Rue Volley, established adult fiction, YA, and erotica author, has had a successful week. This week alone she has sold over 100 copies of her books. In this post I will attempt to get to the bottom of how she has achieved this success (aside from the obvious - extremely good writing!), so that the rest of us may make strides in that direction.
Where do you live: Ohio
Books you like to read: Anything that makes me go OH SHIT. lol
Favorite authors: Anne Rice, Cassandra Clare, James Patterson, all of my Indie author friends, massive talent there.
When you first knew you wanted to be an author: I still have not figured that out yet, I just write stories and hope for the best.
Other genres you would consider writing about: I have recently branched out into YA, paranormal of course but my heart is with my adult fiction and erotica.
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SLW: Rue, thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. I know that plenty of other indie authors are interested in knowing the steps you have taken to achieve your success. I noticed that Goodreads has 15 of your books listed. The oldest on the list, "Blood and Light", debuted on the list on 11/8/2010. Is this the first of your published works? And, I suppose I should ask if you consider yourself to be an"indie" author.
RV: Blood & Light was my first published book. I actually self published it before I was picked up by Vamptasy Publishing last year. I had the book out for 6 months and then I did a short in an anthology called “Red Wine” which was with Vamptasy and they took notice of me and started to talk to me about getting signed. We talked for over a month on Skype before a contract was presented, I took it to my lawyer and they checked it out and then I signed with Vamptasy and the honeymoon is still in full swing. AND I am an Indie author, I always will be regardless of whether I am on a traditional or Indie Pub. I believe in Independent arts and I try to spend as much time promoting those who do not get the exposure I feel that they should as I can. Of course my time gets tighter everyday but fortunately I have help now on my fan pages so it opens up more time for me.
SLW: What led you to write in the genre of vampire fiction/fantasy?
RV: I have always loved anything paranormal in nature. I practice in energy, have for years and I have been experiencing paranormal activity since I was 5 years old and saw my first spirit. It is embedded in me to write about it and I find it fun to not live in a box at all and fiction allows that.
SLW: Do you mind breaking down the 100+ books you sold this week? Were they mainly new promotions? Do your oldest works sell better these days, or have sales declined?
RV: My best seller is still the Blood & Light Vampire series. I have spent months promoting it and it has a good following now but it sells consistently every day. Then my erotics sell themselves, I promote them but there is a following for my type of writing so when I release a book in that genre people buy and I am grateful. As far as sales go I have been selling more each month for the past 6 months, this obviously being the biggest month so far. The truth is you get what you put into it. You have to promote and market yourself every single day. I realize that some people have full time jobs. I mean, most artists do, but before I was able to quit my job and do this full time I got up 2 hours early and did promotion and wrote, took my laptop to work and wrote and promoted on breaks and then did promotion when I got home. I kid you not when I say I work 14-16 hours a day on this now. Before it was less, because I had to leave the house, but now I am able to devote all of my time to my business - and that is another thing. A book IS your business, yours to market and yours to sell. You cannot just write a book, place it on Amazon and then kick back, unless you are Anne Rice or someone just as big. You need to do giveaways, get involved with as many networking groups as you can and market yourself. You cannot pummel people with JUST business either, or you get boring and people will block you on their feeds. Make sure to keep your personality intact. I mean, if you saw 50 ads for books. which one will you remember? The ones that say BUY ME NOW!!!!, or the ones that make you laugh? It’s an easy choice. But honestly my sales come from hard work and promotion and the fact that people like my stories, for which I am grateful.
SLW: Do you have a publisher or promoter, or do you handle that yourself?
RV: I am signed to Vamptasy Publishing in the UK. I also write under the flags of Hot Ink Press and Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly Publishing. I have written series with both. As far as promotion, I head that up for myself, but I do have a team now that also handles it for me so I can write and handle my businesses here. I also have a photography business and make jewelry, so I have to have time to devote to all three. ALSO, it is IMPERATIVE that you have a publishing family online, a group of people who promote you as you promote them. It is a balanced and fair trade, and they are also your closest friends. I have quite a few on CHBB and Hot Ink as well as my home pub, Vamptasy.
SLW: Where did you publish your first eBook? Do you have a favorite outlet, such as Amazon or Smashwords?
RV: All of my books are on Amazon as well as an online bookstore with Vamptasy Publishing. My work with Hot Ink and CHBB are also on Amazon, and on their website and bookstore. Amazon (although it can have mental breakdowns from time to time) is my favorite by far. Goodreads is also so important to any author, too. I would say those two are "must do’s," if you have a book out. Smashwords offers books in all formats, so that is a plus for them, but Amazon is king for books.
SLW: Do you sell more eBooks or hard copies?
RV: I sell a ton of eBooks and the print sales go up each month. People want hard copies of their favorite books. Print still sells just slower for everyone.
SLW: Do you mind letting us know how successful your first book was in the beginning? Did it take off immediately, or did you have to work hard to get it recognized?
RV: I had to work like anyone does or should.
SLW: What sort of promotional activities do you do? What seems to work the best? What has been a waste of time?
RV: Promotions happen on Facebook in groups mostly and my fan page. I am in over 55 groups, and started and host 6 of them now. Since I write in YA/adult and erotica, I promote them separately according to their genres. I also promote my erotics mostly later in the day for adults. I constantly get updated with my sales so I know what needs to have attention paid to it, and what promotions are working. I also do giveaways at least once a month on the fan page. I research things, as everyone should do. I know what the trending posts are as far as what people pay attention to, and it is pictures first, links second and videos third. The only thing that ties with pictures is short posts, and when linking your books add the link to buy it, and perhaps a snippet of a review so it is not just you all of the time.
SLW: Bouncing around, being new, trying to find the most efficient way to sell books can be discouraging. What good advice do you have that may help those of us struggling with this?
RV: Get on a blog tour, trade your book for reviews, get your likes/tags and reviews up on Amazon, participate on your fan pages often, even if it is a funny post or a picture you like. Post in groups, network your butt off and keep pushing forward. The effort to find things is all up to you, just type it in the search bar and check it out.
SLW: How do you recommend that a new author become recognized? What is a strategy that you use now that you wish you knew when you were just getting started?
RV: It is a gradual process. Like I said before, you have to be social and network in groups. Meet as many people as possible and pay attention to the ones who promote themselves. You can pick up so much by reading posts and seeing what they are doing. The work is never done, you have to constantly be ready to do an interview, guest blog or join a new group. It’s all about be aware of everything around you and dedicating the time to it.
SLW: If there is one piece of advice you would impart to any aspiring author, what would it be?
RV: Never respond to a negative review unless they are personally attacking you, and never let anyone tell you that you are not good enough because it is a lie. ALSO…stop OVERTHINKING your stories! Write it out, and you can go back later to make changes.
SLW: Are there any other words or thoughts you have regarding how to be successful as an online author?
RV: It is up to you. I know it may sound cheesy, but it is true. If you have a great product and you believe in it, then others will too. It is all in presentation and how much time you are willing to sacrifice to it. Treat it like your child and help it grow. You have to, because you know it better than anyone else does. Set yourself up for success by surrounding yourself with people who say "yes" and help you, and not those who say "no" and disappear when you need them most. I try to live in a positive light and I delete those who bring me down. I do not have time for that sort of thing. I am busy trying to climb a mountain here.
Thank you, Rue Volley, for taking the time to answer these questions. I hope that anyone reading this will be able to benefit from your success and wisdom. Keep up the good work, and thanks for being an inspiration.
If you would like to see more work from Rue Volley, or if you would like to be a fan or contact her, please use the following links:
Rue Volley Homepage:
http://www.ruevolley.com/
Blood & Light Series, on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rue-Volley-Blood-Light-Series/166002266766880
Kindle Store on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_10?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=rue+volley+kindle&sprefix=rue+volley%2Cdigital-text%2C250&fb_source=message
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Stephen L. Wilson
Smashwords Author/Publisher
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