I need to start writing more. I can't sell eBooks if I don't write them

A couple of nights ago I lost sleep to make sure and polish then upload my first book back onto Kindle and Barnes and Noble. I was so happy and relieved to put that behind me and be able to concentrate on finishing up book #2. But I haven't even touched it. I realized that I have spent my past 2 lunch hours reading the success stories of other self published/indie authors instead of using that time to finish my own work and get started on book #3.

Now, I have always loved a good underdog comes out on top and rags to riches story, be it in novels or in real life. But when I am wrapped up in these stories shouting "you GO girl" and "yeah buddy" I am not helping myself further my writing career. I have to stop. It's like an addiction, especially with my pathetic sales. It gives me hope, you know?

Game face on, it's Friday and I plan to skip reading up on the wonderful successes of the fabulous ones that have gone before me and work on prayerfully becoming a success story myself. :)

If you would like to read up on some of these authors and find out what they have accomplished and sacrificed to get where they are now you can visit any or all of the following blogs.

Get some inspiration and then AIS people. Ass in seat and gets ta writing!

http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/

http://selfpublishingsuccessstories.blogspot.com/

http://www.lindsayburoker.com/

Happy Writing

Pen names for E-books

Obviously every writer's goal is to make money with their writing. And as I read articles, e-books and blogs it seems that getting more e-books out there is one of the key ways to gain exposure and make more sales which equals more money.

But what if you want to expand and write in different genres and categories?

There are some e-book authors doing quite well while crossing genres and using different pen names. I think I may do the same.

I do love writing non fiction budget travel books, but I have other things I long to work on. The biggest is to start and actually complete a contemporary romance novel. I say complete because over the years I have started and abandoned a few novels. Gotta work on that follow through :)

I think I am going to go with pen names for my next few projects. One is that I have been told that ethnic sounding names, like mine, do not sell as well. People assume they will not relate to your work. I pray that after I get a few reviews that I can overcome that with my books. No matter my name I am a single mom and I write for other single moms, it's as simple as that.

I do have other Traveltini's for my Broke Single Mom series that I want to put out in the next couple of months. I also have a couple of short stories I want to get started on, the issue is timing and organization.

With my Traveltini books its about research and compilation while my short stories should be pretty easy to get down on paper as they are both fictionalized versions of my dating life.

For now I will keep my very ethnic sounding last name on my non fiction titles and I will be brain storming pen names for my shorts.

And if when I finish my novel I will decide if I use one of the names I am already using or if a new pen name is in order. :)

Writing and selling the non-fiction e-book

Some people say that writing non fiction is the way to go if you want to make money fast. I haven't the slightest if this is true. What I do know is what is true for me and that is that I haven't made enough money yet to even cover my costs.

So why am I continuing to write non fiction? Especially when so many writers are caking it (making money hand over fist) with fiction?

Because I genuinely enjoy writing about shoestring budget travel, time flies when I am writing and doing research and crunching numbers. And I believe that once I get my name and books "out there" and noticed I will be helping so many people that are just like me. Single parents that believe the only way to take their kids on a vacation is to either visit family out of town or set up camp and sleep in a tent.

In this day and age there is no reason that almost everyone shouldn't be able to take a week off and have a grand old time of it without going into credit card debt. My 5 day Chicago vacation was around $400, including Amtrak tickets, parking, food and hotel and we got blessed and stayed at the amazing Embassy Suites a few blocks from the Navy Pier. Meanwhile my sister went camping near Washington DC for 4 days and spend $400 just on the camp site. A nice camp site to be sure, with a lake, pool and cafe, but at the end of the day she was still roughing it.

I do want to write a novel, most writers do. But for right now I will write my next few non fiction books to add to my virtual shelf space and take it from there.

So if you have a passion for something, gardening, cooking or playing the piano and want to share your knowledge and write about it, then do. Don't let anyone tell you there isn't a market  for it or that you are wasting your time.

Do what makes you happy and then market the heckaroni out of it! And if it works then yay for you! If it doesn't? Well at least you won't spend the next 20 or 30 years wondering "what if".

Sales Numbers for my first non fiction ebook

So, it has been a few weeks since I put up my first ebook for sale on Barnes and Noble and Amazon. According to the numbers on my sales reports I've only sold 3 total so far. Kinda sad, but I have hope. I've gotten really good feedback on the actual content of my book, so I am considering taking a leap (of faith and money) and redoing the cover. Since it is the first thing people will see I am thinking that a more colorful and fun cover might help me with sales. I'll be working on that this week. Here's to hoping that it works, or I'll never get out of my 8-5. whaaaaaaa!

So, anyone else out there in Cyber Land trying their hand at selling their non fiction books as ebooks? I'd love to hear from you :)

Until next time.