Bookcast 93: Snippets of Life as a Self-Published Author and Book Enthusiast

On this episode, I share a glimpse into my experiences, challenges, and triumphs as a self-published author and passionate reader.  I updated listeners on my goal of reading 175 books and wrap up my July reading list.
Find that list in the show notes on my website: Booksbydlwhite.com/bookcast/93.

I also discuss the anxiety of the earnings reset at the beginning of each month, and I share my efforts to navigate platforms like Substack while managing my writing and publishing journey.  I also discussed frustration with the paywall economy and the desire to support black authors and readers within digital platforms while everything of value is for sale. 

Recommendations: 

• Spa Girls Podcast 459 Why Your Book Isn’t Selling.
• The Lit Library is a new podcast hosted by Black readers and writers focusing on Black authored books. 
•  The Black Romance podcast and 
• Black Romance Has a History had Ms Bev on to talk about establishing roots as a Black romance author and the impact that her work has had on every author that has followed her trailblazing career. 
• Follow Substack by DL White at substack.com/authordlwhite

Full show notes including my July reads, my list of read/reading goals for August and any relevant links can be found on my blog at booksbydlwhite.com/bookcast/93. 

Transcript

DL White [00:00:14]:
Hello, everyone. Good morning. Good afternoon. Good evening. Hello. How are you? Welcome back. This is episode 93 of the book cast by DL White, my platform for sharing updates on life as a self published author of romantic fiction that centers black love. I am DL White.

DL White [00:00:34]:
I'm an Atlanta based author of 14 novels and numerous stories, and fan fiction works, but I'm a reader first. So we always begin with the book report and 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? Shot me out a holler. I'm always on Instagram or Twitter at author_dlwhite or you can visit the show notes of this here episode at books by dlwhite dotcom/bookcast/93. I welcome your comments and questions and I'll dedicate a part of the show to answering them. This week's QTNA as I like to call the question and answer session, was a post that I, unattainably stole from Promo Republic. That's a plat form like buffer that lets you schedule social media posts. They have lots of suggestions based on, I don't know, national ice cream sandwich day, that kind of thing just so you can get engagement on your social media.

DL White [00:01:32]:
And this was a great one. And so, I used it. And it asked if any of my books could be turned into a film or TV series which would it be. And I posted that on multiple social media accounts and I would like to share just a bit of what people said over on Instagram. Summer Reads Romance suggested the Pottery Lake series and I agree that's a super cute series. Books over BS said, the never list and, Karen the reader, one of my most ardent and passionate readers also suggested Powder Lake with all the characters from the entire series and cameos from the characters of the books set in Atlanta. Trust me when I tell you this would be a fantastic series and I just can't help but agree over on Twitter. Jessica Terry said Neverlist.

DL White [00:02:20]:
Latoya said brunch at rubies which would also be an amazing miniseries. And then Christine Casey said she had only read the Neverlist so far, but thinks that would make a great movie. And lastly, over on the Facebooks, the Never List says Tyesha Nicole would be her top pick and then the entire Pottery Lake series. And I just wanna echo everybody who was saying the entire Pottery Lake series because there are now 4 well, 3 and a half books, but 4 really because they don't let me, half number books on Amazon. There are now 4 books in that series. So, that would be an amazing set of movies or TV shows. I think I would prefer, like, miniseries. That way, you can, like, really stretch it out.

DL White [00:03:04]:
I think that would be fun. Like, I think Carl and I would be super cute. The guy next door would be absolutely cute. Home for the holidays would be an amazing little hallmark or, lifetime holiday movie, project. So thank you all for your input and your suggestions when Hollywood comes to calling. I know I know which books and which series to, to recommend, from your lips. Let's listen literally from your lips to Hollywood's ears. This conversation about potter lake makes me want to reread the blessings series especially since miss Bev is saying book 12 is gonna be the last one.

DL White [00:03:43]:
So it would be great to catch up for the to the first eleven and just be ready for book 12 to drop next year. And I'm thinking as I'm thinking about expanding both the Powder Lake series and the Black Diamond series into more books, How do you expand that? Where do you go? Like, what stories do you choose? That type of thing. A series where the book center around the location seem to be easier to draw out, but you also have to keep track of all those relationships in those books because the characters are recurring for the most part. So I do have another book in the potter lake series coming eventually. I hit a wall in it last year, and, I just still don't know what I'm doing about it yet. But it is going to be about, I don't know if I should even say this because I it it will bite me in the butt. But, like, I'm I I'm married to the idea. I just don't know how it's gonna how it's gonna unfold, but it's gonna be about, miss Helen and Orlando's daughter, Renda Bell, who left Potter Lake in her early twenties to avoid, marrying a young boy in town.

DL White [00:04:53]:
And she hasn't been home since, and so it's basically the return of the prodigal daughter. And she is home because a she lives in New Orleans. She lived in New Orleans with her grandmother, and a hurricane has driven her out of town. And so she is at home while her home is no more. So that's where I'm starting with that book, and, hopefully, I will get a chance to work on it this fall. I've it will likely not be out this year, but, you know, you never know. I do have another project that I'm committed to completing before the end of the year. And then I do wanna do a cute little short for the holiday season.

DL White [00:05:34]:
So I should really get to work on that. Mhmm. Thank you for your answers everyone. Look for a new question next Thursday on the socials. Recommends this week for authors, the Spa Girls podcast number 459. Why your book isn't selling? A bit of that tough love that many of us need. Just always good to run through. How does your cover look? How does your blurb look? Is your metadata set? When people are searching for books like yours, are they finding it? I went through a little bit of that with my author group a few weeks ago.

DL White [00:06:06]:
Was it last week? I don't know. The weeks are all running together. We talked about my covers. We talked about, identifying the tropes. We talked about, you know, really pushing it to readers that want to read that genre of book. So it's a good lesson for readers new podcast alert. The lit library is a new podcast hosted by black readers and writers focusing on black authored books. I'm very excited about this because as you all know I listen to a lot of pad pad pad pad pad cast pad cast.

DL White [00:06:36]:
I listen to a lot of podcast A lot of podcasts. I I think in my links somewhere, there is a list of all of the podcasts and YouTube channels that I listen to. I will dig it up and link it in the show notes. It has not been updated recently. It just it's it's a little bit arduous now, but I listen to a lot of podcasts. And most of them are hosted by readers who are not black, writers who are not black. So when they are talking about a trope and they are giving examples of books that exemplify those tropes. They're talking about books I don't be reading because I don't read really romance published by trad authors unless they are named Tia Williams or Kennedy Ryan.

DL White [00:07:22]:
And I don't read romance by authors who are not white. I mean, I'm sorry. I don't read romance by authors who are not black. So, and not that not not that I wouldn't if it sounded good, but I'm I'm at a point where I want to read stories about people that look like me and sound like me and dress like me and work like me and love like me. Like, I read Ronnie Lauren all the time. I love Ronnie Lauren as she is not a black author. It just the material doesn't hit the same when it's not us. So very excited about that podcast.

DL White [00:07:56]:
And then this week seemed to be Beverly Jenkins week as we closed out Jenkins July, both the Black Romance podcast and Black Romance Has A History had miss Bev on to talk about establishing her roots as a black romance author and the impact that her work has had on every author that has followed her trailblazing career. Both are really great listens. I think I listened to both of those twice. I just love to hear that woman speak. She just tone of her voice, her cadence, just the way she the way she says things, it tickles me and it motivates me. Miss Bev is really such a favorite of mine, and, she loves, brunch at Ruby's. She talks about it often. So if you're wondering which of my books miss Beverly likes, it's brunch at Ruby's which is not a romance.

DL White [00:08:46]:
She calls it a romance, but it is not. It has 3 love stories in it. But the central story in that book is the friendship between Deborah, Maxine, and Renee. But I don't mind miss Bev calling it a romance. If the queen of black romance calls it a romance, well, okay. So alright. Let's get it cracking. It's time.

DL White [00:09:05]:
It's time. Today is Saturday, August 3rd, 2024. It is 8:54 AM. I am early, y'all. I'm early. You know why? Because I woke up at 4 AM for no good reason. And I made myself go back to sleep till about 7 and then I got up to make some coffee. It is sunny in the Atlanta area.

DL White [00:09:22]:
I have a mic and I am ready to dig in, but first, let's have some coffee. Alright. Alright. Alright. Welcome back. Hope you had a good break and a good couple gulps of coffee. The Bustelo is Bustelo ing, and I'm I'm quite happy. Let's roll over to the book report.

DL White [00:09:57]:
I still did not ever update my, my goal, my Goodreads goal for this year. So, I'm gonna tap over super quick to check it out. I have read. It looks like 130 books of my goal to read a 175 books this year. I am, 28 books ahead ahead of schedule. It's fine. It's fine. I just I find that funny.

DL White [00:10:28]:
I don't know why, but it's it's funny at I at some point, I'm gonna update my goal, but, right now, I'm way ahead and it's fine. I will talk about what I read this week, but first, let's talk about the July wrap up. I read 21 books in July. 16 of those were audio. So that's what makes it easier for me to get books in because I can listen while I do literally anything. I have a job where I work in an office, but I'm not, like, on a team. I don't I don't have to talk to people to do my job, really. Like, I'm I have meetings and I chitchat here and there with people, but for the most part, I just sit at my desk and I do my thing.

DL White [00:11:09]:
I set meetings and I do copies of things and I create documents and I talk to people. I set things up and I run things. If I am not actively in a meeting, I don't really have to, like, be talking to anybody. So I sit at my desk and I listen to podcasts and audiobooks on my way to work. It's about a 25, 30 minute drive to and from work podcast, audiobooks, while I'm doing anything, laundry, cleaning, folding clothes, vacuuming, scrolling Twitter, audiobooks. I just always have something on. I listen to audiobooks. I get up and I turn on an audiobook or a podcast.

DL White [00:11:50]:
Like, people get up and turn on the TV to watch the news. I don't I'm not I don't wanna say I'm not a TV person because I am a TV person. It just depends on what's on. I watch certain things. I don't watch quote unquote TV. I'd be watching YouTube, but I don't watch quote unquote TV. So audiobooks, 16 of them. And then 5, were ebooks and, mostly what I read last month were just books of series that I've started.

DL White [00:12:17]:
17, of the 21 books I read were books in series. And I'm gonna post a list of all 21 books I read in July. I will not list them out here on the podcast because who wants to listen to all of that? But I will put them in the show notes. They will be on my website at books by dlwhite.com/bookcast/93. So you could take a look at what I read in July. A lot of them were in the Mercy Kilpatrick Kendra Elliott vein. I read a couple flower pinch of death in the Baker Street mystery series, wrongful conviction number 2 by Robert Justice, Justice, Cost of Love, Jenkins and Sons Construction Series, book 6. So I was really in my series bag.

DL White [00:13:03]:
And I remember I used to never be a series girl, but I'm kind of liking, like, continuing story lines and, like, you know, following people throughout a long career. I think for me, like, reading, Jean Lesquois wrote the dismiss Hardy series, and then he had a couple of spin off series. Like, watching Abe Glitzky and Dismiss Hardy go through their entire career together and watching the kids go from babies to, like, fully grown adults. Like, I read that whole entire series as it was released, and I had been reading that series, I wanna say, since I was in since I had just graduated from college, and just retired, from writing. And so somewhere in there, I became a series reader, and I just really enjoyed, like, kinda watching the the career span over time. And I found that a lot like police procedurals I'm having trouble hearing you. Could you repeat that? Ain't nobody talking to you. Siri just over here, like, all up in my conversation.

DL White [00:14:16]:
Ain't nobody talking to her. I think it's because I keep saying Siri's. Oh my gosh. That hasn't happened to me in a long time. Years ago, when I was reading the Never List for the book cast, Siri kept popping into my my recording, and I'm like, shut up. And one time, I recorded, I recorded I uploaded the raw version of the episode, and Karen, the reader, texted me, and she said, girl, you have the wrong version of you yelling at yourself. Anyway, let's talk about what I read last week. I read 10 books last week.

DL White [00:15:09]:
I had a lot of spare time. A lot of spare time. Last week, I read A Cup of Flower, A Pinch of Death, The Perfect Sister by Stephanie DeCarolis, A Merciful Promise, Mercy Kilpatrick, and Kendra Elliott, Like Mother, Like Daughter by Kimberly McCrae. At the river, another Mercy Kilpatrick book, lock you down, a grumpy sunshine romance. This is Jackson Brothers book 3 by Shea Sanders. This was really, really good. I'll I'm really liking Shea Sanders' work. She's, like, very, snarky.

DL White [00:15:42]:
She has a very biting wit. She does enemies to lovers really well, really enjoying her. So I think I'm gonna go back and dig up some of her, backlist and and read those because I I really like her work. The secrets we escaped, which is once upon a murder book 1 by Cheryl Green, spark a sexy holiday short by Tay Russ, 3rd Time's the Charm, Ideal Arrangements, book 3 by Keanna Alexander. And then I read Smoked and Spiced Caramel Cove, book 1 by Casey Mills. It was a it was a good week. It is slow ish. I only went in the office one day this week, and so I was at home a lot.

DL White [00:16:23]:
And then, it is, the run up to Olympics week, so a lot of people were out of the office. My boss is out of town, and then, our executive leadership is gonna be hosting our partners at beverage giant over at the Olympics. And so it's going to be a very quiet week, and I'm massively excited about it. This week, I have a lot on the docket to be reading. I am reading Master Slave Husband, Wife by Il Yeon Woo. I am gonna be reading that with the stacks podcast book club. I'm actually just looking at this as to what I'm gonna be reading in August because I have a lot on the docket, and I don't know what I'm gonna get through from week to week. But here's what I've got on the list.

DL White [00:17:12]:
In Kindle Unlimited, I'm down to 4 books. I wanna get read, hooked on your love by Shamika Irby, the fire inside her by Tuesday Harper, free agent Connecticut Kings 10 by Christina c Jones, Come Ride With Me, Platinum Riders by a c r Arthur. And then I have a number of NetGalley arcs I need to get through in August in a league of her own by Kaia Alderson. I have already presaved that audio on Spotify. I'm gonna wait for that audio to come out. I really just wanna listen to it. The Rich People Have Gone Away by Regina Porter, The Kill List by Nadine Mathison. Those all published August 6th, so I'm already behind.

DL White [00:17:52]:
I really need to get the rich people have gone away, and The Kill List out of the way before Tuesday ain't gonna happen. But, you know, Never Saw Me Coming by Tanya Smith. This one looks really, really good. I believe it's about I I don't know. It's a heist book, but I think it's a it's a memoir. So, you know, I love nonfiction if it's, like, juicy and, scandal y. So, and then Falling Wisteria by Leila Ibrahim. I love, Leila Ibrahim, yellow crocus, that whole series.

DL White [00:18:27]:
Love it. Love it. Love it. And then the cottage on Pelican Bay by Brenda Jackson is finally coming out August 20th. I'm very, very excited. This is a Catalina Cove novel, and Catalina Cove is my favorite favorite favorite series by miss Brenda Jackson. So, I'm massively excited about that. Might wait on audio for that one too because the chances that it's gonna be read by Ron Butler or Leon Brooks is high.

DL White [00:18:53]:
So, I might wait for audio on that one as well as falling listeria was falling listeria would be terrible. Falling listeria, may also wait for audio on that. So, I've got those coming up in August, and who else knows what else is gonna drop? And I just have to read it right now. Moving on to our writing and publishing update, it's a new month. So scribe count flipped back to 0. And that's just it fills me with anxiety. Looking at that 0, you know, at the beginning of the month, I'm never prepared. I am never prepared for the 1st of the month, and I flip back and I I the scribe count is the first website I check when I sit at my computer because I look at my sales, overnight from the day before, and, that 0 is a lot.

DL White [00:19:48]:
I wrote about it on this week's, Friday post on my substack. It is, I believe it's Substack dot com slash author d l white. I don't know. I'll link it in the show notes. I was actually vulnerable for 5 minutes, so you wanna check that out. Now speaking of a new month, Spotify premium hours and Hoopla listens renewed on August 1. So if you've been waiting to listen to or read books by DL White with your subscriptions, then time is now. Just to note, though, my books are also available on Kobo Plus in ebook or audio, and some of my titles are also available at Evergrand.

DL White [00:20:21]:
So we never really have to wait. And, I'm a be honest with you. If you email me and be like, hey, sis, I really wanna listen to blah blah in audiobook. I am very likely to just go ahead and send you a link to book funnel because as a self published author, I control all of the files. Did you know that? Hit a sister up. If you will be so kind as to leave me a review, hit assist her up in the DMs, and I I may send you a copy of whatever it is you desire to read or listen to because I ain't gonna gatekeep these words. I did an update last week to the covers for the potter lake series. I really like them.

DL White [00:21:02]:
I think they're very pretty. I think they look great, nice and cohesive, very small town ish, beautiful, real people on the cover. A nice theme throughout. Let me know how you like them. If you have looked at them, you can hit them at books by d0white.com/potterlakeseries. Take a gander and, give me compliments on them because I do my own covers. I save my money for editing. And all these subscriptions I gotta pay for to be a self published author.

DL White [00:21:34]:
So I do my own covers, mostly because I am impatient and indecisive, and I like to be able to control how they look. Even when I buy a cover, I end up changing it later to a cover I made myself. Am I aware that they look amateur? Yes. Do I still like them? Yes. So until I can afford, like, a $500 cover that's gonna really attract eyes, here's what we're gonna get. Not really an update on writing since I'm on break. However, I am, working my way through figuring out how I wanna use my Substack versus my blog versus my newsletter. I've begun a routine this week with a weekly Tuesday teaser post, so I can talk about my books and other nonsense as it comes to me.

DL White [00:22:20]:
I post in the notes. Substack feels like Twitter for writers whereas I think threads is Twitter for readers. I've heard it's a wild wild west over there on threads. So I'm not going over there. Yeah. I'm I'm just I'm not. I don't I have enough. I wasn't even gonna do a substack within.

DL White [00:22:36]:
I did a substack. I have been digging through there looking for fiction writers. Substack seems full of personal essay writers, op ed writers, journalists, very serious people. I am not a serious person. Not so much on the fiction writers, and I have found a small pocket of romance authors who mostly talk more about craft than actual fiction. There's not very many black writers there. Not very many black fiction writers there. But a thing that's really getting to me is this paywall economy.

DL White [00:23:13]:
Like, everyone wants to sell everything that they have. When I find something that looks great and I wanna read it 99% of the time, it's behind a paywall. It's it's it's at patreon. It's at reem. It's at substack. It's at medium. It's great for that author and the readers. It is not so good for discovery of new readers.

DL White [00:23:34]:
So it gives me something to think about as far as posting fiction online. It also gives me ideas for project 10. Project 10 is not dead, but I'm not going with my original thought on it. It's mostly about the platform that I was planning to use. I just don't. I just I don't wanna use it. I don't want to post the material I was thinking about posting there. I am pivoting to something I own and control, like my Substack or my website, but I'm still not a 100% sold that I can make it work.

DL White [00:24:06]:
I'm just not ready to be open with it yet, and I'm hoping I can have things worked out in my mind and a good plan throughout August to be able to dive into something new this fall. I will keep you posted on it. I think that's it for this week. Thank you for tuning in. That brings us to the end of today's show. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much for joining me for today's chat.

DL White [00:24:29]:
I really, really do enjoy having you here. I welcome any comments or feedback you have at books by dlwhite.com/bookcast/93. You can also, comment on my YouTube channel if you are like, k the reader, and you happen to listen to me on YouTube. You'll also find full show notes to links to all of the things I talked about if relevant and a transcript for today's show. Please share this podcast if you enjoyed this episode and if you listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Give a girl a rating. I would really, really appreciate it. You can support this podcast with your book purchases at payhip.com/booksbydlwhite by spreading the good word or by joining the newsletter or the Substack.

DL White [00:25:10]:
Links are on my website at books by dlwhite.com/linkinbio. You can also throw some coins in the hat at bookcast.busssprout.com. Thank you so much to my monthly supporters whose gift covers my Buzzsprout subscription currently. I really appreciate that. Every little bit really does help. The book cast is written, produced, and edited by me, DL White. Our theme music and any sound effects are provided by Pixabay. I will be back next week.

DL White [00:25:35]:
Until then, please enjoy your weekend. Have a superlative week, and we'll chat again soon. Bye bye.