I'm sure there are others sharing your experience because the sales cycle seems to be very fickle, but in my case, no slowdown, no.
Have sales slowed to a crawl?
Or is it just me? December was DISMAL but I heard so much hype and hope about how January would knock it out of the park that I thought sales would get back on track. For me, not so much. Are anybody else's sales sagging in January?
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In December my sales were crawling, in the manner of a dehydrated plane crash survivor in the Kalahari trying to reach a mirage. In January, a desert mercenary found them, kicked them over a put two bullets in their forehead. Now they're not crawling at all.
Pretty quiet for me, too!
I have a new series coming out in March, so hopefully that'll get things moving.
I have a new series coming out in March, so hopefully that'll get things moving.
Not crawling for me, but slower than the madness at the end of December. I think I'm still riding the wave from having published 4 titles last month. Working on a longer piece now so I won't have that many publications again this month -- hopefully sales will pick up even more with the 1 title I plan to publish.
The beginning of December was slower than slow. The end of December was lovely (100-200+ sales per day).
But ever since it became January, it was like everything fell off a cliff. I'm averaging 1-2 sales per book per day at each retailer. Yikes! Disaster.
I don't have time to worry about it, though. The new book is due to the editor on Feb 4 and, um, yeah. Let's just say I have a LOT of writing still to do.
But ever since it became January, it was like everything fell off a cliff. I'm averaging 1-2 sales per book per day at each retailer. Yikes! Disaster.
I don't have time to worry about it, though. The new book is due to the editor on Feb 4 and, um, yeah. Let's just say I have a LOT of writing still to do.
G
Yes.
I have non-fiction titles ("How to" type books in a niche I know well and alternative health, which usually sells very well) and I've been selling since 2010. The sales on long-standing titles are down and sales are down overall. It looks about like the September "slump." My overall December this year was considerably worse (selling about 75%) than last year despite having added more titles. I don't do freebies and I write a lot of full-sized books, well-researched and documented. I, also, don't do much for promotion outside of writing some articles and having a couple of web sites and a blog. This means I'm not in the same category as people who write short stories or novels and put them in the Select program, who, also, seem to be having problems according to some threads. There's a thread here about this right now and it sounds like some people are having trouble even giving books away!
Just as I was in December, I am still concerned. I think the economy is going down in flames - I think we're at that point where things begin to accelerate right before the full disastrous impact. I'm not an economist or a doomsdayer; this is just how it feels to me.
When the economy gets bad, it's not just that people don't have extra money, they start having other problems (like losing their homes, dealing with spouses who are going crazy, a sense of total panic and anxiety, etc.) that put them out of the mood for buying and reading books.
According to some news articles, overall retail sales (of everything) were down over Christmas. Also, my lower sales aren't just at Amazon KDP, it's everywhere else I sell books, too.
I have non-fiction titles ("How to" type books in a niche I know well and alternative health, which usually sells very well) and I've been selling since 2010. The sales on long-standing titles are down and sales are down overall. It looks about like the September "slump." My overall December this year was considerably worse (selling about 75%) than last year despite having added more titles. I don't do freebies and I write a lot of full-sized books, well-researched and documented. I, also, don't do much for promotion outside of writing some articles and having a couple of web sites and a blog. This means I'm not in the same category as people who write short stories or novels and put them in the Select program, who, also, seem to be having problems according to some threads. There's a thread here about this right now and it sounds like some people are having trouble even giving books away!
Just as I was in December, I am still concerned. I think the economy is going down in flames - I think we're at that point where things begin to accelerate right before the full disastrous impact. I'm not an economist or a doomsdayer; this is just how it feels to me.
When the economy gets bad, it's not just that people don't have extra money, they start having other problems (like losing their homes, dealing with spouses who are going crazy, a sense of total panic and anxiety, etc.) that put them out of the mood for buying and reading books.
According to some news articles, overall retail sales (of everything) were down over Christmas. Also, my lower sales aren't just at Amazon KDP, it's everywhere else I sell books, too.
Nope, for me sales are very good and I notice that in spite of that my rankings aren't up. In fact, they're down somewhat which usually indicates strong sales generally.
November was my crawling month.
December was SOLID for me.
January, however, has been a real puzzle. My Kindle sales have been nearly neglible. My Kobo sales are exactly (at the moment of this entry) 1000% higher than my Kindle sales.
I can't figure it - so I've gone back to writing.
January, however, has been a real puzzle. My Kindle sales have been nearly neglible. My Kobo sales are exactly (at the moment of this entry) 1000% higher than my Kindle sales.
I can't figure it - so I've gone back to writing.
By my standards I did pretty well in December. But January seems to have stopped again, at least at Amazon.
Mid-November to mid-December were not-so-good. Sales were declining, not quickly, but steadily. Released two new titles in mid-to-late December and it's been rather nice since then.
It's just the 7th but I've noticed some days, it's amazing. Pop, pop, pop. Then the next - crickets. Only beginning to get slightly worried. If in another week it's the same, then I'll be able to add a breakdown to my bar.
I seem to look at my sales numbers a little differently. I have two standards: Am I riding on a big promotion, or the after-effects of said promotion? Or, am I just seeing what my book does, floating in the market with nothing special giving me visibility?
My last "push" ended the 22nd of December, and I think the afterglow effects of that have diminished now, so I am settling in to that "this is where this book is at right now" phase.
That being said, my January is fine. Previous to my first free run (October 18th) my book had been selling less than one copy per day. So far in January, it is averaging selling ten copies per day.
Personally, I like to let things settle down in between promotional pushes so that I can "take the temperature" of the book and see what it does when I'm not putting my shoulder into it. Besides, I can't figure out enough "things that work" to try to keep the push going all the time.
My last "push" ended the 22nd of December, and I think the afterglow effects of that have diminished now, so I am settling in to that "this is where this book is at right now" phase.
That being said, my January is fine. Previous to my first free run (October 18th) my book had been selling less than one copy per day. So far in January, it is averaging selling ten copies per day.
Personally, I like to let things settle down in between promotional pushes so that I can "take the temperature" of the book and see what it does when I'm not putting my shoulder into it. Besides, I can't figure out enough "things that work" to try to keep the push going all the time.
I've sold almost as many in the first week of January as I did the entire month of December. Today seems a little laggy with the updating, but we'll have to wait and see.
My sales had learned to push themselves up on their arms and wave their butt in the air, but they haven't quite learned to crawl yet.
December was a normal month for me, which in itself was a little surprising. With Christmas in there, I was expecting sales to either go up or down.
January has been slow for me as well. I hope it picks up soon and not a sign of things to come in 2013.
January has been slow for me as well. I hope it picks up soon and not a sign of things to come in 2013.
Ever since the new year my sales have been looking fantastic, I'm just hoping I can maintain and build on them over the rest of the month. 
Sales for Nook and Kindle are way slower than I expected. Last year, my sales tripled in Jan. Doesnt look like that's in the works this year. And I had my booty dance all ready, too.
Sales are non-existant since Christmas. But I only have 1 book so far. Not too concerned because I'm working on a new marketing strategy anyway.
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