INDIE AUTHOR JUNE RECAP!
I believe in transparency. I think it helps if there are other indie authors reading this to help them not feel alone, it helps readers so they are reminded that indie authors come in all sizes and survive on reader support, but also as a means towards normalizing that indies are people too. People with bills, struggles, and that making a living as an author is not just a hobby, but a process of building a tribe!
The new WEBSITE is now live! https://steviemarie.com/
It makes viewing both my Sky Robert books and my S.M. McCoy books easier! And looks more professional than my previous setup. Check out the book pages!
I'm 35,000 words into writing REAPING OLYMPUS, book three of the Dark Gods Rising Medusa Romantasy Retelling! That's almost 20k more from last week, even with the distractions of having the kiddos out of school for summer! I'm feeling the flow state, and I really think the first draft will be ready in JULY! Fingers crossed. It is possible that my hyper focus fails, and I get distracted with writing Goblin's Treasure, but I'm feeling very confident I'll be working on editing rounds in August!
Haven't checked out Taking Medusa? It's available in Audible and Kindle Unlimited, check it out! https://books.steviemarie.com/takingmedusa
In JUNE, I made $9.85 from Amazon (including KU pages), $8 in Affiliate commissions (meaning that my link to my book has my tag, and after purchasing my book, you also decided to buy something else from Amazon that I got a kickback on. No, this does not mean that prices for your stuff increased, simply that I get a couple of pennies extra when you use my links and grab something from Amazon. Stick it to the "boss" and buy your summer favorites after you check out my book and a few pennies will help support my books!) Total of $18 from my S.M. McCoy books in June- Taking Medusa and Breaking Fate.
From my Sky Robert books (Alien romances) I made $80 from Amazon from ALL 8 of my books. $13 from my author store.
In JUNE, I had to spend $350 on edits for Her Alien Delegate, $200 towards paying off my payment plan for revamping my website www.steviemarie.com
$100 towards Booksweeps for hosting/sponsoring a giveaway to having 674 new readers added to my newsletter (That's around 15 cents per new reader having a chance to get to know me, with an average of 2% unsubscribing on first welcome email.) $10/mo for webhosting, 7.50/mo Booksprout, $8.33/mo Booksirens, $20/mo Bookfunnel
JUNE expenses were around $696 with around $111 in revenue
Making June an "investment" month of 585 of my own funding to keep my author platform afloat.
The average indie author, loses money every month to bring their books to market. It IS an investment to share our books with readers, that we hope after years of persistence will turn into a career, and not just something we throw money at.
Many readers have been conditioned to accept that indie authors are writing for the "joy" of it, and they are entitled to read whatever books they want for free from indies while paying 9.99 for e-books from traditional authors. This mindset is the reason why many authors can't keep writing (at least, sharing their writing and bringing it to readers.) Many authors will continue to write regardless, but eventually, month after month of diminishing returns will force them to stop writing for others, and keep their writing to themselves, especially if booktok continues to be a rather toxic environment for smaller authors.
Help support human-made art. If you can help support an indie financially by grabbing their book, reading it in KU, or even joining their ARC team and leaving a review! Not every action has to be monetary to help support indies and human-made stories.
Can't afford a book, most indie authors will readily give a book away for free with no expectations of a review, but the joy of knowing someone is reading our books. But, if you can afford to grab a book, keep in mind that a movie gives around 2 hours of entertainment and costs $16. A book gives around 5 to 10 hours of entertainment and costs 30% of that, plus if enough people read a book and support it, how cool would it be to see it one day turn into a movie!?
Yes, one day, I hope to see one of my books adapted to film. It's a dream that I continually work towards making a reality by searching for my tribe of readers.
As I mentioned before, an investment made be in the hole in the beginning, but with effort, it will pay itself back and then some after time and work. All I need to do is find a certain amount of readers.
It's estimated to need around 2,000 readers every month to make a living as an indie author. So, if those 2,000 readers are different every month, but return every year, or twice a year for new releases. We would actually need around 12,000+ total readers every year.
Seems like a lot, but if I'm gaining readers every time I release a book, and retaining the readers I already met from previous books, then I'm building my tribe! I estimate when I have a total of 20 books released, that I'll have those 12,000 readers! That's trying to find 600 new readers with every book launch. Now, that seems a bit more reasonable, right?
That's why persistence pays off with being an indie author. Write a good book! Gain fans that write lovely things like this:
✨"Breathtaking romantasy" - N.N. Light
✨"Flipping pages late into the night" - Rebel
✨"It's like watching a movie, only better" - N.N. Light
✨"I couldn't put it down" - Amy's Bookshelf Reviews
✨"Powerful and ever-changing FMC" - Mary
✨"Twistedly Brilliant" - Rose
✨"Mystery of fates and desires... Deliciously Torturous" - Jess
✨"A Fascinating Colossal World" - Sandra
✨"I absolutely love this book!" - LaWanda
✨"Hungry for more" - Jess
✨"This.author.is.EVERYTHING!!!!" - Megan
Being an author is essentially crowd funding, if everyone pitches in a small amount the book is paid for, and eventually my time to write the books as well.
Have you already read Taking Medusa, or Breaking Fate, what did you think of the story?
Have you shared your thoughts by leaving a review? Us Indie authors survive off of shares, likes, and reviews to reach new readers! Check out my books in KU here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/S.M.-McCoy/author/B07F5T71VW
Medusa is dragged back into the fates of Gods and Monster not knowing who she is, or her past when she accidentally kills the last daughter of the sea, Coraline. Taken to Atlantis, she's trapped and forced to figure out how to navigate this deadly game of gods while falling for King Triton's sentinel warrior, Dion. Taking Medusa: https://books.steviemarie.com/takingmedusa
Gaining the attention of Hades for using her blood to save and take life, Medusa is tricked into an oath with the Underworld to protect Poseidon and Atlantis. She discovers that the key to her fate and future is hidden in her past. Uncovering how her fate was broken to begin with could save her future at the cost of losing the love she desperately craves. When the balance of power is at stake, and the dark gods are under attack, she must sacrifice to save them or break fate to find another way. Breaking Fate: https://books.steviemarie.com/breakingfate
Coming 2025 is book three Reaping Olympus! Typically, many indie authors would have a pre-order link available for people to prep for Book Three, but I've found it gives me too much stress to have a preorder link until I have the first draft completed. Once I do, I'll let you know!
Hi, I'm Stevie. I'm a mom of two kiddos, and I write fantasy romance, and alien romances. I started with writing a YA vampire romance, and I retired the 3-book series because it wasn't the same kind of style as the rest of my books, and I didn't want those books to be the first impression readers got of my writing. I also wrote a sci-fi fantasy mash up Kingdom of Acatalec, got a traditional contract book deal, but it flopped because I wasn't and still am not that great at marketing things without more control over what I can do with my books. I received my book rights back and will relaunch that book with my indie control after I finish my Medusa Retelling Series.
The Dark Gods Rising is mythology reimagined if you are like me and believe that the "monsters" of myth and legend were hunted by Greek gods because they were different, because they were a threat to their power and rule. Perhaps, the monsters weren't the bad guys after all, and Medusa wasn't the villain myth made her out to be. There is always more than one side to every story.
Dive into a slow-burn romance, fast-paced fantasy adventure with all the political mechanisms of Greek Myth, and the what-ifs from a different point of view.
Read in KU or Listen with Audible!
https://books.steviemarie.com/takingmedusa
https://books.steviemarie.com/breakingfate
Check out books narrated by me on Audible(US) here: https://www.audible.com/search?searchNarrator=Stevie+Marie
Happy reading, and perhaps you'll find your next favorite read among the featured indie authors below! And for those of you wanting to know the status of where I am in writing the next book, scroll to the bottom!
xoxo
Stevie
I had it all until I didn’t … I was the most sought-after engineer. Renowned for my designs and willingness to help others rebuild destroyed worlds. However, my life was not my own. I was a puppet on a string, manipulated and used by the very person I held above all others—my mother. Then I saw her, it was like my eyes opened for the first time. I touched something forbidden, something I believed would make me lose everything … only to discover I had everything in my grasp. One foolish mistake, and I lost her before I realized she was mine, and now I am lost without her glow to guide me. But I am a son of DaR, and I will find a way to gain her forgiveness because she is MINE!
Check out Her Alien Delegate! A Sexy Reverse Harem Alien Romance in the Trillume Universe. Did you read Her Alien Exchange and want to know more about Evie? This is for you! Grab direct from Sky Robert's Author store to read it before anywhere else! https://payhip.com/b/Rp28b
Add Her Alien Delegate to Goodreads TBR: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/236744164-her-alien-delegate
Hope you find some great indie reads! Chat soon!
xoxo
Stevie
What I'm WRITING now!
Currently writing Projects: (Yes, I'm always writing in a rotation of projects all at once, and rotate until one is finished. It's how my brain functions. Before this process, I was unable to complete any project at all.) I release around 3 to 4 books a year. This year, I've already released Her Alien Starbreaker, and Her Alien Delegate is back from my editor Tracy, goal to have Reaping Olympus completed during the summer, and launched in October 2025.
REAPING OLYMPUS: Book three of the Taking Medusa Dark Gods Series (In Progress) Around 35K words in (I've rewritten the beginning too many times to admit to. I really want to make book three better than the previous two books and that has put a lot of pressure on this book.) Check out book's one and two! Taking Medusa and Breaking Fate
RIVEN'S FLAME: a dragon fantasy romance with a Rumpelstiltskin influence and a female dragon hiding within the clan as a male due to an extinction crisis of dragons having less and less female dragons: 28K written
GOBLIN'S TREASURE: a labyrinth darker spicy romance retelling where you don't turn down the goblin king's proposition: 21K written
UNITY UNIVERSITY: a unicorn shifter academy spicy slice of life romance where it's more about relationship building, and not an instant love. It's also an older FMC who turns forty and is both a student and a professor because working for the university also gives her the benefit of taking classes for free to start her life over from scratch.
SKY ROBERT: (Alien Romance books in progress under my pen name)
HER ALIEN DELEGATE (COMPLETED in EDITING PHASE)
HER ALIEN CAPTOR
MONSTER'S BRIDE
MATED TO THE ENEMY
Start Reading Taking Medusa today in Kindle Unlimited: https://books.steviemarie.com/takingmedusa
Taking Medusa is available in Kindle Unlimited, and Audible!
Add to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/150498806-taking-medusa
Book two is LIVE! https://books.steviemarie.com/breakingfate
Add to your Goodreads shelf: Breaking Fate (Dark Gods Rising, #2) by S.M. McCoy | Goodreads Breaking Fate on Amazon: https://books.steviemarie.com/breakingfate
Check out the Author store and grab the signed hardcover or signed paperbacks! https://payhip.com/BrokenBooksPublishing
Also by me: Do you like Alien Romances?
Check out my Pen Name Sky Robert!
If you would like to help support future books, and this series, you can grab my newest release Breaking Fate on Amazon here or read in Kindle Unlimited! https://books.steviemarie.com/breakingfate
Chat soon!
xoxo
Stevie
Getting too much email? Reply back to this email with "Monthly" in the message and I'll move you over to my once a month letter usually sent out around the 15th of the month.
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Disclaimer: sometimes my links have affiliate tags associated with them, this in no way influences who I decide to share with you on my newsletter, nor does it impact your experience with discovering new books. If anything, any affiliate links used help authors, including myself, subsidize the costs associated with staying in business. For instance, using a tagged link helps us see whether someone found our books from our own marketing efforts or through some other means, also with Amazon specifically, that puts a couple extra pennies from grabbing one of our books back to the author from the big company. More of your money goes to the author, and your costs remain the same. My affiliate links have regularly covered the cost of maintaining this newsletter. So, if anything, click on a link for my books, and even if you are not buying my book, feel free to go about your usual Amazon shopping to help support my books through stuff you would normally buy anyways. Stick it to "the man" and support indie authors while you do it. This has been a PSA announcement from yours truly. Sky
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