My 3 Reasons for Self-Pubbing & Sales Updates on Print & Ebooks

Yay, Merri...I'm so happy for you!

And thanks to you, as well, K. Victoria. I appreciate your well wishes! Almost there with Kindle. Just ironing out a few little things before I hit publish. I'm trembling in my boots. Oh, wait! I'm not wearing boots. Well, my toes are shaking a bit...

Not too much to report this week regarding sales. I did, however, sell 1, which brings my total print sales for 9 weeks to 89.

I'm pretty sure I'll be hitting the publish button tomorrow on KDP, so maybe there will be a sale or two to report there next week if I do. Or, I may have to post if I get a sale before then.

Well friends, I just wanted to let you all know I hit publish on my very first ebook about 30 minutes ago.

Because I am somewhat of a perfectionist, I'm feeling rather unsure of myself, but I think I've done the best I can for this season in my life. I'm also trying to accept that ebooks, by their very nature, will never look as pretty as a print book, and I shouldn't expect them to.

One decision I made was to go without the first line indent for this book. If the previewer isn't playing a dirty trick on me, it seemed to be holding up.

My daughter taught me to pick my battles, and my Dad taught me to decide what I can live with, so I've decided to fight this battle another day and I believe I can live with my decision to do so. I took the time to look at dozens of ebooks and there were more without the first line indent than with. IMHO, it looks fine that way.

Had I not published now, I would have had to lay the whole project down for a couple of months due to other things going on in my life, much of it health related.

So, tonight, as I go to my bed, I lay my head down with hope and a prayer that all will be good and that I will have reason to celebrate in the morning.

Thanks, Sio. You won't find it under Ann Joyce, which was originally going to be my pen name, but rather under my full name, Joyce Ann Naslund.

I am going to take a teeny break from writing; I'm rather tired, but I'll be hanging out, checking on things. Thanks for your friendship and support. I hope things are continuing to go well for you.

Well, it's live this morning, but I can't say I feel much like celebrating. I don't remember the last time I've been so disappointed. All of my indents, which were there in the preview, are gone. It looks terrible. These were done with styles, as was the body of the text, which is fine. Apparently, Amazon has been having an issue with indents in their publishing for a few weeks. There is a thread highlighting this problem here and on their own forums.

I'm not sure there's anything I can do about it. One other small thing I didn't understand: amazon used their number instead of the ISBN I provided in the space for it. Of course, that's the least of my worries.

Sorry to be such a downer, guys, just feeling sad this morning. Thanks for hanging with me all this time.

MaggieDana said:

@Ann

Your cover photo is stunning. I'm so sorry that after all your hard work, the indents didn't work. The only answer, it seems, is to upload a .mobi file. There are professional formatters who will do this for about $50; some do it for even less.

Old Hack may have some recommendations, or I could dig up a few for you.

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What a wonderful compliment. Thank you, Maggie. I appreciate that a lot. I'm sorry too, but I guess it's live and learn, and I am all about learning.

I do have a very kind gentleman that has offered to format it for me, so I feel fortunate that I've crossed paths with him. I don't believe anything happens to us by chance. Thanks for your encouragement.

@ NDG - Thank you, Norman. I'll get there. it seems I'm to have some help on the journey.

@ Old Hack - I have someone to help me with the formatting now, and to teach me the right way. Now if I can get it through my thick skull, I'll be cooking with gas. haha That dates me! Thanks for your help.

@Sherrie - Thanks for your comments. I am definitely doing an ebook and yes, I am trying KDP Select for just the 90 days (it's my first novel, so I'm doing it for the lending aspect), then I'll try to pub to B&N. I don't have the time to deal with that right now anyway.

I love these boards, and only hope I can encourage someone the way I've been encouraged.

Well, Sunday came and went and I didn't post a sales update. I had no print sales, which really didn't surprise me because of the holidays, for one thing. I did sell my first ebook, however, and sappy fool that I am, shed a tear over that.

Today, I see I've made a second sale and received a scathing one-star review as well. I wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry, because I knew immediately it was phony. Some things you just know in your knower. I checked to see what other reviews this person has written and it appears I had the honor of being the first. Now I'm praying I get a few authentic reviews, because I realize that one could really be detrimental to me.

I hope everyone's New Year has gotten off to a grand start. Cheers!

Hi Kaitie - That's a good question, and part of the answer is when the review had me chuckling (instead of crying) at the content, I was pretty sure I was getting a whiff of troll.

Some of my reasoning: #1 The person that wrote it said (my bold), "It was a pain to read through right from the very start." Given the fact that there are 4 full chapters plus part of a fifth in the preview, I think it's rather strange that anyone would pay 3.99 for a novel from an unknown author, when they disliked it so much from the start.

#2 While he/she said it had shallow characters, predictable plot, and choppy writing, I'm pretty sure the plot is not predictable. In fact, I'm hearing the exact opposite from everyone that's read it. This book is not about 'boy meets girl, they separate and come back together to live HEA'. In fact, it addresses alcoholism, adultery and several other life situations that touched readers enough to provoke tears and perhaps even a bit of anger in one or two of them toward me for certain things I allowed to happen in the story. As far as the shallowness of the characters, I'll leave that to others to judge.

I'm not saying my book is just wonderful - I'm simply trying to answer your question and clarify why I believe I've been visited by a troll with the intent to do damage to me for a reason only he/she knows.

I sold only 1 ebook very late on the night of the 29th, and had this review first thing this morning. This person read my "horrible" book in 4 days over New Years so they could justify writing a review? I'm not buying it.

Having said all that, as I've mentioned before, I know not everyone will like my novel; I don't expect them to. The input I've gotten to this point has been so favorable, I've truly been waiting for the other shoe to drop. But not with such a resounding thud. *sniff, sniff* "Yep, that's troll I smell all right."

Bulletproof said:

Just so you know, nothing about the quoted bits seems trollish. Four days is more than long enough to read a novel, and some people don't look at the excerpts.

I looked at the review and the reviewer. What's suspicious is that you only have a Kindle version, but the review isn't for an Amazon Verified Purchase. The reviewer has but this single review to his name. It already has one positive up-vote the day he posted it. In my experience, for a book ranked close to 200,000 with only two Amazon sales, that's a bit unusual. So, yeah, it's suspicious.

Possibly he reviewed the wrong book. Or he's a mean person. Or he purchased a paper copy and legitimately disliked it. Much as it hurts, you have to allow for that possibility. (My favorite book by my favorite writer has 52 one-star reviews, so there are at least 52 idiots writing reviews )

If you haven't contacted bloggers for reviews, now would be a good time. Maybe a Goodreads giveaway? Assuming that's not against the Amazon Prime rules.

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Thanks for your comments, Bulletproof. To me, the entire review felt trollish; I guess I didn't mean only the parts I quoted. I agree with you that 4 days is more than time enough to read a book, but it doesn't seem you'd read one you hate so much in 4 days. One gal that bought my novel read it in one day and I know of two more that read it in two days.

I don't know anything about Amazon verified purchases. Do you mean if it had been bought on Amazon, it would automatically reveal that? Does a positive up-vote mean someone supposedly agrees with his review? I have a lot to learn and I am thankful I'm learning so much on AW. PS: On these two questions, I just googled and received the answers. Thank you, though.

On your points one and two, I certainly must allow for that, but I know he didn't purchase a print copy because I've sold and shipped every one of them myself.

I do want to do the Goodreads thing as soon as I'm feeling better. I've had some bad days with my health lately, so I've had to chill for a while and take some days off. I will get back at it though.

Again, thanks for your input. I appreciate you taking the time.

JeinsJourney said:

I just spent quite a bit of time reading over the posts you have made Ann in this journey you took to get published and then submit for an ebook. How amazing is our journey's when we take a moment to reflect up on them? I am still a "newbie" here on AW and love the information I am soaking in every time I get on here!!!
But with all confidence I must say I thoroughly enjoyed reading along with your journey. I have recently self-published my first book (I say recently but it was a couple of months...) and have learned a great deal in the process, many times we need to see the path others have traveled to understand that our own is not so far from the norm! Your posts have me intrigued to check out your book on Amazon! Thanks for the inspiration and guidance to always stay true to yourself as well your writing.

Here's hoping no more trolls visit you!

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Thank you cheryllynn...you are very sweet. I appreciate your kind and encouraging words so much. There is a lot to be learned on AW - I'm been very thankful for all of the help and support I've received on here.

Congratulations on publishing your book. I hope you sell a ton. Do you have a thread chronicling your own journey?

Thanks for checking out my book. The preview shows it with no indents, but on my Kindle Fire, it has them. Amen on no more trolls. Blessings!