N R Williams on finding readers for her books. Marketing tips, anyone?

I saw a facebook post recently that warmed my heart. A blogger who was ready to self-publish her flash fiction collection in time for Halloween was let down by her cover artist. She bemoaned that fact on facebook. There were many encouraging replies to her post, but a fellow blogger did something about it--she offered to do a cover for free...and quickly, so said author could go ahead and post.

That author was N. R. Williams. The very generous author who provided the brilliant cover was Nicole McDonald. 

Greetings fellow bloggers. Thank you for coming to visit and read my post. Denise has graciously asked me to write about my Halloween series and if I intend to continue publishing a book each October. I can’t really answer that without talking about what led me to develop the series in the first place. It is my hope that this post will inspire some of you.

Challenges

My life has been filled with challenges. As a child, I had to overcome being switched from my left hand to my right hand. This left me with a learning disability which made English grammar as formidable as a foreign language. I struggle with both. Wait, you say, aren’t you a writer? Yes, I am. I have overcome the grammar challenge.

As a child, I was an artist. Color has always been important to me. But I am also a perfectionist and so art in many forms began to frustrate me. I have transformed my gift of observation into a gift for description. Embracing the challenge.

As a writer, my first love is fantasy. I was bitten by the fantasy bug with Dr. Seuss first, then J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis and much later J. K. Rowling. I worked for over twenty years on my first book, learning all the rules of writing and grammar. People said, put your first book aside and do something different. I couldn’t. My first epic fantasy, The Treasures of Carmelidrium, lived with me and wouldn’t leave me alone. I was turned down by a lot of agents and publishers and so I met that challenge by self-publishing in 2011. Later that year publishers came out with a new designation. Young Adult. That fits me to a ‘T.’ My voice is ‘YA,’ but my characters are twenty something. Should I have waited to publish? I don’t know.

Now we come to the present and my new challenge. How to find readers and transform my books into best sellers? This is as difficult for me as grammar was. I don’t have the finances to do a lot of advertising. That in mind, I read that the more books you have available the easier to sell. Well…writing epic fantasy takes time and my time is at a premium. I nearly died two years ago, so I struggle with my health. That said, it’s taking even longer to write my fantasies. But, I am determined.

Halloween series

Amazon 
Cover by Nicole McDonald

Now we come to my Halloween series. Initially I thought that readers would also buy my epic fantasy. That hasn’t happened. Even so, it doesn’t hurt to attract more readers and to grow as a writer. Flash fiction is a useful tool. It makes you a better writer and it allows you to put together a number of stories quickly. I include seven flash fiction stories in each Halloween Collection book. Is that enough? I have no idea but I hope so.

I released the first collection in 2015, and my second in 2016.

I plan to continue to add one Halloween Collection per year and in February 2017 I am putting together a Valentine Faerie Collection. This will also be seven stories of tiny flying beings falling in love.  

We will have to have an update.



My question to you--how do you challenge yourself in your life?

N. R. Williams’s journey as a writer began in her formative years. Along the way to becoming a writer she found a voice in herself that couldn’t be silenced. N. R. Williams’s is a writer, a dreamer, a person who sees beyond the here and now and hopes for something better. Her stories evolve along with her characters often changing like the Colorado weather.

N. R. Williams's lives in Colorado with her husband. She is a mother and grandmother.

Nancy blogs HERE
Her AMAZON PAGE is HERE
Her first HALLOWEEN COLLECTION is HERE
Her TREASURES OF CARMELIDRIUM, my personal favourite, is HERE

Thanks for coming by! Don't forget to answer Nancy's question in the comments!

• And seeing Nancy is struggling with marketing, I'm pointing you to a post by Chrys Fey on 100 Marketing Tips.

• Do you have some marketing tips to share? What's worked best for you?