Even with such low sales, I did get into the top 1.1% of book rankings with a rank of #8,627. Here are my rankings for the month of October:
Each of the sudden cliffs is a book sale. The three jumps on the right are each one book sold. It’s pretty interesting that selling one book will jump my rank from #129,557 to #29,131.
I must admit to being disappointed by these numbers. I was hoping to sell 30 copies in the first month. Part of this can be explained by my minimal marketing effort. I did no advertising and minimal marketing. I posted on JA Konrath’s blog, Kindle Boards, and the Amazon DTP forums. Not very much, I agree.
My original plan was to release the short stories as a test. I wanted to see how the ebook did with little or no marketing effort. I think this prooves that you can’t just put a book up and not market it. The good news is that there is room for improvement. ;)
What is the lesson to learn here? Work harder to get on review and interview blogs.
So, if any of you know of a blog that I should be contacting about the impending release of my novel, please let me know in the comments below!
I think you'll continue to see growth in the numbers. Are you only on Amazon? What about B&N?
ReplyDeleteJust on Amazon for the past month. Now working on getting it formatted for Nook.
ReplyDeleteAs Konrath has said, Derek, I think your sales will sharply increase as you publish more titles. Don't get down ... keep writing (and marketing, too).
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ReplyDeleteHi Derek.
ReplyDeleteIt's me again. I signed in with the wrong ID the first time.
Followed you over from Konrath's blog. I do two author interview series:
HEIDI'S PICK SIX
(http://heidirubymiller.blogspot.com/2009/06/heidis-pick-six-list-of-author.html)
and PATHS TO PUBLICATION
(http://heidirubymiller.blogspot.com/2009/06/paths-to-publication-list-of-authors.html)
Would love to have you do one or both, if you're interested.
Cheers,
Heidi
Heidi, sounds great! Yes, I am interested.
ReplyDeleteI am quite happy to help you out in the review department. From what I have read, whether you are self published or traditionally published its going to be a long road, at least until you get to some sort of tipping point.
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