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