Tag: self-publishing
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Sidekicks with main character energy
As a writer, there’s a secret, terrifying, and exhilarating thing that can happen while you’re drafting: a character you intended for a minor role walks into a scene and refuses to leave. They show up with a fully-formed voice, a riveting backstory you never planned, and a perspective so compelling it threatens to derail your…
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2020 Cover Art Trends for Young Adult Fiction
The first thing you hear when you’re reading advice on how to make your self-published novel sell is to have a professional cover that fits into the genre you are writing for. But what’s left out of that advice is that cover trends change over time. Whether you’re ready to launch a new release or…
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Looking for Villainspiration
It’s dark and dreary in my hometown of San Jose this week, and the ghost of something dark hovers at the edges of my thoughts whenever I watch the news. The combined effect might be disturbing if it were an ordinary week, but right now I’m obsessing over how to craft a worthy villain to…
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Goodreads Book Giveaway of My YA Fantasy Novel, The Society of Imaginary Friends
Enter for a chance to win a hard copy of my Amazon bestselling novel, The Society of Imaginary Friends, a young adult epic fantasy. Click here to enter my Goodreads Giveaway, which is live now through December 21, 2016. This breakthrough novel is the first book of The Conjurors Series, and retails for $8.99. Description: Valerie Diaz has…
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How to Create an Advertising Campaign for Your $0.99 eBook Promotion
This September, I ran my biggest promotion to date on The Conjurors Collection, which is a bundle of the first three books in the series. It is the most successful promotion that I’ve run so far. Below are my best rankings during the promotion period. I discounted the bundle, which was $7.99, to $0.99 for…
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How to Weave Believable Technology into Your YA Dystopian Novel (Part 2)
As I mentioned in my last post, Part 1 on this topic, it is with glee that I leave behind the world I’ve been writing about for years to enter a new one. It’s radically different than the one I left behind, not even set in the same time. I’m visiting the future, and am learning about…
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Best Places to Advertise Your $0.99 Ebook Promotion
As my adventures in advertising and marketing my self-published books continue, I thought I’d share some lessons from my latest $0.99 promotion of the first book in The Conjurors Series. For this attempt, I clustered five different advertisements within one week in an attempt to push up my ranking and visibility on Amazon, particularly for certain…
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In Quest of an Honest Review
When I began my self-publishing journey a few years ago and sent my novel into the world, I’ll confess to being shocked when anyone didn’t like it. My first 3-star review led me to eat five peppermint patties in a row. That’ll show ’em. But 3 years and 40 reviews later, I have a very…