A to Z: Going Indie: P is for Profitability

 

Welcome to Blogging A to Z! My theme this year is Going Indie. I hope you enjoy it. Don't forget to check out the other participating blogs.  

So now that I'm trying to treat my writing life with a little more respect and be more of a businesswoman about it, I have to pay attention to things like profits. And the big question is how to measure that. 

There's a lot that I've bought for my writing life (see my M post on Money for details), but which things count in my reckoning for whether a book is profitable yet? 

Mostly, I've decided that things I buy that are for author life in general or serve as infrastructure don't go in the reckoning for any single book. So, buying an author banner, getting bookmarks made, paying a table fee at an event, doesn't count. 

But things specific to that book like editing, book cover, buying copies, etc. DO count. 

So for Not Too Late as an example:  I came up with $726.10 as my starting number, my "sunk cost." 

That includes: 

• $62.50 for Vellum (not sure this should actually count, because I'll use it for ALL my future books, but if it does count, that is 1/4 of what the software cost me, since I've used it on 4 books so far)
• $59 for two ISBNs, one for ebook, one for paperback (since I bought in a group of ten--they're cheaper if you buy more at a time)
•  $196.80 editing
• $400 book cover 
• $7.80 for a paper proof copy 

Since then, I've purchased 68 copies of the book for resale. I know that's a weird number, but it's because I shipped to bookstores in weird amounts for consignment arrangements as well as buying for my own in-person re-sale. I've sold 9 copies at full price in person, three at lower price to the cover artist, and one through one of those consignment arrangements. 

When I track how much I spent buying books, I always include the shipping, too. So each book costs me between $4 and $5 on average. So, the copy that sold through consignment paid me $9, but it's really $4 or $5 profit since I had to buy the book in the first place. I hope that makes sense. The copies I sell in person make me $10 or $11 each, for comparison. 

So I've put all that into a spreadsheet and currently, I'm further in the hole than I started, at $834.35. I'm not worried though, because, like I said, this book hasn't actually released yet. This is all PRESALE still.

My *hope* is that the book will be "in the black" within its first six months. So, just in time for Halloween. I'll let you know how it pans out! 

 

A to Z: Indie Publishing: O is for Older Characters

Welcome to Blogging A to Z! My theme this year is Going Indie. I hope you enjoy it. Don't forget to check out the other participating blogs.  

So one of the "different" things about my GenX romances is that the people falling in love are in their 40s and 50s. I've read a fair amount of romance in my life, and if you based your ideas about love on romance novels, you could easily come to believe that it only happens to people between 17 and 25 years old. 

I don't mean to denigrate those stories. I've LOVED lots of them. But, it seems like a pretty narrow band of human experience to explore when it comes to love and relationships. If things go well, there's a lot of life to enjoy after age 25. 

And, I'm not 17 to 25 years old anymore. In fact, one of MY CHILDREN is older than that! And I myself am living a second-chance romance with a man I married when I was 34. So many people in my life are finding love either for the first time, or second or third time, in their 40s and 50s. I've got a friend with a really active dating life in her 60s. 

Writing romance for older characters is the same and different as writing for younger ones. 

You can still get the fun of "he said/she said" chapters, using the alternating points of view to build in some fun for your readers who will know what both characters are thinking and feeling, even when they haven't told each other yet.  

The giddy bits and emotions can be very much the same as they would be for 20 year olds. Swooning still happens after thirty, y'all. 

On the other hand, your characters have history. They've probably loved and lost before. This isn't their first rodeo. So some of the kinds of situations that play well with younger characters make older ones seems TSTL (too stupid to live). 

A lot of time the angst and obstacles are more external than internal. People in their middle age kind of know what they want and what they don't want, and are more willing to communicate it, so what's standing in their way when it comes to love has to be something different. 

For Amanda, in Not Too Late, it's the idea of giving up her wandering life and staying put in one town--her hometown at that. She also has to consider whether she wants to deal with romance while she's in the middle of elder care for her mother. 

For Abby, in Acid Reign, it's realizing that steady and reliable doesn't have to mean boring. Abby's losing her best friend to cancer, too. Is this really the time for love? 

For Becca, in Ready or Not, it's giving another man a chance even though she's been burnt before. Besides, her daughter is leaving for NYC, leaving her to face an empty nest. Isn't that enough? 

I've really enjoyed writing these and my early readers are saying good things, so I'm hoping that romance for older characters is a concept that might really have some legs! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A to Z: Going Indie: N is for NetGalley

 

 

Welcome to Blogging A to Z! My theme this year is Going Indie. I hope you enjoy it. Don't forget to check out the other participating blogs. 

So one of the big struggles for indie writers is getting their work seen. The big publishing houses don't do as much for writers as they used to, but having your work published by one of the Big Five does still come with higher likelihood that it will get seen and reviewed. And having reviews is part of how Amazon and other online vendors judge whether or not to surface your book for people browsing their sites. Oh, the dreaded algorithm!

So, one of the ways I tried to garner some early interest and reviews for my GenX romances was by getting them on NetGalley. NetGalley, if you're not familiar with it, is a well established and popular web destination where readers, booksellers, librarians, and educators can get free access to ebooks to read and review. It can be a great way to get the word out there that your book exists!

But, NetGalley is EXPENSIVE. If you just straight up pay for it, it's $500 for a single book…and I had three I wanted reviews for. But luckily through networking with other writers, I learned about a NetGalley co-op, which I could rent a one-month stint with for $63! Much more in my reach, financially. So I rented three months in all, one for each book. 

As of this writing (I'm writing this on April 10th, though you won't see it until April 16th), here are the numbers: 

Not Too Late: 127 requests, 114 downloads, 16 reviews/feedback on NetGalley, 10 public reviews on Goodreads. Language I pulled from reviews to help me know how to pitch the book when I'm selling it: prodigal daughter, self-care read, second chance, feel-good. 

Acid Reign: 53 requests, 45 downloads, 9 feedback on NetGalley, 7 public reviews on Goodreads. Language I pulled from reviews to help me know how to pitch the book when I'm selling it: fresh perspective, welcome change, leans into intensity and emotional stakes, mature

Ready or Not:  62 requests, 56 downloads, 5 feedback on NetGalley, 2 public reviews on Goodreads. Language I pulled from reviews to help me know how to pitch the book when I'm selling it: super cute, adorable dog, humor and heart, sweet pairing. 

For contrast, I published a collection of short stories last October (Stories from Shadow Hill) in part as a learning book on how to do all this. I didn't do any of this review-seeking for it, and to date (six months later), it has no review and has gotten no traction at all online, even though it sells well in person. It's not quite apples-to-apples since Shadow Hill is a short horror collection and these others are romance novels, but it gives me hope that the reviews will make a difference come official release day. 

 

A to Z: Going Indie: Money

 

Welcome to Blogging A to Z! My theme this year is Going Indie. I hope you enjoy it. Don't forget to check out the other participating blogs. 

So, let's talk about money. I know some people consider that rude, but I think transparency about numbers is useful.  What did it actually cost me (in dollars) to publish Not Too Late and the other Gen X romances? 

So, I broke down my math in the first month recap in my Substack series about Going Indie, but here's the money bits: 

So far, I’ve spent:

• Vellum software for formatting: $249.99 (August 2019--bought when I thought about doing this the first time). I’ve used it for 4 books so far, so that makes Not Too Late‘s share: $62.50

• ISBNs: $295 for 10 from Bowker June 2025 which amounts to $59 for the two I used for ebook and paperback of this book. (These are cheaper per ISBN the more you buy at a time, but I figured 10 would keep me busy enough for a year or two—at this point, I’ve used eight of them).

• Editing: $196.80, July 2025 (I got a friends and family rate from a FANTASTIC editor)

• Bookcover: $400 Pd. July 2025 (I hired a person I met through convention life to do all three covers)

• Proof copy from Ingram: $7.80 (September 2025)

That’s a total of $726.10 by my reckoning, but notice the dates in that list. I didn’t spend all of that at once, but spread it out across several months. And the software purchase is an unlimited license, so the more I use it, the less it costs per book.

Buying paper copies of my book (I get them from Ingram) costs me roughly $4-$5 per book depending on  how many I order at a time. I sell them for $15 at in-person events and the pricing will be similar online come release day. That pricing seems to be pretty standard. No one balks at the number if they were thinking of buying it. 

There are other expenses not there in my production costs, but that still matter. To be able to sell at in-person events, I've collected a bunch of things: 

• bins for books storage/hauling: I use a 19 qt from Container Store that is easy for me to manage alone. Roughly $14 per tub and each holds 15-30 books depending on size of the books. 
• 6 foot folding table: $50-70 (I happened to already have one I bought as "the cookie mom" some years ago)
• 4 foot folding table $60 (I happened to already have one I bought in support of gaming parties at my house)
• wagon for hauling stuff around: $60-$200. I have a $60ish dollar one I bought when my kids were doing soccer, but I covet a more expensive one that I can push as well as pull and with better wheels. 
• canopy tent for outdoor events: $120 or so. I bought one years ago, the first time I had an opportunity for an outdoor event and recently upgraded to one that's easier to put my by myself. They can be cheaper if you buy them off season. 
• Tent weights: gotta keep that tent from flying away! $40 bought my the first time a venue required them.  
• standing banner: I've had a couple of retractable ones from Vistaprint. $100-ish. But after the last one broke, I haven't replaced it and haven't decided if I'm going to or not. You can't use them everywhere and they're fussy. 
• table runner: $80 or so. I LOVE mine because it "brands" my table and looks nice, but folds into a tote bag and is machine washable. 
• bookmarks: cheaper the more you buy at a time. My most recent set was $70 for 500 booksmarks. 
• postcards: cheaper the more you buy at a time. My most recent batch was $50 for 100. I used them to create cards that let people buy ebooks from me at in-person events. 
• stickers: again, cheaper the more you buy at a time. My last batch was $117 for 300. 

Me under my canopy with my table runner

You don't *have* to have all that, but some infrastructure definitely helps! There's also stuff I subscribe to not for just one book but for my general writing life: 

• Canva for making graphics: $120 a year
• Mailerlite for newsletter management: how much depends on number of subscribers. Mine is $40 a month. 
• Bookbub websites for my website (not this free one, just for blogging--my other one for branding/selling). $5 a month. 
• Bookfunnel: where I provide download opportunities for readers and can connect with bundle opportunities. $250 a year
• Duotrope: where I find publication opportunties and track my submissions: $5 a month.   

Do you HAVE to do all this? No, not at all. There are a lot of ways you can do this, and you have to balance your goals and desires against financial feasibility and your skillset. 

For example, if you're going Amazon only, you can just use their free ASINs and not buy ISBNs at all. I bought them because I wanted to go wide and not be beholden to the Big River Overlords. Ingram and Amazon also have online formatting options you can use for free. I wanted more flexibility and something easier for me to use. So I bought Vellum. You can also hire people to do layout for you, usually not that expensively. 

There are cheaper cover options, using ready-mades for example. But I'm anti-AI for creative works and it was important to me to work with an artist.  

Each of us has to make our choices about how we invest in our writing lives. These are just the choices I've made. We'll see which ones I later regret and which ones were worth the investment as time goes by!  

A to Z: Going Indie: Launch

 

Welcome to Blogging A to Z! My theme this year is Going Indie. I hope you enjoy it. Don't forget to check out the other participating blogs. 

People talk a lot about "launching" a book…and I've had mixed results. My first novel, I had all the hoopla, including an awesome and well-attended in-person event at a local book store.

Me, my daughter, and my dad in 2015 at the launch event for Going Through the Change. 

 

Other times, the book came out at an awkward moment and I could barely find time to acknowledge my own book release on social media, let alone do any events or promotion. 

That's part of what I've been excited about in Going Indie: I chose my launch dates. The first book has been ready since December, but I've held it's release date until the other two were ready, since I've heard from several people that quick release is a good strategy for romance. 

So, I've scheduled to release one a month for April, May, and June: 

 

 

That's given me a good amount of time to seek early reviews, engage in promotions, and do a little pre-release research by hand-selling the paper copies early at my in-person events. I'm hoping that all of that will lead to better reception and sales on release day and some follow through to the next book and the one after that. 

 

Will it work? I DON'T KNOW! But I'm excited to find out, and I didn't have to negotiate with anyone but me to choose this approach. 

 

So start the countdown! Launching on April 28! (for my birthday) 

  

A to Z: Going Indie: Knowledge

 

Welcome to Blogging A to Z! My theme this year is Going Indie. I hope you enjoy it. Don't forget to check out the other participating blogs. 

Knowledge is power, right? At least that's what Schoolhouse Rocky taught me, back in the day. 

It's definitely been true in my pursuit of indie publishing. One reason I didn't do it the first time I thought about it was because I was daunted by how much there was to learn. I thought writing the books was hard! But, learning how to manage all the systems to make this dream a reality? Not *that's* hard!

Luckily, there are a lot of ways to learn these days. I already posted a couple of books I found helpful back on my B is for Books post, but I also learned a lot from actually taking classes and training opportunities. 

A big one for me was a Business Boot Camp from Women in Publishing. Making that shift into thinking of my writing life as a business and making sound business decisions regarding it was a tough one for me, so I really appreciated this kind and supportive group of women willing to share their experience and take questions. 

That community was so valuable that I ended up buying a full membership, and I continue to learn from them all the time. 

There's also the in-person route. My public library was a great source for "how to" information. In fact, that's how I met James Maxey, now a good friend, and the guy who introduced me to superhero novels, so is indirectly responsible for my entire Menopausal Superheroes series. 

Every time I spend time with other writers, I learn something. As a group, we're a generous lot. If you've got questions, ask them! Most writers will do their best to help you. 
 

A to Z: Going Indie: J is for Joy!

 

Welcome to Blogging A to Z! My theme this year is Going Indie. I hope you enjoy it. Don't forget to check out the other participating blogs. 

So, here's something I didn't know about Going Indie until I did it--the joy! 

I've been proud of every book I've ever written, and it definitely thrilled my little heart to see my work accepted for publication and made real into a paper book I could hold in my hands!

Me holding my first book, back in 2015

 

But there's something EXTRA EXTRA special about holding that book when you made every decision in it. It's *mine* in a whole different way than those other books were. The credit (or blame) is well and fully mine. And there's really no other word for it. It's a JOY!