motivation

Weekly Ramble #173

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The process of querying has a lot of moving parts. Right now I’m arranging my pieces to begin playing what might be an enduring game of chess with patience and foresight being the attributes needed to survive.

If you don’t try, you’ll never know – that’s my philosophy as I look over my drafted synopsis and query letter. The truth is, I can follow as much guidance one can find online to perfect them but this is always going to be leap of faith. These days, it is a lot easier to find ways to connect with others online and I’m hoping social media and wider online world can be used to my advantage. Finding the right person to enjoy and then embrace my work is a game I’ve been playing for many years now. Being an indie author to me is convincing one person at a time to have faith in my stuff.

My very own chess board already contains some distinguished pieces and so I’m hopeful they can help with the process. Right now ideas are forming in my mind about putting together a specific query diary series to share with my closest and best followers. Afterall this is going to be a journey of learning.

Weekly Ramble #171

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This writing journey began for me on a rainy Sunday afternoon staring at the screen of a windows 98 desktop computer. It was on that day I first typed words for a story and then a book that would become the motivation for the path which would eventually unfold. Only now have I finally finished that book, my everything story about robots in the future. I say everything because all I have done to find myself at this point – the writing of several books, publishing them, figuring out this journey, selling, marketing, social media and finding success I am happy with is for that story.

In my heart is a dream that has resided for over half my life and now I am ready to pursue it properly. I’m going to query this book and subsequent series and aim for the stars. This everything story has and always be my plan and its good to have some kind of plan even if you do deviate from the path like me. On that deviation route I found where I was supposed to be, in the company of fellow creatives who would inspire me, embrace me and above all motivate me to keep going.

Writing stories has always been my truest and first passion. It is within the story of that everything book where you’ll find all of it.

With everything I have learned not just about writing but the business of it, I think I’ve got a shot at success. Then maybe this will turn out how it always was supposed to but then again if it doesn’t, deviation of the original dream is still a great place to be. I’ll never know if I don’t try and so this is it. Time to chase that dream.

Weekly Ramble #167

Lee Hall 2 Comments

Sometimes an extended rest is all the mind needs. Although I love being busy, it can be nice to take ten days away and spend it with my significant other. Escape equals recharge sometimes and now I am back with batteries that are full.

My intentions this year are fewfold – from querying my forever dream book to outside writing day job aspirations to even directing another show. I’ve got my work cut out and I’m so ready. 2022 was a long and labouring year which took a lot from me. A huge priority has been to get my mental health back up to scratch and now after some time away and reflection my anxiety has seemingly drained and now I must strive to keep myself in better shape both physically and mentally. These ramble posts serve as a diary and a also to-do list. Hopefully by 2023’s final one, I will be reflecting on some successes.

As I pick up where I left of just some weeks ago, I cannot help but look back on my short break away with fond memories. A huge shout-out the wonderful Island of Saint Lucia. What a fantastic place!

Recent Reviews

Lee Hall Leave a comment

Book Reviews mean everything to authors, they help us grow and provide some all-important feedback that may even possibly shape our future works.

While being published may be a hobby for me, I still take it seriously and have aspirations of one day making it more. I appreciate every review I receive from my wonderful readers who have paved this author path for me.

Here is some recent praise for 3 of my works!

You can find out more about all of my books here.

Twitter Coaching Sessions 1 to 20 – Out Now!

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Are you looking to get more out of Twitter?

During my decade spent on the platform I’ve learned a huge amount of highly valuable skills to turn my Twitter into a hive of followers, book sales and overall success as a creative online. Whether you are looking to grow or even make money from your content or perhaps you are just unsure where to start, my 20 Twitter coaching sessions will teach you how as I lay everything out to find success on the platform. These exclusive audio sessions cover a wide range of subjects such as:

Creating the best possible profile;

What to tweet about for sucess;

Selling and promoting books on Twitter;

Earning the trust of your followers;

Reaching a Million impressions and so much more.

These unique audio sessions will light the path for anyone at any level of experience on Twitter to better results through methods that work. Sign up here today and carve your own path to Twitter success!

The Reluctant Book Marketer Podcast – Branding on Twitter

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Shout-out to The Reluctant Book Marketer Podcast hosted by fellow author Jody Sperling for recently having me as a guest.

In this episode we talk about Twitter branding and the wider journey of being an author in the social media age.

You can listen here via Spotify

Or here via Substack

Jody has recently launched a Kickstarter for his soon to be published guide book ‘The Seven-Figure Marketing Mindset For Novelists’. You can check that out here.

Weekly Ramble #161

Lee Hall Leave a comment

The final month of 2022 is here and I’ve still got a stack of things to do. In all truth, I’m always busy and I kind of function that way. This year has thrown me an abundance of curveballs and also some really awesome unexpected moments. After all that has happened I’m happy with the outcome.

Finding peace in any endeavour is a hard thing to do sometimes and reflection of self is a huge part of that. Knowing that there is plenty left to do this year alone will keep me going all the way until the close of what has been a hugely significant time. There are still so many cool things I intend to achieve sooner or later and so as always I’ll keep going. Through the good, bad or indifferent consistency is the key.

You can expect a plethora of content this month on here and Patreon. Stay tuned.

Weekly Ramble #159

Lee Hall Leave a comment

Consistency. No matter the trends or events happening, Consistency will always rule. And the results might not always be instant or even obvious but those who do keep going will find them.

I don’t consider my writing or work to have any level of finesse but I work hard and I keep going to make that writing my very best. It isn’t really up to me to say whether or not it is any good and perhaps that’s the real beauty and thrill of being a creative in the social media arena. Readers decide and interpret things in their own ways.

For all the things my journey has represented this year, enduring is the word I’ll use to describe it. Through the strange but mostly wonderful social media interactions to the huge numbers of reviews, sales, follows and even royalties. Things have endured, I have endured and I am still standing after whatever forces, good or bad were thrown my way.

The future is a concept I look to with excitement and possibility but I also know the time is actually now. Every day is an opportunity to shape our future and make it a good one.

I am one with the journey and the journey is one with me.

Thank You for the Awards

Lee Hall

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who recently voted for me in the Feed My Reads Awards 2022.

Its an honour to be named both Star of the Book Community 2022 and Biggest Indie Supporter of the Year.

To be supported, mentioned and thought of in such a wonderful way for my efforts in the Writing Community and of course the Indie Book Community is both humbling and special. As a fan of stories and reading that passion eventually urged me at quite a young age to consider pursuing the dream of becoming a writer myself.

On this journey, which has given me a lot of experiences I’ve come to realise I am in the fantastic company of many talented and kind people who make all of this worth it. I’m a firm believer in supporting others to make our industry better and simply because I enjoy reading. Those who do release their words into this world deserve every single ounce of support they can get because it takes a monumental level of bravery to share any type of creativity.

Writers supporting writers is a world that I very much appreciate living in.

Thank you to the awesome Feed My Reads blog for putting together the awards and for the amazing effort. To everyone else who was nominated and those who also won awards – thank you also.

You can watch the full awards ceremony here.

How I Landed my 3rd BookBub Featured Deal

Lee Hall

Even though I have always believed in myself, I’m always in a slight state of disbelief when good things actually happen or when something goes as planned. The imposter syndrome will always find a way to creep in but then sometimes good things just align at the exact time. You see, good things arrive exactly when they are supposed to, they are neither late nor early. They arrive always when they are supposed to.

Being a proprietor of never giving up has brought me the best of rewards as a writer and creative online. All of which I firmly believe have pulled together to help me secure the subject of this post; my third BookBub Featured Deal. Hailed as the Holy Grail of Book Promotions in some crowds and I would agree to an extent, the illusive selectors that reside within the inner workings of the original Book Promo site have always been kind to me, no matter how many times they have rejected my efforts, its the times when they say yes that remain memorable and this post is designed to lay out how I secured that third featured deal. It is broken down into headings that I feel relay the most important factors any author needs when trying to secure their own BookBub Featured Deal.

Consistency

At the heart of all of my efforts as a social media creator and author is consistency. You’ll find it everywhere I go from being ever present on Twitter and growing from 3,000 followers in 2020 to 35,000 very recently to the books I have steadily released over the years. 7 in roughly 6 years with numero 8 dropping in a matter of weeks, its even in the same series as Open Evening – perhaps destiny or just chance or simply because I have positioned myself with consistency this has happened. Even the practicality of bothering BookBub with my submissions for their featured deal is part of why I’ve been selected three times. Every month, pretty much like clockwork I apply for a featured deal with one or several of my books with the ever present hope they would say yes. No matter how many times they don’t, the rewards of what a deal involves are too high for me to forget that monthly ritual of throwing the dice or even the coin into the well.

Conduct

You can be a success on Twitter; a conversational platform without sharing hard pressed opinion or something that will insight passionate debate because they are the two things that I have avoided for nearly a decade. And that conduct of mine has propelled my efforts in all departments of my online creativity. From book sales and reviews where hardly any point towards my personal conduct – yes there are reviewers out there who will hold authors accountable for their opinions online, I navigate myself through the sometimes troll heavy, always-an-argument-about-to-explode waters of social media with ease, the same can be said for this blog. BookBub may or may not be watching but if your social media content and posting is one hot mess of opinion, clumsy arguing and full of stuff that not even the hardiest of publicist will touch with a several foot long barge pole, then you’ll probably fall at the first hurdle. First and foremost you are your brand, so if you chose to throw it around like the many anonymous troll types who treat their presence as an anonymous avatar or you simply don’t have a care for what you say online, anything you publish or create will suffer for it.

Duration

Open Evening is my eldest title. It has seen several changes since the initial release such as the odd edit of typo and all the things that come with being able to amend a book that is live and published – not much has changed within as I personally feel going back to edit a book that has been released for a while kind of cheats the reader out of capturing my writing and imagination at a certain time in my life. This book has been a journeyman work horse for me. It has headed up the most free promos and has simply been there for all the years I have been published. This stuff isn’t an instant success (being an indie author) and finding that success takes time. In that time Open Evening has found reviews that have pushed it towards that apparent golden number of 50 – again is this something BookBub take into account? For the most part I’d like to think so but my super hero comedy The Teleporter was accepted by them twice with less than 20 ratings. Be in this for the duration, release books over time, enjoy the process, learn from it, let it make you a better author and then even when you are several books beyond that release you can still enjoy its success no matter when it arrives.

Timing

Just days before this featured deal my 8th book will drop, a book that shares the same series as Open Evening and now a sure fire launch campaign. The truth is, I have been waiting, waiting for the right time to promote this series as the last in the series was going to launch softly with me then figuring out the marketing after. Timing has changed that and it couldn’t more on point.

Seriousness

Even back when this was just sort of a hobby, I always took it seriously. Like when I used to perform in amdram, yes its amateur drama but the audience are still real and the money they paid me was very real and earned by them so therefore my effort was real. Treating this like a business for most parts has pushed me further and further to make business decisions and treat this whole thing like that. Even with the freedom and creativity that is writing a book as an indie, I take that seriously also and give it the highest level of respect. Stephen King and James Patterson are often featured by BookBub and without boasting or at least trying to, so is Lee Hall because he considers himself a writer too.

Learn

I am always taking on new information to shape what’s next. Just how does one secure a BookBub featured deal? You can apply all of the above and still possibly be nowhere near or they might say yes tomorrow because this journey is one of self learning and discovery. I can guarantee you will find some level of success if you remain open to learning from what have and have not achieved. This post isn’t the usual guide many will be used to, but I’m having a philosophical moment and those guides are great and all but writer Lee Hall is in the building right now and it is my wiring that has got me to this point.

Your writing can take you far also. Don’t give up.

Open Evening will be Free to download a little later this month through BookBub’s featured deal. Watch this space for more!

You shall find some practical advice on how to secure your own BookBub Featured Deal below. Sign up to my Patreon to listen and access all of my best guides.