in preorder jail, so I have to keep this goal. I am so grateful Amazon offers an extension without penalty which I am taking advantage of.
One goal down, ten to go. How are you doing with your goals?
Why Self-Publishing by Tracy Reed
December 5, 2021 by Tracy Reed in category Pink Pad by Tracy Reed tagged as Agents, Authors, Edgy Christian Fiction, self-publishing
Tracy is busy today. While she’s away, she thought you might like to read a post from our archives. Why Self-Publishing was originally published on Jan 16, 2015.
Why Did You Chose To Self-Publish?
This is the first question most Self-Published Authors are asked. However, what’s really going through the mind of the person asking is, “So you couldn’t get an agent or your work wasn’t up to snuff.” That’s so not true.
I’ve learned a lot on the road to becoming a self-published writer. First, I had an agent. A well-respected agent in the world of Christian Fiction. Let me preface this by saying, she knew my writing style. She’d read the first five chapters of my book. Actually, it was a different book. [That’s a story for another time.] She got my book to ‘Board.’ Two years later and I’m still waiting to hear if that publisher wants to move forward with my book. I think it’s safe to say, they passed on it.
I need to back up. I write what is classed as Edgy Christian Fiction. What is that you ask? ECF [Edgy Christian Fiction], is fiction with Christian themes. What makes it ‘Edgy’ is that it includes elements not common in traditional Inspirational or Christian fiction. In my books, that means the kisses are a little more passionate, there’s sex between the married couples, language with a little bite, lots of physical descriptions voiced by the characters, wine, talk about abortion, divorce, fornication, lust, not liking your in-laws and anything else that goes on in everyday life. The men are hot, the women are loaded with curves and both are quick to render their appreciation of the opposite sex.
As a Christian, I wanted to read stories about women who weren’t ashamed or embarrassed to express their feelings, with strong personalities and business owners. Let’s be real, when you’re sitting down with your girlfriends talking, you’re not talking in prose. No, you’re very descriptive in your comments on how amazing Idris Elba, Matthew McConaughey, Johnny Depp or Daniel Craig looked in their last movie. So why not write stories from that POV.
I feel it’s a little difficult to convey to the reader the heroine’s attraction is to the hero by not being descriptive in this manner. Traditional Inspiration Fiction, the heroine’s feelings might be described with something like, ‘His thick black hair was beautiful blowing in the wind, brought a smile to her face.’ That’s nice, but in my world, it would have a little more umph, like, ‘She wondered how his thick black hair would feel brushing against her chin as he placed hot kisses along her neck.’ Or maybe, ‘When he kissed the back of her neck, she lost the ability to stand.” Statements like this aren’t necessarily acceptable CBA approved.
In my GENERATIONAL CURSE, I wanted to tell a story about a man who never turned down a drink or a woman. But when he hit rock bottom, he went cold turkey and fell in love with God. His priorities changed and he refused to let anyone or anything destroy that relationship. The heroine, is the complete opposite. She hasn’t had a relationship with God since she was a child. And even then it was more forced. Now as an adult, the only part of marriage she wants, is a married lover. She has no desire to be with a single available man. In her mind, a married man is less complicated. But she is intrigued by the hero and he her.
In order to tell the story, I had to take the reader on a journey with the heroine. I had to show how complicated and empty her life was by detailing her relationship with her married lover. I’m sure the story could have been told without the sex, but I don’t think it would have had the same impact. I don’t want to give too much away, but in the end it all makes sense.
So Why Did I Choose To Self-Publish? I wanted to tell the stories I wanted to read. I met an agent at a conference and she gave me two options: tell the story with the sex and no God or tell the story with God and no sex.
I wrestled with that statement for quite a while. But, I felt God had given me a great platform and I refused to back down. Also, I wanted covers and titles that were a little racy, another thing not really permitted in Inspirational or Christian Fiction.
So here I am, a newbie writer taking a chance writing stories with a little heat and taboo subjects. I know my style of book isn’t for everyone and that’s fine. For those willing to read something a little different, I think they’ll enjoy it.
Funny thing, a few weeks after I published my book, I got a LinkedIn request from my former agent. I’m still deciding if I should accept it.
That’s why I chose to self-pub.
