Jennifer Lyon
Monday, February 8th, 2016
Monday!

 

I’m taking a break from Business Monday today. We had three weeks of Creating a Business Plan, so I figure you all could use a break :-)  Plus I’m worn out from the Epic Book Battle I’m waging with Savaged Vows. And I’m reading a slew of books for a contest.

One fun note, we went to CPA Boys and Special K’s Saturday night with all the family and had so much fun! We all brought wines from our trip to Paso Robles to taste, Special K made a delicious dinner, and we played with the dogs (they have three!). At one point, I was sitting at the table discussing the movie Fifty Shades of Grey with my adult sons, and I thought…Wait, is this weird to be talking about with my sons? But you know, it really wasn’t. Although I still think Wizard had the best review of that movie ever. It’s here if you want to see it.

Then I came home and refused to even look to my book. Savaged Vows is going a lot like Caged Magic and The Plus One Chronicles. The story is developing in ways that make me uncomfortable and I keep trying to pull back. These books are hitting my emotional triggers and I start writing scenes trying to get around it and avoid it. Then I feel the book dragging, delete those scenes and it’s an ugly cycle. But of course, I didn’t realize what I was doing until last night. I was doing dishes and thinking about why I was going round and round, when it hit me:  My heroine has two issues I dealt with. It’s too close to home, I’ve known the fear of abandonment she feels, the need to be good/perfect so people will love you, and that compulsive need to be in control. In short, this story is hitting my Emotional Triggers.

We all have emotional triggers. But for writers, if they write books that dig into those emotional triggers, and let themselves feel it enough to bleed emotionally and honestly on the page, that creates a stronger book that readers really connect with. At least, that’s my hope. Knowing this doesn’t make writing it any easier but that’s okay. I makes me understand why I love the characters so much that I keep trying :-)

So enough of all that. I have two things for you guys: Is there anything you’d like to hear about for Business Mondays and how was your weekend?

 

Friday, February 5th, 2016
Happy Friday!

Well…it’s Friday and that’s good news. Otherwise, I have a sinus headache that won’t let up (not serious, I get these once in a while) and we’re trying to tackle buying health insurance. But let’s talk about something much more fun.

Do you all know what this weekend is? Do you?

It’s the PUPPY BOWL!!!

Okay yeah, there’s that other little football game happening too this weekend:-)

But today I thought we’d do our own version of the Puppy Bowl. So here are your three candidates for Cutest Puppy In A Bowl:

puppies chihuahua in bowl in front of white background

So who is your pick? The blue bowl puppy, green bowl puppy or pink bowl puppy?

Hope you have a great weekend!!!

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2016
Wednesday Worthy

I registered for the RWA Conference in San Diego and I’m excited about that. I am NOT excited about the hotel bill, though. Sheesh. Everytime I book a conference, I’m stunned at the cost of the hotel. But this year, Wizard swears he’ll go with me…we shall see :-)

And speaking of Wizard, we were in the grocery store yesterday morning. They all know us there. Well they’ve known me for years, and are now getting very accustomed to Wizard. The produce guy has figured out that Wizard is…shall we say…selective (and by selective, I mean PICKY!). So the produce guy tells me the asparagus is really good.

Wizard made a gagging sound. And there may have been begging, as in “No asparagus, Witch, please!” He’s begging because I will get him to eat it and he knows it :-)  I happily bought the asparagus :-) :-)

The produce guy laughed, but he must have felt sorry for Wizard and wanted to help him, so he asked Wizard, “What vegetables do you like?”

Wizard didn’t miss a beat. “Popcorn.” Then he went on to describe all the way he liked popcorn.

Produce guy cracked up.

Later, I realized Wizard was missing and found him with Produce Guy who had opened a banana and was teaching Wizard how to add chocolate and bake the banana to make a dessert.  Wizard bought the chocolate to try it.

All this is happening right there among the lonely vegetables. Produce guy was supposed to steer Wizard to vegetables, NOT desserts!

Men.

And speaking of men, it’s time for our Worthy candidate. So I had this picture in color already, and I was *meh* about it. Then I found it in black and white, and I like it better. It reminds me a little bit of Linc from Caged Magic. But what I think isn’t important, it’s all about what YOU think!

 

Sexy fashion portrait of a hot male model with muscular body posing in studio looking at camera.

So is he worthy?

 

Monday, February 1st, 2016
Creating A Business Plan: Part Three of Three

Welcome to Part 3 of Creating A Business Plan! Here are the 3 sections, including the link to Part 1 & 2:

Part 1 Intro and Reviewing 2015 (Post Date 1/18/16)

Part 2 Goals for 2016 (Post Date 1/25/16)

Part 3 How I developed my project maps (Post Date 2/1/16)

Okay we’ve reviewed last year and set out goals for this year. Now it’s time to create a project map for each of your big goals. A project map is exactly what it sounds like, creating a map of how to achieve our goals. And achieving our goals makes us successful. In short:

A Project Map Is A Roadmap To Success.

One key point: The best project maps are adaptable to the changing circumstances of your business. I will happily admit right up front that I’m stretching my limits by trying to write four books in one year. Two books and one novella is probably more realistic. But I’m pushing myself and having Project Maps gives me a clear idea of exactly what I need to do to hit my four-book goal. Let’s get started:

1) Choose what medium you want to us to create your map. The book I read, Your Best Year (2016 edition) by Lisa Jacobs, recommended a giant 16×20 sheet of drawing paper for each project. The advantage is you can hang it in your workspace so it’s always in view as you work on the project.

That didn’t work for me. First I hate mistakes, so all the crossing off, and writing over would create a mess that would give me a headache. Second, I don’t want it hanging in view as my office is in the open.

I chose to create project maps in word documents. This does two things for me: 1) I have it attached to my business plan so it’s all one document. This gives me a good overview of what I’m doing for the year, and if I need to re-evaluate and adapt my plan or goals, it’s all right there. 2) I print the individual project map and put it in my working folder with my outline, timeline, character sketches etc.

2) Label one map for each project. Here are mine:

a) Savaged Vow, Book 1 in Savaged Illusions Series (Project #1)

b) Novella, Ethan and Ana’s Story (Project #2)

c) Savaged 2, Book 2 in Savaged Illusions Series (Project #3)

d)) Primal Magic, Book 6 in Wing Slayer Hunter Series (Project #4)

3) Calendar your projects. This is where I figure out the order in which I will tackle the projects, and assign them a time frame to work on. So for Savaged Vows, the first book I’m writing, I assigned January through March, and so on as you can see here:

PROJECT MAP #1

Jan – March

Savaged Vows: Book 1 of Savaged Illusions Series

PROJECT MAP #2

April – May

Novella (Ethan and Ana’s Story)

PROJECT MAP #3

June – August

Savaged #2: Book 2 of Savaged Illusions Series

PROJECT MAP #4

Sept – Dec

Primal Magic, Book #6 of Wing Slayer Hunter Series

 

4) Then create your headings and break the projects down into tasks. Here is one of my project maps to give you an idea. My notes for the purposes of this blog are in red.

 

PROJECT MAP #1

Jan – March

Savaged Vows: Book 1 of Savaged Illusions Series

 

Schedule

2/5    1st Draft Finished

1/21  Cover Designed

2/29 Deliver to Editor, first round

Write Blurb

Revise

2nd round to editor

Send to Proofreader

Send to Formatter

Sent up preorders?

Publish on all Vendors

I will add things to the schedule as I know them, including dates. Checkmarks in red (√) mean the task has been completed.

Tasks:

I break the tasks down into months as you see below. Note the crossed off “Final decision required” under Feb. I’ve decided to hold off on that decision, and just crossed it off. I didn’t delete it as I will need a decision at some point. 

Tasks for January:

  1. Outline Book
  2. Write 1st draft (begun in Dec. 2015)
  3. Schedule Editing for SV
  4. Cover Concept to Brand Series
  5. Schedule Cover Design/Approve
  6. Send first third to half of book to Beta Reader (MD)
  7. Revise again and draft out second half.
  8. Contact Publicist

Tasks for February:

  1. REVIEW: Will SV will be one book or two. Final decision required.
  2. Firm up delivery date for SV with editor (Sasha)
  3. 1st draft done by February 15th
  4. Review if Pre-order should be set up for SV.
  5. Revise draft into finished for Editor.
  6. Send to Sash by Feb. 29th. (Likely will change to March)
  7. Write SV Blurb
  8. Pull out clips for marketing
  9. Gather stock photos for marketing.
  • Give to assistant to create promo material
  • Begin outline for Project #2 (Ethan’s novella)
  • Begin Marketing Plan for SV Release April 4th.
  • Consider Book Trailer
  • Schedule proofreading (best guest estimate)
  • Touch base with formatter (best guess estimate)

Tasks for March

  1. Revise SV
  2. Deliver revision.
  3. Any down time work on outline for Project #2
  4. More down time, begin writing on Project #2
  5. Send book to proofreader
  6. Revise to final version
  7. Send book to formatter
  8. Set up on Netgalley.

Project Obstacles & Setbacks:

  • Still not sure if I can get all this in one book, or will need to break it into two books. Will decide after book is written, and consulting with editor.
  • Slow writing.

This section is for all the problems, the things that slow you down, or get in your way. I’ve been struggling with two things:

  1. Is this too much story for one book? If so, then I know I need to make sure I write this so it’s back-to-back releases, which will then mean shuffling the order of my goals and project maps.  My big struggle is I want it to be one book, but the most important thing is telling the story as it needs to be told. 
  2. And I’m a slow writer — which isn’t exactly accurate. I write fast enough, but I follow a lot of plot threads that just don’t work and I end up deleting them. For example, I deleted about 40 pages this weekend that I don’t think are the best scenes for this story. I labeled that as Slow Writing because *I* know what it means.  That’s my obstacle, but I absolutely refuse to sacrifice any story quality to achieve my goal. 

Remember, a Project Map is to help you achieve your goal NOT to stifle creativity. 

Pricing Strategy

  1. Release one full book at $3.99 or $4.99 **or**
  2. Release book one and book two of SV at $2.99 each.
  3. Drop first book in series to .99cents for special promo when second book is release.
  4. In 2017 when book three is released, then do a free 1st in series.

I wanted this in here because things are always changing in the market, and if I notice a stronger pricing strategy before I publish, I’ll put it here to review for when I’m ready to publish. 

Marketing Strategies:

  1. Consult with Publicist
  2. Devise strategy, consult with assistant and assign tasks
  3. Street Team/Reader Group
  4. Netgalley for reviews
  5. FB Ads
  6. FB Share/Giveaways
  7. Marie Force’s New Release FB page
  8. Bargain Booksy, Fussy Librarian, Robin Reads, Ereader News Today(ENT)
  9. Contact Reps for iBooks, Kobo, and blind contact for Amazon

I’ll have a much stronger strategy soon. But for right now, this give me a space to put ideas that I come across. 

 

This is not complete and that’s okay. I’ll fill it in as I go along throughout the year, making any changes or adjustments that come up. I’ve done this for each of my book-goals. What I love about this method is it’s flexible. I can move the final book to 2017, or write an additional book. If any big issues come up during the year—I have what I need in one place to evaluate, adapt and stay on the road to building my writing career.

And that’s my business plan in three sections. If you have questions, please ask and I’ll do my best to answer.

Wishing you all a successful 2016!

Friday, January 29th, 2016
Happy Friday

Okay it’s official, I feel like I’m trapped in Groundhog Day. You know that movie where Bill Murray lives the same day over and over? I’m living the same 200 pages of my manuscript over and over.  And yet I can’t move on,  I’ve tried!

But the good news it’s the weekend! Yay! Sunday I’m meeting  a friend for lunch, and I’m so looking forward to that. Otherwise, I’m going to keep working these scenes until I get the story lined up to go forward.

What are you weekend plans? Whatever you’re doing, I hope you have a great weekend!

Wednesday, January 27th, 2016
Wednesday Worthy

I found a blond!! Most of the candidates who apply for Wednesday Worthy have darker hair. But I did it, I found a blond candidate! Sure I had to sit through hours and hours of auditions (totally lying, I actually look at stock sites where I can buy rights to pictures, but that sounds pretty boring), but you all know I’d do anything for you guys.

Now whether he’s worthy or not is you all to decide :-)

Handsome, muscular young man shirtless leaning against tiled wall, looking at camera

So time to vote. Is he worthy, aye or nay?

Monday, January 25th, 2016
Creating A Business Plan; Part Two of Three

Welcome to Part 2 of Creating A Business Plan! Here are the 3 sections, including the link to Part 1:

Part 1 Intro and Reviewing 2015 (Post Date 1/18/16)

Part 2  Goals for 2016 (Post Date 1/25/16)

Part 3 How I developed my project maps (Post Date 2/1/16)

Before we get into the Goals for 2016, I’d like to share why I decided to create a business plan.  About half way through last year, I received the rights back on my Wing Slayer Hunters books from Random House. While this is great news (thank you Random House!) it also created a huge dilemma for me. Did I go ahead with my new series I wanted to write, or invest the time and money to re-release the Wing Slayer Hunter Series? I had to choose as I couldn’t do both in 2015. As I struggled to make this decision, I realized I didn’t have a real road map of my plan for the year, or my long range goals.

In order to make the decision, I laid out a plan for the remainer of 2015, beginning with a long term goal. Ultimately, I decided I want to try to write both a paranormal and contemporary series, and therefore chose to re-release the Wing Slayer Hunter Series in 2015, and launch the new contemporary series in 2016. Then I’ll write both series at least until I finish them. That ambitious of a plan meant I had to get very serious about time management and focus. With that in mind, I decided to create a business plan for 2016. **Note that in 2015 I also began diligently tracking my sales by book, month and vendor which has been tremendously helpful in evaluating my goals.**

So my business plan will:

-Set ambitious goals.

-Create the content to meet those goals.

-Create marketing strategies to increase sales.

-Keep control of the tasks by breaking them down into project maps.

-Gives me a clear overview of my goals and tasks so that when I’m faced with new circumstances (like getting rights back from a publisher, or an unexpected offer) I have the information at hand to help me evaluate, change and adapt my plans.

So now here is my 2016 Goals with my comments added for the purposes of this blog in red.

GOALS for 2016

Section A: Financial:

1) Increase 2015 Income by 25%

  • 2015 had a projected but significant drop from 2014. Met 2015 goal but did not exceed it.
  • E-books are nearly 85% of income in 2015, so major focus will be e-books.
  • Print books were only 1.3% with very solid potential to increase sales there.

Note that having a spread sheet that breaks down the sales for each book by month and vendor, gives me a clear view of where my income sources are coming from. However I did not post those spreadsheets here.

2) Strategy:

  • Write/Release 3 full books, one novella (some of that income will rollover into 2017) This is KEY, I must have the content to sell to achieve my goals.
  • Continue with free 1st in series pricing strategy for Plus One Chronicles and WSH (Wing Slayer Hunter) series.
  • Marketing to re-energize Plus One Chronicles around release of Ethan’s novella. That will bring limited income to go toward 25% increase.
  • Big push on WSHs on release of Eli’s book, Primal Magic.
  • Marketing campaign for Rock Star book. Talk to (Name of publicist removed)
  • Make sure books are all in print at release, using Create Space and check out more options. (Ingram Spark and others).
  • Do a Goodreads Giveaway with print.

Goals are awesome, but strategy is where we being to lay out the plan to get from the dream to reality.

Section B: Writing Books/Novellas:

1) Savaged Vow, Book 1 in Savaged Illusions Series (Project #1)

2) Savaged 2, Book 2 in Savaged Illusions Series (Project #3)

3) Savaged Novella, Ethan and Ana’s Novella (Project #2)

4)) Primal Magic, Book 6 in Wing Slayer Hunter Series (Project #4)

Because this is the creating content, I gave it it’s own section. Project Maps (noted in the parenthesis) is where I break each book down to tasks, and “calendar” it. You’ll see that my Projects #s are not listed in order. That’s because I’m going to write them in a different order than I release them. Why? Because Project #2 is a novella that I contracted with 1001 Dark Nights. Since I’m absolutely committed, know what I need to do, and it’s shorter and faster to write, I will tackle that before I move onto the two bigger books. This works better in my schedule.  However I can change around order anytime I need to.

Section C: Social Media:

I gave social media it’s own section in Goals because this is the number one way I connect with readers and therefore very important to me. I am always looking for ways to improve that connection, and frankly to give back to the readers who support me. But I must also manage my time. So I’m listing it here, and I’ll tackle each one as I have time, or in some cases, give it to my assistant to handle. 

1) Street Team

  • Revise to Reader Group.
  • Devise questions and prizes

2) Newsletter—increase by 50%

  • Monthly newsletter begin in Feb.
  • Contests

3) Blog; Add Business Mondays with more content by me and guests.

  • Industry Guests
  1. I removed a list of names I have to ask if they’d like to guest blog on the industry for privacy reasons.
  • Author Guests
  1. I removed a list of names I have to ask if they’d like to guest blog for privacy reasons.
  • Craft Topics (by me or others)
  1. Burnout (writing a book I knew had no chance.
  2. Internal Conflict
  3. External Conflict (Do a series of blogs on internet/external/building stakes, black moment/resolution
  4. Character Flaws
  5. Humor vs Emotional
  6. Best Friend Characters (good and bad)
  7. Antagonists
  8. Definite your storytelling theme (the one thing that repeats itself over and over in your stories
  9. Tropes: How to use them to plan, write and promote your books.

4) Facebook

  • Get fan page authorized
  • Promo 1001 Dark Nights and friends.
  • Run Ads

5) Twitter

  • Learn to advertise.

6) Instagram

7) Pinterest

  • Interests: books, food, desserts.

Section D: Marketing Plan for Releases:

There is not much here yet, but I will fill it in once I make some final decisions on releases. 

Section E: Growing Skillset

1) Develop Workshops

  • Internet/External Conflict
  • Emotion
  • Tropes
  • Developing a Business Plan

This is one of my long term goals actually, to grow, learn AND to share my knowledge.

Section F: Other Streams of Revenue

1) Foreign Markets

  • Pitch WSH series to German market
  • Pitch SI series
  • Explore new options

It’s always wise to be looking at expanding our streams of revenue. The market can change fast, and sometime brutally, and the best way to be as prepared as possible is not NOT have all our eggs (or income) in one basket. 

Link to Part Three: How I created a project map for each book or novella.

JenniferLyon.com