Digital sales are up significantly, but I still sell the vast majority in hardcover.
That's surprising. I would have thought eBook sales would be much higher than HC due to the price. Was there a big difference in price between your HC and eBook or roughly the same?
Rick, I'm not sure authors can even find out preorder numbers. Anyone else know?
I was thinking of whatever you could gleam from Amazon's Author Central. (I don't have an account and I suspect I won't be able to get one until my book is available for pre-order? Or has an ISBN-thingy assigned?)
I figure most pre-orders would be through Amazon and B&N, and I'm okay at being able to monitor what Amazon's tracking. (I thought they also track all Bookscan sales, in addition to theirs.) Also, someone told me you can't even see eBook sales on Amazon, just paperback. That's bizarre.
you could try asking your agent
to ask your publisher, rick. and i have
no idea what is considered good, alas.
if you mean from BN?
Both Amazon and B&N if I can do that. I figure that would give me a decent idea of how things are going. Also, I've read that pre-orders count as 1st week sales, but I've read conflicting discussions on whether you can see pre-orders as they come in or just when they hit the first week. Also that pre-orders get counted when they ship, so if Amazon ships early, they don't count in the first week sales. (I'm just trying to figure all this crap out to determine at what point I make a major push for sales. If I bug people 3 months before the book goes on order, I figure some of them will punt, being so far out, and then forget to buy it. Right now I'm thinking to start pushing hard and take some time off from work 1 month prior to Release. But I've also heard that pre-sales can affect the size of the print run, if you don't have enough or do really well, so starting late would be a bad thing. Aaaaargh!)
I should just buckle down and ask Agent and Editor, but it's still really far out and I don't want to bug them. Ever since Dream Agent kicked me to the curb without an explanation, I've been worried it was because I came across as too high maintenance. (I kept bugging her about the R&R.) So I've decided to be ultra-low maintenance for Agent and Editor. I've only emailed Editor once, and that was to reply to his welcome aboard email, and I think I emailed Agent maybe 5 times last year. I'm just skittish about being high maintenance with lots of questions. I'm sure they'll be answered in time, but I'd feel better if I had a rough idea earlier rather than later.
I deduct all my home office expenses and my cell phone. Some writers deduct all the books they buy in any genre but I've never been that brave. I just deduct the ones in the genres I write.
Books in my genre - great!
I can deduct cell phone? What portion? (I have several lines and a 10GB share plan.)
My accountant wants all of my renovation receipts for my home office (furniture, paint, flooring, etc). Did you do any of that to convert? All of your supplies, computers, etc. Internet, utilities.
I did the conversion several years ago (Brett's therapy room into a Craft Room after we stopped), so I don't know if I can claim expenses from another year.
I think the "home office" deduction deducts a portion of my utilities (relative to home office / house square footage). I hadn't thought about Internet and phone.