Thanks, LiterateParakeet! It was a pre-made cover that happened to hit on a lot of the themes of the book. I lucked out.
grayworld's self-publishing journey, in black and white
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June Sales Report
Soooo, The Transience of Youth didn't quite set off the fireworks I'd hoped it would. On the bright side, A World Gone Gray keeps stumbling, fumbling, bumbling its way toward respectability. My other two offerings? A whole lot of nothin'.
Here're the raw numbers:
The Transience of Youth: 3 sales (all via Amazon). To me, my mother, and my father.
A World Gone Gray: 5 sales (3 via Amazon US, 1 via Amazon UK, 1 via Smashwords [country undetermined]).
Other Stuff I Self-Published: 0
Okay, I admit the outlook looks a bit bleak to the outside observer, but I'm not discouraged. I thankfully made other gains on the June front.
I'm still plugging away at Twitter. If I live to be 80, I may acquire a tentative grasp of this thing through osmosis. In the meantime I've somehow managed to attract over 1,200 followers, which seems to be a good thing. I'm also connecting with fellow writers and readers. That's cool.
Experience (most of it gained right here through AW) tells me Summer is a Bermuda Triangle of sorts for books sales. That's okay. I'll keep on keepin' on.
Here's to a more productive July!
Soooo, The Transience of Youth didn't quite set off the fireworks I'd hoped it would. On the bright side, A World Gone Gray keeps stumbling, fumbling, bumbling its way toward respectability. My other two offerings? A whole lot of nothin'.
Here're the raw numbers:
The Transience of Youth: 3 sales (all via Amazon). To me, my mother, and my father.
A World Gone Gray: 5 sales (3 via Amazon US, 1 via Amazon UK, 1 via Smashwords [country undetermined]).
Other Stuff I Self-Published: 0
Okay, I admit the outlook looks a bit bleak to the outside observer, but I'm not discouraged. I thankfully made other gains on the June front.
I'm still plugging away at Twitter. If I live to be 80, I may acquire a tentative grasp of this thing through osmosis. In the meantime I've somehow managed to attract over 1,200 followers, which seems to be a good thing. I'm also connecting with fellow writers and readers. That's cool.
Experience (most of it gained right here through AW) tells me Summer is a Bermuda Triangle of sorts for books sales. That's okay. I'll keep on keepin' on.
Here's to a more productive July!
Not to make light of it, but my attitude when I launch mine this month is 1 sale is one more than the people that have their books stacked in a drawer, never to see the light of the publishing world, be it self published or trade. Congrats on the sales!
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grayworld, I really like the cover for The Transience of Youth as well as the blurb. It sounds like something for me. I couldn't find it on Amazon, though. (I don't have accounts with B&N and Smashwords.)
Thanks, benluby. My books had been sitting in the digital drawer for years, so I decided to give self-publishing a try. The results are mixed so far, but I wish you the best of luck with it!
Hi Mclesh, and thank you for your interest in Transience. There's now a link to the Kindle version at Amazon in my signature. It seems to work, and I can't believe I forgot to add it when I released the thing last month. I'm hopelessly tech-unsavvy. Sorry for the inconvenience.
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Thanks so much for taking a look, Mclesh. I really appreciate it and truly hope you enjoy it.
I'm following your self-publishing thread, too, and it looks like you're much farther ahead of the curve than I was when I started. Great game plan. Best of luck to you!
I'm following your self-publishing thread, too, and it looks like you're much farther ahead of the curve than I was when I started. Great game plan. Best of luck to you!
July Sales Report
Well, a member of the Simpson family could add up my total July sales using only half of his or her hand of choice. Here are the raw numbers:
The Transience of Youth: 1 (again, thank you, Mclesh!)
A World Gone Gray: 1
Both sales were via Amazon, American style.
As much as I'd like to chalk my record-low monthly sales up to the meh economy or the summer doldrums, I have to place the blame squarely upon myself.
Turns out that if you lag on social media for a few days or weeks, you sort of...disappear. As much as I hate to whine about real-life while dealing in fiction, I have to admit that the usual life-challenge stuff may have contributed to my less-than-heroic July stats.
As evidenced above, my sales numbers were atrocious. My Twitter numbers were, too. I stalled out around 1,200 followers. Hopefully due to the spambots and catfishers from months past cutting me free from their hooks. I'm trying to take a more professional approach to Twitter, following readers and writers rather than the random Tweeps I followed willy-nilly when I first signed up.
All in all, grrr. I'd hoped my sales would be on the happy side of the bell curve by now. The exact opposite seems to be happening, but I'm not easily deterred. I'm still not sure if that's a strength or a weakness.
Time will tell.
Well, a member of the Simpson family could add up my total July sales using only half of his or her hand of choice. Here are the raw numbers:
The Transience of Youth: 1 (again, thank you, Mclesh!)
A World Gone Gray: 1
Both sales were via Amazon, American style.
As much as I'd like to chalk my record-low monthly sales up to the meh economy or the summer doldrums, I have to place the blame squarely upon myself.
Turns out that if you lag on social media for a few days or weeks, you sort of...disappear. As much as I hate to whine about real-life while dealing in fiction, I have to admit that the usual life-challenge stuff may have contributed to my less-than-heroic July stats.
As evidenced above, my sales numbers were atrocious. My Twitter numbers were, too. I stalled out around 1,200 followers. Hopefully due to the spambots and catfishers from months past cutting me free from their hooks. I'm trying to take a more professional approach to Twitter, following readers and writers rather than the random Tweeps I followed willy-nilly when I first signed up.
All in all, grrr. I'd hoped my sales would be on the happy side of the bell curve by now. The exact opposite seems to be happening, but I'm not easily deterred. I'm still not sure if that's a strength or a weakness.
Time will tell.
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Sometimes LIFE does have a way of demanding our attention. Hang in there. I totally understand about very slow months. Just remember this is a marathon not a sprint. There's still time...
Hang in there. I totally understand about very slow months. Just remember this is a marathon not a sprint. There's still time...
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You should include a link to your twitter, etc. in your sig or on your site. I had to go look you up, and I'm so, so lazy. Following.
I love the cover for Transience, and the fact that you used the word 'finagles' in the blurb.
I love the cover for Transience, and the fact that you used the word 'finagles' in the blurb.
Sometimes LIFE does have a way of demanding our attention.
Yes, real life can get in the way. And thank you for the support!
You should include a link to your twitter, etc. in your sig or on your site. I had to go look you up, and I'm so, so lazy. Following.
I love the cover for Transience, and the fact that you used the word 'finagles' in the blurb.
Thanks! I'm a fan of your cover, too.
I've always loved the word 'finagle,' and it just happened to fit in the blurb. You're right about adding a Twitter link to my signature (and my blog site). Excuse me while I Google BB code yet again...
Can I ask you where you got the Amazon, Twitter, etc. icons in your sig? They look great.
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Just stumbled upon this thread today and bravo for publishing your books! I've been hemming and hawing for years and now am finally dipping my toes into it - granted I actually finally finished a novel in 90 days that's not fan fiction. I've got a digital cover done so far but that's about it.
Your journey's very inspiring and thank you so much for sharing.
Your journey's very inspiring and thank you so much for sharing.
Sales doldrums are standard for the self-publisher. Plow your way through it as best you can.
NDG
NDG
August Sales Numbers
Thanks RevanWright, morrighan, and Norman D Gutter, for the support. Trust me. I need it.
One is the loneliest number...
Unfortunately, one sale is all I managed in August. Granted, I've been lagging on all social media fronts lately, but I was still hoping for a crooked number. No such luck. On the plus side, I recorded a belated July sale via Apple/Smashwords, thereby padding my stats for the previous month. Here's the laughably-easy-to-read hard number:
The Transience of Youth: 1 (Smashwords).
That's it. Like I mentioned, I've been lazing it up the past couple of months marketing-wise. But I'm still new to the self-publishing game and I don't know if the poor sales numbers are due to a) natural sales fluctuations, b) Amazon's fluctuating regulations, c) summer, or, d) fluctuations in the quality of my writing.
I wish I had more to offer, but as per usual, I'm clueless. If I ever figure it out, I promise to let you know.
Thanks RevanWright, morrighan, and Norman D Gutter, for the support. Trust me. I need it.
One is the loneliest number...
Unfortunately, one sale is all I managed in August. Granted, I've been lagging on all social media fronts lately, but I was still hoping for a crooked number. No such luck. On the plus side, I recorded a belated July sale via Apple/Smashwords, thereby padding my stats for the previous month. Here's the laughably-easy-to-read hard number:
The Transience of Youth: 1 (Smashwords).
That's it. Like I mentioned, I've been lazing it up the past couple of months marketing-wise. But I'm still new to the self-publishing game and I don't know if the poor sales numbers are due to a) natural sales fluctuations, b) Amazon's fluctuating regulations, c) summer, or, d) fluctuations in the quality of my writing.
I wish I had more to offer, but as per usual, I'm clueless. If I ever figure it out, I promise to let you know.
I just want to encourage you that since Amazon rolled out KU I've been hearing that everyone had terrible sales for August. Here's to a better September! ((((hugs))))
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Yeah, August has got a lot of indie authors down.
Keep plugging away, Gray. Keeping our spirits up is the best thing to do, and keep writing!
I have hope for fall, and it's not just because of football and changing leaves and cool weather and Halloween and Pumpkin Spice lattes...
Seriously, fall can't get here fast enough.
Keep plugging away, Gray. Keeping our spirits up is the best thing to do, and keep writing!
I have hope for fall, and it's not just because of football and changing leaves and cool weather and Halloween and Pumpkin Spice lattes...
Seriously, fall can't get here fast enough.
August has always been a slow month for sales for as long as I have worked in publishing, which is (OMG) over thirty years now. That includes both books and computer games. Try to keep the faith.
Thank you for the kind words and encouragement, Sunshine, Revan, and Old Hack. I'm looking forward to Autumn, too. At this point I'm more than happy to trade humidity and insect swarms for frost and anything pumpkin-based.
And thanks for the information about August sales. I've read that summer is typically slow. I released my first book around Thanksgiving of last year, got better-than-expected sales, then wrongly assumed each successive release would see equal (maybe even slightly more impressive) results, spark interest in previous titles, etc. So wrong. It's been Right Side of the Bell Curve City.
But I'll keep plugging away, because that's kind of what I do. Here's to a successful September for us all
And thanks for the information about August sales. I've read that summer is typically slow. I released my first book around Thanksgiving of last year, got better-than-expected sales, then wrongly assumed each successive release would see equal (maybe even slightly more impressive) results, spark interest in previous titles, etc. So wrong. It's been Right Side of the Bell Curve City.
But I'll keep plugging away, because that's kind of what I do. Here's to a successful September for us all
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Have you tried a giveaway at Goodreads or LibraryThing to get your book out there in front of people?
Or perhaps a .99 sale with advertising on all those websites/email lists that do that sort of thing?
Or perhaps a .99 sale with advertising on all those websites/email lists that do that sort of thing?
That's definitely in the playbook. I'm not registered at Goodreads as a member (but just found out someone has listed me as an author, along with my all of my books [!]). Naturally, this surprised me. I'm not very familiar with LibraryThing either, but I'll look into it.
I've considered offering my books for .99 or free on all platforms for a while now, just for the exposure. But after a brutal run (as in I can't remember the last time I sold a book at Amazon) I'm starting to wonder if Amazon and all the other outlets are even worth it. I'd planned on releasing my latest title this month via KDP, but what with the slow sales, I may as well just send the Word file to the handful of family members who would've bought it anyway and save them a few bucks. It may be time for me to dust off my ancient copy of Writer's Digest and do some real grunt work...I'm officially perplexed.
But, as always, thank you for the advice and support
I'm sure I'll figure this out.
September Sales Update
Well...
I managed to double my month-to-month sales in September. Sadly, that means I sold two books as opposed to one. Here are the gory details:
A World Gone Gray: 1 (Amazon, US)
Like Life Itself: Ten Short Stories: 1 (Amazon, UK)
Any sale is cause for celebration in my book (ha!), especially when said sale occurs in a country in which I do not reside. For some reason, I get an extra kick out of selling a book in a foreign country, so that sale in the UK (my first sale of LLI in forever, to boot) means a lot to me. I hope you enjoy it, intrepid reader...
Social media-wise, I've been lagging a bit on my blog over the past few months, but I made a point of upping my Twitter presence in September. As noted above, it didn't result in many sales. I did manage to pick up 200 or so followers, bumping my total to 1,500+. That's about 1,500+ more Twitter followers than I ever thought I'd have.
So, mixed results. Then again, I'm still relatively new to self-publishing. I figure it'll be years before I collect enough info to actually know what I'm talking about. But I promise to share that info the second I'm privy to it
Well...
I managed to double my month-to-month sales in September. Sadly, that means I sold two books as opposed to one. Here are the gory details:
A World Gone Gray: 1 (Amazon, US)
Like Life Itself: Ten Short Stories: 1 (Amazon, UK)
Any sale is cause for celebration in my book (ha!), especially when said sale occurs in a country in which I do not reside. For some reason, I get an extra kick out of selling a book in a foreign country, so that sale in the UK (my first sale of LLI in forever, to boot) means a lot to me. I hope you enjoy it, intrepid reader...
Social media-wise, I've been lagging a bit on my blog over the past few months, but I made a point of upping my Twitter presence in September. As noted above, it didn't result in many sales. I did manage to pick up 200 or so followers, bumping my total to 1,500+. That's about 1,500+ more Twitter followers than I ever thought I'd have.
So, mixed results. Then again, I'm still relatively new to self-publishing. I figure it'll be years before I collect enough info to actually know what I'm talking about. But I promise to share that info the second I'm privy to it
It's still sunny and warm outside, just wait till October
The summer-doldrums can't be underestimated; even ebay business crashes and dies in the summer for a lot of people. I tried selling some craftwork from a friend this summer and it was impossible to move, when every other season was fine.- Status