Sales Update: Five Months Later...

March 2, 2011 - August 24, 2011 SALES

 Return of the Rose - Released March 2, 2011    $2.99
Medieval Time Travel Romance

March:     253

April:       879

May:     1,595

June:    1,460 

July:     1,277
August:  1,692*

TOTAL:  7,156

A Knight in Central Park - Released March 18, 2011   $.99
Medieval Time Travel Romance

March:    265
April:    6,017
May:     4,282
June:    2,383
July:     1,317
August:   8,018*
TOTAL:  22,282

Taming Mad Max - Released April 25, 2011  $2.99
Romantic Comedy

April:      30
May:     182
June:     264
July:      307
August:   537*
TOTAL:  1,320 

Finding Kate Huntley - Released May 5, 2011   $2.99
Romantic Suspense

May:      184
June:      256
July:       331
August:     645*
TOTAL:  1,416

Abducted - Released May 29, 2011   $2.99
Romantic Suspense/Thriller

May:          24
June:        696
July:       1,688
August:    5,637*
TOTAL: 8,045

Total Books sold 03/11 through 08/24/11 = 40,219*

*The August sales are as of August 24th since today is August 25th. These sales do not include 25,000 free downloads. I am selling over 1,000 books a day. 

What a whirlwind the last five months have been. I went from 19 years of trying to get through the traditional publishing doors, to selling thousands of books practically overnight. At least that's how it feels at the moment. Luck and timing have been huge factors. I discovered that I really do enjoy doing promo and marketing. Who knew? I love meeting new readers and writers. If I had more hours in the day, I would do more interviews and visit more blogs. So many great blogs, so little time. But we all know what goes up must come down and if I want to keep the momentum going and make the most of my fifteen minutes of success, I need to keep writing.

I give much credit for my success so far to the reviewers who were nice enough to read and review my books. Paid advertising on sites like Pixel of Ink, The Romance Reviews and Eye on Romance gave me a big boost in sales...but, I am not telling other authors to spend a ton of money on advertising. At least not in the beginning...unless they can afford it.

In the beginning (the first two months), I got my name out there by sending out daily requests for reviews. My first mention on Pixel of Ink was free. My books would not have been seen or read if I hadn't visited blogs and put myself out there on sites like Shelfari, Goodreads, TRR, and ARE. For the first two months, I worked 24/7 on promotion, most of it was free.

I hope the above sales numbers inspire and/or help other writers make important decisions when it comes to their writing career. As we all know, a mention on one site works for one author and not for another. In my opinion, it's all about trying different things and seeing what works for you. I wish every writer much success in his/her career.

If you have questions, tips for writers or readers, a book to promote, then go for it and leave a comment.

Other authors sharing their numbers: CAREY CORP, DEBRA HOLLAND, NORAH WILSON, D.D. SCOTT.