After we created the concept and outline for "A Symphony of Flames and Liberty" we began the writing process. It took us roughly three months to create the first draft, from December to March. During this time, we created an Instagram and a TikTok to start promoting our book and gaining a social media presence. By the time the first draft was completed we had amassed over 100 followers on Instagram and TikTok.
Our social media strategy was simple, post three times a day on each platform, targeting key times when our followers were active. To make the social media management easier to balance we divided up the days of the week so that each person had two days a week they were responsible for the social media pages, leaving one extra day. We rotated that extra day so that every three weeks someone would have three days a week to run the socials. The rules were simple and it worked well, on your day you had to post three times and interact with other accounts. Kelly and Anna worked out a deal where Anna would respond to any comments or DMs on Kelly's day as she prefers to work behind the scenes.
In April, one of Cailin's videos took off on Instagram like wildfire. It has been trending for nearly two months gaining us nearly a million views and 178 new followers from that reel alone! TikTok was less successful. Once we hit roughly 100 followers we hit stagnation with no new followers and were unable to escape the 200 view jail.
Around this time we began searching for Beta Readers. We posted on both social media accounts and had roughly 15 people interested in Beta Reading for us in May. While we worked through the editing process we began putting together the materials for our May Beta Readers. Having never worked with Beta Readers, this was entirely a new process for us. We had no idea what to ask for, expect, or provide. While Kelly worked on building our website, Anna and Cailin began putting together a packet for the Beta Readers. In the end, we had a total of 8 Beta Readers in May.
At the beginning of June, Anna posted a video to TikTok, that similar to Cailin's April Instagram video, went "mini" viral overnight. The excitement was barely containable! Gaining over 15 thousand views in just two days and 343 new followers, our book finally began to gain traction on TikTok. Once our socials medias began steadily getting views and followers we slowed our posting to one post a day. So far, this is maintaining our presence on both platforms with steady growth.
A week after we went "mini" viral on TikTok, we launched our website and opened up our July Beta Reader applications. The application got so many responses that we had to close the application early and decided to restructure our July Beta Read. Originally, we planned to have 3-5 readers for July and be ramping down the edits for publication. However, with so many responses from so many different age groups and backgrounds, we wanted to pilot our manuscript on more people, because ultimately we want our book to be enjoyed by all age groups!
Instead of ramping down, we decided to ramp up and do a "Staggered Beta Read" for July. I don't know if this is a real thing or just something that Anna made up - but she created a whole timeline, structure, and process that we are excited to implement with our Beta Readers! If you would like more information on how she created this, let us know and we can do a whole blog post on that, including the materials we give our Betas!
Our July Beta Reads will begin on July 8 and run through the middle of August. This will be an incredibly busy and fast-paced time for us as we are also launching an official business, pre-orders, (hopefully) new website, and working closely with a large number of Betas. Please bear with us as we work hard to get out book to the very best version for you to enjoy! If you would like to sign up for the July Beta Read Waitlist you can do so at the bottom of the page!
Until the next time the tea is poured,
A.C.K. McClure
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