Audrey IS Writing

Ring out the Old! Bring in the New !!

noreply@blogger.com (Audrey McKay) — Tue, 31 Dec 2013 15:29:00 +0000

Just a short note to say thank you for all the support you've shown me throughout the year. I appreciate you all more than you know. I pray that as this year closes out and a new year comes in, that all your prayers and hard work manifest into tangible dreams in 2014.

Speaking of which, One of my dreams is to see the Good News Series turned into movies. Well, I've got some exciting news on that front. Check out the link below and let me know what you think.

http://igg.me/at/EGNmovie/x/5924663

IT'S MY YEAR!

Remember, this can be your year too!. Go after your dreams. The door is wide open!

God Bless You and Happy New Year!!!

The Audiobooks have begun!

noreply@blogger.com (Audrey McKay) — Mon, 16 Dec 2013 21:39:00 +0000

Just in time for the holidays, Enough Good News is now available in audiobook form on audible(dot) com! So if you're planning a long road trip during this winter break, take Enough Good News along with you. The book is narrated by Helen Cricco and is over eight hours long. That should take care of a good block of time, whether you're on the road or just sitting in the office. The book is currently free if you sign up for a trial membership with audible. The membership costs $14.95/month for one book of your choice, which is a great deal because the price of audiobooks is determined by their length. The. cost for Enough Good News without the membership is $19.99. There are also other plans available. I'm recording book #2, No Weapon, now, and Helen is working on #3, Blind Justice now; so if you are into audiobooks, membership may make sense for you.

I don't know that I'm going to get another post off this year, so let me be one of the first of your social media friends to wish you Happy Holidays and a wonderful new year!

xoxox

Audrey

This is me getting better about blog posting :-)

noreply@blogger.com (Audrey McKay) — Tue, 12 Nov 2013 18:16:00 +0000

Anyway, I didn't have a whole lot to say, but wanted to post something, so I decided to include my response to a recent reader's comment about the last book. This person thought I might have been stretching it a bit when I had the character "Kid" understand what was going on with Gil. I don't want to give anything away for those who haven't read the book, but this reader thought the concept I presented was a little out there, but like I mentioned at the beginning of the book, and to this reader, the "supernatural" occurrences in the books are based on reality.

In this case, God will let others "read our mail" in some instances. Check out part of the response I shared with the reader: (For those who haven't read Third Watch yet, you may want to stop here. This is a Spoiler Alert)

I got the idea to have Kid understand the language after I heard a minister say he had been on a trip to a foreign country. The man assigned to take care of the minister did not speak English, but his wife did and was also the minister's interpreter. The minister said the whole time he was there, he never heard the man speak English, only his wife. When Sunday service rolled around, the minister said the man got up in the pulpit to welcome him and said in perfect English, something like "praise be to the most high". The minister turns to the wife and says "why have you been doing all the speaking? I thought he didn't speak English.". The wife said, "he doesn't. English is his prayer language. That's how I know when something is on his heart."

You can't make this stuff up people! Lol

Go with God and have a great day.

Audrey

I said I was going to get better

noreply@blogger.com (Audrey McKay) — Thu, 24 Oct 2013 19:07:00 +0000

But I haven't - updating this blog I mean.

So, I'm going to try again. Now that I'm past my (writers block doesn't seem like the right fit) lets call it hindrance, I'll try this blog thing again. The 6th book in the Good News series, Third Watch, is complete and I feel like I can move on. It took forever, or it seemed that way, but now I feel like I can take something back, like my life.

And like I said, it wasn't writers block. I wrote plenty during the last year, just not on that book. FYI, if you're into the tv show Scandal, I wrote a piece that you can find on fanfiction.net entitled "Full Circle Again." Feel free to peruse that whilst I finish the last book in the series. I also put some suggestions at the bottom of the "products" page of my website if you were looking for some more Christian books. I think it's a good mix of non-fiction and fiction. I'll probably be adding more later.

So back to my rambling. I'm going to try and do better about updating this blog.

That is all.

xoxox

Audrey

New Beginnings

noreply@blogger.com (Audrey McKay) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 19:10:00 +0000

Hellllooooo good people! I know it's been a while, and I apologize, but the fourth book is done and ready for your consumption. Long Night is the fourth book in the Good News Series and features Terrence as the main character, although as always, I do update you on other characters you've met in earlier books. I also want to take this time to thank and congratulate Ronda Shula, who won my first "Become a Good News Character" contest. Ronda followed the contest rules on my website and her name was picked as the winner. Ronda is now immortalized as a Good News Series character in Long Night. The contest is now open for the next book, Even Me, which will feature Sidonna, the sister we first learn about in book #1, Enough Good News.

I hope that, like me, you've made up your minds to have a fantastic year. Of course we can't know everything that we will face in 2012, but we can be assured that if God allows it, it will work for our good. 2011 wasn't the best year for me, but as the new year approached, I felt hopeful. And a few days ago, I just decided, I mean flat out made up my mind, that 2012 was going to be a FANTASTIC year for me. I was thinking it should be, and hoping it would be a great year, but it made all the difference in my own posture when I decided that it would absolutely be, without a doubt, one of my best years, EVER. I hope you join me in believing that.

I pray God blesses you with your own revelation about your future and the good things He has planned for you. (Jeremiah 29:11)

P.S. don't forget to keep an eye out for Even Me, coming Summer 2012
xoxox
Audrey

Believe Again

noreply@blogger.com (Audrey McKay) — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 13:16:00 +0000

First, let me apologize for the long break, but you will be happy to know that I put the time to good use. I finished my script (yay me!) and I'm plowing away on book #4 in the Good News Series, LONG NIGHT. I hope to have the book ready for the holidays. Pray for me. And I've got a couple of other projects I'm working on but I was worn out. I'll be honest with you, I was starting to feel like there was no use in any of it (writing) but God gave me my second wind and now I feel like I can focus clearly and move ahead. If you're feeling the same way, I wrote a little something the other day that might encourage you to keep pushing.(see below) Whatever you're going through, hang in there. Know that God has your back and has already gone ahead of you to prepare a better place.
"For I know the thoughts I think toward you, says the Lord. Thoughts of good and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11

God Bless
xoxox

Believe Again

Whatever didn't work last time, whatever you stopped in the middle of because you came up against too many obstacles, whatever mountain didn't move out of your way...try it again. It CAN happen. Pull yourself together then pull that dream out of the back of the closet and get reacquainted with it. Spend some time with it and fall in love again. Clean it up and place it where you can see it. Then, take a deep breath and listen...you hear it? It sounds like the wind blowing through the trees but it's really God breathing life back into your dead thing. I know it didn't work last time but try it again. I mean full out - GO FOR IT. I didn't say it would be easy or quick but it is POSSIBLE.
Believe Again.

Copyright 2011 Audrey McKay

Just Checking In

noreply@blogger.com (Audrey McKay) — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 12:55:00 +0000

Hello readers! Well, it's official. I have my Master's Degree in Entertainment Business (yay me!) I finished the program about the same time that I finished my book, BLIND JUSTICE, the 3rd book in the GOOD NEWS SERIES. I took a little break and then it was back to writing. Im just getting to the end of my second draft for my first screenplay, and I've also started working on the fourth book in the series LONG NIGHT. (No rest for the weary) For those who are interested, this 4th book will focus on the character Terrence - because I've had a few requests to find out more about him. This book should be ready by the holidays (Nov/Dec) Other than that, not too much is going on. I hope you're enjoying your work too. If not, it may be time to make some changes, hmmm? Just a thought. Until next time...
xoxox
Audrey

Expect the unexpected

noreply@blogger.com (Audrey McKay) — Wed, 11 May 2011 03:57:00 +0000

Hellloooooo!

I feel like I'm finally coming out of a long tunnel and I see a small but bright light. School will be done this month (Yay me!) The third book in the Good News Series will also be done this month so now I can get started with some other things like finishing my script, finishing book #4 (for all of you who've been worried about Terrence) and making some money.

So, you're probably wondering about the title of this post. It sort of has to do with an update from the last post. I mentioned last time that my sales had gone down for B&N and I just wanted to give you an update. It turns out that I wasn't the only author whose sales were affected for several weeks. According to reports I've read, B&N decided to shake things up a little in order to get some erotica titles off the best-sellers list. They shifted these books (along with a lot of others) out of their normal categories and into new ones. I for example was switched from "African-American, Christian Fiction" to "Peoples and Cultures". Of course the people looking for my type of books would be looking nowhere near "P&C" so sales decreased dramatically. The one good thing I can say is, I wasn't terribly affected because I don't sell that many books (yet). I read several cases though where people were greatly affected by the loss of income, one lady said she lost $11,000 for that month.

I said all that to say, yes you guessed it, expect the unexpected. Someone you don't know could be making a decision that will affect you tomorrow and you're just going to have to roll with the punches. If you are a Christian you can join with me as I stand on the promise that "All things work together for the good of those that love God and are the called, according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28) No, I can't truthfully say I see any good coming out of that situation right now, it was more of an annoyance than anything else but I will trust God and keep moving. There's a good life lesson in there somewhere too. That's it for now. ;-)
Ciao bellas
until next time
Audrey

Branching Out

noreply@blogger.com (Audrey McKay) — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 16:42:00 +0000

Hola! Sorry for the long break but I'm trying to finish the third book, a screenplay and school all at the same time. Whew! Things are going well but I've had to cut back on some other things (i.e. blogging and social networking) but I did want to let you know about two new companies I found. I'm at the point now where I'm trying to determine the best pricing strategy and methods for me. To that end, I did a little experiment where I dropped the price of my 1st book from $2.99 to $0.99. The results were very interesting.

First let me explain that if you self publish, Amazon and Barnes&Noble are set up so that you can make a 70% royalty, which is HUGE in the publishing world, but your book has to be priced between $2.99 and $9.99. Anything below or above that and your royalty rate falls to 30% or 35% depending on the company. That means I would have to sell six times as many books @ $0.99 to make what I was doing for one book @$2.99. The results? (drumroll please) Well, I sold six times as many books on Amazon. If I count how many books I sold during the experimentation period, based on what I had been selling, sales were steady. Meaning, if I divided the number of books sold during those two and a half weeks by six, it equalled out to what I had been selling. The benefit though, is that six times as many readers purchased the first book which will hopefully lead to them purchasing the second and third (I'm working on it) books in the future. Remember, those results were for Amazon only. Here's where it gets funky.

Sales for Barnes&Noble decreased. Go figure. Not sure how or why that happened but it looks like it has continued for at least a couple of weeks afterward. Unless for some reason, B&N aren't reporting their figures correctly, I'll be down in sales on that site for this month. That's mostly why the experiment only lasted two and a half weeks. The good news is, Amazon more than made up for it. For one thing my ranking for that book jumped approximately 50,000 places in the Kindle store and even after I returned the book to the regular price, sales are now higher for that book than they were previously. All in all, it was a good thing to do, I believe. I still can't figure out what happened on B&N but I guess somethings aren't meant to be understood. #movingon

So...my experiment got me to thinking that I don't want my financial gain to be at the whim of B&N readers or even Amazon readers only. I figured I should open myself up to other markets, hence the title of this blog. I'm trying two new companies as I branch out (another experiment). The first is BookBaby. For a one time fee they will publish your book on Amazon, B&N, Sony Reader Store and the iBookstore. Of course, I only used them for Sony and the iBookstore but after the one time fee, you can keep 100% of your royalties. The second company is BookBrewer, which is affiliated with Borders. They charge a much lower fee but they also take a cut of every royalty payment you receive that's not from Borders. They also sell in the iBookstore but use Borders (Kobo) and not Sony. The one slightly annoying thing for me is, I've been spoiled by Amazon's hourly updates of book sales. Barnes&Noble also has a system where you can see daily updates but these new companies only report in 3 month (BookBaby) or 1 month (BookBrewer) increments. I don't know how I'm doing on those other sites yet but I will definitely let you know how it goes. So, that's it for my update. If you self publish and are trying something new, let me know what's working for you.
Take care of yourself (no one else will do it like you) :-)
Ciao bellas

Marketing and Negotiaing

noreply@blogger.com (Audrey McKay) — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 03:53:00 +0000

In a post I wrote a few weeks back, I mentioned that I used a short cut of sorts when promoting my books. I also mentioned that marketing was a necessity to authors, especially those who self-publish. My “short-cut” came in the form of a Christian Bookclub who emails its’ members to let them know of new releases.

Marina Woods is the owner and force behind the GoodGirlBookClubOnline. She’s the person I turn to when I want to market my books. GGBC was started when Marina grew tired of reading books that compromised her beliefs. She reasoned that there were others out there like her, so she put the wheels in motion and has now amassed several thousand names of people who like to read the kind of books I write.

I spoke to Marina about what it takes to run GGBC and she was kind enough to answer a few questions. I’ve summarized my conversation with her below. Hopefully, her insight and time in the PR industry will help you in your future endeavors.

As well as promoting products on GGBC, Marina also takes on new clients/authors and pitches them to media outlets. She negotiates deals between those clients and the outlets based on what the client needs or is even budgetary concerns. She states that often times, she will offer an exclusive if the outlet is willing to offer her client a feature story. When she buys ads for her clients she looks at the media outlets ‘rate cards then after assessing her clients’ budget, she tries to negotiate a deal. She contacts an outlet letting them know of her ‘serious interest’ and proposes an offer within her clients’ budget that she hopes the outlet will accept. It’s at that point that the outlet will tell Marina what they can or cannot do for her and the client. She tries to negotiate with them, attempting to get the best rate for her client with a deal the outlet will accept. She notes that she has had to walk away from a deal when neither party could come to an acceptable agreement.

Finally, she stated that thorough research, kindness and fairness go a long way in negotiating deals. Whether you hire someone to do this for you or you begin, marketing and negotiating for yourself, the advice Marina gives here, should help you in reaching your goals.

Rich Writer, Poor Writer

noreply@blogger.com (Audrey McKay) — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 04:26:00 +0000

I was recently re-reading Rich Dad Poor Dad and the main point of the book, to me at least, is to have money work for you instead of you working for money. Since we’ve touched on self-publishing over the last few posts, I’ve decided to do a quick step-by-step guide. After the initial time investment of writing your work, you can sit back and let the money roll in (assuming people want to buy your work)

1. Complete your work and get it reviewed, if not by a paid editor, then by family or friends or a social networking group.
2. Pick a service. (We’ll use Amazon for this post)
3. Answer all the questions to set up your account and desired royalty options.
4. Price your work appropriately. ($2.99 and lower is best -See previous post)
5. Upload your work to the Kindle Direct Publishing website.
6. Publicize, network and market, market, market!

It’s been a little over a year since I self published my first book and the second book was just finished. I’m just now getting to the point where I’m receiving a monthly royalty check and I believe writing another book helped with the increase in sales. It’s still not a lot of money yet but the potential for growth is unlimited. With no overhead costs, I’m in the position to have money work for me. As seen in the last post, there are many authors who’ve established a large platform and are earning more than $1,000.00 per month. There are also several authors who currently earn more than $10,000.00 per month from self-publishing. With no publisher taking money off the top, these writers have set up a great future for themselves.

So the choice is up to you. Are you ready to take the leap and use the skills you have to help secure your financial future?

I say come on in, the water’s fine
Take care until next time.

Writers, You Should Be Concerned About The Bottom Line

noreply@blogger.com (Audrey McKay) — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 02:05:00 +0000

Writers, You Should Be Concerned About The Bottom Line

Sorry for the long holiday break but I’m back and in case anyone is confused about the title of this blog, I’m talking about money. I’ll be talking about self-publishing in this blog. I may be a little biased because I am a self-publisher but there are others that agree with me. (See http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/)

If nothing else, trust the numbers. The big publishers only give an author approximately 17.5% for every book sold while Amazon and Barnes & Noble (B&N) offer 70% and 65% respectively for every e-book sold. You will also have a much longer wait between the time you submit the book to your publisher and when the book comes out to the market than with a service like Amazon or B&N. That is time you could be earning money. Uploading to both sites is free so you will have no overhead costs or advances to pay back.

I don’t want to make it sound like selling a lot of e-books is a walk in the park because it’s not. What you’ll be missing if you decide to self publish is a great editor. You can hire your own like I did but please get someone to objectively review your book. You’ll also be missing the marketing experience of a big publisher. You’ll have to do all your own advertising and marketing if you get into self-publishing. A warning to the creative types, if you enjoyed writing your book, you probably won’t enjoy the promotion side as much.

So what’s a creative writer to do? Easy. Don’t re-invent the wheel, just hop on someone else’s wheel. You’ll most likely have to pay for a ride on that wheel but trust me when I tell you it’s still easier than starting from scratch. I would try established bloggers or book clubs. I myself went to a company that had already compiled the names of thousands of women in my target demographic. The company charges a fee to send out an ad or “e-blast” for your book to a specified number of readers but those are readers are potential buyers which equal potential sales. It may cost you a little money but consider it an investment. Facebook is another cost-effective way to advertise. You set the budget upfront so there are no surprises to deal with. Whatever you do, just get out there. Someone wants to hear what you’ve got to say.

That’s it for now.
Take care!
Audrey

Hey Writers, Find Your Voice and Use It

noreply@blogger.com (Audrey McKay) — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 03:27:00 +0000

Twenty something years ago, Madonna said we’re living in a material world and while that is still true, we can now add digital to the list. We live in a digital world and it would behoove you to take advantage of it. Since you have digital tools available to you and mostly for free, why not use them.

In this day and age reputations are made or broken with digital tools. Consider the following; Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse in the world but maintains a consistent and vocal online presence. BP’s reputation was nearly destroyed because of the gulf oil spill but they put the final nail in their own coffin by not addressing the issue with the public via social networking sites. Check out the links below for more information.
http://blip.tv/file/3866406

http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2010/07/5-digital-pr-lessons-from-bps-oil-spillresponse193.html

Right now I bet you’re wondering what’s the method to get your voice out there. The simple answer is just pick one. I’ll touch on three in this post. We touched on making your own video last week. That is a great way to get you voice out there. Along with voicing an opinion, it allows you to connect with an audience. If you want to let others know what you’re doing (or writing) you have to let others know your out there. Check out the link below from best selling author John Irving.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1TbTCDHKRY

Another way to get your voice out there is to record it. BlogTalkRadio .com allows any and everyone with something to say a chance to say it. If you need to build a platform, this is a relatively easy way. And what’s even better, you can invite guests to help you get your point (s) across. You can write a script or do it freestyle. Just do it. Check out the link below from writerslifechats on blogtalkradio.
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/writerslifechats

Last but not least, we have the old stand-bys social networking sites. Get connected with people who are doing what you do. You have a plethora of sites to choose from. Since we’re talking about writing, I’ve picked one for you to check out.
http://tribes.tribe.net/writersanonymous

Hey Writers, a Picture Really is Worth 1,000 words

noreply@blogger.com (Audrey McKay) — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 02:34:00 +0000

I’m referring to talking pictures here, stay with me. The question of the hour is should you use video in your advertising and marketing campaigns. The short answer is yes. I’m not sure about the science behind it, but apparently seeing someone, even if it’s on video, helps us feel more connected. And let’s face it, you aren’t going to sell your product or your service or yourself unless people believe they should buy into you. Since you’re the owner or CEO or whatever, you should be the one who decides what they are buying into.

Since I’m not sure what kind of writing you’re doing, I’ll address two types. Let’s start with the novelist. As we stated last week, if you don’t have a website, you should get one as soon as possible. Almost everyone uses the web now days. So, on your website, I would suggest you put at least one type of video, preferably two. The first should be a video about you. It will help your readers know a little more about you and feel like they have something in common with you. You can record yourself for about 2 or 3 minutes talking about your life, what led you to writing, etc. It should feel personal and intimate. Invite the reader into your world and let them seem how you think. Post the video on YouTube and add a link to your site is space/bandwidth is a concern. The second video should be a video book trailer. At this point, I want you to do what I say and not I what I did (Mine isn’t done yet) but I will post my trailer soon. The trailer should whet the readers’ appetites and give them a taste of what is to come. Even if you can’t afford to do a real video trailer (With hired actors, lighting crew, etc) try to put together something for your readers. If you do it well, it can only help you. Even non-fiction writers can get in on this. A short string of interviews with real people addressing the issues in your book would look great on your site and might go further if the interviewees have read and mention your book.

The video below has no talking actors but great graphics and stirs an interest in the reader to pick up the book.

A Video Book Trailer

Next, I’ll address script writers. The same principles work for you but better. If you are trying to sell a screenplay or a film you should put together a short teaser to show people what they have to look forward to. It is very likely that whoever ends up buying your script won’t use any of your filmed ideas, but you’ve at least given them something to work with. For independent filmmakers, a short film placed on a website like YouTube or another site where your target audience frequently visits would be a great tool to entice viewers to see your movie. I found the trailer below on YouTube where it’s been seen by over 10,000 people. A trailer or short film is a great way to build buzz about your next project.

A Film Trailer

So You Want To Be Writer In Hollywood ?

noreply@blogger.com (Audrey McKay) — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 02:19:00 +0000

Breaking into the movie business has obvious perks but how do you do it? There are several schools of thought but I’ll touch on three here. Let’s call the first way, “The Front Door”. This is how it’s always been done. You (prospective screenwriter) write a script, try to land an agent based on that script and wait for your agent to shop your script and secure a deal for you. Most would agree that way hardly works anymore but it could so stay open. The next way is what I like to call “The Back Door” and this way is very popular. In fact, there is a whole industry built around it. It’s even become so popular that well known screenwriters hold classes on how to do it. You take the back door when you skip the agent and try to secure a deal by yourself. The Hollywood Creative Directory, or some tool like it is an absolute necessity if you decide to use this method. This book lists every major studio, network executive and production company known to man. The idea here is to send out your script to everyone in the book that may have the slightest interest in it. You also have to close your eyes and jump up and down while clicking your heels three times when you do this method but hey it works for some people. I call the last method “The Garage Door”. This last method is the most time-consuming because it requires you to actually produce a film instead of just a script. The good news is that people in Hollywood tend to be visual creatures so having something they can actually sit down and watch is a bonus for you. But here’s the reality check, you actually have to find someone to watch it. I call it “the garage door” because you are technically “in the house.” If you’ve created a film, you can call yourself a filmmaker but you’re still outside the main stream. I can hear all of you asking which door should I try? In my humble opinion if this is something you really want to do, you should try them all. You never know which one might open up. So your next question is “how do I do it?” First, if you’re not already, get educated. There are plenty of places where you can buy books or DVDs that will teach you what you need to know. The Writer’s Store and Film School Online are just two of them. Second, establish an online presence. If you don’t have accounts with Twitter and Facebook already, set them up and then network, network, network! Follow (on Twitter) or friend (on Facebook) people who are doing what you want to do. Take plenty of notes and follow advice when it’s given. This will put you a big step ahead of the pack. Also, set up your own website or blog and let people know what your doing. People love to follow a journey. The important thing is to get your name out there and build a platform. If you have a product, advertise it. You can buy ad space almost anywhere but try to focus on a specific group. For example, if you’re writing romantic comedies, you probably don’t need to advertise on sites that the Hell’s Angel’s frequent. Find your people and stay attached to them. Lastly, be committed enough to stick with it. If you’re really meant to break into “the business” you will, just give yourself time. Remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day.

Check out the links below then go forth and conquer!