A Slice of Orange

It’s been a little while since I last updated you on my project. I’m a little tired, so I’ll try and make this a short post. 

In July, I attended my first RWA National Conference and had an amazingly, insightful learning experience. Not only did I learn quite a bit, that I’ve started to implement. I also met some really nice people, like the two Tracys. At one of the breakfasts, I walked in and sat at the first table I saw and was greeted by a table of fun ladies. Two of which were named “Tracy.” That was a great ice breaker. We spent the rest of breakfast with some rather racy conversation.
No one really prepared me for the conference. It reminded me of one of my trade shows. For the record, when I attend trade shows for my business, I’m going non-stop for approximately eight to nine hours at the venue. Then I go back to my hotel to review another couple of hours over dinner and then sleep. That’s the routine when there isn’t an evening event. When I attend shows, I pack snacks and water and wear comfortable shoes. 

I’ve been to writers conferences before, but not like RWA National. My feet got tired. I got hungry…thank God for protein bars, fruit, and veggies drinks. 

I learned so much that I’m still processing. Of the endless list of things I learned, I really enjoyed the workshops on marketing and the business of writing. Here’s a short list of the things I learned at conference and have put into practice: 

• Soliciting readers for my street team
• A formal newsletter
• My first newsletter giveaway
• Increasing my mailing list. [I’m extremely proud of this one. At the writing of this post, my mailing list is now at 2300 plus.]
• Added the KOBO Promotion button to my dashboard and participating in my first KOBO promo event
• Started a writers support and encouragement group with a couple of friends
• I’m doing Facebook Ads for new releases instead of blog tours
• Going wide…as of this post, I have only one book in KDP Select. The others are available everywhere. 

So far, the changes have made a difference. I’m starting to see sales in all the outlets, and I’m having fun trying new marketing tactics.

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It’s hard to believe it’s September and I just released my eighth title in this challenge last week, MISS MATCH.

First, let me back up to July. I had a different book scheduled for July, however, prepping for the RWA conference and decompressing afterward, made me rethink my July release. I was feeling a little rushed and felt a repeat of my January release rush and pressure on the horizon. 

While I was at the conference, I made a decision. I had seen Beth Yarnall’s Romance Sampler and thought it was a great idea. I emailed her and asked if she was fine with me copying her. She said yes, and I went to work on my “Sampler” for release in July. 

TEASE, my perma-free romance sampler. It was easy to put together. When I returned from the conference, I went to work creating my little sampler. This marketing tool and title seven took a few days to assemble. The majority of that time was spent researching covers. Originally, I selected a woman but learned at conference that covers with shirtless, muscular men were a big attention grabber. I found a new image and went to work creating a little perma-free book. 

TEASE, is filled with excerpts from most of my books, plus sneak peeks into future releases. It’s doing well and has been in the top 100 of one of my categories for a few weeks. 

To some people, this may seem like I got lazy or cheated in my challenge, but remember, it’s 12 TITLES. 

So my September Release is a novella. It started out as a stand alone, but when I got to the end, I realized the story wasn’t done, so I wrote a cliffhanger. So far, it’s been received well. I’m excited about the follow up which will be out next year.

MISS MATCH
Summary:
Charlotte “Charlie” Griggs is a skilled matchmaker. Her client list reads like the pages of the most prestigious business publications. However, when it comes to her own love life, she needs help. 

That brings us to the fourth quarter which is a little up in the air. All three books are near completion. October’s release is about three thousand words away from the end. November’s release is a toss up between two titles. Both are approximately fifty percent completed. And December’s release is missing about forty thousand words from an HEA.
That’s my brief post. Enjoy Labor day and happy writing.

Tracy Reed
www.readtracyreed.com

Fiction for Women Who Love God, Couture and Cute Guys