Hey folks!
It's been a while since I checked in and gave you the numbers on this wild ride. Keep in mind that this is me. Your mileage may vary.
115 days since I launched Dying Embers and got my first pre-order (February 12th through yesterday)
In that time, I sold* 366 copies of DE at various prices. I've also sold 46 copies of Accidental Death., bring to the total of all books sold to 412.
That's an average of 3.58 books a day.
My biggest sales day was after my ad went live on Ereader News Today. I sold 129 books that day, and saw a nice follow-through that kept me in the rankings for 10 days. My best sales ranking was #9 on the Kindle Suspense/Serial Killers list.
Dying Embers currently has 10 reviews and 18 rankings on Goodreads with a 4.39 star average. It has 13 reviews on Amazon with a 4.8 star average.
Accidental Death currently has 1 review and 2 rankings on Goodreads with a 5 star average. No reviews at Amazon.
In its first partial month, Dying Embers sold 26 copies. Accidental Death sold 40 in its first partial month.
To date, I've spent about $1600 on Dying Embers and about $650 on Accidental Death. Not quite sure what that means yet. I do know a $30 ad gained me the most sales, but since DE was .99 through most of that sales spike, it didn't gain me that much fundage. Later this month, I will try an ad for AD and I'm looking into other advertising venues that won't break the bank.
I'm not breaking any records here, but I'm pleased. If this stays on track, our goal of this venture funding itself within the first year should be met. It depends on how much I spend putting each book out there and how sales for the subsequent books go. When the third book launches in August, we'll have an even better idea - but the third book is a different genre - paranormal suspense - so it might skew things a bit. We'll see.
So, there are the numbers for one debut, self-published, independent novelist. Hope that helps those of you thinking about jumping into the fray and that it provides some insight into this world for you readers. It ain't easy. It certainly ain't guaranteed. But damn, it's fun.
Any questions? As always, I'll answer what I can.
*Sales are primarily Amazon and include Kindle Unlimited borrows and regular ebook sales. A small percentage of those numbers are hand sales of paperback copies and wider ebook distribution through Draft2Digital.
Believe it or not, those are respectable numbers! Your numbers should come up as you develop a backlist and people tumble across your work. The writing is quality so the only problem is getting the exposure with readers. That comes with time. Sadly. :(
ReplyDeleteAnd I need to go review. My bad!
Thanks, Silver. I know they're pretty good for a debut self-published author. Wish they could be higher - who doesn't? - but I'm not complaining. I'm working on some marketing ideas to keep the numbers up while I wait for the next release, and that's about all anyone can do, right? Thanks for believing in me. :hugs:
DeleteNope, not bad. Just busy. I totally get it.
Wow! I wish I could say I've done as well. I have 4 books out there and don't think I sold that many total. I tried advertising with ENT, but was rejected (you know, that stung almost as much as being rejected from an agent!!). Oh well... I'll just keep chugging along.
ReplyDeleteOh man, did they give you any reason why they rejected your book? I know I had to drop to .99 before they'd notice me. Hang in there. :hugs:
DeleteThose are great numbers, and more than all four of my non-fiction books combined!
ReplyDeleteHere's to doubling your numbers every six months -- Cheers! :-D
Thanks, Deb!
DeleteGood for you! So cool that you're tracking and sharing everything.
ReplyDeleteThanks, JB! I'd like to hope this sharing of information is helping someone along the way. I know the tracking is helping me. =o)
DeleteYay! Those are good numbers. You've worked hard to get them. Congrats!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Karyn! It's been a lot of work, but it's a labor of love. =o)
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