Maya Alden was kind enough to share her writing / publishing process in the following interview: 1. At what catalog size did your backlist start producing meaningful income? First, I think “meaningful” is different for everyone. For me, the business started generating meaningful income surprisingly early. I launched my first indie book on June 23, 2023, and by September, with only three books published, I was earning enough to feel comfortable walking away from corporate. But I wouldn’t call that a mature backlist yet. The real shift came about a year later, when I had roughly 12 books published. That was when I began to see the compounding effect of having multiple books and series working for me at the same time, and my monthly baseline moved up significantly. So if I had to give someone a number, I’d say around 12 books. That’s enough for a couple of series, some read-through, and a catalog substantial enough that one book can lead readers into several others. 2. How has your drafting process evolved over the years, and what part of the process do you think is the most integral to writing 17 books in a year? So, I sold my first book to Random House in 2001, and it came out in 2002. Yes, that many years ago. I stayed in trad writing mainstream fiction for 9 books over 22 years. So my process has always been: I have an idea, then I write fifty pages or so to test whether it can become a story, and once I know it can, I write the book. The process has changed now in the sense that I don't "test" the story—I let it stew in my head a while before I put it on paper. I know what the story is, and I know it can hold its own. So, there's less trial and error. I recently started dictation because I usually narrate the chapter in my head before I write it. Now I narrate it to Otter. That creates a great scaffold and first draft. I then work on the second draft. I edit chapter by chapter, so I have the third draft done piece by piece. Once the book is done, I do one more draft start to finish.

I am horrible at making graphics and posting on social media. Like I am so behind the times on what is even done. I only personally use BlueSky to chat. I spend no time on IG, TT, or FB (except to check out author grps). I don't like how it used to make me feel, so I stopped before TT began. But I created pages and want to try and utilize it for the upcoming challenge, and I don't know what to do. I know a Reel from a static graphic, and that's about all I know. LOL Is there a course, a workshop, a website where I can A. learn all of the different types of posts/formats with examples, and B. how to create them? Preferably something that won't cost me a grand. lol Thank you!

Just listened to Melanie Harlow on the Talk Spicy to Me podcast (great podcast by Giana Darling & Kandi Steiner, btw; this was the Jan 28 episode) & they were waxing lyrical about the benefits of Melanie's author group on FB. It sounds like an amazing author resource (like your Millionaire's group, Lee). However, I can't find it, and my #1 Input desperately wants to join. Can anyone help or point me in the right direction? Thank you!

Hey everyone, I'm currently running a 21-day experiment to revive a dormant pen name (inactive between 2018-2024 and released in too many genres, I'm fixing that!) using a Digital Special Edition framework, and I wanted to share some early tech stack data. Like many of you, I have image-heavy, asset-rich files (mine has custom-embedded soundscapes, running at 20MB). - The Amazon Problem: Under Amazon's 70% royalty, a 20MB file triggers a $3.00 delivery fee penalty per download. If I sold it there for $4.99, I'd net $0.49. Plus, Kindle's legacy rendering strips out custom formatting and flattens images. - The Direct Solution: I bypassed Amazon entirely. I built a premium, fixed-layout ePUB, launched on Kickstarter, and locked in delivery via BookFunnel to protect the margins and handle the tech support. We hit 40% funding in the first 48 hours, but as expected with a cold list, the mid-campaign flatline is real (zero sales today). I am treating this entire campaign as a live audit for direct-to-consumer multimedia formatting. My question for the group: For those of you who have successfully revived dormant backlists or run direct-delivery campaigns for premium digital assets, what did your mid-campaign traffic push look like when you couldn't rely on Amazon's algorithm? If you want to poke at the layout or audit the campaign page to see how the file size/pricing model is structured, here is the live link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lcgiroux/a-regency-romance-like-youve-never-experienced?ref=18stkl&token=b3a86c8e I'd love any and all feedback!

An author friend asked if she'd purchased the old bootcamp - wasn't it lifetime access? She's not sure she's seeing it on Teachable and I thought maybe there was something she's supposed to do to get access to the current bootcamp on Skool?