I recently did an interview with Erik Marshall at the Writing, Education, and Technology podcast. When he first emailed me, he said, “I am particularly interested in your view on editing, which, if I read it correctly from the book, goes against the grain of common advice.” You can listen to the interview here: http://www.erikmarshall.net/blog/wet029-write-better-faster-with-monica-leonelle/ […]
Why Advertising on Facebook Made Me Change My Entire Year Production Plan (Hint: I Haven’t Started Advertising Yet) (#18)
I left a bit of a cliffhanger in my last post about the summit, didn’t I? What can I say—if you hate cliffhangers you: a) shouldn’t read a fiction author’s blog b) shouldn’t read a copywriter’s blog Am I right or am I right? You’re still here, so I can’t be held responsible for your […]
My Experience at Sterling and Stone’s Colonist Summit (Part 1) (#17)
I’m back! I just spent the last week in Austin, Texas, where I was vacationing with my fiancé before my semi-annual writer’s conference this past weekend. As I was after the last conference, I’m so stoked and recharged after coming back and I have a million ideas, dozens of notes, and a growing to-do list! […]
Why You Should Rethink Your Timeframe For Becoming a Full-Time Fiction Writer (#16)
It is not easy to build an online business that runs mostly on passive income, that sells mostly online courses and products in the non-fiction, “here’s a solution to your problem,” self-help space. But at times, it feels infinitely harder to build an online business in fiction. At least with non-fiction, you can sell a solution. […]
Why You Collect Email Addresses Before You Release Your Book (And How, Too!) (#15)
My newest book, Emma + Elsie Meet Fitzwilliam Darcy, has taken forever to be finished and released, but I had over one hundred new readers interested in it before I even set it up for pre-order. How? I’ve been collecting email addresses for months. And now, two weeks before the release date, I’ve had over 300 people […]
Should You Write a Brand New Book Just to Meet Bookbub’s Requirements? (#14)
Bookbub isn’t the only game in town, but it’s close. It’s what’s working right now. So my thought this morning was, should I write content tailored to getting picked by Bookbub just so I can win the game? Here are the things I’d consider if I did this: Structure – Bookbub prefers full length novels, […]
Why I Sell Direct as a Soft Launch (Right Now) (#13)
Because books are a creative endeavor, it is not easy to hit a book deadline. Publishers struggle to hit them, authors struggle to hit them, and service providers struggle to hit them. The best way to combat this is to make the finished book due way before the launch date. This means holding the book […]
Should You Put Your Books in KDP Select? (#12)
There are generally two camps about KDP Select: a) the group that swears by it b) the group that hates it I’m somewhere in the middle. I don’t believe in full exclusivity and will never put my business at risk that way. All my books are currently multi-retailer and I’ve built decent income using that […]
What to Do When Your Wedding (or Another Huge Event) Throws a Wrench Into Your Writing Plans (#11)
I’m engaged! (And really excited about it!) BUT… it’s also a bit of a surprise. I’ve been dating my fiancé for a little over three years, so it wasn’t a surprise in the sense that we were both thinking about marriage. The timing, however, did come as a shock, so when he popped the question […]
Everything That Went Wrong With an Attempted Group Promotion (And Why I Would Attempt One Again) (#10)
Group promotions are all the rage in book marketing these days, and they definitely have their place. I have always felt that the only way to get your own audience is to leverage other people’s audiences, and the best way to do this is to become friends with other authors who write similar books to […]