[rachelmedhurst]

Recently, I made a post about how I'm still earning a really low income even with 20 books out. So far, none of my series have hit. I know I've made mistakes and see them clearly. I'm about to read Write to Market by Chris Fox as well as other books in the genre I'm aiming for.

So...I'm ready to start a new series. I'm going for a Witch Urban Fantasy, using a character from my newer UF series. She's a strong side character in the series, so I'm looking forward to writing her story.

This time, I want to do it right. And, I need your help to do that. If I can't get this series to work, I'll have to go back to full time work. This feels like my last chance.

I've not started writing the series yet, but here's some details.

Titles:

Magically Bound (Book 1)
Magically Bonded (Book 2)
Magically Breakable (Book 3)

Series Name: Hunted Witch Agency

Very Rough Synopsis:
Devon is a witch who has inherited the wizard leadership role, but she’s too busy building her hunting agency. A rouge coven have declared war, naming themselves as head witches to rule all of England. The new wizard leader is a strong witch, one that has a lot invested in her coven running the London branch. Her agency is pushed to the limit to find the deserters and make them pay for destroying an ancient ritual that will no longer provide London with the power it needs.

Cover: Done by Lou Harper

I'm planning on writing the first two books before I release them around November/December time.

Can you see anything missing? Do you know of any good blurb writers I could hire to get the best description? I've never been able to maintain book 1 sales. They start really well for a couple of days, then go down. How can I prevent this?

I know some of this is luck as well as pre-planning, but I thought I'd throw it out there for your advice. I've been publishing for three years, and for once, I would love to write a series that gets some traction.

Thanks in advance!

 

[rachelmedhurst]

I don't have much to say about the plan so far but it seems strong

One thing I'd suggest doing, especially since you are calling this your last chance, is work out your benchmarks for the book based on what you consider success. Eg. within 3 months, I want to make $xxx in sales. Or even have several levels to it - below $xxx in sales, you return to full time work, etc.

Good luck with the books

Thanks, Kath, this is a good idea. I've never actually done this!

Thanks, BillyDeCarlo, I will think about the titles and ask someone who reads a lot too.

Your first series for what it is seems fine and it looks like there is minor success there; so this would suggest you at least have the potential to succeed in the future. The change in length for the final two books as a buyer raises minor questions such as a tired writer but no big deal.

Currently your idea for your "final chance" writing to market doesn't shout wow cool story yet for me, although the current titles with lou harper covers should grab the markets attention at least.

Good Luck!

Thanks for your reply, firstdraft, the last two books in the first series are still the same length, not sure why they're showing as less pages. Every single book is 50k words.

I'm working on the story concept, so will take this into consideration. I need that wow factor!

I'm not published yet, so massive bags of salt required.

Firstly, wanted to wish you luck.

As well as Chris Fox's books / videos, which are great, have you checked out Nicolas Erik's threads here and his website? I find his posts really helpful.

Thank you, Vanessa, I do have a fairly large mailing list which I'm going to try and engage as much as possible leading up to the release in order to gain reviews and sales. I will also check out Nicolas' threads too!

I wish you all the best with this. It sounds like you've really thought it through and paid attention to every detail.

Just one thought here about looking at this as your last chance. For me, the chapter of Write to Market that really hit home was the one where he talked about identifying your current tier and figuring out where to set a realistic goal. Is it achievable, or are you dooming yourself by trying too jump two or three tiers at once?

This is a very good point, LadyG, I'm literally reading that book now, so I'll watch out for that chapter. Thanks!

I'd consider changing that third title MAGICALLY BREAKABLE to MAGICALLY BROKEN.

It just seems to sound better to my inner ear - BOUND, BONDED, BROKEN.

Oh, I love this Steve, I'm going to take your advice and chance the last one to Broken, thank you!

 

[rachelmedhurst]

Thank you so much for all your feedback, I really appreciate it. You've all really encouraged me. My new series covers are going to be done by Lou Harper who is really great at the misty/magical UF covers, so I'm excited about that.

I wish you the best, but really; this is a great job, but it is a job, OK? It's what we do that's pretty rewarding, yeah; but life occurs away from the computer and outside your office.

Thank you, Desmond, I appreciate you taking the time to look at my Look Inside and feel encouraged.. And, it's also a good reminder about the job because I don't really have a life outside of this right now.

OP, what is your launch plan? And how do you intend to market and promote your books going forward?

My launch plan is to promote it to my mailing list, which is fairly large to get them excited. I'll then get some ARC reviewers. I'll launch book 1 and 2 close together just before xmas. I'm going to get some newsletter swaps and use some promo sites once the first book is released. I tend to have fairly good launches, it's just usually the traction doesn't stick.

Thank you all so much again for your feedback!

 

[rachelmedhurst]

I'm rooting for Devon for the obvious reasons That said, whenever you're ready to launch let me know and I'll share your book with my newsletter subscribers. Send an email to fantasyandmagicbooks AT gmail DOT com I really like the premise and think it can work as long as you set a plan. Wish you the best!

Thank you so much, Devyn, I'll take you up on your offer nearer the time. It's much appreciated!

 

[rachelmedhurst]

Thank yo so much, all, some amazing tips for me to really get my teeth into. I'm going to be using this post as a reference point as I do my research and implement different things to help boost everything! I really appreciate all your comments. I'm going to take August to really get a good idea of what I'm going to do and try to get the new series right.

 

[rachelmedhurst]

Thank you so much to everyone who has taken the time to give me advice. I've taken it all on board and have given myself a few weeks to research and plan my story/series out completely.

CN Crawford, I really appreciate those examples, they're really good for me. I just listened to Pippa's interview on UF with Erica Conway and learnt about the romantic interest for a female POV, which sits really nicely with me as I love writing romance. I'll make sure to keep it as a strong sub-plot.

There's so much valuable info here, I'm going to really take everything and use it to better my new series and it's launch. I'm reading Write to Market and have a couple more books lined up. I'm also reading the top selling indie UF books. I'm researching troupes and have some cool ideas I want to implement into my series. Lou is working on my cover this month, so once I get that, I'll be even more inspired! Wish me luck and thank you again!