Wednesday, December 28, 2011

145,419 books sold!

December Sales Update II



Totals are as of December 27, 2011 @ 10PM and do NOT include 64,000 FREE downloads
(Amazon and B&N combined Sales)



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


March: 298
April: 894
May: 1,600
June: 1,475
July: 1,291
August: 2,352
September: 1,955
October: 1,527
November: 981
December: 862*

Total: 13,235*


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

March: 247
April: 6,071
May: 4,306
June: 2,414
July: 1,330
August: 9,812
September: 2,088
October: 1,348
November: 876
December: 1,844*

Total: 30,336*


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

April: 30
May: 182
June: 265
July: 310
August: 934
September: 1,872
October: 2,125
November: 2,150
December: 1,295*

Total: 9,163*


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

May: 187
June: 261
July: 325
August: 1,159
September: 3,363
October: 2,089
November: 1,095
December: 1,400*

Total: 9,879*


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


May: 25
June: 694
July: 1,708
August: 12,917
September: 39,413
October: 18,176
November: 6,645
December: 3,033*

Total: 82,611*



Dead Weight - Released December 22, 2011 $2.99
Romantic Suspense/Thriller


December: 195*

Total: 195*


*sales as of December 27, 2011 @ 10 PM (B&N and Amazon combined)


2011 has been a very exciting year! A Knight in Central Park was mentioned in the Wall Street JournalAbducted stayed on Amazon's Bestseller List for All Kindle Store for three months. In ten months I have sold close to 150,000 ebooks. Thank you, READERS! 

Twenty years ago, when I sat down to write my very first book, I ended up with binders filled with notes and character sketches. I had fifty pages of what turned out to be an outline. Five years after beginning my writing journey, I finished Return of the Rose and I joined Romance Writers of America. I also joined the Sacramento Chapter of RWA. I worked with critique partners, I signed with two agents, and I worked with more than a few editors on two of my novels. I garnered six nominations in RWA’s prestigious Golden Heart Competition. I entered writing contests and later became a judge for many of those same contests. I attended conferences all over the U.S. and, most importantly, I wrote every day. Despite all of my hard work, signing with a publisher in New York was not to be. I had written more than ten novels and too many partials to count and I was frustrated. That’s when I decided to write a thriller and kill off some characters and my frustrations at the same time. While researching real-life serial killers I began to have nightmares and had to put the book away. Nine months later, I read what I had written and I felt compelled to finish the story. My husband told me I should self-publish. He also reminded me to write for the love of writing and nothing else. He was right. And that’s exactly what I began to do. I cannot wait to wake up every morning and write. I have a passion for telling stories and I cannot imagine doing anything else. Becoming an indie author has allowed me to share my stories with readers--a dream come true.


***

Brenda Hiatt is collecting data on independent publishing. Help her out by sharing your numbers so that we can all benefit. It's all done anonymously. Click HERE for more information.

If you are thinking about self-publishing, but don't know where to start when it comes to marketing, promotion and formatting, don't worry. There are so many helpful authors willing to share what they have learned. My advice to you is to join Indie Romance Ink run by Cate Rowan and Carly Carson. There are over 500 members. Many IRI members are traditionally published and have already self-published a book or two. Some members are undecided. All are welcome to join and learn.

Twice a month I share my number of books sold in hopes that these numbers might help other writers make their own decisions about self-publishing. Every writer has their own personal and unique journey. My hope is that I can inspire others out there who are working hard at their craft to NEVER GIVE UP. Let me know if you have any questions at all. Happy Holidays!

Other authors who share numbers:

Lisa Mondello http://www.lisamondello.blogspot.com/p/self-publishing-stats.html
Debra Holland http://www.drdebraholland.blogspot.com/
Norah Wilson http://www.norahwilsonwrites.com/wordpress/
D.D. Scott http://ddscottville.blogspot.com/p/wg2e.html
Trish McCallan and Jolyn Palliata http://totaltransparencyselfpublishing.wordpress.com/

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Meet Diane Gaston!

I’ve loved reading since age five, but I always thought writing a book was something so special I could not possibly do it. When I’d achieved everything I wanted to achieve in my career as a mental health social worker, though, I took the plunge and started writing romance and I’ve never looked back. I’m lucky enough to have found success at writing what I love to read—Regency Historical Romance—even winning Romance’s highest honor, the RITA for A Reputable Rake, as well as other romance writing awards.


Comment on Theresa’s blog today and win an Amazon download of the Diane Gaston ebook of your choice. Be sure to include your email address.

Did you ever want to quit writing? Why or why not?
Never! My only regret is that I started writing late, as a second career. I don’t have the years to build my career that younger writers do. Writing Romance has been a joy in my life.

What are your writing career goals? (i.e. to write 2 books a year? To hit the NY Bestsellers List? To sell 100 books a month?)
I always want to have a contract to write the next book. I’d love to hit the New York Times Best Seller list, of course, because that would mean more people like and buy my books, but mostly I want to keep writing.

Have you truly mastered grammar and sentence structure? Do you feel 100% confident about every comma in your book?
Yes! At least about 98%. I had a very good foundation in grammar in school and I know what to look up if I’m not sure of something. I’ve caught lots of mistakes made by my books’ copy editors.

How many pages do you think you could write in one day if you had zero interruptions from 8 AM to 8 PM?
I polish as I go, so if I write 10 pages a day, that’s a lot for me. And I can’t write from 8 am to 8 pm. My brain gets tired at about 4 pm.

How do you think (take a guess) writers like Nora Roberts write so many books in a year?
I belong to Washington Romance Writers. Nora is also a member, so I am a little acquainted with her. I know she has a very strong work ethic and the ability to self-structure. So she works steadily, 9 to 5. I also think that Nora knows her writing process very well and that she’s blessed with a very creative mind. This combination results in several books a year!

(I greatly admire Nora, in case you couldn’t tell!)

What would be easier for you to write, a sex scene or a murder scene?
Neither daunt me.  It is easier to write a murder scene, I think, because there are dozens of ways to commit murder. For me, it is more of a challenge to write love scenes but only because I need to keep the love scenes in my books fresh and different each time.

My favorite is to write a battle scene, though.
If you were allowed to have only ONE book (of yours) for sale on Amazon and B&N, which book would you select? Why do you think readers might enjoy it?

Choose only one of my babies? No way! But if you forced me to choose, I’d choose the latest book, Valiant Soldier, Beautiful Enemy. The newest one is always my favorite.
Any advice for new writers just getting started?

Finish the book! You will learn so much if you let yourself write a whole book from beginning to end. Expect criticism and try to learn from it, but don’t take all negative feedback to heart. Trust your own vision for your book and only follow advice if it makes sense to you.

Diane’s blog
Diane’s Amazon Page
Diane’s Facebook page
Diane’s Twitter


Thank you, Diane!
http://amzn.com/B005DB85S0

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Meet Norah Wilson!

I’ve been reading romance my whole life, but I was 35 before I tried writing it. It looked easy, but I quickly learned it was anything but. I joined RWA, studied the craft, and in 2001 finalled in RWA’s Golden Heart contest. I repeated that feat in 2002 and 2003. I then won the New Voice in Romance contest and got published (LAUREN’S EYES, 2004). I now have nine self-published titles, some written with writing partner Heather Doherty. I live in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, with my husband, two adult kids, a rottie-lab mix and numerous rats (the pet kind).



Did you ever want to quit writing? Why or why not?

It was a long road to publication, but I always knew that if I persevered, it would happen. And it did. But there was at least one time when I was severely tempted to quit. I think it was after my third Golden Heart final. I was able to get agents and editors to read my stuff, no problem, but I was always just missing the target. I was so incredibly discouraged. My inner monologue went something like this: “I can’t write a better book that this. If New York doesn’t want this, I’m never going to sell a book.” Let me tell you, it was terrifying, contemplating walking away. Admitting defeat. I was in a black funk for days. But then one morning, my stubbornness reasserted itself and I was back. I could write a better book. Just watch me!

What are your writing career goals? (i.e. to write 2 books a year? To hit the NY Bestsellers List? To sell 100 books a month?)

At this stage of my life, I want to make writing my full time job. I’ve never had that luxury before, but self-publishing has really changed the landscape for me. That said, given how quickly the industry has been transformed in the last 18 months, I’m not even going to try to predict what tomorrow might bring.

Have you truly mastered grammar and sentence structure? Do you feel 100% confident about every comma in your book?

I’m no grammarian, that’s for sure. On the other hand, I don’t strive to sound like a grammarian. I strive to sound like a cop or a cowboy or a 200-year-old vampire or a lawyer or a nurse. J Seriously, I think my mastery is adequate to the task, or so my agent says.

How many pages do you think you could write in one day if you had zero interruptions from 8 AM to 8 PM?

Oh, wow! An uninterrupted 12 hour stretch…. I don’t think I’ve ever had one of those. I think I could probably produce maybe 20-25 pages, as long as they’re not the first pages. Beginnings take me forever! I have to get off on the right track or nothing works. If I’m nearing the end of the book, I tend to write faster. It’s like I’m going downhill. J

How do you think (take a guess) writers like Nora Roberts write so many books in a year?
Not just books – great books. It just boggles my mind. Presuming she hasn’t managed to clone herself, I imagine she does it with a lot of hard work, discipline and sacrifice.

What would be easier for you to write, a sex scene or a murder scene?

Oh, I love writing both! But if I have to pick, I’ll take the sex scene. The murder scene strikes me as more a part of the external plot, the thing you need to have happen to trigger (ha!) your story question. Whereas the sex scene (love scene) is more about the internal journey. I do incorporate sex in my books, and those scenes tend to be very sensual. However, they’re never gratuitous. When my characters have sex, something always changes about the dynamics of their relationship. Bonds are being forged, characters transformed. Luckily, it doesn’t happen all at once, which gives me lots of chances to write sex scenes. <g> Also, I like to turn the tenderness quotient up as those intimate bonds are tightened.

If you were allowed to have only ONE book (of yours) for sale on Amazon and B&N, which book would you select? Why do you think readers might enjoy it?

Oh, what a cruel, cruel question! That’s like being asked to pick between your children. But I’ll do it. ,-) If I could leave but one story up, I think it would be Guarding Suzannah. It’s the first in my Serve and Protect series and features Detective John (Quigg) Quigley and criminal defense attorney Suzannah Phelps. John may be one of the least macho guys I’ve ever written, but I love his steady strength and protective nature, and he was tailor-made for Suzannah. I adore their love story. But I’d pick that one for another reason – I chose that book to immortalize my own beloved Bandicoot. Bandy was my constant companion, following me from room to room and lying at my feet as I wrote for 11 years. I gave him life again in this book. And I promise, the eccentricities displayed by the fictional Bandy are not exaggerations.

Any advice for new writers just getting started?

Learn the craft. Put in your apprenticeship. They say you  need to write a million words before you’re proficient, and I think that’s about right. Today, you can slap your first book up at Smashwords and Amazon with very little trouble. The issue is, should you? For most of us, in retrospect, that would be a resounding, God, no! Unfortunately, new writers are not the best judges of their own work. I know I sure wasn’t. Every time I finished a manuscript, I was proud of it. I truly felt it was the best work I could produce. And it was, with the skill level I had at the time. If Smashwords had been available then, maybe I’d have self-published those early works (shudder). I submit that If you haven’t spent a number of years studying your craft, critiquing and being critiqued, entering contests and addressing judges’ comments, maybe you’re not ready. If you’re not getting positive feedback from agents or editors on near misses, maybe you’re not ready. But if you’re determined to publish sooner rather than later, you  might want to invest in some professional editing. Future you will thank you.


Thank you, Norah!

Thanks for having me, Theresa. It’s been a blast!

Website:              http://norahwilsonwrites.com

My blog:              http://norahwilsonwrites.com/wordpress/

Twitter:                https://twitter.com/#!/norah_wilson

Facebook:           http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1053773212

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Norah-Wilson/e/B001HCZ14A

Smashwords:     http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/norahwilson

Goodreads:        http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1361508.Norah_Wilson

http://www.amazon.com/Guarding-Suzannah-Serve-Protect-ebook/dp/B003ZK5KS4/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1321626657&sr=1-1

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

December Sales Update

TOTAL BOOKS SOLD: 138,939

 
Totals are as of December 6, 2011 @ 10PM and do NOT include 25,000 FREE downloads
(Amazon and B&N combined Sales)



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


March:                 298
April:                    894
May:                  1,600
June:                  1,475
July:                   1,291
August:             2,352
September:        1,955
October:            1,527
November:           981
December:            188*

 Total:              12,561*


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

March:                  247
April:                 6,071
May:                  4,306
June:                  2,414
July:                   1,330
August:             9,812
September:        2,088
October:            1,348
November:           876
December:            518*

Total:              29,010*


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

April:                    30
May:                   182
June:                   265
July:                    310
August:              934
September:      1,872
October:          2,125
November:       2,150
December:          284*

Total:              8,152*


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

May:                   187
June:                   261
July:                    325
August:           1,159
September:      3,363
October:          2,089
November:       1,095
December:          146*

Total:              8,625*


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


May:                       25
June:                     694
July:                   1,708
August:           12,917
September:      39,413
October:          18,176
November:         6,645
December:         1,013*

Total:              80,591*

*sales as of December 6, 2011 @ 10 PM (B&N and Amazon combined)

 
Brenda Hiatt is collecting data on independent publishing. Help her out by sharing your numbers so that we can all benefit. It's all done anonymously. Click HERE for more information.


If you are thinking about self-publishing, but don't know where to start when it comes to marketing, promotion and formatting, don't worry. There are so many helpful authors willing to share what they have learned. My advice to you is to join Indie Romance Ink run by Cate Rowan and Carly Carson. There are over 500 members. Many IRI members are traditionally published and have already self-published a book or two. Some members are undecided. All are welcome to join and learn.


Twice a month, I share my number of books sold in hopes that these numbers might help other writers make their own decisions about self-publishing. A Knight in Central Park got another boost recently with a Pixel of Ink sponsorship on 12/6/11. In November I did more writing and less promoting. Dead Weight will be released on 12/15/11 and Having My Baby, a romantic comedy will be released in January, 2012.

Every writer has their own personal and unique journey. My hope is that I can inspire others out there who are working hard at their craft to NEVER GIVE UP. Let me know if you have any questions at all. Happy Holidays! 

Other authors who share numbers:

Lisa Mondello http://www.lisamondello.blogspot.com/p/self-publishing-stats.html
Debra Holland http://www.drdebraholland.blogspot.com/
Norah Wilson http://www.norahwilsonwrites.com/wordpress/
D.D. Scott http://ddscottville.blogspot.com/p/wg2e.html
Trish McCallan and Jolyn Palliata http://totaltransparencyselfpublishing.wordpress.com/