In My Flop Era: The Most Embarrassing Thing to Happen to Me as an Author
Imagine your book sales being so devastatingly bad that you actually owe money back. That's exactly what happened to me.
I’m so passionate about what I do, sometimes it’s hard to imagine that other people aren’t as well. And not just “other people” but… anyone. At all. It’s a pill harder to swallow than my Arrae supplements.
Imagine getting an email from your publishing services provider with the subject “Royalty Reporting - Negative Balance Owing” and immediately wanting to cry. Here are a few lines from that email:
“At this time, your royalty account has gone into a negative balance, due to book returns. Your balance currently falls outside of the terms and conditions of your agreement and will need to be repaid.”
Cue: a shame attack. The email went on to say: “An invoice for your outstanding balance in the amount of $103.80 can be found in the Financials section of your Account Center.” Yes, the dollar amount was bolded. I literally wanted to crawl into bed and forget all about my author dreams.
Back in August, I saw that a bookstore had returned 52 copies of my novel. My first thought was to panic. And, in hindsight, rightfully so. Fifty-two copies. Doesn’t that seem outrageous? Like, not a single copy sold? Out of that many? It’s hard to wrap my head around. Whenever I’ve done an in-person event like a reading or a book signing, I’ve sold out of books. Completely.
However, when my book is left on its own to sink or swim, it almost always drowns.
Although part of me wanted to bury The Manhattan Mishap in the literary graveyard and move on, my ambitious side wouldn’t let me. So, instead of giving up, I decided to rebrand. Not long after receiving that dreadful email, I designed a new cover that feels more me, more on brand, and more cohesive with the other books I’m releasing.
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Those of you who have been following The Manhattan Mishap since its original publication in November 2021 know that I’ve never been 100% satisfied with the cover. I’ve been vocal about that. And while some people love it, I’m not totally sold. It’s cute and it served its purpose—but it’s time to move forward. One of my friends said it best the other day when I gave our group chat a little preview:
“The other one was cute for the chick-lit genre, but this cover matches fashion fiction way more.”
Fashion fiction is my new thing. Upon realizing that my books and the stories I write don’t necessarily fall completely into any genre, I took a look at the common thread between them: style. I love dressing up my characters, making them look cute and feel confident, describing outfits. A lot of my references have to do with models, designers, and, well, fashion. So, “fashion fiction” makes sense. It’s chick-lit with elevated style.
My new cover features a chocolate-brown hue, tonal animal print, and a bubbly font with pink accents. I’m calling it The Manhattan Mishap (Melina’s Style) because that’s exactly what it is: my personal style. The front is a bit more serious and aesthetically pleasing but when you turn it over, you’ll see bright icons depicting different aspects of the book: a laptop, a martini, a New York City cab, a heart, and a lipstick.
Of course, not all of the books I write are as bubbly as a glass of Avaline. However, even in my book Thirteen Emotions, which features a majority of heavy topics and feelings, I managed to squeeze in a handful of stylish, powerful, fashion-forward women and their tantalizing tales. It’s just who I am and what I love to write about.
Here’s a look at The Manhattan Mishap’s new cover:
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And here’s my latest book signing at Indigo with the old cover:
Finally, here’s part 01 of my book cover as an outfit:
I recently posted about this on Threads (here, here, and here) and got really good feedback from people in the reading and writing community. Also, one Canadian author let me know that the publishing company I went with is a “vanity press” (on their website they describe themselves as a publishing services provider) and that because I paid them money upfront to publish my book, there was no incentive for them to help promote or market it. This is unfortunately true.
Back when I was eager to publish my novel, I searched and searched for the right place to self-publish. Ultimately, I ended up going with the publishing services provider I chose because they were in my hometown, had good reviews as far as I could tell at the time, and seemed helpful and simple to navigate.
Although I’m disappointed that my first novel hasn’t remained as successful as it started out, I’m glad I went through this experience. With my second book, Thirteen Emotions, I did everything myself and found that I liked that better. Plus, it was a lot cheaper. If I hadn’t gone through the whole process with the publishing services provider holding my hand (and, unfortunately, taking my money) then I wouldn’t have learned as much as I did about publishing a book and be able to do it on my own the next time.
Lessons have been learned and I’ll continue publishing books my way.
My first edition of The Manhattan Mishap has had a bumpy road recently, but it wasn’t always that way. I sold heaps of books early on. My website sold out, I sold out at Indigo twice, and I also sold out at Vroman’s in Pasadena after I did a reading and signing event there. I think it just goes to show that when I’m there putting in the work, my book thrives. But if I’m leaving it on its own with no explanation or sassy persuasion, it flops. Fingers crossed that with the new cover, this is the end of my flop era.
The new and improved version of The Manhattan Mishap (Melina’s Style) can be found on Amazon or through my online bookstore.