Bookcast 92: A Boring, Uneventful Week in Review

This week, I have an update on my annual reading challenge including a not-so-thrilling cozy mystery. I'm also giving you an inside baseball look into my week-- i got some tough love from fellow authors and went to work. We will see if there is an improvement in sals and engagement! 
Grab your coffee  (or beverage of choice) and join me to chat about all things books, writing, and self publishing.
 
I know you're a podcast subbie... go the extra mile! Join my newsletter and/or follow my substack.

Find full show notes, links and a transcript on my website. 

Transcript

DL White [00:00:14]:
Hello, book people. Welcome back. This is the Book Cast, my platform for sharing short fiction and updates on life as a sub published author of romantic fiction that centers black love. I am DL White, an Atlanta based author of 14 novels and numerous short fiction stories and fan fiction works, but I'm a reader first. So we usually begin with a book report, then we talk about writing and topics of the day. Speaking of topics, do you have a topic you would like me to cover on the book cast? Shout me out a holler. Always on Instagram or Twitter at author_dlwhite or you can visit the show notes of this here episode at books by dlwhite.com/bookcast/92. I welcome your comments and questions and I'll dedicate a part of today's show to answering them.

DL White [00:01:02]:
This week, I don't have any questions. Just as a reminder, I usually pop up a little question box on my Instagram account where you can anonymously ask a question you would like me to cover on the book cast. It can be you're looking for my perspective on something. You wanna know how I do something. You wanna know something I love and something I hate. You wanna ask a question about one of my books. I'm almost an open book. I'm like a 3 quarters of the way open book.

DL White [00:01:31]:
So ask away. But this week, I don't have any questions. So we're gonna jump right into today's show because I'll be honest with you, it's overcast. It looks like it's gonna rain. It's been kinda raining off and on this week. It's the perfect day to light a candle, dip back into the bed with my comfies on and my big cup of coffee and put my face into some books. Because if I'm gonna do anything, I'm gonna read a book. Today is Saturday, July 27th.

DL White [00:01:55]:
It is 9:50 am. I'm way behind schedule, but it's fine. It's fine. It is overcast in Atlanta. I have a mic and I am ready to dig in. But first, I re upped on Bustelo. So join me for some coffee. Alright.

DL White [00:02:31]:
Alright. The coffee is strong and hot the way that I like it. I have been drinking a brand that is owned by beverage giant when I am out of the cello. And, I mean, I hope nobody that I work for listens to this podcast, but she's my girl. I don't drink blue can products. I've been trying hard to curb my Frito Lay addiction, but the coffee is where I draw the line. I drink our brands during the week when I go to work. And I do have a bag of it here at the house, but, like, I gotta go what my body craves for.

DL White [00:03:14]:
And Bustelo is it. Maybe we should buy Bustelo. Anyway. Let's move into the book report. I'm very excited about it. I have read 120 books of Okay. Let's start over. I have read 120 books toward my plan to read 175 books in 2024.

DL White [00:03:34]:
I'm 21 books ahead of plan, which is fine. It's just fine. It's I've been about 20 books ahead for a bit now. And so I think this is just my stride. It it it might catch up with me. It might not. I'm gonna reevaluate it in, like, q 3, early q 4 to see where I feel like I should hit. But, like, December, we're out.

DL White [00:03:55]:
I'm out the last 2 weeks of the year, and I just mainline books during that time. So my goal might change to 200, but I'm not gonna even really think about it until q 4 which is, like, October. So we'll evaluate it in October, but I'll still keep reporting on it because it's fun. This week, I read 3 books. It was a very busy week over here work wise and, books wise. So I'll I'll talk about that in the writing slash publishing update. There was a lot going on over here. I read, The Cost of Love, a Jenkins and Sons construction book.

DL White [00:04:36]:
That's book 6 in the series. I don't think you have to read all of the books in the series to read this one, but I always feel like your experience is always elevated when you have kept up with the characters. I freaking love this series, the Jenkins family and the Jenkins and Sons construction series. I like I love a a trope that's turned on its head. The owner of this company, it's a family owned company, but the owner of this company is a woman. And I I like all of that. I love, like, a woman in a traditionally male field. Really enjoyed this book.

DL White [00:05:11]:
It's a it's a very typical Sharon c Cooper novel. She is never gonna throw her readers off a cliff. So it's just if you like those, you will also love her Atlanta's finest series that is like a, a private security firm. I really, really love the Atlanta's finest series. And she has a new book in that series coming out very soon. I believe that's, like, book 8 or 9 in that series. So if you like a long running series featuring black folk, look up Sharon c Cooper. I also finished A Merciful Fate, which is Mercy Kilpatrick number 5.

DL White [00:05:46]:
Mercy Kilpatrick is an FBI, agent by Kendra Elliott. And then, I read a dream in the dark, wrongful wrongful conviction number 2 by Robert Justice. This was very well done. I actually I was listening to it in audio, listened to it twice because there's a couple of scenes I just wanted to listen to again after hearing, Robert on a podcast talk about some of the b stories in this novel about, police officers committing crimes and then investigating themselves, committing the crimes, just like some of the tactics that that police use when they, try to get a suspect to to confess. If you have ever listened to The Wrongful Conviction podcast by Lava Studios, it's excellent. It was a it was a daily or weekly listen for me for a very long time. It just I sorted I I started to get down, actually. It started to bring me down.

DL White [00:06:46]:
So I listen, now on occasion when they have a really good case. But if you have ever listened to that podcast, this book is such a perfect companion. I have not really read a series that's based on wrong wrongful conviction. So this is just brand new territory, so I'm very excited for Robert. I did reach out to him to let him know finish the book and super enjoyed it, but he told me he was gonna pause listening to the podcast for a minute because he wanted me to be able to speak freely about this novel. I told him, bruh, I am not worried about it. I know it's gonna be good based on They Can't Take Your Name. So I do wanna say, since I know Robert's not listening and this is not his decision at all, he has nothing to do with it.

DL White [00:07:26]:
But I know I get a little sensitive when people start criticizing my work. The I listened to the audiobook format of this book and I'm gonna say, don't hate me, don't cancel me, but I don't think JD Jackson's voice fit this book. There's something in the way that he tells a story that just doesn't it doesn't say legal thriller, it doesn't say action, I honestly I stopped listening to his, the the romances that he reads under his other name because it's it's so over the top and the cadence of his voice, and it's so soothing and just, like, the timber of his voice does not lend to this type of book. I need it, like I I need, like, a bold, strong, like, Ron Butler type of voice. It wasn't sleepy, but it was smooth. And this book is not a this book is not a a book where you need a smooth voice. I think people always assume that JD Jackson is, like, the pinnacle. He's the top, but he is not the only voice that we have.

DL White [00:08:40]:
Just like Bonnie Turpin, it's not the only female, narrator voice that we have. So I I would have liked to see a little more, I I guess I guess I would have liked to see a stronger voice or hear a stronger voice as it were with this audiobook. It sounds fine. JD Jackson fans are gonna be happy with it. I just like, I listen to a lot of books, and I listen to a lot of books outside of the romance genre. And to me, it feels like the same voice that he uses for his romances are the same voice he used for this book, and my understanding is that it's a different feel when he is not reading romance. Those are my nits. It's fine.

DL White [00:09:22]:
He did he did a perfectly fine job, but the same complaint that I had when he did the voice for, this could be us. I just feel like sometimes I feel like his talent is wasted on a character that doesn't fit that voice. You know what I'm saying? This week, I have 4 books on the docket. I am reading a couple flower, a pinch of death by Valerie Burns. This book is not hidden for me. It is just not hitting. The first two books in this series were super fun. They are cozies, and I have to remind myself that sometimes I'm reading a cozy because a black author wrote it.

DL White [00:10:00]:
And because I want us to, like, really get our footing in this genre, but cozies aren't my favorite to read because of how the story spills out. I think I was at, like, chapter 15 before anyone even died, and it just slow. There's so much about the dog. Like, baby is is a titular character in this series. I read the series for the mass but also it's a cozy mystery. Where is the mystery? A dead body should show up somewhere in the first few chapters if it's a mystery. Please. Please.

DL White [00:10:42]:
So it's chapter 15. Somebody just died. I'm at, like, 53%, and I it's moving slow. There are some b story lines that I kind of don't care about, but, you know, it's all part of a well rounded story. I am ready to just skip through the last half of this book, get the gist of the story, and read, like, the last few chapters to round it out and be done. And I am not sure I am going to read more books in this series. Up next I have The Perfect Sister by Stephanie DeCarolis. This is about a woman, woman search for her missing sister on the sandy white beaches of the Hamptons uncovers a wealth of secrets worth killing for, a sultry and sumptuous psychological suspense from USA Today bestselling author Stephanie DeCarolis.

DL White [00:11:34]:
I've never heard of this author before, but the cover looked great. So I snagged, an advanced reader copy of it that actually came out July 16th. So I'm gonna try to find an audiobook version of this book so I can get it in because it looks good that I have, like, Mother Like Daughter by Kimberly McRae. This publishes Tuesday, July something. Is it already out? I don't know. I don't look at it. Anyway, cover for this book also looked great. I believe it's a it's a domestic suspense.

DL White [00:12:03]:
I forgot to write down the description of it, but that's also an advanced reader copy. I believe that one comes out on Tuesday. I'll look it up. And then in A League of Her Own by Kaia Alderson, this is my good friend. She was writing romance. She's now writing historical fiction. Based on real life events, I'm excited to read this. It's the untold story of Effa Manley, a black businesswoman in the male dominated baseball industry.

DL White [00:12:28]:
See, there's my there's my sign, and currently the only woman inducted into the baseball hall of fame. Recommended reading this week, I didn't know a whole bunch, but I have been really getting into substack and stumbled upon a substack called black stack, which is a for us by us feed of black substack writers. This morning, I figured out that it's a private substack, so you do have to request to subscribe through it. But it looks like there are a bunch of people that restack them and a bunch of people that are, like, involved. And so I'm just kinda going through and subbing everybody that looks like they write well, especially if you are a black fiction author and you are on substack. I am interested in following, so hit a girl up. On the writing slash publishing update, I did not do any writing this week. I'm currently on writing break until at least August, while my brain rests.

DL White [00:13:27]:
I know my editor is quite excited about that. She always encourages the authors that she works with to rest. Let your brain take a break. So, my brain just basically lets me know when she's back on. And right now, she is off. But I do have a lot of, like, authorly stuff that I do while I'm on break. I'm never not doing anything. I'm rarely not doing anything.

DL White [00:13:52]:
So, like, sometimes I sit back and I think about, like, all the stuff that I do on my own by myself. And I I also then think about all the times I call myself lazy and, like, you're tired for what? Because you don't do anything, but I actually do everything. So so if you are subscribed to my Substack, which very few of you are, I'm about to do a little repeat of what I wrote in my weekly roundup yesterday's, episode. So if you haven't read it, I'm gonna go through a whole bunch of it today on the podcast so you don't have to if you have read it. It's a little bit of a repeat. So sorry about it. That's why this is my podcast. So on last Sunday, I sat in for our quarterly author's brunch.

DL White [00:14:39]:
It's a small group of authors, some hybrid, some indie, some with 70 books, some with a few, 2, 3, 5, 14 to talk about our efforts and get efforts against our 2024, publishing goals while writing goals. For me, it's always 2 and a possible, which is 2 full or novella and a holiday short, a serial something. So I'm up already 1 and a half. So I did a 4 part seal on my podcast this year. I am also mulling over a fan fiction story for August for our August challenge, but it most likely will just be a little one shot. I'm tired. And I don't. That challenge starts August 8th.

DL White [00:15:22]:
And if I'm gonna write something, I have until the end of August to write it. So, and then I did the pearl this year. Book 15 is, sitting on my brain. I'm working on it mentally. It's always, like, really good for me to have this chat with like minded people. It really it keeps me going. It gives me energy, determination. I like seeing what other people are doing and what habits I can adopt for myself and, like, what work what's working for them, what's not best practices, promotional tactics, new programs we're using.

DL White [00:16:00]:
So in the middle of our meeting, the current president decided, announced that he would not seek reelection, which a few of us thought would happen. And then the meeting went left. There was a collective wait. What? Discussion's confidential. I don't really get too deep into politics on this podcast, but suffice it to say there was the author conversation paused. We talked about what could possibly happen in the future. We expressed some emotions, and then a few of us had commitments, so we had to get back to their our author discussion. So, we did sort of then an an around the horn type thing, and I mentioned that I was really struggling with these summer romance themed books.

DL White [00:16:47]:
They're perfect short beach themed steamy romance read. It's, but I don't I'm not really hitting. I don't I'm not hitting the goals I wanna hit with these books. I'm not getting eyes on them. They're just not hitting like I thought that they would. It could be that I didn't get them out early enough. They published in July. I was aiming for around Memorial Day, but, I didn't finish them until early May, and it takes at least 4 weeks to get an edit in.

DL White [00:17:15]:
If I was self editing, they would have been out in May, but I feel like my books are better now that I'm putting them through an editing process, which means it just it takes more time to get them out. So we took a look at the series, me and 5 other authors, and I got that good tough love that I needed. We talked about making the series name obvious. It needs to center around the location. Readers like a book focused on a location. So instead of Black Diamond Romance being the series, we call them Black Diamond Bay and we number them. Readers love tropes. Readers love themes.

DL White [00:17:52]:
So I need to play to them. Make it obvious. Make it weird. Like, point it out in the first sentence of my blurb, point it out in all of my promo. I hate those little, like, promo things with all the arrows, but readers freaking love those. I mean, they're pointless to me, but readers readers love those. Like, I I feel like if I do, like, one of those arrow promo things, I need to also talk about what the heck the book is about. Because the the the thing about the arrows is, like, it's just like words.

DL White [00:18:20]:
It's just what is the book about? So I need to also talk about what the heck the book is about. What is the trope? What is the what is the elevator pitch for that book to get reader eyes on that? We also talked about how the covers are not cohesive. They don't look like a set. Like, the font is the same. The name placement is the same, but they don't look like a series. Books 1 and 2 match. Book 3 looks like it was dropped off on a doorstep and adopted like Namon Johnson in the jerk. Shout out to anybody who has ever seen the jerk.

DL White [00:18:54]:
I put, like, a fun link in my substack. If you've never seen that book, if you haven't if you ever seen that movie and you haven't seen that movie in a long time, it's one of my favorite Steve Martin movies, besides, what's the one where he possesses half that woman's body? All of Me, something something like that. I freaking love Steve Martin. Anyway, while I love the motorcycle image and one of the readers said I understand why that was the cover, I made one of the fatal mistakes that authors make and tried to make it, like, be all symbolic with it with it, like, pull out something from the book to put on the cover. That bike has nothing to do the rest of the covers. It is not the same symbol as the books on the other as the as the covers of the other two books. Like, if the other two books had bikes on the front, that would be a totally different story. That bike is on the beach, but you can't see it because it's so close-up.

DL White [00:19:46]:
The bike had nothing to do with the rest of the covers, so I made a change to the cover so they match to ensure the series name is front and center. So I right after our call, I went right to work. Nothing energizes me like our quarterly call. It was easiest to change the name of the series on Amazon and my store and Google Play. Harder on Draft2Digital because, Draft2Digital is where my books distribute distribute to all other ebook retailers except for Google Play and my store and Amazon. On Draft2Digital, the title in the system has to be the same title that's on the book, so I had to actually edit the book covers in order to make this change. Not a problem. So I spent hours on hours on hours looking for fonts, looking for images, looking for effects, looking for templates.

DL White [00:20:39]:
I spent a few hours redoing, updating covers. So I sent out sent them out to a few readers who are big fans of the Black Diamond series, and they didn't like them. One of the readers said the original covers remind me of the Caribbean, and these remind me of the Hamptons. Like, they're not bad, but they don't say Black Diamond. And after a minute, I actually I agree. They look muted. They look tame. They look boring.

DL White [00:21:10]:
They look like they look like everything my books are not. So I went back to the covers I love, their original style, the vibrant beach scenes, the white sand, the blue water, the bright colors, the frosty, fruity drinks that makes you feel like you are on vacation in Saint Martin, much better reception. So once the new covers are approved and applauded, they have to be updated every where everywhere, and sub pub authors know what I'm talking about. My store, every retail store, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Apple Books, Kobo Books, Google Books, everywhere. Book funnel because that's where I distribute my my my books. When I sell my books directly, I distribute them through BookFunnel. Of course, Google, all author, which, if you follow me on, on Twitter, those images that pop up with the quote and the book promo, those come from AllAuthor. I load up all the text and they do the 3 d whatever, and they shoot them out 4 times a day, plus they have all these other sites that do book promo.

DL White [00:22:31]:
And, when they put out a promo about my book, they mentioned me. I retweet it on my account. That's all all authors. So those covers also have to be updated. Otherwise, they promo old covers. I have a little shot spotlight on Twitter. If you go to my account, you'll see there's, like, a little band that has, like, all my books that scroll across. I had to update them all on Twitter.

DL White [00:22:55]:
Right? When I think I can relax, I remember another place where I need to update the book images. So got all those done, and then I had to do the print covers. And because I'm this kind of person, I decided to figure out how to do my own PDF print wrap because like many firstborn Aries type a women, I don't like asking for help. I do it myself. So, like, can I pay author Maya to do a rap for me? Yes. She is very inexpensive. All I have to do is send her the images, but also why can't I just figure out how to do it myself? You know? So I figured that out. We'll see how they worked out when I get the galleys, and I have a feeling I'm not gonna like the spine the way that I did the series number on the back.

DL White [00:23:48]:
There's, like, a band that goes across the bottom of the cover, and I was trying to wrap it across to I was trying to wrap it across to the spine so I could get the series number, the book number that this the number that the book is in the series. I feel like I'm not gonna like it, so I'm gonna I'm I'm gonna end up changing how that looks, but I just I wanna see it in person. So I'll let y'all know how that worked out. So because I'm in the mood to change covers, up next are revamped covers for the Powder Lake series. They are very jumbled right now. They don't look like a series. I just changed them because I was tired of looking at the same images. I probably changed covers in that series more than any other.

DL White [00:24:34]:
I'm moving toward not having people on my books anymore. It's just it's harder and harder to find nice, good looking images that I can afford that are not AI. So I'm looking at templates. I'm trying to figure out, you know, a way to make my series more visually cohesive. I am participating in an event on August 16th to begin an audiobook series for a dollar. I'm calling it dollar days. That's not what that's not what the sale is called, but I'm calling it dollar days. I put curl and dye in it, and I did also reduce the price on the guy next door.

DL White [00:25:10]:
And so I wanna get covers revamped before that begins, which means I need to start now because it takes some time for retail sites to make changes. So in addition to the changes I need to make to Black Diamond Bay series and the Potter Lake series, I got a list of to dos and challenges from my fellow authors about other material I might have sitting around that could be repurposed, so I have started something I'm calling project 10. No details unless I actually pull it off, but the deadline for that is, like, the end of August. We'll see. Right now, the odds are, like, 6040 that nothing will happen with it, but I'm pushing myself toward something different. So I'll let you know how all that works out in between all this author stuff. There's a new democratic presidential nominee pending. And then I have a actual day job, which was actually hyper busy this week, like, so busy that I only, finger quotes, only read 3 books.

DL White [00:26:11]:
Like, I can normally sit at my desk and do busy work and listen to audiobooks and podcasts. And this week, I just, like, I would be listening and, I would get, you know, an assignment or, you know, a project or, like, I have to run a meeting. And so, this week, there was just a lot going on. Since that is the spot that pays the bills and the health insurance and the retirement, it makes it possible for me to futz around with covers for days on end. It was really necessary to, like, pay attention and, like, dig in. And then by the time I get home, I'm tired. And, so I just, like, sit down and veg and watch a documentary or watch a movie or, I don't know, play a game, whatever. So it was an uneventful week over here.

DL White [00:26:54]:
How was yours? You know? What happened? What went on? Tell me all about it in the comments. Booksbydylwhite.com/bookcast/92. Or if you're following me on YouTube YouTube. I need way more coffee right now. Following me on YouTube, you can drop into the comments. I do try to pop in and, react or comment. Thank you to Sariela and Kaye, who commented on my podcast last week. Love you.

DL White [00:27:23]:
Mean it. That brings us to the end of today's show. So I bid you adieu, but not before thanking you so much for joining me for today's chat. I really, really, really enjoy having you here. Otherwise, I'd just be talking to myself. I mean, for the most part, I am talking to myself. This podcast is for me, so I can avoid not doing a newsletter. But I then I still do a newsletter.

DL White [00:27:46]:
But I do like having you here. I do like having a like, a little bit of an audience and some chit chat. So I welcome you. I welcome any comments or feedback you might have. Again, it's books by dlwhite.com/bookcast/92. You'll find full show notes, links to all the things I talked about about today, if they're relevant, and a transcript for today's show. Please share the podcast if you enjoyed this episode. If you listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, please give me a rating.

DL White [00:28:12]:
I'd very much appreciate it. Please don't be mean about it. Don't forget that you can support this podcast with your book purchases at payhip.com/booksbydlwhite by spreading the good word by joining the newsletter or the substack. Links are on my website atbooksbydlwhitedot com/linkinbioorbythrowingsomecoinsinthehat@bookcast.busroute.com. Thank you so much to my monthly supporters. Your gift currently covers my buzzsprout subscription. So I'm not, like, rec I'm not recording the podcast for free because I do still pay for Riverside to record it, but it is now hosted and covered by your support. So I do really appreciate that because every little bit helps.

DL White [00:28:54]:
That is something I can put right back into my books. The book cast is written, produced, and edited by me, d l White. Our theme music and any sound effects are provided by Pixabay. I will be back next week. Until then, please enjoy your weekend. Have a superlative week, and we'll chat again soon. Bye bye.