Milestones

I think mine came today. I checked on my website's stats, and someone had reached it by Googling the words "read shadowed by dominic o'reilly online". Now, I can only assume they did that because they wanted to pirate my book. This probably sounds bad, but as I'm at quite an early stage of my writing career, I'm kind of flattered that that happened. It's almost like being asked out by someone you can't stand; you feel a bit icky, but in some ways it helps with your confidence 

Fun idea for a thread, Caitie. Here are some milestones I'm looking forward to:

* Hitting 20,000 sales
* Reaching 200 Amazon reviews
* Making 100 B&N sales in a month
* Having 20 titles out
* Selling 1K copies in a month.

I've actually done that last one a couple times before but it's been awhile and I'd like a repeat. LOL

My next story. The story after that one.

It keeps going through the end of the year.

Maybe in 2014 I'll have a milestone outside of producing more fiction.

Maybe not.

Dara England said:

Fun idea for a thread, Caitie. Here are some milestones I'm looking forward to:

* Hitting 20,000 sales
* Reaching 200 Amazon reviews
* Making 100 B&N sales in a month
* Having 20 titles out
* Selling 1K copies in a month.

I've actually done that last one a couple times before but it's been awhile and I'd like a repeat. LOL

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I bit my tongue to keep from saying 'you suck'. Because I'm so envious, I want to hate you. But you look like such a nice person and your books look interesting and I'm really a nice guy too. So, I can only wish you joy of all your well earned milestones.

I might reach 100 sales before the month is up and, reading around the board, I guess I'm doing better than most.

I remember being SO EXCITED for my first book to sell 100 copies. It took about three months. No other milestone has been as exciting since that one.

What a great idea!

Two of my favourite moments:
- getting my first fan letter
- when I realised my books were at the point of paying their research expenses.

Thanks, Strath and Caitie, for thinking I look like a nice person. *Shhhh* I'm really not, but don't tell.   I'm sorry if I made anyone envious. I'm honestly pretty far from most of these milestones but maybe in a year or so I'll have accomplished some. Here's hoping we all do.

Dara, one think I love about KB is I don't see envy -- I see inspiration. Never stop sharing your successes!

smreine said:

I remember being SO EXCITED for my first book to sell 100 copies. It took about three months. No other milestone has been as exciting since that one.

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Ditto.

We used to have this 1K sales thread around here. If you'd sold 1000 copies that month you got to post in it.

Now, I haven't sold 1000 copies in a month since last March (although I came close in December), so I'm kind of glad that thread disappeared, because it would have been really, really depressing to remember that I used to be able to post in it, but not anymore. (Like "Flowers for Algernon," but less dramatic, you know?)

Anyway, I remember that getting to post in that thread for the first time was the most awesome thing ever.

**I just read the OP and I realized I answered wrong. Sorry. <---I wrote too much and it addled my brain. I need to leave the computer and find something relaxing to do.

My milestones have been modest, but I love them nevertheless. The most recent one was a full page 5 star review on the reader's own website! Noice!

valeriec80 said:

**I just read the OP and I realized I answered wrong. Sorry.

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Totally forgivable given what you just pulled off. Well done on the awesome writing achievement.

Most recent milestones: I thought I was the most excited about hitting 100,000 sales. Then my book hit the top 100 in the kindle store and I nearly wet myself. I stayed up all night waiting for it to fall. That was a week ago. I'm a nervous wreck. That wasnt even a goal! Then, I hit the top 100 authors on amazon. (HOLY CRAP!) That was more exciting. I've had so much excitement this week, that I could die. My new crazy-ass hope is to hit the top 150 in USA Today. *crosses fingers*

People keep saying enjoy the ride. Its like being on the drop of a never ending roller coaster. I'm so gonna puke, but it's happy puke. lol.

holly w. said:

Most recent milestones: I thought I was the most excited about hitting 100,000 sales. Then my book hit the top 100 in the kindle store and I nearly wet myself. I stayed up all night waiting for it to fall. That was a week ago. I'm a nervous wreck. That wasnt even a goal! Then, I hit the top 100 authors on amazon. (HOLY CRAP!) That was more exciting. I've had so much excitement this week, that I could die. My new crazy-*ss hope is to hit the top 150 in USA Today. *crosses fingers*

People keep saying enjoy the ride. Its like being on the drop of a never ending roller coaster. I'm so gonna puke, but it's happy puke. lol.

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Wow Holly! You've sure achieved some impressive milestones. Congratulations!

Great topic!
Hitting one sale a day would be an amazing personal milestone for me. 

Getting a book in a top 100 listing was HUGE for me. It was Top 100 Free Science Fiction Adventure, I think, and it got up to 9 before dropping out in a couple of days. This was only a few months after I started self-publishing, and it made me ecstatic!

When Star Wanderers: Outworlder went perma-free on Amazon, it also shot up on the Top 100 Free Science Fiction Adventure list, and though it didn't get quite so high, it actually STAYED on the list for three months...in fact, it recently got on the Top 100 Free Space Opera category as well, and spent the better part of December in the 1-20 range! That's got to be a milestone, too.

The next milestone I'd like to hit is to be in a Top 100 paid category list, even for a day or two. THAT would be something.

I don't really have a sales milestone to share, but in terms of craft, I feel like I reached a milestone of sorts with my current WIP. I don't think I could have written a book this structurally and thematically complex five or ten years ago.

I hit mine late last Saturday night, when my Gadsby re-issue reached the 50-sale mark in the U.S./India region. That's as much as the original 1939 Wetzel edition ever sold!

In case you didn't know, Gadsby is the Ernest Vincent Wright novel with no "e's".

I get excited about "firsts" in the scenes. Like, first fight scene with punching.

For publishing, I don't have any milestones, just charts that I stare at way too much.

A while back, I promised myself an iPhone when I got my first publishing deal. That was before I became an auto-releaser.

In October 2012, I decided I'd sold enough, and I bought an iPhone and retired my Motorola flip.