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is an older post and although you might find some useful tips, any technical or publishing information is likely to be out of date.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?
Congratulations Joanna. A great milestone to have achieved in such a short space of time.
I notice your covers for UK and US Amazon are the same – had you considered different ones at any point?
Hi Jackie, no, I pretty much wrote for the US market in terms of spelling and genre etc, so the cover is the same for all. I really don’t think there is much difference between us as people 🙂
Congratulations, and thank you for sharing so openly about your process. I love watching others succeed and studying how they did it! I’m impressed that there is no “one right way” to do things. You began with non-fiction (as I did). Locke seems to have always been a businessman. Konrath was a traditional author, and Hocking began writing as a hobby, but there are some common traits that stand out: dedication, a marketing plan, patience, persistence, and a willingness to give and receive information. It’s so heartening to realize that any of us has control over all of those factors. We really can make our own success.
When I wrote a history curriculum for a niche market twelve years ago, I self-published it on CD-ROM so I could include full-color illustrations, keep production costs low, and make my program semi-interactive. When someone commented, “Oh! It’s an e-book!” I had no idea what they were talking about, but the plan has worked out so brilliantly that I wish I could claim it as genius.
Each year as word spreads my sales have increased. If I’ve learned anything about marketing, it’s that the goal of all the flyers, newsletters, book fairs, book signings, articles, lectures, websites, and anything else we do is NOT to make sales. Sometimes I cover the costs of direct marketing, and sometimes I don’t, but I ALWAYS get face-time and build relationships, and THAT’S what makes the sales. People love a product that delivers what it promises and more, and they love to support creative people who give terrific customer service.
You do all that very well through your website, and look! It works! I’m headed over to buy Pentecost now! 🙂
Thanks so much Lynn – and you’re right, marketing is NOT sales. We have to remember that! I am considering this re guest blogging again because guest blogging is more about marketing so should be done in the run up to a new book, not as part of a launch.
Marketing in terms of getting one’s name out there is definitely worth doing even if just for the relationships – all my best writing friends are online now! Thanks for your insights (and support of Pentecost!)
Great post, this gave me a lot of insight on how the market works. Now I see why many UK/NI authors are launching their e-book’s on the Amazon.com marketplace first.
Congrats on the sales, that’s a huge achievement. Also whilst I mainly follow you through this blog, I did support and purchase Pentecost. I have yet to finish it though as I have so many books to get through.
Thanks Gary – I appreciate that and am really happy to be useful.
Congrats Joanna — you well deserve it!
Thanks too for sharing your numbers. Incredibly informative!
~Graham
That’s very impressive numbers Joanna! Congrats! It’s been 2 months since the launch of my e-book and and a month since the launch of my paperback book. I have only sold 10 ebooks and 5 paperback books so far (not counting 50 or more books I have given away for free). So the numbers are nowhere close to yours 🙂 Could sure use some more tips from you on marketing. Congrats again!
Hi Kannan – you have all my marketing tips right here 🙂
http://www.thecreativepenn.com/marketing/
I will be doing an online mini-course soon on the launch process and how that works with sales etc – watch this space!
First, and most important, congratulations Joanna! I’m one of those 10K, and thoroughly enjoyed Pentecost. I have also been the grateful recipient of your wisdom on The Creative Penn, so I’m doubly thrilled for your success.
So, here’s the thing. I’m releasing my 1st inspirational novel in late Sept./early Oct., but here’s my experiment: I’m an inspirational speaker by trade so I feel I should have paper books in the back of the room. Will be interesting to see how that affects eBook sales. I can see attendees in my audiences ordering from their iPads while I’m speaking (which is cool), but I have ZERO perspective on this.
Anyone have thoughts?
(And I recommend The Square for BOR sales, btw. Works with your iPhone so you can take credit cards on the spot – https://squareup.com)
Hi Brian, no doubt Joanna will have answers for you when her timezone catches up, but to throw in my two cents worth…
I think it would be an excellent idea to have a paper book available to sell when you speak, since the two are so connected in your case. People will often buy in the warm-fuzzy of the moment, having just been inspired by your presentation, whereas later they will get distracted and forget. (I wrote a case study about self publishing for one of my clients in a similar position at http://www.smallbluedog.com/self-publishing/self-publishing-case-study )
So you could have:
-ebook on Amazon and others
-paperback on Amazon via CreateSpace
-paperbacks in stock for speaking engagements either via CreateSpace or local printing firm (you can use exactly the same pdf printing files if they print it digitally rather than offset, but if printing by offset make sure your cover is CMYK not RGB) (I don’t know what your printing knowledge is, so don’t panic if you don’t know what that sentence means yet).
You could start off by ordering a moderate number of paperbacks through CreateSpace and gauge how many you sell. The per-copy cost is fairly high when you purchase your own book through CreateSpace, so if you find you are selling a lot at your speaking engagements, it may be worth getting them printed at a local printing firm. On a digital press they can do quite a small print run, as few as a couple of hundred at a time. But of course if you are filling football stadiums and selling thousands, you will obviously want to print more than that. 😉
Hope this helps. 🙂
Belinda
Wow… Thanks Belinda. Still have lots to learn.
I completely agree about the “warm-fuzzy, in-the-moment” thing. It’s also interesting that most of my audiences aren’t really Twitter users, and are casual FB users at best. In other words, I won’t be surprised if I initially have more print sales than eBook (which is an interesting irony – I left my agent after 1 year to go indie b/c of the “ebook revolution.”) so I appreciate your advice.
I’ll certainly check out your case study.
And I’m working on that football stadium thing… Maybe if Zig Ziglar lets me open for him!
I should also add that Lightning Source does a better deal than Createspace and now has a printer in Australia so it might be cheaper to look at them – but Belinda has some great points.
Lightning Source starting up in Australia is fantastic because of the horrible shipping costs from US… and the tipping point for me might be the fact that they’re now offering matte covers.
Joanna, how easy did you find the Lightning Source process to navigate? My impression when I compared them a year or so ago was that CreateSpace was more straightforward in terms of leading newbies step by step, but that may well have changed.
Belinda is so right when she says you don’t want them to get distracted and forget. You want to give people the opportunity to get your books wherever they are at the time. If they’re in an auditorium where you’re speaking, it would be great to have paper copies at the door. If they find you on a website, have ebooks set up so they can buy with one click. “Back in the day” when I started 12 years ago, I had a website to tell people about my program, but then they had to send a check to place an order. Since I got set up with PayPal, I sell 10X more!
Also, if you’re thinking of POD, give Snowfall Press a look (http://snowfallpress.dandl.v4.pressero.com/page/home). They offer a full array of services and will print absolutely any number of books for the same unit price and can ship within 3 days. A friend had a wonderful experience with them.
Thanks Lynn! I’ll check out Snowfall, too.
And yes, PayPal all the way. I used to have a subscription based personal development “club” so I’ve been with PayPal for quite some time. Big fan.
ooh, that is exciting Brian – I love the ordering from iPad idea. I do this on my iPhone all the time. But you’re right, as a speaker having books at the back of the room is an entirely different matter and you do need that – although it’s worth looking at your sales and deciding whether or not you want to sell books, or just use them as eye candy.
When I was speaking I started selling DVD mini-courses at the back of the room – which was basically a piece of paper in an envelope which had the logon details to my Author 2.0 course. They sold very well and the margin was much higher than a print book.
I also couldn’t cope with the hassle of carting print books everywhere.
So maybe don’t buy into the myth until you have done the numbers. Also, you may find an inspirational novel a harder sell than non-fiction. I think the majority of my sales are people who have found the book on Amazon, rather than people who have heard of me personally.
Also, thank you for your support of the blog and Pentecost – I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Thanks so much for the perspective. In the end, you take a step & gauge the results, right?
The book is what my former agent calls “self-help disguised as fiction.” I sat down to write a NON-fiction personal development book & a novel came out! It’s like the old Og Mandino books, I suppose.
I speak about the principles in the book, so yes, the plan is to make my attendees & list subscribers “my flaming redheads,” and as Donald Maas says, let the word of mouth do what it does best.
It’s interesting, too, that my former agent had a tough time finding a publisher. While most editors liked the story & the principles it teaches, they didn’t know how to label it. One guy even said, “I don’t know what shelf it would go on. Is it religious? Is it business? Is it fiction? Nonfiction? Self-help?” I said, “Yes…” 😉
With all the other issues facing an unknown author today, here I was pitching a book without a neat & tidy label!
After a year of waiting, I discovered 4 things:
1. All the books in my “genre” (if you call it that) were originally self-published b/c they had the same problem I had (Wish I had known that sooner!);
2. Seth Godin (as in, “Stop waiting to be picked.”);
3. John Locke’s million seller status;
4. Joanna Penn
So thanks for your inspiration, Joanna. You really are the best!
Funny, too. Lightning Source is about an hour from my house. Maybe I can swing a “local” deal…
Congratulations, Joanna! What a fantastic sales figure! I just discovered your blog via Twitter. It looks to be well worth reading, so I am subscribing to your feed.
I hope your Kindle sales continue to grow. I had an amazing sales month in May: over 18,000 Kindle books. Then Amazon ran their “Sunshine Deals” and the bottom fell out. Big time. One of my books had been ranked in the top 100 for 29 days, as high as 45. Even at $0.99 I made $8,600 in May.
Hopefully your sales won’t fall off like mine did. After they did, I raised most of my prices to $2.99. You can afford to price books at $0.99 when you’re selling 500-700 per day. But when the number drops to 50 a day, the higher price starts looking much more reasonable. 😉
It’s great that you have this blog as a platform. I’m sure it helps drive sales. And I see that you’re giving away a book and collecting email addresses. Looks like you’re doing everything right—and doing it very well.
Best wishes to you. I hope you continue to have great success!
Wow Robert – that’s amazing!
I am very impressed. It’s also interesting to consider the market number for each book – as John Locke also talks about this. For example, perhaps there is a current saturation point of 20,000 for your book, and you sold that very quickly and then sales dropped off – perhaps mine is the same number but I am reaching that more slowly?
Locke says importantly, you must have more books to sell so I am going to focus on writing more so that as the (inevitable?) dip happens, I am ready with the next fix!
Thanks so much for sharing your numbers and I’m glad you discovered the blog.
Congratulations on your wonderful milestone, Joanna! Thanks for all your hard work in keeping us up to speed on your journey so we can all learn and benefit from your experiences!
Congrats on the 10k mark. Must feel good.
I’m not even *thinking* about full on marketing/flogging of my books until I’ve got at least 8 in the can (three down, two in development, three to go).
Two advantages to this: First, plenty of time to think up a brilliant marketing strategy (back of the envelope schedule has me finished my eighth by June 2013) and second, when you all succumb to my not-yet-thought-of marketing strategy my books will be like Pringles – you won’t be able to stop at one.
This requires more patience than I’m accustomed to, but the random, non-flogged sales coming through (and resultant 4 and 5 star reviews) are keeping that impatience (somewhat) at bay.
You have amazing patience Tony – I am champing at the bit to get Prophecy out! Your strategy sounds a bit like Locke’s – a great idea.
I am having people sign up for Prophecy every day though so I can keep track of them – in this way, I hope to restart the sales process once it is published.
@Joanna said: “Locke says importantly, you must have more books to sell so I am going to focus on writing more so that as the (inevitable?) dip happens, I am ready with the next fix!”
That’s so true. I need to write faster. 😉
Congratulations on the sales. I just found out about the problems those outside of the States have in loading on some of the platforms and was thinking about offering that service through my company, Who Dares Wins Publishing, but am not sure if it would work.
My sales on Nook were slow– 12 a day– then exploded when I uploaded my first Area 51 titles. I’m now averaging around 500-600 eBooks a day on PubIt. Kindle is still my major platform with around 1500 a day on US and 250 on UK and a handful on DE. The good news is the market is ever-expanding. The Kindle will be on sale in New Zealand next month.
I think the more platforms you can get on, the better.
I also agree with the comment above about not investing too much time and energy into marketing until you have a bunch of books.
We raised one book from .99 to $2.99 and saw a slight drop, then it was back selling as well as ever. I only offer 2 titles at .99 right now to hook people into my scifi and thrillers, then the rest range from $2.99 to $4.99. That’s still a lot less than traditional publishers.
Bob – your sales and experience continue to inspire me. I will be pricing the next book in the series at $2.99 and hope that the hook of the cheaper first instalment of Prophecy gets people into the series.
Congratulations on reaching the 10,000 mark and may you sell many more.
Joanna,
Congratulations – that is a huge milestone! Many thanks for sharing. I am trying to sort through all of this for my first book. Your “real-world” experience is very helpful.
Thumbs up to you, Joanna! You’re an inspiring lady 🙂
Congratulations on your sales! I am curious, can you account for those upticks in sales? Were you running some sort of promotion or marketing campaign at those points in time?
Hi Cynthia, I did do a few promo things in June for Pentecost weekend but basically I think the Amazon algorithms kick in when you have good reviews and steady sales. The biggest promo I did was in launch month and you can see the figures for that – BUT/ it may have got it jump-started.
Congratulations, Joanna, on hitting 10k. And thank you for this valuable information. As someone said earlier in the comments, you’re sparing us total newbies years (and likely many gray hairs) off our learning curve. I feel so much more prepared after reading your posts. Keep it coming!
I’m so glad to help Monica – one of the reasons I started this blog was to help others save time, money and heartache in their writing journey.
Thank you, Joanna, that was an inspiring post. I’m always grateful for your unvarnished details, and I’d love to see a future post about your planning process for an ambitious (7!)-novel series. Or did I miss that post already?
-James
James – I have been thinking about this one 🙂 The planning process is very very rough in that I have titles and rough ideas but nothing written down and no 7 book plot development – it’s not like high fantasy. Maybe this is the ‘pant-ser’ in me coming out. But in writing Prophecy, I am also thinking about the next book in the series, which will be Pharoah and how to put in some seeds for plot points and ways to link the books together. Fun, fun!
Oh my, oh my – Joanna. Thank you soooo much for your content, for your generosity of time and spirit. Your posts and advice are priceless!
You provide solid, varied and inspiring advice from a variety of sources. I cannot imagine a more worthwhile site for those of us who are launching (that’s me) or planning to launch a book.
While I am somewhat fretting the impending need to return to a “job” to fund my self-publishing up-front costs, the cheerleading spirit of this site has reminded me that anything worth doing, is worth doing over time…no matter how long and how much sweat it takes.
May all that you do benefit countless others.
Take care,
Jerome
Thanks Jerome, I really do like to be a cheerleader (but not in one of those silly costumes!)
In terms of returning to a job to pay for things – I understand that – and I may consider returning for short contracts depending on how things go. At the end of the day, bills must be paid. I consider myself an author-entrepreneur – and they entrepreneur bit means I need to make decent money 🙂 so I empathize
Congats! Thanks for sharing with those of us not quite as far along as you. I try to live with the “pay it forward” attitude, and love finding others that do the same. Planning to buy “P” this week! Please keep sharing your most valuable information. We await your words.
Carole
Thanks for your support of Pentecost Carole – and I will keep sharing the journey here. I was talking to my husband about writing until I die, hopefully 30, 40, 50 years time… will this blog still be going?? in some form I hope!