Transcript 

Good morning.  here we are in a new part of the forest. And today the countdown has started. We are exactly one month from our big hike and it’s getting real now. I’m getting excited about it.  I wanted to show you me new purchases I made.  I have a new hat because this hat, the one I had, I lost it in Spain.

And this has a bit of a creek. And we’re having a truck coming up here.  Up the Creek indeed.!

hi officially, it’s Susan Jagannath and we are off on our walk today. Back on the walk. We missed it on two days because Sunday we don’t walk. And Monday, yesterday, I had to go to a friend’s mother’s funeral.  that was a journey of a different type, isn’t it? Memento mori we will all die. But before that, we can get some walks in., here we are.

A new Cap and more

And as I was saying, I’ll show you my new cap. I have new hiking pants with lots of pockets! We are walking off on a new path. Now, this is a forest where we’ve done a couple of the tracks quite often, but we’ve branched off to a new trail.

Up the Creek

And there were me nice areas which I wanted to show you, but there was too much of noise. It’s actually next to the road,  there was the noise of traffic. And as you saw  now, the rangers truck came along.  this is the path which we had planned to take.

We keep looking at the maps on the way. We take a picture of the map and we take it. But we saw this path. What’s that? Of course.

Easy Street

This is Easy Street.  no horses, people are allowed to walk. It’s an easy walk. You can take your bike.  How about we take easy street?

I’m taking easy street. Is that okay with you? Okay,  we are walking off on Easy Street. And I’ve discovered when I’m walking with my trekking poles, my Fitbit counts only every second step.  there I am, walking, walking a whole lot of kilometres.I know the kilometres by  looking at the signs and by my legs, but the Fitbit shows only half the amount. And I think, seriously, I’ve only walked 1000 steps in the last four kilometres unless I’ve been levitating. That’s not true.  what I think is happening is when I have my trekking pole, it’s probably counting only that step. And each time the trekking pole touches the ground, you take two steps. And  I think it’s counting that as one step. To experiment I carried the trekking pole it and then my steps went up to more like the right one, because there’s no way I’ve done four kilometres with  500 steps, very big steps, and that’s not possible.

I was hoping for me Kookaburras to share with you. They were laughing. And the Kookaburras are bad. The minute they see you take out your camera, they go all silent and coy, but you can hear the breeze here.

The Significance of Today

Today – is we have exactly one month before we take off and I would like to invite you to come and join me on this trip. Virtually, I’m going to set up a Facebook group or a community, and I’m going to be putting everything in that.  when I’m actually hiking, you can join in and you can be the first to see what we’re doing. Because, you know, for me to write a new book, I need to do a new hike.  there are people who write business books and, yeah, they have it all in their brilliant heads and they  have to get it out and write the book.

But for me, before I write a new book, I must go and travel and hike. And this time we are doing a 230-kilometre hike. And what’s exciting is I’m doing it with friends.  that is really aweme. A whole group of us are meeting up and then we are going together.

 that is good because we haven’t met each other in years and we love to hike. If you’ve read my other books, if you’ve read Valley of Flowers, you’ll meet the usual suspects there and who walk with us., yes, we do like to hike and meet new people, but it comes a stage in your life when you want to spend time with those who you really know and love. And this is what’s great about this hike, is that we meet new people, but in the evenings and on the way, we work with people who we have for years.  look at that.

Okay, really should have my trekking poles here, but I take you on this live.

Maybe what I need to do is I need to find my selfie stick and put it up there. We did think of getting a drone. One of us buy a small drone camera, but I don’t know, it’s kind of expensive to get a nice one. And here’s the creek with all the fallen logs.

As I was saying, when I want to write a new hiking book, well, I must go and hike. Don’t I expect a new hiking book out. It’s due in 2023. But this is the right time to start it.  I’m walking it now, and the book will pretty much be planned and finished by early 2023.

But the time to start planning is now, you can come and join me, see what I’m doing and see how the book is going. And maybe you can al start your own book and use my plans and templates and everything.  I’ll be talking about that a little more a bit later. But I thought I’d share it with you here, because my life is walk right repeat. And in me cases it may be Walk. Write. Wine..

Repeat. When I say wine, I mean wine, not whining.

Listen to the birds.

This is Easy Street. We’ve had a few climbs but look at this one. It’s easy, but we are heading back. This escarpment is kind of a bit of bushland, which is being protected, but it does have a busy road running through it or at the side of it, too busy road.  quite often you can hear the roads.

Okay, now Easy Street is becoming not  easy. But if anyone is watching it, tell me if it’s clear, because when I download the video to get captions onto it, it looks all blurry. I’m not sure how good it is. I’m using my phone camera. I shouldn’t complain, I guess, but it is an iPhone camera, which promises all things.

Here is a lovely green valley.  this is a creek, probably. It’s dry now, but there’s probably water underground. And it’s quite different because a lot of this forest is very dark.  There’s Keith carrying the water.

 we are both walking together always. And this time he’s at the back. He’s not doing the Indian husband walking in front thing because I’m doing the Facebook Live.

if you like my hat, let me know. If you like the hat.

Right, got the hat. It’s going to give me cover. This thing will come down. But I think I will all need a beanie or mething because it’s going to be cold when I’m going for a winter walk. I haven’t let you know where I’m going yet.

Can you guess? Okay, I will stop now. Thanks for watching. And countdown. 30 days before we go, every day there will be a walk and there’ll be a page or a plan for the book.

Transcript and More

What Dows a Wallum Froglets have to do with a new book?

Hi and good morning. Here we are, Keith and me, on a newish trail. We haven’t done this exact bit of the trail, but today we are also trying for ten kilometres. So this is the Wallum Froglet trail and we’re going to try and do a complete circuit of this little little patch of bush, which we found here. Okay, so I’ll let you see the track.

Let’s start.

We’ve already heard a cacophony of kookaburras. We’ve heard the whip of the lyre bird and the chittering of a lot of birds. 

“Lost your Bikes?”

We’ve done nearly four kilometres. And by the time we’ve finished it should be nearly 10km. There are a lot of cyclists on this trail. So we have been hopping on and off, teetering on the edge of precipices. We met some who asked us if we had lost our bikes.. a subtle hint that this track is for cyclists only? It’s not really, the signage is for walkers and cyclists.

But it’s a nice cool morning, but it’s kind of becoming humid suddenly. We actually got our rain gear. We’ve got the rain gear for our long hike next month. It’s a good time to check it out, not to buy extra stuff and just take what we have.

They are cyclists ahead and can possibly see them there resting. So they take these little trails and can hear them. So they have cyclists of all shapes and sizes here.

I might finish here and pick up later. We come in others. Here we are with another.

Are we on the right track?

Do we want to go to West mount Cotton or do we want to go to Wallum Froglet? I think we need to follow  Wallum Froglet  through a complete day.

Even though this is a narrow path, I can see from the tracks that they have been bikes on it.

Are we on the right track?

So that’s a question we get all the time on the track, huh? Okay, so we are having a bit of an issue here. Which is the correct Wallum Froglet track? Was it that one or this one?

That track just joined back on the road, I think so I didn’t take it. Yeah, so as you can see, you have to walk a bit carefully. But yeah, I was getting onto are we on the right track?

Frequently question we ask in the forest, but it’s also a question that we ask in life. If you ask if you’re writing a book, am I on the right track?

And it’s a good time now, in the last quarter of the year, to think of these questions and make course corrections so that you reach the right place by the end of the year and not just where you daughter to or make a course correction so that in 2023 you are on the right track.

Is this a dead end? No.

So I have to walk this without my trekking poles. But you can see I do have my trekking poles with me.

Was saying, Is this the right track? Quite frankly, it doesn’t matter if it’s the right track. For us, today is a Saturday. Doesn’t matter. We don’t have a time crunch.

I do think it’s the right track. Yeah. It’s really close to us as well. So here we go.

It’s getting a bit rough.

And we are doing a bit of climbing, which we are quite happy to do, because the hike which we are doing next month has got a lot of hilly paths. Not too bad. Not as bad as the Himalayas, but quite a few hilly pots.

New Book

So this is a completely new trail, which we’re doing, and that’s like the completely new trail which I’m doing next month. I had done a couple of one of the other trails twice, but now this time we’re doing a completely new trail because obviously, I have to write a new book. Am I on the right track this year?

This year I’ve been on the right track in helping other people get to bestseller and write their books. So my coaching business has taken off.

But what it did was it stopped me writing my own books, because the amount of support which I had to give writers was just too much for me to write my own books. It wasn’t too much. I loved them. I’m so happy to see them go. Best seller.

But it kind of leaves me with little headspace. So these last three months, I’m only helping people to plan their books, not helping them to actually write and publish. That will be in January.

But you join me right now to plan your book!

Hi. So we have quite a steep path ahead, so I might stop this live. I’m also a bit out of breath. Yeah. So, yeah, I tried to get Darling online, but she couldn’t.

But that’s fine. So here we are.

Rain Gear

Here’s Keith, who is also known as my Sherpa because he’s carrying the water and the rain gear. Yeah, we got the rain gear. And guess what?

It’s not raining, is it? But that’s not the way it is for a book or a track. If you do the steps, you will reach the end. So I will finish up now. So steep trail ahead and I want to have a look at it.

But, yeah, do, like, share love, comment on this live and come back tomorrow.

 

Brainstorm and Market Your Next Book

Once the publishing process is winding down, you want to remember to keep up the momentum. Start brainstorming your next book, whether it’s a standalone or the next in a series. 

After you have the idea, tease your readers with what’s to come. You might have graphics created for it that you can publish as a sneak peek, or even gift some of your readers with the first chapter as part of a contest. 

Set Yourself Up for Bestseller Status with a Pre-Order

As soon as you have a firm date in mind for your publishing, you can set up a pre-order on Amazon and elsewhere that accepts them. Pre-orders are imperative if you hope to make any bestseller lists. 

Because the day of the launch, all of those orders are counted toward your sales for the day, even if the people have been buying your pre-order for weeks. You just have to make sure you can meet the deadline, or else you’ll have a disaster on your hands. 

Self-publishing isn’t difficult. Anyone can publish as an indie author. You just need to implement the step-by-step process of creating your author brand and finished work, marketing it and planning for future sales. 

When you are ready to publish, you know you can contact me for help, and also be sure to come back and check out the 30-day series on self-publishing your own book!

Create an Audiobook

Text isn’t the only way to sell a book that you’ve written. While many people love to sit down with a paper or hardback book, or even an eReader, some hate reading at all. They want the story, but not the task. So to appeal to these people, you want to add audiobook versions of your masterpiece to your sales platforms. Audiobooks aren’t hard to create and they add a significant amount of income to your efforts. You can narrate your book yourself, or you can hire a narrator, or you can even use AI, that is getting better and better. 

Audible for US Authors

Use Audible to help you record and polish your audiobook. Or, hire a professional narrator who can record it for you. They’ll do this for a flat fee or for a percentage of the sales.  ACX which is the program that publishes Audiobooks for Amazon, only accepts authors from the US, UK, or Canada

You can also use Findaway Voices, or AuthorRepublic if you are in Australia, or elsewhere.

Google Playbooks

You can also try the newest kid off the block – Google auto narrated books. This is brand new and free in the beta phase. If you have a book in Google Play you can try this out now.

Other AI options include Amazon’s Polly, that is more DIY – but I did use it to create a podcast from one of my books. Check it out here.

Be sure to come back for the next episode of the 30-day series on self-publishing your own book!

There are so many publishing options for authors today – that don’t include traditional publishers. Here’s a list of platforms that you can easily learn to use, and use effectively.

Understand Your Limitations and Perks in Amazon’s KDP Select

KDP Select is a program Amazon offers where you get perks for joining, but there are drawbacks, too. This is giving Amazon exclusivity to sell your book. That means it’s can’t “go wide” on all the other sites, like Barnes and Noble. It’s not a permanent process. You can choose to be in KDP Select for 90 days and then make a decision about whether or not to renew it.

Sign Up to IngramSpark and List Your Book

One place many indie authors self-publish is IngramSpark. This is a distributor, not exactly a publishing platform. But it can help you get your book seen by more readers in libraries and bookstores, too. 

Is D2D Is Right for You

D2D (Draft to Digital) is another distributor you can sign up to that will help you get your book in more than one place and they do it for 10% of your sales. In fact, it has an author dashboard where you can manage all of your platform uploads in one spot.  This is great for authors who have changes, because instead of going to each retailer’s site to alter things like prices, covers and files, you can log into your D2D dashboard and do it all at once. 

Self Publish on Smashwords

SmashWords has gained credibility among professional indie authors. Instead of just being an amateur publishing platform, many authors upload their manuscript here to get more readers. Note that D2D now owns SmashWords. It’s going to stay separate for the time being, but the way it operates may change because it’s under new management. So if you’ve used it before, watch for notifications on that. 

Apple and Google Play

Google Play and Apple are two other indie author platforms you can use for your self-publishing endeavors. You can use a Google account to upload your finished (not draft) book and cover.

For the Apple publishing system, go to the Apple Connect program and apply there. You have to enter all of your banking and tax information before getting approved. One of the great things about this platform is that you can set up pre-orders, which help with your launch day sales. 

Become a Barnes and Noble Nook Author

Everyone knows who Barnes and Noble is. You can have a book on their Nook platform easily. Just apply a few weeks before the launch of your book to give it time to go through the approval process. 

Publish on Kobo for More Sales

If you want to reach a Canadian audience, you’ll want to upload your book to KOBO, which is similar to Nook in that it has a reading device. Remember not to just upload one book, but place an entire box set in a series on here because loyal readers love to own collections. 

Be sure to come back for the next episode of the 30-day series on self-publishing your own book!

Formatting your book

Formatting doesn’t have to be a difficult process. For some, it can be confusing. One tool that makes it a super simple task is Vellum. Now this is a Mac only tool, so you may need a Mac laptop in order to use it. But if you want to have the ability to easily and quickly create flawless ePub files to upload, you’ll want this tool at your disposal. It allows you to make it look like a traditional print book with chapter images and formal fonts, too. There are also other tools like Atticus, that are cheaper and well-supported.
If this is your first book, and likely to be your only book, it’s best to outsource your formatting to the professionals. You can find formatters on Fiverr and Upwork. Or ask for recommendations from other authors or author groups,

What’s an ARC? 

ARCs (advanced reader copies) play an important role in helping spread the word about your upcoming release. You don’t want to hand out ARCs to just anybody. Ideally, your ARCs will go to people who like to give you feedback before you publish the final draft. You can use tools like StoryOrigin to send ARCs and track reviews. That way, if you have people who are only in it for the freebies, you can eliminate them from your ARC list and replace them with someone who leaves reviews and provides feedback for you.

Check – did you set up your GoodReads profile? If not, go back and do that now!

Be sure to come back for the next episode of the 30-day series on self-publishing your own book!

More about letting readers know about your book. Start learning how to do this early on in your career. While it is not imperative at the beginning, being aware of all the options helps you after you publish that book!

Get a TikTok Account and Start Creating Videos for BookTok Today

Do readers want to see Authors dancing on TikTok? Maybe not – but they do want to engage with you. You don’t need to dance – you can share ideas and books with your readers! You want to start creating BookToks on your TikTok account. There are many ways to do this. The best way to learn is to follow other authors using the hashtag #booktok or #authortok. These don’t have to be long (even 15 seconds is good) and they don’t need to be outsourced to a professional. TikTok is very laid back and authors can choose to be on camera or not. 
Authors can do these at the minimum

• Make recommendations about what books to read
• Take part in challenges
• Read book excerpts
• Use the #Booktok hashtag
• Collaborate with other authors

 

Claim Your Author Profile on GoodReads

With your GoodReads profile, you want to settle in here so that readers can leave reviews and interact with you. They’ll see all of the books connected to your profile and you can include links to your site, too. Fill out the profile and connect your books.

Then start answering some of the author questions the site has built in to help readers get to know you a bit. You’ll want to check back here periodically to engage with your readers

Check – did you set up you read about BookBub ads as yet? If not, go back and do that now!

Be sure to come back for the next episode of the 30-day series on self-publishing your own book!

You need to let readers know about your book. Start learning how to do this early on in your career.

Think about Ads with Facebook

Another form of paid ads that you need to understand are Facebook ads. These are done based on your budget, even if you have a very limited amount to spend. But you don’t want to start running ads here until you know all of the rules. The last thing you want is to get approved and start running ads, only to see your account get shut down because you violated a rule. So learn those and study how to get the most out of your ad efforts on this social media giant.

Harness the power of Amazon AMS Ads

Readers are already in buying mode on Amazon, and checking out other books in your genre, so it makes sense to advertise to them at this time. Amazon has a paid ad service called  Amazon AMS ads. These are ads right on Amazon that will strategically place your book cover in front of a targeted audience. You want your book showing up for keywords and whenever someone is looking at a similar book.

Check – did you set up you read about BookBub ads as yet? If not, go back and do that now!

Be sure to come back for the next episode of the 30-day series on self-publishing your own book!

Sign Up to Groups with Authors on the Same Journey

One thing that’s very helpful for you as an indie author is to have some sort of camaraderie where you can ask questions and get support whenever you need it. The guidance of other indie authors can be invaluable. It’s also a great way to have someone celebrate with you who knows what you’ve gone through to self-publish. There are groups on places like Facebook and you can use sites like KBoards to join other authors in self-publishing discussions.

Study the Bookbub Process So You Can Apply When Ready

Many self-published authors celebrate whenever they get approved for a Bookbub. This is a paid ad option you can apply for that’s not easy to get. But when you do get approved, you can run a sale on your book and see a huge spike in sales during your promotion and shortly after.

Check – did you set up your get your cover and blurb done as yet? If not, go back and do that now!

Be sure to come back for the next episode of the 30-day series on self-publishing your own book!

Quick Covers and Easy Blurbs

Outsource the Cover for Your Book to a Pro

Yes, People DO judge a book by its cover. Whenever someone is on Amazon and enters a genre, like cozy mystery book, they’ll see a search results page filled with your competition. If your book like a do it yourself project, while the others look professional, they’re not even going to click through on the image to see what your book is about. So while your content might be spectacular, if the cover is lacking, don’t expect to see success.

Book cover artists who work with indie authors have great skill at taking ordinary stock images and creating something amazing out of them, so don’t be afraid to work with someone who has a good profile you admire.

Here are my covers – all done by a professional, as I have no idea about how to create a cover!

Write a Blurb That Tempts People to Buy

Your blurb is a more detailed, polished account of your book than the brainstorming session you engaged in when mapping out an idea for your book. If you’ve ever been to a bookstore and picked up a book and read the back of it, you’ve seen a blurb. These blurbs should be enough to give the reader a hint about what the book is about, without spoiling the read for them.

Some indie authors make the mistake of ruining the book by giving too many details out in their blurb. If you don’t know how to write one, go read blurbs for bestselling books in your genre. You can also outsource the blurb creation process to a professional if you feel like you’re not skilled at it.

Check – did you set up your domain and establish your author brand as yet? If not, go back and do that now!

Be sure to come back for the next episode of the 30-day series on self-publishing your own book!