Pushing Boundaries
Hi everyone! You might notice I took a little bit off. Mother’s Day was harder for me this year than I thought it would be, personally. And professionally, things are just trucking along.
I’ve decided for the second half of 2026 I’m going to push a few boundaries.
In the first half, I’ve discovered a few things that work, that I had assumed didn’t previously.
Myths:
I thought that my readers were getting bored of my first responders.
Truth:
They appear to have been bored with a longer series with newer characters introduced.
Myths:
I thought a lot of promotions no longer worked.
Truth:
Not all promotions work, but you have to be strategic with them. I’ve been doing some insta-love blasts for my shorter works, and those have been carrying me in non-release months.
So in the second half of 2026, I’ve decided to take some chances. What am I doing?
I’m releasing a post-apocalyptic romance at the end of this month. It’s nothing like I’ve ever written as far as the time period, but the setting and characters are everything my readers love. I announced it yesterday and preorders are better than I thought they would be. Another change I’m making with this one, is putting it in KU two days after release on the 1st of June. If I don’t like the results, I can remove it. However, I’m really scared of the summer slump this year with gas prices, food prices, and ::gestures wildly at everything::. I’m testing out a very short preorder for this one. The preorder is only 15-16 days. Regardless of how this first book does, I am going to do the entire five book series I have planned, and see how it goes.
I joined a couple collaborations for the summer with other authors. These are novella stories that go straight into KU, and these will also fit in with the characters and family that my readers have proven they love. I am thinking about doing a 4 or 5 author collaboration next year featuring first responders. I’m still thinking on this, but I think it would do very well.
I’m going to be diligent about running a sale every week for the rest of the year. I know if I’m hurting, then readers are, too. I might even box up a few sets not featuring the same series of stories. Maybe by trope. I need to think about this, and plan for it. I’m going to start that the first week of June.
Get back into posting on IG - I had gotten to where I was being viewed by 20-30K a week, and then the first of May happened, and it’s so hard to get into a routine.
Please note: I will be having a State of Romance Zoom for June. I’ll have more information on that in a few weeks. I just had to give myself a little bit of a break on some things.
What are your plans for the second half of 2026. What is working?
Same here for #3 and 4 above!