The Bottomless Pit of Publishing Sorrows
Dear Reader,
It's dark down in the pit. A nice witch offered me a candle, so I can find the tunnel out from beneath all the debris. It's a long winding tunnel, with many strange bits of punctuation, spell-checking, grammatical errors, and structural corrections. I find myself in the pit of edits... err, publishing sorrows.
How did I get into this situation? It's a long messed up story, but I promised to tell the truth along my author's walk, so here it goes. I have to admit, it's my own damn fault. See, I wrote all these stories. So the blame must rest on me.
Have I mentioned my muse has no clue what order the scenes go in? She's fickle like that, so we'll cast some aspersion upon the muse. If the scenes she shows me were in some kind of order, or if I knew she was showing me the interwoven scenes that didn't belong in the same book, it might have been easier. We all write the way it works, but for me, the never ending edits do sometimes feel like a serious form of suffering. (I love revisiting my stories, so it's not the drudgery I may have painted it as.)
That feels a little better. I shouldn't take all the blame.
It's taken me the better part of five years to bite the bullet and admit to myself I published most of the Draoithe Saga incorrectly. I don't mean I published it backwards (although I have done some of that), or that I published it on the wrong platform (although I've done some of that, too). What I mean is I published the stories with too much convoluted content. Many of the earlier books contained two or three, maybe more, interwoven stories. They were too confusing.
That was what caused the Great Divide project and led to the Great Takedown. The Great Divide is almost finished. The Great Take down is complete, and I've begun republishing the first miniseries. With the help of ProWritingAid and Atticus, the stories are in the best shape they've ever been. I'm using Quick Write to help me write better book descriptions, and I dipped into my puny savings to buy professional covers from Markee Books.
Shameless Self Promotion!
Here's the latest totally redone title:
Big Bad Wolf Kingdom Rising Volume 3
A Draoithe Saga Tale
Big Bad Wolf is a twisted fairytale retelling from the perspective of the wolf, and it recounts the story of Javier MacGuire, a recently transformed direwolf shifter.
Despite being new to the dream and immortality, he quickly claimed the role of beta in the Druid pack and was entrusted with assessing newcomers and protecting pack members. However, things became complicated when he realized one newcomer, a broken phoenix shifter, was not only innocent but also his lifemate. Isabell was afraid of the wolf, but she needed his protection and his love.
With his responsibilities multiplying, Javier must tread carefully to save her from the fade, claim her for himself, and ensure her friends aren't hiding anything that could jeopardize the pack. In a high-stakes battle for love, loyalty, and survival, Big Bad Wolf charts Javier's journey from a new beta wolf to a balanced leader as he fights for his pack and his love. Can he protect the pack and win Little Red Riding Hood for himself?
Big Bad Wolf is volume 3 and the finale in Kingdom Rising, an urban fantasy with paranormal romance miniseries. If twisted fairytales, sexy shifters, and healing trauma intrigue you, then you’ll love Ophelia Kee’s closing tale in this first part of the Draoithe Saga.
Welcome to the dream...
Urban Fantasy with Steamy Paranormal Romance Fated Mates 18+ HEA! NC!
***Warning: Adult Themes, Fantasy Violence, and/or Explicit Sexual Situations. Intended for a Mature Audience.
About The Pit I Dug
So if I finally have the right tools and the help to create beautiful books, how did I get into this pit of sorrow? It's all self pity, so there will be no invitations to this party.
See, when I sat down and sorted out the mess after the great divide, I realized I have 100 manuscript titles associated with the Draoithe Saga. Some were never published. Many are unfinished tales. Some may be part of other tales. All 95 of the docs still in my files require editing, formatting, and covers.
Yep. You read that right. If you've been with me for a while, I hope you'll laugh when I say, "I was only gonna write one book." (If you're new to the dream, please note, I obviously don't understand the concept of one book.)
Y'all, it's going to be a long, arduous climb to get out of the pit I've dug myself into. Thankfully, I have the tools for the job. I hope my candles last, or some nice passerby tosses me a torch or lantern. When it's done, I hope you'll still be there reading the stories, laughing at my posts and enjoying the fruits of all the labor.
Behind the Scenes
I've been working behind the scenes to improve the website and the newsletter. By the end of summer, I should be set up with Bookfunnel. That means more landing pages and more free stuff is coming.
I'm working on a character guide to go with the first two miniseries, and I've even thought about creating a coloring book. I'm reworking Arctic Fox to be the lead-in story for Council of Kings. It will be Permafree once I get it all set up.
Did I tell you I started a webinar to learn book marketing? Well, I'm slowly going through it. I lack any kind of sales background. I may have started publishing five years ago and learned a lot, but there were always tiny pieces of the puzzle I hadn't worked out.
Learning about the industry has been a long journey, and I have enjoyed every step. Even though it's been years, my author's walk has only just begun. I'm still walking with curiosity to learn where it will take me. I can only pray it will take me to a better understanding of how to handle the marketing, just as it has taken me to a better understanding of how to organize the madness of my obsession.
I have found the tools to eliminate the gaps in my understanding and improve my stories. I'm not only writing stories I love, but I'm sharing them with a wider audience to support my writing habit. Soon, I'll begin running ads. I'm just waiting on the last pieces of cover art to complete the first series, Kingdom Rising.
Passive Income? I don't think so.
If anyone ever says you can self-publish for free, they aren't lying. I've done it over 69 times. If anyone says you'll sell a million copies of your book overnight without a dime beyond the money spent on a laptop invested, I would call them supremely lucky. Most of the self-published writers I know about have needed to learn a lot about running a small business. They needed to invest in some serious software, and they spent hours meticulously putting everything in place to earn a living from what they love.
There are a lot of moving parts. Once you get your system worked out, you can self-publish and see an income stream from your efforts. That income will probably outperform the advance you could earn from a traditional publishing contract over time, but the labor of love equals a lot of upfront and persistent effort without a guaranteed payout and definitely a seriously delayed payout, if it comes.
Self-publishing is not a passive income stream. It's a lot of hard work. The cool part for me is I've written stories I want to read and built a world I love to visit. The writing and the creativity have moved far beyond a story. It has become an experience.
If you have found this post, whether you're a regular reader of my insanity or you only recently stumbled upon the craziness, allow me to extend the warmest Welcome to the dream... With you, things have improved yet again.
Before this post gets too long, I better get back to digging that tunnel I need. The one I thought was here had a cave in. I'll see y'all on the other side of the edits for Vampire Knight. Until we chat again, don't forget to be kind and leave your honest reviews. I would love to hear your thoughts. Please leave a comment below.
Be Careful!
Happy Reading,
Ophelia Kee
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Thank you for your support! Welcome to the dream… Sincerely, -OK
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