Author Earnings - Indie, Indie Press, and Big 5

Happy Thursday, everyone! It's a radio show day. *grin* Join me on A Daily Cup of Jo at 11AM EST!

Linky

Here's what I'm talking about today:

Author Jo Michaels discusses earnings of Indie authors and those published with a small press as well as those published with one of the big five.

If you've ever wondered why you should go Indie, this radio show gives you one reason: author payouts. If you take marketing and all the other jazz out of publishing, and just focus on the earnings numbers, it might give you some insight into just how many books you have to sell in order to make a certain amount of money.

I'll be breaking it down for you. Be sure you have pen and paper handy. This is going to be fun!

Our base numbers will be $4.99 for the ebook against earnings of $5k. I will NOT be factoring in KU pages read numbers or earnings.

Book mentioned on the show can be found here: Bean Counting for Authors: Helping Writers and Creative Business Owners Grasp Accounting and Taxes by Christina Mercer

I do hope you all check it out! Listen closely, and have a pen nearby.

What do you think? Did you know all this? Does it change anything for you?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Book Review on the Air - Chasing Eternity - Plus, Publishing World Talk

Happy Thursday! Today, we're over on my radio show at 7AM EST. Here's a brief rundown:

LINK TO SHOW

Your host, Jo Michaels, of the Jo Michaels blog, dives into the number skewing happening in the book world by the big publishing houses, and she warns you why you shouldn't believe everything you read.

Prefacing all serious discussion is a book review of the fourth and final novel in the Award-Winning, YA, Tala Prophecy series by Tia Silverthorne Bach.

In the series are:
Chasing Memories (book one) FREE ON AMAZON
Chasing Shadows (book two)
Chasing Destiny (book three)
Chasing Eternity (book four)
Chasing Forgiveness (the companion novella)

I mention my reviews for the previous books during the show. You can find them on my here via the following links:

Chasing Memories
Chasing Shadows
Chasing Forgiveness

Did you listen? What did you think?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

My Utopia Con 2016 Book Haul - On the Air with A Daily Cup of Jo

Happy Monday, everyone! Today, I'm over on Blog Talk Radio with the blurbs of allllll the awesome books I picked up at Utopia this year. I know, it's SO exciting!

If you're ready, here's the link to the show that will go live at noon EST AND a summary of the description:

LINKY TO SHOW

My Utopia con 2016 book haul. Blurbs, authors, and all things bookish. Here are the books I'm talking about today:

• Myst by Stacie Wilson
• Starstruck by Brenda Hiatt
• The Girl in 6E by A. R. Torre
• Dream Girls - Piper by Carrie Thomas
• Infallible by Bailey Quinn
• Unwilling by K. D. Wood
• Unloved by K. D. Wood
• Revolution Anthology by several authors
• Bean Counting for Authors - Helping Writers and Creative Business Owners Grasp Accounting and Taxes by Christina Mercer
• Hear the Crickets by B. J. Sheldon
• Abby and the Mystic Dancers by L. C. Miller
• Gilt: by Invitation Only by Geneva Lee

You'll hear the blurbs today, and I'll be doing a brief reading from each of these books at a later date on the show.

~~~~

You can also get access to my show via iTunes! Just search for A Daily Cup of Jo in the search function for PodCasts and subscribe. Your app icon looks like this:

I hope you all enjoy the heck out of the show today! Let me know what you think.

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Schedule - What to Expect from the Blog and Radio Show

Happy Tuesday, everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful 4th yesterday. I know I did! If you were here two weeks ago, you know that I spent last week thinking about what I was going to do with the blog and a re-launch of my radio show, A Daily Cup of Jo. Tomorrow will be my Utopia 2016 recap, but I'll get into the following next week. Well, no more rambling! Here's the new schedule!

• Mondays: On the radio! Highlights from the show will be posted here on the blog. Expect a book reading and discussion or review.
• Tuesdays: New author lessons. You wouldn't believe how many people don't know the basics. Devoting time to teaching all the things I assumed people knew and didn't. You old hats can probably skip these and be okay.
• Wednesdays: A new release, blitz, or other something like a guest post.
• Thursdays: On the radio! Highlights posted here. Expect news on new releases (with blurb readings) or stuff happening around the Indie author world.
• Fridays: Whatever I feel like talking about. Could be a new book from ME, or it could be random discussion. Tips and tricks for established authors will happen now and again, but it's mostly for me and my big mouth. I'll also post any book reviews I may have written on this day if I didn't do them on the air earlier in the week.

So, there you have it! Pretty exciting, eh? Yeah, it's also back to the basics of what I've been doing here since I started. Tips and books. *grin*

What do you think? Sound like we're gonna have some fun?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

2015 in Review - 2016 Blogging Goals and Schedule

Well, happy Tuesday, everyone! If you've been a long time follower of the blog, you'll know I do a recap and goals post in January every year. Basically, I look over the last 12 months, decide what's working and what's not, and make goals for myself for the upcoming months.

2015 was a doozy! Here's what I accomplished this year:

• I published 245 posts on this blog - each blog post was an average of 300 words, for a count of over 70k.
• I held one massive event (12 Days of RR) and it was bigger than last year.
• I launched A Daily Cup of Jo to make my interviews more awesome.
• UtopYA (now Utopia) was attended in June.
• I took a position as the Utopia official blogger coordinator.
• I re-organized the blog for ease of navigation by my visitors.
• I reviewed 16 books for the 2015 Review Team (missed my goal of 20+).
• I wrote four novels - Markaza, M, Emancipation, and 7 - for a total word count of over 200k words.
• I published two writing books in a new series for kids.
• I typeset fourteen novels.
• I edited over 400k words.
• I proofread over 200k words.
• I have 58 new subscribers to this blog, and about 10 on Tumblr.

Here were my goals for 2015 (taken from last year's look back):

• Publish three novels and another anthology with the ladies of Fractured Glass.
• Attend UtopYA Con again in June.
• Publish a blog post every day (M-F) unless I let you all know otherwise.
• Write one book review per week (which should get me very close to 52).
• Keep up with my author interviews and make them bigger, badder, and more awesome.
• Find a way to launch my 12 Days of Review Requests event to the next level.
• Follow my schedule for posting to various social media sites and blogging to the Nth degree.
• Get the Review Team's posts into the hands of more readers.

In green are the ones I accomplished. Orange indicates something I did most of. Red is what I totally failed at. Totally. There is no in between place there.

So, here are my goals for 2016:

• Publish three novels and another anthology with the ladies of Fractured Glass and 7.
• Bring Emancipation into the world kicking and screaming.
• Do more to share promotion with other authors (back of book excerpts, etc...) on every book I publish.
• Write at least 20 book reviews.
• Cut off my client list at IBGW with the ones I work with now. It's getting overwhelming.
• Do more with A Daily Cup of Jo - see new schedule below.
• Hold an online workshop for authors - details to come.

There you have it. I don't reach far, and I keep my goals reachable. One of them is already done: Cut off my client list at IBGW. This will give me time to do a better job for the clients I already have and give me more time to write and focus on things I need to do.

Here's the new blog posting schedule, so you know what's coming:

• MONDAYS: I'll share news I find on Facebook and Twitter. Could be writing articles, new release information, or information about something going on in the writing world. You never know!
• TUESDAYS: Author Spotlights for NEW Indies.
• WEDNESDAYS: This is my day for writing. There will be no Wednesday posts unless it's about a new release, or cover reveal, or something else like that.
• THURSDAYS: Blogger OR Reviewer spotlight. I'll be bringing you information on bloggers and reviewers that help Indie authors.
• FRIDAYS: Whatever Jo wants. You may get a post, and you may not get a post. Again, it'll be whatever. If I write a review for a book, this is the day it'll show up.
• SATURDAYS: Daily Cup of Jo shows for the week will be highlighted.
• SUNDAYS: Nada. This is my day off all the things.

This will start next week. We'll see how it goes. As you all know, if it's not working, I'll change it.

Did you do a look back for the year and set goals for the next? What are they? Share!

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Romance Author Chelsea Fine on A Daily Cup of Jo

Happy FRIDAY! Hey, it's the weekend! Quick post today! I had the amazing Chelsea Fine on A Daily Cup of Jo yesterday as a Utopia Con Veteran. It was AMAZING!

You have to listen!

Do so here.

In other news, Chelsea recently gave a TedX talk on Why it's Okay to Throw Like a Girl.

See it here:

Isn't she inspiring?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Q&A With Listeners of A Daily Cup of Jo

Happy Wednesday, good people of the blogosphere! Today, I'm going to be asking you all some questions I'd love to have a few answers to. These will all pertain to my podcast, so if you haven't listened, I'll be linking you up to a couple of short productions and a couple of long ones. Ready? Get your typing fingers and your ears ready and let's get going!

Here are the links:
Introduction to the podcast (10 min) Hosted by Jo Michaels
Utopia Veteran Interview (45 min) Hosted by Jo Michaels (and Ren Reidy when possible)
Utopia Resolutions (30 min) Hosted by Ashley Bodette and Maria Pease
Utopia Revolutions (30 min) Hosted by Christina Marie
Utopia Revelations (30 min) Hosted by Jo Michaels
Interview with The Indie Pub Podcast - SM Boyce and JN Chaney (45 min) Hosted by Jo Michaels
Roanoke Author Invasion - Liz C. Long (45 min) Hosted by Jo Michaels

I'm going to start with a list of specific questions, then move on to general ones.



Thank you so much for your time!

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Roanoke Author Invasion

Happy Thursday, everyone! Today, I'm going to be talking about an author signing event happening in Roanoke, Virginia, on April 2, 2016. Ready? Grab a cup of Jo and let's get going!

If you missed it, I did a radio interview with one of the wonderful ladies behind RAI, Liz C. Long, that you can catch up on here. It's about forty-five minutes, but we cover a ton of information about the event and surrounding area. Plus, Liz drops some information about next year that hasn't been revealed yet!

So, what is Roanoke Author Invasion?

From the website:

Join 30+ bestselling authors of contemporary and paranormal fiction and more at the Holiday Inn Tanglewood in Roanoke, Virginia, on April 2, 2016 from 12pm-4pm. Enjoy an afternoon of books, giveaways, and more as you get the latest releases from your favorite authors and discover new voices!

It's a mashup of authors and fans from all over who get together and share a love of books.

Here's the official Facebook page:

Roanoke Author Invasion

If you're a book blogger and would like to help promote the event, or if you'd just like to help out, you can volunteer here.

What do you think? Will you be checking it out?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

A Daily Cup of Jo - Veteran Interview with Elizabeth Kirke

Happy Monday, everyone! Today's post will be short and sweet because we're officially kicking off the radio show (and I'm super nervous and unable to think right now). Ha!

You'll remember my guest, Elizabeth Kirke, from the interview I did with her a while back (find it here).

Jump on over and join in at 10am EST! You can find us here. We'll open the floor to questions the last five minutes of air time.

If you miss it live, you can always listen to it later via the same link. I hope you enjoy it!

What do you think? Did you listen?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

A Daily Cup of Jo - Podcasts and More

Happy Tuesday, good people of the blogosphere! Today, I have some major announcements to make. As you all may know, I'm the blogger/tuber coordinator for Utopia Con 2016 (eek!). I've decided to change/shake some things up after a chat I had with the one and only Janet Wallace this morning.

I'm very proud to announce the coming of my podcast and radio show: A Daily Cup of Jo.

Not only will you get to hear some amazing authors, but I'll be talking with editors, photographers, and more of the folks rocking the literary world.

You'll see a couple of changes happening on the blog by way of appearance, but I'll still be here every weekday to bring you posts about writing, blogging, and reading.

Here's the channel link: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/adailycupofjo

You can give it a follow now, or wait until the first episode goes live and subscribe on iTunes.

I plan to keep all interviews and discussions short (under half an hour), so you don't glaze over while listening.

Wait! It gets better! There will be official Utopia interviews going on! That's right, those shows will have imagery and space all their own. This is going to be epic, y'all.

Watch for an announcement post on the official #Utopia2016 bloggers this week. EEP!

What do you think? Did you check it out at all?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo