I’m super pleased to announce that my latest photo book, Polafornia, is featured in Impossible Project’s Impossible Magazine. I couldn’t be happier! Read the article and look at the pics here.
Tag Archives: Julie Loen
Polafornia is OUT NOW!
My new photobook, made in collaboration with Ingvild Eiring, is finally available!
Longtime collaborators and friends, model and artist Ingvild Eiring, and photographer and author Julie Loen embark on a week-long trip to California, traveling in a loop from San Francisco, via Sacramento to Yosemite, and back to San Francisco again. Join them on their adventure through a selection of Polaroid pictures, digital photographs, candid snapshots, drawings, and words.
Ingvild and Julie visit Alcatraz without doing the audio tour, encounter a family of skunks by Folsom Lake, deal with an allergy attack after cuddling a rabbit in Sacramento, fall in love with an abandoned trailer home in El Portal, ride horses in Yosemite, raft down the Merced River, discover the original “bollefjoms” at the Palace of Fine Arts, and walk across the Golden Gate Bridge in the fog.
– Contains some nudity –
The 180 page book is available in three different editions:
A Self-Publisher’s Third Year in Numbers
I won’t say 2016 has been a bad year, but it hasn’t been quite the year I had in mind a year ago either. I had expected to publish two more books than I did; another photo book in collaboration with Ingvild Eiring and a short story collection. I also thought 2016 would be the year I’d put some money into promoting my work and by doing so sell more books, but I got laid off work for three months and simply couldn’t blow money on such fancy notions.
But 2016 has also been kinda awesome. I got around to get my driver’s license (about time, I’m 35). All the Things a Woman Oughtn’t Do – The Ballad of Zerelda Glanton got a proper exhibition at Studio Cyan in Oslo. I finally got into wetplate photography, and I’m loving it. And I published The 7th Bullet, the third book in The 9 Lives of The Outlaw known as Crazy Cat series. On top of these major events I’ve met some fantastic new people and had many a good time with old friends.
So, here’s the plan for 2017:
- Publish another photo book with Ingvild Eiring
- Publish a short story collection
- Publish the first The 9 Lives of The Outlaw known as Crazy Cat omnibus (Book 1-3)
- Probably publish a photo book of self portraits I’ve shot the last ten years
- Maybe (if time allows it) publish Black Lily, the fourth book in The 9 Lives of The Outlaw known as Crazy Cat series
That’s pretty much it. I’ve got a few other things brewing too, but I’ll allow those projects to pop up as a surprise if/when they’re good and ready to be revealed.
My so-called #2016bestnine on Instagram
A Self-Publisher’s Third Year in Numbers
A year ago I wrote the post A Self-Publisher’s Second Year in Numbers, and the year before A Debut Novel’s First Year in Numbers. This is the follow-up to those posts.
The Books
Embers at Dawn was published in December 2013, An Obelus Wheeze in April 2015, All the Things a Woman Oughtn’t Do – The Ballad of Zerelda Glanton in July 2015 and The 7th Bullet in July 2016. I include free copies when I say “sold,” at this point I’m more concerned about getting my work into the hands of as many readers as possible, than getting rich. Here’s the cold, hard numbers of my books’ success so far:
Embers at Dawn
Copies sold per year:
2013: 233
2014: 1106
2015: 337
2016: 110
Movements on Goodreads:
To-read:
2014: 929 + 7 reviews and 13 ratings
2015: 878 + 8 reviews and 21 ratings
2016: 866 + 8 reviews and 20 ratings
It also has one review on Amazon and one on Smashwords.
An Obelus Wheeze
Copies sold per year:
2015: 39
2016: 9
Movements on Goodreads:
To-read:
2015: 595 + 5 reviews and 15 ratings
2016: 570 + 6 reviews and 17 ratings
It also has one review on Amazon.
The 7th Bullet
Copies sold per year:
2016: 22
Movements on Goodreads:
I have hosted one Goodreads giveaway for it where I gave away nine books, 1092 people requested it.
To-read:
2016: 416 + 3 reviews and 5 ratings
It also has one review on Amazon.
All the Things a Woman Oughtn’t Do – The Ballad of Zerelda Glanton
Copies sold per year:
2015: 15
2016: 29
Movements on Goodreads:
I have hosted two Goodreads giveaways for it where I gave away one book, 1036 people requested it in 2015 and 1332 in 2016.
To-read:
2015: 407 + 3 reviews
2016: 694 + 3 reviews
Social Media and Merchandise
Followers per year: 2014 – 2015 – 2016
WordPress: 35 – 49 – 53
Facebook: 130 – 144 – 175
Instagram: 98 – 147 – 363
Twitter: 67 – 137- 209
I haven’t made any new merchandise and pretty much ignored the whole thing in 2016, and consequently not seen any of the stuff that’s already for sale move. I’m considering bringing my Etsy store back to life and fill it with darkroom prints and wetplates, but it’s not on top of my list – I need to get a few unfinished projects done first.
So, there you are; my third year as a self-publisher in numbers. I sold a total of 170 books, an epic low, but I intend to change that trend asap. Until next time, have a good one!
Zerelda E-book is FREE
The E-book version of All the Things a Woman Oughtn’t Do – The Ballad of Zerelda Glanton is currently free. Yup, that’s right, no charge. Go pick up your free copy HERE, before I change my mind.
Zerelda Exhibition
Yeee-haw! The exhibition of images from the photo book I made in collaboration with Ingvild Eiring kicks off at Cyan Salong in Oslo next Friday. Prints, originals and, of course, the book itself will be for sale.
Here’s what y’all need to know:
Launch party: Friday, September the 16th from 18.00.
Talk, yup… that’s right, Ingvild and I will be rambling on about the project on Thursday the 22nd from 19.00.
The exhibition will be up and running for two weeks, with regular hours from Saturday the 17th to Friday the 30th of September. Open Tuesday – Sunday from 12-15.00. Closed on Mondays.
Ingvild and I will be present at the launch party and the talk, and I will be present at the gallery on the weekends (Friday – Sunday). Stop by and and say howdy! 🙂
We Are Raven
I did a shoot recently, with model Ingvild Eiring, that was inspired by Siri Pettersen’s wonderful fantasy series The Raven Rings. To my great delight Siri loved the pictures and posted a whole album with images from the shoot on Facebook. To see more of the images head on over to my photo website julieloen.com
We did the shoot in the woods behind my house. I’ve done many shoots there before and never felt creeped out, but this day was different. Before we got started we came across a dead hare on the trail, and when we were ready to shoot a tree fell over close by us – the sound it made was… Well, it sounded like a troll was smashing through the forest. The rest of the day we didn’t hear a single bird, they were all inexplicably gone. But the forest wasn’t quiet, dead trees swayed in the wind, their shrivelled bodies creaking and screaming like something out of a horror movie.
The 7th Bullet is Out Now!
The 7th Bullet is the third book in the The 9 Lives of the Outlaw Known as Crazy Cat series—a Gothic western that draws upon elements from both horror and crime. It’s a foreboding tale of friendship and grief, madness, and haunts, and seeing a man about a horse.
Lee is offered a chance at freedom—all she has to do is assist a Pinkerton detective during an investigation and sign a contract where she swears to become a law-abiding citizen. She agrees to help the detective, but will she sign the contract and give up her outlawing ways?
The investigation brings her to the arid Bonneville flats and a lodge run by a family of spiritualists. They may or may not be able to talk to the dead, but they certainly have a connection to them.
Get your copy here:
or e-book from
or
Enter my Goodreads giveaway for a chance to win a signed copy of the paperback edition here.
Fotoscenen 2016
Y’all! I’ll be at the photo festival Fotoscenen in Oslo on Saturday, selling copies of All the Things a Woman Oughtn’t Do – The Ballad of Zerelda Glanton. Take a look at the program, it’s chock-full of interesting lectures and talented photographers.
Zerelda Rides Again
Y’all! I’ve got great news! Zerelda will get a proper exhibition in September at Cyan Studio in Oslo. All the original polaroids featured in the book will be on display (and for sale) along with a selection of bigger prints (also for sale). I’ll get back to y’all with the details in due time before the event.
AND! All the Things a Woman Oughtn’t Do – The Ballad of Zerelda Glanton is now available at my favourite bookstore in Oslo: Tronsmo AND at Oslo’s darkest and finest fashion haunt: Hevn. Both stores are well worth a visit.
A Self-publisher’s Second Year in Numbers
Happy new year, y’all!
2015 has been an absolutely amazing year. I published two books, An Obelus Wheeze – the second book in the The 9 Lives of The Outlaw known as Crazy Cat series and my first photobook, All the Things a Woman Oughtn’t Do – The Ballad of Zerelda Glanton, a collaborative project with model and costume designer Ingvild Eiring. Images from Zerelda have been Exhibited at Fotografiets Dag, featured in Floz Visions, and I was recently granted NOK 25.000,- from Norske Fagfotografers Fond to put together a proper exhibition. Ingvild and I also went to California for a week, it was – to sum it up short – AWESOME!
In this brand new year we call 2016 I’m fixing to publish The 7th Bullet – the third Crazy Cat book and a travel journal with images and stories from Ingvild and mine’s awesome trip to The USA. I also intend to put the money from NFF to use, but I need to find a willing gallery first. These are the plans I’m most certain about, whatever else I might cough up will have to be a surprise …and I assure y’all, there will be surprises 😉
On the road to Yosemite, somewhere between Merced and El Portal.
A Self-publisher’s Second Year in Numbers
A year ago I wrote the post A Debut Novel’s First Year in Numbers, this is the follow-up to that post. In 2015 I decided to not spend any money on promoting my books. The only promoting I’ve done in 2015 are Goodreads giveaways. Why on earth would I skimp out on promoting my brand new books? Because it’s not worth it… not yet. I’m sorry to say that I can’t recall where I picked up this particular nugget of advice, but here it is: When you self publish, especially in regards to a series, the reader might not believe you will finish the series before it’s done (or at least have a few books out). So, if you wait until you have a couple of books out, the money spent on promotion will have more value, because the reader will trust the series to be completed.
From Amazon to All Over the Place
During 2014 my first (and then, only) novel, Embers at Dawn, was available exclusively via Amazon for Kindle and as paperback. In early 2015 I opted out of KDP Select and made Embers at Dawn available permafree via Smashwords, E-bok.no and Google Books. I am very happy about this decision, I can trust a steady trickle of copies being picked up each month via Smashwords. It took the better part of the year before Amazon adjusted the list price from $0.99 to free. When it finally got listed as permafree in November, sales started moving there too. KDP Select can be great, but for me, it is pretty clear that selling books via more channels works better – the world of e-books is bigger than Amazon.
The Books
Embers at Dawn was published in December 2013, An Obelus Wheeze in April 2015 and All the Things a Woman Oughtn’t Do – The Ballad of Zerelda Glanton in July 2015. Here’s the cold, hard numbers of their success in 2015:
Embers at Dawn
Embers at Dawn sold (I include free copies when I say “sold”) 1340 copies in 2014 and 337 in 2015 – 148 via Amazon, 183 via Smashwords, 8 via E-bok.no and I have no idea how many via Google Books because their reports are a pain to decipher. I hosted two Goodreads giveaways for Embers at Dawn in 2014, but in 2015 the only thing I did for it was make it available on further platforms. Last year 929 people had marked it as “to read” on Goodreads, now there are 878. Last year it had received a total of 7 reviews and 13 ratings, now there are 8 reviews and 21 ratings.
An Obelus Wheeze
I did the launch for An Obelus Wheeze very properly. I set a date for its release and made it available for pre order (one person pre ordered it – my boyfriend) and sent out a newsletter about its upcoming release to the good folks on my mailing list. I also hosted a Goodreads giveaway that ended on the day of the book’s publishing date, 852 people requested it. When I hosted another giveaway, about six months later, 872 people requested it. Not bad, I think, for a second book in a series where barely anyone has read the first book. To my great shock and delight, 595 people has marked is as “to read” and it has garnered 5 very nice reviews and 15 ratings. A mere 39 copies have been sold – the statistics of the feedback, considering the number of copies in circulation, is beyond my comprehension… I am humbled and grateful and gleefully surprised to find that so many has jumped into the world of Crazy Cat without the proper introduction of the first book (the series is really meant to be read as one big whole) and still enjoyed it.
All the Things a Woman Oughtn’t Do – The Ballad of Zerelda Glanton
Ingvild and I have been creating buzz around the cowgirl project, that eventually culminated in the book, for two years. A lot of people have shown great interest in it, but as of right now, only 15 copies have been sold. We thought we would easily sell at least 20 copies at the release party for the book. I have hosted one Goodreads giveaway for it where I gave away one book, 1036 people requested it. 407 people have marked it as “to read” and it has received 3 ratings, but no reviews. I’m not entirely disappointed with the sales of Zerelda, but I have learned that selling a photobook is a very different shot of whiskey than peddling free and cheap e-books and affordable paperbacks.
Merchandise
The Crazy Cat emporium hasn’t exactly boomed during 2015 either, but I’m pretty happy about seeing the Crazy Cat merch move at all. On Society6 I’ve sold three T-shirts, one duvet cover and one framed print. On Tictail I’ve sold 3 signed copies of Zerelda, and on Zazzle; 3 Zerelda 2016 calendars. I’d call that a fair increase, compared to last years two buttons, one mousepad and a coffee mug.
Social Media
I don’t do much, if anything – I know! I’m terrible! – to gain followers on Social Media, but the increase in followers since last year is pretty decent nonetheless. My followers on WordPress have gone up from 35 to 49 – tipping my hat to y’all! Facebook, from 130 to 144. Instagram from 98 to 147, and Twitter from 67 to 137. I know I’ve been a terrible blogger, the few posts I’ve written have mostly been announcements about new books or happenings… Exactly the kind of things one are advised against to blog about too often. Because boring. Facebook is pretty much the same as it was last year, a place where primarily friends follow me. Twitter is still a mystery to me. I’m still no good at it and I tweet seldom. A lot of my followers there are book promoting sites who are obviously fishing for customers, the rest are mostly authors. Followers are nice, but they are not necessarily customers.
All in all I’m happy with the 391 books I sold during 2015. I’m also happy about getting my first reviews on Amazon, being contacted by a book blogger who posted a nice review on her blog and Goodreads, and receiving fan mail! That was a BIG WOW moment. I completed the first draft for book 4 and 5, and am currently in the latter stages of editing the third Crazy Cat book. I’ll let y’all know the details about how 2016 went in a year, maybe I’ll even throw in a pie chart or a line graph. Until then: Have a good one, y’all!
JC Loen 