Cool new widget!
September 8th, 2011 | 
Author: So, I’m not the most tech savvy blogger/author/writer person you ever met, but I do like a cool widget. Here’s one I nabbed from Amazon.com. If I’ve done this properly, you should be able to see all my books below on a carousel!
Okay, they’re not all MY books. Several are collaborations with my writing partner, Heather Doherty. Those would be the very kick-ass YAs, THE SUMMONING and ASHLYN’S RADIO.
So, just push an arrow and watch the carousel turn. Wheeee!
Also, if I’ve done this right, if you hover your mouse over the book, it’ll show you how many reviews the book has and what the average star rating is. And if you click on a book, it’ll take you to Amazon where you can BUY it!
So, what do you think? Is this not nine levels of AWESOME?
Everyone’s Irish on St. Patrick’s Day!
Haven’t you heard? Everyone’s Irish on St. Patrick’s Day! Or so it seems, judging by that sea of green clothing as everyone gets into the act.
Here in my city (Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada), the preferred place to be on March 17 is the Lunar Rogue Pub. It has everything you could possibly want in a pub. Over 200 whiskies, an excellent selection of wines, and just about anything you could want on tap. And on St. Patrick’s Day, it has Celtic music and green beer! Yes, it’s the place to be. For everyone but me. LOL! It tends to be a little too busy (okay, jammed!) for my tastes on the big day.
But any day of the year, the Lunar Rogue is my absolute favorite pub in the world. They have the best nachos anywhere, and the peeps are great. Special shout out to Michelle and Marianne! You guys are the shiz!
Speaking of Fredericton, I’ve actually written a series of romantic suspense books – my Serve and Protect series - set right here. Here’s a blurb for the first book in that series, Guarding Suzannah:
Criminal defense attorney Suzannah Phelps is the bane of the Fredericton police department (they call her She-Rex for her habit of shredding cops in the witness box). She is currently being stalked, but is reluctant to report it to the police, whom she half suspects of being the perpetrators. But when Detective John (Quigg) Quigley learns of it, he’s determined to protect her, at considerable risk to his career. They’ve struck sparks off each other in the courtroom, and he’s burning to do the same in the bedroom. When the danger escalates, he has the perfect excuse to pose as her boyfriend, but the closer they get, the more the lines between pretense and reality blur.
In honor of this St. Patrick’s Day blog hop, I am giving away an electronic copy of Guarding Suzannah to a winner to be drawn from those who comment on this blog. In addition to the book (in the ebook format of the winner’s choice), the winner will also receive a $10-gift certificate to the online bookstore of their choice.
And here’s the best part — your comment on this blog (and every other stop on this blog hop) — gives you a crack at two grand prizes. One winner will receive his or her choice of a Kindle Fire or a Nook Color! A second winner will score a $90-gift certificate from his or her choice of Amazon or B&N. The more stops on the blog hop you make (leaving a comment at each, of course!), the more chances you have to win. Up to 120 of them!
So … have at it! Leave a comment. Tell me what you do on St. Patrick’s Day, or tell me about your favorite pub (Irish or otherwise), or just say, “Hey, I’d really love to win your book and snag that gift certificate!” On St. Patrick’s Day, it’s all good.
Last but not least, here is the list of other sites on the Blog Hop. Have fun and good luck!
Posted in In real life, Uncategorized | 
Tags: blog hop, Carrie Ann Ryan, Fredericton, gift certificate, grand prize, Irish, Kindle Fire, Lunar Rogue Pub, New Brunswick, Nook Color, St. Patrick's Day, swag | 
85 Comments »
Meet Theresa Ragan!
Back in December, I had the pleasure of being interviewed at Theresa Ragan’s blog. I thought it would be fun to turn Theresa’s own questions back on her, and she agreed.
By way of introduction, Theresa is an amazingly talented and incredibly hot-selling author in multiple genres (her tag line: 3 genres, 2 names, 1 author). She was a Legal Secretary for fifteen years before she penned her first novel and discovered her passion for writing. She is a member of The Golden Network and the Sacramento Chapter of RWA. Theresa has garnered six Golden Heart nominations in Romance Writers of America’s prestigious Golden Heart Competition for her work. She lives with her husband, Joe, and the youngest of her four children in Sacramento, California.
Welcome, Theresa! Please tell us about yourself and your books in 100 words or less.
It took me five years to write my first book. What a learning experience! I wrote for 19 years with the goal of selling a book to a big 6 publisher. I wrote every day and I signed with two agents. No sale. Not until 2011 after I went indie. Everything has changed since then. Now when I write, I know my story will be read. More than ever, I want to write the best book I can. I want to bring smiles to readers’ faces. I want to make readers cringe, squirm, laugh, and cry. I am having the time of my life!
Did you ever want to quit writing? Why or why not?
Yes! I knew from the start that my writing journey might be a difficult one. I had read every how-to book on the planet and they all mentioned that rejection was part of the deal. Despite the warnings, never in a million years, did I think getting published would be THIS difficult. I was doing everything right: writing, learning, growing, putting my work out there. I tried to quit and I lasted six months. During that time, I felt agitated and moody. I was not happy when I wasn’t writing. I also went through a bitter stage. Inside, I felt as if I knew I would publish someday and when I did I was going to shout “It’s about time!” Following the bitter stage, I finally became enlightened. I believe that was in 2007. I knew that I needed to let the bitterness go and find joy in the writing and that’s exactly what I did. It’s all about attitude. You can train yourself to be a positive person. I let go of the negative thoughts and became grateful for everything good in my life. I’ve never looked back and I’ve never again entertained the idea of quitting.
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?)
My goal is to write an amazing story…the kind of story that will make people laugh and cry and think. I have no idea what story that will be or what genre, but that’s my goal. I want to inspire others to never give up on their dreams. I want to hit the NY Times Bestseller List. I could go on and on, but I’ll stop there.
Have you truly mastered grammar and sentence structure? Do you feel 100% confident about every comma in your book?
I feel 50% confident in my abilities. I’ve taken so many classes, but there are too many exceptions to the rules. If I ask 20 people whether or not I need a comma, 10 say no and the other 10 say yes.
How many pages do you think you could write in one day if you had zero interruptions from 8 AM to 8 PM?
30 pages. I love getting a day with no interruptions. It happens about once a month now that my kids are grown up!
How do you think (take a guess) writers like Nora Roberts write so many books in a year?
I am guessing she wakes up, grabs her coffee and goes STRAIGHT to her laptop. She pulls up her WIP and starts writing. She doesn’t look at email or Facebook. She doesn’t tweet or spend time searching the internet for fun tidbits. She writes. Maybe she does some of the other stuff later once she finishes her 50 pages for the day, but I doubt it. 
What would be easier for you to write, a sex scene or a murder scene?
A murder scene by far. I think it’s because when I read I tend to skip sex scenes in books unless the scene is funny or really ads to the story somehow. Sex is great, but murder is just plain fun to write! Ha. Okay, now I sound sick and twisted. What a horrible question to ask!
LOL, Theresa! May I remind you that was YOUR question. Okay, 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?
I would pick Abducted because when I was writing that book, I had thrown caution to the wind. I started writing that book during the bitter stage I talked about earlier. I was angry and my characters were going to pay with their lives. And they did. That book allowed me to let go of my anger and bitterness with where my career was going at the time (or NOT going). Writing Abducted was definitely therapeutic and I am grateful for that book and for that time in my life. Readers might enjoy Abducted because it’s fast-paced and entertaining.
What made you decide to become a writer?
I was pregnant and on a leave of absence from work. I was tired of watching Young and the Restless, so I read my very first romance. The escapism was exactly what I needed. I laughed and cried and I knew the minute I finished the book that I wanted to provide that same sort of escapism for women just like me.
Do you remember the first time you sat down and started writing your first novel? Did you start with notes or did you start with Chapter One and go from there?
I thought I was writing a book, but I ended up with a 50 page outline. That’s why the first book I wrote took me so long. Now I write Chapter One in the heading and go from there. No outline needed.
Any advice for new writers just getting started?
Write the book that YOU want to write. Don’t write the book your mother or sister wants you to write. Don’t write the book that you think will sell to a publisher. Don’t write a vampire book just because they’re all the rage. Write the book that speaks to YOU. The sort of book you would want to read. If that means your hero is a one-legged pirate with a stutter, then go for it! Believe in yourself. Write your FIRST draft with abandon. No critiquing. Just let the story out. Have fun. Let it flow. When you get to the end, start revising. The great writing is in the revising.
Thanks for inspiring me to self-publish, Norah, and for having me on your blog!
Thank you for joining me, Theresa. It’s always a pleasure. And thank you for inspiring us all with your amazing success story. You are a shining example of what can happen when talent and perseverance meet opportunity!
Theresa loves to hear from readers. Connect with her online at:
Posted in Author Interviews, In real life, self-publishing |
Tags: Abducted, self-publishing, T.R. Ragan, Taming Mad Max, Theresa Ragan |
31 Comments »
Serve and Protect Series gets new Covers
Phew! I feel like I’ve just completed a marathon. Sadly, it didn’t involve any physical activity, which I really, really need to focus on. Rather, it involved still more hours in a chair as I browsed stock photo sites and conferred with my cover artist (the talented and very cool Kim Killion, of Hot Damn Designs).
Are the covers perfect representations of my characters from each of those three stories (and the novella)? No. In my experience, a cover is never perfect. Her hair is a little too wavy/straight/long/short, he’s a little more/less muscular than I intended him, etc. But what they do do, I think, is capture the tone/mood of the series collectively. Individually, I think they each reflect something true about the relationship between the hero and heroine. And I’m thrilled with them! Here they are for your viewing pleasure.
So what do you think? Do you have a favorite? Have you read any of these books? And if so, how does your experience of the book line up with the new covers? I’d love to know!
Indie sales for 2011
On this lazy New Years Day Sunday morning, I’ve done a little number crunching while the household sleeps. Below are my approximate sales numbers for the 11 titles I had available. I say approximate, because it will be a while yet before the full tale can be told vis-a-vis my sales through Smashwords distributors for the last reporting period. I should also mention that one title – Lauren’s Eyes – has been pulled and is no longer available in my self-published catalogue. Happily, it will soon be available again (Spring 2012) from Montlake, the romance imprint of Amazon.
Okay, on to the numbers, which take into account sales through Amazon, Smashwords and its distributors (including Apple, B&N, Kobo, Sony & Diesel), and AllRomanceEbooks.
| Title | Price | Units
Sold |
# of Months
available / year |
| THE ROMANTIC SUSPENSE |
|
||
| Guarding Suzannah | $3.99
(briefly $2.99) |
4,325 |
12 |
| Saving Grace | $3.99 |
3,058 |
12 |
| Protecting Paige | $3.99 |
2,442 |
12 |
| Needing Nita (15K Novella) | FREE |
120,736 |
12 (3 on Amazon) |
| Lauren’s Eyes | $2.99 |
2,068 |
11 |
|
|
|
||
| THE PARANORMAL ROMANCE |
|
|
|
| The Merzetti Effect | $3.99 ($0.99 briefly for holiday promo) |
1,004 |
7 |
| Nightfall | $3.99 |
208 |
3 |
|
|
|
||
| THE DIX DODD COZY MYSTERIES |
|
|
|
| The Case of the Flashing Fashion Queen | $0.99 (was $2.99 for 3 months, then free for 3 wks) |
44,667 |
9 |
| Family Jewels | $2.99 |
2,740 |
6 |
|
|
|
||
| THE YA PARANORMALS |
|
|
|
| The Summoning (Book 1 Gatekeepers) | $3.99 |
36 |
9 |
| Ashlyn’s Radio | $3.99 |
26 |
7 |
|
|
|
||
| TOTAL UNITS SOLD |
181,310 |
|
While 181K books sold sounds very impressive, bear in mind that more than 133K of them were free. Which means I sold approximately 47,500 paid units. Also, the biggest earner (the Dix Dodd Mysteries) are jointly written with a partner, so the income is split.
Any way you cut it, though, it was a very nice year. On the solo side, my romantic suspenses continue to find an audience, and the paranormal romance is starting to come along. With respect to the joint work, my writing partner and I plan to publish two more Dix Dodd mysteries in the coming year, as well as launching a website specific to the series, so I believe the cozies will continue to be the best-sellers. Our YA clearly needs some help. It has suffered from lack of promotion, as we focused our attention on the better performers. However, we do plan to put those books into print and budget a little more promo time for them to see what happens.
The indie publishing landscape seems to be changing beneath our feet yet again, so it’s difficult to predict what the year will look like in retrospect when I sit down to do this on New Years Day 2013. However, I think it’s safe to say it won’t be boring!
Posted in self-publishing |
Tags: end-of-year sales report, indie publishing, self-publishing, transparency |
27 Comments »
33 ebooks – 1 winner!
With the spirit of giving in the air, over 30 Romantic Suspense authors have pitched in to create a single awesome prize! ONE lucky individual will win all the marbles … I mean, e-books!
Contest begins December 16 and the winner’s name will be drawn the evening of December 19.
Although we’re talking ebooks here, every author contributing to this fantastic prize is multi-published and has been traditionally published in romantic suspense.
My contribution is GUARDING SUZANNAH, Book 1 in my Serve and Protect Series. But there are some huge names here! I am honored to be in their company. For instructions on how to enter – and to get a gander at the participating authors/prizes – visit the Just Romantic Suspense website.
Good luck!
The Impact of Free
During the months of September and October, I made Book 1 in the Dix Dodd Mystery series free across all platforms which I control, for promotional purposes. Amazon eventually price-matched. During those several weeks, sales of The Case of the Flashing Fashion Queen skyrocketed and it soared to #1 on the Top 100 Free in Kindle Store list. When the price was reinstated ($0.99), the book continued to top the genre lists (Humor, Women Sleuths) and managed to hang around on the Top 100 Paid list for a bit. While the book enjoyed that visibility, sales were phenomenal. But was there any lasting impact?
Yes and no.
As you will see from the table below, by far the biggest impact was on sales of Book 2 in the Dix Dodd Mystery series. Family Jewels continues to sell very briskly at its full price of $2.99 (500 units per month, compared to pre-sale volumes of 50 units per month).
However, there was virtually no transfer of velocity to my other books. This is by no means a surprise, since the Dix Dodd books (humorous mysteries co-written with Heather Doherty under the pseudonym N.L. Wilson) are so radically different from the romantic suspense and paranormal romance I write, and the YA that Heather and I write together.
As it a success? Absolutely! Fashion Queen now has 35 reviews with an average of 4.2 stars. And it created a much wider audience for subsequent books.
Sample Sunday – First chapter from NIGHTFALL
I’m getting closer to getting NIGHTFALL ready to publish. Today, I thought I’d post the first scene for anyone who wants to try it out on this lazy Sunday.
Chapter 1
Aiden Afflack hummed to himself as he lifted the brass doorknocker to summon St. Cloud Police Chief Weldon Michaels to the front door of his Carrington Place residence. Rapping twice, he stepped back.
What was that tune running through his head? It had been with him since he’d risen this evening.
Audioslave? Nope.
Queens of the Stone Age? Un-uh.
Collective Soul? Yeah. Yeah, that was it. Definitely. He cricked his neck one way, then the other and felt the satisfying crack. Ooh, I’m feeling better now.
The curtain in the bay window twitched, but Aiden feigned obliviousness. From inside, he clearly heard Michaels jam a clip into a pistol. Aiden rolled his eyes. Nobody trusted anyone anymore.
“Who are you and what do you want?”
The voice came through the door. A very cautious man indeed.
“I’m a friend of your wife’s,” Aiden called. “Well, more a friend of a friend, actually, but I have a personal message for you, from her.”
“Nice try. Now move on, before I call the cops.”
Aiden thought about knocking the door in. It was solid oak with a good deadbolt on it, but it could have been made from cardboard and paperclips for all the challenge it would present. On the other hand, there was no reason to get messy.
He cleared his throat, did his best to summon a puzzled tone. “Well, hell, I thought you were the cops. Do I have the wrong address? I’m looking for Chief Weldon Michaels. Got a message for him from his wife Lucy. Pretty woman, ’bout an inch over five feet, brown hair and eyes? Oh, and a real cute little daughter. What’s her name? Devon? Any of this sounding familiar?”
Silence for a few heartbeats. “What kind of message?”
“She wants to come home, but before she can see her way clear to doing that, we need to have ourselves a talk.”
Another pause, then the sound of the deadbolt retracting. The door cracked open, and Weldon Michaels peered out past a security chain.
God save me from fools. Aiden pushed the door open. The hardware anchoring the security chain tore free from the wall. Before Michaels could cry out, Aiden stepped inside and closed the door behind him. In the next heartbeat, he seized Michaels’ right wrist and squeezed until the other man screamed and dropped the pistol he held. It hit the hardwood floor with a clatter but didn’t discharge.
“A gun?” Aiden released the other man’s hand. “Now I ask you, what kind of a greeting is that?”
Michaels — clearly a slow learner — reached for a second weapon jammed into the waistband at the small of his back. Before he could get to it, Aiden had Michaels face down on the floor with his right hand way closer to his right shoulder blade than God ever intended it to go.
“Jesus, my arm. You’re breaking it!”
“Not even close. You develop a feel for these things,” he said conversationally. “It’s sort of like braking when you’re driving on ice. You gotta find the threshold.”
“No, my shoulder! It’s gonna pop! I swear to God!”
Aiden reefed Michaels arm a half inch higher, eliciting a scream, followed by a stream of curses.
“See? Still plenty of play. It’s a feel thing. Now are you gonna behave yourself if I let you up?”
“Yes! I’ll do whatever you say.”
“Atta boy.” Aiden helped the other man to his feet. “Now, let’s go plug the code into the alarm, shall we? And don’t fuck with me. If the alarm company or the cops call in a minute to ask if everything’s okay, things will be very much not okay for you. Understood?”
“Understood.”
Aiden “helped” Michaels to the alarm panel, where he keyed in a five-digit number. The winking red light went out.
“Good man. Now we’re going to need your handcuffs. I know they can’t be far away, since you laid hands on that pistol fast enough. So be a darling and let’s go fetch them.”
Michaels swore again.
“I know, I know. It’s gotta sting, getting cuffed with your own bracelets, but look at it this way: they’ll be a helluva lot more comfortable than the alternative if you force me to improvise.”
Michaels sagged. “In that drawer.”
A minute later, Chief Weldon Michaels sat cuffed in one of his own kitchen chairs, a sturdy-looking oak proposition. Michaels somehow managed to look both scared and pissed at the same time.
Aiden took a seat at the table, placing both guns — one retrieved from beneath the telephone table in the entryway and the other from the small of Michaels’ back — on the gleaming wood surface. “Okay, Weldon — may I call you Weldon? — we need to talk.”
Michaels glared back. “You’re wasting your time. I don’t keep anything of value of here, at least nothing portable enough to carry off. And damn you, you’ve already scored both my guns. I suggest you just let yourself out and get while the getting’s good.”
“You think I was bullshitting earlier, don’t you? You think I was feeding you a line about your wife to get inside?” Aiden leaned back in his chair and kicked his feet up to rest on the table. “That’s rich.”
Fear flashed in the other man’s eyes, which he quickly attempted to hide with bravado. “Look, mister, if you have a message for me, let’s get on with it.”
“Afflack.”
“What’s that?”
“If you’re gonna call me mister, you might as well make it Mr. Afflack. Or Aiden, if you prefer.”
Another flash of fear. Aiden could almost hear the wheels turning in Michaels’ head. He’s shown me his face, given me his name. There can only be one reason for that….
“Not to worry, Weldy. I think I’ll call you Weldy.”
Michaels tensed. Testing the cuffs and the strength of the chair’s spindles, no doubt.
Aiden sighed. “For Chrissakes, I’m not planning to kill you. I’m just going to spend the night here chatting, much like we are right now.”
Michaels blinked. “Spend the night?”
“Forgive me. It’s probably horribly uncomfortable with those cuffs on. Let me just deal with these nasty guns. Then I’ll take the bracelets off so we can talk all civilized-like.”
Aiden picked up the SIG 9mm with his left hand, grasped the barrel with his right. Closing his eyes, he slid his hand up and down the barrel a few times to attune his mind to the metal. Then he bent it effortlessly.
“Jesus Christ!”
Aiden placed the ruined pistol back on the table, picked up the .22 and repeated the process on the gun’s short barrel.
“What the … how’d you do that?”
Aiden shrugged. “A parlor trick. You should see what I can do with a dinner fork.” He stood and extracted the handcuff key from the pocket of his worn jeans. “Now, about those cuffs….”
Michaels shrank back.
Aiden lifted his eyebrows. “What? You’d prefer to keep them on after all?”
The other man collected himself, embarrassment staining his cheeks. “Of course not. Please remove them.”
Aiden obliged.
As soon as his hands were free, Michaels immediately started massaging his sore right shoulder.
“Ah, yes, the shoulder. Sorry about that.” Aiden gave him his best aw shucks smile. “But I couldn’t have you putting bullet holes in me, could I?”
Michaels said nothing, but the stiffness in his face spoke volumes. Good. Get brave, you miserable little wife-beating worm. Get angry. Give me a reason to hurt you again.
Michaels cleared his throat. “So, this message from my wife?”
“She wants to come back to St. Cloud. In fact, she’d like to move back into this very house, seeing as she put so much sweat equity into it.” Aiden glanced around at the tastefully appointed kitchen. “I must say she did a great job.”
“Of course she can come home. That’s all I’ve wanted since she left.”
“Ah, but there’s a catch, Weldy. You can’t stay.”
Michaels made a choking sound, but quickly found his voice. “She thinks I’m just going to clear out of town?”
“That would be ideal, but no, I don’t think she expects that. It will be sufficient if you leave this house and never darken the door again.”
Michaels started to bluster that he owned the goddamned place and no one could put him out of it, yadda, yadda, yadda.
“Save it,” Aiden commanded. “You see, I know what you did to her, Weldy.”
A pause. “I don’t know what she told you, but—”
“You systematically isolated her from her friends and pressured her into quitting work. Then, when you got her where you wanted her, you escalated the abuse. You terrorized her, Weldy. You threatened the life of her child if she tried to leave you. Is any of this sounding familiar? No? Well how about this: you used your position and power to convince her that escape was impossible.”
Michaels leapt up, his face wreathed in fury. “You don’t know the first fucking thing about my family.”
Aiden swung his feet to the floor, but remained in his chair. “Oh, I know quite a bit, Chief Michaels. For instance, I know you’ve been abusing the police resources at your fingertips to search for her, ensuring she had to stay on the run, unable to stay anywhere for any length of time. I know she’s terrified for her life and that of her daughter.”
“If she’d just—”
“Shut up, Weldy, and listen. I’m the messenger, and the message is that it’s over. She’s coming back, and you, my friend, are going to become the most obliging, most accommodating, most respectful ex-husband on the face of the planet. Oh, and you’ll relinquish any rights to the child.”
“Fuck you.” Powered by rage, Michaels gripped the table’s edge and overturned it, then bolted for the door.
Grinning, Aiden swept the table away as if it were constructed of matchsticks and gave chase, overtaking his quarry in a blur of speed. By the time Michaels reached the door, Aiden lounged against it, the picture of indolence.
“Jesus!” Michaels’ face suddenly looked like it was stretched too tightly across the underlying bones. Shock did that to some people. With others, their faces went slack, as though—
“Who are you?” Michaels rasped. “Dear God, what are you?”
Aiden allowed his smile to spread, noting the precise moment when Michaels caught the first glimpse of his grossly elongated cuspids. This time, Michaels’ face slackened.
“I’m glad you asked.”
# # #
So, whaddya think? Would you read on?
Posted in In real life, Sample Sunday |
Tags: excerpt, Nightfall, Norah Wilson, paranormal romance, romance, Sample Sunday, vampire romance |
No Comments »
Looking back on a year of self-publishing
August marks the anniversary of my decision to start self-publishing. I entered the fray with LAUREN’S EYES, a book which had been previously published in mass market and to which I had reacquired the rights. I added three romantic suspense novels in August and began promoting all four books. More titles followed through the course of the year, and I now have nine books available (two of which are YA paranormals co-written with literary author Heather Doherty).
This month, as I celebrate a year of self-publishing, I thought I’d take my cue from some of my fellow indie authors and share some sales information. My hope is that those of you who are new to self-publishing with perhaps one or two books up and who aren’t yet seeing strong sales, will take heart. It does take patience and experimentation. It also helps to have a series. And naturally, the more books you have out, the better. As you’ll see below, many books making modest sales can generate a nice income.
Okay, let’s get to it.
I know many indie authors have taken off like rockets on Amazon. I have to say that my trajectory was less dramatic. Nevertheless, I am very pleased with the upward trend. Here are the raw numbers:
My sales through Smashwords and its distributors (Apple, B&N, Kobo, Sony and Diesel) were significantly more for the period, but those dollars are harder to neatly separate into monthly earnings. Payment is made quarterly, and the reporting from distributors lags several months behind, making it hard to draw accurate comparisons with Amazon’s real time reporting. Also, I had Smashwords hang onto my money until I could get an ITIN number from the IRS to establish my tax treaty rights, the result being that most of my earnings for this past year were paid to me recently in one lump sum. Since I don’t have the data to make a nice chart showing the gradual growth in sales, I’ll just speak generally about my Smashwords experience.
Bearing in mind the lag in sales reporting I mentioned, I am showing sales of 7,920 paid units through Smashwords and its distributors. (Total downloads were actually 45,626 units, but 37,706 of those ‘sales’ were unpaid units. The vast majority of those freebies were downloads of a free novella designed to stimulate interest in my Serve and Protect romantic suspense series.)
Contrast those 7,920 units with the 2,083 units sold at Amazon, and you can extrapolate from there, throwing in a little extra for the sales not yet reported. Not a bad year. And – woot! – I just surpassed the 10K mark!
Obviously, in retrospect, my decision to jump into self-publishing could not have been better timed. The Amazon monthly sales chart really tells the tale. The Christmas 2010 rush on electronic reading devices translated into a sharp increase in sales in early 2011. No doubt the addition of more titles to my catalogue contributed to ongoing growth. It also doesn’t hurt that many of my books are romance, which sells well. Nor does it hurt that I’ve spent more than a dozen years honing my craft and have worked hard to try to get my self-published titles noticed.
That said, I’ll be the first person to admit that luck has a lot to do with it. I’ll also be the first person to say that I know countless indie authors whose book sales totally dwarf mine. But if I’ve learned anything, it’s that no two authors’ journeys are the same, and I am very grateful and happy with my own lot.
I hope the sales data I’ve shared today will help motivate other authors in the indie trenches who are still struggling. Hang in there and keep plugging away. Be patient. Don’t despair. This is not like traditional publishing; you’re in it for the long haul now. Keep writing and adding to your catalogue. Put forth the best product you possibly can, with a high quality, professional cover. Then do it again. And if after a sufficient length of time has passed, sales still aren’t growing, try changing something up. Tweak your product description or how your book is categorized. Experiment with prices. Try a new cover. For once, all the controls are in your hands. Use them! And good luck.
Posted in In real life, self-publishing |
Tags: amazon sales, apple, B&N, diesel, kobo, sales data, sales information, self-publishing, self-publishing year in review, smashwords sales, sony |
16 Comments »
Meet the very cool Shéa MacLeod
I’m very excited to have urban fantasy author Shéa MacLeod with me today. Why am I so excited? Because as you’ll soon see, she is made of sheer awesomeness.
Thanks, Norah! I’ve always wanted to be made of sheer awesomeness. 
Okay, Shéa, since I know you’re a bit of a sci-fi nerd, if you were a character in any sci-fi show, who would you be?
Aeryn Rand from Farscape. She was such a strong character, full of depth. She went from this tough warrior woman, blindly following orders and seemingly immune to emotion, to someone who loved deeply and protected those she loved. Not only did that girl kick some serious ass, she also got to snog the delicious John Crichton. And who wouldn’t want to do that?
Who indeed! What got you started writing?
Reading. My mom started reading to me pretty much in the womb. Some of my earliest memories involve books and reading and trips to the library. I loved the wonderful worlds that existed between the pages of books and longed to create my own. I was always a story teller, even before I could write. And I don’t think there’s ever been a time when I didn’t want to write novels. It just took me awhile to believe I could actually do it.
You’ve got a brand new book out, right? Tell us about it.
Yes! It’s an urban fantasy: Kissed by Darkness, Book One of the Sunwalker Saga.
I loved Buffy the Vampire Slayer and thought it would be cool to have a more adult story that involved a private detective agency that investigated the paranormal. That sort of rattled around in my brain for years before morphing into something resembling an actual story. And with the morphing Morgan Bailey was born.
Morgan isn’t the kind of character to sit quietly on a shelf, so her story came a bit fast and furious. It’s the story of a woman who once had a normal life, but now must face her demons. Literally. And she does it with a grin and a snarky comment. Or two.
A girl after my own heart! How many other books do you have planned in the Sunwalker Saga?
There are six total books in the series (book 2 is finished and I’m writing 3 as we speak). Each one is key both to Morgan’s continuing development as a person, as well as the progression of the overall story arch which involves dragons, djinn, the sidhe and a lot more magic and mayhem.
Okay, I’m always fascinated to know how authors view their own characters. So let’s say someone is making a movie from Kissed by Darkness and you get to cast it. Who would you cast as your kick-ass heroine? Other main roles? And would a casting couch be required?
Oh, a casting couch is most DEFINITELY required!
There are four main characters in Kissed by Darkness who remain integral throughout the series. First is our MC, Morgan Bailey. Played by me.
Kidding! She’s actually the toughest one because I’ve never really come across an actress I thought would suit her to a “T”. Maybe Deborah Ann Woll from True Blood, but she’d have to put on about 20 pounds. :)
I’ve always seen Morgan’s best friend, Kabita Jones played by Claudia Black (the aforementioned Aeryn Sun). Very strong, very striking, a little exotic. Plus Claudia is a pretty versatile actress.
Inigo Jones was originally inspired by the Kyle Schmid from Blood Ties. Someone cute, sweet, and just a tad geeky, but underneath pure steel.
Then there’s the Sunwalker, Jackson Keel, 900 year old Templar Knight. And who else to play such a delectable role than the gorgeous Gerard Butler! (Hence the need for a casting couch.)
Now there’s a movie I want to see! [Hear that, Hollywood? That was Kissed by Darkness.]
If you were to Twitter this book in 140 characters, what would you say?
You’re getting blood on my carpet. Again.
OMG, I love it! And how perfect.
Any other irons in the fire besides the Sunwalker books?
Yes! I have two current WIPs. The first is a post-apocalyptic paranormal romance with dragons. (Everything is better with dragons.) The second is a post-apocalyptic urban fantasy scifi paranormal romance with a twist of steampunk set in what was once China. Oh, yeah, there are aliens. (Everything’s better with aliens.)
Favorite kind of read? Favorite author?
Hooo-boy! That’s a tough one because I’m pretty eclectic. I guess my all-time fave is probably apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic stories. I don’t know what it is about them I like so much. Maybe the whole idea of starting over fresh, or maybe it’s the struggle for survival and the drive to rebuild. Think Stephen King’s The Stand, Justin Cronin’s The Passage, Ann Aguirre’s Enclave or Joss Ware’s Envy Chronicles. Next (and very close) are urban fantasy, paranormal romance, scifi romance, and steampunk romance. They’re just so much fun! Think Nalini Singh (any of her books), Ann Aguirre’s Jax series, Gail Carriger. Of course we mustn’t forget the wonder triplets: zombies, thrillers and mysteries. For mysteries, Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series is an auto buy. An old fave: Agatha Christie. And my new fave: N.L. Wilson! For zombies there’s Jack Wallen and Jesse Petersen. Thrillers: James Rollins (I’m a major fangirl.), Chris Kuzneski.
Told ya I was eclectic.
What was the best piece of writing advice you got along the way?
Probably this quote from Stephen King:
‘If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.’
What was the last movie you saw?
Believe it or not, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. What can I say? It was on cable. But it was kind of a fun movie. :)
Cats or dogs?
Dogs. I like cats, but I’m allergic. And there’s just something about a dog. Something so loving and dopey and ridiculously loyal. We could all learn a lot from a dog. Besides, they can be trained to carry barrels of alcohol around their necks. How cool is that?
Sam or Dean? (And if you don’t know what I’m talking about, I may have to pare back the 100% awesomeness tag to maybe 98%.)
Dean. I mean, HELLO! There IS no other answer. (Also, excuse me for a moment. I need to go wipe the drool off my face.)
A fellow-Dean girl! Okay, you might be 110% awesomeness. Any last words for readers?
I just want to say thanks to all the readers out there. Reading is such a magical and exciting thing. Without our readers, there wouldn’t be much point in writing. Stories are meant to be shared.
Thank you, Shéa, for that very fun interview!
Now, go buy Shéa’s book! It just as awesome as she is.
Posted in Author Interviews, In real life |
Tags: book launch, casting a book, debut author, Indie author, Kissed by Darkness, new author, Shea MacLeod, Sunwalker Saga, urban fantasy |
17 Comments »