The Raccoon Author's Self-Publishing Diary

This one's a numbers-and-behind-the-scenes episode. I share a full preorder update across all five of my current books, platform by platform, the good and the zero, and where I'm at ten days into a thirty-day TikTok experiment in 2026 (I know, I know).

The BookTok part is genuinely interesting to me: one video crossed 2,000 views and somehow racked up more than eight hours of total watch time, while its near-identical twin stalled at 94 and I have no idea why. That's kind of the whole lesson.

I get into what's working, where in the world people are actually watching from (hello, UK), how many of them clicked through (spoiler: two), and yes, what it's costing me in focus, because I opened the app nineteen times in one afternoon and that felt worth admitting out loud.

Plus: the Belgian VAT answer that arrived in eleven pages, the Barnes & Noble payment I'm still chasing, a trip to the ER that cancelled a posting day, and trying to use my phone less.

And I'm going to interview the chemical engineer about how to write a believable one. If you've got a question for him, send it to [email protected]. He refuses to see them in advance. So. :-)

If you've tried TikTok and it worked for you, or really didn't, come tell me. We can commiserate, or you can show me your data.

• BeccaCon + Becca Syme's Write Better-Faster Patreon — the author-business conference and the experiments-homework that started all this: https://betterfasteracademy.com (Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/beccasyme/posts)
• Wide for the Win Circle (where I posted about the Barnes & Noble delay): https://wideforthewin.com/
• L. Penelope — "The Fire That Forges You" (My Imaginary Friends), on documenting your process while you're in it: https://myimaginaryfriends.substack.com/p/the-fire-that-forges-you
• Jami Albright — The Summer That Changed Us — the book that wrecked me (Steel Magnolias meets Schitt's Creek with the heart of This Is Us): https://books2read.com/b/mdZvPW — jamialbright.com

• My Christmas Wish-List (preorder, now July 31st): https://books2read.com/MyChristmasWish
• Cancer Is Not My Brand (preorder): https://books2read.com/cancerisnotmybrand/
• Nice Guys Don't Kiss Like That at Christmas: https://books2read.com/NiceGuysDontKissLikeThat
• A New Year's Eve Like No Other (third in the Nick & Em series): https://books2read.com/ANewYearsEveLikeNoOther
• French editions — Ma Liste de Noël and Un Réveillon Pas Comme Les Autres

If the episode was useful, a rate-and-review would make this self-published author's day. Happy writing, and happy, happy reading.

www.elodienowodazkij.com

www.elodienow.com

I had different plans for this episode. And then I ended up in a Belgian ER at 6:45 in the morning with hives and a lip that decided to start swelling. So... change of plans.

This week, I'm taking you behind the scenes of three days in my life as a self-published author: the writing, the taxes, and yes, the ER.

I talk about:

• My ER stories as a writer (and former cancer patient) in three countries (the US, France, and Belgium) and how those experiences end up in my books, including the nurses who made everything easier (hi to the one who called me Bebe)
• Finding the small good moments even in crappy situations, and why sometimes that's easier said than done
• Why I moved the preorder date for # My Christmas Wish-List to the end of July (spoiler: there was just no way)
• Bringing Plato (our beagle who we said goodbye to in 2025 ) into My Christmas Wish List, and how writing him helped me get back into the story
• Revision talk: digging deeper into character voice, the "worst and best" to make characters more three-dimensional, a scene more alive and why knowing where the dog is in every scene actually matters
• The Belgian VAT saga continues (I called the FinMin help line, I sent an email, I wait)

And Cancer Is Not My Brand is now up for preorder! What a wonderful way to announce it. Such a nice segue.

Links mentioned in this episode:

• Preorder Cancer Is Not My Brand: https://books2read.com/cancerisnotmybrand/
• Preorder My Christmas Wish-List (now coming end of July): https://books2read.com/MyChristmasWish
• Nice Guys Don't Kiss Like That at Christmas: https://books2read.com/NiceGuysDontKissLikeThat
• Becca Syme's QuitCast for Writers — "Why We Want You to Prioritize Your Health This Year as Authors" (also on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQ1Lm5o3IcI)
• The Creative Penn — "Writing Through Grief and Rebooting an Indie Author Business" with Jami Albright: https://www.thecreativepenn.com/2026/06/01/writing-through-grief-and-rebooting-an-indie-author-business-with-jami-albright/
• Jami Albright's website (and her book The Summer That Changed Us): Steel Magnolias meets Schitt’s Creek with the heart of This is Us.https://jamialbright.com

Choose your favorite e-retailer https://books2read.com/b/mdZvPW

• Susan Dennard on writing more than one book at once "Finishing what You Start": https://stdennard.substack.com/p/finishing-what-you-start

Tell me where you're listening from! Email me at [email protected]

• My websites: https://www.elodienowodazkij.com and https://www.elodienow.com

• My Substack: https://elodienowodazkij.substack.com/
• My YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@authorelodienowodazkij
• My Patreon: Elodie's Writing Nook https://www.patreon.com/c/elodieswritingnook

Thank you so much for listening from the US to Nigeria, Hong Kong to Lithuania, Belgium and France and Germany (and hi Alex, hi Maman, hi Gisela). I hope your socks are fluffy, and if you're writing, that the words are flowing.

Happy writing, and happy, happy reading.

This One is About Amazon Blocking One of my e-books - one that had been up for ten years.

In today's episode, I share how many returns that book got over years, the sales number, the reviews, what I decided to do.

I also talk about moving a pre-order, and a little bit about craft - thinking about how to improve my books.

Mentioned in this episode:

- How to get your Amazon account back: https://bit.ly/TBCYA

- Alliance of Independent Authors: https://www.allianceindependentauthors.org/

- Becca Syme: The #1 Thing Authors Can Do To Increase Demand For Their Books (The Quitcast 8.13)

- Ines Johnson: Page Turner Take off - I don't think it's available outside of her Kickstarter yet.

- Margie Lawson: A Deep Editing Guide to Make Your Openings Pop!

This episode is brought to you by: a shower, a hoarse voice from dictating, having grand and great plans I had to adjust due to fatigue. All of that got me thinking about ROMO. The Reality of Missing Out. Not FOMO. Not JOMO. The third thing.

I thought I'd made up the term. Yes, really. I was really proud of myself. I Googled it. I had not.

I talk about many things in this episode, including:

• dealing with declining profits from one year to another in my self-publishing business;
• the Kickstarter I'd love to do for Cancer Is Not My Brand (my upcoming nonfiction book) and why I'm not doing one right now, knowing my latest one for # The Leftover Bride audiobook Kickstarter didn't get fulfilled, but this isn't the only reason. I;
• about not going to InkersCon or the Write Better, Faster Academy digital conference this year, even though I really recommend both.
• about Ines Johnson's Romance Write Club Kickstarter, which I just backed, and how I'm learning that it's possible to look up to other authors and also not chase what they're doing (still learning that one).
• about how the reality of missing out, for me, is twofold...sometimes it's I cannot physically or emotionally do this right now, and sometimes it's I cannot financially or time-wise do this right now because it's not the best for my author business, and those are different. And then there's a third thing, which I figured out while recording (as one does, right?), which is realizing you're not actually missing out at all, because it may not be what you need at that moment.

If you're going through a hard time, I hope you feel a little less alone. That's the whole thing, really.

Links and resources mentioned:

• InkersCon — www.inkerscon.com (I think Golden Angel has a $50 discount code)
• Write Better, Faster Academy — https://betterfasteracademy.com/
• Becca Syme on author business phases:

- Phases for Author Business: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGX7gDqtvCM

- Deep dives on each phase: https://www.patreon.com/beccasyme/shop

• Ines Johnson's Romance Write Club Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/romancewriteclub/page-turner-craft-a-complete-page-turning-story-blueprint/description
• Cleveland Clinic on FOMO, JOMO, and ROMO : https://health.clevelandclinic.org/understanding-fomo
• Psychology Today on the reality of missing out: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/a-deeper-wellness/202506/understanding-and-managing-fomo
• Qamber Designs (cover designer) : https://www.qamberdesignsmedia.com/

If you want to tell me what you're missing out on or if you're currently more in a FOMO, JOMO, ROMO phase or all of the above, don't hesitate to send me an email: [email protected]

Happy writing. Happy reading.

My website:

www.elodienowodazkij.com

This is a numbers episode. I'm going back to the archives a little bit (back to the future, kind of) to talk about a book I released in 2015 that had 23 preorders and became one of my most read books.

A Summer Like No Other launched at 99 cents. I had a whole plan — cover reveal with Xpresso Book Tours, NetGalley, YouTube videos, a blog series called The Making Of, emails to readers who had reviewed my first book. I got 23 preorders. In the first three months I made about $200.

That same book has now been downloaded 66,550 times in English: 40,279 audiobooks, 24,414 ebooks, and 1,360 paperbacks. Best month was May 2024, with 7,930 downloads.

The French version, Un Été Pas Comme Les Autres, had 20 preorders. It's now perma free, has been downloaded 48,368 times, has 1,843 ratings on Amazon France, and the translation got picked up by a publisher that was part of Hachette — which is how I became a hybrid author.

So preorders really don't make or break a book.

I also talk about:

• Dictation finally working for me — two days this week with more than 6,000 words, which hasn't happened in forever
• A very funny dictation fail from my walk
• Last week's newsletter (Elodie Now): 205 subscribers, 48.19% open rate, 0.49% click rate, one unsubscribe
• Fun fact: more than 50 subscribers across Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and I didn't know that until this week. Thank you

The two YouTube videos that helped me with dictation:

• Real Time Dictation Session: Dictate and Edit a Scene With Me — Alyssa in the Books https://youtu.be/I7rpvAGPgv4?si=4Oju1Ob5MjjukVNc
• Book Dictation for Beginners — The Courtney Project https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUVQ2vd_w1M

The Margie Lawson Deep Edits packets:

• Deep Editing, Rhetorical Devices, and More: https://www.margielawson.com/product/deep-editing-rhetorical-devices-and-more/
• Make Endings POP! Deep Editing Style: https://www.margielawson.com/product/make-endings-pop-deep-editing-style/

PublisherChamp:

• https://www.publisherchamp.com/

If you'd like to tell me you're listening and where from, I would love to hear from you: authorelodienowodazkij AT gmail.com

This post is about grief. An update. Going back to write. An excerpt of my next rom-com. And a donkey.

My Self-Pub Weekly Diary: Some Wins, Some Wobbles, and Absolutely Zero Words (on My Manuscripts)

This episode is a daily mashup of behind-the-scenes of my self-publishing life including: libraries buying my ebooks, regaining my B&N vendor account, releasing a book (YAY!), but no words on my manuscripts (I did write bonus scenes).

Also: trying to invigorate my Goodreads profile: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/55359987.Elodie_Now

As always if you enjoy this podcast make sure to subscribe and leave a review.

Thank you so much for listening!www.elodienowodazkij.com

Writers talk a lot about the “Book of My Heart”: the story that feels deeply personal, the one you carry close.

But there’s another book, too.

The F***-It Book.

The book where you stop worrying about what’s expected, or tidy, or “on-brand.”

The book where you choose joy anyway.

Or choose whatever you need to write because you’re ready to.

Sometimes the F***-It Book and the Book of My Heart are the same book.

Sometimes they overlap.

Sometimes they’re cousins who share snacks and chaos energy.

I don’t know the exact category here.

But I know Nice Guys Don't Kiss Like That At Christmas is my F***-It Book.

The one where I say:

Yes, she had cancer.

Yes, she gets the holiday steamy rom-com.

Yes, this is still allowed to be fun and tender and ridiculous and warm.

Nice Guys Don’t Kiss Like That at Christmas is that book for me.

And today, I want to tell you why.

Visit my website: www.elodienowodazkij.com

Want a copy? Email me at: [email protected]

Otherwise, this book: https://books2read.com/NiceGuysDontKissLikeThat

I'm releasing my next book on November 7th... Goodreads doesn't remember my name. Oh, and B&N decided to reject my vendor account?

Everything is good.

Everything is good.

Behind-the-scenes and the ups and downs of self-publishing...

Mentioned in this episode:

- Nice Guys Don't Kiss Like That At Christmas

- Anne Victory - NetGalley co-op

- Wide for the Win Facebook Group: https://victoryediting.com/services/netgalley-co-op/

A quick update. I'm now in Belgium and thinking about thinking...

No, thinking about my to-do list and whether to start a Patreon about my self-publishing... oh and I reached 1000 subscribers on my Patreon. And I have an Italian translation coming up and...and... and...