Look at your first book like it’s a business. Be prepared to lose money on it when it all shakes out, but spend your money wisely, on investments that will grow your career more than sell some copies of your book. 

Hi Evan,

Sorry mate, I’ll try to clarify my situation.  I realise that I won’t see any money until the book’s published, and I realise it’s not a spend money to make money situation.

But things add up.
Cover art, book trailers, flyers, business cards, printing, reciprocal purchases.

And since I’m completely new to any kind of marketing, I also tried my luck with promoted posts on facebook, twitter, etc.  I had exactly the same results you did; plenty of clicks but very little conversion.  But I still had to give it a go so I could at least say I tried it, and that amounted to $100 on it’s own.

I’m not concerned with most of these costs as I figure many of them come with their own pay-off.  I just don’t want to spend more money than I’m likely to earn back, because if that’s the case I’m potentially better off self-publishing.

If anyone is mad at you for this I will beat them up for you. :) So glad to hear an update and that things are going better! And super excited to have a copy of your book!

Hi, there! It’s so nice that you care! Thanks for asking. 

Things are DEFINITELY starting to look better. 

Originally we were all pretty sure I wasn’t going to make it. I had a cough for almost a year and they found cancer in my throat and lungs. There was a lesion in my left lung the size of a silver dollar (probably caused by second-hand smoke).

That lesion is down to the size of a nickel now. A NICKEL. I can’t believe it. I hit my assumed "expiration date" 9 days ago. The doctors are optimistic I’ll pull through. :)

I’m still sad about some of the things that I had to put down while I worked towards recovery, though. (I won’t lie-- every part of this process is horrible and I hate it.) I had to basically stop working on my campaign as I got sicker and weaker, which I think is the main reason why I didn’t push up to a higher spot in the G&S contest I’d entered (I think I ended at... 4th place in that HUGE fantasy contest). I really think I could have hit full publication if I had tried harder. I also know that I’d been nominated for several syndicates right before the end of my campaign, but because we all thought I was going to die I decided not to extend and lost those possible pre-orders. I really thought that I had lost all chance of ever seeing this book become real.

But now, thanks to the wonderful and understanding people at Inkshares, The Last Faoii might be out as early as August or September, and it looks like I’ll be alive to see it on my bookshelf at home! I do have 2 major hospital visits between here and there, though, so of course I’m still a little worried. But overall, I think that I’m going to make it. I feel alive and ready to go back to war for this book. I feel like a faoii. ;)

Thank you so much for your concern. I hope that my story and my faoii updates help to inspire other people and their campaigns. It’s a tough road, but it’s worth it. :)

(Oh-- and if anyone is reading this and is angry at me for jumping queue and probably setting your own production back, I am SO SO SORRY. I absolutely did not mean to make anyone’s campaigns harder than they already are. Really.)

Welcome to Inkshares! We have a very supportive author community here, but sometimes the forum isn’t the best way to communicate. There is a community Slack which has been set up for questions, fun, and networking - and we’d love to invite you to it!