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In trying to put together some words regarding my writing philosophy, I realized the initial ideas that came to me, first two paragraphs below, were about encouraging someone else to be a writer.
That led me to try to change my focus to why might someone like my books and the third paragraph below.
My blog has had the first purpose, along with loving nature, and positive ideas toward life. Marketing my books has not been here so much. The thing I am wondering is can they be blended?
Writing romances is taking what you know, have loved, experienced, dreamed, along with the losses. mistakes and failures, adding a touch of fantasy, mixing it together with fictional characters, who use it to create their happily ever after.
For writing romances, take what you have learned about life, the positive and negative, add to it imagination and characters you get to know as if they were friends. That’s basis of my work for what I value, love, honesty, which comes first? For me it's been the writing, but many say write to th, courage, strength, friends, and family—along with happily ever after.
The basis for my romances, whether historical, fantasy or contemporary comes from what I value—love, honesty, courage, strength, friends, and family. I use what I’ve learned and dreamed—the easy and the hard with an added touch of fantasy.
Here's a question for writers and wantabes-- Which comes first, writing or marketing? It's taught by many that you need to know what the market is and write to that, if you ever want to sell. You need to learn what tropes readers want and make sure they are there.
As for me, I've gone the other way with writing to my interests, whether that was the historicals, contemporaries, or fantasies.There are popular tropes that turn me off totally for reading. How could I write to that.
What I have believed is that my characters work through different problems and time periods (where research comes in), taking into account what changing outside forces might be impacting them. My plots do have a similarity to them with some suspense, conflict and, of course, the happily ever after romances require. But that's me as a writer. What about the reader, those who know what kind of story they want and are unsure if what I write, in a different series, will satisfy them.
Selling books has to be part of a writer's focus. For some writers, it supports their families, but even when living frugally in retirement, it's important as writing is about sharing the writer's voice with others. Selling means that happened.
Some might say then make the books free or 99¢. That would be undercutting writers who are supporting their families. Another reason, to keep the price higher then that, relates to some believing a low price indicates less value in the book.
Other than for a sale, mine are priced based on lengths, as I believe they have equal quality. Novellas are $2.99. Novels vary from $3.99 to $4.99 based also on length. Their prices could be higher, many writers have their eBooks at $6.99 or more.
Marketing is frustrating to figure out what is fair to writers and readers. Currently none of mine are in KU because they are wide to sites like B&N, Kobo, etc. Well, there is an exception to that, with the contemporaries, which I have only in Amazon, but not KU. That's because of Amazon rules regarding independent writers. I can't have any book in KU unless I do not have it elsewhere.
For now, the contemporaries are where they are because I want to do editing, before I make them wide. I know that sounds confusing. It is to me, but I need to deal with their covers and maybe titles. I tend to not have enough commas, which had been a problem in the books I did just edit (the ones in the below poster).
It is a poster I made for the contemporary paranormals. I did it for my own satisfaction as not a lot of places I can use it. I like seeing my purposes and books together. Stories were set in Idaho, Montana, and Arizona, my beloved West.
