SALES RANK
KINDLE, CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
KINDLE, LITERARY FICTION
AUTHOR RANK
IT’S BEEN AN ODD YEAR AS A FIRST-TIME PUBLISHED NOVELIST
None of my sales have done much.
Word of mouth has been how most of the sales came about.
I am basically hand-selling to people I meet who also seem to have reading habits that mean they might like PC.
Now that I have a decent, if small, number of reviews (25), with at least one at every star ranking, I will be trying a few Fussy Librarian offers, to try to reach people outside of my immediate circle. If FL will have me.
KU, which I had high hopes for, has been a dud. Being in or out hasn’t made much difference.
The last Kindle Countdown Deal sold two copies (0.99 – so I got 0.67 each). Definitely not worth the effort.
Goodreads has provided friends – one or two sales; ditto FB and Wattpad. I have sent out a LOT of review copies (just ask – I will send you one). Everyone says I’m pricing wrong, but the 0.99 sales do nothing – and you can always have a free review copy!
I’m sure this is the way beginners start; I also spent way too much time watching it happen, as I’m sure many beginners do.
I’m well started with PC: NETHERWORLD, the middle book in the trilogy, full of surprises (if you can trust me).
And it’s been otherwise a very crazy year, so I think I’m going to put my head down (as soon as I can for sure is next Wednesday), and write, and try not to panic. Careers last a long time.
I liked the pretty graphs – and a year seemed to be a good time to review the results.
Oh, and I’ve sold, I believe, 7 paper copies.
I have avoided advertising which focuses on me, and kept it on story and writing (except for the online ME/CFS group where they already know me, and this blog, of course). I don’t know if that’s wise, but it is a one-way street to move into talking about a disabled writer, which does funny things to most people’s minds (such as lowering standards, and expecting inspiration, and just plain not wanting to read) which I’d rather avoid. On the other hand, an awful lot of books come out every year.
Hope this next 12 months works a bit better.
ETA: Author Rank pic.
liebjabberings 
I’ve heard stories along these lines a number of times. Yep, it’s hard to break into the market. Focusing on story is the way I intend to go, too.
LikeLiked by 1 person
LOL! I know I spent too much time “watching it happen” when I released Troll-magic in December 2011. Honestly, I still spend too much time looking at my sales. I’d arrived at a reasonable once-per-week rhythm, which crumbled when I tried a bunch of new-to-me promotional efforts. Now that the promos are over, I think it is time to return to once-per-week stat checking. Although I aspire to the business-like once per month.
LikeLike
Exhaustion is my usual state, so watching anything at least makes me fell I’m ‘doing something.’ Not an excuse; just an observation.
But it’s easy to let it take over, and slip into using up some of the good time. And that takes energy to guard against. Thank goodness I make an effort and block the internet completely for a while every day, or I’d make no progress ever. No self-discipline – self-discipline takes energy (read up on decision fatigue). Sometimes I’m amazed I do anything at all!
LikeLike
Fingers crossed for a better selling year in 2017. Hang in there! You do this for the joy and fun of it, right?
LikeLike
Actually, I don’t. I do it for the deeply-buried message that women (and men – but I’m not writing about them in the same way) who are disabled are NOT worthless human beings, capable of provoking only pity in the lucky healthy able-bodied normal people – and maybe being inspirational, but not, you know, getting the guy, or finding a way to do something important and useful.
I’m so tired of stories where the disabled person neatly tidies him/herself away by suicide, or magically gets well – and are no bother to anyone any more.
This is meant to feel as real as a possibility can be – final judgment to be reserved until the trilogy is finished.
But that’s why neither I nor the story take shortcuts: I’m very, very serious. It’s not fun (though I love it) and has used up ALL my good time for the past fifteen years. I took the time to learn to write and plot, and DO THE WORK. Even at my speed.
I’d like it to be successful because of the WRITING, and slip that little message into the skulls of as many people as possible.
LikeLike
I think that message comes through in Pride’s Children. I read it on Kindle on my laptop. It is very difficult for me to read on my computer but that was the only way to do it then. So I struggled a great deal with reading it. I had to take it in very little bites. It was a disjointed way to do it and I was constantly a bit lost in the plot. I have now gotten the paperback copy and I look forward to reading it again. I know it will be easier for me to read and understand.
LikeLike
Wow. Thank you! I hope it’s easier for you in paper – it’s a thick book. And it’s only a third of the story. Sorry.
LikeLike
Good luck in 2017. If I knew the secret to sales I would share.
LikeLike
Thanks – if I knew it, I’d share, too. But privately! When it becomes common knowledge, a technique no longer works.
LikeLiked by 1 person