Sarnai4

Hype people up for your original writing project (no fanfiction please- it's a wonderful medium but not the focus of this blog post) or work in progress by giving us some juicy details!

WELCOME TO MARKETING MONTH

Hi everyone, it's time to crack this case.... together. Please feel free to do submissions of questions for this event! Seriously! It's gonna be an entire month of us answering marketing questions and trying to figure out what to do about this conundrum.

TODAY'S QUESTION:

"How do I get my first 100 readers? Do I build an email list?" I have certainly found that building the email list is a major marketing strategy with a lot of supporters, my dear. The first 100 is very difficult as well. I am working on this problem myself, but would love to hear from others.

Here's what I have learned:

create an email funnel, draw people with the page with freebies; this can be shorter stories or art or the full idea behind a scene

make sure the funnel has to be confirmed- people enter their email, confirm the email, and only then they get the content. For me, we are making it so a second email is sent with the content automatically after the confirm button is clicked

post a lot on your social media that hints to the email funnel, with a link, but also support other artists and don't make your entire account about buying your book

Write multiple books.

There are so many reasons why a single book might not sell. It might not be the genre that somebody wants, it might not look how they want it to look, it might be too long/too short/have the POV they don't want, etc. If you write multiple books, the following can happen: (I'm jumping on the numbering bandwagon lol! Hope you don't mind!)

You get more practice writing. I fully believe that my first book was my weakest, not because it was bad, but because I had more opportunities to learn and grow since then (hence why I re-edited it recently).

You can explore more genres. More genres = a wider demographic for you as an author.

You get more experience marketing. I've been trying a variety of things like going wide with some books (Kobo, etc.) and sticking with Amazon for Kindle Unlimited with others. You can't experiment like that unless you have multiple books.

Day 10: Abyss- @monthlywritingchallenges

For Moon June, I’m going to be writing excerpts from a current project of mine, The Language of Wolves. These are all out-of-order and -out-of-context; They’re mostly just to get my creative juices flowing. Keep in mind that they’re also unedited.

If you get mentioned under ANY blog that says they're Tumblr staff. DON'T FALL FOR IT!!!!!!

Trust isn’t always a struggle.

Trust can be about surrendering.

Giving in, and letting someone else catch you as you fall.

"It's overpowering…" Andric's eyes skipped over her face, looking for something. She didn't know what he found, but his lips pressed tight as though biting back words. The tang of chocolate cut through the sweetness, and then she felt Andric's thumb brush along her ribs in a soothing stroke. "Do you trust me?" Andric asked, and Lizzy was nodding before she even considered questioning him. His other hand sank into her hair, and Lizzy melted into his hold as he tugged her closer. Lips crashed against hers, and Lizzy responded instantly. One arm curled up around Andric's neck, while her other settled against his chest, pressing hard enough to feel his heart thrumming beneath her splayed fingers.

Darkling, Arista Holmes, ©2026

Darkling will be released June 21st 2026!

You can pre-order the ebook now on all platforms, including Itch. io. Paperback and Hardcover options have been uploaded but some platforms won't allow orders until release day.

Preorder goodies? Preorder goodies!

Hand Written Thank Note

Printed Character Art

Lizzy’s Pendant Sticker

Signed Bookplate

Bookmark

Digital Bonus Scene from Booker’s POV!

Simply place your order, and then complete the form on my website!

There's also a giveaway!

What do you mean these characters are STILL alive by that point? I didn't kill any of them yet???

Should I? I kinda want to. But no, character development...but yes, because drama and an incomplete arc can hurt more when it ends so abruptly...ughhhh.

Hype people up for your original writing project (no fanfiction please- it's a wonderful medium but not the focus of this blog post) or work in progress by giving us some juicy details!

WELCOME TO MARKETING MONTH

Hi everyone, it's time to crack this case.... together. Please feel free to do submissions of questions for this event! Seriously! It's gonna be an entire month of us answering marketing questions and trying to figure out what to do about this conundrum.

TODAY'S QUESTION:

What I have noticed with ARC readers is that it is crucial that you know where to look. Frankly, I love Tumblr to pieces, but I don't know how much of the book community here is familiar with what ARCs are and although word of mouth advertisement is great too, I don't want to just send out free copies carelessly. On Threads, you have people who are actively looking for ARCs to read and review. It's how they've built up their accounts. That also helps with accountability. If they just stop giving reviews, they lose credibility, so there's an incentive for them to give you their word and mean it. These posts aren't always super easy to find, but they are out there. If you have patience, you'll find them! (It's where the bulk of my reviews have been from)

Tying into Vermeer's point, it can also help to just ask for reviews like that. I did a version of this recently with my debut book since I did re-edits and updated it. To help get some reviews to reflect that the book had been improved, I've done some promotion for it being free now. Admittedly, I haven't tried anything as straightforward as just asking for a review in exchange, but that could work since it's not technically an Advanced Reader Copy anymore.

You definitely want to be careful and make sure that you aren't implying someone has to review your book if it is indeed an ARC. I'm not sure all the rules surrounding that, but I've heard it can cause some trouble. You need to make it clear that the ARC is given freely without any conditions (but if they would be so kind as to reciprocate your generosity with a review, hey, who's complaining?). So, the Reader/Review Copies after a book has already been out could actually be the perfect opportunity to just be upfront and ask for a review in exchange without breaking any rule. I couldn't resist the urge to include a meme, so...my deepest apologies:

As you may know, there was recently a DC Comics boycott as a part of the DCSoWhite movement since DC has not had a mainline ongoing solo with a Black lead for over 1200 days. You can read more about this here, here, here, and here. The boycott has been cancelled (link), but that doesn't mean we can't still show support for Black comic creators!

One of the things the movement called for fans to do was to "[Support] Black creators through independent and creator-owned projects." So this post is meant to provide tips on how to do this.

Check out other works of Black creators you're already familiar with

The Black comic creators you're already a fan of who have made comics for DC or Marvel have likely also made comics for other publishers too. You can usually find out about other comics they've worked on through their Wikipedia page, social media pages, and their own website if they have one. And it's a good idea to follow their social media to learn about any of their projects in the future!

Look through indie publisher websites

A great way to find out about indie comics is to check out indie publishers' websites. There will almost always be a page on their websites with all their comics so you can easily look through them and the creators will be listed so you can look into the creators too. This is one way to find out about Black comic creators who you might not already be familiar with.

The publishers that are listed as examples in the webpages linked above are Image Comics, BOOM! Studios, Vault Comics, Ignition Press, and Stranger Comics.

Check out existing lists

There are already lists online that specifically recommend Black creators to check out and comics by Black creators. You can also find recommendations and lists on social media. This is another great way to find out about Black comic creators you're not yet familiar with.

Speaking of lists, I would like to point you to this post by @bimboopo which includes a list of many Black webtoon creators which you can go check out!

Hype people up for your original writing project (no fanfiction please- it's a wonderful medium but not the focus of this blog post) or work in progress by giving us some juicy details!

WELCOME TO MARKETING MONTH

Hi everyone, it's time to crack this case.... together. Please feel free to do submissions of questions for this event! Seriously! It's gonna be an entire month of us answering marketing questions and trying to figure out what to do about this conundrum.

TODAY'S QUESTION:

Posting on socials is great, but a big thing is making those connections. Let others see you are eager to engage with them and their passions, that you have similar likes. We all like a nice comment! You'd be ecstatic for the engagement, I'm sure others would be too.