Here are some highlights in my year of publication (mingled with some of the bad stuff too). All figures are as of Monday, July 4.
Number of books I’ve self-published: (3)
Genres and formats: (2) historical fiction in ebook and paperback – novels, (1)contemporary women’s fiction – novella
Official dates of publication: On Falcon’s Wings (July 2010), Sultana (February 2011), Long Way Home (July 2011)
Number of Copies Sold: On Falcon’s Wings (68 – paperback, 611 – ebook), Sultana (18 – paperback, 223 – ebook), Long Way Home (3 – ebook only)
Revenue Earned: On Falcon’s Wings ($1,017.86), Sultana ($631.72), Long Way Home ($1.43)
Expenses (copyright, cover art, review copies, other promotion): On Falcon’s Wings ($562.06), Sultana ($378.85), Long Way Home ($0)
Net Profit: On Falcon’s Wings ($455.80), Sultana($252.87), Long Way Home ($1.43)
Best Sales Month: On Falcon’s Wings (March 2011 – 67), Sultana (June 2011 – 52)
Worst Sales Month: On Falcon’s Wings (July 2010 – 6), Sultana(February 2011 – 10)
Best Amazon Paid Sales Rank: On Falcon’s Wings (#7,993 – ebook), Sultana (#16,762 – ebook)
Worst Amazon Paid Sales Rank: On Falcon’s Wings (#1,994,394- paperback), Sultana (#2,404,935 -paperback)
The first sale happened: On Falcon’s Wings (Kindle – Amazon.com – 11 days after publication), Sultana (Kindle – Amazon.com – 4 days after publication), Long Way Home (Kindle – Amazon.com – 1 hour after publication)
Longest period without a sale: On Falcon’s Wings (14 days from August 4, 2010), Sultana (9 days from March 6, 2011)
Number of freebies: On Falcon’s Wings (21,505), Sultana (37)
The inclusion of freebies has skewed my sales data a lot. On Falcon’s Wings was offered as a freebie June 6 – July 2 through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Smashwords and Sony. It resulted in 21,497 downloads, of which 21,292 came from Amazon alone. If I counted the freebies, in addition to increasing ebook numbers:
• My top Amazon sales ranking for On Falcon’s Wings would have been #1. (I even have a screenshot that proves it!)
• Amazon also gives a pittance (I do mean a pittance) on freebies, so there is an additional $127.45 in earnings on the freebies that I don’t account for in the revenue above.
For some inexplicable reason, Amazon has made On Falcon’s Wings free again as of July 7. So, my data will continue to be skewed, but I appreciate the increased downloads and the additional 4 reviews that have come in.
First thing I bought with my earnings: Added money to my MetroCard. Deposit came just in time for me to go work the next morning.
Last thing I bought with my earnings: A $20 promotional spot for Sultana this month on Indie eBooks blog.
How I felt when I got my first bad review from a stranger: Like shit. Cried for a bit, cursed out the reviewer in my head. Although I thanked her for the review, I really just wanted to smash her face in with my paperback. I’ve aged since then into a thick-skinned, 35-year old woman, rather than remaining a 5-year old with a temper tantrum.
Leave a comment