July 2022 – C.G.Coppola

I figured it out.

Not, like, the secret to life—though, that’d be sweet—but what I’m doing with this random new thing I wrote. I thought it was some small story that popped up for distraction, but nothing is ever random or coincidental as I have come to learn in life—and neither is this. It’s suddenly become completely integral to the publishing plan I’m working on for the remainder of this year and over the course next year, but I can’t reveal anything now. Two reasons:

I’m still working everything out
I don’t want to jinx anything

Very legitimate reasons, I think. I’m not even sure I’m sharing the master plan next week. It might roll into mid-August just to be safe, but I’m already so excited to share.

Soon, guys. Very, very soon!

**taps fingertips excitedly**

Let’s see… Other than realizing my publishing plan for the next year or so, I’m also shifting gears toward my current/already-published-for-your-reading-needs books. I’m talking Better Than This and Arizal Wars. Arizal Wars will probably chill as is for now until it gets a facelift at some point. But Better Than This needs a scene or two *reworked and since I’m updating a new version anyway, I figure I might just update the covers too. I like them; I like that they are what I imagined, but…I don’t think they’re doing me any favors. People like pictures of people on books (apparently) and I guess some stray away from anything cartoonish. Whatever. I’m not taking it personally, but if there’s a better cover I could use for this series, especially one that will entice readers more: let’s do it.

I feel like a juggler right now. I’ve got to keep to my new publishing schedule—which shall be revealed in a future post!—as well as work on updating my books so I can get them to their correct platforms to then start promoting them on tiktok, which I still need to learn. Yeah. It’s all good. I can learn to be a master juggler with the best of them. (Random fact: I always thought jugglers were hot. Maybe I was just impressed with their magical multitasking skills. Who knew?)

Life is good. Batman and I have an Asheville trip coming up next month, and we’re throwing gross gobs of money at Disney for my birthday in September. It’ll probably be the last time we go for a while, but I still want to get on the Peter Pan ride. I haven’t been since I was a kid and every time we go, the ride has a miles-long wait. Screw Space Mountain. I’m headed straight to Fantasy Land for Peter Pan. I’ll push kids out of the way. I don’t care anymore.

What about you? Any plans coming up? It’s already the second half of the year, in case you haven’t panicked yet about Christmas. But it’s nice seeing the Halloween stuff.

I just love fall!

~ Lady Caitlin

I wrote something new. It’s newer than ARPIP and the first draft of AROG (which I still need to finish…) but I took a break and wrote a short story (novella?) specific to a serial platform and—probably what’s most important—to market. What does that mean? It means I’m experimenting.

Since I’m a genre-hopper and can’t pinpoint who my audience is (other than people who love great stories with a lot of adventure, laughter, and romance) I’m writing a highly marketable enemies-to-lovers high-school drama with all the juiciness. Unlike my other books, I’ll slap on a cover with actual people (not space or guitar images) to see if that helps. I know I had a bit of interest on Better Than This before it got booted for violating Radish’s policy (boo!) so I know some of my readers are on there. The plan is to write something for them (within policy) and hopefully gain a following/some fans who I can maybe convert into fans/sales of ARPIP when I publish that…possibly next year.

There is some definite strategic planning going on in the background, and while I still feeling like I’m failing in multiple ways (no advertising, dropping the ball with the newsletter, updating my books) I’m creating content. At the end of the day, that’s the most important thing because with no content…no business. Right?

On the flip side, content with no marketing—aka people don’t know I/my books exist—doesn’t do me any good either. So, in order to combat this completely combative process, I’m going to make myself accountable. I’m going to do something EVERY DAY marketing-wise (although the majority of it is probably research for now) in addition to content-creation. I need to hold myself accountable for both aspects of this business, and even though I’m cringing as I type this, I need to. It’s part of it. And no one is going to stop me—not even I.

Marketing Stuff I’ve done so far:

I’ve signed up for TikTok. Doesn’t sound like a lot, but a LOT of indie authors are finding success on this site. Why? It’s zero paid advertising (which definitely helps profits) and, apparently, readers are on the platform. Next thing to do is study the platform, what other authors are doing, and then actually play around with the tools and create some badass videos.

Signed up for 1:1 Consult with Successful Indie Author. Seems silly to spend money on a one-hour consult with a fellow indie author…until you realize she started after you and has been successfully paying her bills with writing for four plus years. Yeah. Time to bite the bullet, admit defeat, and invest in myself. If I can drop money on a purple, velvet couch on Wayfair, I can spend money on this.

Stalk FB Groups. Doesn’t sound important, but it’s a wealth of information. It’s also how I decided to do the consult. Before I walk with marketing, I need to crawl, and that means hours of reading and research and learning. I could go in blind, but I’m trying to do it smarter this way since doing the dumb way has kept me sad and poor.

A few small steps in the right direction, but they’re steps. I’m not standing-still, which is what I’ve been doing for a while. So, I’m proud of myself. I’m getting out of my comfort zone to be all uncomfy to hopefully do this thing right. And “right” to me is the ability to write full time, however that comes to fruition.

Alright, enough jabbering with you. I need to do more research.

And coffee. I’ll definitely need more coffee for this.

~Lady Caitlin