Look it’s me in the query… I mean submission trenches! 😂
So, the first rule of being on sub is that we don’t talk about sub. But, instead of talking about the specifics of my sub journey, I’m really just going to talk about the general vibes of being on submission. Because it’s definitely come with some surprises for me. Please keep in mind this is my own personal take based on my experience, which may or may not align with anyone else’s.
The good
Your agent believes in you and your story! This is huge!
The doors to the big publishers are open and your agent is championing your story! This is also huge!
You no longer have to spend valuable writing time sending out queries
So… you get more writing time! Huzzah!
The less good!
The stakes are higher. Think of it as climbing higher up a mountain and having farther to fall. (Because now your agent is also depending on your books to sell. And, if they don’t… well you might end up back in the query trenches.)
There’s more hope, and so also more disappointment. If you’re going to ride this roller coaster, mental toughness is a must.
Submission response times are longer than query response times (in my experience.) So be prepared to settle in and get comfortable
My Advice
Pessimist?
This is going to sound a lot like the querying advice article I wrote a couple years ago, and mostly these reminders are for me.
Try to keep your expectations low. Because even though I have an agent, my book still might not sell. And why you might call me a pessimist, it’s how I keep myself from getting crushed with those near misses. In the querying phase, I treated query letters like lottery tickets, and I need to treat submissions in the same way.
Have a rough idea of what you would do if you lost your agent. Would you self-publish your manuscripts or query a fresh book with your backlist in tow? I honestly have no idea what I would do, and I think that’s part of my current mindset problem.
Work on something else while you wait! This is common advice, but for good reason. Time goes a lot faster when you’re excited for a new manuscript. And this part, at least, I’ve got down. In the span of fourteen months, I actually sent my agent six manuscripts… which leads me to the next piece.
Find other ways to grow and learn as a writer. For me, in 2024, this looked like diving into craft books and signing up to be a mentor in the WriteHive Mentorship Program. But in 2025, I’ll be looking for different opportunities to explore. Conferences? In-person events? Marketing classes? I’m definitely open to ideas and recommendations
Trust the process (and your agent) and stick with it.
so what’s the bottom line
Being on sub can be difficult, just like querying can be difficult. But just because it’s difficult doesn’t mean it’s not worth doing. Try to enjoy the journey, even through the ups and downs, and the stories will find their way out into the world one way or another.
Cheers to the tenacity of being on sub and whatever comes next. Good luck out there!
It’s time again for the end-of-the-year writing review. This is where I try to zoom out and look at the year from a thousand feet up, see the forest instead of the trees etc etc. Mainly, I’m trying to assess if I hit my goals, areas I could improve, and get a feel for what to aim for in 2025.
To be perfectly honest, in many ways, 2024 was not the writing year I hoped it would be. There were a quite a few disappointments and realizations behind the scenes that I’m still grappling with. But this year also held some fun surprises I wasn’t expecting too, so overall, it was definitely a mixed bag.
So what does that mean for 2025? Well, let’s dig into 2024 and see if we can take a guess.
first, the numbers
Words written: 67,000 (Exit Seats) + 31,000 (A Churn in the Dark novella) + 83,000 (Into the Abyss) + 35,000 (my half of Borrowed Magic & Other Catastrophes, coauthored with E.P. Stavs) + 40,000 (Surprise Novella, Title TBA) + 20,000 (House of the Chosen, still drafting) + 9,500 (still drafting Odds & Ends with E.P. Stavs = 285,500 words (+89% from last year)
Words revised: 67,000 (Exit Seats) + 31,000 (A Churn in the Dark) + 83,000 (Into the Abyss) + 70,000 (Borrowed Magic & Other Catastrophes) + 40,000 (Surprise Novella) = 291,000 (-10% from last year)
Words published: 94,000 (Into the Fire) + 32,000 (A Churn in the Dark) = 126,000 (-30% from last year)
Words on sub: 83,000 (Ninth Circle) + 76,000 (Midnight Falls) = 159,000 words (+55% from last year)
2024 Total Words Worked: 861,500 (+8% from last year)
Sales Numbers: ~589 self-published books sold (-28% from last year, includes audiobooks but not my titles with Whimsical Publishing). Another 9,523 downloaded for free. (-58% last year’s count)
And the Goodreads numbers.
Odriel’s Heirs: 259 ratings (+19%) / 4.24 stars
Burning Shadows: 40 ratings (+25%) / 4.65 stars
Idriel’s Children: 82 ratings (+17%) / 4.44 stars
Night of Ash: 28 ratings (+17%) / 4.64 stars
Time’s Orphan: 91 ratings (+23%) / 4.62 stars
The Gatekeeper of Pericael: 103 ratings (+5%) / 4.10 stars
Into the Churn: 338 ratings (+139%) / 4.25 stars
Into the Fire: 72 ratings / 4.60 stars
A Churn in the Dark: 15 ratings / 4.80 stars
Into the Abyss: 4 ratings / 5 stars
My Goodreads total: 1036 ratings (+57%) / 4.34 stars
If you want to compare the totals to last year more directly, my 2023 summary is here.
As far as words go, I think my efficiency is higher than ever, and it certainly shows. I drafted a ton this year… to the point I was actually asking myself why I was pushing myself to move so fast.
Sales-wise, I worked my arse off promoting my Into the Churn series which had two releases this year, and so my self-published backlist naturally took a backseat in the promotion realm. The consistent downloads all year have been cool, but I think in 2025, I’ll try to snag another BookBub deal to really capitalize on the king of all promos.
the highlights
Into the Churn books #2.5, #3, and [redacted] were all greenlit! When I was writing Into the Fire (Into the Churn #2) I thought I’d have to settle for a duology, so this was huge news. Sales and interest really jumped with the cover rebrand, and I’m so thrilled we got to give this series the ending it deserves.
The Into the Churn series got an *amazing* audiobook adaption
The Ninth Circle & Midnight Falls went on sub! Being on submission is a journey, but I’m so lucky to have my amazing agent, Kristen Terrette from Martin Literary, to champion my books, and I’m excited to see where the journey takes these stories.
Several of my books won awards! Odriel’s Heirs won the 2024 YA IndieReader Discovery Awards, and each book in the trilogy one an Indie BRAG medallion. Idriel’s Children was A Wishing Shelf Book Award Silver Medal Winner, and The Gatekeeper of Pericael was a Literary Titan Gold Winner and a finalist in the 2024 International Readers’ Favorite Awards. Meanwhile Time’s Orphan was a bronze medalist in the 2024 International Readers’ Favorite Awards, a semifinalist in the 2024 book blogger novel of the year awards, and a semifinalist in the 2024 kindle book awards.
This year I joined the WriteHive team as a mentor in their mentorship program, and I’m so excited to pay forward everything I’ve picked up from the writing community.
What I learned
At this stage of the game in promoting my backlist, if it’s not a BookBub Promo, it’s probably not worth it. I’ve tried so many other newsletters and promotions, but they really just don’t measure up. However, I think I’m reaching the point in my backlist lifespan where I just kind of let them coast along and focus on promoting my current releases.
This year I entered quite a few book awards as I try to figure out which ones are worth entering. These remain my favorites:
So, last year, I listed social media, my newsletter, and this blog as all areas I maybe needed to grow in. I gotta tell ya though. Right now, I’m kind of at peace with the fact that I’ve consistently posted this year. I’m still on the look out for any epiphanies that may happen upon me, but I can exist in marathon (not sprint) mode, and I think that’s okay. Also, my newsletter subscribers increased by 60% and my website views increased 31% so that was pretty solid.
While I love working on sequels/series, and I 100% see the value in them, I’ll be real, releasing them isn’t as exciting. They’re harder to individually market, because you’re not courting new readers with a brand new book ripe with possibility, rather, you’re courting the readers who loved book one. (A much smaller population.) Which is all to say, I’ll be so stoked when the entire Into the Churn series is out there in September and I can market it as a completed unit. (Squee!!)
The bumps
Being on submission is mentally tougher than I thought it would be. There, I said it. I’m writing a separate post on why I think this is the case, but kin, I was not prepared. I think next year I need to slow down and take more time for my mental health to be able to shoulder this better.
So… I had a “stepping backward” moment with one of my manuscripts which was super disappointing. In the end, I had to make a decision in line with my values that unfortunately, also meant losing out an opportunity I was really looking forward to. I don’t regret the decision, but I think I’m still mourning the loss. I really can’t give the details, but just… blah.
Goals
All right, 2025, what are we going to do with you? As always, I try to keep my goals measurable and attainable. (Goal small. Dream big.) Last year I’m proud to say I hit all of my goals (Though I did not write the specific two next books itching at my brain… because sequel and co-WIPs jumped in front of them) So for 2025 I’m aiming to…
Get Into the Abyss out into the world in March and [redacted] out into the world in September to put a bow on the Into the Churn series.
Finish my two current drafts (House of the Chosen & the Odds & Ends co-WIP) and send to my agent.
Write the next book for Whimsical and send it their way!
With those details now, let’s zoom out. 2024 was an… unexpected year for me. I walked into 2024 thinking I would write the two books I had outlined, and instead I wrote *four* completely different ones. (Three sequels & a co-WIP) And while I’m happy with that, I think there’s still a part of me that’s desperate to write those other two books I’ve been daydreaming about.
Being on submission was harder than expected, and in a way, I’m half-expecting 2025 to be a make or break year for me. Also, the manuscript “step back” situation behind the scenes also hit me harder than expected. But no one said the journey would be a straight line or without bumps along the way.
With that in mind, I may try to purposely slow down, and make sure I’m taking more breaks for my mental health.
The sum up
So after last year’s effervescent wrap-up, I’m worried I’ve been too real with this one. But if I just want to give an accurate look at the ups and downs at the writing journey, this is all part of it.
It’s kind of funny because both my kids had a tough soccer season this year in the bottom of their age groups, and we discussed that sometimes we have learning years and sometimes we have performing years. Similarly, writing-wise, last year felt like a performing year for me, while this year felt more like a working year. It takes the working years to make the performing years happen, but that does not mean they are all equally exciting.
That said, I’m also very prepared for 2025 to be a working year too. Still, I’m here for it with tenacity to spare, and I’m excited to see what stories spill onto the page this year. Thanks for reading and cheers to another year of adventures!
Every year around this time, I try to take a step back and see how my writing year went. Did I accomplish my goals from last year? Was I productive? Did I grow? How can I do better next year?
Just at a glance, I can say without question that 2023 has been the biggest year for my small-potatoes writing career to date. Honestly, I’m still blown away, but I’m so excited to break it down and see if I can take a guess at what 2024 might hold.
So let’s get into it!
first, the numbers
Words written: 97,500 (Into the Fire+bonus chapters) + 17,000 (Exit Seats Zero Draft) + 36,250 (My half of the co-authored Midnight Falls) = 150,750 words (-30% from last year)
Words revised: 97,500 (Into the Fire) + 72,500 (Midnight Falls) + 71,500 (Inky & Heater IRL) + 83,000 (The Ninth Circle) = 324,500 words (+20% from last year)
Words published: 77,500 (Time’s Orphan) + 101,000 (Into the Churn+bonus chapters) = 178,500 (8x last year)
Words queried: 71,500 (Inky & Heater IRL) = 71,500 words (-60% from last year, but I signed with an AGENT!😱)
So moving forward, instead of words queried, I’ll tally words on sub (😱!): 71,500 (Inky & Heater IRL)
2023 Total Words Worked: 796,750 words (+5% from last year)
Sales Numbers: ~816 self-published books sold (+16% from last year, includes audiobooks but not my title with Whimsical Publishing). Another ~22,457 downloaded for free. (112x last year’s count)
And the Goodreads numbers.
Odriel’s Heirs: 217 ratings (+30%) / 4.17 stars
Burning Shadows: 32 ratings (+88%) / 4.72 stars
Idriel’s Children: 70 ratings (+40%) / 4.43 stars
Night of Ash: 24 ratings (2.7x) / 4.75 stars
Time’s Orphan: 74 ratings (9.3x) / 4.57 stars
The Gatekeeper of Pericael: 98 ratings (+17%) / 4.12 stars
Into the Churn: 141 ratings (35.25x) / 4.38 stars
My Goodreads total: 659 ratings (+93%) / 4.36 stars
If you want to compare the totals to last year more directly, my 2022 summary is here. For many, these are still very small numbers, but this was a HUGE growth for me as far as exposure. And words-wise, it looks like I just about matched 2022, which is a consistency I’m super happy with, especially considering all the other exciting developments that happened this year!
the highlights
I SIGNED WITH AN AGENT!!! This was seriously a dream come true for me. After querying my YA Romance, Inky & Heater IRL, I got *3* agent offers and signed with the brilliant Kristen Terrette from Martin Literary. I am STILL processing.
And then Inky & Heater IRL went on sub! This was a huge step in my writing journey, and I’m so excited to see where this YA Romance goes next!
Several of my books won awards! Odriel’s Heirs was a silver medalist in 2022 International Readers’ Favorite Awards, A Wishing Shelf Book Award Bronze Medal Winner, and a Literary Titan Gold Winner. Idriel’s Children was a semi-finalist in both the 2023 Book Blogger Novel of the Year Award and the 2023 Kindle Book Awards. And The Gatekeeper of Pericael got an Indie BRAG Medallion.
I made the game-changing realization that I could price-match my books on Amazon for the sake of Bookbub promotions of free books (thank you to the amazing Carol Beth Anderson for showing me how this is done.) I cannot under-emphasize what a huge difference this made for me. For reference, I had 20,301 units ordered from Amazon alone this year, bringing me to a lifetime total of 30,874 since I published my first book in March 2020. So basically, I *tripled* the combined exposure I accumulated from 2020-2022 in a single year. After my free BookBub promotion, I kept the first book of my Odriel’s Heirs series free, which then triggered enough sales of the later books to generate more profit this year than in any other year since I’ve started publishing. And I will *definitely* be continuing to use BookBub free promotions in 2024.
I had my first ever in-person author events, readers actually came, and someone made me an Into the Churn bracelet. 😭 Into the Churn actually got onto the shelf of The Hidden Lantern and a Barnes and Noble. 🤩 Bucket-list item. CHECK.
And while I’m gushing about amazing Into the Churn things that happened. A special edition was featured in the Unplugged bookbox and had dyed edges and just a completely stunning design. I saw fanart from multiple readers, an amazing reader-made moodboard, there was an incredibly cinematic book trailer, @glamorouslyguilty cosplayed as Ezren, multiple readers messaged me how much my books meant to them, and in general, I just about died from happiness.
Into the Churn sold well enough that Whimsical Publishing greenlighted the sequel, Into the Fire, which is scheduled to launch in May 2024! I’ve been told ad nauseum that YA sci-fi doesn’t sell, but I can’t help but dream in trilogies, so this was SUCH an amazing surprise.
I co-authored a book with the incredible E.P. Stavs! Erin and I have been writing friends for awhile, and I’m a huge fan of her work, so it was so fun to create a story together! I really enjoyed our collaborative process and overall, we just had a blast with it. I can’t wait to see what 2024 has in store for our quirky paranormal, Midnight Falls!
My microfiction, When They’re Ready, got an honorable mention in the NYC Midnight 250-word challenge! So completely honored and blown away!
What I learned
Zero drafts (a dialogue-only draft written before the first draft that reads much like a screenplay) are my jam. I think I started this in 2022, but I totally honed this part of my process in 2023. In general, this is the year I really felt like I had my writing process down pat and really maximized efficiency with juggling WIPs.
BookBub Promos for free books are where it is AT, pricing the first book in a series at free is a fantastic marketing strategy for me, and I will be utilizing both of these epiphanies in 2024.
Entering book awards is very fulfilling for me and can result in some excellent feedback and I will continue to enter in the future. On the flip-side, I also invested in some recommended trade reviews, but I didn’t really find that to be worthwhile or satisfying in any way.
A street team is an effective and fun way to build hype for a book release. In 2023, I did this for the first time with Into the Churn, and we totally had a blast. I can’t wait to jump into it again with my Into the Fire team.
I was so much more consistent with my engagement on Instagram and Twitter this year. Although I didn’t get a big follower increase, overall, I was much more confident in just being myself, and on Instagram, I finally felt like I was striking a decent balance between getting the word out about my books and just being my bookish, weirdo self while not over-extending myself.
In-person events, while so fun and fulfilling, didn’t generate many sales for me. I think I still have a lot to learn about when and where to hold these to maximize efficacy.
YA sci-fi… is a hard sell. Boo. I hate that I have that I even have to put this on here, but I’m trying to be honest. When I first published YA sci-fi, I knew if it took off that I had enough sci-fi stories I was itching to write that I could happily specialize and build a brand as a YA sci-fi author. Unfortunately, despite the amazing feedback on the book itself, getting it out into the world and finding its reader niche has been difficult. Hopefully, I’ll update this with better news in 2024, but as of right now, (unless something miraculous happens with Into the Fire) I fully expect to be moving away from YA sci-fi for the forseeable future. However, while I do love sci-fi, since I’m a huge genre-hopper as a reader and a writer, this is just another bittersweet step in the journey. This past year, I’ve loved shaping up both my first YA romance and my first YA horror, and I’m excited to jump back into dark fantasy this spring. I’m still trying to find my brand, but this year I learned that I really do need to pay attention to the market as well if I want to my writing career to progress. Kind of a hard lesson to swallow but also an important one, and a learning opportunity I’m so grateful for.
What I still need to work on
BookTok. I should still probably try harder to get into this sphere, but I still feel like I haven’t the faintest idea how to attack that goliath. I am HERE for your suggestions.
Newsletter. Despite all the stuff that happened this year, I don’t know if I sent out a single newsletter update. Although I try only to send them out when I have book news, I definitely need to send them out more often then the ‘never’ frequency I’m approaching right now. I have a hard time with the fact that the number one thing I can do to decrease my subscribers is send out a newsletter. 😂
Odriel’s Heirs covers. This year I attempted (twice) to get a character art cover of Time’s Orphan to match the other two hardcovers of Odriel’s Heirs, but it didn’t work out. So I ended up taking all the hardcover versions down since I didn’t want to create incomplete sets. 😭 One day, I’d still like to get these as well as an amazing omnibus cover, and maybe even makeover Gatekeeper’s cover? But it’s probably more of a dream than a goal. If you have any amazing cover artists you’d like to shout out, I’d love to see their links!
This blog. I really don’t try to market this blog, write a lot of posts, or increase traffic and… maybe I should? I don’t know. Still waffling on this one.
Goals
So what next? As always, I try to keep my goals measurable and attainable. (Goal small. Dream big.) Last year I’m proud to say I hit 5/6 of my goals (but since Storybound Fest was cancelled, I didn’t get to check that one off.) And for this year I’m aiming to:
Get Into the Fire out into the world in May!
Finish my revision of Midnight Falls with E.P. Stavs and send it to my agent, Kristen, to see what she thinks!
Write the two next books itching at my brain!
Okay, I’m wrapping it up, I swear! Looking at the big picture, 2023 was a huge revision year for me, so I think that means 2024 will be a drafting year. Overall though, this has, by far, been my best writing year to date, and I’m so grateful for everyone who’ve believed in my books and made this possible: Whimsical Publishing, Kristen Terrette, E.P. Stavs, and everyone else who’ve taken the time to leave a book review or a kind word. Thank you so much. Your support truly means the world to me, and I wouldn’t be able to do this without you. Cheers to continuing this crazy journey in 2024. I can’t wait to see what happens next. As always, thanks so much for reading!
So right after I self-published my first book, I published my lessons learned here, but now that my eighth book (Into the Fire) is coming from Whimsical Publishing in April, I thought I’d reflect again on what advice I’d go back and give to myself if I could on a couple topics.
Self-Publishing Vs. Querying
Ah, yes the question I still get asked the most. I queried agents with Odriel’s Heirs for over a year, and while I was disappointed I wasn’t able to sign with an agent then, I’m still glad I self-published. Through self-publishing, I found the writing community, learned so much about the craft, and found writing friends who helped me grow. Also, I’m not sure I would’ve continued writing without the invaluable feedback and encouragement from readers. Lastly, I was able to get closure for this story and move on to the next one to keep growing as a writer.
A part of me does wish I had investigated small presses more, who perhaps could’ve guided me in terms of marketing, but at the time, I don’t think I even knew enough how to tell a good press from a poor one.
Overall, this choice worked out for the best. These days, I’m working with an amazing Small Press (Whimsical Publishing) and now have an agent (the incredible Kristen Terrette) but I don’t think I would’ve ever gotten this far without my experiences in self-publishing first. Of course, every publishing journey is different, so I hope you follow the one that feels right for your goals!
Editor, Proofreading, & Formatter
Editing and proofreading are expenses I agonized over as a new writer (my imposter-syndrome was through the roof), but if could go back, I would tell myself to invest in my book like any publisher would. (Within your budget, of course.)
The developmental editor I hired was invaluable, and due to their amazing feedback, I made extensive revisions. After that, I wished I’d invested in a copy-editor and a proofreader. While I love how Odriel’s Heirs turned out, I was weeding out typos for some time after release, and for my first book, I would’ve preferred to put my best foot forward from the outset.
I’d still skip hiring the formatter though. In formatting it myself, I like having the flexibility of going back and fixing typos in a matter of minutes. If I was deadset on complicated formatting though, I think I’d invest in formatting software instead of hiring out.
Cover Art
Oof. This is the one where I needed most guidance on. A good cover can make or break a book, and once again as I was unwilling to invest as I should have. Also, at the time, I didn’t think I would publish more than one book, but if I knew I was going to write the series, I should’ve bought all five covers together so I could have a matching set. (And get a discount!) I should’ve done WAY more research into current cover trends in my genre as well investigated a variety of cover artists. (I still find cover artist research difficult, but I recommend checking out cover contests, and looking into the artists of the winners.)
But maybe I’ll still get a chance to put this lesson learned to the test when I make an Odriel’s Heirs omnibus one day. (I just have to find the perfect cover artist first!)
Going Wide vs. Amazon Exclusive
There are some who’ve been wildly successful in KDP, but I’m not one of them. I did find the Amazon-exclusive benefit of doing regular free ebook promotions critical to increasing my exposure. However if I’d gotten a competitive cover from the start and gone wide, it would’ve allowed me to start doing BookBub promo deals sooner, which has almost doubled my downloads in the last year. (After I discovered that you can ask Amazon to price-match to free.) If you don’t think you’d be able to get the BookBub promo deals though (either due to a lack of a competetive cover or reviews), I’d definitely stay Amazon-exclusive.
Audiobooks
Past self, I know you want to do this, but don’t. While ACX (Amazon’s audiobook publishing process) makes it affordable do to royalty sharing, their inflexible and expensive prices make them incredibly hard to market. Unless your book is already a best-seller, you’re going to narrate it yourself, or you’re going to shell out big bucks for a narrator with their own following, I don’t think it’s worth it. Which is SO sad considering I’m almost exclusively an audiobook listener these days. 😭
Marketing
Ah yes, the bane of my existence. I wish I had known that this process starts AS SOON AS YOU START WRITING. If you can build an engaging, bookish following on any of the popular social media sites, then you already have a huge advantage. (Still working on this one, myself.) A website is also a must, even if it’s just a professional “about you” with your links. (For example, I don’t put a whole lot of time into promoting mine, but it’s had 3000+ visitors and 5000+ views this year, so it’s still worth it.)
I tried a few recommended trade reviews and a variety of ads on different sites, but didn’t find any of them to be worth the buck.
And although it took me some time, I definitely found commissioning bookish art (ideally in the months leading up to release to build hype – Whimsical has a great database of artists here), entering awards (see ALLI’s list here), sending out ARCs in advance through BookSirens and a NetGalley Co-op, and using book promotion services (see Reedsy’s list here) to be the most effective and fulfilling methods of marketing.
Also, putting together a street team has been a super fun way to get ready for release and build hype by recruiting your other bookish friends and followers to help post about your book leading up to release. I’m still learning the best ways to utilize a street team, but definitely recommend, especially if you have a great social media following.
Conclusion
Wellp, those are the big rocks that come to mind. Hopefully this is helpful for anyone making choices about their own book baby, but if you have any questions I missed, please feel free to ask away and good luck with your publishing journey!
This is my second time entering the BBNYA and honestly first off, I’d just like to recommend it to all small press and indie authors. With an entrance fee of €20, it’s relatively affordable compared to most contests, and they do a wonderful job of getting their entrants exposure even if you’re not a finalist. Also, if you don’t make it to the finals, you can still get the judges’ feedback on your excerpt. (2k words for the first round and 10k words for the second)
Odriel’s Heirs was a fifth place finalist in the 2021 BBNYA, so it got in on blog tours and reviews, but since The Gatekeeper of Pericael was only a semifinalist in 2022 BBNYA, they sent me feedback on my first 10k words. And I really love it because I think it showcases how differently people can feel about the same book. So I wanted to share it because I think it really emphasizes the need for more than one beta reader or critique partner, and I also think it helps give perspective when you get rough reviews, because yeah, your books not for everyone. But some people will love it, and that’s still amazingly cool.
What our panelists thought
(To be clear, each judge wrote one bullet in each section): Writing Style
Good, enjoyable. Gets stronger/better as it goes on.
Nice use of description. The language used for some of the descriptive passages is beautiful and really evokes the feelings of the magical jungle.
A little shaky at the start with a bit of extra ‘explaining’ thrown in, but settled down later in the extract
So good. I was sucked into this story right away, and even though a lot of information was introduced, it was done so well that I constantly understood everything that was happening without any confusion, brilliant!
Easy to read, very descriptive, easy to get drawn into.
Story
Definitely feels unique and intriguing
Feels a little old for mid-grade in some parts but too young for teens in others
I wasn’t sure at the start but was gripped by the end of the extract
Quite interesting
I really enjoyed this and felt so engrossed in the story throughout. It’s very original and so interesting! I’m desperate to find out what happens next, especially as the excerpt finished in the middle of a dramatic scene
Loving the story so far. I’m curious about the worldbuilding and the magic system. The story feels original so far. Would read on
Characters
Porter as a MC is a bit flat right now, but I’m invested
Anyone knows when summoning ANYTHING, you don’t insult them. Porter should have known better. This annoyed me. Ames is fun though
I really liked Porter
Excellent characters
Good characters and they are all different. Especially enjoy the different characters reacting to each other
Emotional Response
I don’t really feel that invested in the story. Perhaps I’ve picked up Porter’s distaste for the magical land. If the MC doesn’t care, it’s hard for the reader.
I cared about what was happening with Porter and Ames
Characters made for you to easily emotionally respond too
I just loved this so much. It felt exciting, compelling and interesting too.
Overall
Good balance of various elements, intriguing storyline, feels like a refreshing portal fantasy.
I’d like to give it a higher rating, but we have been given a whole lot of worldbuilding very quickly with not a lot of motivation or emotion.
An interesting book that has great characters
A good solid book.
So good!! Would rate higher if I could. It’s so brilliant, I enjoyed it so much 🙂
Thanks so much to the BBNYA for this amazing feedback, and I can’t wait to hear what the judges think of Idriel’s Children this year!
Upper Middle Grade is so hard to market, so I’m so incredibly grateful for any feedback. Thanks again, BBNYA
So this is the time of the year where I try to reflect on how the last twelve months of my writing life went. Was it… productive? Fun? Fulfilling? Disappointing? What did I learn? What did I do well? What could I improve for next year?
And, you all… a LOT happened this year, and my small potatoes writing career took some big steps. So let’s take a look!
first, the numbers
Words written: 55,000 (The Ninth Circle) + 77,000 (Time’s Orphan) + 22,000 (Night of Ash) + 60,000 (Inky & Heater IRL) = 214,000 words (3 complete, 1 partial)
Words revised: 77,000 (TO) + 22,000 (NoA) + 99,000 (ItC) + 75,000 (TBA) = 273,000 words (4 books)
Words published: 22,000 words (1 book)
Words queried: 99,000 (ItC) + 75,000 (TBA) = 174,000 words (2 books)
2022 Total Words Worked: 758,000 words
Sales Numbers: 650+ self-published books sold. Another 200ish downloaded for free. (Draft to Digital makes it little harder to distinguish between which books were bought and which were downloaded for free)
And the Goodreads numbers.
Odriel’s Heirs: 165 ratings / 4.33 stars
Burning Shadows: 17 ratings / 4.94 stars
Idriel’s Children: 50 ratings / 4.34 stars
Night of Ash: 9 ratings / 5 stars
Time’s Orphan: 8 ratings / 4.88 stars
The Gatekeeper of Pericael: 84 ratings / 4.08 stars
Into the Churn: 4 ratings / 5 stars
My Goodreads total: 341 ratings / 4.34 stars
For reference, the 2021 total was 214 copies sold, 136,000 written, and 554,000 words worked. So yeah. Obviously, still small potatoes. But numbers wise, this years kicked the pants off of last year in pretty much every single way, and that wasn’t even the best part!
The best parts
I got not one, but TWO publishing deals with Whimsical Publishing, and I absolutely ADORE working with them. It has been the best experience. And not only that, but I actually had another 2 publishing offers from small presses this year. 😱 This was new and exciting territory for me, and I was absolutely thrilled to make the leap from self-pub to small press with a publisher that loves me books as much as I do. 💛
Then, my YA paranormal, The Ninth Circle, got picked up for a WriteHive mentorship with EJ Dawson! 🎉 What?! Is this even real life? The first call was so awesome, and I can’t wait to whip the manuscript into shape with them!
The Gatekeeper of Pericael was a semi-finalist in the Book Blogger Novel of the Year Awards. I love my upper middle grade fantasy, but it can be so hard to market, so this was an exciting moment!
Odriel’s Heirs got over 100 Amazon ratings and finally got BookBub US and International marketing deals! 🎉 I was so stoked to get more exposure for my first book child, and I definitely had a positive experience with these. Fingers crossed I can get more books accepted in the future!
I got accepted to be a participating author at both OwlCon 2023 and StoryBound Fest 2023! StoryBound Fest will be my first in-person author convention, and I’m pretty nervous! So that’ll be an exciting new challenge for next year.
What I learned
This year, I really nailed down my outlining process with the Save the Cat formula, which really helped me churn out those first drafts. Thanks to Story Genius and an obsession with K-drama, I also had a crucial epiphany on how to develop likable, relatable characters.
I love dual-POV and the depth it brings to a story. I don’t know if I’ll ever go back.
I grew a lot more comfortable as a critique partner and have collected a few more writing friends who I can reliably swap feedback with.
I also was able to consistently read and review books on my book blog here! 62 and counting this year! This has been great way to give back to the writing community, bring more traffic to my little site here, and also sharpen my critiquing skills.
I learned how to create decent covers in Canva Pro! This was a super fun tool for my creative process and marketing purposes, but if I ever self-pub in the future, I’m glad I can use this as a viable option to cut costs. (However, if anyone has any recommendations on graphic design online resources, they would be so appreciated! I definitely still have room for improvement. 😅
Making playlists for my books and WIPs on Spotify is ridiculously transportive, and I can’t believe I didn’t discover this earlier. I now have a playlist for every single one, and it is an amazing way to get in the writing mindset and pivot quickly between WIPs.
Finally, I learned that small presses can be amazing, and honestly I wish I had investigated/considered them a more with first two books I queried.
What I still need to work on
Oh boy. So much. I’ve been making some strides in the last few months, but the balance of writing and social media engagement still eludes me, although I feel like I’ve grown more comfortable being my ridiculous, goofy self in reels and selfies. And I actually have a TikTok now – who would’ve thought that?!
Advertisements. I tried again this year, buutttt still failing big on this one. If anyone wants to point me toward some learning resources, I would LOVE that.
Querying agents. I had several full requests this year, but per percentage of queries I send out, my numbers are nothing to write home about. As I’ll probably end up querying two WIPs next year, I definitely want to focus on sharpening my query materials to boost my request stats next year.
Minimizing publishing expenses. Although writing is definitely more of a passion project for me than a business (thank goodness for the day job!), I definitely want to start streamlining my expenses so I can write long-term without permanently denting my wallet. Moving to small press helped immensely this year, and while I hope to publish more with small presses in the future, if I ever selfpub again, I’ll be streamlining my process to cut costs.
A brand? Right now I’ve been kind of all over the place: YA Epic Fantasy, MG Fantasy, YA Sci-fi, YA Paranormal, YA fairytale retelling, YA romance… I know one day, if I decide to really get serious, I’ll probably need to pick a lane of some nature, but right now I’m just having fun, so I’ll save that conundrum for future me.
Goals
So what can I go after? As always, I try to keep my goals measurable and attainable.
Get Time’s Orphan out into the world on February 8th, and officially complete my first series. 🎉
Launch Into the Churn on April 4th… and cross my fingers that it does well enough to write the sequel. 🤞 (p.s. If you read it and want more, don’t forget to rate, review, & spread the word on social media!)
Revise my YA Paranormal with my mentor and toss it into the query trenches
Revise my YA Romance and storm the query trenches with that one too!
Attend Storybound Fest and live to tell about it. (Did I mention I was nervous?!) 😅
And of course, write the next book. I have three outlines waiting for me, but I’m not sure which will win out here, so it’ll be exciting to see what I’m working on next.
So yeah, it’s been an incredibly fantastic writing year for me, and I’m so grateful for all the opportunities I’ve had and the people that have supported and encouraged me along the way. 💛 Here’s to more growth and adventures in 2023. As always, thanks so much for reading!
So thrilled with how much I’ve grown this year as a writer and so proud of these two books. I can’t wait to see them out into the world!
After non-figurative years of submitting to BookBub, my YA fantasy, Odriel’s Heirs got selected for a $0.99 US-only BookBub Deal in their YA category! Huzzah! 🥳 So for any other prospective BookBubbers out there, here’s the skinny on how it went.
First of All: What is a BookBuB Deal?
Basically you pay a fee (the amount differs depending on your genre), and BookBub will feature your book in their newsletter and on their website when it’s on sale. You can only apply once a month for the chance, and it’s not super easy to get accepted.
However, a cursory google search will tell you that BookBub is essentially the most successful/effective/biggest promotional newsletter used by both traditionally published and indie authors. So yeah, as an indie author floundering around on how to market my books, this was definitely something I wanted to check out. I’d gotten an international deal before and the results are here.
My strategy
Get the BookBub deal and run (i.e. I had no strategy.)
Some people try to buy a bunch of other newsletter promos at the same time to get their book higher in amazon’s rankings or on one of the bestseller lists. I did not do this. I’d done a lot of newsletter promos in the past, so I wasn’t sure it’d be worth the investment for me… also, I kind of wanted to see how BookBub did on its own.
The deal was run on 1 September, and since I did essentially no other promotions during September, the month’s results you see are basically due to BookBub. Yay for less variables!
I will add that I kept my books $0.99 all month on Amazon, and on the other retailers I track through Draft-to-Digital, all my books other than Odriel’s Heirs were free (and now they’re all free.) Likewise, my paperbacks are all $8.01 or less. I do this because my main goal in self-publishing is exposure, not profit, but your goals and strategy may be different!
Also, just as a head’s up. Odriel’s Heirs is the first of a series with three sequels available and one up for preorder. My other book, The Gatekeeper of Pericael, (a middle-grade fantasy) is not related.
GIVE me the numbers!
Cost: $202
Draft to Digital September Earnings: $31.28 54 x Odriel’s Heirs (0.99) 12 x Burning Shadows (free) 13 x Idriel’s Children (free) 3 x The Gatekeeper of Pericael (free)
Amazon September Earnings: $143.67 286 x Odriel’s Heirs (0.99) 2 x Burning Shadows (0.99) 84 x Idriel’s Children (0.99) 6 x Night of Ash (0.99)
Amazon Preorder Increase: $30.80 11 x Time’s Orphan (3.99)
Audible September Earnings: ~$10.00 2 x Odriel’s Heirs 2 x Idriel’s Children 1 x The Gatekeeper of Pericael
Units sold in September: 476 Total Earned in September: $215.75 Profit: $13.75
(For reference, I sold 12 books in August on Amazon, so yeah, this was a 40x increase for this small potatoes writer.)
Ratings Increase: 3-4ish on both Goodreads and Amazon. (Hoping these will trickle in longterm)
BookBub Followers: +30 (ish)
Highest Amazon Rank Hit: I actually don’t know because I was mostly out of cell service for this day, and I didn’t even screenshot what I saw. So on brand. 😅
Goodreads Difference:
So, was it worth it?
For me, it was obviously worth it. I only made a few bucks, but I gained hundreds of potential readers, and absolutely achieved my goal of increased exposure.
However, it was pretty close, so if I hadn’t had sequels and multiple books, I wouldn’t have broken even. Also, please keep in mind, BookBub results will definitely be different for every book in every genre, so this is just my experience.
But basically if you want to invest in exposure, I’d definitely give a shot! (And I will definitely be applying again for my future books.)
Bonus round: How to increase your chances of getting a bookbub deal
This is tough, because they don’t tell you why they select your book, but here is the list of criteria that they officially publish. Everything else is just my speculation.
Reviews: Both on Amazon & Goodreads that will reassure readers that people have enjoyed your book. I had over 100 on Amazon and 150+ on Goodreads. (How do you get reviews… well that’d need a different post, but I’d start with the ARC reading sites here.)
An Awesome Cover: My new covers are by Fay Lane, and they look sharp. But I also have another post here on some other cover artists I’ve been impressed with that might not break the bank completely.
Awards: Odriel’s Heir was the winner of the 2020 Florida Indie Author Project (which is free to enter and I highly recommend) and a finalist in the 2021 Book Blogger Novel of the Year Award (which is $20 to enter and I also highly recommend). That’s stated both on my the book page itself, and I put it in the comments of my BookBub application.
Heavy Discounts: For exposure purposes, I usually try to keep my books as cheap as possible… but for BookBub, I kept Odriel’s Heirs at 2.99 so I could discount it significantly for the deal. When I go for my next deal, I will probably make it 3.99 to increase my chances further.
Going Wide: I’ve heard this significantly increases your chances, so this is actually why I went wide with my books. Draft-to-Digital made the process seamless, but also has some drawbacks. That’ll need another post though.
Perseverance: I got rejected many, many, many times before finally getting accepted. It totally depends on who else is applying at the same time as well as the other factors. And it doesn’t cost anything to apply every month, so definitely give it a shot, and keep trying!
That’s all I can think of for now, but if you have more questions, definitely let me know!
We pause the usual book reviews, for a writing update! It seems like there’s a lot going on lately, so here’s the quick scoop on my upcoming releases and works-in-progress (WIPs)!
The Biggest News:
🥳🥳🥳 I SIGNED MY FIRST BOOK DEAL! 🥳🥳🥳
I’m so thrilled to announce first young adult science fiction is coming to Whimsical Publishing in Summer (ish) 2023! If you’re interested in updates, definitely keep an eye on my Instagram and Twitter for more developments!
Writing Contest News:
In the NYC Microfiction Challenge, I made it to the final round! 🥳 Winners will be announced in September, and I’ll be sure to post my final entry and feedback here!
I submitted Odriel’s Heirs in the Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off! This contest is still in the early stages, but I’m excited to see the review of Odriel’s Heirs from Booknest.
I submitted The Gatekeeper of Pericael in the Book Blogger Novel of the Year Contest, and it made it into the semifinals! 🥳 Finalists are announced in September, but the competition is crazy steep this year, so my fingers are crossed tight!
What’s going on with Codename: CNDRLA?
I know this WIP is a favorite of many of my Betas and CPs, and it probably seems like it’s been in the query trenches forever! And yes, reader, it does feel that way sometimes! But, seriously it’s a good thing! I still have a handful of full requests I’m waiting to hear back on from agents and publishers. The process just takes a really long time! I’m hoping I’ll have an update by the end of the year, but we’ll just have to wait and see. 😊
When’s the last book of the Odriel’s Heirs series coming out?
Time’s Orphan (Odriel’s Heirs #3) is with my Critique Partners for revision this month, and I’m hoping to release ARCs this Fall for a February release. If that seems too far away, you can check out Night of Ash (Odriel’s Heirs #2.5) in the meantime! Night of Ash is the follow-on sequel novella to Idriel’s Children, and ARCs are available now before the 27 Sep release. If you’d like one, just give a shout.
Also, I’m in the process of creating paperback versions of Burning Shadows and Night of Ash, so if you’re interested in having the whole series on your shelf, you can! I’m hoping the paperback versions should be ready in time for Night of Ash’s release.
That’s all I’ve got for now, but if you have any questions, please feel free to comment below! As always, thanks for reading!
So, in my last post, I talked about the numbers. But of course, the year is more than just numbers! Now, I want to talk about the highlights! New things I tried. Things I learned. Things I’d do again, and things I won’t. Mostly this review is a reminder for me on how to improve for next year, but hopefully others might find it useful as well.
New things I tried!
This weird writing/reading blog I’ve got going on! Since I often reach out to book-bloggers with review requests before I publish, I figured I should also open for review requests and try to give back to the writing community a little bit. This year, I reviewed 78 books! And honestly, thinking critically about what I enjoy and don’t enjoy in stories has been a great help to my own writing. Overall, it’s been fun and it’s a great way to support other writers and also get myself out there. So I think I’ll continue into 2022.
The NYC midnight challenge! This year I tried the 250 word, 100 word, and short story NYC midnight challenge. The short story one was a little more of a commitment than I think I wanted, but I made it to the final round of the 100 word challenge 🥳, and I’ve really enjoyed the feedback from all the contests. (You can see my feedback here) Will definitely continue the 100 & 250 word contests in 2022.
I also entered Odriel’s Heirs in the Book Blogger’s Novel of the Year Award, and it came in 5th! 🥳 The blog highlights they do as part of this contest are really cool and I would totally enter again in 2022.
The Page Turner awards! So, this one was a little bit of a lark. The more MS’s you submit, the cheaper the entry fee for each is, and I was able to submit five! Idriel’s Children and The Gatekeeper of Pericael were both finalists for the book award (full disclosure… there were a *ton* of finalists). And Codename: CNDRLA made the longlist for the writing award! 🥳 No luck for Odriel’s Heirs or The Belethea Race Royale (entered in the writing mentorship award), but I got a cool little finalist badge for Gatekeeper & Idriel’s. Still, it’s pretty light on the perks so I’d probably pass on this contest in the future.
The badge is cute though!
Realizations
Although I love Burning Shadows and Idriel’s Children. After I finish the Odriel’s Heirs series, I will not be self-publishing any other sequels. I missed the prospect of querying (I know, weird right?!), and even though Idriel’s is a stand-alone, I found the sequel harder to market.
On a similar note, I don’t plan to write any more middle grade. Although I love writing for younger readers, getting a self-pubbed book into an actual middle-grader’s hands is super tough! And there aren’t as many book bloggers that are into middle grade. So YA all the way!
In 2020 I definitely rushed through the querying process for Gatekeeper. This year, I’ve gotten better at juggling multiple projects and realized just how silly that was. I started querying CNDRLA in November 2020. Currently, CNDRLA has three full requests out, and querytracker is telling me one of them will probably take until June to (let’s be real) get rejected.😂 Last year I probably would’ve been antsy… this year, it’s happily on the backburner as I work on other stuff.
I need one or two reliable SFF beta reading services in my life. I love beta read-swapping, but I have a terrible habit of taking on too much and gobbling up a lot of my time. So, I’m currently in the process of finding some affordable go-to’s. When I find them, I’ll let you know, but if you have any recommendations, I’d love to hear them!
Social Media! Can be a great way to market your books… and it can also be time-consuming and draining. At one point, I got so caught up in doing daily prompts on Twitter and Instagram, it was taking up a lot of my time, and also piling on a lot of needless self-pressure. So this year, I realized I could give myself permission to step back from social media a little bit. Sure, my engagement’s not as good as it was, and I’m sure I’m missing out on marketing opportunities… but honestly I’m much happier when I don’t feel like I have to post, and it gives me extra time to focus on my WIPs!
refining the process!
This year, I made some huge strides in figuring out what my writing process is, and how to juggle multiple projects at once.
I now have go-to CPs (shout out to Caleb & Kayleigh!), an editor (MK editing – **11 Jul 2025 Update: No longer recommended due to undisclosed use of AI**) and a cover artist (100 covers.) I know where to go for ARC readers (Book Sirens), and I also know that audiobooks are totally not profitable for me 😅 (but they’re so amazing that I probably still won’t be able to stop myself.) Also, the Microsoft Word read-aloud function is a proofreading miracle!
I’m still searching for go-to Beta services, but with the process nailed down, it takes a lot of guesswork out, so I can focus on other things.
Still working on it
Getting a BookBub deal for Odriel’s Heirs. UGH! One of these days!!!
Querying! I will probably forever be working on this. But Codename: CNDRLA got the most full requests of all my works so far, so I feel like I might be getting better at it.
Marketing! This one is still super tough for me… but I’ve kind of made peace with it. I’m much happier spending less time on social media and more time writing, even if it means less sales. I’m also still trying to figure out which ebook newsletter promo’s work best too, so maybe I’ll try to be more methodical about it in 2022. I do think it works better to do 1 or 2 at a time and stretch them out rather than concentrating them all at once.
Also, I took the jump and went wide this year with Draft2Digital! That decision probably deserves its own post. But I think with future books I’ll stick with the Amazon/KDP situation… mostly because it’s easier to give away free books. 😅
wrapping up the year
So, I learned a TON this year! …And I still have a lot to work on… 😅 But there are couple things I’m super pumped about for 2022.
Codename: CNDRLA has gotten the most requests of any of my works so far, and I can’t wait to get it out there!
The Belethea Race Royale (working title) is my first sci-fi, my first dual POV, and my strongest side of romance yet. I’m so excited to query in 2022! Now… if only I could come up with a better title…🤔
2022 will be the year I finish my first trilogy. And although I’m sure I’ll be a little sad to close the book on Okarria and Odriel’s Heirs, the epic conclusion is going to be so much fun to write!
That’s all I got for this year. As always, if you have any questions, suggestions, or recommendations please feel free to reach out! It’s been a blast, and I’ll see you all in 2022! 🥳
Hayley Reese Chow 