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Hi everybody! My name is Daniel Kenney, I write Middle Grade / Kid's Fiction and I last updated you a few months ago on how things have been going. I also promised to keep you all updated on future milestones along with what I've learned. As so many of you agree, information, and real stats are so important to writers, especially us newer ones. It's good to have one's eyes as open as possible...because that makes it much easier to set your goals and reach those goals.
In general, middle grade fiction is a fairly small slice of the ficiton pie. Self publishing middle grade has its own challenges. Without wide bookstore and library distribution, discoverability is a challenge. But hey, I'm stubborn and a little stupid. I've got 8 kids. Like I said, a little stupid. But stubborn. I like writing for kids and I want to try and figure out how to make this work.
I published my first title in September of 2014. I published my 9 title last month. Last month (May) I had combined createspace sales, kdp sales, and borrows of 875. So far this month (June), things are going even better. Sometime in the next few hours, I will pass 1000 print sales, ebook sales, and borrows for the month. I have no idea if the momentum will carry over through the entire month, but there's a fighting chance I'll break 2000 for the month.
So, what changed in June?
After three straight solid months of slow but steady growth, I landed a book bub for The Math Inspectors for Tuesday June 2nd. I used 2 free days before the Bub, and used 1 free day after the Bub. I bought six smaller promotions to promote those other days. IN total, I gave away a little more than 15,000 books over those four days. And then, I dropped the price of the Math Inspectors from its normal $2.99 to $0.99 when it came off free and have left it there for the last week.
The results have bee terrific both in terms of its impact to my ebook sales and borrows but also to my print sales as well.
So, the more important question...do I expect this momentum to continue? NOT AT ALL!
My operating attitude as a writer is this balance of optimism and pessimism. I'm optimistic enough to think that some of what I write is entertaining and funny. I'm pessimistic enough to think that one month or one week or one day has no relation on what might happen the next. There are times I think that I could be pretty successful with this writing gig, but most of the time I think that I'll be a massive flaming failure
But you know what? The pessimistic part of me drives my strategy and basically my strategy is this. Get 100 titles. And then get 100 more. And then another 100. Now, how do I get there? Not a freaking clue. But that's where I feel like I need to get. If I can get 100 titles working for me, I think I'll have some success. If I can get 200 titles working for me, I feel quite good about my chances. And if I can get 300? IN the words of Gary Larson, "No size restrictions and screw the limit!"
Now, honestly, will I ever get to 300 titles? Aw hell, probably not. I'm a stay at home dad of 8 little heathens. My life is crazy pants. 300? Probably not. But that's the attitude that drives me every day. If I can create my own backlist and end up hitting lots of little singles? I like my chances.
So, I don't have any Book Bubs scheduled for July. Chances are, my sales and borrows will return to 'human for me' levels. But in a few weeks, I'lll release another title. And within the next four months, I'll release another 4 titles. Along the way, I'll tinker with covers and copy and keywords until I can get some of my assets performing. Case in point, my best seller is The Math Inspectors and I don't think it's close to my best book. But, it's got a good cover, the word math in it, and folks of a certain age seem to like it enough. My best overall book is called Curial Diggs And The Search for the Romanov Dolls. But, the cover on it sucks and I've never really figured out how to market it properly. As a result, nobody buys that book. But darnit, Like I said, I'm stubborn and I'll figure that out. And the funniest thing I've written? A little 7500 word story called Dart Guns At Dawn. Now, I don't know if anybody else in the world finds it funny...but I sure do. And that thinkg doesn't sell either. But I'll figure that one out as well.
And when I say 'figure out' I don't mean 'turn into a bestseller' or 'even a category leader'. I mean, figure out how to turn my assets into solidly performing singles. Because, as i"ve mentioned, if I can accumulate enough singles? Then I've got something.
Finally, in addition to putting out more titles, I'm finally getting serious about trying to grow that all important mailing list. Kid's authors have their own challenges on that front but I'm still going to try. Also, been trying to learn from Mark Dawson and others about Facebook advertising. We'll see what happens. Anyways, I'll check back with you all when I cross 4000 sales and borrows in a month. That's my next big milestone.
Wish me luck! Daniel
In general, middle grade fiction is a fairly small slice of the ficiton pie. Self publishing middle grade has its own challenges. Without wide bookstore and library distribution, discoverability is a challenge. But hey, I'm stubborn and a little stupid. I've got 8 kids. Like I said, a little stupid. But stubborn. I like writing for kids and I want to try and figure out how to make this work.
I published my first title in September of 2014. I published my 9 title last month. Last month (May) I had combined createspace sales, kdp sales, and borrows of 875. So far this month (June), things are going even better. Sometime in the next few hours, I will pass 1000 print sales, ebook sales, and borrows for the month. I have no idea if the momentum will carry over through the entire month, but there's a fighting chance I'll break 2000 for the month.
So, what changed in June?
After three straight solid months of slow but steady growth, I landed a book bub for The Math Inspectors for Tuesday June 2nd. I used 2 free days before the Bub, and used 1 free day after the Bub. I bought six smaller promotions to promote those other days. IN total, I gave away a little more than 15,000 books over those four days. And then, I dropped the price of the Math Inspectors from its normal $2.99 to $0.99 when it came off free and have left it there for the last week.
The results have bee terrific both in terms of its impact to my ebook sales and borrows but also to my print sales as well.
So, the more important question...do I expect this momentum to continue? NOT AT ALL!
My operating attitude as a writer is this balance of optimism and pessimism. I'm optimistic enough to think that some of what I write is entertaining and funny. I'm pessimistic enough to think that one month or one week or one day has no relation on what might happen the next. There are times I think that I could be pretty successful with this writing gig, but most of the time I think that I'll be a massive flaming failure
But you know what? The pessimistic part of me drives my strategy and basically my strategy is this. Get 100 titles. And then get 100 more. And then another 100. Now, how do I get there? Not a freaking clue. But that's where I feel like I need to get. If I can get 100 titles working for me, I think I'll have some success. If I can get 200 titles working for me, I feel quite good about my chances. And if I can get 300? IN the words of Gary Larson, "No size restrictions and screw the limit!" Now, honestly, will I ever get to 300 titles? Aw hell, probably not. I'm a stay at home dad of 8 little heathens. My life is crazy pants. 300? Probably not. But that's the attitude that drives me every day. If I can create my own backlist and end up hitting lots of little singles? I like my chances.
So, I don't have any Book Bubs scheduled for July. Chances are, my sales and borrows will return to 'human for me' levels. But in a few weeks, I'lll release another title. And within the next four months, I'll release another 4 titles. Along the way, I'll tinker with covers and copy and keywords until I can get some of my assets performing. Case in point, my best seller is The Math Inspectors and I don't think it's close to my best book. But, it's got a good cover, the word math in it, and folks of a certain age seem to like it enough. My best overall book is called Curial Diggs And The Search for the Romanov Dolls. But, the cover on it sucks and I've never really figured out how to market it properly. As a result, nobody buys that book. But darnit, Like I said, I'm stubborn and I'll figure that out. And the funniest thing I've written? A little 7500 word story called Dart Guns At Dawn. Now, I don't know if anybody else in the world finds it funny...but I sure do. And that thinkg doesn't sell either. But I'll figure that one out as well.
And when I say 'figure out' I don't mean 'turn into a bestseller' or 'even a category leader'. I mean, figure out how to turn my assets into solidly performing singles. Because, as i"ve mentioned, if I can accumulate enough singles? Then I've got something.
Finally, in addition to putting out more titles, I'm finally getting serious about trying to grow that all important mailing list. Kid's authors have their own challenges on that front but I'm still going to try. Also, been trying to learn from Mark Dawson and others about Facebook advertising. We'll see what happens. Anyways, I'll check back with you all when I cross 4000 sales and borrows in a month. That's my next big milestone.
Wish me luck! Daniel
And thanks Robert!
