Thursday, June 30, 2011

Sales Update


18,450 books in 16 weeks.
I released my first book in March, 2011. I now have five books on Amazon, B&N, and Smashwords.com.
A Knight in Central Park - medieval time travel
Return of the Rose - medieval time travel
Taming Mad Max - romantic comedy
Finding Kate Huntley - romantic suspense
Abducted - romantic thriller
IMO, the more books you have out there, the better. I don’t think it hurts to have different genres either.  I am using a different pen name, T.R. Ragan, for my romantic thriller because it is so different from my other books and it hasn’t hurt sales...maybe even helped.
In 3 ½ months A Knight in Central Park ($.99) has reached #65 in all kindle books, hovering around 600 for a few months and has a sales rank between 1,100 and 1,400.
Return of the Rose ($2.99) has made a steady climb over the past three months and as far as sales ranking goes this book now hovers between 1,100 and 1,400.
Taming Mad Max ($2.99) and Finding Kate Huntley tend to have the biggest range in sales ranking while Abducted, my most recent release, made the bestseller’s romantic suspense list in three weeks (not sure if it's still there as of today).
I’ve had people ask me what I am doing for promo.
I have no plan and I feel unorganized, but so far this is what I'm doing. In the first month I sent out lots of emails, I put my covers on Facebook, and I blogged and joined a few indie groups.
Next, I joined Twitter and I’m still learning about the world of twitter.
I did two FREE interviews in May/June and now I am using Twitter and Google to find indie review blogs. I have already met a lot of friendly people who are happy to add my book to their review list. I will be reviewed by The romance Reviews, C&R  Romance ebook Reviews, Backofthebookreviews, and more . I either gift a book from Amazon or send the review site a coupon from Smashwords. I figure the more places my books can be seen, the better. I try to send out one request a day.
I paid for my first advertisement last week. My books will be displayed on The Romance Review Site, Tara Green’s Eye on Romance, and Kindle Nation in September. I’ll keep you posted on how that works out.
I just finished formatting my first book for CreateSpace and I am awaiting my book to review. It was time consuming.
I must say, I didn't know I would be running a business. I always thought I would write and someone else would design, promote, market, sell. It's easy to become overwhelmed. I am trying to find balance. My writing has become a business. No question about it. Instead of going crazy, I am taking one task at a time and I am determined to enjoy the ride. Just watching the sales rank go up and down can drive you nuts if you watch it too closely. I am trying hard to stick to a goal for each day. Send out one request for review. Write 5 pages. Blog once a week. Maybe format a book for Createspace on the weekends until that is done. Read. Write. Breathe.
Let's not forget to have fun!
I am more than happy to answer any questions you may have.