Finances - keeping the numbers straight

Part of the joys of being self-published is being able to have full control over my business: my books. I get to decide prices, sales, promotions, everything. The other side consists of massive amounts of data that you need to organize, analyze, and basically figure out.

My first year as a published author, I had one book out. My organization system consisted of saving the emails that CreateSpace, Amazon, and NookPress sent regarding my royalties and called it easy.

My second year was when things really got interesting. At this point I realized there was more to being a published author than just collecting payments and selling to my friends and family. That year I started having more costs than the first year, paying for bookmark designs, blog designs, promotional tours, etc. I also had two books out and I wanted to track sales in a little more organized manner. I began to create spreadsheets to track sales (which turned out to be a good idea once tax season arrived!)

I am now in the my third year of being self-published with four books published and have figured out a system that is working pretty well for me. The hard part now is constantly tweaking the system so that it doesn't become overwhelming as I publish more books and increase the cost (and sales) of my business.

I give you...my spreadsheets! If you would like a copy, just email me (sorry, but I'm having a hard time figuring out how to directly link it here) All of these were created using Excel so it is fairly easy to tailor them for your use. The workbook consists of a Yearly Profit and Loss sheet, Yearly Costs, Yearly Revenue, Yearly Paperback Sales, and Yearly e-book sales. I'm also working to form sheets that will track all of the sales per book (I have one right now, but it's not pretty, so I won't be sharing it quite yet).

Happy financing!

Total Yearly Cost is just that, everything that I've spent on my books for that year. This includes covers, editing services, book orders, blog tours, and donations/give-aways. I have the Category table because I like to keep track of what I'm spending money on, and otherwise I will easily let the donations get away from me. I also include invoice numbers whenever possible, but that's probably an extra step.

This one is for my E-books, and I have a different sheet for each vendor (Amazon, Nook, etc.). Because the royalty payments don't happen immediately, I separate the sales and the payments. That way I can easily see when book sales increase/decrease, as well as keep tabs on when money is going into my account (and double check that everything is adding up correctly)

I love selling signed copies of my paperbacks, whether it is to friends and family or at book signing events. This sheet allows me to very easily see when/what I'm purchasing, as well as who is buying the book and any necessary information.

And finally, the big one, EVERYTHING. This sheet can get confusing quickly, but it's also great when I want to see all of my information in one place. I start with putting in my income from the previous year and then go from there. This also allows me to double check my revenue and cost sheets and make sure I don't miss anything. It's also very clear where my finances are each month and how my costs compare to my profits.

The business side of authoring

When I started writing, I didn't know there was a self-publishing option. I was prepared to send my manuscript off to publishers and face rejection after rejection, maybe seeing a positive response in twenty years and finally having it published, or maybe I'd get lucky and they'd publish it quickly, but only after I changed key parts of the story (yes, I had a pretty bleak view of the traditional route, built upon conversations with past teachers and writing guides)

Then I discovered self-publishing, and yes, my first thought was, "Omg, this is going to be so easy!"

Ha.

and again I say

Ha ha

Then I learned, as all self-pubbed authors eventually do, that it is far from easy. I had no idea how much time or money (or both) went into creating a finished product with the editing, formatting, cover design, and marketing. It was a completely different world than I expected (although I'm not really sure what I expected, maybe some fairy magic?) but also amazing.

I do my first round (or three) of edits, and then send it off to my editor, the always amazing Kristina Circelli. She then puts on her jack-of-all-trades hat and goes to town fixing my grammar, spelling, and noting any lingering inconsistencies both in the story and the wording. As proof of how awesome she is, she once noticed a typo that made my story turn from a PG-13 rating to XXX, a typo that was completely context appropriate, and slipped by all 3 of my edits, and the edits of my parents. Eek!

Right now, I do all my formatting, although I frequently send out a frantic SOS to my dear friend Julie with JT Formatting when something just isn't quite working right. I'll do a separate post on the things I have learned about formatting, as well as helpful guides that I have found that others have already posted on the interwebs.

Covers..oh covers...I have hired several cover artists, including Jenny Laatch, Elizabeth Sharp, and Stephanie from Once Upon a Time covers, and will gladly sing praises of them all. They have all been incredible with taking my (often very bad or cliche) ideas for a cover and then turn it into a finished, professional product.

I'm not even going to talk about marketing lol. I think that's an entire blog in itself!

And then...the biggie...the finances! That's my next post :)

Cover Reveal - 10 Years

Cover reveal time!

You know I love my Bethany Lopez novels, so I'm so excited to bring you the cover reveal for the next book in her A Time for Love series, 10 Years! I have the rest of this series in several formats (including a signed copy of every book in the series lol) and cannot wait for this one!


*Warning* This book contains some scenes that may be hard to read. This story is meant for readers 18 and older

Excerpt at end of post

Title: 10 Years (Time for Love #5)

Author: Bethany Lopez

Age Group: NA

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Cover Designer: B Designs

Goodreads

A lot can happen in 10 years, and Gwen and Craig have been there for each other through it all, from meeting on the playground to juggling college finals. But their long-standing friendship hasn't been without its challenges.

Gwen keeps her emotions locked down tight, and when someone hurts her, she shuts down and shuts them out. Craig has always been her hero, but when one night leaves her broken, she realizes he has the power to hurt her the most.

Unable to get past Gwen's emotional barriers, Craig focuses on baseball and reaching for his dreams, but he misses his best friend. He wonders if he'll ever have the same relationship he did with the girl he met ten years ago.

When the barriers finally come down and their true feelings are revealed, will they finally become the couple everyone says they're destined to be, or will the darkness from Gwen's past tear them apart forever?

Pre-order

COVER REVEAL MATERIALS: 10 Years by Bethany Lop

Pre-order your copy!

iBooks

Barnes & Noble

Kobo

Series Reading Order:

8 Weeks

21 Days

42 Hours

15 Minutes

10 Years ~ Releasing, Feb 3, 2015

            

Award-Winning Author Bethany Lopez began self-publishing in June 2011. Since then she has published various YA and NA books. She is a lover of romance, family, and friends, and enjoys incorporating those things in what she writes. When she isn't reading or writing, she loves spending time with her husband and children, traveling whenever possible.

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Excerpt ~ Gwen

His lips were softer than I’d ever imagined, and I’d imagined them a lot. At least once a day since I turned thirteen, maybe more.

I brought a hand up to touch his cheek gently, worried that too much movement on my part would bring him back to reality, and he’d pull away.

I could taste beer on his breath, but I didn’t mind. He moved closer, his hand on my back drawing me in so our chests touched. I took a sharp breath at the contact, amazed at how good it felt.

This was the first time I’d kissed, or touched another guy since that night with Brad at his party, but it was apples and oranges in comparison. With Craig I didn’t have one second of doubt, I knew I wanted his lips on mine, and now that I’d had a taste, I didn’t know how I’d ever be able to go back to the way things used to be.

I hoped he felt the same.

“Can I touch you, Gwennie?” Craig asked, his hand at the hem of my t-shirt.

His breath against my ear caused goosebumps to break out over my sensitive flesh.

“Yes,” I responded, my voice barely a whisper.

His hand was cool against my heated stomach and I shivered as he ran it up towards my breasts, which became heavy in anticipation of his touch.

Starting over with a finished product

Once upon a time, a woman wrote a story. She planned on it being read by her parents, maybe her relatives, and maybe a handful of friends. There was never a second book that went along with it, and there was certainly not a business in her mind.

Then there were two books, and then three, and then a fourth in the works, and possible a novella, and the business grew.

Where is this all leading? My newest, biggest project (you know, other than writing two more books which I hope to have published this year) : the re-release of the Land of Kaldalangra series! The books will be a different size (I've come to find I love 5 by 8's a lot more than 6 by 9's) and will have cohesive covers. I'm also battling with adding a few scene's to The Lady of Steinbrekka to fill in a few plot holes.

I'm very excited about this, and I think you guys are going to love the result, except for my father who probably won't talk to me for changing the cover of The Lady of Steinbrekka. Just kidding, he has to talk to me, he's my dad.

My favorite Christmas things

My top 5 Christmas things

    Don’t hate me, but I’ve always been a bit “meh” when it comes to Christmas. Not Scrooge status by any means, but coming from a small family, Christmas just wasn’t that big of a thing. We decorated, and we opened presents, and that was about it. College changed it to “eh”. It was nice to get together with my parents after being away at school, but I was pretty broke (but became talented at homemade presents) and since they had just moved when I left for college, there wasn’t a sense of community festivities.

    Then came being a home-owner, and a mom, and now Christmas takes on a whole new meaning for me! I love putting up the yard lights, decorating the house, and cooking delicious food. It was especially fun this year when my 3-year-old daughter was able to help me decorate our tree, and we would go through the story of every ornament. It’s a totally different world, and I love it.


1) Lights! Oh yes, give me bright, sparkly lights when it’s dark outside. Colorful, white, yellow, green, it doesn’t matter to me. I love seeing houses lit up and every night during the month of December my daughter and I will drive around all of the various neighborhoods to see the displays.

    While most people would put me in the group of (somewhat) annoying people who put up lights far too early, this is my argument. When it is dark at 5pm, I need lights to be happy. It just so happened that this year it was dark at 5pm the week before Thanksgiving. I shall call them, Thanksgiving Lights, and they shall be my lights.



2) Cranberries! Call me blasphemous, but I’m not huge pumpkin fan. Cranberries, on the other hand, are my go-to food of the season. Cranberry muffins, cranberry scones, cranberry bread, cranberry sauce, nom. My favorite use of cranberries is something my family calls Cranberry Marshmallow Goodness. Basically cranberries, walnuts, marshmallows and pineapple chunks mixed into a big bowl of whipped cream. So good.



3) Wrapping paper. Alright, I’ll agree, this one makes me a little weird, but I love wrapping paper! I love all of the pretty designs, especially the glittery ones. I have been known to just cut wrapping paper in 4 by 6 squares and put it into frames because it’s “that” pretty. It’s a problem I’m okay with having.



4) Quality kid time. I work in the education system, so Christmas means winter break, which means I get to spend more time with my kid. It also means not having to wake up to an alarm for 2(ish) weeks or spending 2 hours on the road 5 days a week.



5) Hat making. I didn’t get a chance to do it this year (except for between now and Christmas, when I will make 4 hats), but I usually spend all of November and December crocheting hats. I love to crochet hats of all types and sizes, then donate them to local shelters and hospitals just before the holiday. I’m already gearing up for a big hat event next year where my plan is to donate 100 (or more) hats to our local foster care center for the holidays.

New Release - The Collectors' Society

Do you know about Heather Lyons? How about that she has a brand new book out (that came out in October!)? No? Oh good, then I'm not the only one running a little late these days! Have no fear, you can still pick up a copy and it will still be just as good, and she will still love you. It's like a getting a birthday card a week later, a nice little perk!




 
 THE COLLECTORS’ SOCIETY is an Adult Romantic Fairy Tale, full of adventure and fantasy. This is Alice as you have never seen her before...  

Cover design by Victoria Faye of Whit and Ware

THE COLLECTORS’ SOCIETY Goodreads

THE COLLECTORS’ SOCIETY Synopsis:

From the author of the Fate series and The Deep End of the Sea comes a fantastical romantic adventure that has Alice tumbling down the strangest rabbit hole yet.

After years in Wonderland, Alice has returned to England as an adult, desperate to reclaim sanity and control over her life. An enigmatic gentleman with an intriguing job offer too tempting to resist changes her plans for a calm existence, though. Soon, she’s whisked to New York and initiated into the Collectors’ Society, a secret organization whose members confirm that famous stories are anything but straightforward and that what she knows about the world is only a fraction of the truth.

It’s there she discovers villains are afoot—ones who want to shelve the lives of countless beings. Assigned to work with the mysterious and alluring Finn, Alice and the rest of the Collectors’ Society race against a doomsday clock in order to prevent further destruction . . . but will they make it before all their endings are erased?


 

About Heather Lyons:


Heather Lyons has always had a thing for words—She’s been writing stories since she was a kid. In addition to writing, she’s also been an archaeologist and a teacher. Heather is a rabid music fan, as evidenced by her (mostly) music-centric blog, and she’s married to an even larger music snob. They’re happily raising three kids who are mini music fiends who love to read and be read to.

 

 

Website ** Author Goodreads ** Twitter ** Facebook

Year in Review - 2014

I can't lie, every year around this time I get pretty sappy and sentimental. After shifting my focus from "soon it will be a new year, what will I do?" to "it's been a year, what did I do?" some pretty big changes have happened in my life. (and yes, I realize it's only Dec 2nd, but if this year is any indication, this month is going to be over before I know it!)

While my first thought is that 2014 was a pretty non-exciting year, if I actually look back, it's been anything but boring. No wonder it seems like I was just celebrating the incoming of 2014 and then BAM, we're now walking down the sidewalk to head into 2015. 

Because I like to share, and because I'm nosy about what everyone else did last year, here are some of my highlights.

In March, I attended my second Cascades Library Local Author Fair. Once again it was a total blast, and I thoroughly look forward to this years. 

In April, I received the official notice that my debut novel, The Lady of Steinbrekka, was going to be part of Loudoun County Public Schools Battle of the Books competition! This is an amazing competition where teams of high schoolers have to read 10 specific books, 1 of each genre (mine is fantasy), and then compete in a district wide tournament to see who knows the books the best. It is a very surreal feeling to have my book in libraries, and to walk down the hallways at work and suddenly here, "OMG that's her! That's the person who wrote the book!" from teens who have been reading it. 

They also asked me to be the guest speaker at the 2014 BOTB competition. While I am terrified of public speaking and get very anxious at new situations, once I started talking (and the kids laughed at one of my very bad jokes), I was able to relax and it was a blast. The team who attended the hosting school even stayed with me for an hour after the competition was over just to ask questions about self publishing, writing, and what it was like to have a published book.

I also took my first step on my pathway to change when I signed up for an online course through the AAPC to get my certification in medical coding. This is what caused me to go quiet for most of the year, because my nose was buried in very large books with very large words.

Cover by Elizabeth Sharp

July brought my newest book baby to the world, Finding Keepers! This was actually one of my hardest books to write, even though I set out thinking it would be the easiest. Then my main character because a foster child, and I spent a good 6 months researching foster care so that I would do her justice and get it right. While this book is YA, it is also a very emotional read, and I have to confess, it was just as emotional to write.

August brought a whole new set of challenges (and pure awesomness) in the form of Believe, Hope, Live. This event was put together by D. Love and brought authors from around the country to Augusta Georgia for 2 days. I had the luck of driving from VA to Maine with the wonderful Kristina Circelli, and it was possibly the best road trip ever (especially since I just did the exact same trip a month earlier with my husband and 3-year-old, much different road trip!). After only 12 hours (and five minutes of not being able to figure out how to get out of a parking lot, you had to be there) we made it. What followed were two days of fun and pushing my social boundaries by meeting a ton of new people (if you ever get a chance to hang out with AE Woodward or Cynthia St. Aubin at an event, I highly recommend it!, and many people I only knew online like Elizabeth Sharp and Laura Howard. I also got to spend 2 days hanging out with Dawn Pendleton (who I technically met for the first time on my first Maine trip that summer) who immediately made me feel right at home.

I was then neck deep in learning medical coding, and dropped even more off the radar as I struggled to juggle my author life with my full-time job, with being a mom, and having to learn all new things (again, really really big words!), but was able to squeeze in a few more local events.

September brought my first "only me" bookstore signing! Chapter 2 books in Winchester VA was so gracious to include me in their opening day celebrations, and it was truly an incredible event. There were so many people and they had a DJ and it was just a total blast. I can't wait to work with them again.

November brought my first ever on-camera interview! Loudoun County Public Schools asked to film a short interview with me about my book, The Lady of Steinbrekka. I was even interviewed by THE Wayde Byard. To most people, he is the Public Relations officer for LCPS, but for all of the workers, students, and parents,  his voice is celebrated every time we hear the words, "Loudoun County Public Schools are closed" on snow days.

I finished my course on Sunday (WOOHOO) and will be taking my national certification in two weeks, so I will totally make it up to everyone.

(and kudos for you if you read this whole thing! Phew, it got long!)