Ruth Kaufman - Award-Winning Author and Romance Writer

Ruth Kaufman is the author of My Life as a Star, My Life as an Extra, My Once & Future Love, The Bride Tournament, Follow Your Heart, At His Command and other books.

Best intentions vs. pushing yourself

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Yes, I really want to finish revisions on book #3 so I can release it. And I want to move on to my next trilogy (or series) and perhaps contemporaries, too. Despite my best intentions, I’ve been getting “must” tasks done, and simply running out of brain space for “really want” tasks. Or should I push myself harder to get more done faster?

This has been a feast week as far as acting is concerned (for which I’m grateful, owing to recent weeks of relative famine). I drove to Grand Rapids (3+ hours) and back on Saturday for a role in the indie feature, WIND. I had an on-camera audition Sunday, two at different casting agencies on Monday, plus several VO auditions throughout the week. I don’t do much extra work any more, but I’d heard that a great director was filming another movie here…and I was able to work on that Tuesday. I’m getting coaching for a play audition next week and needed to start learning those lines. Plus I’m taking a class and have two scripts to prepare..and a casting director will be attending our “audition.” And I got the proofs of my new headshots, some of which needed to be disseminated to my agents and casting sites.

Meanwhile, I needed to spend a bit of time promoting my current books, because Follow Your Heart received a great Publishers Weekly review, and Castles, Knights & Chivalry, the boxed set At His Command is in, is doing well on the Hot New Releases lists. And I’ve received several projects from a new freelance writing client, and must meet those deadlines.

All of this elucidates a key difference between an indie and a traditionally published author. If I had a contract and an editor (and agent, perhaps) expecting my next book, I’d have to find a way to fit in more fiction writing, no matter how tired I was, how much other work I had to do or how much I wanted to take a night off for a social event. On the one hand, there’s no external pressure to produce. On the other, it’s all on me to make new books a priority.

Maybe I should go on a writer’s retreat!

Book promotion — what works, what doesn’t?

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Since releasing AT HIS COMMAND in January and FOLLOW YOUR HEART in April, I confess to a-throw-spaghetti-at-the-wall-to-see-what-sticks-like effort at promotion and marketing. I’d guest blog here, submit for a review there, take out a listing in what my research said was one of the best book promotion email/websites, buy an ad, submit for a review.

I may work with a PR/marketing firm in the future, but because of cost and things I’ve heard I haven’t yet. Such as: some don’t take self-published authors, many require monthly retainers, others promise results that don’t sound or weren’t attainable (based on friends’ reports). I also didn’t want to make the time to research recommendations, in part because, as with a lot of promo, what works for one author may not work for another.

My time and energy has value, too. So before I release medieval #3 in the fall, I wanted to assess what has worked for me so far.

1) Goodreads giveaways, like the one I’m running now. Hundreds sign up during the month (it went live last night and already 140 people have registered, I select the number of winners of a paperback book. For a month of visibility in the giveaways, all it costs is the purchase and mailing cost of the books. I know that hundreds of readers are now at least aware of my book. I may also gain new adds to “To Read,” readers, reviews and even sales in the process.

Goodreads Giveaway

Passion makes their marriage of convenience inconvenient….

Follow Your Heart by Ruth Kaufman

   Follow Your Heart

   by Ruth Kaufman

 Giveaway ends August 14, 2015.

 See the giveaway details
  at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

2) A Kindle Countdown Deal. Lower your price while retaining royalty rates and have a countdown on your book page. It took some doing to set up the KDC and coordinate listings with promo tools such as Ereader News Today (known as ENT) and several others. My goal was to earn back what I spent. And I did.

3) Facebook. Not Facebook ads or “boost this post,”…though I got sucked in to trying a few. No visible results and very few clicks.

What hasn’t worked as well as I’d thought it would:
1) Twitter. I’ve been fortunate to have blog posts and all kinds of things retweeted many times, including one blog post with a potential reach of over 200,000, but I haven’t been able to discern any sales increase. Perhaps the tweets could have had fewer hashtags and more content. Were those who saw them uninterested in my genre?

Of course, we can’t measure the cumulative effect is of getting our books, reviews, and info about ourselves out there. I believe everything helps in the long run, but managing time and money spent on effective marketing/promo is more important.

2) My first Amazon Giveaway. I reviewed the process and settings and read a couple of articles. I decided to offer 1 printed copy of FYH to the 100th, 200th and 300th person who signed up. And assumed it’d be out there at least a week. Nope. Within a few hours, the books were gone, at a cost of around $50. So, yes, more than 300 people now know of my book. Three will receive a copy. But a few hours, IMO, wasn’t enough exposure. I’d set the parameters much higher if I did another.

What works/doesn’t for you as a reader? As an author?

10 Feelancer Motivation Tips

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(No, feelancer isn’t a typo. The word freelancer, IMO, implies that the Gainfully Unemployed are willing to work without recompense. So I prefer feelancer.)

Some days being a feelancer is the most enjoyable career. I work the hours I want. There’s no boss breathing down my neck. On the other hand, there may not be a structure to my day. It’s all on me to get revisions done, complete the information form for my next book cover, write that article and submit for and/or record auditions. etc. So there are times when my motivation lags. Perhaps I’ve been super busy, or have a bunch of random things to do and feel scattered. Perhaps I feel the efforts I’m making are floating in the ether, with no responses or incoming opportunities. So why do more?

This morning was one of those times. I’m creating a list of motivation tips I hope will help me in the future, and you, too.

1) Increase your discipline. Sometimes you have to talk to yourself and remind yourself why you need to work.

2) Conversely, maybe you need to decrease the pressure you put on yourself for a bit. Accept that you’re simply unmotivated right this minute instead of trying to force better feelings. Maybe you need to take a walk among the flowers, as a Facebook friend suggested. And you may need to refill the well, even during prime work hours.

3) List every task you need to do, by when and prioritize. Then, as Nike says, Just Do It. Taking the first steps and getting started on something can be the catalyst to continue.

4) Get a pep talk. I asked Facebook friends to share how they maintain a positive attitude. And two close friends saw my post and called.

5) Focus on what you can do in the present moment. Don’t let things that didn’t work out in the past weigh you down.

6) Read or review The Artist’s Way, or other books/articles that enhance your perspective.

7) Keep your eye on the prize, as they say. What will be your reward: the satisfaction of completing a project or checking something off your list, or an actual reward?

8) Work with a friend so you both stay on task and have a sounding board. I’ve done this with several friends

9) Change your environment. Working from a coffee shop or anywhere that’s not my desk at home, even for a few hours, can freshen the process.

10) Instead of getting nothing done, take a short break. Run an errand or two, walk around the block. Sometimes the best ideas pop into your head when you’re not trying so hard.

Any other ideas? Which sounds best to you?

Castles, Knights and Chivalry box set is live!

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I was pleasantly surprised and honored when Amazon best-selling author Laurel O’Donnell invited me to be part of a box set with her and two more best-sellers, Kathryn Loch and Elizabeth Rose. Thus, Castles, Knights and Chivalry was born! 

Why was I honored? Because a) they’re all best-sellers, and I’m not…yet? b) so far I’ve released the fewest books by far (#3 should be available before the end of summer…I’m adding another scene dealing with the subplot, which both of the editors I sent it to suggested). The other three authors have been much more prolific.

My first medieval At His Command (set in 1453 England) joins Laurel’s The Lady and the Falconer (1373 England), Elizabeth’s Lady of the Mist (1330 England), and Kathryn’s Demon Laird (1286 Scotland). The set went live last night on Amazon for preorder at just .99. 
Given the popularity of TV series based on books, such as The White Queen, which begins in 1464 England, and Game of Thrones, which incorporates many medieval elements, I hope our box set gives medieval readers the opportunity to enjoy four books set in an era they love, and that the .99 price entices those who haven’t read medievals to give the subgenre a try.
What’s not to like about castles, knights and chivalry?

What will you pay for books?

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As an author, I’m always trying to grow my readership, and hope new readers of one book will buy the other and look forward to my next release. But as a newer author currently writing in perhaps not the most popular sub-genre, medievals, getting my books out there can be time consuming and costly.

What do you think the average self-published author earns a year (across all genres, not just romance)? Digital Book World says the median is $500-999 per year. Other sites, such as The Write Life, take a rosier view…but you have to pay attention to the source of the statistics and which books are included…in this case, 200,000 best-sellers.

I’m very fortunate to have exceeded $999 since my first book released January 14, 2015 (my second released April 14). However, despite my love of writing, I’m debating whether the time and effort are worth the rewards. Given the expenses of self-publishing (such as great editor(s), competitive cover(s), and any promotion or marketing), even earning back what you spent can be a challenge. And the sad reality is that many–probably most–authors will never get compensated for the hours they invested in creating each book.

Why? In my opinion, there are two key reasons:
1) The proliferation of online self-published books of all levels of quality plus many authors’ large backlists.

As of this writing, how many romances do you think are available for Kindle? 288,798. And 30,710 of those were released in the last 9 days.

2) The recent market devaluation of the cost of books in general.

Remember the days when you had to travel to an actual bookstore and shell out anywhere from $5.99 to $7.99 plus tax for a paperback? Now you can hop online and instantly download e-books…for free, a mere $.99, or from $1.99-4.99.

One site, k-lytics.com, reports that in April, 2015,  the average price of romance Top 100 best sellers was $2.99. When you upload your book to Kindle Direct Press, Amazon presents a bell curve showing the price at which you have the best chance of selling the most books. 

 Most of us love a good sale and enjoy saving money. But many readers now feel even $2.99 is too much to pay for thousands of words the author labored over. Thanks to the proliferation of bargain and/or free book e-newsletters such as BookBub (the hardest to get your book accepted into, even at a cost of hundreds of dollars depending on your book’s genre), Bargain Booksy, and Choosy Bookworm to name just a few, readers can have access to dozens of free or discounted books every single day.

 And there’s Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, via Amazon Prime, which allows members to download many books for free. Authors decide whether or not to place their books in the program, and get paid from a global pool of Amazon’s money each month. This is great, because of course authors get nothing for books taken out from traditional libraries. But for authors of novel-length books, the payment is usually less than they’d receive from an actual sale. And Amazon announced changes to the KOLL program starting in July, when payouts will be based on how many pages each KU/KOLL reader reads. 
Here’s The Authors’ Guild’s take on the changes. There are dozens of posts claiming this will be a good or a bad thing for authors.

 It’s great to have the opportunity to try a new author or a different sub-genre than you usually read for free or a low cost. But too much free, whether it’s temporary or permafree, IMO, devalues books in general and raises expectations of more free stuff. Will readers go and buy that new author’s next book, or wait for it to go on sale, too?

 What do you think about book prices? 

Do you accept advice?

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When you’re trying to make an important decision, do you go it alone or solicit advice? Who do you trust to guide you? Are you willing to accept help…do you think it means you’re weak/less capable, or, as platitudes say, that doing so shows you’re strong?

Authors often have critique groups and/or beta readers to offer feedback. They may have an agent and/or an editor, or hire an editor who requests revisions.  

Most actors also have agents, and many work with coaches and/or take classes. We often receive direction during auditions and while on set, and of course would be remiss not to follow that. The key is being able to adapt on the spot and do as advised. I’ve had the opportunity to sit on some auditions, and have been surprised when actors couldn’t or didn’t employ a simple correction in their next take, such as “smile more.” Once I took classes I’d heard from many reliable sources were beneficial, but I ended up more confused than when I began, and it took some time to unlearn that approach and move forward with trusting my choices.

Some might ignore great advice to their peril, or accept some that either wasn’t good or doesn’t turn out as well as they hope it will. Others are fortunate to have someone in their life with a great track record of providing helpful advice.

Writing decisions: I had two editors take different approaches with my next book. When both suggest the same change, such as adding another scene to enhance the subplot, I’m more inclined to follow it. When only one suggests something, I might do it if I agree. Yet there’s a nagging doubt if I pass on something else. What if she’s right, and I need to do that, too?

Acting decisions: I recently took new headshots, and am receiving feedback on which to use for my commercial and TV/film pictures. If I change my mind, of course I can use different pictures or get more taken at a later date, but what I choose to post on casting sites and have my agent submit can impact future auditions and work. I’m also taking an on-camera class and some private coaching, and am assimilating everything.

What’s challenging is trusting myself to know which advice to follow. And believe I can do it well, so I can keep learning and improving.

100 Amazon Gift Cards & Kindle Countdown Deal

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I’m always seeking new opportunities to introduce my books to and connect with readers. To that end, I’m one of the sponsors of the “Find Your Next Great Read Scavenger Hunt” at Night Owl Reviews with my standalone April release, Follow Your Heart: 

She’s a glass-painter trying to save her workshop from ruin. He’s on a quest to redeem his family name and estate. When unforeseen passion makes their marriage of convenience inconvenient, will his dangerous secrets tear them apart? 

USATODAY.com says, “Kaufman can certainly write an entertaining suspenseful romance and brings us a happy sigh-worthy story.” And Amazon.com reviewers say, “As with book one, this was wonderfully written,” “I loved this book,” and, “Couldn’t put it down till I was finished with it.”

    
Starting tomorrow (June 12th) through July 3rd, you can enter to win one of 100 Amazon Gift Cards at NOR’s scavenger hunt. The grand prize: a $250 Amazon Gift Card. There’s also a Rafflecopter giveaway.  

You can join the conversation at #FindYourNextGreatReadHunt.
And who doesn’t like a good sale? From June 14th through the 20th, Follow Your Heart will be a Kindle Countdown Deal…available for $.99 instead of $2.99. I hope a lot of readers take advantage of that.


Finally, an announcement is coming soon about a July opportunity. 

Thank you for stopping by and for your interest in my books.

What makes you laugh?

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Night Owl Reviews Web Hunt
I’ll be participating in this event!
You know the feeling when you’re in a movie theatre or at a show or even a meeting at work, something makes the entire audience laugh out loud? What is it that sparks a group of strangers to burst into laughter…dialogue, the actor’s interpretation, physical action, or some synergistic combination of the above? Colleagues have a larger shared frame of reference, and so would be more likely to be amused by the same thing. 
How do directors, writers and performers capitalize on what audiences know and share to make them laugh?
One of the first things I learned when I took improv was not to try to be funny. Humor develops from the situation, the characters, and being in the moment. If you’re trying to think of something funny to say or do, you’re not fully listening to your scene partner or participating in the scene. IMO, improv can be even funnier than other forms of comedic performance because it’s created on the spot.
With standup, sketch comedy and writing, the creators have time to rehearse or rewrite. So if the result isn’t funny, what went wrong?
And how much is too much? When does funny cross over into silly or slapstick? 
I’ve performed in shows where something gets a huge laugh one night, but not the next. What makes one audience laugh at something, but not another?
 
Last week I was in a video for The Onion’s ClickHole (I’ll post a link when it’s available). One line seemed particularly funny to me, but I wasn’t sure how I’d say it to get the most out of it. I rehearsed it several different ways. When the time came, I said the line. When I finished, everyone present burst into laughter. The director then asked me to try a couple of different things on the next takes. One involved more physical action. Did that make it funnier, or detract from the humor inherent in the words? Which was the funniest, to whose eyes and ears? Which will they use? The audience is the ultimate judge.

What makes you laugh in general? What sparks you to laughter when you’re reading a book?

Why do YOU read historical romance? Join us tomorrow, 5/29.

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I’m honored to be a Historical Romance Network author along with some of my favorite historical authors, including Madeline Hunter and Jo Beverley.

We hope you’ll join HRN authors and historical romance readers across the world tomorrow, May 29, on Facebook, Twitter or Tumblr  for  #WhyIReadHistoricals day. Authors will share why they wrote or read certain historical romances, or why we write/read them in general. 

And we want to know why you read historical romance. What draws you to books set in other time periods? Which do you prefer, and why? Which historicals are on your keeper shelf? Are you drawn to alpha heroes and kilts? Pirates? Dukes, rakes and women on the shelf? Knights with swords and castles? Settings in countries other than England and Scotland? 

Who are your favorite authors, and why?
What prompts you to try a new-to-you author: covers, blurbs, reviews, time period, or something else? 

My favorite historicals are medievals, which is why I write them. Some of my favorite keeper shelf books are by Kathleen Woodiwiss (The Wolf and the Dove), Roberta Gellis (Alinor: Roselynde Chronicles Book 2), Madeline Hunter (By Design), Julie Garwood (Honor’s Splendour) and Judith McNaught (Kingdom of Dreams).

Thanks to HRN member Kris Kennedy, who was instrumental in putting this together.

The Waiting Game

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Both as an actor and an author, moving forward often depends on others getting back to me. Or not.


For example, I had an audition yesterday for a TV commercial. The callback isn’t until June 1st. I’ll only hear something if I get a callback, but I have no idea when that information might arrive. So how long do I hold the day and the day for the shoot open, just in case?

Often when I have a shoot, the call time doesn’t come until late the day before. or even that evening. If it’s super early, say 6am, I might prefer not to have plans the night before. And sometimes I end up having more time than planned: I was waiting for a call time for something yesterday, but learned late in the afternoon the shoot had been postponed….but they won’t know when until next week.

When I send projects to my copy editor, obviously I can’t make changes and release the next book until she finishes making her comments.  Clients who want to book me for a voiceover job but don’t have a final script have to wait until they do before I can get it and record.

Though I can move on to something else, it’s a challenge to budget time when I don’t know what may be incoming on a given day. One solution is to cross as many items off my list as possible each day, such as completing VO jobs as soon as they come in. That way I don’t have huge obligations stagnating on my plate as the due date approaches and can make room for things that pop up on short notice. Plus, clients often praise my speedy turnaround.

Waiting used to be frustrating. Instead, I’m making an effort to live more in the moment by focusing on what I’m doing and not where I’ll be or what I need to do later. By taking walks when the weather is nice and taking pictures like these.