Hey ,
This is an author announcement for both my S.M. McCoy Fantasy Adventure Romances, and my Sky Robert Sci-fi Alien Romance Adventures.
There is no need to "unsub" if you are part of one or the other. I've combined them for a singular announcement coming up for me across all platforms. Feel free to skip the announcement and check out the indie feature EOK the completed series by Mary Auclair in KU!
We are one month away from what I knew was my deadline for living out my full-time author dreams. My fake it until you make it, live as if my books pay for my coffee and commit every day towards that goal time is up.
What does that mean exactly?
It means, once my daughter is old enough to be in school, I need to make at least 1,000 a month to keep our family afloat, and September is my deadline for my books being able to make that goal before I have to find a job that will meet that end.
With the kiddos in school, I have the time to dedicate towards writing or towards a job that pays the bills.
No, this doesn't mean I'm giving up on my writing making this goal of making 1,000 a month minimum take home.
Obviously, my writing does not meet this requirement for supporting my family expenses to continue to spend full-time effort into writing any longer. Which, means I have to cut back on my time spent writing, editing, and marketing.
For full transparency, I make around 200 a month across all of my books. Which is around 7/day and the expenses to maintain my platform are around 8/day. Some days, like this last week, were zero across the board, and then 15 pages read in KU which gave me 6 cents over the last three days. This means that I actually make negative income every month of around 40/mo that I pay out of pocket myself from my savings on a good month and August is starting to look like a month that doesn't even make 100, which would mean that I'm spending more than I can afford with upkeep, like BookSprout, BookSiren, BookFunnel, StoryOrigin, editing, bookcover design and more.
I'm not telling you this to make anyone feel a certain way. It's simply to give you an idea of why I must cut back on the time and effort that I put into my writing. Meaning that there won't be 5-6 books a year like last year. It will take me longer to write the next book, as I transition towards spending more time narrating audiobooks to cover my expenses.
I still dream that it will come from my writing and will still work towards that goal. Perhaps, if you have loved my books, you'll consider sharing them with other readers and I'll find myself writing full-time again sooner rather than later.
The books that I'm focusing right now on are book three Reaping Olympus in the Dark Gods Rising Series, and Her Alien Starbreaker launching December with the Beyond Earth Anthology. After those I'll work on Her Alien Captor (Commander Tensel's story) and then the Dragon Romance series that everyone on both newsletter voted for. I will be giving away one of the standalone books in the dragon romance series away for freesies as the next newsletter exclusive book. But I don't really have a set date that these will be ready by, nor will I be posting any future pre-order links for any books until the book is completed and off to an editor.
You can check out my books by Sky Robert here for alien romances: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B0BNXSFHZ4/allbooks
And my Taking Medusa Series by S.M. McCoy here for fantasy myth retellings: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B07F5T71VW/allbooks
Aside from writing books, I'm also a fully set up audiobook narrator with my own recording booth in my house.
It is possible that I can make this money from using my narration skills to narrate books that need to be adapted to audio, instead of returning to the corporate world. This would allow me to do a job here and there and then return to writing when I don't have a narration contract. This would speed up the ability for me to bring the next book to life.
In that light, if you happen to know an author, or you are an author in need of your books being translated to audiobook here are some reviews of my narration from various projects:
“Stevie Marie was a pretty solid, clearly spoken narrator. Fully enjoyed the audio narration as well!” – Athena (Amazon Reviewer of The Witches of Crannock Dale by Thomas M. Kane.)
“…really love it so far! The other narrator did some neat voices but she didn’t have the emotion you have. There have been times when I got teary eyed. I’ll definitely want you to do the rest.” – Laura (Author of The Burden of Destiny)
“Stevie Marie’s use of different accents in her voice made the characters come to life in a way that I could visualize a cockney or hilt to the different characters.” – Sarah P (5-star Amazon Reviewer of City of Light by Darren Deegan)
“The narrator Stevie Marie is also the author of this book, and although this doesn’t always work in this instance it does as she was able to imbue just the right amount of humour or pathos into the story and brought it to life beautifully.” – Tricia Goodreads Review of Kingdom of Acatalec Audiobook
“…the narration offers a lot of additional information about the characters and the feelings that they are living. Thanks to the involvement of the author with this audio production, S.M. McCoy, a.k.a. Stevie Marie, delivers a quiet, balanced, and entertaining performance. She reads softly, she infuses the events with emotion just at the right time, and she brings these characters to life in a natural and credible manner.” — Review: Kingdom of Acatalec by S.M. McCoy | the Audiobook Blog by Victor Dima from The Audiobook Blog.
" I found myself easily immersed in this enchanting tale and the beautiful narration by Stevie Marie." -- LeMiliere Amazon Reviewer of Taking Medusa Audiobook
"Stevie adds a new level of enjoyment for me. Her characterizations are brilliant, and I would listen to it again and again." -- N.N. Light Book Heaven Audiobook Review of Taking Medusa
That being said, yes people love my narration, but with all things, my voice is not a one-size fits all. Voices are a very acquired taste. There are some narrators I absolutely love and others I can't stand to listen to. Every reader has preferences both in what kinds of books they like as well as what kind of voices they like to listen to.
Which is why, I also do an audition of around 5 minutes of any particular scene from a project to see if I'm a good fit for the book. 5 minutes is around 500 to 700 words that can be emailed to [email protected] with a heading of "Narration Audition Request"
I am available for flat-rate Per Finished Hour for extended distribution, or RoyaltyPlus with ACX.
So, if you or someone you know is in need of a narrator for sci-fi or fantasy adventures/romances. Auditions are freesies, and I'm happy to take a look to see if I'd be a good fit. I've been doing narration more as a part-time referral only thing for a few years, and the best part about it is that it will mean I can still write part-time alongside this job. Still bringing everyone the next adventure one book at a time.
Find out more about my narration here as well as samples: Audiobook Narration - Stevie Marie
Check out books by me if you haven't already here to help support future books and allow me more time to write:
Her Alien Warrior. Fact: necia warriors have great senses both in scent and taste. Once they taste the essence of a mate within them, they can track them by scent. (brow wiggle) Open your legs eyes, and get ready for the necia warriors, my pretty, available in Kindle Unlimited!
I write these alien romances for myself, because I write what I want to read, but I share it because of you! Don't forget to check out the indie spotlights below!
~Sky/Stevie (Author of stuff and things, mom of humans in training, including my husband.)
Check out Taking Medusa available in Audible and KU
Check out Treasures of Trillume with book one Jewel of the Alien Bandit in KU or 99 pennies!
Check out Necia Warriors in KU with book one Her Alien Warrior
The Beyond Earth Anthology will include a FULL-length story from the Treasures of Trillume Universe called Her Alien Starbreaker! This is not a teaser book, and not a short story. It will be alongside 8 other sci-fi romances, so it's a steal for 99 pennies. Once the anthology ends, I'll make the book available like all the rest of my books with the commissioned artwork by Deborah Garcia for the paperback!
Did you miss your free book?
Her Alien Exchange! Free for joining this newsletter, if you missed your welcome email to grab yours: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/yj4qodplqv
Check out EOK the completed series by Mary Auclair in KU!
Check out Kraken's Vow by Raven Hush and Check out forbidden demon love in Magically Bound by R.M. Caruana
It's Alien AUGUST! Check out some alien reads!
Disclaimer: You are on this newsletter because you joined a book giveaway with AuthorsXP, BookThrone, Booksweeps, another author sponsored giveaway, read one of my books, grabbed that free book Her Alien Exchange, or found me somewhere on the internet and thought, "hey, that author sounds fun!" Either way, you clicked a marketing consent box, and this newsletter is GDPR compliant, does not sell your information, or does the doing of the spam. This newsletter does occasionally use affiliate links to help cover the cost of producing this newsletter, at no extra cost to you. So, please be respectful of the people who love to hear from me, and do not click the spam compliant button. I am a hoooman, feel free to email me anytime. This newsletter is for you!
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