OLD POST ALERT! This is an older post and although you might find some useful tips, any technical or publishing information is likely to be out of date. Please click on Start Here on the menu bar above to find links to my most useful articles, videos and podcast. Thanks and happy writing! – Joanna Penn
I'm not (yet) a Kindle millionaire but sales of Pentecost have now gone over the 10,000 mark which for me is significant, so I am sharing the figures and also what they mean for the next in the series, Prophecy. Hopefully you will find this interesting as it changes my personal publishing strategy considerably.
- I did the figures on 19 August 2011 and total ebook and print sales through Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk = 10,025
- I sold so few through other ebook platforms that I am not even counting the sales. Because I am not a US citizen I cannot use PubIt for the Nook so everything is through Smashwords. I have just realized that the price was set to $2.99 though, so I have now changed this to 99 cents. Perhaps it will make a difference to the next batch of sales but I have sold very few through other channels.
- Some people will ask about the money – you can work it out from the 99c price point, but as I have written before, this book is about getting readers involved with my series, not about income. Read about my 99c price point decision here.
- Over 98% of these sales were ebook sales on the Kindle. This is huge for me because there is more cost and hassle to a print book than an ebook. I also priced the print books as low as possible to maximize those sales so I made more money on the ebooks. These sales figures make print books a vanity option for me i.e. I would only do a print book again if I wanted to have something to give my Mum or as a keepsake. I love print books but buy 99% on my Kindle now so I am also happy to target those kind of readers. I found the print book option difficult because it's harder to fix typos and problems which I fixed on the Kindle immediately. In conclusion, I will move to Kindle only for the next book, and potentially look at print books much later on.
- This experience also makes me more interested in a print book deal. I enjoy every part of the process except the print side which I would gladly give to someone else. But I would like to keep the digital rights – and I'm not sure that would happen in this current publishing market! I have also been told that 10,000 sales is a good point to approach publishers as it demonstrates there is a market, but I'm not ready for that yet. I need one or two more books in the series and then I might consider other options.
- 87% of sales were from Amazon.com which is predominantly a US market (with some from other countries) but the sales on .co.uk are growing. I think this is based on the fact that the UK is still a print market, where there is no VAT on print books but there is on ebooks, and ebooks are about 18 months behind the US. I discuss the differences for ebooks between countries here. But the sales in the UK have been growing every month so I see that as a source of more sales in the future.
- Sales were low during launch month. This is fascinating to me as so much focus is put on the launch itself but actually those sales are pretty small. The sales grew over time which must be related to the number of reviews and the Amazon algorithms kicking in. I am currently putting together a mini-course on How to Launch Your Book Online which will include everything to do with the launch but also the longer term things that have an effect like reviews and your Amazon sales page. I'll let you know when it's available.
- Sales are bigger than my ‘platform'. I have spent years growing my online platform and brand but I absolutely realize that many of the readers of this blog are not interested in my fiction. That is the nature of having a writer's blog. We don't like to read the same books, which is absolutely fine. We can still talk about the aspects of writing, publishing and book marketing that are common to us all, but we just don't like the same books. In light of this, and also what I have learned from John Locke, I am starting a new blog for me as a fiction author that will hopefully appeal to my readers. Again, I'll let you know when that launches.
- It is possible to make a full-time living as an indie author. I drank the Kool-Aid a while back but this is the first time I can actually see a future reality for my own writing life. Locke, Konrath, Hocking et al inspire us with stories of success, but I can now see that having multiple books selling thousands per month does add up. So I will be stepping up the book writing and production process. I'm still aiming to have Prophecy out by Christmas and there are currently 7 books planned in the ARKANE series. I also have an idea for a stand-alone novel that will not leave me alone so I will have to start writing that too. As we know, it's not about the ideas which are two a penny, it's about the execution… and that starts now!
I know 10,000 sales are nothing to more developed authors, but what have you learned from your own book sales? Have your publishing goals changed?
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1 2 3 … 5 Next »This is interesting. I've always been told print sells better than ebook, even with POD. I guess that's not always true. Did you print through Createspace or a different POD business? I hope your numbers only go up from here!
Cheers,
Elisa
Hi Elisa, I currently use Lightning Source for Pentecost - but it doesn't make much difference I guess if you use POD.
Print may sell better than ebooks for some authors, but not for indie :)
I've been reading recently that the balance is now tipping, and print is no longer selling better than ebooks, generally. The industry is in a state of flux of epic proportions.
I have several self-pubbing projects of my own underway, and will do a POD paperback for each as well as an ebook. But I live in InDesignLand and can do it all myself while procrastinating from something else less fun. If I had to pay someone else to do it for me, the returns probably wouldn't justify it.
Exactly - I am looking at the returns and it's not worth it when you have to pay someone else. For me, anyway...
Thanks for sharing this information. I feel motivated to get on with my own novel!
Congratulations, Joanna! That is a really huge success. I finished reading Pentecost on my Kindle last weekend and enjoyed it a lot. Still have to write a review. I'm looking forward to reading Prophecy as soon as it is available.
It is encouraging to see, that you can make a living as an indie author. But I think this is true for the English native speakers among the indie authors. Take the U.S., Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand as an absolutely huge market. And all over the world there are more people speaking (and reading) English as a second language, who also are potential readers. I am German and I doubt that making a living as an indie author is possible with books in German. Above all, ebooks aren't a big deal here, yet. I hope that will change soon. I love my Kindle. But now - after writing short stories over the last ten years or more - I'm outlining my first novel and I still have to set up my platform, so when this will be done, perhaps ebooks are a success story here. ;)
I wish you great sales numbers with Pentecost and all books to come and above all a lot of fun on your writing journey
Kerstin
Hi Kerstin - thanks for your support with Pentecost - I really appreciate reviews as it makes such a difference with sales. Thank you.
Also, your english seems to be brilliant - so why not publish in English as separate edition to German? I think perhaps the market will catch up as well - why else would Amazon start a specific .de store?
10,000! Congratulations Joanna! And thanks for your inspiration. Can't wait for the 100,000 sales post :-)
You might be right that many of the readers of this blog are not interested in your fiction but you will get sales of your marketing books from this place too (I bought 'From Book To Market' because I found this blog very helpful).
I had the same problem as Kerstin. I'm german and there isn't (yet) a market for ebooks here. I gave my manuscript to a professional translator so I could have an English version. That one will be finished in October, if all goes well.
The value of your openness and sharing is immeasurable and shaves so many dead ends off the process for those of us just getting going in this e-book market. Thank you for this and the great Creative Penn Blog. A new blog for those primarily interested in your books is a terrific idea and I look forward to it.
Congratulation on your growing success.
Thanks Andrea - I'm so glad the info is useful.
Fantastic news - congrats! :-)
Thanks for sharing! I'm always curious how other writers do the self-pub thing : )
Thanks for sharing the figures in so much detail, Jo! It's fascinating to see -- and a lot of your experience is echoed by other accounts that I've heard (particularly of sales gradually growing over time).
Look forward to reading the 100,000 sales post in due course... ;-)
10,000 does seem to make 100,000 more achievable... I may even make that Kindle millionaire :) Better write some more books...
Great post. It's always interesting reading and analysing people's sales figures. A lot better than mine :( but there's always the next book :)
I've always thought that sales and more books are by far the best marketing tools. A platform is necessary but is limited in how much it will sell books. Things are looking good for you when Prophecy comes out. Good luck with that.
Congratulations!
Thank you for sharing your numbers. It is so helpful for understanding the market. Bravo.
A very hearty congratulations, and I sincerely hope you keep the forward momentum happening. I just wanted to thank you for sharing this information and your writing experiences overall. As a newbie to self publishing, your insight and information has been a wonderful help.