The Raccoon Author's Self-Publishing Diary

Elodie Nowodazkij
  • 5.0 (4)
  • Books
  • Biweekly

A candid self-publishing podcast for indie authors, with author Elodie Nowodazkij (aka the Raccoon Author). Follow the real numbers, experiments, mistakes and decisions behind an indie author career—from book marketing, launches and advertising to writing, revising, publishing wide, author branding and making money from books. Since 2014, Elodie has been sharing the wins, disasters, changes of mind and occasional chaos of building a long-term self-publishing career, with useful takeaways, humor and a French accent.

  1. 3d ago

    Amazon Royalties Down, Kobo Royalties Up & a Spotify Wrapped Surprise

    Well, I did a very raccoon thing this morning. 🦝 Instead of recording the episode I'd planned, I created an entirely new Patreon for The Raccoon Author Diary. Because apparently, I needed another project. So, we're pivoting! This week, I'm sharing the ups and downs of my self-publishing week: an invitation to record a Spotify Wrapped video, September royalties that are down overall but UP on several retailers, a Kickstarter pre-launch page with four followers (including me and my husband), and the absolute joy of discovering that someone borrowed my Sweets For Love audiobook from a library! Plus, some writing updates, social media adventures, and a reminder to actually breathe while working. Apparently, I sometimes forget. What about you? What's one up or one down from your writing week? Happy writing and happy, happy reading! 🦝 LINKS MENTIONED New Raccoon Author Patreon : https://www.patreon.com/cw/theraccoonauthorCancer Is Not My Brand Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1903722368/cancer-is-not-my-brand-and-yet?ref=aoo2q1Vanessa Vale's Box Method class: Thrifty Tips For Authors | Facebook# Sweets For Love audiobook: https://books2read.com/sweetsforlove/Contact me: hello AT TheRaccoonAuthor.com or Elodie@elodienow.comWebsite: https://www.elodienowodazkij.com

  2. Oct 21

    Numbers episode: My first month with Instagram Trial Reels (not posting consistently)

    I’ve posted 14 Instagram trial reels over about three weeks, and… the results have been mixed. Let’s put it that way. In this episode, I’m sharing my actual numbers: views, likes, saves, who’s seeing my videos, and whether any of it seems to be translating into book sales. I talk about posting in English and French from Belgium, cross-posting to TikTok and Facebook and Pinterest. There’s also a little detour into how sharing excerpts helped me revise my books, a reminder from Leslye Penelope about showing up and forgiving ourselves when real life happens, and me remembering that I cannot do all the things for all the pen names. Apparently. Plus, my Kickstarter pre-launch page for Cancer Is Not My Brand (And yet…) is live! I’m also restarting the Raccoon Author newsletter and sharing an upcoming workshop from Becca Syme. Still experimenting. Still learning. I’ll keep you updated. LINKS MENTIONED Cancer Is Not My Brand (And yet…) on Kickstarter — click “Notify me on launch”: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1903722368/cancer-is-not-my-brand-and-yetSign up for the Raccoon Author newsletter: https://raccoonauthornewsletter.subscribepage.io/Join the Raccoon Author tier on Elodie’s Writing Nook Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/elodieswritingnook/membership Becca Syme’s workshop, “I’m Not Making 10K in Profits. What Am I Doing Wrong?”: https://www.crowdcast.io/c/2ugvwsiva3sm Leslye Penelope’s “Consistency, Authenticity & Going Viral”: https://myimaginaryfriends.substack.com/p/consistency-authenticity-and-goingThe Inevitable Undoing of Zahara Douglass by Leslye Penelope: https://lpenelope.com/book/the-inevitable-undoing-of-zahara-douglass/Skye MacKinnon’s AuthorScale interview about Kindle screenshots and trial reels: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3EIiGsEcIg&t=12s&pp=ygULYXV0aG9yc2NhbGU%3D Rachel Jonas’s AuthorScale interview about her 90-day posting challenge: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSOozi4FNjg&t=2715s&pp=ygULYXV0aG9yc2NhbGU%3DMy Substack:https://elodienowodazkij.substack.com/My website: https://www.elodienowodazkij.com Thank you so much for listening. Subscribe, leave a rating, or share this episode with an author friend—it helps a whole lot. Happy writing, and happy, happy reading!

  3. Oct 14

    Raccoon Author Snack: But what if it works?

    Short episode as all the plans are in my head and they need to get on paper. But also... I am finally organizing my office and the print raccoon author I got commissioned has the words "But what if it works?" Which made me smile so I thought I'd share it with you all. As always my Patreon (there's a Raccoon Author tier) https://www.patreon.com/c/elodieswritingnook and my website: https://elodienowodazkij.com/the-raccoon-author/

  4. Oct 1

    Writing and Why and Working Through Things

    I started listening to Abbie Emmons’ Make Your Story Matter, and one question she mentioned authors should ask themselves is "Why does your story matter?" And that immediately got stuck in my head in a loop. In this Dear Raccoon Author Diary episode, I’m talking about writing and why and working through things, lots of things—what I want readers to feel, what I sometimes work through myself within the pages, and how all of that fits alongside the very practical business side of being an indie author. How I want to both look at my numbers without losing my "why". I talk about Genevieve and Theodore and revising "A New Year's Eve Like No Other", about grief and Margie Lawson's deep EDITS technique, duets versus standalones both in terms of craft and revenue, read-through and audiobook and translations costs and oh, Amazon deciding to mess-up with permafree books, including mine. Basically, it's a very Raccoon Author mix of craft, feelings (lots of them) and numbers. And underneath it all, I keep coming back to that question: Why does this matter to me, and hopefully, to the readers? Abbie Emmons — Make Your Story Matterhttps://benbellabooks.com/shop/make-your-story-matter/ 🦝 Join me on Patreon — Raccoon Author tier:https://www.patreon.com/c/elodieswritingnook Preorder Cancer Is Not My Brand https://books2read.com/cancerisnotmybrand/ Margie Lawson:https://www.margielawson.com/ And I’d love to hear from you: Why does your story matter? Elodie AT Elodienow.com Happy writing. And happy, happy reading. ❤️

  5. Sep 22

    Dear Raccoon Author Diary: The Venice Edition or an author on holidays...

    This podcast episode was recorded outside of Venice and this is just me, the Raccoon Author, giving you an update on... not writing and not working. Because I did take a break for a few days before starting up again on updating my social contributions in Belgium and refilling the creative well. www.elodienowodazkij.com

  6. Sep 15

    Dear Raccoon Author Diary: Facebook Ads, Lucy Score & All the Ideas

    A few days in this Raccoon Author’s self-publishing life. 🦝 On September 8, I’m once again trying to figure out what the heck is happening with my Facebook Ads account (the saga continues…), while also revising, answering tax questions, working on BookSprout and replying to readers. Then on September 12, my brain goes from AuthorScale to listening to Lucy Score on the SPA Girls Podcast, to Gallup Strengths, writing through emotions, feeling seen by another author’s process… and, obviously, coming up with even more ideas for future podcast episodes. Because apparently I needed more ideas. Links mentioned in this episode: Skye MacKinnon talking about her AuthorScale / trial reel results on YouTubehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3EIiGsEcIg SPA Girls Podcast — EP546: Interview with Lucy Score: Breaking Out / Advice For New Authors🦝 More behind-the-scenes Raccoon Author content on Patreon / Elodie’s Writing Nookhttps://www.patreon.com/c/elodieswritingnook⁠The Raccoon Authorhttps://elodienowodazkij.com/the-raccoon-author/You can also email me at elodie@elodienow.com Happy writing, and happy, happy reading. 🦝

  7. Sep 9

    Numbers Episode - 87 Books Sold, Less Than $100 in Royalties (and I'm Not Panicking)

    87 books sold. Less than $100 in royalties. And… I’m actually not panicking about it? 🦝 In today’s Raccoon Author's Self-Publishing Diary, I’m getting into the numbers behind My Christmas Wish List, my Christmas rom-com that came out at the end of July — including its veryyyyy long road to publication, the pre-order I canceled, why I eventually put it back up at $0.99, and what that meant for my royalties. Because selling MORE books does not necessarily mean making more money. I’m also looking at the bigger picture: how the other books in my Love in Swans Cove series have performed during the holiday season, why I’m keeping My Christmas Wish List at $4.99 now, why I’m not t running ads right now, and why I don't think a book's first month tells us its entire story. Especially when it’s a Christmas book. In September. I also talk about something I took away from an SPA Girls interview with Elana Johnson about working on a primary AND secondary writing project at the same time — which may or may not have given my raccoon brain permission to think more seriously about the next Love in Swans Cove book. And yes: I’m coming back after the holiday season with updated numbers so we can see what actually happened. Coming soon, too: the 80/20 rule. Does 20% of my catalog really generate 80% of my publishing income? I have started crunching the numbers… 🦝 JOIN ME ON PATREON / ELODIE’S WRITING NOOKhttps://www.patreon.com/c/elodieswritingnook 🎄 MY CHRISTMAS WISH LISThttps://books2read.com/MyChristmasWish 📊 PUBLISHER CHAMPhttps://www.publisherchamp.com/ 🎧 SPA GIRLS — Inside a Prolific Author’s Daily Routine ft. Elana Johnson & From Zero to $100K per Month – A Prolific Author’s Business Strategy ft. Elana Johnson 🦝 THE RACCOON AUTHORhttps://elodienowodazkij.com/the-raccoon-author/ Happy writing, and happy, happy reading. ❤️

  8. Sep 8

    Dear Raccoon Author Diary: Some Publishing Days Are Harder Than Others

    I’m trying something new! Alongside the deeper-dive episodes, I’ll also be sharing shorter Dear Raccoon Author Diary episodes—honest little snapshots from the messier, more emotional side of the self-publishing life. Today’s entry was recorded on one of those publishing days that felt a bit harder. I talk about disappointing royalty numbers, Substack, the comparison game, and how quickly one difficult day can make it feel as though everyone else is doing better than you. More Dear Raccoon Author Diary entries will be available to members of the Raccoon Tier over on Elodie’s Writing Nook on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/elodieswritingnook/membership

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About

A candid self-publishing podcast for indie authors, with author Elodie Nowodazkij (aka the Raccoon Author). Follow the real numbers, experiments, mistakes and decisions behind an indie author career—from book marketing, launches and advertising to writing, revising, publishing wide, author branding and making money from books. Since 2014, Elodie has been sharing the wins, disasters, changes of mind and occasional chaos of building a long-term self-publishing career, with useful takeaways, humor and a French accent.

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