Authors: When Your Book "Flatlines"

[AKDee]

Don’t be discouraged.

Jesus, You do not give a reward for the successful performance of a work, but for the good will and the labor undertaken. Therefore, I am completely at peace, even if all my undertakings and efforts should be thwarted or should come to naught. If I do all that is in my power, the rest is not my business.

Diary of St. Faustina 952

The Lord is surely pleased with your efforts, and your writing is good. Sometimes things just take a while, but success snowballs.

 

[Kay_Cee]

Don’t be discouraged.

Diary of St. Faustina 952

The Lord is surely pleased with your efforts, and your writing is good. Sometimes things just take a while, but success snowballs.

Thanks so much for the reminder of the quote from St. Faustina. That’s one I noted myself from her Diary!

I love St. Fautstina. It was her Diary that inspired me to write my first novel, Rain from Heaven, about God’s mercy. I also had to smile when I read that you wrote “Sometimes things just take a while.” Oh, that is so true. One thing I haven’t mentioned is that it took me 15 years to get permission from my Spiritual Director to get published. (He told me somebody with authority had to read it and give me the go-ahead first.) But he wouldn’t read it himself nor did he know anybody who would. And it was the same way when he was transferred and I got a new SD. I went through SD after SD, and they all said the same thing–one of them even forbid me to discuss my novels! So, out of obedience, I was silenced.

For 15 years I went into daily Mass, knelt before Jesus in the tabernacle, and prayed, “Thy will be done.” I have to admit, though, that I didn’t get why this was happening. Here I was trying to do something for God, and it seemed everywhere I turned a door was slammed in my face. I was encouraged by something else Faustina wrote. She said Jesus told her, “Know that I am with you; I bring about the difficulties, and I overcome them; in one instant, I can change a hostile disposition to one which is favorable to this cause.” (Diary, 788) Yes, I know He was talking about her mission, not mine, but I did find some comfort there.

Anyway, finally one of my SDs agreed (although with extreme reluctance) to read* Rain*. At our next session my SD was actually gushing, “I can see the Holy Spirit at work in this! You have got to get this published! I am ordering you to publish this book!”

I could scarcely believe what I was hearing. After 15 years, I was actually ordered to publish. So it was true: “In an instant I can change a hostile disposition to one which is favorable to this cause.”

There is, of course, a lot more to the story, a lot more heartache that went on (and still goes on), but this post is already fairly long, so I won’t get into all that. But I am happy to report that a copy of my second novel, Nearer the Dawn, sold yesterday and another one today!

Thank you, AKDee. You’ve been a great help and comfort through all this!

 

[bluerose]

I truly believe your books will find the audience they deserve. “Someone” is trying to slow you down, but I’m sure the time will come when your book sales will be making a huge difference to your parish. I’m praying for you! And let me know if you do get them into print form… I know I’ll be buying copies for gifts!

 

[Kay_Cee]

I truly believe your books will find the audience they deserve. “Someone” is trying to slow you down, but I’m sure the time will come when your book sales will be making a huge difference to your parish. I’m praying for you! And let me know if you do get them into print form… I know I’ll be buying copies for gifts!

Thanks for your kind words. As for “someone” trying to slow me down, well, there was this one day when something kind of weird happend. I had heavily edited one of my books, and in the split second before I hit “save,” all the power went out in the house, just for a second, long enough for me to lose all my work. So of course I rebooted the computer and did it all again, but just before I clicked “save,” the same thing happened again! I thought it was a coincidence. I rebooted, did the work a third time, and just before I clicked “save” the power went out again–but this time only in the computer.

So the fourth time I did it, I was clicking “save” every few words!

Was that “someone” trying to slow me down? Maybe, maybe not. Who can tell? But it sure was weird!

 

[AKDee]

Weird! That does seem rather suspect!

I am curious about something- being as how your books are Christian fiction, why did you need authorization to print them?

 

[Kay_Cee]

Weird! That does seem rather suspect!

I am curious about something- being as how your books are Christian fiction, why did you need authorization to print them?

Well, that’s a good question. At one session with my Spiritual Director, I expressed some concern about my first book, that perhaps there might be something heretical in there. I’m not a theologian, and I was dealing with another world into which Christ would be born. I had no idea if the Church held a stance on that or not. I’m not a theologian. But I would rather my books never see the light of day than even hint at heresy.

My SD agreed and so banned me from getting published until my books were approved.

But here’s the problem: non-fiction books can get a Nihil Obstat and an Imprimatur, but no such things exist for fiction.

Looking back, I seem to recall that when he put this restriction on me, he had a bit of a grin on his face and a bit of a twinkle in his eye–almost as if he was deliberately throwing this obstacle in my way to see if God would overcome it.

Which He eventually did, although a decade and a half later.

And it turned out that there had been nothing heretical in my books at all.

But–and this is important–I wasn’t allowed to publish all that time, but I was allowed to polish my writing. And so I did. I spent 15 years polishing! I polished until I thought I would puke if I had to read my books one more time . . . and then I still polished some more. And so I ended up with something far better than I had started out with.

God’s ways are mysterious, but they’re never unreasonable!

 

[Kay_Cee]

Some thoughts from a fellow author of a Catholic novel (THE GENTLE TRADITIONALIST - see my signature below for details).

I think 474 is excellent for the circumstances you described. My own book has sold maybe 2000 in the last 9 months - BUT I got published by Angelico Press and their publicity skills are remarkable.

Without them, I am sure I would be struggling for 400+! Self-publishing seems a very tough way to go if you want significant sales in a world hostile to Catholicism.

Although I owe most of my success to Angelico Press, I do have two or three tips.

Most importantly, there is an absolutely excellent resource book called PLUG YOUR BOOK by Steve Weber. You can find it on Amazon - worth every penny …

Second, I think having an extensive website has helped me, along with active engagement on Pinterest.

The size of my site plus my regularly pinning graphics from my site means I get a decent amount of traffic from both Google search and Pinterest.

I also have the first chapter of my book online (here corjesusacratissimum.org/2015/11/the-gentle-traditionalist-chapter-one/)

And in addition to using pins, I have also used Facebook groups to promote that first chapter. I do find that people surf to that chapter, get hooked and buy the book.

Again, Steve Weber has many more good ideas. Do check him out, if you haven’t already.

Roger, I went to the Amazon site on your book, and it sounds intriguing. I’m wondering why the Kindle version is on KIndleUnlimited only and not on regular Kindle. I’m not a subscriber to that.

For some reason “Plug Your Book” is not available anymore. Perhaps it’s out of print?

 

[Viki63]

Roger, I went to the Amazon site on your book, and it sounds intriguing. I’m wondering why the Kindle version is on KIndleUnlimited only and not on regular Kindle. I’m not a subscriber to that.

For some reason “Plug Your Book” is not available anymore. Perhaps it’s out of print?

I found Plug Your Book on Amazon. It’s here.
As the first review points out, however, it’s a bit outdated. Hopefully the author will put out a newer edition at some point.

.

.

 

[Kay_Cee]

I found Plug Your Book on Amazon. It’s here.
As the first review points out, however, it’s a bit outdated. Hopefully the author will put out a newer edition at some point.

.

.

Thank you. I think I’ll wait for the new version, if the author writes one.

I did get Amazon Kindle Sales Secrets Exposed quite some time ago, and it was no help at all. Since then I’ve been a bit wary. Most help guides, including the free ones I’ve seen online, are almost exclusively about promoting non-fiction. And most of them recommend putting one’s book up for sale every once in a while–a tad hard to do when you’re already charging the lowest price Amazon will allow.

But I’ll keep an eye on this one and see if a new version comes out.

 

[Kay_Cee]

Okay, I think you guys have talked me into getting my books into print.

Does anybody know a way I can get a good book cover free? The options on CreateSpace are exceedingly limited.

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[dmar198]

Okay, I think you guys have talked me into getting my books into print.

Does anybody know a way I can get a good book cover free? The options on CreateSpace are exceedingly limited.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Can you give me a rough idea of what you want in your cover? I assume you’re going to print Nearer the Dawn and don’t want to use the cover from the Kindle version, right?

 

[Kay_Cee]

Can you give me a rough idea of what you want in your cover? I assume you’re going to print Nearer the Dawn and don’t want to use the cover from the Kindle version, right?

Actually, I want to do the books in chronological order, starting with* Rain from Heaven*.

 

[Viki63]

I replied to your PM.

I really like the covers you have. They are simple and lovely,
But if you want new ones, Fiverr.com has artists willing to create covers for $5 or $10. I also like selfpubbookcovers.com although they are more expensive.

.

 

[Kay_Cee]

Sent you another PM before I saw this!

I replied to your PM.

I really like the covers you have. They are simple and lovely,

Thank you, but dmar198 doesn’t seem to think so. And I have to admit the ones I have don’t look very professional.

But if you want new ones, Fiverr.com has artists willing to create covers for $5 or $10. I also like selfpubbookcovers.com although they are more expensive.
.

Thank you. I will check them out!

 

[Bill_Dodds]

Three suggestions:
–Check to see if you can give away your books every 90 days. That’s been the case for me. (From the Amazon website: “Free Book Promotions. You can choose to offer any book enrolled in KDP Select free to readers for up to 5 days out of each 90-day KDP Select enrollment period.”)
When I’m offering freebies I try to get it mentioned on any site that will take that. Google “free Kindle books” and you can find quite a few. If one of them lists your book you can end up giving away a lot of copies. I’ve made all my books free on the same five-day period.
–I didn’t find an Author Page for you on Amazon. That could help.
–Consider redoing your covers. A wonderful book with a weak cover will be seen as a weak book because . . . it’s what a consumer sees first, and quickly votes “yes” or “no.” Google “keys to a well designed Kindle book cover” for some basic tips.

Marketing is the pits!

Bill

 

[Kay_Cee]

Can you give me a rough idea of what you want in your cover? I assume you’re going to print Nearer the Dawn and don’t want to use the cover from the Kindle version, right?

I decided to go in chronological order and so have done Rain from Heaven. I have to admit the new cover looks much more professional. Getting it into paperback was a lot of work, so I hope it was worth it.

Thanks to all for their suggestions!

 

[edwest2]

Three suggestions:
–Check to see if you can give away your books every 90 days. That’s been the case for me. (From the Amazon website: “Free Book Promotions. You can choose to offer any book enrolled in KDP Select free to readers for up to 5 days out of each 90-day KDP Select enrollment period.”)
When I’m offering freebies I try to get it mentioned on any site that will take that. Google “free Kindle books” and you can find quite a few. If one of them lists your book you can end up giving away a lot of copies. I’ve made all my books free on the same five-day period.
–I didn’t find an Author Page for you on Amazon. That could help.
–Consider redoing your covers. A wonderful book with a weak cover will be seen as a weak book because . . . it’s what a consumer sees first, and quickly votes “yes” or “no.” Google “keys to a well designed Kindle book cover” for some basic tips.

Marketing is the pits!

Bill

Marketing is a must. Some people actually think, “I’ll put my book out there and people will find it.” How? Posting on your Facebook page is fine and letting family and friends know are fine, but there are millions of books out there. You need to track down an audience that might like your book. Sure, it took a lot of time to write it, but the only way I find out about books I want to buy is to hunt for them.

Ed

 

[AKDee]

I just finished “Rain from Heaven”. I had read Amaranth before, and truly enjoyed it, but I loved Rain from Heaven. Very good read!

 

[Kay_Cee]

I just finished “Rain from Heaven”. I had read Amaranth before, and truly enjoyed it, but I loved Rain from Heaven. Very good read!

So glad you liked it!

I take it that latest review was from you. Thank you so much.

Since you are contemplating reading Nearer the Dawn, you might want to check out a review on Catholicfiction.net, which you can find here: catholicfiction.net/book-review/nearer-th-dawn.php

BTW, the person who wrote that review, Amy Bennett, is a Catholic author who writes terrific mystery books.

 

[dmar198]

So glad you liked it!

I take it that latest review was from you. Thank you so much.

Since you are contemplating reading Nearer the Dawn, you might want to check out a review on Catholicfiction.net, which you can find here: catholicfiction.net/book-review/nearer-th-dawn.php

BTW, the person who wrote that review, Amy Bennett, is a Catholic author who writes terrific mystery books.

I’d love to see your new cover if you can show it