MONEY TALK

For nearly two decades I wrote nearly every day, but I didn't make one dime. Self-publishing has changed all that. Come join me on WG2E today where we're talking about money!

"The very best thing I ever did was realizing that my books are a PRODUCT and I am BUSINESS WOMAN. Last December I made a twenty-three page business plan. I realized that I could actually make real money selling my books. I came up with an amount of money I wanted to make each month ($6000) and how many books I had to sell to make that happen. Instead of just putting out books whenever I got them done, I planned release dates. I have my editors booked through the end of 2012. I have firm, hard dates that I hand my manuscripts over. I work very, very hard. I have high expectations for myself and my work output. My business comes before a lot of things in my life, but I've never been happier."

--Denise Grover Swank, bestselling author of The Chosen series.

Life is good...a rambling post

There. I said it. Life is ridiculously crazy wonderful.

And guess what?

It’s not just because AMAZING writerly things are happening to me. In fact, I like to think that amazing things are happening to me because I am truly grateful and happy with my life and I have been for a while. I have been married for over 25 years. For many of those 25 years, my husband and I didn’t have time for each other. He took a kid to the soccer game. I took another to basketball. He worked overtime. I went to a teacher's meeting. Even during open house at the kids' school, he met one teacher, while I met another. Our honeymoon was a weekend trip a few miles away. We spent a weekend at Laguna Beach for our 20th anniversary. So, the moment I realized I was making some money writing, I planned a five night trip to Hawaii, just the two of us. Not too long after, I bought our tickets, Amazon invited me to New York to speak at the BEA. So my husband came with me and our vacation was extended. Hawaii and then New York for wine and cheese, cocktails on rooftops, and dinners out. My head is still spinning. So much happening so fast!



Theresa, Sally, and Cathy on Abbey Road

I always feel sort of bad IF I’m the only happy one in the crowd. But screw it. I’m happy and proud of it. It’s not easy to be happy. Even before I sold one book on Amazon, I had decided that enough was enough. Yeah, like many of you, I had some pretty crappy things happen to me when I was growing up. Things I don’t want to talk about. Maybe not ever. Also, like many couples do, my parents divorced. Suddenly my mom had five girls to look after and she'd never held a job…well, maybe during high school. We sold our house on top of the hill, moved to the haunted house down the street, and ate beans. I was paying for my own dentist bills at the age of 14 and I had to get a work permit from high school so I could leave school to waitress. It took years for me to realize that I learned my greatest lessons from the tough times. For instance, I learned forgiveness. Forgiving someone doesn’t mean you forget what they did. It just means you choose not to be angry and bitter about it all.

911 Memorial

And obviously...every day is not a stroll through the park. Sure, I still get annoyed at times. But it doesn’t happen often and any agitated feelings are like a blip on a radar screen. Road rage has completely left me. If someone is flipping me off or cursing me from another car, I don’t know it because I keep my eyes on the road. Back in the old days, if someone cut me off I tailed them for a mile or two, making sure they knew I didn’t like what they did. Stupid. I wasted too many precious minutes being angry at drivers who probably had no idea I was angry. My kids have many stories about those days, which is sad. If I could do it all over again, things would be different. My attitude would be different. 

BUT even amidst the bad days, there was always good. I always had my mom and my sisters. All four of my sisters have always been encouraging and supportive. My sister, Cathy, loves to travel and has taken me on many amazing trips. During the two decades when I was writing but not selling, she was reading all of my books, too. She told me to keep writing. She couldn’t understand why I wasn’t selling and my not selling seemed to frustrate her more than it did me. She's read every book I've ever written dozens of times. She combines characters and cuts others completely. She can get a little crazy with her red pen. It took me years to be able to take her criticism without feeling crushed. She has made me uncrushable. Cathy and I love reading self-help books. She follows the books to a tee and I take the stuff I like and leave the rest. She says tomato, I say…you get where I’m going. We are opposites in many ways. She’s way nicer than me. Way nicer than most everyone. She has one kidney and that one kidney produces kidney stones, which worries me because I can’t imagine a life without Cathy in it. Anyhow, one of the self-help books we read talked a lot about affirmation cards. You write down something you want to happen on an index card and carry it with you until it comes true. Cathy always keeps three cards in her purse. She won’t show anyone her cards. If a card produces results, she puts that card away and writes a new one. A few months ago, she gave me a card she had written and carried around for years. If you look at the picture you can see that she wrote the original index card in 2008. That was when I was a double finalist in RWA’s Golden Heart contest. Maybe she felt enough was enough. Time for a card! Anyhow you can see that she changed the year 2008 to 2009 and then she just wrote 2010 over and over and then 2011 and then she really messed with the affirmation card gods when she started scribbling words like “power” and "strength" and "positive" and exclamation points!!! The card had no choice but to work. A few months ago, Cathy gave me the card. I’m going to frame it. I don’t know if I could have continued to write without Cathy pushing me onward with her never-ending support and encouragement.

Being positive and finding the good in most things is easy for me now, but it took practice. I didn’t know learning to be positive, learning to see all the beauty right there in front of me, would take practice. But I know it now. I get it. I’m done complaining. Yeah, not publishing for 19 years was getting old, but a few years before I sold a book, I knew my time would come. I didn’t know when or how, but I knew I wasn’t going to give up until my books were read by complete strangers. Now that my books are being read, it’s just too darn amazing for words. Every single sale is amazing. The Taleist did a survey recently and I believe it showed that most indie authors surveyed average $10,000 a year. Half of those surveyed made $500 a year. For two decades I didn’t make a dime so $500 a year for those 20 years sounds pretty good to me. My favorite part of the survey is that 95% of those surveyed consider themselves to be a success. How cool is that? That’s all that really matters. The meaning of success is different to all, but to me success is being able to look in the mirror and like who you see.

And another thing…I don’t know about you, but every day I read about someone with failing health or worse. All of those clichés that people are tired of hearing are clichés for a reason. LIFE IS SHORT. It’s true. Don’t waste another moment worrying about sales. WRITE. Write better than ever. Focus on the writing and the characters and you just might be the author with the next bestseller.

It could be you. Believe it!

Jared's welcoming party in south sudan

And while you’re at it, practice being aware and grateful for all you DO have. I am grateful every day to have water to drink. I like having access to drinkable water. I can’t imagine living in a country where water isn’t readily available. My nephew is in South Sudan. He’s there helping others because he wants to be there. He’s an amazing human being. All of my nephews and nieces are, but I’m talking about Jared now because I find myself often wondering if Jared has enough water. Where he is living, local court is held under a shade tree. A young boy and girl were doing “things” in a hut and they got caught. Court was held beneath the shade tree and the boy’s family now has to give a cow to the girl’s family. Case settled. Sounds a little steep if you ask me. I asked my nephew in an email if there were lakes and rivers and this is what he wrote back: “No rivers or lakes around here. Hence this is where we are to respond to emergencies from chronic drought and the like. And all the animals are long gone. There's been war in these parts for 30 some odd years so they were all smart enough to run far far away. Just lots of lizards, scorpions, snakes, eagles, vultures, and bats.”  Reading this makes me thirsty.

A few days ago I read a post written by Gordon Kirkland at the WG2E. I don’t know Gordon, but I’m sure thinking about him today. Maybe that's why I decided to write this post. His health isn’t so great and so he’s not going to be writing for a while. He needs a new liver. Livers are not easy to come by, but I sure hope he gets one soon. I don’t want to have to read stories like Gordon’s in order to remember to be grateful. If you have good health, be grateful for it. If you have arms and legs and good sight, be grateful. If you have a roof over your head or wonderful sisters, be grateful.

Sorry for rambling on--a rambling post with random pictures. I really just wanted to say that life is good and this water tastes great!  

February Sales Update II

198,278 Books Sold

Totals are as of February 21, 2012 @ 10PM and do NOT include over 160,000 FREE downloads
(Amazon and B&N combined Sales)
Borrows have also NOT been included in total 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: 1,074
January: 1,457
February: 1,029*

Total: 15,933*

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: 2,383
January: 2,685
February: 1,055*

Total: 34,615*

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: 1,561 (272 borrows)
January: 4,393 (782 borrows)
February: 804* (89 borrows)


Total:  14,626*

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: 4,421  (1,088 borrows)
January: 2,523  (791 borrows)
February: 1,260* (112 borrows)

Total: 16,683*

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: 3,649
January: 2,118
February: 23,619* (3,903 borrows)

Total: 108,964*

Dead Weight - Released December 22, 2011 $2.99

Romantic Suspense/Thriller

December: 451
January: 1,430
February: 5,576* (181 borrows)

Total:   7,457*

*sales as of February 21, 2012 @ 10 PM (B&N and Amazon combined)

For more info on self-publishing, go to my LINKS tab.

I enrolled ABDUCTED and DEAD WEIGHT in KDP Select in the beginning of February to see if I could get sales moving again. I put Abducted for FREE for 2 days (2/9 and 2/10) and had 50,000 free downloads. 48 hours later, ABDUCTED hit #5 in the All Kindle Paid list. Woohoo! There has been a definite crossover in sales for my other books, too. DEAD WEIGHT has made the Top 10 List in Romantic Suspense and the 100 All Kindle Paid list for the first time. As far as I can tell, ranking is everything. Better ranking = better sales. I know that's pretty obvious, but this is why giving away books can be used as an important marketing tool. Many authors disagree and that's fine. In my family, we often agree to disagree. The famous cookie lady, Mrs. Fields, wasn't selling any cookies until she hit the street and started giving them away.

I realize my sales are above average. To those who might not be selling as well as they would like, remember that nothing has changed when it comes to trends. If you have a well-edited entertaining story, readers will come...eventually. Right now thrillers are HOT. I lucked out, but I'm not talking about dumb luck, I'm talking about hard work + opportunity + good timing = luck. Down the road, another genre will be hot. Until your sales begin to climb, focus on writing the stories that you love to read. Write with passion. Don't rush it. Your time will come.

Recently, Nina Pierce, author of Deceive Her With Desire, wrote a post about her sales because she wanted to let other authors know that "it ain’t all roses and royalty checks for everyone" If you feel as if you're the only one not making enough to quit your day job or buy a new car, you must read Nina's informative and helpful POST.

Self-publishing a book might be easier than ever, BUT you're not going to be successful unless you put in the work. If you have just finished your first book, join RWA or another writers' group. Find a critique partner. Attend writing workshops in your area. Take a class. If you can't afford an editor, but your not sure if your book is ready, have the first ten pages edited so you can get an idea of how much work might need to be done. More than anything you must BELIEVE in yourself. Life is way too short to be fearful. You can do it!

***

David Gaughran is asking self-published authors, whether they have sold 10 books or 10,000 books, to take a quick survey. Steven Lewis runs the Taleist Self-Publishing blog and the Taleist 2012 Self-Publishing Survey is now open. SURVEY IS NOW CLOSED! THANKS TO ALL!

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.

155,808 Books Sold!!!

January Sales Update I

Over 150,000 books sold in ten months!

Totals are as of January 10, 2012 @ 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: 1,074
January: 540*

Total: 13,987*

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: 2,383
January: 1,212*

Total: 32,087*

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: 1,561
January: 691*

Total:  10,120*

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:  4,421
January: 1,456*

Total:  14,356*

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: 3,649
January: 1,001*

Total: 84,228*

Dead Weight - Released December 22, 2011 $2.99

Romantic Suspense/Thriller

December: 451
January:      579*

Total:    1,030*

*sales as of January 10, 2012 @ 10 PM (B&N and Amazon combined)

2012 is starting off with a bang! As of last week I have sold over 150,000 books! I am still pinching myself every single day. In 2012 I plan to release 2 romantic comedies, 1 time travel and Book #3 in the Lizzy Gardner series. 

My hope for 2012 is that all of your dreams will come true.

Be happy. Stay positive. Work hard and never ever give up on your dreams. 



***

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/

THREE CONTESTS - 3 times as fun

Contest #1 - Cheap e-reads writing and design contest. I am lucky enough to be one of three judges. Details are below: 

Cheap e-Reads

The winner of each contest receives a $50 B&N gift card, free publication of their work and free publicity on The Cheap and all our outlets. The deadline for entry is October 14th. Details can be found on our blog, The Cheap, at http://the-cheap.net/

Contest #2 - Win a Sterling Silver Spider ring!

My sister made this sterling silver ring especially for my contest. The ring is adjustable to fit any size. To enter, just leave your email (ex.: theresa ragan @ gmail dot com) in the comment section HERE or under the CONTEST TAB and write ANY sentence with the word "spider" in it. (ex: I love spiders.)

Contest ends October 31, 2011.

Contest #3 - Want Your Name in sequel to ABDUCTED?

I am taking names. On October 31, 2011, I will pick one or two names to use for character(s) in Book #2 of the Lizzy Gardner series (sequel to ABDUCTED by T.R. Ragan). To enter this contest just leave a comment with your email address and give me the name you would like used in the book: (example: RUTH COLE CUNNINGHAM or maybe just RUTH COLE), whatever you like. 

Here's the catch. You won't know whether the character with your name will be dead or alive by the end of the book. That's the risk you'll be taking if you enter contest #3.

Feel free to enter Contest #2 and #3 with one comment. What are you waiting for? If you have any problems leaving a comment, please email me at theresaragan@gmail.com.  GOOD LUCK!

OVER 64,000 BOOKS SOLD IN SIX MONTHS

Total as of 9/8/11 at 10 PM and does NOT include 25,000 FREE downloads

Amazon and Barnes & Noble 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:                      558*

Total:                          8,468

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:                      696*

Total:                          24,876

Taming Mad Max - Released April 25, 2011  $2.99

Romantic Comedy

April:                                  30 

May:                                182

June:                                265

July:                                 310

August:                            934

September:                        371*

Total:                            2,092

Finding Kate Huntley - Released May 5, 2011   $2.99

Romantic Suspense

May:                                187

June:                                261

July:                                 325

August:                          1,159

September:                        641*

                    

Total:                          2,573

Abducted - Released May 29, 2011   $2.99

Romantic Suspense/Thriller

May:                                    25

June:                                  694

July:                                1,708

August:                          12,917

September:                      10,716*

Total:                          26,060

 *sales as of 9/8/11   10 PM

Clearly, becoming an indie author was the best decision I ever made. But new writers should know that none of this came easily for me. For the past 19 years I wrote nearly every day. In that time, I completed ten 400 page manuscripts and countless partials. I have received my fair share of rejections. I worked hard to learn my craft and I will never stop learning. I joined RWA in 1997. I signed with two agents. I went to dozens of conferences and attended many workshops. I worked with other writers, driving hours to exchange pages every week. I entered contests and judged contests.

I have never felt any competition with other writers. Whenever a writing friend would sell his/her novel, I was happy for them and glad to know that new authors were still being bought. Writers are the most helpful, encouraging people I've ever met. I love being around like-minded people whose minds are filled with plot scenes and characters. So many fiction writers have inspired me. I am certain I never would have become a writer if it weren't for Jude Deveraux's A Knight in Shining Armor. That is the ONLY book I have read more than once. If I had sold fifteen years ago, I would still be writing time travels. Instead, I was inspired to try my hand at romantic comedy (Taming Mad Max) after reading Susan E. Phillip's Nobody's Baby but Mine. In 2008, frustrated with not selling, I read about Lisa Gardner's journey to success and how it took her a couple of years to transition to writing single title romantic suspense. That's when I decided to write ABDUCTED and I named my main character after Lisa Gardner (Lizzy Gardner).

I don't know what the future holds for the book industry, but I do know that 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.