Category: Through Sweet Like Sugar

Author’s Notes on Sweet Like Sugar

The Firstborn

On By dphauthorIn Through Sweet Like Sugar, You See Me2 Comments

Being the youngest child in the family, I don’t know what it feels like to be a firstborn. Having no live children, I also don’t know what it feels like to have a firstborn.

But I do have 2 baby books, and might be able to share my experience of giving birth to the firstborn and watch her grow.

First, I must admit that I sometimes forget my firstborn. Or maybe forget is the wrong word. ‘Give up’ sounds more like it, and it does sound more cruel, doesn’t it?

Here’s the thing. I went into labor without any help, as far as marketing went. All I had was my own guts and a naive imagination of what life would be after giving birth to my first book. None of which helped, of course, and the latter didn’t even come close to the reality.

I did not have any beta readers for my first book. All I had was my mother/editor/alpha reader. I’m not saying this is a mistake; some people might be good enough not to need any other help but from an editor/one alpha reader. My problem was (one of many others) that I wrote about something I didn’t know.

The setting for my first book is Louisiana, USA, and I’ve never been to USA, let alone Louisiana. So I should have probably hired a local editor from that state. I didn’t, simply because I didn’t have the money. I was sane enough not to think that I would strike it rich with my first book, so I didn’t want to spend any savings for something I haven’t tested. And yet, in doing so, I probably just made things worse.

Having no beta readers mean that there was no one to tell me if there was something wrong with the story. I trust my mom/editor, but she is just one person. Sometimes we miss things. The advantage of having several beta readers is that one of these people might catch some oddities you/your editor don’t. Again, nobody told me about this before, so I went into the water without any beta readers.

Which also meant that there was no one to give me those ‘crucial’ reviews/testimonials/endorsements when my book just came out.

Imagine this: you see a nice looking book, read the preview at the back & got a bit interested, and try to find out if anyone has read it/if they liked it… and you found none. You read the author’s name again, and realized you’ve never heard of that person before. As you try to look for more info about the author, you found nothing either! What would make you invest your time and money to read a book no one has ever heard of, by an author no one has ever heard of?

Nothing.

And I learned all that only after my firstborn book was out. I thought I was prepared for everything and ready to sell. I waited in anticipation and religiously checked my sales report, while trying my best to market it on my social media platform (which also had no followers as yet). I’m sure you know where this is going. Yep. Downhill.

I won’t lie. I felt that slap in the face, hard. And I noticed I wasn’t the only one. Some people made the same decisions (again, not mistakes) and one by one, I saw them disappearing from the same social media platform, pulling back their books from the circulation at the same time. The authors and their books ceased to exist, just like that.

I thought of doing the same, many times. But I thought I’d stick around just a little more, and resorted to plan B, which in my opinion is also a sad fate for self-published authors: have a free promotion for the book.

Trust me, when you’ve written a book, pour out your heart & soul to it, the last thing you’d want to do is let people read it for free. And they shouldn’t, in the perfect world. You should know your worth, and your book is your artwork, and that is priceless.

But we don’t live in the perfect world, do we? And sometimes, you need to–ugh–beg. By begging, I mean do that f-in free promotion, in the hope that someone, somewhere, will read it and give your book a review (I didn’t even care what review, good or bad was all welcomed!). At least this way you’d know that the review is based solely on your book, not a sugar-coated version you’d get when you pay for a review.

To my surprise (I mean really, it did take me by surprise), the reviews did start to come… and none of them were as bad as I thought.

So I did this begging technique a few more times, especially since a year after my firstborn was out, the lockdown had just started everywhere. I thought that was the perfect timing for people to start reading, and if I could help in any way to ease up their days (with a free psychological thriller book, no less), then why not?

This was when I started to get even more surprised.

By this point, I started to notice how some reader, instead of using the free promotion, decided to purchase my book instead. Was it because I already had a few reviews for it? Was it because of the friends I made in the social media? Was it just because of the book cover (which I also really love)? Whatever it was, it was working.

Finally, my firstborn started to stand on her own feet.

When my second book was born, I decided not to have a free promotion. At least for now, I want to keep my self-worth and put a price to my books. I put everything I learned from not having a successful firstborn to launching my second book baby, and was ready to reap the profits.

At first, that was what it looked like. I got better & quicker sales than I did for my firstborn, reviews poured in quicker too, and all of this was without doing any free promotion. Feeling like I knew how to do it properly this time made me concentrate completely on my second book baby. I neglected my firstborn and, like I said, gave up on promoting it in any way.

But my firstborn is smart. I’m still not quite sure how she does it, but just when I gave up on her, she started running around the world barefeet.

Whenever I put both of my books for a countdown sale, my firstborn somehow convinced people that she was worth the read, too–sometimes even more than my second book. When there isn’t any promotion going on, she manages to make people read her on Kindle Unlimited, or even buy her for the full price.

As a mother, I am pleasantly surprised. To see that some new readers notice the book I had given up on, read it, and even put some reviews for it… there’s no greater feeling than that.

I guess in a way it’s my firstborn’s way of saying, “Look, Ma, no hands!”

And I am a proud Mama. Truly.

Thank you for giving my firstborn a chance, even when her own mother had been neglecting her.

The Difference Between Pink and Black

On By dphauthorIn Through Sweet Like Sugar, Through The Invisible Ones, You See MeLeave a comment

As much as I’d love to tell you that I am a pro in this whole writing thing, here is the truth: I am but a beginner. It’s now been a bit over a year since I ‘decided’ to go into this business, if we count the very first word I typed into the file that eventually became my first book.

Now, having independently published two books, I can do a comparison between them. Not the stories, of course, how can a parent ever compare their children? But the methods I used and the result of such methods.

If I’m not a pro, then why bother writing these down? The answer is: I’m doing this for my future self. By writing these things down, hopefully my future self will remember that I did learn something, even if it feels like nothing comes out of it.

If you are also a beginner, or you haven’t even started, and you happen to come across this post & learn something new, then I’d be glad to know that this writing also helps someone else. It’s a win-win situation. 😉

First things first: I started out with nothing but my own manuscript and a handful of trusted people from whom I asked for advice. I had no social media account for the book purposes, and only made one a few weeks before the launching of my first book. One might say this was my first mistake, and maybe one is right.

It would definitely help my book’s marketing if I already had an effective social media account with thousands of followers. But we’re not here to speculate & I’m merely stating the facts. The fact is, I didn’t have it then.

So what happened when I started posting about the launch of my first book in the brand-new social media account?

Nothing.

I had no followers, no likes, and no posts that could pull anyone to become a reader.

For the record, my social media account’s handle used to be the name of my first book. I had (and still have) no pictures of myself, no selfies. Could this also add to the problem? Maybe.

So my socializing attempt was a flop. My book launch was a flop, too. The (low) sales were all made by my family members & friends, which was of course very nice of them, but when it came to getting reviews–I’m sorry to say–it’s pretty much non-existent. And we all know how important reviews are for an independent/self-publishing author.

And they really are important, the reviews. But even with low sales and even lower number of reviews, I decided to keep it ‘organic’ and not ask for anyone to read my book just for the sake of getting the reviews.

Having my book listed in the Kindle Unlimited gave me the opportunity to put my e-book up for Countdown & Free promotions. So I used the Countdown promo 5 months after the launch of my first book, making my e-book cost 99 cents for 72 hours. By this time, I had about 100+ followers on my social media account.

This proved to be a flop, too, and brought in only 1 sale.

Soon after, I changed the handle of my social media account to be my author name. I still don’t post any selfie there, but changing the handle made the account feel more human, and I felt like I had more freedom to post things unrelated to my first book (but related to writing in general). And since at that point I was writing my second book, it seemed natural to change it.

About 2,5 months since the Countdown promo, I decided to try the Free promo.

Needless to say, this time it was a success compared to the Countdown one. This was the first time I realized that my first book was actually interesting enough for people–other than my friends & family–to want to read, if only they didn’t need to pay for it. Which makes perfect sense, because, hello? Who am I again in the writing world?

This lifted my mood and I did it again as soon as I had my next chance, and finally, after several times of the Free promo, the reviews from new readers–people I did not know prior to writing/selling the book–started to pour in.

So yes, this experience made me learn that I shouldn’t be stingy when it comes to letting people read my book. I should forget all about the money, because the truth is, when someone is just starting out (the indie/self-pub way), no one would’ve heard about him/her. I don’t mean I should sell myself short, no, of course not. But spreading my work and finding my readers/market is more important than making money.

The reviews for my first book kept alive my will to write, and as I was finishing my second book’s manuscript, I decided it was time for me to try another method: asking people to beta read my second book.

As mentioned before, I didn’t have anything but my manuscript for my first book. This time around, though, I had about 300+ followers on my social media account, and a few fellow indie/self-pub authors that I felt comfortable sharing my second manuscript with. Some of them have read my first book and gave it good reviews, so I felt 80% sure that they would ‘get’ my second book (and maybe even like it–that’d be a great bonus). I asked them nicely and when they said yes, I prepared a list of things I wanted them to especially pay attention to when reading the manuscript.

Out of 5 beta readers (I still kept it to a minimum number), 3 gave me outstanding feedback, 1 didn’t really like it, and 1 never came back to me with any feedback. It was enough for me to go forward, so as a cherry on top, I asked the ones who did gave me their feedback if they’d be willing to write short endorsements. Some of them agreed and their endorsements are now at the back cover of my second book.

Not long after that, I published my second book, and instantly gained 4 first reviews from my beta readers. I did not ask them to do it, but I was blessed with such kind-hearted beta readers.

During the launch of my second book, I also had a giveaway contest to allure people to enter to win my second book. I would’ve thought the ‘free book’ words would win people over, but I was wrong again, for a good reason: the people who would actually read my book preferred to buy my book rather than enter my giveaway contest! 😅 That was a nice surprise!

I did still get enough entries in the end, and 4 people were given my second book for free. Out of these, 3 gave reviews (again, because they wanted to).

Now, 3 months has passed since my second book was launched and the sales number are somewhat similar to my first book’s first 3 months’ sale… but guess what? I don’t even know most of the buyers. 😁 With my first book, I knew exactly who bought them, because they were my family members & friends. Now, I can’t even tell who has bought my second book until suddenly a new review comes up.

While sales are still slow, I have to admit that using the help of beta readers was a good decision for me, even if it’s ‘only’ to get reviews. As of date, I have gotten more reviews for my second book in half the time it took for my first book to get 6 reviews.

Let’s face it, without having thousands of followers in social media and going through the traditional publishing or paying for a professional advertisement/marketing service, sales will probably always be slow and low. To tell the truth, I didn’t even expect to sell any book for my second one, except for (again) my immediate family members.

But I proved myself wrong, and that made me so happy.

And, let me remind you again: everything I’ve done for my book so far have been for free. I have not paid anyone or any party for anything at all.

I have no plans yet for any Countdown or Free promo for my second book. The second book’s regular price is already cheaper than the first one, which is one of the reasons why I’m still thinking about it. But who knows? Remembering I shouldn’t be stingy about spreading my work, I probably will end up doing it one day.

Thank you for reading this long post. ❤ My journey in the writing world & my books’ journeys shall continue no matter what, and if you’re also an indie/self-pub author, hopefully your journey continues after reading this.

To read the reviews of my books on Goodreads or leave your review (yay!), click here.

To purchase my book(s), click here.

Covering the Covers, Part 1

On By dphauthorIn Through Sweet Like Sugar, You See MeLeave a comment

Let’s talk about making book covers.

The good thing about being an independent (indie) and a self-publishing (self-pub) writer is that you get to prepare your own book covers. The bad thing about being an indie and self-pub writer is that you get to prepare your own book covers.

You either love doing it, or you don’t. Luckily, there are many book cover designers that you can hire to do your book cover these days, but as I haven’t used any, I’m here to talk about the other option: making it yourself.

I am merely writing this down to record my own experience and journey, and in no way I am saying that this is what one should or shouldn’t do. If you are a fellow indie/self-pub writer, at the end of the day you’ll realize that you’ll find your own voice and ways to do things.

Though the appeal of using ready-stock images and easy-to-use image editing apps may be calling, for my previous book and the coming one I used the old-fashioned ways. I took the pictures myself or I drew things by hand and used a ‘licensed for commercial use’ program to make them. One might argue that such licensed programs are expensive and since we don’t even know yet if one would make profits from the book itself, why pay that much? Well, I can tell you one thing: some things are worth investing in. If something can put an ease to my mind for not having anyone claim that I stole their photo/illustration some time in the future, then by all means, sign me up!

To be honest, the main reason why I do this the old-fashioned way is because I do judge a book by its cover. In my humble opinion, when one uses ready-stock images or easy-to-use image editing apps, there’s always a risk that the book cover in question would end up looking similar to others’. If I only have one shot to catch a possible reader’s attention, I’d want my book cover to be different than others.

So the first thing I did when designing my very first book cover was to decide what I didn’t want. Psychological thriller/mystery books often have a person on the cover, with his/her back facing the viewer, usually either a person that looks like a detective or the ‘victim’ running away to the dark. Have you ever noticed this? I have. And speaking of dark, dark colors are used immensely as well. Early on in the days of my designing my book cover, I knew that I didn’t want any of these.

By this time, I already knew the title of my book (FYI, it’s not strange for me to not have a title until the very last moment) so for my first book, that was what I looked at next, and took quite a literal translation to it.

early sketch for the cover

Of course it was only natural that I had to have sugar on the cover of my first book, Sweet Like Sugar. Sugar was, after all, the coating of everything in that story. But underneath the sugar lies something dark, so I had it photographed on top of a black plate, with just a tiny bit of black lurking from beneath it.

just white sugar on a black plate

As seen from my sketches, I didn’t plan on having a hand print on the cover. But as I was trying to get the right kind of surface, playing with all the sugar with my bare hands, the idea started to form in my head.

hmm, kind of cool

After taking dozens of the same shots, I decided to develop both ideas and see which one came out better.

I don’t know about you, but I liked the hand print better! And yet, something is still not quite right. It wasn’t until I played with the saturation that it dawned on me: the color had to be something else than white.

You know that feeling of craving for something sweet, and then you finally get to eat a whole lot of that sweetness until you get so sick from it? Sickeningly sweet. That was what I wanted it to be. That was what I wanted the book cover to ‘taste’ like.

voila!

And that was how I got to this end result.

To others, it probably doesn’t seem like it was a lot of work, but I did spend a considerable amount of my time for it. Maybe I was just too slow, but I am still damn proud of my first book cover. It has the right amount of eye-catchiness, the right amount of sweetness, and the right amount of unsettling darkness.

Playing God

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The best thing about being a writer, in my opinion, is that you get to play god.

You decide what happens to your character, who dies, who lives, who’s happy, and who’s sad. You decide what your character says, does, wears, eats, drinks, and so on.

Things you may not be able to do in your own life, you can do in your book, through your character.

For example, in real life, I can’t have a dog. I do take care of some of our relatives’/friends’ dogs now and then, but due to my work, I can’t have my own dog. Not yet. And it’s sad, because I’d love to have one.

So I dreamed up a dog and put it into my novel.

I love it. I love the imaginary dog. Through my character(s), I play with it, feed it, and walk it around. It was hard when I had to end my story, because every book has to have an ending. But who knows? I might one day be able to have an actual dog, just like the imaginary one I made.

If you’ve always dreamed of having something nice that you can’t quite have yet, it helps to write it down sometimes. You can be creative about it, visualize it to be as realistic or far-fetched as possible. It’s a fun and harmless way of playing god. At least for me, it also somewhat relieves the itch and craving.

Then, one day, when you finally get to have that nice thing, whatever it is, imagine how fun it would be to read what you’ve written those many years ago.

The End

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I’m not writing about the end of my writing journey. This is something more of a reflection.

Looking back at the stuffs I had written (and never see the light of day), since my manga days, I realize that I have always had the same problem: ending the story.

I love writing and making up stories (duh, who doesn’t?). Whenever I get an idea, I’d get excited about it and start writing … and before I know it, I’m already on page 100. In my daily job, I have the same problem. When writing a work-related email to anyone, I just end up writing a short story instead of an email.

But anyway, back to the topic. I have a confession to make: out of hundreds of stories I’ve made up all my life (including the mangas), the ones that actually have proper endings are but 4 stories. Out of those 4, 2 are short stories. Something must be wrong with me, right?

I thought so, too. Until lately, say, for the past 15 years, I keep running into books that have vague endings. You know, the kind where the story hangs mid-air, and you flip to the next page and find out that that is it, and it leaves you feeling unsatisfied because, well, where’s the ending?!? You’ve spent hours reading it, and then the end is not an end at all. I feel like the authors of that kind of books may have the same problem as I do in terms of ending a story.

Some people like it, I guess, because they are free to imagine what the ending actually is. But, pardon me for being old-fashioned, in my opinion, if you’ve made a story to which people actually invest their time (and money, no matter how small) to read or follow, you’re obliged to give a proper ending to the story. Give your audience a closure. And I don’t mean a vague one, but how you, as the author, want it to end.

A few years ago, I ran across a book called The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. I do like the story of the book, but the thing that made me love the book is the fact that the main character of the book said the one thing that is, in my opinion, very important in writing a story: for it to have a beginning, the main story itself, and then, of course, a proper ending.

Ever since reading that book, I try to keep that in mind, and always give a proper ending to my stories. Those 4 stories that I told you about? Those were done after reading The Thirteenth Tale.

If you have gotten my book, you’d see that I even divided the chapters that way: the beginning, the main story, and the ending. It’s hard to end a story, believe me, I should know. Most of the time, I just want to keep it going! Or then, even worse, I don’t even know how to end it, ha! But all things must come to an end, and I find that it’s sometimes easier to do things backwards, as in first find an ending you want, and work your way to the beginning from there.

Now, to end this post, as a newbie author I promise that whenever you read my book, I will have a proper ending for you. No vague, free-to-imagine kind of endings from me, ever.

 

The Cover

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Guess what? The D-day is in 12 days!

Time for ‘last-minute’ checks and preparations for me, but I want to give a small update here in my blog.

As mentioned on previous posts, the book will be available in paperback and e-book version. Once they are launched, I will post the links here. And now I can safely say that they will be published on the same day.

So when will that be, exactly? June 27th, 2019.

And just to make sure you won’t buy the wrong book, here’s what the cover of my book looks like.

 

To Have And To Hold

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When I was still writing the book, the thought of holding it in its physical form seemed far-fetched.

But now the proof print of my book is right here in front of me, proving it further that nothing is really far-fetched if you put your mind to it.

17 days from now, the book will finally be ready for the world.

It will be ready for all of you, to have and to hold.

PS. If you prefer to read it from your phone or tablet, the digital version of the book will also be available starting from the same day.

Is It A Nightmare?

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About a year ago, I was visited by my dream-giver in the form of a nightmare.

The terrible feeling I had in this particular nightmare stayed with me for a long time afterwards, and one big question arose to the top of my mind: what if it wasn’t a nightmare? What if it was someone’s story, whispered to me through this nightmare?

So I decided to write it down, to make it into a story, to breathe life into it. And soon, I hope to share it with you all.

Remember Or Not Know? (part two)

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Have you seen the latest teaser? I asked this question to my husband earlier this year, and I think we both agreed that the latter is more frightening to us.

It was just the push that I needed to start writing this story, knowing that I was not the only one thinking how scary that would be. I thought, maybe, this was worth the shot.

During the process of writing the book, I kept the discussion going with him. It helps to get a second opinion, especially if the second opinion comes from a different gender.

I hope in the end I managed to make the story as good as I imagined it would be, and as scary as we discussed it to properly be, considering that this is still a psychological thriller, not some nail-biting horror book.

But you can be the judge of that.