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.

Banners - What do I do with them now?

The Romance Reviews made me these wonderful banners. Now I need to figure out what to do with them. :)

23,000 Books Sold

Below, I have listed what I've been doing as far as promoting and social networking. More and more books are being released every day. It's easy to disappear. I'm not a saleswoman. I could never sell books out of the trunk of my car. It's just not me. But I know that if I sit back and do nothing, I'll be invisible. I want people to read my stories, which means I have to get out there and be seen. They can't read my stories if they can't find them.

Write. I must keep writing every day. Readers can't read my books if I don't write them.

My goal is to try everything at least once. I don't have to do it all this month or even this year. But when it comes to promoting my book and getting my name out there, especially if it's FREE, I'm probably going to give it a try.

Be fearless. Put yourself out there. Get out of your comfort zone.

Blogs: Questions and answers are fun, fast and easy. I talked with Trish Milburn in May. I answered questions on Dave Wisehart's Blog Kindle Author in June, 2011. I have a post on Joan Swan's Blog coming up on Monday, August 1st and Anne-Mhairi Simpson's questions and answers will be up on Thursday, August 4th.

BlogTalkRadio: I talked with Giovanni Gelati on July 28th on the G-Zone. Definitely out of my comfort zone but I had a blast and would do it again. In fact, I will be interviewed by John Rakestraw on November 6th, 2011, at Unbridled Editor.

Twitter: I love all of the great information to be found on Twitter. I could spend hours over there, but I still limit myself to 30 minutes or under a day and I spend more time reading other people's tweets than posting my own. @theresaragan

Kindle Boards: Same thing. I love interacting with other writers and seeing what they're up to. I also like checking out Book Corner (Kindle Boards) to see what readers are talking about and reading.

Facebook: A great place to see what writers and friends are up to.

Paid for Advertising: The Romance Reviews, Eye on Romance, Kindle Nation (September).

Book Reviews: I took part in Menage a Blog, a wonderful blog tour, run by the Indie Book Collective. I met lots of fun people. It was a lot of work but worth every moment. My book was sent to reviewers who were interested in the genre of the book I was talking about that week. I ended up with 7 new reviews, but not all of them have been posted on Amazon and B&N, etc. Hopefully that will happen soon. And I'm hoping any readers who liked my book will post a review, too!

The BookRooster. Just this morning I paid $ to have BookRooster find people who read in the genre of the books I submitted to their review site. It takes months because they find readers who like getting free books. And in return, those people give honest reviews and post them to Amazon. I am doing that for Taming Mad Max and Finding Kate Huntley. I will keep you updated.

March, 2011 thru July, 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:     1,200*

TOTAL: 5,387

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:     1,100*
TOTAL: 14,047

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

April:      30
May:     182
June:     264
July:      290
TOTAL: 766

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


May:      184
June:      256
July:       300*
TOTAL: 740

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

May:          24
June:        696
July:       1,600*
TOTAL:  2,320

Total Books sold for March thru July = 23,260*

*The July sales are estimated since today is July 30th and I will not know exact July sales until August 1st. I am selling between 130 and 180 books a day. I have not included Smashword sales, but those sales are improving every day. 

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

Sales Update and Kindle Boards

I try to blog once a week, but I’m running behind because I’ve been writing like crazy. I am ripping apart my second romantic comedy because it needs some work. I’m actually having fun doing it because I have some great new scene ideas to add. I try to keep my books moving along at a good pace. That’s important to me as a reader and therefore also as a writer. When reading, I tend to skip boring dialogue or any scene where characters talk about the weather and what they’re going to do today.

But enough about that! Let's talk about BOOK SALES and what YOU can do to increase your sales, too.

I hope to hit 20,000 books sold by July 10th (this weekend!)

I have been selling over 1,000 books a week (Amazon, B&N, Smashwords). I sold more books in May than in June, but with some super duper paid for advertising on Eye on Romance and The Romance Reviews, I hope to have better sales this month. I’m certainly not complaining. In fact, I’m trying to concentrate more on writing books and less on all this other stuff.

BLOGS

So many great blogs out there with amazing authors who are all helping one another. I love it! But I’m sure you can relate when I say I’m having a hard time keeping up with all of these great blogs.

Whenever I find a new and wonderful blog, I will post the website URL on my LINK page.

KINDLE BOARDS

Here is a great post on why you should use kindle boards.

Today I’m reading all about Kindle Boards. Lots of fun, great info whether you’re a writer or a reader or both! But, like most things I’ve been learning about lately, it takes time to figure it all out. Just make sure you follow the rules…and if you are like me and you don’t like rules, too bad. You have to follow them over there. They are strict about rules and you don’t want to get kicked off or eaten alive if you post on the wrong topic. Ha! Come register at Kindle Boards and say hi!

One more thing...

IndieRomanceInk

PERMISSION GRANTED TO FORWARD (& forwarding is much appreciated!)


Indie Romance Ink is a free gathering place for indie romance authors. Come to the new IRI Yahoo group to network and share the indie journey with your peers--tips, wins, marketing strategies, etc. The co-founders (Cate Rowan and Carly Carson) want it to be a great resource for the indie romance community, so we've also reserved the URL IndieRomanceInk.com for future expansion--blogs, author/reader interactions, etc.


Indie Romance Ink is open to anyone who's self-published a work of romance (short story to mega-novel--it's all good!). RWA membership isn't required. Come on over--and please spread the word to your indie friends!


http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IndieRomanceInk/

Indie Author Sales Update

I've been an indie author for a little over two months now. I'm learning so much in such a short amount of time that I think I may be going crazy. Adrenaline is pumping through my veins giving me a constant high. This self-publishing indie author stuff is exciting to me. If you're jumping on the self-publishing train, you're probably going a little crazy, too. For me, this couldn't have happened at a better time. I've been writing for 19 years, and writing and whining for the past 5 years...Why me? Or should I say...why NOT me? I never stopped writing and submitting. I captured some interest from editors, I signed with agents, but selling the traditional way just wasn't in the cards for me. And guess what? I am sooo thankful. Self publishing in 2011 is turning out to be the best possible scenario for me. I love choosing my cover art. I love being in charge of my work. BUT, this is a lot of work.

I was warned. They were right.

How many books should I put out and how fast? Is this the right cover for this book? Should I change the title? Should I beg for reviews? How many beta readers will be enough? Did I catch every typo? I'm so busy editing and formatting my books, I don't have time to answer any of these questions running through my brain. I'm just taking one day at a time, learning all I can, editing every day and...writing! For now, other than a few tweets and emails, my website is the place where I talk to writers and readers and let them know what's going on.

At my last update (end of April, 2011) I believe I was selling 200 to 250 of the $.99 book (A Knight in Central Park) each day and about 20 of the $2.99 book (Return of the Rose) each day.

For the first week of May, 2011, I have sold an average of 150 to 175 of A Knight in Central Park (Amazon Sales Rank Averaging 240) and 45 per day of Return of the Rose (Amazon Sales Rank Averaging 1,300). 

So...the $.99 book is slowly winding down in sales...while the $2.99 book is slowly making it's way upward.  Interesting...

Taming Mad Max, a romantic comedy, started off like the others, selling one book a day the first week and five books a day the second week.

Finding Kate Huntley, a romantic suspense, was released on May 5th and has sold ONE copy...to me!

I have a thriller I am dying to release (pun intended) because it's my most recent work. I hope to release Abducted on May 14, 2011. After that happens, I plan to start blogging and doing a little FB promotion and maybe a few emails to my poor friends who will be thinking..."What the heck? Another book?"

A few people have called me prolific. That makes me laugh. My books are 400 pages and they take me nine months to write and then three months to polish. I wish I could write as fast as Amanda Hocking, but that's not going to happen. Abducted is 480 pages. I am trying to cut it down a bit, because as you can see, I tend to get a little wordy. I am just thankful I never stopped writing, even when I was whining I was still writing. That would be my advice to writers everywhere...keep on writing and enjoy the ride. I know I have!

I'm going to try and post twice a week. My next Money Talk Update will probably be posted after the second week in May. Next week I'll let you know what's happening at B&N and Smashwords.

Let me know if you have any questions. I'm off to take lots of pictures of my youngest daughter as she goes off to her Senior Ball. Happy Mother's Day to MOMS everywhere!!!