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15,000 books in two months, 32,000 books first year. Advice for newbies!

103K views 410 replies 219 participants last post by  Doglover 
#1 ·
Augh! I really hate doing this, because I'm not, by nature, a braggart, and I feel that I'm going to make myself a target for bad reviews. That said, I feel that I have a lot of good information to impart to those who are struggling. Because that was me my first few months.

Short bit about me. I published my first novel, Beautiful Illusions, on June 22 of 2013. I published the second novel, Deeper Illusions, on the same day. That was my strategy for getting a little foothold - make the first book free, and hope that the fans go on to buy the second one in the series. At that time, I had no Facebook page, no Twitter page, no Internet presence, no blog, no fans, and little confidence in my ability to find an audience. I could barely get my friends interested in reading my books, let alone anybody else. I literally was on food stamps and giving plasma for money, because I made all of $9000 from my writing jobs in the year 2013. I enrolled both books in KDP Select, and made Beautiful Illusions free for four days. I somehow was able to give away around 5000 books that weekend without publicity, and went on to sell about 160 books of Deeper Illusions in the month of July.

And then...crickets. I sold about one Beautiful Illusions a day after that fast start, even though it was only .99, and about one Deeper Illusions every other day at $2.99. I got quite discouraged about this, but kept on writing so that I could finish the trilogy. I published the third book in the trilogy around the end of September, which sold all of about 10 copies on the first day it was out. To say that I was struggling would be understating the matter.

Things started to turn around when I took all the books out of KDP Select and made Beautiful Illusions permafree, which happened towards the beginning of October of 2013. I sold 400 books that month, between Deeper Illusions and End of Illusions, which was four times more than I had ever sold before.  And then, in November, I got a BookBub ad, and thought that I hit the pinnacle. I sold almost 3400 books that month across all channels, which still included Smashwords for Nook and Apple, etc. My earnings was around $10,000 that month. Woo hoo! I was able to quit my day job when I got paid in February!

Since then, as you can tell from my sig, I completed another series. Once again, that series stalled until I made Broken permafree. I made the mistake of putting Broken into KDP Select when I published it, because I wanted to take advantage of a Freebooksy ad that I paid for. And the other books in the Broken series sold okay, mainly on Amazon.com, and very little in Britain and other places. But I sold my other paid books pretty well, ever since November of last year - anywhere between 1500 books and 2800 books a month across all channels, from November until April.

May was my breakthrough month. I got another BookBub ad for Beautiful Illusions, which definitely helped. But what really made the difference was that Broken was made permafree. Since then, my sales of the Broken books have literally skyrocketed, in the UK especially - I started making more than $1500 a month just from Kobo, most of that my Broken books, not my Illusions books, and on Amazon UK, I started making around $1500 a month just from them as well. Saving Scotty zoomed to around #600 on Amazon.uk, and stayed in the top #1000 there for well over a month. My Illusions series might have been the one that was boosted with a BookBub ad in May, but the Broken series has been the serious cash cow. It has taken on a life of its own, without much publicity - I haven't been able to BookBub Broken at all. They've turned me down every time I have asked, which has been about 7 times now. :( My earnings in May were $18,500 across all channels. My earnings in June were around $24,000 across all channels. So far, in July, I have made around $6000 across all channels.

Anyhow...enough about me. I'm thrilled to be successful, and hope that it lasts. But that wasn't why I am writing this. I want to give advice for struggling newbies who are losing confidence and hope. Don't lose the faith, and keep believing in yourself, and the fans will come.

And...for the more nitty gritty on what I have learned this past year, and it is a ton!!!! These pieces of advice are in no particular order. I'm just going to write them as I think of them.

1) Permafree, permafree, permafree. No matter how many times you might read this, at least for me, .99 is NOT the new free. I couldn't get arrested when my first books in the series were .99. No promo worked to move any copies at all. Once I went permafree, and especially after I was able to score a couple of BookBub ads, things came together.

2) Don't set it and forget it (the permafree I mean). Permafree is never a "set it and forget it" strategy. What happened with me was that, initially, I had thousands of downloads of the permafree, and that will happen the first week or so that you have it free because it is visible.

And then, just like that, my downloads crashed and burned to 20 a day. I got soooo discouraged about that, thinking "welp, so much for that strategy. I'm out of ideas now." Because, obviously, 20 downloads a day isn't going to sustain your series. Especially since, at first, I was only getting a 4% conversion rate (it's up to 25% now).

I was lucky enough to get a BookBub ad to get it going again, but most of you won't be so lucky. What I would do when your downloads inevitably crash is to get a Freebooksy ad. Basically, when your book falls out of the top 1000 or the top 100 in your sub-category, get the $100 Freebooksy ad. But you can't do that all the time, as it will lose its effectiveness. So, when the books falls out of the top 1000 again, try BookSends or another service before you go back to Freebooksy. And apply for BookBub often. It certainly doesn't hurt to dream!

3) Write in a series, but, even more important, if you have more than one series make them interrelated. My Illusions series had a protagonist named Ryan whose best friend is Nick. Nick was very prominent in all these books. Then Nick got his own series, Broken, and Ryan was featured a lot in those books. The beauty of this is that the series both sell backwards and forwards. The fans who jump in reading the Broken series get to know Ryan, then I put at the end of every Broken book that they need to be sure to read the Illusions series to get to know Ryan more. Same thing with the Illusions books. The goal was to get the fans reading all the books, and that has worked well.

4)Don't ignore other sales channels. It takes awhile to get established at Nook, Kobo and Apple, so be patient. It's easy to get impatient and reason that you're losing borrows over at KDP, and pull your books from other channels, but that, IMHO, is a big mistake - I have found that, once I got a foothold at those other channels, I've been pretty sticky in all of them. Of course, in the last few months, the sales have exploded across these channels - I made $24,000 last month, and only $14,000 of that, or so, was from the Amazon channels. So, yeah, if I was in KDP Select, I not only wouldn't have a permafree, but I would be missing out on $10,000 of income. And the sales on those other channels continue to be hot - I've already made as much on Apple this month as I have on Amazon, which is around $1400 from each of those channels. Also, you never know where you might pick up your next SUPERFAN - the one who will spread your gospel far and wide. That fan might just come from Nook or Apple, and, before you know it, you're soaring.

5) Related to the above - just say "no" to aggregators. The reason behind this is simple - it takes a few minutes of pain to upload to Nook and Kobo, but it is sooo worth it, just because you shouldn't have to give up 10% of your income to somebody else. Look at it this way - I sold around 1500 books on Nook last month. If I would have gone through D2D or somebody else, I would have give up around $600 to the aggregators, $600 that I could have in my pocket - ON JUST ONE CHANNEL IN JUST ONE MONTH! Now, if I would have went through Kobo on an aggregator as well, that's another $600 or so gone. It doesn't take that long, and I love the Nook and Kobo interface. They're both simplistic and elegant and you can see everything right there. The caveat - other countries where you cannot upload directly to Nook or whatever, use D2D. Never touch Smashwords. I've had wayyyy too many problems with Smashwords to ever want to do business with them again. Another story for another day. Another caveat - Apple. They've made things too painful, and I don't have a Mac, but I'm tempted to buy a Mac just so that I can upload directly to them. It would be worth it in the end if I keep selling well over there. And, of course, if you want to have a free book on Nook, you HAVE to use an aggregator. Again, use D2D. Never Smashwords. It took well over 6 WEEKS from the time that I published Broken on Smashwords for Broken to appear on Nook - and that was only because I FINALLY WAS ABLE TO PUBLISH IT ON D2D. It took D2D a matter of days for Broken to appear on Nook, where it never did get there through Smashwords. Ugh. Just say no to Smashwords.

6) Write, publish, repeat. I know, you've heard it before, but, really, there's no substitute for butt-in-chair-hands-on-keyboard time. I have a goal now of one full length novel published every two months, and it has been sooo important for me to stick to that goal. My next one will be out in a week or so, which is almost exactly two months after my last one was published. The next one will be no more than two months after that. Etc. It keeps the momentum for the fans, and, of course, the more books you have published, the more you will sell. And the greater chance that you might hit it out of the park. Babe Ruth once said that every strike out brings him closer to his next home run, and that's the way you have to look at it. It's a numbers game.

7) You don't have to be Shakespeare. My first book was, and is, seriously flawed. I used soap opera plot points instead of delving into emotions, there wasn't a coherent story, and I threw in everything but the kitchen sink. Still, it ENTERTAINED enough to get me going. I will have to admit that my second series is objectively better - more coherent, more poignant, and there are actual themes in these books. Which is no doubt why that series has taken on a life of it's own, where I still have to constantly push my Illusions series. But, the bottom line is, to entertain. You don't necessarily have to have a Dickensian way with words as long as the readers keep turning the pages.

8) Fool around with different stuff until you hit your sweet spot. I mean, I'm allergic to marketing. Hate it. HATE IT. But it only takes a few minutes to apply to BookBub, and it's not that expensive when you look at the ROI. And Freebooksy - I'm a fan! A HUGE fan! They will literally take anyone, so, if BookBub turns you down, try them out! I have always had an AMAZING ROI with them, and they've been a great help to me, especially since BookBub keeps turning down any book of mine not named Beautiful Illusions.

9) Cliffhangers WORK! Readers say they hate them, and I've gotten plenty of one stars for my cliffhanger on Broken. But Broken has a 25% read-through rate, even though the second book in that series is $4.99. So don't be afraid of the cliffhanger.


10) Most of all, believe in yourself. Don't give up because you are having a hard time getting going and the sales just aren't coming. Believe in yourself and your abilities and stories and keep on keeping on. You might not be successful, but you definitely won't be if you give up.

I'm going to be at the RWA National Conference at the end of this month, where I hope to pick up enough tips to make it to the next level - bestsellerdom! I have faith that I can, and you should too! So, hit me up if you see me there. I love to talk to anybody at all! :)

Until then, peace! If you want to ask me any questions at all, message me. I'll also be checking this thread throughout the day.






 
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#52 ·
Krista D. Ball said:
FYI - many people use D2D, Smashwords, etc for Nook because they are physically unable to publish directly there due to country restrictions.
Yup, I know, which is why I addressed this. That sucks, too - I think that Australia is one of those countries. I remember reading it from another poster. I just said that, given the choice between Smashwords and D2D, D2D is definitely the lesser of two evils. For a multitude of reasons. Another post for another day....but if anybody is interested in all the reasons why Smashwords infuriates me, message me.
 
#56 ·
BTW, I've gotten some questions about permafree, so I will just answer them right here.

The difference between permafree and free is that free is what you get when you go through KDP Select. You can have your book free for five days out of the 90 that you are in KDP Select. Which is an excellent way to give your book some exposure, particularly if you have a series. Permafree means just that - the book is permanently free. For as long as Amazon wants to make your book free, it will be.

How does that happen? Through price-matching. That means that you upload through other channels your book as free. Google Play and Kobo, so far, are the only two channels where you can easily upload the free book. On Nook, you have to go through D2D. On Apple, you have to either sacrifice a goat or go through D2D to get your book free. Your choice.

So, then, next step. You contact KDP support at https://kdp.amazon.com/contact-us and you inform them that your book is free on Google Play and Kobo, and send them the link. And, voila, you might have a free book in 24 hours! At least, that was how it went with me with Broken, but perhaps I just got lucky. With Beautiful Illusions, it took a tad bit longer, because I didn't upload to Google Play, and I was still going the report a lower price route, which is an inefficient way of accomplishing the same thing. You basically go to the your books page, and scroll to the "report a lower price" thingy and report your book being free. Then try to get all your friends to do the same, and post on the Kboards message thread having them all do the same thing. Then wait. Then repeat. Then sacrifice a goat. Lots of goat sacrificing there.

And that's really it. A PIA, but worth it, so worth it....
 
#57 ·
Congratulations, Annie, and thank you for a wonderful, inspiring post (and for taking the "risks" of expsoure to help newbies!). I find it especially encouraging because you didn't just have some inexplicable overnight success out of the gate but actually struggled initially and built from there with a logical strategy.

I've got a question about the timing of permafree: would you recommend definitely waiting until you have 3 books in the series before going permafree on the 1st? (ie. rather than get going from when Book 2 comes out)

And when you say "erom" - I assume you mean "erotic romance"? Do you think the 'having a lot of sex' in your books plays a big role in your commercialism & potential success? ie. if you don't write very steamy romances, do you have less hope of succeeding (in the same way that if your books are standalones as opposed to in a series)

Thank you.  :)



 
#58 ·
anniejocoby said:
Yup, I know, which is why I addressed this. That sucks, too - I think that Australia is one of those countries. I remember reading it from another poster. I just said that, given the choice between Smashwords and D2D, D2D is definitely the lesser of two evils. For a multitude of reasons. Another post for another day....but if anybody is interested in all the reasons why Smashwords infuriates me, message me.
Canada is on the list, too. In fact, we can't even buy books from Nook because they hate our money that much.
 
#60 ·
Cryptic Fawn said:
Oh wow, you're kidding?! Why on earth would B&N do that? They're missing out on so much $$. It doesn't seem to make any logical or financial sense to deliberately not be available in a country like Canada.
There were a couple of magazines exclusive to Nook in digital format that I wanted. Nope. They only take US credit cards/US address. Meh. Their loss. I just bought the print copies from Chapters. :p
 
#67 ·
jlmarten said:
Just so you know, Annie, if anything your post came off as humbled, amazed, and grateful - not hint of bragging to it.

Thanks for giving us the benefit of learning from your experience. And of course, a big congratulations! Look out NYT bestsellers list!
Aw, thanks!!!! And thanks to everybody on this thread! Just like when I came on the scene, we had the Elles and the Russels of the world giving advice, I am so happy to be able to do the same!

HY - I would definitely go permafree as soon as you can. Others say wait until you have three books out, but I'll be honest with you - I don't necessarily see the logic in that. I mean, definitely have another book out that is a sequel to your permafree book. And it all depends on how your book that you want to make free is selling. But here is how I look at it - if the book isn't selling, you got nothing to lose. And erom means erotic romance. Mine don't have as much sex in them as many of the erotic romances do, although they are somewhat steamy. I think, as far as whether the amount of sex is what sells the book - it all depends on the reader. Personally, if I read romances, I prefer little to no sex. If anything, I skim over the sex passages, because I like the story. But there are readers who like lots of sex. Broken was the cleanest of all my books, and it has been my favorite so far. :)
 
#68 ·
anniejocoby said:
HY - I would definitely go permafree as soon as you can. Others say wait until you have three books out, but I'll be honest with you - I don't necessarily see the logic in that. I mean, definitely have another book out that is a sequel to your permafree book. And it all depends on how your book that you want to make free is selling. But here is how I look at it - if the book isn't selling, you got nothing to lose.
Thank you so much, Annie, for answering! :) When you say "it all depends on how your book that you want to make free is selling" - how would you define "not selling well" in terms of numbers? (I know this is a hard one to answer but just in your opinion - like what would it have to sink to for you to feel it's no loss going permafree instead?) Thank you again!
 
#72 ·
You are amazing and I hope to be where you are in a few months (my self-publishing anniversary is late January). Thank you for sharing. I'll be at RWA, too... My first conference. I'm a little terrified, but if there are fellow indie authors there, it might not be so bad.

I'm on my second series now... sales are slow, but I expect them to pick up once I've published my third book and made the first free. That's my plan for now. At the moment the box set of my first series is selling like hotcakes though (God, I have a craving for maple syrup now). Sales in general are low, but I hope they'll pick up as the new series gets going. I'm impatient.

Oh, I also swear by Freebooksy.  Brenna Aubrey turned me on to that one. I'm still skeptical that Bookbub will even accept my stuff since it's mostly short erotica and their guidelines are pretty clear.
 
#73 ·
Thanks for this post Annie. I was feeling a bit low today and this was exactly the pick me up I needed.

I've been publishing longer than you, but have very limited writing time, so I try not to give myself too much of a hard time that I'm not producing as much as I'd like or as fast as I'd like.  I so want to get to the point where I earn enough to pay the mortgage and the bills.

I'm with smashwords for everything except Amazon and google, I haven't had any problems with them at all so far, but I don't earn very much from them, I would love to hear if you think that would improve by switching to D2D?

Finally, congrats on your success, it's so great to see people on writer's cafe doing well and sharing their knowledge - Hugs!
 
#74 ·
Thank you so much for this! I'm so glad that I've found kboards.

I'm only 2 months into my publishing career and am writing like mad around my day job. I've learnt so much about getting more work out there.

I love to see these success stories, it inspires me to graft hard while doing something I love.

Thanks! :)
 
#76 ·
How many times do you run ads on Freebooksy? 
How many days, weeks apart? 

I am a newbie with only one book out in my series and book #2 should be out this month!  ;-)  Do I make Book #1 free even though I have only 2?  #3 & #4 will hopefully be out by the end of the year.  They are full novels. Thanks so much! You are an inspiration!
 
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