[PearlEarringLady]

56 sales in my first month (September 2014), mostly to kind friends in my online critique group and writers' forums. The second month, 4. The third month, 4. The fourth month I discovered promo - hooray! 68 sales and 24 borrows! The fifth month I put out another book and things looked up, although I'm still waiting for that elusive runaway success. 

Incidentally, that first slow-moving book has never been a huge seller, but even now, two and a half years later, it still racks up sales+full read-throughs at the rate of 60 or so a month. So (as someone said upthread) longevity is just as important as initial success.

 

[T E Scott Writer]

About 50 I think. With no promo. Probably half of that number to people I know. But that's ok, its a marathon not a sprint.

 

[Camille Langtry]

Your last release is categorized as erotica and quite niche. I don't write in those genres, but from what I've read they can have a fairly short sales run. So, it's not a question of how many sell in the first month, but the projected sales trajectory over a period.

We'll see how it does over the months/years. Having a niche book can be both a curse and a blessing. On the one hand, you can be catering to a very motivated and appreciative group of potential readers sharing your interests, on the other, that group can be very small. This means you can sweep up your entire audience in a matter of weeks and then hope that someone discovers your book by chance. So yeah, obviously it's better to sell 20 books/month for 3 years than 100 books on your first month and then 10/year or even nothing.

 

[Kristen Painter]

Just a quick add - my numbers were for digital and print combined, priced 4.99 and 9.99 respectively.

 

[Adair Hart]

My first book was published in September 2015, and sold 27 copies with 6.4k page reads. I remembered collecting some data from other posters who published their journey, and it seemed 20-30 was about average. You had those who busted that, but they seemed to be rare.

Like Nick mentioned above, I had hope. Things have gotten better since then, thanks to all the information I absorbed both here and on FB groups. I got lucky with a Bookbub on my box set this month, and sold 5125 copies of all books this last week. I'm hoping the trend continues as I put out my next books in my main series and launch a second series later this year!

 

[JaclynDolamore]

The comments about longevity are helpful because my new book is having a terrible launch! Easter/Tax Week was indeed a bad blunder on my part and I'm despairing of it getting sticky. (Maybe some of it is also the book...on Saturday I almost had more sales of the preorder for my June series launch than the new one...) But maybe it will end up doing all right over the long term.

 

[It's A Mystery]

That is unfortunately true. The sales aggregation has surprised me. I expected self pub books to have a shorter "shelf life" because people on forums said they did. Nowadays, I would advise any new starter to think longer term. The catalogue can keep working for you if you set it up right from the get go. Otherwise, you can find yourself on a treadmill of production as each book has a fleeting sales run. It takes a lot of work to write even a half decent book, so the longer it can work for you the better.

I totally agree. I think as an indie, you have to run your business as though it was a small press. Professionalism and smart business methods from the outset and build slowly but surely. You may get breakouts along the way, but they will just be a nice boost on top of the general upward trajectory your catalogue should be making anyway.

Regular releases, regular promos, building a mailing list, up to date back and front matter, quality cover, blurb and content. Get those ducks in a row and over time you should reap the rewards.

 

[Anarchist]

...longevity is more important than initial sales.

So true.

I see each book as a cashflow-positive asset in a growing portfolio. Similar to rental properties, but with fewer headaches.

 

[Talbot]

I sold one to my mother and I bought the other to check out my links.

Oy.

 

[It's A Mystery]

So true.

I see each book as a cashflow-positive asset in a growing portfolio. Similar to rental properties, but with fewer headaches.

Ha! Well put!

 

[S.L.]

I published my first novel in August of 2016 and sold around 30 copies.  I had no mailing list and no promotion.  I'm about to launch a new series under a new name in the next couple of weeks.  I've set up a more professional looking website with mailing list incentives, so I'm excited to see how it goes.

 

[Goulburn]

My first book was in print back in 1969, (my early twenties) and it would have sold thousands of copies the first day. I had a high public profile back then. I'd had articles published. I gave public speeches to both small groups and huge crowds. I'd been high profile for many years as I was born into a creative family used to being on stage. So, the book had a market waiting for it before it was written. All of that was done in my real name. That 'name' was able to get TV, radio and newspaper promotion, something I've not even attempted to get for this Ryn name. Back then, I had a public relations officer, long before the book came out. As you can see, I did not achieve those sales on my own. It was a team effort.

This name, began as my recluse name, to escape a public life. I had no friends or social contacts when I published my first ebook, and no idea how to promote it. I didn't know that you did that. I had read to expect two-hundred sales in a year if I were lucky. I sold thirty copies my first month with no reviews. I think I almost fell over in shock when I sold my first copy. I was thrilled when I achieved that two-hundred sales and some reviews in the first few months. That felt like a success to me.

 

[C. Gockel]

I see each book as a cashflow-positive asset in a growing portfolio. Similar to rental properties, but with fewer headaches.

Exactly. I have a few short stories out there now that need to be maximized. I intend to put them in anthologies.

To OP's question: I sold over 100 copies of Murphy's Star the first month. It is a short sci-fi story, but one of the women in my neighborhood who is really popular read and loved it, and told everyone. Also, I was still actively writing fanfic then so I told my fans.

 

[Paul Hector Travis]

I sold 35 copies of my debut novel in its first month. The only real marketing, apart from social media, was a partnership with an autism charity. I promised to donate a fifth of all my royalties, a pledge which I maintained as I released books 2 & 3 of my SUBNORMAL trilogy. Its hero has Asperger's, and my son has autism. Sadly, the series never took off (due to poor promotional decisions , shoddy covers, awkward genre and a slow-burn story-telling style I'm working hard to improve), but I still make my donations as the pennies trickle in.

 

[sela]

Book 1 released in June 2012: 40
Book 2 released in July 2012: 66
Book 3 released in December 2012: 133
Book 4 (book 1 of a new series) released in April 2013: 5028

 

[ChrisWard]

Lol, 2. One to me and one to my dad haha. It didn't get much better the next month either!

 

[Kay7979]

I'm not sure how many paperbacks, since I sold some locally in addition to a few on Amazon, but only 25 eBooks. Being a debut novel at $3.99 with no promos, I guess that isn't desperately bad. My second book launches this week.

 

[Cheryl Douglas]

I sold about 380 my first month back in 2011. I was refreshing like a madwoman. I couldn't believe strangers were actually willing to pay money for my books. 

 

[Mari Oliver]

Wow. I...did awful on my first launch. Zero sales. Then I ran a free campaign and gave away 60 copies only to sell zero more thereafter. However, I repackaged the book and sold 7 copies + 500 KENP reads. When I read threads like this, it's hard not to get depressed and wonder where I'm going wrong. I do not have the funds for promo and have a tiny list. It's going to take me ages to even sell 35 copies. Alas, I'll just keep writing and targeting market as best I can. All the failure has definitely taught me what not to do so wisdom is good, right?

 

[Cactus Lady]

Lol, 2. One to me and one to my dad haha. It didn't get much better the next month either!

Yeah, of my 4 sales, one was to me and I think my mom bought one.