#writing

top of page

GIRL, TAKEN

by Elena Nikitina

Girl, Taken by Elena Nikitina is the best-selling book in a true crime books category and a literary award winner.
Check out the bestselling author store and follow Elena's blog where she shares tips for writers and discusses book marketing tips.

Search

15 Steps to Writing a Successful Book. Step 6: Hire an editor

Author Elena Nikitina

Dec 12, 2021
4 min

15 Steps to Writing a Successful Book. Step 6: Hire an editor

“Sometimes a change of perspective is all it takes to see the light.” – Dan Brown. (A few years ago I created The System of Actions. Once I started implementing it, my self-published book GIRL, TAKEN, became a bestseller. The book was talked about on TV, on pages of magazines, and discussed on radio shows. The book’s sales went up so as the book recognition. I want to share with you everything that worked for me.) If you are ready to learn about my System, then simply follow

3 views

15 Steps to Writing a Successful Book. Step 5: Writing a book in Microsoft Word? Do This!

Author Elena Nikitina

Dec 5, 2021
6 min

15 Steps to Writing a Successful Book. Step 5: Writing a book in Microsoft Word? Do This!

“I get a lot of letters from people. They say, “I want to be a writer. What should I do?” I told them to stop writing to me and get on with it.” - Ruth Rendell. (A few years ago I created The System of Actions. Once I started implementing it, my #self-published book GIRL, TAKEN, became a #bestseller. The book was talked about on TV, on pages of magazines, and discussed on radio shows. The book’s sales went up so as the book recognition. I want to share with you everything tha

13 views

15 Steps to Writing a Successful Book. Step 4: Polish your manuscript

Author Elena Nikitina

Nov 13, 2021
4 min

15 Steps to Writing a Successful Book. Step 4: Polish your manuscript

“The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.” ― Terry Pratchett I created The System of Actions a few years ago. Once I started implementing it, my #self-published book GIRL, TAKEN – A True Story of Abduction, Captivity and Survival became a bestseller. The book was talked about on TV, on pages of magazines, and discussed on radio shows. The book’s sales went up so as the book recognition. I want to share with you everything that worked for me. Just follow my blo

12 views

15 Steps to Writing a Successful Book. Write more. Write better.

Author Elena Nikitina

Oct 17, 2021
4 min

15 Steps to Writing a Successful Book. Write more. Write better.

15 Steps to Writing a Successful Book. Step 2: Write more. Write better.

9 views

15 Steps to Writing a Successful Book. Is Your New Book Idea Garbage or Genius?

Author Elena Nikitina

Oct 4, 2021
3 min

15 Steps to Writing a Successful Book. Is Your New Book Idea Garbage or Genius?

“When I sit down to write a book, I do not say to myself, ‘I am going to produce a work of art.’ I write it because there is some lie that I want to expose, some fact to which I want to draw attention, and my initial concern is to get a hearing.” —George Orwell 15 #Steps to #writing a successful book or The System of Actions. I created this system to #promote my self-published book GIRL, TAKEN – A True Story of Abduction, Captivity and Survival. After I started implementing t

21 views

Are We Open to Learning from Others?

Author Elena Nikitina

Sep 21, 2021
4 min

Are We Open to Learning from Others?

It’s been a while since my last blog post. I secretly hope that you missed me so much that you have re-read all my previous blogs and all my published books. Now you are absolutely inspired by my story and ready to write your own #bestseller. All the following posts, starting next week, will be dedicated to practical advice on book #writing, #publishing, and book #promoting on a zero budget. Like, classes. So, get your backpack ready! I want to share with you everything I le

23 views

Is Following Your Dreams Always the Answer?

Author Elena Nikitina

Aug 15, 2021
3 min

Is Following Your Dreams Always the Answer?

I’ve always enjoyed writing. Being a writer had been my pipe dream, probably ever since the very first time I had a crush and felt the urge to share my feelings on paper. As I was getting older, I secretly fantasized of becoming a writer, so that I would be able to live my life, to experience things and then to describe events so interestingly that the whole world would like to read about it. But I never had the courage for it, no time, no opportunity, until six years ago. Or

7 views

Is It Selfish to Follow Your Dreams?

Author Elena Nikitina

Jul 29, 2021
3 min

Is It Selfish to Follow Your Dreams?

In my journey, consistency and patience were the main measures for success. They were my best friends. Every Monday I kept going. I created a system and followed it. In a process, I changed and improved it. A few months later my system started showing results that demonstrated its effectiveness. I decided for myself that regardless of how tight my everyday schedule was, how many distractions I had in life, and how many things that I was going through in my personal existence,

15 views

Do Your Dreams Seem Out of Reach?

Author Elena Nikitina

Jul 10, 2021
2 min

Do Your Dreams Seem Out of Reach?

In my journey, perseverance determined my own situation. I was deeply motivated because I clearly understood that no one would do it for me. In the whole chain, I was the only link that held all the structures and connections between my book and the world. I was the single most important link. I was the one who was making the choice: to accomplish the job or blow it and let the book sink into oblivion. How fine is the line between seemingly unrealistic dreams, which often sto

11 views

Is Perseverance A Secret of All Triumphs?

Author Elena Nikitina

Jun 20, 2021
2 min

Is Perseverance A Secret of All Triumphs?

In the previous blog posts, I told you about my disappointments and shattered dreams. Sadly to say, my book almost became buried in the "book cemetery", along with bundles of other unknown, unrecognized, and unappreciated books. At that time, Girl, Taken hit the lowest bottom and didn’t show any sales whatsoever, for many, many weeks. But I did not want to quit. I created a system and started following it. Instead of promoting the book itself, I decided to try making my story

25 views

For Every Rule, There Is an Exception

Author Elena Nikitina

Jun 13, 2021
3 min

For Every Rule, There Is an Exception

In the previous blog post I told you about cold email strategy. Some people think that cold emailing is spam. I disagree. Everything I have achieved on the book promotion journey - I have accomplished through cold emailing... I emailed journalists, reporters, and radio show producers. Almost every cold email led me to amazing results. My story was featured on world radio stations and the pages of magazines. Click to see all media appearances here But my main goal was to reach

28 views

“Cold Email is Spam!” I Have to Disagree.

Author Elena Nikitina

Jun 1, 2021
3 min

“Cold Email is Spam!” I Have to Disagree.

Part II. Check older blog posts here. “Cold email is SPAM!” “It’s dead with no chance of resurrection." I have heard this many times. I have to disagree. Everything I have achieved on the book promotion journey - I have accomplished through cold emailing. I reached out to journalists, reporters, and radio show producers. It went very successfully although I had to use different strategies to receive responses. Almost every reply led me to amazing results. Cold emails and an a

11 views

Turn Your Book into a Movie: A Pipe Dream or Reality?

Author Elena Nikitina

May 24, 2021
2 min

Turn Your Book into a Movie: A Pipe Dream or Reality?

What writer wouldn’t like to see her book turned into a movie or a TV show series? Which of us hasn’t fantasized about seeing characters that we’ve created and described, portrayed on the big screen? Even just imagining this brings an exciting rush under the skin. For the most self-published authors, this will remain a pipe dream, but for only a few – the most courageous and the most persistent – sooner or later, the dream will come true. I would like to relate myself to thos

14 views

Cold Email Strategy in Book Marketing? Yes, Please!

Author Elena Nikitina

May 16, 2021
3 min

Cold Email Strategy in Book Marketing? Yes, Please!

You already know that my road to success started on Monday. Even though the first day of the week is usually considered the most undesirable day for everyone, it turned into one of the most wanted and waited for me. My Mondays were committed to my work towards book promotion. Every week brought several new contacts. They were coming from different public and free sources on the Internet and represented a variety of medias. The longer the list became, the more time I needed to

34 views

Are Mondays Really That Bad?

Author Elena Nikitina

Apr 25, 2021
2 min

Are Mondays Really That Bad?

My American Dream started on Monday. (If you haven’t read the previous blog posts yet, please click here and check them out now). I dedicated the first day of the week to my “new” job: I had to work on my book success. In my student years, as part of a school program, we studied ancient myths about origins of the universe. One of the legends expressed that our ancestors believed our planet was flat and motionless, and therefore, it needed some kind of support. They imagined t

10 views

Small Victories Win the War

Author Elena Nikitina

Apr 18, 2021
3 min

Small Victories Win the War

The timing could not be more perfect to start realizing that sweet American Dream. (Please read the previous blog post – this is a continuation). The United States is a legendary country. People either love it or hate it, but no one is indifferent. I belong to those who love America endlessly and sincerely. I think it’s the best place in the world to live, to implement ideas, to realize dreams, to raise children. America gives a chance to everyone who wants to take it. If you

12 views

How Often Do You Start from Scratch in Life?

Author Elena Nikitina

Apr 11, 2021
2 min

How Often Do You Start from Scratch in Life?

To be honest with you, I was enjoying my newly acquired image of a famous and successful author (previous blog posts read here). I did not have a wish to dissuade my acquaintances. I’d rather prefer to turn their assumptions into accomplished facts. I wanted my book to be successful, as they all assumed. Even though I was still receiving a great number of messages with words of support and encouragement, the book sales plunged to a pitiful minimum. From December 2017 to Febru

14 views

The End of Dreams?

Author Elena Nikitina

Apr 4, 2021
2 min

The End of Dreams?

Once all of the buzz caused by my new book, Girl, Taken, calmed down and another handful of my friends on social media and in real life bought their copy, my book stopped showing any signs of sales whatsoever, neither on Amazon nor in any other online stores. Girl, Taken started to gradually disappear from the world, chewed up by a thousand other books with big-name representatives behind them. Beautiful castles built from daydreams and empty fantasies were inexorably collaps

12 views

Expectations vs Reality?

Author Elena Nikitina

Mar 28, 2021
2 min

Expectations vs Reality?

When I was in the process of writing the book, I hoped that expressing my experiences on paper would be my healing therapy. I looked at that as a kind of cure, even though I had to go through pain while recalling my memories and putting them into words. It was only after publishing that I realized I was wrong: the feedback I was receiving from people was my true healing therapy... My Facebook’s wall had never been that busy before – full of beautiful comments, thoughtful shar

10 views

Is Fear the Mind-killer?

Author Elena Nikitina

Mar 14, 2021
2 min

Is Fear the Mind-killer?

Hi there! It's great to have you back ❤️ If you are new here, please check older posts to read the beginning of the story. Back then, it took me about three weeks to wrap up the project – from the day I left the contract till the time I chose for publication. The release day was set up on September 21st, 2017. Just a few hours before that moment, realizing the closeness of the event, I became fearful. The dual feeling was tearing me apart, as I started worrying about the thin

10 views

bottom of page