Six Figure Author Case Study: Fantasy Romance

Over the years, I've had authors come to me expressing that they used to make money with their books, but things have died off. Or that they are making money, but they can't keep up with the amount of work required to do so. Successful authors are getting burnt out. What used to work before isn't what works now. So what is an author to do?

When Tuesday Twomey hired me, she had already had a six figure year in the past. But then she found herself publishing more but still making less. I told her I would get her back to where she was before...and she wouldn't have to break her back to get there. We cut her yearly publications in half, but got her income back up to six figures a year. 

We also wanted to work on making each individual book more profitable. Tuesday has 54 books published currently and has made 78,000 over one year between them. That's an average of about $1500 per year per book. With her mentorship series, those books are making about $276 per month each (or $3,312 each per year) - and we haven't even begun Facebook ads on those yet! That means that without ads, her mentorship books are performing twice as well on average as her other titles. 

And this is how we're able to decrease her publishing schedule while still increasing her income!

You can see her whole story below.


My name is Tuesday Twomey. I am a USA Today Bestselling Author who writes fantasy romance under the name Mary E. Twomey, and contemporary romance under the name Tuesday Embers. Closing in on the end of 2019, I have 53 books published under those two pen names, and more on the way for 2020. 

My journey began in June of 2012. I published a four-book fantasy series and then a short contemporary romance, all through kdp.

That sweet little engine that really couldn’t was mostly sold to friends and family in that first year, though I did a fair amount of what little marketing I knew how to do way back then. That whole “it takes 10,000 hours to get good at your craft” thing is true. Since 2012, I’ve grown as a writer, and thankfully, as a marketer.

In 2012, I pulled in a whopping $1,000.

I know you’re feeling all “awe-shucks” for me, but I was on cloud nine. That first year you become a published author is like, the best feeling ever. Each dollar earned was a hug from the universe.

Over the years, I fine-tuned my writing system, studied my craft and really buckled down. I started having a lot more fun with the plots and characters, and I think it showed in the finished product. My biggest year was in 2016, when I hit $80,000 on amazon, and pulled in over a hundred grand through all book-related efforts. Since I only had more ideas bubbling in my brain and begging to be put on paper, I assumed that was the ticket to keeping things climbing higher. I did passive marketing types of things, and kept on writing, ignoring the changing climate of the indie publishing industry.

As you can see, YES, luck is one way to make money! But as the publishing industry changed, some authors were left behind.

Alas, not every year is 2016. Though I had more books coming out quicker than ever, my sales started to decline. In 2017, I was sloping to $54,000 on amazon (plus a dozen grand or so from non-amazon sales and other book-related efforts).

In 2018, my system became releasing a book a month, which, let’s face it, is bananas. Yes, I wanted to make money, but really, I love the whole game of it all. I love writing longer series, and I get so lost in the worlds that I forget to have an exit strategy. I was cranking out fantasy books and hungry to write more, and finally, I started to see an upswing (though still not quite up to the golden standard set in 2016).

At the end of 2018, I was tired, not quite burnt out, but crispy around the edges. I wanted to write, not market. I had stories inside of me and whole civilizations that needed exploring.

Throughout 2018, I tried my hand at amazon ads, facebook ads, bookbub ads and the like. I even hired a company to take over my marketing.

All that work on ads took me away from my passion, which has always been writing, and the profits from my split focus basically amounted to the equivalent of putting far too much money straight into the garbage bin. The PR company tried, but they couldn’t find a way to market my books in a way that turned a profit, or, if I’m being honest, broke even. By the end of 2018, I was tired. Tired of marketing, and tired of writing books I was proud of, but no one could find.

It was time for change. No more overworking. No more waiting on another "lucky" year. Now was the time to start making six figures consistently, with purpose, using a program that not only works, but is updated regularly to stay ahead industry changes.

That year, I was part of a multi-author box set under Rebecca’s label that hit the USA Today Bestseller list, which is how I got my letters. I’d spent much of my time promoting that. It was basically boot camp for learning how to market, so I took copious notes and ended up taking on a small leadership role in the box set, so I could really get my hands dirty and learn how to do things better, or how to do them at all. I’m still so proud of all the work we did on that box set. I not only got my letters, but I also learned a ton about marketing I wouldn't have learned otherwise.

After a year of publishing a book a month, on top of a successful USA Today run, I slogged toward the end of 2018 knowing I needed a change. I love working hard, but I also like to see the payoff, and it wasn’t coming fast enough for my liking.  

So at the end of 2018, I sat down and had a chat with Rebecca to see if she could unearth the sales in my catalog that I knew I had the potential to make. After an embarrassing amount of money wasted on the PR company I’d tried out earlier that year, I was skeptical, but ready to go in a new direction.

 

The Dawning of a New Era:

2019 has been a year of change. I’m a little gentler with myself, thanks, in part, to Rebecca’s tutelage. I relaxed my publication schedule, which was a breath of fresh air. After a year and a half spent publishing a book a month, I am now on an every-other-month pubbing schedule, which allots time for pesky things like breathing.

As for marketing, I’ve learned to tango with the beast, instead of being trampled by it. Rebecca and I combined her facebook ad service with her PMC course. I signed up for the 30-Day Author Bootcamp, and did a six-month mentorship under her. I’m in the middle of Ads for Authors now, and I finally feel like I have a fighting chance.

2019 will close out with 53 novels published under those two pen names. I’ve learned things like how to predict trends, and how to write to market without compromising the integrity of my story. I’ve grown in my confidence while still having Rebecca behind me, in case I hit a point where I have no idea what I’m doing.

 

By the end of 2019, I anticipate spending around $30,000 on those two pen names, which will bring in around $100,000 gross earnings (this number includes other book endeavors, such as non-amazon sales, audiobooks, and my book-of-the-month club. The screenshot above shows only amazon ebook and paperback sales).

What changed?

I’m still writing fantasy romance series, which is my jam. My longest one is fourteen novels long. I’ve got a thing for putting modern spins on obscure folklores, and I still do that. I still write contemporary romance, and I still cling to fantasy romance. I didn’t have to change my fundamental style or my passion. I just learned how to fine-tune it.

The PMC course helped me learn how to study the trends, so I could write books that I loved and my readers would devour. Instead of the constant headache of diminishing returns when I tried the same marketing services over and over again, I’m learning how to run facebook ads that convert to sales at a very respectable cost-per-click. Through the one-on-one mentorship, I’ve got Rebecca looking over my shoulder, reading my novel to make sure the series is loaded with unlimited earning potential.

PMC had everything I thought I knew how to do, but taught it to me in a way that helped me unlearn all my accumulated bad habits. I feel like by the end of the course, I cut several years off my learning curve, and fast-tracked my career to where I was hoping I could be.

Combine that with her running my ads, and finally, things are looking up. While I’m learning how to build my ads myself, she has years of experience, and is intuitive in how she runs my ad campaigns. So yes, I’m learning how to do it myself, but again, there’s that safety net of her fast-tracking me so my income gets to skip the setbacks I’d thought were unavoidable.  

The one-on-one mentoring has been helpful for me because, let’s face it, there’s precious little accountability in the publishing game. When I set my own deadlines, no one but me knows if I’m slacking off. When Rebecca sets timelines and check-ins, suddenly I have to be on my game. It’s been incredibly helpful to introduce that level of steadiness to my career.

Here’s the trilogy I used the mentorship for:

With 54 books published currently and earnings so far of 78,000 over one year between them, that's an average of about $1500 per year per book. With the mentorship series, those books are making about $276 per month each on average (or $3,312 each per year) - and we haven't even begun Facebook ads on those yet! That means that, without ads, these mentorship books are performing twice as well on average as other titles. 

As Facebook Ads begin running on this series, it should easily become a top earner, as each of these books are already earning on average double or more other books in Mary E. Twomey's catalog, with the exception of books under that pen name being marketed heavily using Rebecca's Facebook Ads Methods.


What’s next for Tuesday:

I have a less stressful publishing schedule planned for 2020, and plan on putting out a novel every other month. I’m currently writing the next three books in the Territorial Mates series. I also hope to dip my toe back into my modern folklore retellings later on in the new year.

Tuesday's Top Course Recommendations

"PMC and Ads for Authors. They really opened my eyes."

Close

50% Complete

Two Step

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.