5 Reasons Why My Ko-fi Bookshop is Better Than Amazon

I could tell you what they are or you could just watch the video.

Book Marketing - We Hate It, But It Has To Be Done

Hi guys. 

As you know, I started this blog to share my experiences in writing, the good, the bad and the ugly. 

I was thinking the other day, that in light of the pandemic, that while I've had a really good season of paid work, my own books have suffered from lack of attention. So today, instead of finishing my allotted word count, I hopped over to Canva and made some videos.

Here is one, reintroducing my books and my writing to you. 

Enjoy.

 

Also, feel free to visit my author page and browse.

Kisses.

Book Marketing 101; Would You Like An Excerpt?

I am escalating my book marketing both here and on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. I've come to realize that constantly bombarding people with awareness is the only way to make some headway unless you want to resort to nefarious means (the book industry is a sharkfest) or join KDP rocket (No, just no) and let them monopolize your works. This way is much slower because you're basically the equivalent of standing in the street, handing out fliers and then reading the flier to the person you handed it to, and then explaining the flier to them and then leading them slowly and gently to the book site.
It's crazy. Probably not suited for anyone wanting to make some fast cash.
Moreover, I am not the most patient person, but I'm learning to be. So writing books has been very good for my growth as a human.

That said, let's get this show on the road. This post will be made up of excerpts from my books. First up we have In Search of Paradise.
You might have read the outtake on this site on my birthday last year; you can also find it here: and now, here's a preview of the book. Do take some time, and read it. I guarantee your time back if you don't want to know what happens next.

What did you think? Tell me tell me tell me! 
Next up we have the newly revamped and made over, Child of Destiny. I just recently read this again and I was quite pleased with how it has stood the test of time and improved skill. It's still a great story, with wonderful pacing and vibrant characters. Is it okay to talk like a fan when you're the author? Anyway, here's a preview.

Yeah, I know you're fanning yourself right now, looking around in mortification in case anyone saw you. Wondering if it's based on my own sexual experience... I've been around this block a few times. But aside from all that...how was it? Did you want to know what happened next? Tweet me your thoughts hashtag whatgenreisthis.
Next up! My first published book of fiction. The one my editor called 'a masterpiece'. Seriously I'm not even making that up.

I know y'all are probably reading this in your place of work, so I'll stop here. Have we had fun? Did you enjoy yourself? Let me know.
Feedback is love.

Creation vs. Commerce

I'm an artiste. I'm also a business person. I sell my art for money.
Many artistes experience an internal conflict between treating their creations as things to be enjoyed by the general public and selling that art in whatever form it takes. This conflict comes about partly from the attitude that some consumers have, where they feel like art - in all its forms - should be available freely for consumption; and partly from the view, they have of themselves as creators and not merchants.
I don't have that problem.

I both create art for consumption and have no problem selling that art.
That's why I call myself an authorpreneur. I have no pretensions or illusions about why I do this.
It's not for the money.
But I do intend to make money from my art in my lifetime. Whether it's grocery money or billions, I create for sale.
See.
It's not that hard to admit.
I've seen authors who are reluctant to create author pages.
"What is the purpose of that?" they ask.
And I don't understand how a mind can conceive of a story, but not possess sufficient imagination to understand that their creations require promotion. What's that about people? Pretension?
Perhaps it's because I not only create for myself, but also for others that I understand the commercial side of creation.
My marketing began purely by accident. I was writing Chrianna fanfic just to see if I could, after reading Chrianna stories on Tumblr. I gathered a rather large following; mostly fans of the artists. After my publisher put out Between Death and Heaven, which is now self-published as In The Shadow of the Styx, I just directed that following to my original fiction. That experience made me understand that generating your own publicity is vital to getting your book noticed. So I continue to do that, write fanfiction and use it to advertise my original fiction. I also write short stories and publish them on public websites and redirect my readers to my author page.

It's slow going, I won't lie to you. But that's organic growth for you. It's a steep slope and then one day, it just takes on a life of its own. You can't give up before you reach that point okay? You'll get demoralized, you'll get tired, you just have to factor that in to your long-term plans.
And keep writing, keep innovating your content, your media, how you deliver it...keep putting your name out there.
You have to embrace both sides, the creative and the commercial and hopefully one day, your books are on bestseller lists and you can retire to Jamaica and open a bar on the beach; live out the rest of your days in a bikini.
Sound good?
Great.
Here's a lil fanfic I wrote and while you're getting impressed by my writing skills, visit my author page and hang out with me a bit. Sample the free books, buy the others, leave me reviews, ask a question. I'm open for business.

Speaking of inspiration to keep your nose to the grindstone, the #saveshadowhunters campaign is at ten million tweets as of this week, thousands of dollars raised for the Trevor Project, a plane and a billboard. All to save a show. I mean seriously, sometimes you just gotta keep going even when you have no idea whether you will be successful. Along the way, you might find that you do a lot of good, gain a few friends and make the world a better place than you found it. Success is not always monetary. Happy New Month my friends.
Also, I was thinking about having a monthly newsletter similar in style to the above. Would my subscribers be interested?