Full-Time Author – Page 3 – Jo Ann Schneider

07
Nov 18
0

Month Ten as a Full-Time Author

October turned out to be a wild and crazy month.

Last month I mentioned a new project I was working on. For that project, I wrote two novels in October. Two 50k word novels. One is back from my editor and the other is just back from my beta readers.

I’ll tell you a little secret. They’re sweet, uplifting romance novels that I’m going to release under a pen name. If you get my newsletter you already know this, so I guess it’s not that big of a secret. I’ll be announcing the release of both books here before the end of the year.

If you’re wondering what they’re about, let’s just say that they could pretty much be Hallmark Christmas movies, but I couldn’t bring myself to cram quite that many cheesy lines into one novel. And believe me, I really tried with the second one.

I was considering writing another romance novel, but instead decided to start on my Academy series. I’ve now got outlines for stories about The Beast and a Frog Princess. You’ll love the take on the Beast, and I was seriously laughing when I was working on the Frog Princess. I also have the other five characters picked and their stories loosely laid out. Watch for these starting at the end of January.

I try to focus on the positives, but I feel like I should share some of my less than stellar experiences from this past quarter.

Marketing gives me anxiety. Well, after an hour of thinking about it and/or learning about it I want to punch people in the face. I guess that’s a form of anxiety, yes? Or maybe just stress. Or maybe I just need to take a chill pill.

Anyway, I haven’t met my monetary goal this year because I haven’t been marketing. I do have a newsletter with about 2500 subscribers, and that’s been fun. And I’ve put out a two novels and three novellas along with a boxed set for Jagged Scars.

However, I’ve failed miserably in my half-hearted attempts to learn Amazon and Facebooks ads. Everything I’ve read points to the fact that you must advertise so your books get in front of the right readers so then the readers can buy them, love them and then buy all of your books. This is the plan. My execution has been lacking.

So things aren’t all roses and rainbows, but things are going forward. Forward in a surprising direction, mind you, but forward all the same.

Check back next month for my first sweet romance novel, along with an update about my Academy stories!

03
Oct 18
0

Month Nine as a Full-Time Author

Tags : Full-Time Author The Academy

Most of you know that I went to Salt Lake city FanX (a ComiCon type convention) at the beginning of the month. See my post about it here.

I have to say that selling out of one of my series was a life goal for me. I had 25 sets of those books, and never thought that I would sell them all. Not to mention the other 100 or so books people bought. A few customers (hopefully now fans) have left positive reviews about my books on Amazon and Goodreads, which is awesome.

If you would have asked me at the beginning of the year what I’d be working on in September, I would have told you my Young Adult space opera series. I never would have imagined that I’d be working on something completely unexpected.

Two somethings, really.

First off I’m puttering around with my Academy series. The first story is in the Fractured Sea collection. The other seven—some of them including characters that you guys suggested—will be out starting January of next year!

The other project will come to life in November. I’ll tell you more about that when the time gets closer.

Have no fear, I’ll get back to my YA space opera soon. I’m excited to write it, but also intimidated, so I’m letting it percolate a little longer before I really dive in.

Earlier this month I had the privilege of delivering a keynote address to a crowd of aspiring writers. I really struggled with what to say to them, and actually had two different speeches written. At the last minute I decided to go with my writing journey. And I’m glad I did.

As we stare at what’s ahead of us, sometimes in anticipation, sometimes in dread and sometimes with both, I think we can all forget what it was like before. How difficult it can seem to finish that first book, or edit it, or get so caught up in trying to get an agent that you forget why you started writing in the first place.

It felt good to encourage people in their journey, no matter where they are. Because everyone needs encouragement at some point, even if it’s just a simple, “You got this.”

05
Sep 18
0

Month Eight as a Full-Time Author

Tags : Full-Time Author

August was an exciting month!

I got new covers for my New Sight series
My New Sight series is now complete with the release of the final book, New Vision
The Little Mermaid retelling collection that I have a story in came out on the 31st
My hubby updated my website, so now all of my books are there
I’ve spent the past two weeks preparing for the local ComiCon event, FanX

Look at all of the pretty books!

I received an unexpected opportunity a few weeks ago.

Unexpected isn’t always bad, and in this case it has thrown what will be a delightful—but stressful—wrench into my plans for the rest of the year.

As some of you know, I’ve been working on an epic, YA Sci-Fi Space Opera for the past six or eight weeks. I’ve been looking forward to writing this tale for quite a while—I’ve had the idea for six years—and when I started to plan I realized that the story is bigger than I thought, and I was super excited about it. In August I even managed to sneak in 40k of the first book.

Then this wrench gets tossed into the mix, and now I’m staring down two different paths:

One leads to this YA Space Opera that will be amazing!

The other leads to writing my Academy series first.

The Academy begins with the Little Mermaid retelling that’s in the Fractured Sea collection that just came out last week, and will feature seven other fairy tale retellings that will all be at The Academy.

Now I’m feeling like a much younger version of myself, torn between Hostess Cup Cakes and the original Transformers cartoon. Both are awesome, but I can’t have both. Which, now that I think about it, I could totally eat the Cup Cake and watch the show at the same time, but hopefully you get the gist.

I’m amazed at how much I’ve strayed from my original goals for the year, but everything has been for the best.

New Adventures await!

01
Aug 18
0

Month Seven as a Full-Time Author

Tags : Full-Time Author Jagged Scars Series Losses New Sight Wins

Ah, July, my old nemesis. You did not get the best of me! Well, mostly not. I mean, I got a few things accomplished. Despite all your efforts to thwart me.

Wins:

Released Spoiled Gambit, the very last novella in my Jagged Scars series
I blogged every week
I finished New Vision (New Sight book 3) and sent it to my editor.
I put quite a bit of time into my next series. YA Space Opera. You’re going to love it!
I helped three friends out by reading their books/novellas as a beta reader
It was my birthday, and for my birthday I asked for 43 reviews on Fractured Memories by the end of the month. That worked out! (Unless Amazon takes some of them down, which it does sometimes.)
I hit triple digits in sales for the second month in a row!

Not so much wins:

I will be at FanX (the event formally known as Salt Lake City ComiCon) in September. In order to receive hard copies of the last book of my New Sight series, I had to have it out to the editor this past weekend. This whole process—coupled with several other things going on—left me with a two week long migraine that still hasn’t quit.
Marketing flew out the window. Like a bird.
I broke my Flash Fiction Friday streak last week, because I was spending 10 hours a day working on New Vision.

I knew July was going to be tough going in. Between family stuff, holidays, vacations and some community service that I do every July, I only had something like fourteen writing days to work with. Considering twenty or so is the usual amount, I started out in a bad spot.

Still, I got some things done. I didn’t get other things done. Thus it is in the life of Author Jo.

Stay tuned this month (or early next month) for a few things:

New covers for New Sight and New Powers
The release of New Vision—the third and final book in my New Sight series
The release of Fractured Sea, a collection of five Little Mermaid retellings in which I have a super fun one-part high school anime and one-part Harry Potter story called The Academy. Several people that have read it have already have asked when the next one will be out. My lips are sealed…

Don’t forget, Fractured Sea is on pre-order for $0.99 until the release date of August 31st.

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Tag Archives: Full-Time Author

Nov 18

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Month Ten as a Full-Time Author

Oct 18

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Month Nine as a Full-Time Author

Sep 18

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Month Eight as a Full-Time Author

Aug 18

0

Month Seven as a Full-Time Author

Wins:

Not so much wins:

Stay tuned this month (or early next month) for a few things:

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