Next Week I'm Talking Money

I've said it once and I'll say it twice, I write romance novels because I want to entertain people. For 19 years I have been writing almost every day, determined to get my books out there for readers to enjoy. I have never received a dime for my efforts.

My point is...this really isn't about money. BUT, this is about informing writers of their options and earning potential. Becoming an independent author and actually earning some $ will give me the opportunity to relax, knowing I just might be able to stay home full time and write more novels. When I started writing all those years ago, I remember thinking I wanted to teach my kids that determination, perseverance, and hard work pays off. Then I wasn't selling and I was beginning to think I was wrong about hard work and passion being the magic combination to making dreams come true.

But now...I'm thinking it was all worth it. Hard work and perseverance really has paid off and in ways I never imagined. When I released my medieval time travels on Amazon, B&N, and Smashwords, I was hoping to sell ten books. I've sold thousands and I'm getting email from wonderful kind-hearted readers who are taking the time to tell me they loved my stories.

So, now I'm going to share my paycheck with you. Okay, that doesn't sound right. I'm not passing out cash over here. I'm just going to be sharing more numbers with you in terms of dollar amounts. So stay tuned!

Taming Mad Max on Sale Now!

Taming Mad Max is my first romantic comedy. Available at Amazon and B&N now! Taming Mad Max was a finalist in RWA's Golden Heart contest in 2008 under the title, Better Late Than Never.

Like me, Mad Max has four crazy sisters. Ever since his father passed away, Max has felt a tremendous responsibility, financially and emotionally, to take care of his mother and sisters.

When Kari Murphy is asked by her friend and mentor to help with a client, she's happy to help out...at least until she enters the exam room and sees Max Dutton, the same man who slept with her on the rebound and broke her heart into tiny little pieces. There is a little bit of everything in this book: NFL football, family drama, surprise pregnancies, sperm donors...you name it! I hope you'll give it a try.

More Number Crunching and Other Stuff

As of 4/25 at 8:30 PM A Knight in Central Park sold 5,299 copies from 3/18 to 4/25 and Return of the Rose sold 1,006, from 3/2 to 4/25 for a grand total of 6,305 books since March 2, 2011. That's crazy! I like to think maybe Medieval Time Travels are hot again!

This whole $.99 vs. $2.99 pricing is very interesting to me. I've made about the same with both books...and I like the idea of being able to give readers a MEGA deal with the book set at $.99. The rest of my books will be $2.99 only because I feel that's a fair price all around. A good deal for all.

I mentioned in one of my comments to a poster that besides sending out emails to friends and family, sending a few tweets, and putting messages about my books on Facebook, I didn't do much marketing. I have yet to blog besides here on my own website. BUT, I did have a wonderful reader mention my book on Pixel of Ink, and although I was up to 108 books a day, after the mention on 4/12, sales suddenly shot up to 580 in one day, before slowly coming back down to an average of 250 a day where I am still at as of today. Thank you Pixel of Ink!

Of course, I have no idea if sales will eventually drop to ten books a day. Who knows? I certainly don't. And I can't worry about it because I want to spend my time writing instead of worrying. I like to believe that my stories are fun reads for busy women everywhere and now I will be able to spend my time concentrating on writing romance novels! What a concept. In the end, that's all that matters to me. I want to write fun, romantic, fast-paced novels that leave readers wanting more. For 19 years that's what this has been all about. Some things never change.

Once again, let me know if you have a question.

Also, if you like reading contemporary romance with a bit of humor, my newest book, Taming Mad Max, a 2008 GH finalist, is available as of a few minutes ago!!! I sold a book! I haven't even told anyone and it wasn't me who bought it, so that's exciting! I want to know who bought my very first Romantic Comedy?! It's also available on B&N, and all three of my books will be available on Smashwords by the end of the week!

B&N Sales for a newly pubbed Indie Author

First off, I would like to say that I am sharing information about sales at Amazon and B&N because if you are like me, you are curious about this new self-publishing phenomenon. At least, new to me. I know some authors have been doing this for a while now. 

The first two weeks at B&N were slow and I was happy with 1 or 2 sales a day. After I released the second book (A Knight in Central Park $.99) on 3/18 sales slowly rose.

Here are my sales numbers starting in April, 2011 (#’s are combined for both books, but the majority of sales are for the book set at $.99):

4/1 = 15 books sold

4/2 = 12

4/3 = 21

4/4 = 16

4/5 = 12

4/6 = 24

4/7 = 28

4/8 = 31

4/9 = 35

4/10 = 49

4/11 = 22

4/12 = 25

4/13 = 24

4/14 = 22

4/15 = 35

4/16 = 41

4/17 = 50

4/18 = 41

4/19 = 35

4/20 = 24

4/21 = 25

With my first book, Return of the Rose, released on March 2, 2011, and my second book, A Knight in Central Park, released on March 18, 2011, I have, as of today, April 22, 2011, sold a TOTAL of 4,509 books at Amazon and 725 books at B&N.

If you have any questions, let me know!

Amazon Sales Ranking

I can only tell you what I know. I know that I was selling between 450 and 550 ebooks a day on Amazon when I got as low as #65 on the top 100 bestsellers on Amazon.com. I was hovering around #130 when selling 250 books a day.

A Knight in Central Park was released on Amazon on 3/18/11 and is ranked 172 as of today (4/21) and I sold 250 books yesterday (4/20).

Return of the Rose was released on 3/2/11 and is ranked at #1,667 as of today (4/21) and sold over 50 yesterday (4/20).

I tend to make the majority of my sales after 5 PM each day and on the weekends.

Let me know if you have any questions! I have to go get my hair cut, but later on today I plan to talk about how many books I've sold at B&N. :)

Theresa

Welcome to my new blog/website!

Hello! I'm so glad you stopped by.

I write Medieval Time Travels, Romantic Comedy, Romantic Suspense and I have a Thriller coming out soon under the name, T.R. Ragan (because I don't want people to buy it thinking they're getting fluffy fun romance and then find out they got something else entirely).

I am happy to announce that two of my medieval time travels, Return of the Rose and A Knight in Central Park were released March, 2011, on Amazon, B&N, and Smashwords (still need to upload A Knight in Central Park on Smashwords).

I have had a website for years, but I couldn't update it because my son lives in New York and he has the power! So, I came to blogger so I could talk to readers until I get my other website updated.

After 19 years of writing and researching medieval times, I finally have a chance to share my books and talk with readers.

Making the decision to self-publish was the best decision I've ever made. In January, 2011, after I finished my most recent book, a romantic thriller titled, ABDUCTED (will be released in May, 2011), I re-read Return of the Rose, a book I wrote many years ago. Return of the Rose was nominated three times for the Golden Heart and snagged me an agent way back when, and was almost bought by a publishing house in NY, but then the editor left for another house...story of my life.

Anyhow, on March 18, 2011, I released my second medieval time travel, A Knight in Central Park, and it's been fun to watch the book take off because it's one of my favorites. I received a one star today, but that's to be expected. I love that people can say what they want and read what they want and do what they want. There's something for everyone. I love my stories and I'm standing by everything I put out there.

I hope you enjoy my stories, too!