So, as an engineer in my day job, it's basically mandatory that I run my life by data and analysis. For example, those who have followed the site here for many years have seen several posts covering sales figures, word count goals/accomplishments, and other such fun. Publishing is a business, so they say, and any business needs facts and figures to pore over.
At the behest of Candice Gilmer, I'm going to be testing out some promotional efforts during the month of December. We'll see how it goes. And then, of course, I'll have to come back and provide some results from the test.
Showing posts with label sales info. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sales info. Show all posts
17 November 2017
05 December 2015
Sales Update - December 2015
Yikes, guess it's been a whole year since my most previous sales update. I'm finally getting around to posting some updated numbers. Here goes:
Heroes Die Young has sold 504 copies (print and e-book total), which means 24 copies have sold in the last year (for a total of around 2 copies a month). This compares to 13 copies sold in the prior six months, so sales are holding fairly steady. September was the seven-year anniversary of its release, so around 70 copies per year.
Friends in Deed has sold is chugging along at 143 copies (print and e-book total), which means that 9 copies have sold in the last year. This compares to around 9 copies sold in the prior six months, so sales are a bit down (cut in half). January marks the six-year anniversary of this one, so the average is around 25 copies per year.
Seeker is struggling along at 112 copies (print and e-book), so 15 copies have sold since the last update. This compares to 5 copies during the prior prior six months, so sales are a bit up for this one. December was the 5-year anniversary for this novel, which means we're running just under an average of around 25 copies per year.
Fallen is new since the prior update, and is struggling along at 27 copies sold (print and e-book), April is the 2-year anniversary for this novel, which means we're running around 15 copies per year).
Dead or Alive has sold 103 copies, which means 2 copies have sold in the last year, compared to 3 copies over the prior six months. This title came out in February 2011, which means that we're seeing an average of around 20 copies a year. My publisher on this one has indicated that the rights will be coming back to me on this one soon, so stay tuned...
Dirty Dozen is new to the update this year (from around August 2015), so we'll forgo any sales info on this one for now.
The Cure has now sold 119 total copies (print and e-book total), so 14 copies have sold in the past year, compared to 1 copy during the previous update. The sales on this one seem to roller-coaster, with terrible sales in the previous update, and great sales in the update before that. This book came out in July 2011), so I'm seeing sales of around 25 copies per year.
Death Brings Victory was released in March 2012, and 76 total copies have sold in the last year, meaning 6 copies have sold since the last update, compared to 6 copies during the prior six months, so sales are again cut in half. This puts it on track with most of my other titles, at around 20 copies per year.
I now have five Triple-Shot collections out, with the first having been released in November 2011, the second in July 2012, the third in September 2013, the fourth in August 2014, and the fifth in October 2015. 120 copies have sold, so 13 copies sold since my last update (versus 21 copies from the previous update). Breaking this down, 59 total copies of the first have sold (3 since the last update), 31 of the second (3 since the last update), 20 of the third (2 since the last update), 5 of the fourth (0 since the last update), and 0 of the fifth.
I also have my collaboration with Lyndon Perry, Escape. This title has been out two years now. I haven't gotten an update from Lyndon on all of his sales, but counting the last numbers I had from him and including my own personal sales, 25 copies have sold, so 9 copies have sold in the last year (compared to 2 in the previous update), for an average of around 2 copies per month.
Now for the analysis of this latest period:
Since my prior update, I've sold 119 books (compared to 60 books during the previous six-month update), so sales are still holding steady at about an average of 10 books per month.
And so I have a statistic when people ask (and quite often they do), the latest "total sales" number now stands at 1229 copies (counting all titles). This is why daddy drinks (if I did)...
Sadly, the low numbers cause me to lament why I spend time writing, which means I don't feel like writing more or promoting, which means the sales numbers will continue to stagnate...a vicious cycle.
Until next time, enjoy the statistics, and good sales to us all!
Thanks for stopping by!
Heroes Die Young has sold 504 copies (print and e-book total), which means 24 copies have sold in the last year (for a total of around 2 copies a month). This compares to 13 copies sold in the prior six months, so sales are holding fairly steady. September was the seven-year anniversary of its release, so around 70 copies per year.
The Cure has now sold 119 total copies (print and e-book total), so 14 copies have sold in the past year, compared to 1 copy during the previous update. The sales on this one seem to roller-coaster, with terrible sales in the previous update, and great sales in the update before that. This book came out in July 2011), so I'm seeing sales of around 25 copies per year.
I now have five Triple-Shot collections out, with the first having been released in November 2011, the second in July 2012, the third in September 2013, the fourth in August 2014, and the fifth in October 2015. 120 copies have sold, so 13 copies sold since my last update (versus 21 copies from the previous update). Breaking this down, 59 total copies of the first have sold (3 since the last update), 31 of the second (3 since the last update), 20 of the third (2 since the last update), 5 of the fourth (0 since the last update), and 0 of the fifth.
Now for the analysis of this latest period:
Since my prior update, I've sold 119 books (compared to 60 books during the previous six-month update), so sales are still holding steady at about an average of 10 books per month.
And so I have a statistic when people ask (and quite often they do), the latest "total sales" number now stands at 1229 copies (counting all titles). This is why daddy drinks (if I did)...
Sadly, the low numbers cause me to lament why I spend time writing, which means I don't feel like writing more or promoting, which means the sales numbers will continue to stagnate...a vicious cycle.
Until next time, enjoy the statistics, and good sales to us all!
Thanks for stopping by!
30 December 2014
Sales Update - December 2014
It's been another six months since my most recent sales update in June, so I have some updated numbers. Here goes:
Heroes Die Young also recently went into self-published status after contract termination, similar to Friends in Deed. Like that title, I'll stick with the total across both version in future updates, but will be separated for this one. The previous version sold 1 copy since June (the transition happened around September or so), while the new version has sold 12 copies, for a total of 480 sales (print and e-book total), which means 13 copies have sold since June (for a total of around 2 copies a month over the past six months). This compares to 25 copies sold in the December 2013 - June 2014 range, so sales are a bit down. September was the six-year anniversary of its release, so just under 80 copies per year.
Friends in Deed is chugging along at 134 copies (print and e-book total), which means that 9 copies have sold since December. This compares to around 25 copies during the previous reporting period (which also includes some of those self-accounting issues on the original version). January marks the five-year anniversary of this one, so the average is just over 25 copies per year.
Seeker is struggling along at 97 copies (print and e-book), so only 5 copies have sold since the last update (compared to 8 copies during last June's update). December is the 4-year anniversary for this novel, which means we're running just under an average of around 25 copies per year).
Dead or Alive has sold 101 copies, which means 3 copies have sold since June for a total of just 1 copy every other month over the past six months, compared to 15 copies over the previous twelve months. This title came out in February 2011, which means that we're seeing an average of about 25 copies a year.
The Cure has now sold 108 total copies (print and e-book total), so 1 copy has sold since my past update, compared to 14 copies during the previous update (a significant decrease over the past year, even). This book has been out over 3 years (the anniversary is in July 2011), so I'm seeing around 35 copies per year.
Death Brings Victory was released three years ago this past March, and 70 total copies have sold, meaning 6 copies have sold since the last update, compared to 4 copies during the previous update. This puts it on track with most of my other novels, at just over 25 copies per year.
I now have four Triple-Shot collections out, with the first having been released in November 2011, the second in July 2012, the third in September 2013, and the fourth in August 2014. 107 copies have sold, so 21 copies sold since my last update (versus 9 copies from the previous update). Breaking this down, 56 total copies of the first have sold (7 since the last update), 28 of the second (4 since the last update), 18 of the third (5 since the last update), and 5 of the fourth.
I also have my collaboration with Lyndon Perry, Escape. This title has been out a year now. I haven't gotten an update from Lyndon on all of his sales, but counting the last numbers I had from him and including my own personal sales, 16 copies have sold, so 2 copies have sold since June, for an average of just over 1 copy per month.
Now for the analysis of this latest period:
Since my latest update (June, except as noted above), I've sold 60 books compared to 114 books during the previous update for an average of 10 books per month.
And so I have a statistic when people ask (and quite often they do), the latest "total sales" number now stands at 1113 copies (counting all titles). I wish I could say I was glad for this number, but comparing it to other authors I know (which they say you should never do), it just makes it obvious why my motivation has been in the toilet as of late. Such is life, I suppose.
So, until next time, enjoy the statistics, and good sales to us all!
Thanks for stopping by!
Heroes Die Young also recently went into self-published status after contract termination, similar to Friends in Deed. Like that title, I'll stick with the total across both version in future updates, but will be separated for this one. The previous version sold 1 copy since June (the transition happened around September or so), while the new version has sold 12 copies, for a total of 480 sales (print and e-book total), which means 13 copies have sold since June (for a total of around 2 copies a month over the past six months). This compares to 25 copies sold in the December 2013 - June 2014 range, so sales are a bit down. September was the six-year anniversary of its release, so just under 80 copies per year.
The Cure has now sold 108 total copies (print and e-book total), so 1 copy has sold since my past update, compared to 14 copies during the previous update (a significant decrease over the past year, even). This book has been out over 3 years (the anniversary is in July 2011), so I'm seeing around 35 copies per year.
I now have four Triple-Shot collections out, with the first having been released in November 2011, the second in July 2012, the third in September 2013, and the fourth in August 2014. 107 copies have sold, so 21 copies sold since my last update (versus 9 copies from the previous update). Breaking this down, 56 total copies of the first have sold (7 since the last update), 28 of the second (4 since the last update), 18 of the third (5 since the last update), and 5 of the fourth.
Now for the analysis of this latest period:
Since my latest update (June, except as noted above), I've sold 60 books compared to 114 books during the previous update for an average of 10 books per month.
And so I have a statistic when people ask (and quite often they do), the latest "total sales" number now stands at 1113 copies (counting all titles). I wish I could say I was glad for this number, but comparing it to other authors I know (which they say you should never do), it just makes it obvious why my motivation has been in the toilet as of late. Such is life, I suppose.
So, until next time, enjoy the statistics, and good sales to us all!
Thanks for stopping by!
02 June 2014
Sales Update - June 2014
Hard to believe it's been another six months since my most recent sales update in December, but I do have some updated numbers. So, here goes:
Heroes Die Young has sold a total of 467 sales (print and e-book total), which means 25 copies have sold since December (for a total of just over 4 copies a month over the past six months). This compares to 16 copies sold in the June 2013 - December 2013 range, so sales are a bit up. The six-year anniversary for this one is coming up in September, so we're still dropping well below the average of 100 copies per year.
Friends in Deed recently went into self-published status after I terminated the contract I had. I discovered some discrepancies in my past tabulations (silly spreadsheet formulas) that have since been corrected. In future sales updates, I'll just stick with the total across both versions. As this is a new change, though, I'll list them separately as well. The previous version sold 112 copies (I assume all sales have already been accounted for, but we'll see), and the new version (out since February) has sold 13, for a total of 125 copies (print and e-book total), which means that 25 copies have sold since December (which also includes some of those self-accounting issues on the original version). This compares to around 4 copies during the previous reporting period. January marked the four-year anniversary of this one, so the average is around 30 copies per year. I will mention that my sales of the original version for all of 2013 (counting royalty statements in 2013 and 2014) were 9 copies, and the new version has sold 13 copies in the course of about four months. New cover and a lower price...I think we have a future blog post in the works...
Seeker has gone back into sales mode, and has also become a print title. So, going back to the June 2013 sales update (the last time I recorded paid sales), both versions have now sold 92 copies (print and e-book), so only 8 copies have sold since the last update (compared to 5 copies during that June update), although the change-over to paid happened around the last month or two. December was the 3-year anniversary for this novel, which means we're on track for an average of around 30 copies per year).
Dead or Alive has sold 98 copies, which means 15 copies have sold since last June (for a total of just over 1 copy a month over the past twelve months), since I hadn't yet received reporting at the December update. This title came out in February 2011, which means that we're seeing an average of about 30 copies a year.
The Cure has now sold 107 total copies (print and e-book total), so 14 copies have sold since my past update, compared to 10 copies during the previous update. This book has been out nearly 3 years (the anniversary is in July), so I'm seeing a around 35 copies per year.
Death Brings Victory was released two years ago this past March, and 64 total copies have sold, meaning 4 copies have sold since the last update, compared to 12 copies during the previous update. This puts it on track with most of my other novels, at just around 30 copies per year. Although sales are down considerably in this six-month stretch, I'm hopeful that all of the sales this year of Friends in Deed will lead to future sales of this title.
I have three Triple-Shot collections out, with the first having been released in November 2011, the second in July 2012, and the third in September 2013. 86 copies have sold, so 9 copies sold since my last update (versus 37 copies from the previous update). Breaking this down, 49 total copies of the first have sold, 24 of the second, and 13 of the third. So, since the last update, 5 copies of the first have sold, 1 of the second, and 3 of the third. I do have to wonder whether I'm doing myself a disservice with the similarity of covers between the first and second collections.
My newest title is my collaboration with Lyndon Perry, Escape. I would put in the cover, but my web browser isn't playing nice with Blogger at the moment. This title was just coming out in December as I gave my previous update. I haven't gotten an update from Lyndon on all of his sales, but counting the last numbers I had from him and including my own personal sales, 14 copies have sold, for an average of about 2 copies per month.
Now for the analysis of this latest period:
Since my latest update (December, except as noted above), I've sold 114 books compared to 79 books during the previous update for an average of just under 20 books per month.
And so I have a statistic when people ask (and quite often they do), the latest "total sales" number now stands at 1053 copies (counting all titles).
If we put together the last twelve months of sales (not counting Seeker, which just went back into the paid sales column, nor Escape which has only been out a few months), I see the following:
HDY: 41 (last time, 25)
FID: 29 (last time, 6)
DBV: 16 (last time, 23)
DOA: 15
Cure: 24 (last time, 26)
Triple-Shots: 46 (last time, 49)
Not too bad, I suppose, to have 139 paid sales over a 12-month period...about the same as last time(129)...would still like to do better.
So, until next time, enjoy the statistics, and good sales to us all!
Thanks for stopping by!
Heroes Die Young has sold a total of 467 sales (print and e-book total), which means 25 copies have sold since December (for a total of just over 4 copies a month over the past six months). This compares to 16 copies sold in the June 2013 - December 2013 range, so sales are a bit up. The six-year anniversary for this one is coming up in September, so we're still dropping well below the average of 100 copies per year.
The Cure has now sold 107 total copies (print and e-book total), so 14 copies have sold since my past update, compared to 10 copies during the previous update. This book has been out nearly 3 years (the anniversary is in July), so I'm seeing a around 35 copies per year.
I have three Triple-Shot collections out, with the first having been released in November 2011, the second in July 2012, and the third in September 2013. 86 copies have sold, so 9 copies sold since my last update (versus 37 copies from the previous update). Breaking this down, 49 total copies of the first have sold, 24 of the second, and 13 of the third. So, since the last update, 5 copies of the first have sold, 1 of the second, and 3 of the third. I do have to wonder whether I'm doing myself a disservice with the similarity of covers between the first and second collections.
My newest title is my collaboration with Lyndon Perry, Escape. I would put in the cover, but my web browser isn't playing nice with Blogger at the moment. This title was just coming out in December as I gave my previous update. I haven't gotten an update from Lyndon on all of his sales, but counting the last numbers I had from him and including my own personal sales, 14 copies have sold, for an average of about 2 copies per month.
Now for the analysis of this latest period:
Since my latest update (December, except as noted above), I've sold 114 books compared to 79 books during the previous update for an average of just under 20 books per month.
And so I have a statistic when people ask (and quite often they do), the latest "total sales" number now stands at 1053 copies (counting all titles).
If we put together the last twelve months of sales (not counting Seeker, which just went back into the paid sales column, nor Escape which has only been out a few months), I see the following:
HDY: 41 (last time, 25)
FID: 29 (last time, 6)
DBV: 16 (last time, 23)
DOA: 15
Cure: 24 (last time, 26)
Triple-Shots: 46 (last time, 49)
Not too bad, I suppose, to have 139 paid sales over a 12-month period...about the same as last time(129)...would still like to do better.
So, until next time, enjoy the statistics, and good sales to us all!
Thanks for stopping by!
16 April 2014
Some E-Book Sales Statistics
So, I was putting together some figures the other day for tallying up a "total e-book sales" number (because it was being asked for). And as I'm big on stats as it is, I decided I'd post a few. Since we've only been through three full months this year, I'm ignoring my 2014 sales.
Heroes Die Young was released in 2008.
Friends in Deed and Seeker were both released in 2010.
Dead or Alive, The Cure, and my first Triple-Shot (Dead Man's Forge) were all released in 2011.
Death Brings Victory and my second Triple-Shot (Temptation) were released in 2012.
My third Triple-Shot (Downtrodden) was released in 2013.
Total sales across all of my titles (again, only through 2013) is 645 since Heroes Die Young was released. A rather piddly sum, I know, but that's life. All of that in mind, I've had the following sales per title per year (for convenience, I've also included total sales per year.
So, I hesitate to start making conclusions based on these stats, since it's been proven over and over that sometimes blind luck can cause sales. And looking through the numbers, there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to sales leading to more sales (of later books in the series, etc.). However, even with all of that in mind, at least one thing seems to stick out.
Generating new material for publication can generally help sales. I had three releases in 2011, and saw a marked increase. I followed that up with two more releases in 2012. With those five new titles, my sales in 2012 were five times higher than in 2010. Granted, in 2013, I had no major releases (other than the third Triple-Shot), so my sales dropped off last year. So, not only is it necessary to continue to produce new material, but it's also important to continue to do so on a regular pace. This is something I struggle with, myself, and need to work on. Hopefully this can help motivate me...
Heroes Die Young was released in 2008.
Friends in Deed and Seeker were both released in 2010.
Dead or Alive, The Cure, and my first Triple-Shot (Dead Man's Forge) were all released in 2011.
Death Brings Victory and my second Triple-Shot (Temptation) were released in 2012.
My third Triple-Shot (Downtrodden) was released in 2013.
Total sales across all of my titles (again, only through 2013) is 645 since Heroes Die Young was released. A rather piddly sum, I know, but that's life. All of that in mind, I've had the following sales per title per year (for convenience, I've also included total sales per year.
| HDY | FID | DBV | DOA | |
| 2008 | 95 | |||
| 2009 | 33 | |||
| 2010 | 9 | 28 | ||
| 2011 | 27 | 15 | 13 | |
| 2012 | 50 | 22 | 35 | 47 |
| 2013 | 14 | 5 | 13 | 2 |
| DMF | TEMPT | DT | Seeker | Cure | |
| 2008 | |||||
| 2009 | |||||
| 2010 | 10 | ||||
| 2011 | 6 | 38 | 15 | ||
| 2012 | 22 | 8 | 27 | 42 | |
| 2013 | 16 | 15 | 10 | 13 | 15 |
| Total | |
| 2008 | 95 |
| 2009 | 33 |
| 2010 | 47 |
| 2011 | 114 |
| 2012 | 253 |
| 2013 | 103 |
So, I hesitate to start making conclusions based on these stats, since it's been proven over and over that sometimes blind luck can cause sales. And looking through the numbers, there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to sales leading to more sales (of later books in the series, etc.). However, even with all of that in mind, at least one thing seems to stick out.
Generating new material for publication can generally help sales. I had three releases in 2011, and saw a marked increase. I followed that up with two more releases in 2012. With those five new titles, my sales in 2012 were five times higher than in 2010. Granted, in 2013, I had no major releases (other than the third Triple-Shot), so my sales dropped off last year. So, not only is it necessary to continue to produce new material, but it's also important to continue to do so on a regular pace. This is something I struggle with, myself, and need to work on. Hopefully this can help motivate me...
24 February 2014
ConDFW Recap
Well, I've returned from my annual pilgrimage to Dallas for ConDFW...
Had a great time, with just the right mix of panels and dealer table time. This year seemed especially productive in the sales department, with more sales this year than all of the other years I've attended. I also sold out of two of my books, which is also a first for me. It seemed to me like the traffic flowing through the dealer's room had increased, but others seemed to think it was down.
I was a bit disappointed that I wasn't able to sell some of my friends' books, as I used to be able to do that in my sleep. It may be that I just need to practice the elevator speech for those titles.
Panels were good (although I'm not sure how I didn't get tossed on the panel about writing sequels...), and met a couple of new (to me) writers through the process, both of whom are published with some of the larger houses. Decided to go and check out their work on my Nook, so I'll report back once I'm finished...
All in all, I had a great time and looking forward to next year.
Had a great time, with just the right mix of panels and dealer table time. This year seemed especially productive in the sales department, with more sales this year than all of the other years I've attended. I also sold out of two of my books, which is also a first for me. It seemed to me like the traffic flowing through the dealer's room had increased, but others seemed to think it was down.
I was a bit disappointed that I wasn't able to sell some of my friends' books, as I used to be able to do that in my sleep. It may be that I just need to practice the elevator speech for those titles.
Panels were good (although I'm not sure how I didn't get tossed on the panel about writing sequels...), and met a couple of new (to me) writers through the process, both of whom are published with some of the larger houses. Decided to go and check out their work on my Nook, so I'll report back once I'm finished...
All in all, I had a great time and looking forward to next year.
14 December 2013
Sales Update - December 2013
It's been around six months since my most recent sales update in June, and I have a few updated numbers. So, here goes:
Friends in Deed has sold a total of 100 copies (print and e-book total), which means that 4 copies have sold since June (for a total of around 1 copy every four months). This compares to around 2 copies during the previous reporting period. This January marks the four-year anniversary of this one, so the average is around 25 copies per year. As such, I've decided to go ahead and let my contract with Champagne expire on this one come January. Still working out what to do with it after that, sp we'll see what happens.
I've decided to keep Seeker on the free giveaway list, so have stopped recording paid sales. On average, I seem to give away about 150-200 copies each month. Hopefully that leads to a few paid sales on the other titles.
Dead or Alive is still sitting at 83 copies, as I haven't received a reporting of sales since the last update. So, as such, the book is still running about 2-4 copies a month at last count.
The Cure has now sold 93 total copies (print and e-book total), so 10 copies have sold since my past update, compared to 16 copies during the previous update. This book has been out over 2 years (the anniversary was in July), so again I'm seeing a little over 40 copies per year.
Death Brings Victory was released two years ago this coming March, and 60 total copies have sold, meaning 12 copies have sold since the last update, compared to 11 copies during the previous update. This puts it on track with most of my other novels, at just over 40 copies per year. It will be interesting to see, depending on what I choose to do with the previous book in the series, how sales will be impacted.
I now have three Triple-Shot collections out, with the first having been released in November 2011, the second in July 2012, and the third in September 2013. 77 copies have sold, so 37 copies sold since my last update (versus 12 copies from the previous update). Breaking this down, 44 total copies of the first have sold, 23 of the second, and 10 of the third.
Now for the analysis of this latest period:
Things seems to have stabilized, and not in a good place. Since my latest update (June), I've sold 79 books compared to 63 books during the previous update for an average of just over 10 books per month.
And so I have a statistic when people ask (and quite often they do), the latest "total sales" number now stands at 855 copies (note: this does not count past sales of Seeker...).
And if we put together the last twelve months of sales, I see the following (not counting Seeker, nor DOA, which hasn't had enough records provided):
HDY: 25
FID: 6
DBV: 23
Cure: 26
Triple-Shots: 49
Not to bad, I suppose, to have 129 paid sales in a year...not good, but could be worse...
Alas, I still have a novella and a novel to complete. As you may have already seen, I do have a collaboration effort novella that should have a few sales as well. And although I won't be counting sales of the collection my short story "Ever Dark" is in, I'm hopeful that this will lead to sales of my other titles as well.
Thanks for stopping by!
Heroes Die Young has sold a total of 442 sales (print and e-book total), which means 16 copies have sold since June (for a total of just over 2 copies a month over the past six months). This compares to 9 copies sold in the November 2012 - June 2013 range, so sales are a bit up. The five-year anniversary for this one was in September, so we're now dropping below the average of 100 copies per year.
The Cure has now sold 93 total copies (print and e-book total), so 10 copies have sold since my past update, compared to 16 copies during the previous update. This book has been out over 2 years (the anniversary was in July), so again I'm seeing a little over 40 copies per year.
I now have three Triple-Shot collections out, with the first having been released in November 2011, the second in July 2012, and the third in September 2013. 77 copies have sold, so 37 copies sold since my last update (versus 12 copies from the previous update). Breaking this down, 44 total copies of the first have sold, 23 of the second, and 10 of the third.
Now for the analysis of this latest period:
Things seems to have stabilized, and not in a good place. Since my latest update (June), I've sold 79 books compared to 63 books during the previous update for an average of just over 10 books per month.
And so I have a statistic when people ask (and quite often they do), the latest "total sales" number now stands at 855 copies (note: this does not count past sales of Seeker...).
And if we put together the last twelve months of sales, I see the following (not counting Seeker, nor DOA, which hasn't had enough records provided):
HDY: 25
FID: 6
DBV: 23
Cure: 26
Triple-Shots: 49
Not to bad, I suppose, to have 129 paid sales in a year...not good, but could be worse...
Alas, I still have a novella and a novel to complete. As you may have already seen, I do have a collaboration effort novella that should have a few sales as well. And although I won't be counting sales of the collection my short story "Ever Dark" is in, I'm hopeful that this will lead to sales of my other titles as well.
Thanks for stopping by!
05 August 2013
Do Free Giveaways Impact Sales?
As many of you (hopefully) know, my e-book Seeker has been available for free since the last part of May on most sites. One of the benefits I've hoped for out of this experiment is to see a jump in sales of my for-pay titles. I will mention that as of the end of July, 591 copies had been given away on Amazon.
So, I'll take a look at some of the titles for which I receive instantaneous sales data (i.e., my self-published titles)...starting with my Triple-Shots, which are available for 99 cents each.
So, before Seeker was free, for the first 5 months of the year, these titles sold a combined 2 copies at Amazon. Fairly dismal, especially since they're relatively cheap to pick up. Perhaps people see the low price and assume that they're poor quality...that's another post for another time. But after Seeker was set to free, for the last two months or so, they've combined for a total of 17 sales at Amazon, a major jump in sales over a much shorter period of time. My impression is that folks read the free title, realize that I actually have the ability to spin a fine story, and then pick up the 99-cent titles.
The Cure, on the other hand, didn't seem to enjoy the same benefit. No copies sold the first five months of this year, and only 1 copy sold since. That's understandable, since Seeker is an Aston West novel, and The Cure isn't (even though it does come into play in my next planned Aston novel.
Death Brings Victory, another Aston-based novel, hadn't sold a copy in the first five months at Amazon, but has sold 6 copies since then. A huge jump, to be sure, but not as significant as the Triple-Shots mentioned earlier. Part of this is likely due to the larger price ($2.99 vs. $0.99), but another aspect is likely the fact that this is the third in the series, and readers likely want to try out the first two novels before this one.
Just off Author Central data, I did see an uptick in sales on those first two novels, but quantities won't be known for some time (waiting on royalty statements).
So, do free giveaways impact sales? Just from this data, I'd give a resounding yes...and if you're looking to help out your own sales, give it a try. One thing I will note is that the last two months have been a continuous streak of free giveaway days. I had a book enrolled in the KDP Select program previously, and the 5 days every 90 did not seem to have the same effect. Keep that in mind...
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