The $$ Cost of Self Publishing

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As a highschool and even college student, I thought self-publishing was free.  Sure, I’d have to pre-order books and there would be a cost to the physical copies (Amazon was not a thing), but it would be a tiny investment.  

And I wondered why people went the traditional publishing route where you’d need an agent and publisher.  It could take years of work shouting “notice me” before anyone picked up your novel… if anyone would pick up the novel.  Then,you’d have to share the money, and you’d share rights to your story.  These people, who don’t know it or love it like I do, might demand changes they don’t understand the implications of based on what they think readers want… do they know the readers or the trends… can they predict what will trend by the time my book prints?  

With self publishing superior in every way, I didn’t understand why traditional publishing even still existed.  But here’s part of the truth: self-publishing costs more time and money.  Believe it or not, those large publishing houses DO something, and today I wanted to talk about the dollar cost to self-publishing.  

1. Editing.  So some writers get around this cost by not editing.  I read a lot of Kindle Unlimited books and as a reader I CAN TELL when someone doesn’t edit, and it takes away from my enjoyment.  I DON’T want to diminish anyone’s story experience, so I edit.  

This was my first book, and I didn’t have a bottomless budget.  I skipped the substantial edit (justified this by saying my betas, my writers’ group, and my major in creative writing had enabled me to skip this step) and just did a copy edit.  This saved me $1,000-$1,500.  But it was a $1,000 investment right off the bat.  My editor, Kristy Gilbert was amazing.  After getting a copy edit from her, I could see the value for a substantial edit and I want to budget in the substantial edit for future books. 

A little insight into the editor’s pricing.  They charge by length of the work you want edited and how much work they believe it will be to bring your book up to par.  The more self editing you do (at least on the sample you send them) the lower your price point will be.  This is one of many reasons people suggest aggressive self editing BEFORE this point. 

2. Cover Art.  Again there’s debate on whether cover art is valuable.  Some writers make their own with stock images to varying degrees of success.  There is research that indicated a strong cover will help generate interest.  It’s like dating, you might learn someone is kind and funny through talking to them, but there’s something in their appearance that compels you to talk to them.  

Plus, a strong cover can make its money back in other ways.  T-shirts, book marks, mugs.  Slap that artwork on all over the place and sell it (assuming you own the rights to the art which most designers will arrange for you).

While I’m not selling any merch, my cover art is all over my social media and posts.  It’s quality and versatility has helped me edit Roxi into pics and otherwise promote my book.  

The art work can cost as little as $20 and as much as $2,000.  Check out Rocking Book Covers post on the price ranges for covers and what to expect to get for those price points. It helped me figure out where I wanted to go with pricing.   

For me, I chose a $500 “mid-range” option and I love the cover.  I think I will always want to work with J. Caleb Designs. He was amazing.

3. A copyright for your work.  Again, some people opt out but I recommend it because you can’t get your book in the Library of Congress (or any other library) without it and that was a major goal for me.  It’s $80 and a couple months of waiting.  

4. A website.  The overall cost varies I ended up with a $100-ish dollar option.  My team bought, set it up, and maintains it so I haven’t had to look at this.  

There was someone who offered to set up a website and take author photos for me and they priced it at about $700, so this element can be a big chunk of budget.

5. Author photos.  The professional picture that goes on your book jacket, website, or author profile.  While this can cost money to get professionally done. I have a Nikon D5600 (photography is a hobby of mine and fun fact: my Flickr account is the 3rd thing that comes up if you google my name) and a very cooperative husband.  For me this element was free, but it could run an author between $100-$500.

6. A social media management software.  I haven’t bought into a plan yet.  But it seems to be between $25-$120 a month depending on what you need and what you want to do.  I’m considering it, but I haven’t bought in yet.

7. Advertising the book. On Amazon, Facebook, or Twitter.  

8. A team to help promote your book.  I did some research on HOW to promote a self-published book and I’m blessed enough to have amazing friends and family who are helping me work through all the promotional stuff.  For me this has been free, but this could be a major budget consumer.  

9. Publishing the book.  I went the Amazon route, so I’ve only paid for proofs, but some people use an independent publisher where they have to pre-order the books and that can be $3,000 investment depending on how many books one orders and what the company charges.  

For me: I need to make $1,600 in sales before I break even.  At the current pricing model, it’s about 478 books to break even.  It’s more realistic for me to believe I published at a loss than to think I could sell 478 books.  Opening weekend I made about $40 and that felt like a lot of money to see back.  

Self-publishing is an uncertain investment into the future. I have decades to make back the original investment, but I needed to save up the original lump sum— which was enough to make a good down payment on car—so I could publish anything and start this journey.  So when you see that independently published book and think "man they went the easy route," remember there was a lot of effort and money that went to bringing their book to market and they must love what they do to take such a risk.

Talk to me.  Did you know about all these costs to publishing a book?  Are all these steps required?  Do you prefer traditional or self publishing?  Did I miss any steps?  What are the most important steps to publishing in your experience?

Check out my book Follow Me: Tattered Veils and if you're inclined please leave a review.  Every review really helps me.

Looking for more book goodness?  I launched a Youtube channel filled with recipes and excerpts from Follow Me: Tattered Veils.  Watching, liking and subscribing to this channel is a great free way to show support for my writing ^_^. 

I also have an ongoing podcast digging deeper into different elements of Follow Me: Tattered Veils.  Listening to and sharing these insights also helps me find an audience who's most interested in my book.

2019 A Year's Review in Books

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This year my goal was to read 48 books and I surpassed the goal by reading 50 books.  Reaching this number of books with the active year I had was hard.  Most days I wanted to stare off into space like a half conscious zombie, too lazy to even shamble off for brains.  When I read, it was often rereads of old fanfiction favorites (yes I read and love Harry Potter fanfiction still and no I did not count a single line of fanfiction as reading a book though many of my favorites are longer than the books that made the list).

It was an ugly year for books.  Over half of my book list is nonfiction and often I read “nonfiction” on Kindle Unlimited to fact check and argue more than to inform.  Public service announcement: don’t use  book selection on Kindle Unlimited for research.  While they have some great books, the ones with dangerous misinformation FAR out weight the hidden gems.  

This year’s review will differ from last year’s summary.  I will offer three books I loved, three I liked, and three that disappointed.  

What I Loved:

1.Secrets Bound by Sand: This is the 4th installment of T. A. White’s “Dragon Bound” series.  She maintains a steady quality and pacing.  While I didn’t love this book as much as either book 1 or 3 in the series, it was a great addition.  Tate remains a strong willed female character with a small core of trusted friends and a larger group of maybe allies.  I like how she and her dragon interact, though I missed some of the series standar characters as Tate spends a lot of her time on her own.  Tate is at her most compelling when there’s a large cast for her to play against.  This smaller set piece leaves less for her to work against or with, which lead to a smaller feeling story.

White writes action and adventure series that rely on puzzle solving from smart and reflective characters.  Her world building remains strong, detailed, and compelling.  Can’t wait for more.

2. The Numia Trilogy:  A break out new favorite.  I’d no idea Charlie N. Holmberg was working on something new.  Sandis is a smart if too trusting protagonist.  Her plight drives these books, and she’s a lovely character to follow around.  I found Rone’s perspective annoying and often skipped his chapters.  He was like an unwelcome intruder to what was otherwise a beautiful narrative.  

Upon reflection, the first book is the weakest of the series.  Readers: if you don’t care for the split perspective (like me) it gets better as the series continues. I can’t remember if Rone started being interesting (he is in book 3 and maybe Holmberg put in unneeded split perspectives in books 1 & 2 because she knew she needed them in book 3) or if I learned to like him more.  All I know is that what was jarring and infuriating in book becomes less onerous in further installments.

And can we talk world-building?  Everything in this made up place works so well together.  All the pieces fit but not in a cookie cutter “the author aligned the stars” artificial feel some fantasy worlds have.  Also, the length of the series is perfect.  Homberg gave us just enough for three books.  The world unravels a touch in the last third of the last book.  My suspension of disbelief stuttered, but pacing and stakes kept me invested till the last page.

3. Folk Witchcraft: I liked this book so much I bought it.  It’s a British centric perspective on witchcraft but not Wicca centered.  No calling quarters, casting circles, or God/Goddess assertions.  No threefold law.  Instead of offering generalization and all kinds of seasonal advice that only applies to people living in the right climate, Horne gives practical advice for meditation, reflecting on what one’s local seasonal shifts are, where one’s local land deities may be, and how to contact them.  His book reads less like someone’s ideal of what magic should do or be and more like what a person could expect/achieve.

While the book was spiritually nourishing for me, it was also very inspirational as a writer.  The short stories or little vignettes that could come out of some of these practices are enticing.  A few short fables could be a lot of fun.  If you’re an urban fantasy writer looking to create a magical system, I recommend Folk Magic as a good jumping off point.  

What I Liked:

1. Firefly Magic: Another book I ended up buying.  While I started reading this book way back in 2017 and the book was under Kindle Unlimited, it is no longer available via Kindle Unlimited.  While I’ve only read the book in little patches, it’s been a huge player in my writing life.  This book got me thinking about self publishing Follow Me: Tattered Veils back when my first draft was cut open and bleeding all over my keyboard.  It made me take publishing my book seriously and encouraged me to research an editor and cover artist.  It lead me to think of marketing and promotion in new and more positive ways.  Anyone who feels sensitive about pitching their creative whatever, should check out this book.

2. The Foretelling:  Did you know that Alice Hoffman has some of her books on Kindle Unlimited?  The Foretelling is a stunning example of everything I love in Hoffman’s work.  Her narratives are thoughtful and dreamlike.  I feel like I’m swimming though her work and it spins a story I don’t want to put down until the last page.  Then I just want to sit in silence and hold onto the feelings her style inspired in me. 

I argued with myself whether this book belongs in the liked or loved category.  I love Hoffman’s narrative style and as a result I love everything I’ve ever read by her.  However, some of her works are more compelling than others.  I recommend The Foretelling to Hoffman fans, to people who like Amazon myths, and to people who like alternative history stories.  I loved the work, but I can admit the subject material isn’t super compelling outside of Hoffman fan-girling and girl power circles.

3. The Last Black Unicorn:  I’ve wanted to read this book for years, but not enough to shell out $11.99.  When I saw it hit Kindle Unlimited, I scooped it up.  Overall the book was mid-range.  There were parts where the narrative dragged, but then there were a ton of funny and compelling elements too.  I waffled on placing this book because I almost put the book down three times and if I had stopped reading at those points; I don’t think I’d have lost much.

Still it’s a solid book.  Both funny and poignant.  If you enjoy rooting for an underdog, you’ll like this book.

What Disappointed:

1. The Forest of Embers: This book took a series I loved and made me feel “meh” about the whole thing.  I don’t know if I will pick up the next in the series when it comes out, and that’s a shame.

The book was clumsy.  It jumps forward in time but what it skips over seems more interesting than the story it tells.  Elements of it seem shoehorned in.  This whole gods and dragons part introduced doesn’t feel like it meshes with the faery magic, magic people, or in between that was originally introduced.  Part of what made the story so good was a cohesive world and this book has a lot in it that doesn’t feel like it belongs in the same universe.

Characters don’t feel familiar or beloved.  Personalities and views I’d seen develop and change over seven books were turned back so we could reread the same character arc or create artifical tension.  There’s a continuation of a love triangle that for my money was decided back in book four.  

The book is a mess. I wish we’d gotten a same world with new characters or even something entirely unrelated.  Roethle is a talented writer, but this wasn’t good.

2. Sara Fine: I’m not Fine’s audience and I have to accept that.  I like her writing style a lot.  There are flashes in her work I want more of and that’s rare enough that I read through many over her books (2 this year and 3 last year).  However the juvenille tone (which is perfect for her target audience), the mushy romanticism (again what people are there for), and the problematic tropes are too much for me.  I won’t pick her up again.  5 books is enough to teach me these lessons.

I would recommend Beneath the Shine and Sanctuary for teens, but her Reliquary series is too problematic for me to recommend it to anyone. 

3. Rebelborn: Another disappointing conclusion to an otherwise great series.  Bartol kind of wrote herself into a corner here (I say that but I have three different stories I would have preferred to read from this setup).  This story has pretty much everything I didn’t like about the last 2 movies in the matrix series crammed into it. 

There isn’t the same moral gray area in this book that the other two offered.  This book isn’t thoughtful.  It doesn’t encourage the readers to think on the use of technology, or what it means to staunchly support a side even when it’s no longer doing good.

It has a weird “solution” to the love rectangle it introduced that felt a lot like having one’s cake and eating it too.  And the book overlooks abusive behavior or stalking behavior from two of the love interests.  We never address that all three of the love interests at some point physically hurt and intimidate Roselle.  We don’t address the verbal abuse or possessivenenss of these characters.  Like kudos for being sex positive but major boo in understanding what’s romantic and what’s creepy/unhealthy.  Being in the middle of a war only excuses so much. 

It has a weird solution to character deaths I didn’t like.  And it uses a version of a comic book multi-verse that feels more cheap somehow. 

After the first third of the book, there’s no sense of tension or stakes.  Everything wraps up neat, clean, and happy. If you write a book where a massive war and implied genocide happens, it can not be all sunshine and rainbows in the ending.

Another young adult book series I looked forward to recommending but unfortunately can’t recommend.

Books Read in 2018: A Review

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“Followed By Frost”  by Charlie N. Holmberg.  I had 20 pages left to this book when the calendar year changed.  It counts as 2018 but.  I enjoyed this book.  Unknown, I read “Magic Bitter, Magic Sweet” in late 2017 and was captivated by the same lyrical, fairy tale magic in her first story.  Both books link to traditional fairy tale lore while telling their own unique story.  Both stories incorporate romance without making the works feel like a traditional romance and both stories have action and stakes without gratuitous violence or action scenes.  Holmberg’s style and connection to “Deep Magic” got me interested in their publication, that I read this past summer.

Chris from writers’ group wrote an "The Works of the Apprentice" which features alchemy and is published here.  It inspired me to think of what kind of urban fantasy I could take with alchemy in the mix.  This prompted research, and that lead to reading many books on essential oils.  I thought, “if anything in this world could turn into gold if mixed, it would be these essential oils.”  

Essential oils, for those who don’t know, already make a TON of fantastic claims, and it seems one of the few “new agey” remedies that spark scientific interest. I delved into the lore and science of the oils.  Through this I read: 
“Essential Oils For Weightloss,” 
"Essential Oils Natural Remedies: The Complete A-Z Reference of Essential Oils for Health and Healing,” 
"Aromatherapy for Natural Living: The A-Z Reference of Essential Oils Remedies for Health, Beauty, and the Home,” 
"The Essential Oil Diffuser Recipes Book: Over 200 Diffuser Recipes for Health, Mood, and Home (Essential Oils Reference Book 1),”
 "Surviving When Modern Medicine Fails,”
 "Surviving When Modern Medicine Fails: A Definitive Guide to Essential Oils That Could Save Your Life During a Crisis,”
 "Winter Collection: Over 150 Lessons To Stay Warm, Happy & Healthy During The Cold Months,” 
"Baking Soda Power! Frugal and Natural: Health, Cleaning, and Hygiene Secrets of,” 
and 
"EPSOM SALT: 50 Miraculous Benefits, Uses & Natural Remedies for Your Health, Body & Home (Home Remedies, DIY Recipes, Pain Relief, Detox, Natural Beauty, Gardening, Weight Loss).”

My opinions on these books like my thoughts on essential oils is mixed.  Do I still think there’s a wonderful urban fantasy story involving aromatherapy?  Yes, but I need even more research to see where this kind of story would/should go.  Do I want to feature a botanist who grows the plants in just the right way or a distiller or a perfumist who has a natural talent that greater than she understands or an actual skilled alchemist potion expert whose main ingredients are these essential oils?  Who would the antagonist be?  What’s the goal?  

Rounding off my “researchy” 2018 book reads, I read plant based pagan books for the more straight magical system elements of plants.  I read "A Green Witch’s Cupboard” and Martin’s earlier book "Triple Duty Spice Rack.”  I enjoyed both reads.  They gave practical information on how to keep dried herbs and spices and they spoke towards the magic/healing that can come from cooking/eating the right foods at the right time.  This appeals spiritually and intellectually as we know the complex interplay of food we eat determines how we absorb vitamins and minerals and whether our body can use them.  I enjoy melding folklore and traditional uses of cooking ingredients with modern research on the two and these books were more about the folklore portion that inspires my creative cooking and storytelling perspective.  

 My reading also included diet and nutrition books.  This January my husband and I went on the Ketogenic diet.  After I’d looked through tons of internet sites for information and recipes, I turned to books.  Health related reads included: 
"The Keto Diet: The Complete Guide to a High-Fat Diet, with 
More Than 125 Delectable Recipes and 5 Meal Plans to Shed Weight, Heal Your Body, and Regain Confidence,” 
"Fruit Infused Water: 98 Delicious Recipes for Your Fruit Infuser Water Pitcher,” 
"The Wicked Good Ketogenic Diet Cookbook: Easy, Whole Food Keto Recipes for Any Budget,” 
"The Easy 5-Ingredient Ketogenic Diet Cookbook: Low-Carb, High-Fat Recipes for Busy People on the Keto Diet,” 
and
 "33 Easy DIY Deodorant Recipes: for Staying Dry, Feeling Cool and Smelling Fresh.” 

 My feeling on these readings were mixed.  Leanne Vogel‘s book changed everything I ate and how I considered eating.  While I haven‘t wholesale adopted every detail she recommends, I found her willingness to explore how a person feels and who that relates to a diet very impactful and created a more introspective look at my food choices.  The other recipe books provided inspiration and groundwork for me creating my own meals, but I still can‘t keep to a recipe for long.  

Fruit infused water was a fun, casual read.  I drink about 20-40oz of fruit infused water as part of my new year‘s resolution to drink more water.  The book was a passing curiosity.  

Using more natural products in my life and becoming more waste free was a 2018 goal.  I considered making natural deodorants, but this book combined with online research turned me off from that idea.  Instead, I buy Tom’s brand.

Health-wise I also read “Mindfulness: An Eight-Week Plan for Finding Peace in a Frantic World,” and I did the eight-week plan.  The book was a retread of known information but a wonderful refresh course.  I’m also reading “The Highly Sensitive Person.”  No way I will finish this book this year but it’s been a thought provoking and healing read so far.

Most of these books are chosen from the Kindle Unlimited selection.  Nonfiction Kindle books are a strange phenomena because they are often self published and it makes me wonder about the credentials of those who publish the information.  What doesn't help are the links to blogs and websites.  No matter how professional the blog: it's not a scientific study.  I did not care for how many of the same graphics these authors sourced.  On the other side, it did teach me about how a nonfiction book might be used to build a person's name recognition, "personal brand", and sense of authority.  Interesting and scary.

I read and enjoyed “The Book of the Unnamed Midwife” and “The Book of Etta.”  I prefer Etta to the unnamed midwife.  And I will go into further detail in my “Kindle Unlimited” series during 2019.

 “Dragon Ridden” is a wonderful series.  I wrote a post in my “Kindle Unlimited” series that details what I loved and I left detailed reviews for each book on Goodreads.  I’m looking forward to a 2019 release of a fourth book.  Also a cool thing to note: T.A. White writes three series at once and I love how she works multiple projects at the same time successfully.  Since I prefer to work this way, it gives me hope for victory in my writing practice.

I read Sarah Fine’s “Reliquary” series and while it was a wild addicting ride, I also found the books ridiculous and terrible.  My reviews go into further often spoiler-y detail.  That said, Sara Fine has such a great style in her writing and compelling book summaries I have two of her books in my queue to be read 2019.  At some point, I‘d like to do a deep dive into both what makes her work compelling and what turned me off so much in this series.

I love Annette Marie’s “Red Winter” trilogy I read last year.  This year I read her “Steel & Stone” series and her “Spell Weaver” series with a more mixed reception.  The first three Steel & Stones are great, but they fell apart after book 3.  There were occasional moments of “Hurrah!” and long patches of missed marks.  I read through “Spell Weaver” because I liked Lyre so much in “Steel & Stone” but this series is a weak step-child in an otherwise much loved universe.  

Marie re-introduced me to the split world urban fantasy.  While I‘ve no intention to write one of these soon, it was interesting to see her take, and it got me thinking about future possibilities.  I appreciate how Marie introduces her fantasy to the modern world across her three series and look forward to scenarios she writes.  

Next, we have “Traitorborn” a follow up read from 2017’s “Secondborn.”  Loved this series and think it may be one of the young adult works for adults to read this year (and next when the third comes out).  Check out my “Kindle Unlimited” write up.  

Continuing in the 2018 trend for series, I finished “The Tree of Ages” series I‘d started in 2017.  One thing I love about Kindle Unlimited is that many authors using this service turn our series books in a fast pace.  I’m never left waiting so long for the next installment so I don‘t have to reread the first book.  I covered this series through my “Kindle Unlimited” posts and it was a welcome addition to my 2018 reading list.  

“Cards of Chaos,” is the first book I read because someone recommended it via Twitter.  And it’s an amazing read.  I can not promote this work enough.  It has stunning cover art and complex, deep writing to match.  It’s a shame this work only have 12 ratings on Goodreads with four reviews.  If you like a fantasy with folklore elements please consider picking this one up.  

Jasmin Silvera wrote a sequel to “Death’s Dancer” called “Dancer’s Flame” and it was ok.  I loved “Death’s Dancer” and recommend urban fantasy writers and writers looking to combine magic and motion read the first book because Silvera executes these ideas almost perfectly.  “Dancer‘s Flame” isn‘t as strong as the first book, but it‘s still a good read.  I recommend both as wonderful fantasy escapes.

“Matchmaking for Beginners” was a book I read with my mom, and like most books she suggests, it‘s a funny light romp.  I’m surprised I enjoyed it (and I don’t know why since this always happens ^_^). I classify the work as an idea beach read and as a great introduction to fantastic elements seen in more hard fantasy works.

“The Last Necromancer” is a book with a lot of promise it doesn‘t deliver on.  I don’t want to go into too much detail here.  Check out my review on Goodreads, or most readers take on the work.

I raced through “Angelfall” and it‘s my favorite book series of 2018 hands down.  I’m looking forward to great things from Susan Ee.  

“Elf Killers” is the second book I chose based on a Twitter post and I did not care for it. There is a second book from this author in my queue and I plan to check it out to see if it‘s just the way she went about building a world in this book I didn’t care for or if this is an overall style skip for me.  I can‘t recommend this book, but it has an audience who will enjoy reading it.

I gave up on “Lost in Arcadia” this year and I don’t have a lot to say about that either.  As my review states there‘s too, many characters introduced in rapid succession that don’t seem to have defining traits.  Add to that a slow start, and I couldn‘t make myself care.  

That‘s it, my 2018 reading list.  What did you read this year?  Did you meet your reading goal?  Did you read more fiction or nonfiction this year?  Did you like most of what you read?  Do you have a favorite and a least favorite?  If you could suggest one book for me to read in 2019, what is it and why?

The 7 Resasons Why I Read Kindle Unlimited

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1. It costs me $9.99 a month.  I’d like to have a grand speech why unlimited is superior but bottom line: it’s the second cheapest way for me to read.  (The first cheapest way to read is a library which is free)

2. I’m getting my money’s worth.  So far this year I’ve read 41 books for about $100 or $2.40 a book.  Last year I paid $120 for 24 books which was a more expensive $5 a book but still a manageable habit.  My goal is to pay less than $5 a book.  I remember old school days when most my paperbacks cost $3.99.  I went to a bookstore and near had a heart attack with modern pricing.

3.  It’s transports a lot of reading options for a light travel weight.  If there’s no wifi I can carry 10 books at a time and if their wifi, I can keep swapping books as I’m done reading.  There’s a little girl in me who used to dream of carrying all the knowledge in the world in her backpack, and she loves this magic Kindle device.

4.  Most of the Unlimited selection are independent authors and I want to read small press or independently published works.  No shade meant to authors, publishers, agents, or the public but I am disappointed with what most people think is popular.  I had this awkward transition from YA books into normal literature where I “outgrew” the style or type of story YA offered but the options in the world around me were bad.  I stopped reading at all for a while, lamenting that no one “got it”.  Seems most of the “in crowd” still don’t get it, so I like looking at the fringes.

5. I’d like to be published one day and it will be through a small press or independent.  Looking at Kindle Unlimited can feel like research days.  What’s working there?  What’s popular?  Can I get a long with/ get the attention of the authors who see success?  Could I collaborate?  So far, it’s a lot of watching without notice, but I’m learning more every day. There are some wonderful gems in Unlimited.

6. I’m more likely to give a book at a try on Kindle Unlimited.  I know the books aren’t technically “free” more like pre-paid, but the subscription service tricks me into believing the books are free.  Some of my best finds are things I wouldn’t have picked up at the book store because the summary is “too risky”.  While it’s true, I’ve slogged through many bad books on Kindle Unlimited, I’ve slogged through tons of paid for bad books or library bad books too.  It burns me less on Kindle Unlimited.

7. Finding good books on Unlimited feels like uncovering a long lost gem.  Maybe because some books lack professionalism, finding one that’s amazing on all fronts feels like winning the lottery.  It’s not as rare occurrence as that simile makes it sound.  My Goodreads review score for the year is sitting at about 4 stars (meaning most books are good books).  There’s just something about digging into small markets and seeing real work and passion executed at a high level that’s thrilling no matter how often I see it.  These writers did it.  They’re amazing without the publishing machine behind them.

Does being Critical in My Reviews Hurt me as a Writer?

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Reviewing books and movies as a writer is awkward.  I'm a critical person with strong opinions.  These traits make writing and sharing reviews a natural extension of my blogging content creation.  It allows people to "get to know me" and provides entertaining/relevant posts.  People love to watch other's judge.

BUT, as a writer I always wonder what I'm supposed to do with books I didn't care for.  Do I write a scathing but honest review? Do I pretend I didn't read the book?  Do I lie?

Does it matter if I enjoy the writer but this one book or series of books was a flop?  I don't know the rules, it's all speculation.

Does writing a bad review close artistic doors on me?  Do I hurt feelings, appear snobby, elitist, or difficult?  Does having a positive review with critical elements also damn me?  None of my reviews are sunshine and roses.  Most of them acknowledge a pacing element, character inconsistency, or social concern I didn't care for in a work.  Does having any feedback for a writer make you "the enemy"?

They say reviews are for readers not for writers.  Except there are reviews I wrote more for a writer (not the writer the book) than for the reader.  I advise against cliche X or I point out the line the writing goes to hell or I suggest a stronger editor.  Little industry moments where I'm no longer speaking as a consumer but as a creator.  Sometimes I grandstand on a writer's social responsibility not to shoe horn certain groups of people into a role.

My policy on reviews has been to write them and post them, but only cross promote positive views.  I am at a crossroad in my NAWG Blog series where I feature the good writers on Kindle Unlimited. I want to cover a writer who has some amazing work but also some disappointing books.  I don't know how to cover her.  I want to gush about one series she wrote and the first three books of another series, but the other 6 books I didn't like exist.  From a good to bad book ratio she has a 50% rating BUT her good books are so much fun and her bad books are "meh" not offensively bad.  And I want to talk about that too, how sometimes writers swing and strike out.  An audience sticks around because your hits are so epic and we know a batter can't have 100% home runs, sometimes it's a swing and a miss.

Or I have another author I plan to feature who does an amazing job with a large ensemble cast and who did well in most elements of the books BUT I think how she portrayed the LBGTQ community is problematic.  Pros: she represented the community and the character's gayness was not a big deal.  I loved how she dropped in "yeah so and so doesn't like boys" in a medieval fantasy setting and everyone was just like "oh, ok then."  The society is still burning witches and afraid of women but if you're a lady who likes ladies, that's fine.  It was refreshing how much no one cared who the characters might want to sleep with.  Cons:  She killed the only gay man off, the "villain" of the piece is a manipulative lesbian, and the most "heroic" of the lesbians is only a lesbian because a past boyfriend beat her, when she finds the right man, she goes back to being straight.  Honestly, I don't think the author consciously plotted these elements out, it feels like unconscious bias, but am I not supposed to talk about it?  And I'm not saying that all LGBTQ characters have to be amazing, but she had four characters representing the community in a cast with twelve characters and all of them had cringe-y stereotyped baggage on them.  She made an obvious effort toward inclusion, which I applaud because no one looks at a medieval work and says "why isn't the LGBTQ community represented?", but the effort was undermined by an unintentional inclusion of stereotypes. 

It's stuff like this that makes me shy away from promoting fellow authors or digging into their works.  If it was me, I'd find the thought and attention flattering even if the conclusions highlighted some of my work's failings.  But other people are not me, and I've seen how what I thought was a positive highlight is viewed as a hit piece.  

I waste a lot of time and energy worrying over the pros and cons of sharing my thoughts.  And while I consider, I write other positive reviews and these two authors, whose works I like better than some ones I'm promoting, languish because I also have critical thoughts.

Talk to me.  If you're a writer, what is your review policy?  If you're a reader does a positive review with critical elements help or hinder you?  Does a review detailing writer minutiae disinterest you?  

Every Blog Needs a Intro: Welcome to My Current Projects and Obessions

(From openclipart.org j4p4n's collection)

Maybe other writers are more organized than me?  The ones I've met seem to be fairly scattered and spread thin.   I fit that mold well myself.  Reading writer's work and process often feels like roaming through my own inner mindscape.  It's very homey and insightful at the same time.  There's a lot of "I do that and I didn't even know why till now" or "I'll have to try that" or "Lucky me I'm not currently procrastinating on my project like this person is".

These blogs about the process along with gems of insight into how to make it all come together seem to be very popular--or at least popular in my circle.  I thought I'd try my hand at my own blog on my writing and project process.  If nothing else, I thought it might be fun and a perfect diversion from writing.  It's procrastination that I can pretend is productive or meaningful in some way
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( from openclipart.org Fabuio's collection)

My writing and project work process is scattered at best.  I consider myself a pretty creative person, and I get a ton of interesting ideas that spawn more interesting ideas that spawn even more interesting ideas that then keep me up at night so I can neither sleep nor create anything because I'm soooo tired.

Then I go to my day job and think about all the progress I'm going to make on my totally cool awesome ideas when I get home.  This of course makes me scattered and irritated in dealing with customers while I sling coffee for a living.

(from openclipart.org jean_victor_balin's collection)

Just To Date Projects I'm working on Include:

1. A novel that's in it's fourth revision and about 20 pages short of an ending.

2. A Small scale aquaponics blog that dovetails very nicely into a larger outdoor model I'm studying to create--which doesn't sound creative but finding cheap supplies, thinking of different things to plant, and recording it all is a very creative process.

3. A blog responding to all the Kindle Unlimited Books that I'm reading.  Currently the blog is a template but I have about 20 articles sitting on my computer waiting for publishing to proceed.  Indeed, I was actually supposed to be posting there today when instead I decided start ranting in this blog that's been without any writing for about four months.

4.Learning Swift so I can make a writing related app.  This is going slowly because I hate learning the programming language and it's really very new, but I really like my app idea so I'm sticking it out at a few hours a week learning the junk.  I'd actually had an idea for a blog addressing changes in Swift 2.0 to Swift 1 and how to augment online free tutorials for the code changes--but I'm not that good at the coding yet and I don't want to spend more time with Swift than needed to have a pretty clean and sleek looking app.

5. This blog with project notes and thoughts.

(from openclipart.org j4p4n's collection)

Projects that Are on Hold or Dead in the Water:

1. My Barista to Boss blog.  The sad thing is I have about 7 posts edited and ready to go up, but I just couldn't take being so cheerful and happy about coffee and customers who as a general rule are terrible people.  Beyond that, I don't want to read any more about SEO or how to write a catchy post.  The experiment taught me a lot in how to get views.  It also reminded me that I'm not  social even on a computer screen and I need a lot more me time than networking was allowing.  I require a more slow and organic creation of online presence.  Preferably with one social media outlet.

2.  My children's book series.  I have two books written and illustrated with creative commons pictures.  I needed to revise them as each page was a little too busy and I needed to add a small dictionary in the back but otherwise the projects were a bright and colorful success.  I'm just not interesting in hawking them in the market.  I enjoy looking at them from time to time though.

3. A tarot card/ meditation series,  Was going to be active in this as it would generate interest potentially in my urban fantasy novel and be something fun to do, but 5 projects is more than I can handle already.  Plus swift is very time consuming and there's a lot of pressure to perform in that project from loved ones in my life.

4. Three vague novel ideas.  I'm waiting for the first to be complete and to have a few publishing inquiries in.

So how do I push through on these projects?  

My Aquagarden Blog is pretty simple.  As I'm here in my studio working I can see my fish tank and the green wheat grass going. It's physical presence reminds me to take a few pictures, upload and edit those pictures, and write a few words that come up off the top of my head on the tank's progress.  The visuals tell most of the story really.  Occasionally I have advice or a potentially helpful tip to add.

  Doing that usually brings a few questions to mind that I track down online or collect some research from amazon to look at later.  The whole process can be as brief as 30 minutes or as long at five hours depending on research and how much has changed in the tank.  As the tank stabilizes, my update will be fewer--though if I do end up setting up an outdoor aquaponics system this March, that blog may take off.

Since this project is mostly for my personal enjoyment I don't have to do a lot of selling on it.  Yes, I publish to my google+ feed and I tried to find some relevant communities.  It would be good if other people enjoyed my project or it inspired them to try their own gardening project, but the goal is just to record the tank's growth. I'm actually surprised with how many page views it has.

Swift is another fairly structured project.  Because my fiancee and my mother continually ask me about how this is going I sit down, schedule time and plug through it.  Also I'm not in the creating part yet as I'm still learning the programming language--I'm not even on how to program with the language yet.  Plus I keep learning notes and journal notes on how I feel about what I'm learning and sometimes how I imagine what I'm learning will work in creating my app.  Since I like to write so much that actually fuels my continued progress. I have a feeling this will stall some once I'm doing more than learning the basics and sketching potential App screens.  Who knows though, by then I might have it all worked out.

The real work--at least for me-- is going to be promoting my app and getting people using it.   I'm hoping that I'll have worked out some following somehow by then that will at least get people downloading it to play with it for a little bit.

My Kindle Unlimited project feels promising but isn't ready for presentation.  So I've spent the last three months reading like normal and writing feedback on my reading.  The main difference is that this reading and writing has all been focused on what books I can read through the Kindle Unlimited program.

This blog has the most potential to transform into money and networking gold.  Here I am reading and reviewing independent authors, the very thing I might become when publishing my novel.  These people could help me promote and sell my book.   Of course a major stumbling block here is that so far I hate the works by independent authors I've read and my reviews, when or if I post them are scathing.  That seems counter productive to my aims of making connections in the market.

Likewise, since my blog may help interest people in Kindle Unlimited, if I promoted correctly and had a high enough following, it might be a blog that amazon would notice and want to work with me on.  Maybe not, I mean Amazon is a huge company and little old me has never successfully created a blog with a crazy market changing following.  It's this potential that has me stymied on how best to proceed, because there are concrete things I'd like this blog to do along with just being a bit of fun.

Writing my novel comes in spurts.  The idea came to me in a dream, and I started writing it later that month.  The original outline  was written in out of order chapters--most of which I had to write but were scrapped in actual production.   I have a ton of bonus content though should readers enjoy my characters and writing style.

The serious work started in June this past year.  I actually took a week of work to churn out about 100 pages of content and finish the outline on what happens and how the characters get resolution.  I have two different people proof reading these efforts for me and I'm exploring agents and self publishing options.  Neither is going smoothly enough for me to feel confident.

I love my book.  I love the plot, I love the characters.  I love both the fantasy and real world elements.  I love the many different themes and messages in the work.  I love the hundred or so different things I'm trying to do and I love the prose tie it all together.  With all the heart, soul, and joy in creating this book, I need to invest equal quality in getting the book published and marketed.  I just don't love that side of the process as much at the writing part.  In fact I think approaching that part of the process has slowed down my writing.

This blog is a thought bubble, and so should be easy enough to produce.  I'm just sharing thoughts on my creation process and hoping they resonate with others.  As such a personal blog it shouldn't take extensive editing.  It shouldn't require very regular updates and it should have just as much promotion in it as I feel like putting in.  What will probably take the longest is finding and adding the clip art in to make it look more interesting and break up my writing.