{"id":21862,"date":"2019-07-12T03:00:54","date_gmt":"2019-07-12T10:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/?p=21862"},"modified":"2019-07-23T14:45:55","modified_gmt":"2019-07-23T21:45:55","slug":"shoulda-coulda-woulda-what-i-wished-id-done-differently-by-keri-kruspe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/2019\/07\/12\/shoulda-coulda-woulda-what-i-wished-id-done-differently-by-keri-kruspe\/","title":{"rendered":"Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda: What I wished I\u2019d done differently By Keri Kruspe"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Shoulda-Coulda-Woulda_-What-I-wished-I\u2019d-done-differently.png\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-21864\" title=\"Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda: What I wished I\u2019d done differently By Keri Kruspe\" src=\"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Shoulda-Coulda-Woulda_-What-I-wished-I\u2019d-done-differently-300x300.png\" alt=\"Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda: What I wished I\u2019d done differently By Keri Kruspe\" width=\"200\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Shoulda-Coulda-Woulda_-What-I-wished-I\u2019d-done-differently-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Shoulda-Coulda-Woulda_-What-I-wished-I\u2019d-done-differently-160x160.png 160w, https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Shoulda-Coulda-Woulda_-What-I-wished-I\u2019d-done-differently-320x320.png 320w, https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Shoulda-Coulda-Woulda_-What-I-wished-I\u2019d-done-differently.png 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a>Let&#8217;s welcome back monthly columnist <a href=\"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/?s=Keri+Kruspe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Keri Kruspe<\/a> as she shares with us \u201cShoulda, Coulda, Woulda: What I wished I\u2019d done differently.\u201d Enjoy!<\/p>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Now that I\u2019ve gotten more than six months of being an indie author under my belt<\/strong>, I wanted to take a step back to see what (if anything) I would have done differently to start my publishing career.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The short answer is yes\u2026yes, I would do a couple of things differently if I could do it all over again.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In order to give a clear reason as to why I say that, let\u2019s take a look at where I was back in October of 2018 when I launched my first novel.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Back then, I had to start everything from scratch:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Website (You mean I need my own\u2026?)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Media Presence (i.e. Facebook\/Twitter\/Pinterest, Which ones? How do I use them?)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Author email<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Author Brand (Brand\u2026What in the world?)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Decide to go \u201cwide\u201d or \u201cKU\u201d (Huh?)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What software to use to format for electronic readers as well as paperback (Never heard of epub\u2026mobi\u2026again, huh?)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Newsletter or blog\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Create your newsletter subscribers (Where in the world would they come from?)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How do I find an editor who will work with me? What about a proofreader? Do I need both or more?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Where do I find a good cover artist for my genre (Huh, I read\/write in a genre?)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2.png\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-21865 size-full\" title=\"What Should I do?\" src=\"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2.png\" alt=\"What Should I do?\" width=\"137\" height=\"189\" \/><\/a>More importantly: where in the world do I go to learn how to do all of this??<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>SHOULDA COULDA WOULDA<b>\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Instead of diving deep into each one, I thought I\u2019d give an overview of what I strongly feel I\u2019d like to do differently if I could go back into time and have a do-over.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>WIDE OR KU?<b>\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ah, the ago-old question.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>In all of the training I\u2019ve taken<\/strong>, the overwhelming answer you get is: \u201cIt\u2019s up to you\u2026it\u2019s a personal decision.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A very nice, safe, gentle non-answer that doesn\u2019t help much.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, here\u2019s my two cents worth: If I only had one book to release starting out \u2013 I\u2019d do KU first.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><i>Let me explain.<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When I started as a new author, I had A LOT to learn (see above).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I figured, no big deal, why not go wide and reach not only Amazon customers, but everyone else in the universe as well?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Why get stuck for 90 days in only one vendor?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I planned to release the other books right after the first.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Well, things didn\u2019t work out quite that way. Because of my inexperience, I didn\u2019t realize how much time it took to get each novel ready (and I\u2019m talking about <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">after<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> I\u2019ve written it and done my own \u201cdue diligence\u201d in editing it on my own.)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Because I had so much to learn and do<\/strong>, if I\u2019d gone with Amazon exclusive with the first one, I would have gotten a little \u201cboost\u201d in launching my book, plus I\u2019d have had a little extra \u201ctime\u201d to learn the ropes while I got the other books ready. I could have stayed there for 90 days, and by then at least my second book would be ready and I might have gone wide then if I wanted to.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>READER MAGNET\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In all the \u201cnoise\u201d of trying to get advice on what makes a successful author (by noise I mean, training, websites, various advice on social media) the one that stands out the most is you have to have a healthy mailing list. (Okay, I have to admit I didn\u2019t know what a mailing list\/reader magnet was until after I launched by first book.)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>And in order to get that list<\/strong>, you need to offer a \u201creader magnet.\u201d Which, loosely defined is a prize your readers gets when they join your mailing list.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There were several suggestions on what to offer for a reader magnet: a book in a series (ack \u2013 only had one book\u2026so this was a \u201cno go\u201d) or a short story, or even something exclusive to what I was writing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, I used my \u201cwriters bible,\u201d something I created about the universe of my trilogy. It was a thirty-page \u201cencyclopedia\u201d with various info of my characters and the aliens (the trilogy is a sci-fi romance). Should work\u2026right?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><i>Wrong.<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Seven months after my launch, I only have 40 subscribers on my list. If I could have this \u201cdo-over,\u201d I\u2019d have a short story reader magnet ready to go <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">before <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I launched my book. Because I thought my little catalog would be a good incentive, I waited until three months into my publishing career to rethink the whole thing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, taking a deep breath, I pulled out an old short story (around 35,000 words) I wrote ten years ago and gave it a complete overhaul. I\u2019m hoping to release it in July and then start a mailing list campaign (fingers crossed.) My goal is reaching at least 100 subscribers by the end of the year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><i>Wish me luck.<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n<h3><b>VARIOUS STUFF<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In hindsight (don\u2019t you love hindsight? It\u2019s always so spot on), I wouldn\u2019t have tried to learn everything at once. It\u2019s so hard to figure out how to make a website from scratch while learning the ins-and-outs on how to create\/maintain several social media business accounts. Add to that how to effectively create visual ads. (Canva and BookBrush are my friends.) Also, how do you make those ads profitable? What makes them profitable?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Let\u2019s not mention that at the same time I had to learn how to polish my writing skills.<\/strong> (This includes eliminating my unnecessary adverbs\/filler words and creating an in-depth point of view for my characters.)\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What I should have done was finish learning my writing craft first. This may or may not include working with an editor. Then I would have mastered these skills one at a time (instead of trying to do them all at once) and I would do it in this order:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hire a reputable cover artist.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Find appropriate editors.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Design and create my website.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sign up for an EMS (email mailing service) and produce a landing page with my reader magnet ready to go.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Learn how to upload\/format my books, including paperback.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Discover how to upload formatted book onto the appropriate retailers (i.e. Amazon, Barnes &amp; Noble, etc.).<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Marketing: this could include making ads, and how to determine if they\u2019re viable. How to join\/create a blog tour, and\/or newsletter swaps. Let\u2019s not forget social media. Learn when and how to use them.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>SHOULDA COULDA WOULDA WRAP UP\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Okay, whew. Got my frustrations out. Now that I\u2019ve finished venting, what\u2019s next?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Now it\u2019s catch-up time.<\/strong> My trilogy is out in the world and it\u2019s time to create a new story. I\u2019m getting back into the habit of reaching my writing goal every day. As I mentioned before, I want to finish working on my reader magnet and start the campaign to increase my subscription list. Still trying to master making ads and monitoring them. I\u2019m sure I\u2019ll be working on that for the rest of my career.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As for the \u201cshoulda\u201d part of this article, well, wallowing in regrets isn\u2019t quite my style. I\u2019d rather learn from my \u201cmistakes\u201d and move on. If my experience helps others, that makes me happy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Please keep in mind this disclaimer:<\/strong> what I\u2019ve written is only my opinion. There\u2019s no guarantee what I think <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">should<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> have worked better actually would. You know what they say about opinions, everyone has one!<\/span><\/p>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<h2>ABOUT THE AUTHOR<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.kerikruspe.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Keri Kruspe<\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.kerikruspe.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"http:\/\/www.kerikruspe.com\/ noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-20092\" title=\"Keri Kruspe\" src=\"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Keri-Kruspe_Author-Pic.jpg\" alt=\"Keri Kruspe\" width=\"150\" height=\"199\" \/><\/a> has been an author since the age of twelve and has always been fascinated with otherworldly stories that end in Happily Ever After. Author of Otherworldly Romantic Adventures, Keri&#8217;s first series is <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/2AHpJ9w\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><i>An Alien Exchange<\/i><\/a> trilogy. <i>An Alien Exchange<\/i>\u00a0is the first book in the arousing Alien Exchange sci-fi romance series. If you like sexy aliens, feisty heroines, and fast-paced action, <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/30gOhS5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">then you\u2019ll love Keri Kruspe\u2019s steamy space adventure.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Keri now resides with her family in the wilds of Northwestern Michigan. An avid reader, Keri enjoys good wine, good food, and watching action\/adventure movies. You can find her most days immersed in her fantasy world of writing or traveling with her hubby in their RV, discovering intelligent life here on Earth. For goodies, news of upcoming releases, sign up for her newsletter at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.kerikruspe.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">www.kerikruspe.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Now that Keri Kruspe has gotten more than six months of being an indie author under her belt, she takes a step back to see what (if anything) she would have done differently to start her publishing career. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":21864,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[2530,624,3606,4002,4003],"class_list":["post-21862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-writing-tips","tag-author-career","tag-indie-author","tag-keri-kruspe","tag-kindle-unlimited","tag-reader-magnet"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda: What I wished I\u2019d done differently By Keri Kruspe &#183; Writer&#039;s Fun Zone<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Now that Keri Kruspe has gotten more than six months of being an indie author under her 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