Wow, so they weren't kidding about a summer slump. My sales definitely slowed down in the month of August, and it was scary! Overall, I had a good monthly total simply because I now have four books out instead of 3. On the other hand, each book's individual sales were the lowest they've been since February, which is disappointing. That's one of the hardest parts about self-publishing. It's a lot of ups and downs and you never truly know what to expect from month to month. The only true way to guarantee growth is to keep writing books.
August Sales Numbers:
BEAUTIFUL DEMONS (Book 1 of the PHD series. 10/31/10)
- Amazon Kindle Store: 855 US + 234 UK + 2 DE = 1091
- Barnes & Noble: 296
- Smashwords: 2
- Total: 1389
INNER DEMONS (Book 2 of the PHD series. 12/22/10)
- Amazon Kindle Store: 702 US + 157 UK + 1 DE = 860
- Barnes & Noble: 244
- Smashwords: 2
- Total: 1106
BITTER DEMONS (Book 3 of the PHD series. 2/24/11)
- Amazon Kindle Store: 671 US + 118 UK + 1 DE = 790
- Barnes & Noble: 219
- Smashwords: 1
- Total: 1010
SHADOW DEMONS (Book 4 of the PHD series. 7/3/11)
- Amazon Kindle Store: 1146 US + 111 UK + 1 DE = 1258
- Barnes & Noble: 284
- Smashwords: 3
- Total: 1545
Total August Sales: 5050
Overall Sales To Date: 40698
There are two very exciting things about my August sales, despite the slowing numbers. 1. My UK sales got a huge boost this month. It's the first time I've sold over 600 books in the UK, so that was super exciting. 2. I passed the 40,000 books sold mark! I never dreamed I would be able to sell that many books in less than a year! And I still have until the last day of October to try my best to hit 50K in a year. Of course, with the huge slow down, that's definitely not a guarantee. Already in September, the numbers have continued to seriously drop. For example, Beautiful Demons hovered between 1000 and 1500 sales rank for months, but lately has been seen closer to 4000 and 5000 in the kindle store. I ended last month with an average of 162 books sold per day. Yesterday, I only sold 84 books. To be honest, it's scaring me. And since I started this sales number report in order to be honest and give a true picture of what an Indie author's sales look like, I have to tell you how I feel.
I have thoughts that go through my head about what if I've reached the maximum numbers for this series? What if it's all downhill from here? There are a million scary thoughts in my head. Still, I do understand logically that if I continue to put out new books, there will be spikes and then things will begin to drop again. It's a pattern. It's natural. It happens to everyone. I think it's scary because it makes me feel a little bit out of control. I'm not sure what to do to boost my sales back up - other than writing more books. I plan to release the 5th book in my series, RIVAL DEMONS, in October. Then, if all goes well, the 6th book, DEMONS FOREVER, will come out just before Christmas. Perfect timing to end the series just before the biggest boost of ebook sales, right? I hope so. For me, that's the only marketing strategy I can come up with, and I think it's a good one. I'm a writer. So I'll write. As for sales, we'll just have to wait and see what happens.
Have you seen a lag in your summer sales? What have you done to boost them? How do you get over the fear of seeing sales drop? If you're an Indie author, please let me know how you handle these lags if you've seen them.
There are two very exciting things about my August sales, despite the slowing numbers. 1. My UK sales got a huge boost this month. It's the first time I've sold over 600 books in the UK, so that was super exciting. 2. I passed the 40,000 books sold mark! I never dreamed I would be able to sell that many books in less than a year! And I still have until the last day of October to try my best to hit 50K in a year. Of course, with the huge slow down, that's definitely not a guarantee. Already in September, the numbers have continued to seriously drop. For example, Beautiful Demons hovered between 1000 and 1500 sales rank for months, but lately has been seen closer to 4000 and 5000 in the kindle store. I ended last month with an average of 162 books sold per day. Yesterday, I only sold 84 books. To be honest, it's scaring me. And since I started this sales number report in order to be honest and give a true picture of what an Indie author's sales look like, I have to tell you how I feel.
I have thoughts that go through my head about what if I've reached the maximum numbers for this series? What if it's all downhill from here? There are a million scary thoughts in my head. Still, I do understand logically that if I continue to put out new books, there will be spikes and then things will begin to drop again. It's a pattern. It's natural. It happens to everyone. I think it's scary because it makes me feel a little bit out of control. I'm not sure what to do to boost my sales back up - other than writing more books. I plan to release the 5th book in my series, RIVAL DEMONS, in October. Then, if all goes well, the 6th book, DEMONS FOREVER, will come out just before Christmas. Perfect timing to end the series just before the biggest boost of ebook sales, right? I hope so. For me, that's the only marketing strategy I can come up with, and I think it's a good one. I'm a writer. So I'll write. As for sales, we'll just have to wait and see what happens.
Have you seen a lag in your summer sales? What have you done to boost them? How do you get over the fear of seeing sales drop? If you're an Indie author, please let me know how you handle these lags if you've seen them.
6 comments:
Gosh! I want to sprinkle your magic fairy writing dust all over me so I can see those types of numbers! :o)
I don't think you have anything to worry about and would be shocked if your sales dropped down to my level. It's summer and most people are out an about. You are just about to hit the big fall season, which I hear is mucho sales. I hope to break my highest sales number, but I will only 2 books out maybe three if I am lucky.
All in all, I think you are doing amazing and believe you will only do better.
I just hope that someday I can do so well.
Congrats girl! and keep writing! I love PHD!
Thank you, Megan! I know I'm lucky, but I'm so scared it could all just fall away. My sales rank dropped 2,000 today to go all the way to 7400. That's a huge drop! It's scary!
Thank you for the encouragement though. I have Released on my Kindle, but haven't had time to read it yet. Might pick it up at the beach next week!
Hi Sarra
I think it's amazing how honest you're being about your sales. I try to put posts out there too so other writers and indie authors get an idea of what it's like to be a self-published author. From what I'm hearing on the kindle boards August was a bad month for sales and apparently always is. September's not got off to a great start (there are lots of new big traditionally published releases out at the moment) but as you say you never know what's going to happen. I have those scary moments as well when my sales drop and I'm like 'Oh God, what if this is it?' BUT you said it yourself. Keep writing new books. That's the only way to keep a momentum going. All the other stuff, marketing, advertising, cover art, blurbs, it's second to your biggest marketing tool - you and your writing. I don't know if you've ever checked out Joe Konrath's blog http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/ but he's always got great advice and insight. I think being apprehensive about these shifts and ups and downs are all part of being self-employed, but you're not alone, and you're doing AWESOME! I read Beautiful Demons and loved it :-)
Cheers
Samantha
I think we're all in the same boat. My sales were half of what they were for July. I've been freaking out as well but I'm just really hoping things start to pick back up as we ease into fall. Like everyone else has said, I think we just need to stay calm and keep writing!
Yeah, it's scary to wonder if your best days are already over!
But all we can do is keep writing and try not to worry about the huge fluctuations. I think writing is easier than ever now, knowing that there's definitely an audience out there for the books.
Gah! Now I'm nervous! Hope you enjoy the story. Have fun at the beach and enjoy yourself!
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