June Sales Numbers: Knowledge is Power!

I learned something recently that baffled me.  People in other countries, or even in unions in our own country talk about their salary all the damn time.

This came as a surprise because in Corporate America, talking about your salary with other employees can be enough to get you fired.  I started to think about it, and realized the only reason it's frowned upon and forbidden is to keep people ignorant.

You won't complain about getting screwed over if you don't know in the first place, right?

Well, in the book world, it was Indie Authors shirking the taboo to talk about their sales numbers that helped me decide this was the path for me.  So, now that I have two months' worth of data, I'm going to pay it forward and share it with you guys :).

Here's how it's going so far:

April Total Sales:  19  (I had 2 short stories up for 2 weeks)
May Total Sales:  30  (I put out a short story and a novella under a pen name)
June Total Sales:  123
(Legacy went live as well as 1 short story under that name, and 2 more under my pen name)

This month I more than quadrupled last month's sales!  My jaw almost hit the floor when I passed 60 for this month, much less 120... just... wow.

Amazingly enough, the more writing I did, the more sales I had :).

So far on this journey I've made $120.37 on my e-books, $45 on freelance editing, and have spent $133.18 on 250 business cards, 7 pieces of cover art and a domain purchase.  That's $32.94 in profit.

When I make money, I've been investing it back into the business.  I am treating this like it's my small business and I'm growing it for this first year.  When I'm in the black again, I buy more cover art.  Next, I'm thinking of paying $39 to produce a paperback version of LEGACY through Amazon's POD service, CreateSpace.

So, there you go :).  If I manage to double my sales each month (versus quadrupling), I'll be at 1000 sales/month by the end of this year.

That's what I'm working toward, and I plan to put out two more short stories and AT LEAST one novella, if not a full novel by January 1st.  I will also be releasing stories under my pen name.

I hope this was helpful to some of you who are deciding which road to take with your own career.  Best of luck to you, and let me know if you have any questions I can help with, either in the comments or through email.

Here's to July!

Edit:  Almost forgot to post this excellent blog post from super successful indie author Victorine Lieske comparing sales trends.  It's very helpful for gaining some perspective on where people are in this industry.

The Power of Free

It's Summer!

And you know what that means :).  Garage sales and bargain hunting. 

I'm a total sucker for garage sales, especially for that bin full of mismatched, weird, misfit Free Stuff.  You know the one I'm talking about. The one off to one side with the huge cardboard sign next to it that says FREE, but it might as well say "Oh, Dear God, please take this Billy the Big Mouth Bass out of my life forever."

Finding free stuff is like treasure hunting, and one freebie I've recently loved hunting for is free books. Apparently, this is now a viable marketing strategy, among the Big 6 selling e-books as well as indie authors.

The difference is, this isn't a junk box--this is like you went to a fancy estate sale in the rich people neighborhood and found a box full of free fabrige eggs and fist-sized rubies.

This is the best Freebie Box ever.

From watching other people's success with making one of their books free to give readers a chance to discover them, I'm doing an experiment.

I just made NO REST FOR THE WICKED free, and I'm going to keep it that way for at least a month.

I have no idea what this will do, but I'm fascinated to see the results.  The way I see it, a few things can happen:

a)  People download No Rest for the Wicked from Smashwords for free. They dig it, and they purchase the next in the series, Carnivore.  Hooray!  I do a happy dance.

b)  No one downloads No Rest for the Wicked for free.  I feel like the shy kid with acne at the middle school dance.  I consume chocolate.

c)  Some people download it, hate it, then find me and throw rocks at my house.


I'm hoping it's option a, but we'll see!  I'll let you know how the experiement goes along the way :).

My question for you is:  How has a freebie affected you as a reader? Is it like the awesome Fantasy Garage Sale bin?  Or are you indifferent?

I Need Your Help: Which Fairytale Should I Do Next?

Calling all readers!

I need YOU to help me decide which Fairytale villain to write about next :).  You'll notice there is a poll to the right of this post ======> 

Please select a favorite Fairytale, or add one to the comments. 

As you may know, in my first short story collection, NO REST FOR THE WICKED is about a Fairytale Assassin named Veronica Grim. In this world, fairytale villains are real, and only one woman is crazy enough to hunt them down. No Rest for the Wicked had a twisted take on Bluebeard in the story "Blood Don't Lie," and my own sick version of Snow White in "Heartless."

CARNIVORE is the next story in the series, a darker version of Little Red Riding Hood.

So, I ask you, friends.... Who should Veronica Grim face next?

Take the poll and comment below, and I'll enter you to win a free copy of the next book in the series!

Thanks for your help! :)

Guest Posting on Abby Annis' Blog: Staying Motivated Against All Odds

Fellow writer and fabulous blogger, Abby Annis was kind enough to let me guest post on her blog today.  

I'm discussing how I manage to stay motivated even when the odds seem impossible.  Come on over and say "hi!"  I'll be skulking around there all day, and don't want to be lonely, standing in the corner by myself... It would be like the junior high dance all over again!  

Also, we're having a fun giveaway :).  Yay!

My question for you:  What keeps you motivated when the odds are against you?

Author Interview over at Sandra Ulbrich Almazan's Blog!

Hi, guys,

Today I'll be hanging out over at speculative fiction author Sandra Ulbrich Almazan's lovely blog!  She was kind enough to interview me, and asked a ton of great questions.  Go check it out.  There's even a picture of some of my "art"  (Note the usage of ironic "" marks.) 

Also, as a bonus, I wanted to let you know that for the rest of the summer, Legacy of the Empress is on sale for .99 cents!  This is an experiment, and I'll let you know how it goes :). 

Thanks, all!  Hope to see you over at Sandra's place.

And the Winners Are....

This weekend I celebrated reaching my 100th e-book sale and beyond, and had a mini giveaway to celebrate!

Here are the names of the five lucky winners from my commenters (drumroll, please!):

MBoyd1978

Keira Lea

Callie Kingston

M. Horton

Katherine

Please pick from my author page which e-book you'd like to receive and either leave a comment or shoot me an email, and I will hook you up!

I just put out a new Fairytale Assassin short story to continue the storyline from No Rest for the Wicked.  It's called Carnivore, and is my own twisted take on Little Red Riding Hood.  You guys can totally pick that one along with my other three--winners' choice!

Thank you all for celebrating with me :).  Remember--if you didn't win this time, there's still time to enter my Launch Day Giveaway.  It ends 6/31/11, so get those entries in soon!

100 E-Books: Achievement Unlocked!

The day has come!

I'm breaking out the e-cake and e-champagne and inviting you all to party with me!  Today, I reached my first goal of 100 E-Books Sold!  Wooooo hooooo! Next goal:  500.

To celebrate, I'm giving a FREE copy of whichever one of my e-books strikes your fancy to five random commenters. 

I'll be e-partying all weekend, so you have until Monday to win!  Comment below, and you're in it to win it.

E-Books to choose from:

Death and Other Inconveniences, which is a short ghost story about a quirky writer in the days after her death.

No Rest for the Wicked, which contains two short stories about the exploits of Veronica Grim, Fairytale Assassin.

OR, of course

Legacy of the Empress, my epic fantasy novel.


So, put a lampshade on your head, and let's celebrate!

P.S. Is there anything you're celebrating this week?  I'd love to hear about it!