2012 Success Stories

1678 Views 13 Replies 13 Participants Last post by the quiet one, Jan 8, 2013

Cheryl Douglas

Discussion Starter · Jan 6, 2013

If someone has already posed about this, I apologize. I know it's a bit late, but I'm just getting back into the swing of things after the holidays. I started a thread like this last year around this time and I found it really motivating, even though I had yet to publish a book.

Okay, I'll start. I published my first book March 3, 2012 and have released a total of twelve in this series since then. I've sold 15K books and have learned more than I could ever have hoped to about what to do and not to do from this board. Overall, 2012 was good to me, and I'm excited about what 2013 will bring.

How about you? I want to hear about your successes last year! Was 2012 the year that changed your life?

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A.A

· #2 · Jan 6, 2013

You had a great year, Cheryl!

I bumbled through 2012. Published my first book mid-way, took it off sale for a couple of months while I figured out formatting. I consider I didn't really get started until September.

My biggest mistake was approaching this as a writer and not as a business. If I'd seen it as a business, I would have done things much differently, including starting off with a different book and getting things like formatting and book covers under control beforehand. My last mistake of 2012 was in keeping my formatting program open on two computers simultaneously, which meant one copy of my book was automatically saving over the other copy with an older version - and I did this with all the books and shorts I published in 2012 without realising why the stuff I kept losing my changes.

But, I consider it a success to have published two books and my shorts in my first few months. Sales and borrows were around 5k. I'm hoping to have three more books out by the end of 2013

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60865

· #3 · Jan 6, 2013

Thanks for sharing the info ... It's agood moral booster for the starters

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A. S. Warwick

· #4 · Jan 6, 2013

Congrats on your success.

The less said about 2012 for me the better I think. May even have gone backwards from the previous year whch I didnt think possible

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60169

· #5 · Jan 6, 2013

Congrats on your great year, that's excellent.

I am happy with my 2012, which was only four months for me. I released my book on September 5th and by the end of the year I had 1656 sales/borrows. All but 400 of the sales came at $4.99, the remainder was a short sale I ran for .99 in December. I had one excellent free run in late October that gave me some visibility.

Much more important than the sales, I learned so much - about writing and marketing - and I gained confidence that people will want to read what I write. I am so excited about the possibilities ahead for 2013!

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Hugh Howey

· #6 · Jan 6, 2013

2012 was the year David Adams wrote fan fiction about me. There'll never be another year like 2012, not to me.

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edmjill

· #7 · Jan 6, 2013

Thanks for your post Cheryl.

I'm new here (just a few weeks ago). I've already learned lots and expect that 2013 will bring an improvement.

Congrats to you on such a busy and successful 2012

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Sam Kates

· #8 · Jan 6, 2013

Cheryl - that's fantastic. I assume you had already written most of the books you released last year. If not, you're one prolific writer.

2012 was the year I became a published novelist - only just; late December. Haven't sold many, but I've sold some. It's a start. That might not count as a success to many people, but it's the first steps of what I hope to be a long and eventful journey. So it was a successful year to me.

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60911

· #9 · Jan 7, 2013

Cheryl Douglas said:
How about you? I want to hear about your successes last year! Was 2012 the year that changed your life?

To say the least. Not only did I go full-time on January 1st with the blessing of my wife, but I went from selling 27 books in the first quarter to over 15,000 in the fourth (and almost 7500 in December alone). That was an amazing year, and I think it did, indeed, change my life.

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Sharebear

· #10 · Jan 7, 2013

With only beginning publishing at the end of last December 2012 was my first full year.
On Amazon US only I've sold over 1500 books. I know that's small potatoes to some of you, but when I hear a book club is following my series I can hardly contain my excitement.
I have three full length titles out and two novellas. In 2013 I hope to put two more full lengths out and two novellas.
You could say 2012 changed my life, I had five real life jobs and while between jobs I was having the time of my life writing. In 2013 my dream is to go full time. We'll see what happens.

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Shayne Parkinson

· #11 · Jan 7, 2013

2012 has been an amazing year for me. I don't have the updated figures for other retailers in December yet, but my sales for the year have been well over 150,000. That's several times what they were in 2011, which was itself more than ten times the 2010 figure.

Yes, 2012 has changed my life.

I'm now a full-time writer, and loving it.

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Cheryl Douglas

Discussion Starter · #12 · Jan 7, 2013

DDark said:
2012 might have been the year that ended my life..lol I was ill and on FMLA for 3 months, going through surgery and racking up 48K in claims. I totally got over all that mess and still managed to have three book releases last year. I've been extremely fortunate and blessed in all kinds of ways with my readers, and have made around 76,000 sales in 2012.

Maybe I won't rock it in 2013 like last year, but I'm healthy and I can write again.

Wow, now that is one inspiring story! So many great stories. As always, thanks for sharing! And thanks to everyone who congratulated me on my year. Honestly, I couldn't have done it without this board and all of the veterans who are so generous with their knowledge and experience. Let's hope 2013 will be even better for all of us!

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H.M. Ward

· #13 · Jan 8, 2013

Awesome thread.

First lemme say, if someone made fan fic of me, Id die.

This was my 1st full year of publishing. I went into the year with 3 novels from 2011 and about 5,000 books sold. (No freebies). This year I've published 20 novels and novellas total and ended the year SO close to 100,000 sales. Milestone! I thought that wouldnt happen, like ever.

Health wise, this year sucked monkeys for me too. I had 4 hospital visits before they finally figured out why I couldnt stand up. I spent the last two years insanely sick. It sucked. Anyway, it gave me lots of time to write.

Here's to a new year! Never give up! Never surrender! Goonies never say die!

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the quiet one

· #14 · Jan 8, 2013

Cheryl Douglas said:
How about you? I want to hear about your successes last year! Was 2012 the year that changed your life?

One year ago, I had absolutely no expectation that I'd write and publish anything in 2012.

But with a milestone birthday approaching, I decided that I'd finally write that novel that had been running through my head for so many years. The writing process was enjoyable, so after finishing the first and uploading to KDP in September, I began work on the second, while simultaneously working on the series prequel. Both of those were completed in time to upload before the Christmas rush.

My outside hope was that I'd sell a copy a day, and make it to 100 copies sold by the end of 2012. To my surprise, both of my full-length novels have been near-permanent fixtures in the Top 100 of their primary category, and my total sales have soared well beyond my expectations.

I have no idea what the future holds. I don't know if the ranking trends will continue or if I'll drop out tomorrow, never to return. I don't know if my prequel will ever go perma-free - and if it does, I have no idea idea what will happen to sales. What I do know is that I truly enjoy writing, and I'll keep writing the series regardless of the results.

2012 definitely changed my life for the better. I only wish I hadn't waited so long to get started.

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