Warm, flaky, baking powder biscuits fresh from the oven have long been one of my favourite comfort foods. Add in some butter and honey or jam, and they are even better.
Over the years, I have come to understand that making biscuits that melt in your mouth is somewhat of an art. Even though I love baking, it took me a few years, and many failed attempts before I found the perfect balance between a biscuit that was soft and flaky with one that could be sliced and buttered. (If you would like to try the recipe I use, let me know in the comments and I will share it with you.)
Both baking and publishing look easy to an observer, but often they are harder to perfect than we think. Last week I shared lessons I’ve learned about what makes a good writer. This week, I will share some lessons I learned from my early publishing years.
KDP Select is a program offered to any author publishing an ebook on Amazon. To qualify, you must commit to selling your ebook exclusively on Amazon for a minimum of 90 days. (That means it is not available on Rakuten Kobo, or Apple Books, or any other platform.)
The advantages of KDP Select include:
Your ebook is available to everyone with a Kindle Unlimited subscription
Amazon sells a majority of ebooks compared to other platforms
You can choose to make your ebook free for up to 5 days
You may enter your ebook in Amazon Literary Contests
You may use the Kindle Countdown feature
I enrolled Learn Twitter: 10 Beginning Steps in KDP Select. Within the first few days, over 3,000 people downloaded it.
However, here are the disadvantages of KDP Select:
Your ebook cannot be available on Rakuten Kobo, or Apple Books, or any other platform while it is enrolled in KDP Select.
Amazon does not give you any information (e.g. email address) for the individuals who download or purchase your ebook.
There is no way for you to follow up with people who downloaded your book to ask for reviews.
So, even though over 3,000 people downloaded Learn Twitter: 10 Beginning Steps, I received no immediate financial gain, my book received fewer than 30 reviews, and I had no direct way to get feedback or let readers know when I published the follow-up book, Learn Twitter: 10 Intermediate Steps.
I also now know that even without KDP Select, I can change my ebook's price at any time (which means I can offer my own countdown feature).
When I published my first ebooks, Substack wasn’t available. Now I suggest Substack to every author I support, because it has so many free options and also makes it possible to build your email list. If I were starting today, I would focus on building an audience I can communicate with directly.
If you’re looking for a more specialized system to send books to readers and also build your email list, check out Book Funnel dot com.
What I would do differently: build my email list from the beginning.
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As a child, I witnessed the power of prayer many times, due to the fact my parents were in full-time ministry. I pray for many people. However, when I became serious about writing and helping others, it took me a few years to realize I also needed a prayer team.
When my children were young, I woke up 30 minutes earlier to get my writing done before the rest of my family woke up. However, I noticed that my schedule was often interrupted by family emergencies. One son, who had not had a seizure for a couple of years, had a seizure, for no apparent reason. Another son started struggling with his mental health. One of my daughters became unusually clingy and cried more than usual.
Shelley Hitz is the writer who taught me how important prayer is as a Christian writer. She reminded me that writing is also a ministry, and we are in a spiritual battle. After she shared that, I looked back at the family emergencies and noticed they seemed to be more consistent when I had a writing deadline.
I am thankful for those who support my writing by praying for protection for me and my family, my writing projects, the other writers I work with, and the readers our writing ministers to. I also commit to praying for my prayer team members and their families.
I update my prayer team with three answers to prayer and three prayer requests each week. Some prefer communication through a text message while others prefer an email. If you would like to join my prayer team, send me a message and I will get back to you.
What I would do differently: build a prayer team before I start writing
Marketing is often a struggle for writers. Most writers are introverts who would rather spend their time writing than connecting with readers. Marketing is still something I have to be intentional about.
As I have shared before, I define marketing as building relationships and connecting with readers. When my first books came out, I made a launch plan and executed it well…for about two weeks.
The problem with that approach is that relationships take time to develop. The average buyer only makes a purchase after they have had at least eight interactions with an author. If the only interactions I offer to potential readers are during my launch, they probably focus on making a sale, which can come across as uncaring.
I have found that approaching marketing as a marathon works better than treating it as a sprint.I have written about this before.
It’s important for each writer to find marketing strategies that work for them. Make a list of what you enjoy and create a schedule for yourself. Try it for a month and then assess what you need to change.
Here’s a previous post you may find helpful:
5 Daily Marketing Habits That Help Your Book Reach People
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May 17
The above post showed up in my Facebook memories this week. “Cecile’s Christmas Miracle” was the first of several 10,000-word stories I wrote twelve years ago. It was included in Kathi Macias’ 12 Days of Christmas, along with stories by 11 other authors.
Making a perfect batch of biscuits took me years of trial and error. My publishing journey is similar. We cannot go back and fix our mistakes, and that’s probably a good thing, because we learn many things through experience. However, if I were starting the publishing journey today, I would prioritize building an email list, finding prayer warriors to partner with me, and building a consistent marketing habit.
I’m curious what mistakes you’ve made on your writing journey and how you approach it differently now.
Keep taking one simple step at a time. Every story matters, and I’m grateful we’re walking this writing journey together.
Until our next Story Byte,
Ruth
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