We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kristina Carmela a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Kristina, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

As an indie author, one of the first questions you ask yourself is, how will people find my books to buy?

There are some very obvious answers, right? Bookstores, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc.. But just because those answers are obvious, it doesn’t mean that they’re suited for everybody.

Like most indie authors, I got my books on all these platforms and hoped a book store or two would pick them up. Only, I wasn’t having much success anywhere except on my own website. On top of that, the amount of money I earned per sale between my website and other platforms was a huge difference. So, it got me thinking, what would happen if the only way to purchase my books would be solely on my website?

In September of 2023, I pulled all of my books off distribution and now only sell on my website and in person. I know this is unconventional but there’s a lot of benefits once you get over how scary it is! While this won’t work for everybody, in my situation, I was getting lost on the big platforms. I wasn’t selling enough on any of them that I was being seen. When I combined my sales on every outside platform, I was still selling 7x more on my own. It was a no brainer in my situation.

What I’ve learned is the value in controlling my brand. At the end of the day, our status on these other platforms like Amazon or B&N or social media, can be taken away at any moment. You can be pulled for silly reasons or for valid ones. But then what? You don’t necessarily know who your customers are or how to contact them. You are just out of luck.

When you sell on your own, whether solely like me or as a piece to your brand, you have that data. You know who is buying your books and they know how to find you. I’ve created tons of bonus content on my website, totally for free, so that my readers feel not only engaged, but a part of my little Nelsonville community.

It’s been a huge piece of the puzzle for me. Building my community of readers who love the world I’m building has been a game changer. I find that people are buying my books and reader them quicker when they feel more engaged instead of just adding them to their long list of books to be read.

Sometimes going against the grain, while it’s a challenge, it can be really rewarding!

Kristina, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Kristina Carmela and I am an indie author!

I am writing two book series that take place in one fictional town called Nelsonville, Rhode Island. The main series will follow five female friends, over the course of five years within five trilogies! So we will be bouncing around main characters, seeing a three month time span directly from their point of view. The one thing that ties these women together is the fact that they all showed up in Nelsonville to start over. There is friendships, romance, drama, loss, new endeavors and so much more throughout the books! On top of that, I have a novella series that begins to explore our side characters during one life changing year. This brings us all throughout time to get to know our favorite side characters more and more!

The world of Nelsonville has evolved a lot from my initial hope of just wanting to see if I could write a book in the first place. I grew up reading, loving getting lost in other worlds at a young age. But I never thought that I could be an author bringing a new world to life. Only, what I didn’t know then was how that world would need me in the same ways I would need to explore it. After writing my debut, This Time Around, I realized just how many stories are in my mind and how they all needed to be shared. Really, there’s no stopping me now!

I am so proud of the fact that I’ve self published not one novel, but three with a fourth on the way plus one novella and another on the way in the last three years. It’s that pride and that passion that drives me. And if you know me, then you know that when I love something, I dive deep in.

Because of that, I think that my series and the bonus content I have does stand out. I want my readers to stick around for book after book. I want to give them more and I want them to feel at home in the fictional beach town I’ve built. To achieve that, on my website I have hundreds of bonus pages from extensive character bios, Main Street business profiles, chapter by chapter insights for each novel, trivia, insight on big themes and more! I want people to get lost in Nelsonville the same way I have because the thing is, nobody ever gets lost there. They only get found!

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I love the connection to other people that books bring. Being an indie author, I get the opportunity to connect with both readers and other authors on a regular basis. I love hearing how people feel at home in the town I built or how they feel like they’re hanging out with friends when they start a new chapter. Giving people something to love is truly indescribable.

More so, I find that people are looking to see themselves or their experiences in books. So when somebody tells me that a character or a particular scene in the book really resonates with them, it’s huge. I want people to feel seen especially in the difficult moments in our lives. If they can connect with somebody, fictional or not, it makes a difference.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

This is more of a lesson that I’ve learned lately. I still have a small following, and if you check me out, you’ll see that. For a long while, I was chasing numbers because I thought that numbers meant fans. But that’s not really it at all.

This goes hand in hand with one of my favorite things about being a creative: making connections. When you stop putting content out just to get content out and you begin being more meaningful and mindful, things start to change. Once I began to slow down and make meaningful changes, my people started to come. And when I start to make content that will benefit them and that they will actually love, they begin to interact more. It’s almost like a domino effect and really it’s quality over quantity.

Even though I’m slowly making progress, the progress I’m seeing is so worthwhile! I’d rather have what I have now than empty followers who don’t actually care about me and my books.

So I suggest, don’t worry about the numbers and focus on what makes you, you! Connect with your audience and have some fun with it!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.kristinacarmela.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristinacarmela_writes
• Other: Threads: https://www.threads.net/@kristinacarmela_writes TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@kristinacarmela_writes

Image Credits
All are my own (I draw all my book covers!)