Last weekend I joined with over 300 authors at an intensive
conference billed as the Romance Authors Mastermind, the brainchild of New York
Times bestselling author Skye Warren. Though I’ve been attending
conventions of romance authors for more than three decades and have been a
published author for more than two decades, in many ways I felt like a novice.
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| Nine member of my Jewels of Historical Romance group went to dinner with BookBub reps Carlyn Robinson and Audrey at the Romance Authors Mastermind. From left, Claire Delacroix, Lauren Royal, Glynnis Campbell, Darcy Burke, Erica Ridley,, Tanya Anne Crosby, Audrey, Carlyn,, Cynthia Wright, Brenda Hiatt, and Cheryl Bolen. The Jewels have been together for seven years. |
Each speaker at this high-powered event has come on the
publishing scene wa-a-a-y after me, and I’m pretty sure each speaker has had
years in which they’ve pulled down seven-figure incomes. (Several of them
admitted they had.) I have never had a year in which I made a seven-figure
income, and no matter how many Masterminds I attend, I know I never will!
I did learn a lot of things about how the publishing
industry has changed not just in these 30 years I’ve been close to it but
particularly in the last half a dozen years. I’d estimate well over 90 percent
of these Mastermind attendees were not traditionally published but self
published. Also, the length of their books is considerably shorter than what
was standard when I started publishing. There were several authors there who
claimed to put out a book a month. I have to believe what they were calling a
book is what I would refer to as a novella.
These gals work hard. On Mastermind’s Facebook group,
several owned up to the fact they were writing page quotas in their hotel
rooms. No time off for them.
Almost every single author I met there was experienced at
placing ads at Amazon and Facebook to promote their books. I have never learned
how to do ads. There were workshops at the conference addressing this. Now if I
could just find someone to take me through the process step by step.
Sure, I can write a book. I have published 41 of them. But
ads? Marketing? Promotion? These young chicks have left me in the dust of their
stilettos.
And
don’t for a moment think because their books were self published they looked
cheesy. These gals know how to put out a sophisticated looking project.
Along
with some great speakers and workshops, there were 75 roundtable discussions,
and some extremely savvy authors conducting these on topics ranging from
foreign translations to metrics of tracking promotions and book sales to
promotion of audio books.
You
see, today’s indie author is more than a writer. She’s a business woman, and
Romance Authors Mastermind filled a special niche for today’s indie author.
Skye Warren got a standing ovation from the attendees at the luxurious Four
Seasons Hotel in Houston, where the pricey event took place.—Cheryl Bolen confesses she went to the
Mastermind to meet up with her fellow Jewels of Historical Romance. Check out
her new Christmas novella, His Lady Deceived.
Check out these sites of mine:
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This is so interesting. It's where the industry went on without me. I admit it's sad for me, but so exciting for the ones on that ride.
ReplyDeleteI feel the same, Liz.
DeleteWow, how informative. Sounds like a jewel of a time. Yes, publishing changes are huge. Hard to keep up. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteWho has tine to keep up, Nora? Too much!
DeleteI'd heard about this from several writers and it sounded great. This is also where I have problems. I don't know a thing about marketing or ads and I really don't have the money for them anyway. Guess I'll just keep squeaking by. Glad you got to see your friends!
ReplyDeleteFor me, it was mainly social. I'm too old to change.
DeleteMaybe I can be there next year. I'd love to focus more on marketing as long as I had some guidance.
ReplyDeleteBonnie, I'm not sure Skye is going to do it again. I'm still a marketing virgin. Will I ever dip my toes in the water?
DeleteFB and Amazon ads, promotion metrics, writing so quickly... Those are all topics I need help with. Sounds like an amazing conference.
ReplyDeleteSatin, it was amazing, as in making your head spin.
ReplyDeleteYou sound like me. I'm finally making five figures and what happens? Self-publishing. Technical and business minded authors cleaned up while I limped along, afraid of the whole change. I'm still limping compared to a lot of authors who understand the marketing end of things, and the heck of it is, readers don't care who publishes the book! They just want a quality product at a good price. Don't we all?
ReplyDeleteI heard it was wonderful, but intense. These new writers are a different breed from those of us who came up through the ranks. I applaude them. Readers are the true winners with the way things have changed. Lots more choices.
ReplyDeleteWow, sounds like a great experience! Certainly going to look into this event for next year. Thanks for sharing, Cheryl!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a place with a wealth of knowledge.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great time, Cheryl. If you learned any of those marketing tips, please share.
ReplyDelete