My Journal #2

What a productive year

2020-2021 Has been a year of writing.  I joined a weekly critique group a few months ago. I didn't have them critique my book as it's outside their reading and since I only read once every 5 or 6 weeks, it would take forever to get through. I had a couple of beta readers who gave me great suggestions and loved the story. 

After I completed the manuscript and it was ready to publish, I knew I needed a good cover and someone to format it for paperback and e-readers. I couldn't do it. I searched for a cheap publisher among the constant phone calls I received for my first book. I picked a publisher and had to deal with the constant up sale propaganda.  I ignored it or talked over the woman's sales pitch to get to the point I wanted to make or understand. 

We came to an agreement and I worked with the design team for a cover. I liked it.  They published it and I got a copy. I wasn't ready for it to go live. I began reading the paperback and found mistakes I'd missed. How could I have missed them? I'd read the thing so many times.

Here I wasn't reading on a screen. I was relaxed and reading as if I had purchased it.  Pencil and post-it notes in hand, I began to mark up things I came across. Resubmitting them I got them fixed.  Then found two more. I gave up. No book is perfect.

Once I had the book done, the publisher set up a website for me.  It's okay, I wasn't impressed. I thought my website was more interesting.  I decided to do a little self-educating. 

In marketing my first book, The Vanishing of Katherine Sullivan had gone into the secondary market.  I came to the conclusion I was missing out. I needed to get into the market. E-commerce.  What if I sold off my inventory and ordered more books from the publisher at half the retail price and sold them on my website. I wouldn't make as much money but I might sell more books and at least have a better profit margin.  It's still a learning process.

I also thought that if I buy the used copies and sell them myself I get another bit of profit and that pays me instead of someone else. Why should they get the money off free/donated books?  I can buy them for $3.00 or so and resell them on my site. Now I might not make a lot of money. but I do control the amount of business that comes to my site. It's a thought and we'll see how it goes.

You can see my new website at:  www.christinaweaverauthor.com
the other website is www.christinamweaver.com
Check them out.