The Great Self-Publishing Adventure

Status
Not open for further replies.

JRTroughton

Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 29, 2014
Messages
114
Reaction score
17
I have decided to self publish. After a period of thinking hard about why I write, and after a series of rejections from some higher end genre magazines, I am now going to self publish my work. The millions will come later, I hear, but the most important thing for me is that people can read and (hopefully) enjoy my stories.

I have started off with a fantasy/horror short story called Washed Ashore. It's only 13 pages, 5,000 words or so, and has been available on Kindle for the past 2 days. It sold 3 copies in the US before I was able to start a promotion to give it away for free, though one of these has since been refunded. The free promotion began this morning and it's currently sitting on 17 downloads.

Longer term, I'm hoping to give away another short story towards the end of the year and self publish my first novel/novella in early 2015 - This will be the first thing I purposefully charge for.

It's been very interesting to read the self-publishing blogs of others. Hopefully someone will get a kick out of my ramblings here.
 

Mclesh

It's too hot
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 18, 2010
Messages
4,526
Reaction score
1,804
Location
Southern California
Website
www.storyrhyme.com
Congratulations, JR! I downloaded a copy. I hope this helps get your name out there. I do like the cover design. It has a moody feel and is a little different.

Good luck!
 

JRTroughton

Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 29, 2014
Messages
114
Reaction score
17
Very kind. :)

The cover was done by a remarkably talented chap. He's already done the cover for my novel/novella. I simply love it.
 

WriterBN

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 5, 2012
Messages
1,323
Reaction score
87
Location
Delaware
Website
www.k-doyle.com
Congrats, and good luck JR. I like the cover as well.

I haven't seen many writers have success selling an individual short story, so I'll be following your thread with interest.
 

JRTroughton

Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 29, 2014
Messages
114
Reaction score
17
Thanks. :)

So, I've left it a couple of days. No marketing push, just a couple of posts on here and a mention on my blog (that almost nobody reads anyway).

115 downloads. 0 reviews. (Currently) #1,340 in the Kindle Free section, #12 in the Occult fiction section.

I am not yet a global writing star.
 

JRTroughton

Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 29, 2014
Messages
114
Reaction score
17
So, the promotion has finished. Final stats for the period were...

199 downloads. 1 review. Highest Amazon rankings of #6 for Occult fiction and the high 600's in the (free) Kindle store.

Can't be too displeased. I don't imagine a great deal of those downloads are actually being read, but hopefully a few people are enjoying it.

I may put it back on promotion again today, if I can.

EDIT: Nope, can't put it back on promotion. Small stat update... 4 sales, 2 reviews. Having started to update my blog again, I'm getting a handful of visitors a day now. Lovely stuff.
 
Last edited:

JRTroughton

Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 29, 2014
Messages
114
Reaction score
17
Thanks.

Things have dried up somewhat. No more reviews, 6 sales in total. Unsurprising, really, given my lack of marketing and reputation.

Working hard on my next story.
 

JRTroughton

Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 29, 2014
Messages
114
Reaction score
17
Ok. The Great Adventure has been ongoing for 2 weeks. STATS.

199 free downloads during the first week promotion.

8 sales (1 returned).

4 borrows through KU/KLL.

2 reviews.

Pretty pleased with this all told. I don't have much social media reach and I'm quite sure the only copies "bought" by family members were during the free promotion.

I'm just editing a second story, slightly longer than this, which I'm hoping to release at the same price point in a couple of weeks. It'll be interesting to see how they perform in comparison to one another and whether there is any impact on Washed Ashore by the new release.
 

profen4

Banned
Spammer
Joined
Apr 25, 2009
Messages
1,694
Reaction score
186
Location
The Great White North
Those are decent stats. And 2 reviews after 2 weeks? That's really impressive. I waited months and months for my first review and that was me tossing free copies to anyone who said they *might leave a review :)

Looking forward to reading more about your journey!
 

JRTroughton

Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 29, 2014
Messages
114
Reaction score
17
Ok, the next short will be released in a couple of days.

In terms of stats - again, no marketing done - things have died off considerably. That's as you would expect, of course. Only one sale over the past 10 days. Stats as of now are...

199 free downloads during the first week promotion.

11 sales (1 returned).

5 borrows through KU/KLL.

2 reviews.

Hopefully we'll see a bump when the next short is released. Again, I intend on making it available for free for the first 5 days after release, and then offering it at £0.77/$0.99 from then on.
 

SBibb

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 2, 2011
Messages
1,573
Reaction score
116
Website
sbibb.wordpress.com
Nice cover. Good luck with your sales, and congrats on the ones you have thus far. :)

Did you do any marketing other than the free promotion?
 

SBibb

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 2, 2011
Messages
1,573
Reaction score
116
Website
sbibb.wordpress.com
No. I mentioned it on my blog and twitter feed, but only once (maybe twice on twitter?). I don't have any regular traffic to my site though.

New short story - Through the Mothgate - Releasing this weekend!

Congrats then, on the sales you've made without having to do a lot of promoting. :)
 

Old Hack

Such a nasty woman
Super Moderator
Absolute Sage
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 12, 2005
Messages
22,454
Reaction score
4,956
Location
In chaos
JRT, I hope this goes well for you. But please remember that these diary threads are meant to be a diary of your experiences of self publishing, and not a means to promote your books. A few of your posts in this thread are purely self-promotional, and that's not appropriate. If any more appear this thread will be locked. OK?
 

JRTroughton

Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 29, 2014
Messages
114
Reaction score
17
I'd like it known that the above was not an attack or anything of that nature, though I apologise for any offence it caused, particularly to Old Hack. That was not my intention, I was merely disagreeing with the above notion.

EDIT: I'm not one for posting on forums where any disagreement with a moderator leads to deleted posts, particularly when those posts are not derogatory in any way. So, with that, I tip my hat and say farewell.

Best of luck to all those who write stuff about things.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.