What can I say about 2018? It's a blur? It was busy? :shrug: It was what it was. And now it's time to wrap it up.
I'm still plugging along out here in Self-Publishing Land. And I met my publication goal. This past year saw 4 new books published, which brings me to a grand total of 13. The books in 2018 were Blink of an I, Early Grave, Sleeping Ugly, and Unequal. One suspense, one paranormal, and two dystopians.
Sales this year were better than last year, but I threw a lot more money at advertising. I spent $330 on ads in 2018 and made about $470 directly linkable to those ads. Sales overall went over $600 for the year. (Yeah, that's the right amount of zeroes.) That was about $300 more than I made in 2017, so I'm calling it a win. I also went over $3K total sales for the whole shebang and have sold over 2500 books in the four years I've been publishing. No clue how many books I've given away. I don't track that. It depresses me.
Of course, with all the discounts I had this year, my average $ per book went down to $1.12 from my overall average of $1.22. I didn't hand sell a single book in 2018, though, so I don't have those tugging my averages up. Gave away a few, but didn't sell any.
A while back, I raised the prices on a majority of my books to make them more in line with other books of the same genres and quality. It didn't really make a difference in how many books I was selling but when a book did sell at regular price, I made a bit more scratch.
The books didn't gain that many more reviews this year. I treasure the ones I did get, but I wish there were more. Then again, who doesn't?
If you're interested, here are the 'copies sold' numbers as of last night:
DE - Overall: 1003.82 / 2018: 152.15
AD - Overall: 572.63 / 2018: 87.12
WIOH - Overall: 363.89 / 2018: 100.76
PH - Overall: 88.06 / 2018: 15.46
IDW - Overall: 124.14 / 2018: 25.54
FG - Overall: 136.89 / 2018: 54.60
UWC - Overall: 81.69 / 15.89
NC - Overall: 28.22 / 2018: 14.57
WHTF - Overall: 53.04 / 2018: 14.87
BOIA - Overall/2018: 11.36
EG - Overall/2018: 49.23
SU - Overall/2018: 12.19
UEQ - Overall/2018: 4.40
Umm, yeah. Kind of depressing. Makes my brain hurt.
But I'm still plugging away. They haven't beaten me into submission yet. However, I'm at a loss to figure out what I'll be doing in the year to come. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Something has to change, I guess. Not sure what. With the slow start I'm looking at, I can be fairly certain I won't be publishing 4 books again. If I can get two or three out, I'll be pleased.
On the upside, my books are out there and people are reading them. Not as many people as I had envisioned when I started this mad ride, but more than it could've been.
All in all, 2018 wasn't horrible. Still, here's to a better 2019 for us all.
I sympathyize. My numbers are a bit better but I have more books and longer time-frame. Still, my numbers for 2018 are way down. It is depressing. But, like you, there are stories in my head and they've got to some out or I would be the definition of insanity.
ReplyDeleteHere's toe a much better 2019 for us all!!!
:hugs: Seems like it's getting harder and harder to make sales. It's hard not to get depressed about it. But, yeah, the stories are still in there somewhere and we have to get them out.
DeleteHere, here! A better 2019 for us all!
Sigh. My numbers are down. I need to try some ads, but I fear the ROI will be painfully negative.
ReplyDeleteWishing for a better year for us all!
:hugs: Yeah, that ROI thing is a bitch. I've had some positive ones and some negative ones - from the same venues. :shrug:
DeleteYour wishes are my wishes, too. A better 2019 for us all!