Riding the Scree - RaelWV's SelfPub Thread

raelwv

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Question for ya... How did you get involved with the multi-author promotion? Mostly wondering if you came into it organically (a community you've been a part of for a while) or strategically (someone organizes it, others sign up for it).

The organizer was looking for participants over at KBoards. She set up a Facebook page where people could share graphics, coordinate mailing list blasts, etc.
 

raelwv

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The year of promotion rolls on. I did two successful promos in February. One was a mailing list swap organized by another author (another one that developed on Kboards). It boosted by mailing list from around 40 to 100, which I hope will pay off when I release The Bay of Sins later this month (March 22!). The other one was a BKnights/BookRaid-powered series of free days for Moore Hollow, which I hadn't one before. 330 downloads over three days.

Total sales to date:


  • The Last Ereph: 12 eBooks + 25 paperbacks + 152 KU pages + 493 freebies
  • Moore Hollow: 22 eBooks + 48 paperbacks + 465 KU pages + 352 freebies
  • The Water Road: 23 eBooks + 9 paperbacks + 1829 KU pages + 427 freebies
  • The Endless Hills: 6 eBooks + 4 paperbacks + 249 KU pages
  • Total: 59 eBooks + 86 paperbacks + 2715 KU pages + 985 freebies
 

raelwv

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March marked the release of The Bay of Sins, the final book in The Water Road trilogy. To celebrate I ran a promo where all three books were 99 cents a piece (plugged via BKnights and Book Raid). Did pretty well (by my standards) - sold 11 copies each of The Water Road and The Bay of Sins, plus 8 copies of The Endless Hills.

My other event was a reading at the local library this past week. It was lightly attended, but I sold copy of Moore Hollow, so I still came out ahead (plus, there were cupcakes!). Moore Hollow also got 307 KU pages in March.

Total sales to date:



  • The Last Ereph: 12 eBooks + 25 paperbacks + 152 KU pages + 493 freebies
  • Moore Hollow: 22 eBooks + 49 paperbacks + 772 KU pages + 352 freebies
  • The Water Road: 34 eBooks + 9 paperbacks + 1829 KU pages + 427 freebies
  • The Endless Hills: 14 eBooks + 4 paperbacks + 249 KU pages
  • The Bay of Sins: 11 eBooks
  • Total: 89 eBooks + 87 paperbacks + 3022 KU pages + 985 freebies

Now I need to figure out what to do next. Everything I've released so far had been in the pipeline for a while, so it's been some time since I had an open schedule going forward. Both excited and a little scared!
 

Norman D Gutter

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JD: Congrats on your new release, and on your sales. It's an uphill climb to gain recognition, that's for sure. Keep at it.

NDG
 

raelwv

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Time for the April sales report. I kind of slipped this month and didn't do any promo. But I still had some sales, so I'm hoping that with The Water Road trilogy complete some more people may be willing to jump in. So, this month I sold 4 eBook copies (along with 212 KU pages) of The Water Road, 1 of The Endless Hills, and 3 paperbacks of The Bay of Sins.

Total sales to date:


  • The Last Ereph: 12 eBooks + 25 paperbacks + 152 KU pages + 493 freebies
  • Moore Hollow: 22 eBooks + 49 paperbacks + 772 KU pages + 352 freebies
  • The Water Road: 38 eBooks + 9 paperbacks + 2041 KU pages + 427 freebies
  • The Endless Hills: 15 eBooks + 4 paperbacks + 249 KU pages
  • The Bay of Sins: 11 eBooks + 3 paperbacks
  • Total: 94 eBooks + 90 paperbacks + 3234 KU pages + 985 freebies
 

rwm4768

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184 paid sales is nothing to sneeze at. Sure, it's not going to let you quit your day job, but it's still decent.
 

raelwv

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May was an interesting month. I didn't do any online promo, but still sold a few books, which is progress. I also (last weekend) attended my first "Con" - a steampunk gathering, even though my stuff doesn't really fit into that scene. Still, sold a few more and got some mailing list signups, so I consider it a successful learning experience

Sales for the month: Moore Hollow - 2 paperbacks, 309 KU pages; The Water Road - 1 paperback, 3 ebooks; The Endless Hills - 1 paperback, 1 ebook; The Bay of Sins - 1 paperback, 1 ebook

Total sales to date:


  • The Last Ereph: 12 eBooks + 25 paperbacks + 152 KU pages + 493 freebies
  • Moore Hollow: 22 eBooks + 51 paperbacks + 1081 KU pages + 352 freebies
  • The Water Road: 41 eBooks + 10 paperbacks + 2041 KU pages + 427 freebies
  • The Endless Hills: 16 eBooks + 5 paperbacks + 249 KU pages
  • The Bay of Sins: 12 eBooks + 4 paperbacks
  • Total: 99 eBooks + 95 paperbacks + 3543 KU pages + 985 freebies
 

Catherine

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I like the covers on The Water Road Trilogy books.
 

raelwv

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A day late with the June update (the family's annual multi-person mid-summer birthday bash is a harsh mistress!). A couple of big things happened this month.

First, I let everything slip out of KU and "went wide" using Draft2Digital. KU's been pretty hit a miss, so I'm hoping this will expand my footprint (also, I plan to do a box set for The Water Road later this summer that will be a KU property).

Second, I started writing the first book of my next series! :partyguy: It's a steampunk saga tentatively called Empire Falls. It's been fun to jump into another world after all the focus on The Water Road books.

In terms of promo, I did my first ad with BargainBooksy at the end of June. It produced a goodly number of sales, for me - 26 in total (all The Water Road, all e-books): 22 via Amazon, 4 via D2D. So here's the running totals:

Total sales to date:


  • The Last Ereph: 12 eBooks + 25 paperbacks + 152 KU pages + 493 freebies
  • Moore Hollow: 22 eBooks + 51 paperbacks + 1081 KU pages + 352 freebies
  • The Water Road: 67 eBooks + 10 paperbacks + 2041 KU pages + 427 freebies
  • The Endless Hills: 16 eBooks + 5 paperbacks + 249 KU pages
  • The Bay of Sins: 12 eBooks + 4 paperbacks
  • Total: 125 eBooks + 95 paperbacks + 3543 KU pages + 985 freebies
 

raelwv

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Time for the monthly report. My year of experimenting with different promotional channels every month continued with a promo using BooksButterfly. I am deeply disappointed.

I went with their $90 promo package, which comes with a "guarantee" of at least 50 sales (or KU equivalents - no matter for me, as I'm out of KU at the moment). Fine print on the website says that the guarantee results in a prorated refund based on how far you short of the goal you fall. However, the refund is only in store credit, so the compensation for a poor promo result is . . . further promo. Anyway, I knew that going in.

The fine print that comes via Email once you actually sign up dramatically restricts the scope of the guarantee, however. I'll quote here, so people can see it going in:
5) There is NO Prorated Refund if your book has been run with Bookbub

* * *

7) No guarantee if book has ever been free, even if it was free just one day, even if it was free in 23 BC

So no guarantee for me, as The Water Road has been available for free before.

Which wouldn't be so bad if I'd had a better result. The promo ran from July 25-28 and in those days I only had 8 sales (4 via Amazon, 4 via D2D). I've had much better results with other, lower cost, options. So, anyway - caveat emptor.

For comparison, over the rest of the month with no promo I had 7 sales of The Water Road from Amazon, 1 from D2D, and 3 each of The Endless Hills and The Bay of Sins via Amazon. I'm pleased, at least, with some more non-promo sales, particularly of the

So the monthly total is 16 eBooks of The Water Road and 3 each of The Endless Hills and The Bay of Sins.

Total sales to date:


  • The Last Ereph: 12 eBooks + 25 paperbacks + 152 KU pages + 493 freebies
  • Moore Hollow: 22 eBooks + 51 paperbacks + 1081 KU pages + 352 freebies
  • The Water Road: 83 eBooks + 10 paperbacks + 2041 KU pages + 427 freebies
  • The Endless Hills: 19 eBooks + 5 paperbacks + 249 KU pages
  • The Bay of Sins: 15 eBooks + 4 paperbacks
  • Total: 147 eBooks + 95 paperbacks + 3543 KU pages + 985 freebies

I'll be at the Lewisburg Literary Festival this weekend. If you're near the Greenbrier Valley stop by and say hi - and bring money! :Thumbs:
 

raelwv

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August was a bit of weird month. I had two in-person promos, the festival mentioned above and a local author event at a local bookstore. The first was fine, but not great; the second was a complete waste (but didn't cost me anything, so, nothing lost but time). The one online promo I did (via Booktastik) only generated a single sale. But, at the end of the month, I had what seems to be a pretty average month for me at this point: 9 paperbacks (2 Moore Hollow, 1 The Water Road, 3 each The Endless Hills and The Bay of Sins) and 3 eBooks (all The Water Road) sold.

Oh, and I cranked through the halfway point of my next book. So there's that!

Total sales to date:

  • The Last Ereph: 12 eBooks + 25 paperbacks + 152 KU pages + 493 freebies
  • Moore Hollow: 22 eBooks + 53 paperbacks + 1081 KU pages + 352 freebies
  • The Water Road: 86 eBooks + 11 paperbacks + 2041 KU pages + 427 freebies
  • The Endless Hills: 19 eBooks + 8 paperbacks + 249 KU pages
  • The Bay of Sins: 15 eBooks + 7 paperbacks
  • Total: 150 eBooks + 104 paperbacks + 3543 KU pages + 985 freebies
 

Catherine

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...The first was fine, but not great; the second was a complete waste (but didn't cost me anything, so, nothing lost but time). The one online promo I did (via Booktastik) only generated a single sale. But, at the end of the month, I had what seems to be a pretty average month for me at this point...


It's hard to know in advance what is going to work as far as promo goes. Sometimes it's a combination of things working together. There are times when it seems like a promo didn't work, but you see results later on that you were not expecting.

Thanks for sharing your results.:)
 

raelwv

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Another month, another promo, and data accrued to stash away for future reference. This month's was with BookSends ($35), which covered their mailing list and Facebook page. I sold 9 copies of The Water Road, along with one each of The Endless Hills and The Bay of Sins (all from Amazon). I sold two other copies of The Water Road during the month (1 on Amazon, 1 on Nook). In addition, another local bookstore (Cosigned Books in Ironton, OH) took some books and sold a couple of paperbacks of The Water Road. So, all in all for September: 13 eBooks, 2 paperbacks.

Total sales to date:


  • The Last Ereph: 12 eBooks + 25 paperbacks + 152 KU pages + 493 freebies
  • Moore Hollow: 22 eBooks + 53 paperbacks + 1081 KU pages + 352 freebies
  • The Water Road: 97 eBooks + 13 paperbacks + 2041 KU pages + 427 freebies
  • The Endless Hills: 20 eBooks + 8 paperbacks + 249 KU pages
  • The Bay of Sins: 16 eBooks + 7 paperbacks
  • Total: 163 eBooks + 106 paperbacks + 3543 KU pages + 985 freebies

And I passed another milestone on the new book! Goal now is to finish the first draft this month so I can throw myself into something different for NaNo.
 

raelwv

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Reporting in a day early since I plan to be eyeballs deep in NaNoWriMo this time tomorrow. :Jump:

October was a good month, by my standards.

In terms of productivity, I finished the first draft The Orb Of Triska, the first book in my new steampunk series. I'm setting that aside for now to work on a space opera (tentatively titled The Messenger) for NaNo.

In terms of online sales, I participated in a free multi-author promo at the beginning of the month and that was it for online stuff. I had a few sales through the month without anything else, which is always nice. All the ebook sales this month were via Amazon.

For in person sales, I took part in the WV Book Festival last weekend (after missing last year for a Marillion concert). I sold almost a dozen books and had some wonderful interactions with fellow authors and . . . fans! Complete strangers who loved my stuff! It's a great way to spend the afternoon.

So, the numbers: The Water Road (12 ebooks, 6 paperbacks); The Endless Hills (1 ebook, 1 paperback); The Bay of Sins (2 ebooks, 1 paperbacks); Moore Hollow (1 ebook, 3 paperbacks).

Total sales to date:



  • The Last Ereph: 12 eBooks + 25 paperbacks + 152 KU pages + 493 freebies
  • Moore Hollow: 23 eBooks + 56 paperbacks + 1081 KU pages + 352 freebies
  • The Water Road: 109 eBooks + 19 paperbacks + 2041 KU pages + 427 freebies
  • The Endless Hills: 21 eBooks + 9 paperbacks + 249 KU pages
  • The Bay of Sins: 18 eBooks + 8 paperbacks
  • Total: 179 eBooks + 117 paperbacks + 3543 KU pages + 985 freebies

On to NaNo!
 

raelwv

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Another month, another fairly slow one. I didn't do any online promo this month, and thus only sold 2 ebook copies of The Water Road via Amazon. I did do a pair of events that were OK. First of the month I took part in a "pop culture expo." Didn't have a good spot (the room was poorly organized), but I managed to sell one of everything (even The Last Ereph). End of the month I did a Small Business Saturday event at my local indie bookstore. Sold a few there, but they'll get reported when I get the annual sales report from them. The month did take me over 300 sales total for my "career."

On the production side, I managed to win NaNo, although that book is nowhere near finished. Still, yay me!
:partyguy:


Total sales to date:



  • The Last Ereph: 12 eBooks + 26 paperbacks + 152 KU pages + 493 freebies
  • Moore Hollow: 23 eBooks + 57 paperbacks + 1081 KU pages + 352 freebies
  • The Water Road: 111 eBooks + 20 paperbacks + 2041 KU pages + 427 freebies
  • The Endless Hills: 21 eBooks + 10 paperbacks + 249 KU pages
  • The Bay of Sins: 18 eBooks + 9 paperbacks
  • Total: 181 eBooks + 122 paperbacks + 3543 KU pages + 985 freebies
 

raelwv

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Happy New Year, everybody! :partyguy:

I had a really good December to wrap up the year. To bring things full circle I did a back-to-back promo with the two services I'd had the most success with earlier, BargainBooksy and BKnights, then got in on a final Patty Jansen everybody-share-on-social-media free promo at the end of the year that was great. I also dropped the prices of everything for the entire month to 99 cents a piece.

All in all I sold 38 The Water Roads (32 Amazon, 6 D2D channels), 13 The Endless Hills (12 Amazon, 1 D2D), 13 The Bay of Sins (12 Amazon, 1 D2D), then 1 each of Moore Hollow (Amazon) and The Last Ereph and Other Stories (D2D). 66 books overall! I can also throw in 3 hardcopies of The Water Road and 2 of The Endless Hills from my local independent bookstore.

Time to add it all up:

Total sales for 2017:


  • The Last Ereph: 1 eBook + 1 paperback
  • Moore Hollow: 2 eBooks + 9 paperbacks + 616 KU pages + 330 freebies
  • The Water Road: 135 eBooks + 14 paperbacks + 212 KU pages
  • The Endless Hills: 16 eBooks + 6 paperbacks
  • The Bay of Sins: 18 eBooks + 9 paperbacks
  • Total: 172 eBooks + 39 paperbacks + 818 KU pages + 330 freebies

Total sales to date:



  • The Last Ereph: 13 eBooks + 26 paperbacks + 152 KU pages + 493 freebies
  • Moore Hollow: 24 eBooks + 57 paperbacks + 1081 KU pages + 352 freebies
  • The Water Road: 149 eBooks + 23 paperbacks + 2041 KU pages + 427 freebies
  • The Endless Hills: 34 eBooks + 12 paperbacks + 249 KU pages
  • The Bay of Sins: 31 eBooks + 9 paperbacks
  • Total: 251 eBooks + 127 paperbacks + 3543 KU pages + 985 freebies

The actual writing wasn't so good in December. My NaNo project, The Messenger, cratered late in the month, a combination of my lack of plotting finally catching up with me and both my wife and I getting sick for Xmas. I've shut it down for now, to return to it later as a second draft.

Onward!
 
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raelwv

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Ack! I'm late on my January report! Forgive me, oh AW hivemind. :flag:

January was actually kind of an interesting month. I left all my prices at 99 cents (after my December sale and promos), but didn't do any actual promotion. In spite of that I still sold (all ebooks) 7 copies of The Water Road, 4 copies of The Endless Hills, and 3 copies of The Bay of Sins via Amazon and 1 each via Kobo.

Total sales to date:



  • The Last Ereph: 13 eBooks + 26 paperbacks + 152 KU pages + 493 freebies
  • Moore Hollow: 24 eBooks + 57 paperbacks + 1081 KU pages + 352 freebies
  • The Water Road: 157 eBooks + 23 paperbacks + 2041 KU pages + 427 freebies
  • The Endless Hills: 39 eBooks + 12 paperbacks + 249 KU pages
  • The Bay of Sins: 35 eBooks + 9 paperbacks
  • Total: 268 eBooks + 127 paperbacks + 3543 KU pages + 985 freebies

Bonus - I got a spiffy new cover for my short story collection!

Now, back to the word mines. :hi:
 

raelwv

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So remember how I sold some stuff last month without promoing? Well, that came to a decisive end in February. I did get in on a free mutli-author promo at the end of the month, however, and wound up selling 15 eBooks at Amazon (9 The Water Road, 5 each of the rest in the trilogy). Also, somehow, I sold a pair of paperbacks which is always a nice surprise (one each of The Endless Hills and The Bay of Sins). Now everything's back to regular price and I'm looking ahead to releasing a box set of The Water Road trilogy.

Actual writing wise the short story that wouldn't stop growing turned into a novelette and wormed its way into the world I created for Moore Hollow. I've had a plan in the back of my head to return to that one and build a series out of it - I guess my brain decided to go ahead and start doing it! :idea: I've put that aside to concentrate hard on the second draft of The Orb of Triska.

Total sales to date:




  • The Last Ereph: 13 eBooks + 26 paperbacks + 152 KU pages + 493 freebies
  • Moore Hollow: 24 eBooks + 57 paperbacks + 1081 KU pages + 352 freebies
  • The Water Road: 166 eBooks + 23 paperbacks + 2041 KU pages + 427 freebies
  • The Endless Hills: 44 eBooks + 13 paperbacks + 249 KU pages
  • The Bay of Sins: 40 eBooks + 10 paperbacks
  • Total: 283 eBooks + 129 paperbacks + 3543 KU pages + 985 freebies
 

CathleenT

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It's funny, isn't it? Sometimes it's like your mind has a mind of its own.

I outline--not intensely, but I usually start a story knowing here it's going to go. I might explore a few interesting side avenues along the way, but the basic tale is much like what I set out to right.

But now and again, I'll start writing something and it'll end up becoming completely different. I have no idea why it happens, but I guess it's not that uncommon.

Glad to see you're keeping up with the promotions. A good one can really make a big difference. :)
 

raelwv

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Nothing really shaking in March when it came to sales. Didn't promote and raised prices back to normal, so I only produced one eBook sale of The Water Road.

I did finish up the second draft of The Orb of Triska. I'll set that aside for a couple weeks to work on a couple of little things, then it's on to draft three!

Total sales to date:



  • The Last Ereph: 13 eBooks + 26 paperbacks + 152 KU pages + 493 freebies
  • Moore Hollow: 24 eBooks + 57 paperbacks + 1081 KU pages + 352 freebies
  • The Water Road: 167 eBooks + 23 paperbacks + 2041 KU pages + 427 freebies
  • The Endless Hills: 44 eBooks + 13 paperbacks + 249 KU pages
  • The Bay of Sins: 40 eBooks + 10 paperbacks
  • Total: 284 eBooks + 129 paperbacks + 3543 KU pages + 985 freebies
 

raelwv

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So, I wound up having a really good April. I released a box set of The Water Road trilogy, priced it at 99 cents and did three back-to-back-to-back promos at mid month. I've been selling ever since, which is new for me. All told 267 copies of the set (251 Amazon, 8 each Kobo and Nook), plus one copy of The Water Road. In addition, I got the quarterly report from one of my local indie bookstores who sold 2 paperbacks of The Water Road and one each of the other two books in the trilogy.

As for the writing part, a short story I was working one blossomed into a novelette that decided it was set in the Moore Hollow universe - which is now going to be a series!

Total sales to date:



  • The Last Ereph: 13 eBooks + 26 paperbacks + 152 KU pages + 493 freebies
  • Moore Hollow: 24 eBooks + 57 paperbacks + 1081 KU pages + 352 freebies
  • The Water Road: 168 eBooks + 25 paperbacks + 2041 KU pages + 427 freebies
  • The Endless Hills: 44 eBooks + 14 paperbacks + 249 KU pages
  • The Bay of Sins: 40 eBooks + 11 paperbacks
  • The Complete Water Road Trilogy (boxset): 267 eBooks
  • Total: 552 eBooks + 133 paperbacks + 3543 KU pages + 985 freebies