by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
My income from self-publishing has varied since I first put a title up last August and followed it with another in November.
I’ve seen income as high as several months at about $1700 monthly income for one title.
I’ve seen it as low as $350 ,total, one month for two titles.
I don’t do any advertising. I don’t have time to mess a lot with the price or to put well-placed ads on reader-oriented sites. I haven’t done cool things like teasers for the next book in the series at the end of each book. I don’t tweet or Facebook my books. I don’t force Amazon to list books for free by having them run free on Smashwords. I haven’t blog-toured during these releases or held giveaways or run contests. Basically, I’m not doing any of the things I’m supposed to be doing, as a smart self-published author, because I’m always scrambling to hit my deadlines.
So…when sales fluctuate wildly, it’s not really the result of something I’ve done. But, as I’ll explain below, it can result from what I haven’t done.
I just do exactly what you see me do—blog,
tweet, update Google +, and use Facebook (although I don’t Facebook
much). These promotional things that I do are usually focused on writers, not readers. I’m a little shy with readers.
I’m obviously not becoming one of those Kindle millionaires we’re always reading about. Although the extra income is more than welcome.
I’m frequently completely puzzled by my results–both good and bad. This week, I saw Dyeing Shame go to #7 on the Amazon women sleuths chart…above one of Janet Evanovich’s. Yeah, it was priced at $.99 to get attention….but it had been at that price for a couple of months. I have absolutely no idea what made the thing suddenly jump up the chart like that. I understood the surge in sales last month, when I had a new release from Penguin. But why in July? So I’m tracking to make more in sales this month for both books than I usually do.
What seems to bring in more sales:
1. When I’ve got one book priced at $.99 and another priced at either $2.99 or $3.99. I’m not saying this is the right thing to do…but I’ve made a lot more money when this has been the case. So, when I’ve had a loss leader (using grocery store parlance), I’ve had higher volume of sales and more general income.
2. When I’ve had a traditionally published release and then have had a book for $.99 and one priced (moderately) higher.
A note: I’ve made more money following a traditionally published release in my own name (i.e., the recent Quilt or Innocence release) than following a release with a pen name (the November 2011 release of Hickory Smoked Homicide as Riley Adams.) This tells me that readers are looking for other books under my real name.
Sales were brisk the first full month after I launched each self-pubbed title. I’m imagining this is due to the fact that I’m writing for a particular subgenre (cozy/traditional mystery) and when there are new books available in that niche, readers are immediately downloading them.
My costs for the projects were recouped in the first month for one book and about a month and a half for the other. Again, this is specific to me and my own experiences. But on average I put in about $550—$600 upfront on the books (editing, covers, formatting).
My main discovery from this process is that I do need to keep track of the sales. I don’t do this for my traditionally published titles—I avoid sales figures at all costs and just focus on writing the best books I can. But for self-pub, when you’re the one in charge of visibility and sales for the title, you need to check in at least once a month. If sales are slow, try something different…probably in regards to pricing. Otherwise, it’s likely going to continue a downward spiral. This is what happened that really slow month that I referenced at the start of the post. I was struggling under a couple of deadlines a few months ago and paying absolutely no attention whatsoever to what was going on with those books. They were both priced at $3.99 and fell in rankings and I never even spared a moment to glance at Amazon to check on them.
From a production standpoint, I’ve learned that I have to think ahead in terms of reserving editors, artists, and formatters. Last year I was ready to put my first self-published book through the production process and everyone I contacted was busy. This time I will contact everyone on my team before I complete my final draft.
I’ve been somewhat unprepared for readers who’ve contacted me asking about print editions of the Myrtle Clover books. A few readers who started reading the series with the trade paperback debut several years ago have been upset, actually, that I had e-versions only of the books and no print copies. I tried to make it up to several by sending them a free PDF of the ebooks. I’m not in the business to alienate readers. I may need to reconsider using CreateSpace.
Although some authors have relished the feeling of complete control over their book that self-publishing provides, I don’t enjoy it that part of it as much….that’s because I’m just so busy in both my personal and professional life that I don’t enjoy scraping together time for the nuts-and-bolts of the production process. I’m happy handing it over to people I’ve vetted and trust.
What I’ve found incredibly gratifying is the response from readers. They’ve bought the books, they’ve emailed me and Facebooked me. They’ve enabled me to continue writing a series that had basically ended in 2009. Their interest in the series has encouraged me to keep writing Myrtle Clover books and spend more time with a character I enjoy writing. And the extra income has been nice, too.
I’m thinking that niche books with built-in, dedicated audiences (like cozy mysteries) tend to do well with self-publishing. It certainly doesn’t hurt, in my observations, to have traditionally published books releasing regularly, either.
If you’ve dipped your toes in the self-publishing pool, what have you learned? What are your thoughts on it so far?
Hi Elizabeth .. I’d always imagined you were publishing like this – in your down to earth way .. fascinating reading .. and I’ll be so interested to read others’ comments ..
Cheers Hilary
Elizabeth – Thank you for sharing your experience with self-publishing. I haven’t tried that yet but I can see that it is very time-consuming in terms of putting together a quality book (beyond the writing of the book, I mean) and making it available for sale. When one self-publishes, that’s really running one’s own business and it takes up time. But it seems to give one some flexibility too. Like any other publishing choice it’s got pros and cons. I think it’s probably very helpful to you too that you already had an author presence before you took the decision to self-publish.
I have two self-published cozy Victorian San Francisco mysteries set in San Francisco, and from my experience, your conclusions are spot on. Not having the deadlines you are dealing with, I spend more time with marketing, and check my sales ranking daily, but the end result is pretty much the same.
There are two ways to sell a ebook on line–drive people to go to Amazon, Barnes and Noble, looking for that book, and making sure your book is visible so that people who are browsing for a book in your genre (or price point) will see it.
Your traditionally published books and fan base, plus your social media presence does a lot to drive people to look for your books. Hence the uptick when you put out a new book, people are reminded to look for your other ones.
But making sure that your books stay visible, or increase their visibility on best seller lists like women sleuths, is the best way to ensure that the casual browser will find them. Here is where the loss leader is important if you have lots of books. Or for someone like me, with just 2 book, it limited free promotion gets me good reviews, word of mouth, and a push up the historical mystery bestseller lists.
PS. Do put out a POD CreateSpace version, it really is easy to do, you already have a cover and product description that should be easy to turn into a full cover, and it means those fans who haven’t yet converted to ebooks won’t be disappointed. I don’t sell very many books compared to my ebooks, but I know that it is often my most devoted fans who want the print copy.
M. Louisa Locke,
Maids of Misfortune and Uneasy Spirits
I like reading your experiences. It’s very helpful.
T
No tips here, since I am just starting to embark on the indie/self publishing journey, but I do so appreciate you sharing these tips from your own experience, and I’ll be curious to read what others have to say as well. Thank you!
Your observations sound spot on to me.
I would only add that one thing people don’t realize is the long term effect of things. There is often a delay between something we do and the effect.
For instance you saw a surge a month after your Penguin release. They probably are at least somewhat related. Think about it: people buy books at release time in bookstores, because that’s when they come across them. They may not read them right away. (And even if they do, they may be slow readers.)
So it may be more than a month, even, before they go looking for that follow up book.
Same with sampling: Sometimes a new author does things to get buzz, but sees no sales from it. She frets over whether the price is too high and thinks the whole thing was a failure.
But very often, what happened was that, because she is new, people sampled rather than bought. And since people read their samples at different rates, by golly, the result of that effort could take years to trickle out.
I’m considering dipping my toes in these waters someday, so this is very helpful. It doesn’t surprise me at all that a cosy type series would do well with self pubbing. Readers tend to be loyal to settings and characters and are always interested in reading more! :)
I’m just getting started in the self-publishing arena, so it’s really helpful to read your post and the other comments. It’s good to know that ups and downs are common. Thanks.
Thanks for telling us about your experiences Elizabeth – it’s always interesting.
I have been self-publishing on Amazon and Smashwords for a little while now, and as I have never been traditionally published it has taken me a while to get anywhere with sales! Even now I am really only selling any visible numbers in the UK where I live. I also have the feeling that maybe a lot of my potential audience would prefer to read printed books, but I haven’t gone into that yet because of various issues – for instance, the mark-up required for a printed edition would make the books (in my opinion) too expensive.
Two things have helped me a lot. One is that I’ve managed to make the first novel in my mystery series permanently free on Amazon, which encourages people to give it a try, and the other is that I’ve written a couple of short stories for anthologies with other writers.
It’s quite difficult to find the time to do this as I work full-time as a database manager, and sometimes come home very tired, but it’s just something I’ve always wanted to do so I persevere.
Hilary–Thanks! I’m interested in reading their comments, too. :)
Margot–I think a platform helps and probably also (currently) a bookshelf presence. Not sure how long shelf presence will be an issue…the poor bookstores!
Louise–Hope this will help…know the others’ comments definitely will. :)
M. Louisa–I need to think about marketing the self-pubbed stuff…I’ve really flopped in that department. I’m wondering if early next year if I’ll have time to do a bit more with it.
I’m doing nothing with the driving people to Amazon and Barnes and Noble…or, if I am, it’s very subtle (a cover on my blog, etc.) Well, but I do have them listed with my trad. titles on my website, so maybe I *am* sending some traffic over. The visibility is working in my favor, but I think it has to do more with my pricing and my other releases.
That’s where I am right now…2 self-pubbed. I think, like you mentioned, it will be a lot better when we have more titles. I should have one out by the end of the year in that self-pubbed series and I’m wondering if I could even do something like a novella or a short story or two (carefully marked! I wouldn’t want someone to think they were getting a full-length novel) to fill in the gaps. If only there were more hours in the day!
I think my cover designer even gave me an attachment for use with print covers. Sigh. I’m sure it will take me a lot less time than I think to get something set up at CreateSpace…it’s just piecing that time together.
Teresa–Can’t wait to read one of yours!
The Daring Novelist–Oh…you know that makes a lot of sense. I tend to look for instant results, myself. For me, a book that came out June 5 means that it didn’t affect sales in late-July for a self-pubbed book. But you’re right–the trickle down can take a while. They *read* the first book and if they liked it, they got another by me.
Sampling a book…yeah, the sales from that could take a while. I know I have samples sitting on my Kindle right now waiting for me to read them. It could be a couple of months, at this rate, until I read them.
Sheila–I’ve wondered, like you, about the price in regards to printed books. But I’ve seen some CreateSpace books recently that seem fairly reasonably priced (I think in the $9 range).
You’ve been smart to increase your visibility that way with short stories. And your determination will get you far in this business.
Jemi–Hope you’ll consider it! I think the same would be true for almost any subgenre of any genre–space opera for SF/F, steampunk for SF/F, dystopian lit, etc.
While I’m not self-published, I do know my sales can fluctuate from month to month. No idea what I’m doing right when it goes up. (Sure my publisher has a better handle on that.) Mine have been doing well in the UK for the past few months and I still don’t know how it happened. (But it’s fun checking the rankings every day!)
Very interesting to hear your process and results… thanks for sharing!
Excellent post, Elizabeth. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. Success depends on marketing and getting your work out there. Your blog is one great place.
Great article, Elizabeth. Your honesty is much appreciated by all of us trying to find our way in this brave new world of publishing.
I agree with Louise Bates above about putting out a CreateSpace paperback — made the decision to do so for myself just a month ago when I realized that my professionally formatted mss., plus cover, made the expense negligible.
I am trying to build my blog, but I’m pretty much in the same situation as you when it comes to doing all the other aspects of promotion. There simply doesn’t seem to be time, if one is also busy writing the next book —
It’s curious about how many writers can’t seem to pinpoint why a book’s sales goes up at a given point in time (J.A. Konrath says the same thing).
Maybe I’m wrong, but it seems as if we can SELL or we can WRITE, but to do both full blast ahead is nearly impossible.
Jody
Elizabeth, I’m really enjoying these posts about your publishing experiences. It sounds like the thing to really keep in mind is that you have to keep an eye on self-pubbed books and remember you want readers to be happy with the version options. That might be more because you do have some books in print and therefore already an existing audience of readers who prefer print. People who publish e-book only are probably less likely to get such requests. Or maybe not?
Alex–Sometimes there’s just no way of knowing what makes something start selling. I wish I could pinpoint it!
Julie–Thanks!
Carol–They are…and I don’t think the downs last for long if we hop on them quickly.
Mary–Thanks so much for coming by!
Jody–I think I’m going to have to look at CreateSpace, just in response to the emails I’ve gotten. A couple of the readers seemed almost hurt over my decision…one of the emails was almost plaintive. The reader said she really just did *not* want to get an ereader (or read on her desktop. And there was no mention of a smart phone.) I felt bad about it, I honestly did.
My writing usually takes me about 1 hour a day..maybe a little more. Finding time to tweet and blog is probably another hour and a half…but it’s not direct promo. It’s really just branding.
I think you’re right about promo and writing. I’ve had a very busy writing schedule for the last year but it’s meant that I haven’t done any specific *marketing*. I’ve just kept doing my usual stuff on the blog, Twitter, Google +, etc. (which is, technically, writer-related and meant as a general platform for myself…not *exactly* for sales.) I’ve not developed any sort of marketing plan or blog toured…in fact, I didn’t even actively promote my *traditional* releases in June or last November, either.
Callie–I think so. I really dislike keeping on top of sales figures and things like that, so it’s tough for me–but I’m trying to be a big girl about it. Not fun!
The print thing was quite a surprise to me. I think it might be a combination of factors. For one, I have a pretty good-sized reader base that reads my *print* books from traditional publishing. I think they were surprised not to see print editions available of the Myrtle Clover books that I self-pubbed. For another, in several of the instances where I was contacted, the readers were elderly (in fact, a couple of those emails were from the daughters of the readers, emailing for them) and didn’t have ereaders and didn’t like reading on the computer….which I understand. I’ve read that the older population is actually the fastest growing segment of the ereader buying public, but it hasn’t caught up yet, I don’t think. I do have a lot of readers who are over the age of 65.
Thanks so much for sharing the details of your self-pubbing experience with us. And also for letting us see how simply establishing a “brand” can produce comfortable sales without tweeting “buy my book” every five minutes.
Congrats on the shout-out you got from Porter Anderson today. I wanted to tweet it, but Twitter has been down for quite a while today. Hope they can get it fixed soon.
Thanks, Anne. Yes, a general approach to visibility is all that I can really handle. But it does seem to work, which is the good news!
And thanks regarding the mention. Yes, Twitter has been a disaster today!
That’s good you can gauge what drives sales. It’s just amazing how many people buy ebooks now.
I am in a different genre and I think yours helps you. You definitely have a niche market. Every time I decide to throw in the towel, something happens to change my mind. You have a career. I have a pastime. I wish you continued success.
Diane–Well…I can, and I can’t! I wish I knew more about what drives the successful days, but I really have no clue.
Thanks, Elizabeth, for your transparency and your “clueless” attitude towards why some things work and others don’t. You don’t arrogantly tell us, “Do this and you’ll be successful.” You tell us, “Keep at it and something will/may work.” Love it. I’m pubbing my first e-book with Book Baby for kids. I’ve observed that kids are MUCH more likely to be attracted to iToys than to paper books, and I’m tapping that market. Had a bunch of kiddie lit published in paper the past few years, but most are now out of print. Title of next book: The Dragon Who Stole The Holidays.
This was totally fascinating. Thanks, Elizabeth!
Virginia–Maybe you just have a *budding* career. A writer is a writer! It’s definitely not a sales-driven definition. And who knows…maybe one day my niche won’t be one that’s as popular to read. When that day happens, I’ll experiment with some of the other genres that I enjoy reading (although mystery is my first love.) :)
Elaine–Thanks. :) It’s such a tricky thing for writers to figure out. Here we are, most of us with no degree in marketing or business–trying to make sense of a tremendous market that reaches across the world. Pricing and reaching out to specific niche markets may be our best bets. And then we can throw other ideas at our books (promotions, ads, giveaways, whatever) and just see what helps. I think, as the Daring Novelist pointed out, we have to also give our experiments time to work…there may be trickle-down effect with them.
Sounds like some great books! I think you’re right about kids–and I think ereaders could potentially be great solutions for reluctant readers, too. From a strictly mommy standpoint, I also see a strong potential market for those first, easy-reading books…the ones with only 20 or 25 words in them. I bought those in droves when mine were small. Sure would have been nice to have been able to download them.
Julie–Thanks!
I’ve been checking in about once a week with my Amazon Kindle sales trying to discover a pattern… and just today realized that I make most of my sales the last week of the month. I don’t know why this is, perhaps because it’s pay day for people? I was pretty good last year about submitting one of my books to a new book blogger once a month, but I’ve slacked off this year. But my sales are better this year?
The long-tail thing is real, I guess haha.
Belinda–It’s hard to say, isn’t it? I’ve driven myself batty trying to find connections. Pay day? Popular vacation time (people need something to read?)
I think you’re right about that long tail–maybe it’s the exposure from last year working for you now. Maybe your genre is really catching on with ereading public. Maybe the people who usually read your genre and *just now* getting ereaders and discovering your books in their favorite genre. So much to consider!
I self-published a historical novel a year ago. It is both an ebook and hard copy book so that it can sell at bookstores or by hand-selling at talks and conferences. I think that this is important for many readers still like a book that they can hold in their hands. My sales are steady and it has not only won a few awards and reviews, but is being picked up by book clubs which is an important source for getting the word.
Continued success with your writing.
historywriter–I think you’re right. Not everyone is on the ebook bandwagon yet and not having a print edition means missing out on sales. Congrats on your success!