August Sales Numbers

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.

July Sales Numbers

Hi everyone! Sorry I've been slack on posting. I also still haven't managed to separate my self-publishing blog from my regular writing blog, so I apologize to fans who don't really care about this stuff, haha. Hopefully there are some of you writers out there still finding value in seeing what my numbers have done each step of the way. I feel like as self-published authors we should stick together and help each other however we can. This is just one small way I hope to help.

That being said, July was one of those amazingly, almost-can't-believe-it, omg-I-might-faint kind of months for me. I still look back at the sales numbers and want to cry! The biggest news for July was that my fourth book in the Peachville High Demons series finally came out. It was sort of a strangely staggered release because B&N got the book up really quickly but Amazon dragged for almost a week. My book didn't show up properly in Amazon searches for almost a week after it got listed, which was somewhat frustrating, and in the end, I think hurt my sales rank to some degree because it split my initial burst of sales up too much to give me the boost I was hoping for. Still, Shadow Demons did make it all the way up to #413 in the Kindle store and that's very close to my best rank ever (Beautiful Demons was 365 in February, which is my all-time best ever.) Not too shabby.

Anyone who has been following my sales numbers knows that last month I hit a huge milestone by selling my 25,000th book. In July, I made it all the way up back 35,000 books sold, so this was a HUGE month for me. It's so exciting to see the sales continue to grow. Of course, any month with a brand new release is going to be bigger than previous months, but I'm still amazed at the success so far of the series, so thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who has purchased the PHD books and loved them. I heart you.

July Sales Numbers:

BEAUTIFUL DEMONS (Book 1 of the PHD series. 10/31/10)

• Amazon Kindle Store: 1698 US + 134 UK = 1832
• Barnes & Noble: 398
• Smashwords: 1
• Total: 2231

INNER DEMONS (Book 2 of the PHD series. 12/22/10)

• Amazon Kindle Store: 1373 US + 92 UK + 1 DE = 1466
• Barnes & Noble: 333
• Smashwords: 3
• Total: 1802

BITTER DEMONS (Book 3 of the PHD series. 2/24/11)

• Amazon Kindle Store: 1243 US + 72 UK = 1315
• Barnes & Noble: 278
• Smashwords: 3
• Total: 1596

SHADOW DEMONS (Book 4 of the PHD series. 7/3/11)

• Amazon Kindle Store: 2824 US + 87 UK = 2911
• Barnes & Noble: 600
• Smashwords: 10
• Total: 3521

Total July Sales: 9150

Overall Sales To Date: 35,688

I am still blown away and so humbled by the numbers. I know it's nothing compared to the Amanda Hockings and John Lockes of the Kindle world, but to me, it's really something. I still get scared that one day all my books will just stop selling and this wild will be over, but the fear gets less and less with each book that comes out. I am truly loving writing and loving this career. Self-publishing was definitely the right choice for me.

So now I am fast at work writing Book 5, DEMONS FOREVER. This will, sadly, be the last book in the Peachville High Demons series. I'm so scared to move on to another series, but at the same time, I'm really excited about the next series coming up. It's the series I've been working on for a really long time and I'm anxious to see what it turns into now that I'm not worried about what an agent or editor will think and I can just write it the way I want to write it. The first book in the series is already finished, but I know it will take some rewriting. I sincerely hope this next series strikes as much of a chord as PHD did, if not more.

But for now, DEMONS FOREVER is on my mind 24/7. I'm hoping to have it completed and published faster than Book 4. It will be out sometime this fall, but I'm not ready to give an exact date yet. Anyway, there's the rundown on my July sales numbers. And thanks to all the writers who sent me encouraging messages last month about me posting sales. It means a lot to me to know I'm helping other indie writers, even if it's just in some small way. Thanks for the support!!

Best-seller Sandwich

This morning I was happily checking my Amazon page to see if I had any new reviews and to check my sales rank. It's part of my morning routine and it always makes me happy just to see my book online and realize that one of my greatest dreams in life has come true. I'm an author!

But this morning held a sweet little surprise of chance. When I checked the sales ranking for BEAUTIFUL DEMONS, I saw that I was back in the top 1000 ebooks on Kindle. Usually when that happens, my book goes into the Top 100 Children's book list, which is always fun to see. I clicked over to the Children's book list and found my book sitting at number 84 on the list. The best part though, was which books were just above and below me. Take a look.


It feels so incredible to see my book right there between The Hunger Games Trilogy and Breaking Dawn. Both of those books/series are astronomical bestsellers. Achieving that kind of success is something I can only dream about. Yet there I am. My humble little book. Sitting right between two major bestsellers. Is it a sign? Hehe. I certainly hope so!

Amazon's new "Top Rated" Ranking and A Giveaway

Today when I was obsessing over my Amazon sales rank, as I tend to do daily, I noticed a new feature! In the product details area where the general sales rank is listed, it now also lists the average customer review as well as what categories your book is "top rated" in.

From what I understand, there has been a Top Rated tab for a while now, but the information has been somewhat buried. A user had to go to the Bestseller lists for a category first, then click on the Top Rated tab. Now, Amazon is including these rankings right there on the book page along with the Bestsellers rank. Basically, what this does is give a boost of recognition to those books that are well-liked by readers.

For example, a book might be #150 in a certain category and therefore not actually making it into the Top 100 list of Bestsellers for that category. However, if there are enough good reviews behind that book, it's possible that it could get boosted up into the Top Rated list for that category. I'm sure it will take some time to figure out how the list actually works.

The Bestsellers Rank, for instance, isn't just a flat listing of the top books in sales for all time in a category. Amazon has some algorithm for determining ranking based on the number of most recent sales. A book has to be selling lots of copies NOW, not just ever in its existence. The same is probably true for the Top Rated ranking. I might have a five-star ranking, but if I only have 15 reviews, I might still be listed below someone who has 100 reviews and a four and a half star ranking. Recent sales might also come into play here. It will take some time to figure it out, but I think it's a great feature. It gives readers a chance to see what books are the most well-liked by others - not just the books that are selling the best right now. Sometimes, that list will be the same, but other times it won't. I'm hoping it gives a boost to good books that might have been getting less attention.

Okay, so with all that said, I have a plea to make! Please, please please, if you have read the Peachville High Demons series, I would sincerely appreciate it if you would take the time to leave a review for at least one of the books on Amazon. Right now, I have 19 reviews for Book 1, only 7 for Book 2, and 10 for Book 3. The overall ranking is great, but if I want to hit more of these Top Rated lists, I need more reviews! (Preferably high stars, haha, but you have to be honest about what you thought of the books!)

I'll even throw in a giveaway! If you leave a review on any of the 3 Peachville High Demons books, send me an email at sarracannon (at) gmail.com with your name and address, and I will mail you a signed Demons bookmark and a temporary demon tattoo, just like the one Harper wears in the books! Heck, just for fun, for those of you who write a review for 2 or more of the Peachville High books, I will even throw in a sneak-peak page from Book 4 - never before seen writing!! This giveaway opportunity is open to anyone who leaves a review on Amazon for my three books by May 1st.

Milestone: 10,000 Ebooks sold!

Tonight, I hit another huge milestone in my career as an Indie author. As of midnight tonight, I have sold a total of 10,154 ebooks!!!!!!! It took me about four and half months to reach this milestone, which to be honest, was a lot faster than I ever dreamed it would happen. This is the total sales for all three of my Peachville High Demons series books.

I haven't separated them out to see how the sales break down in terms of x amount sold of book 1, etc. but I know they go in order. I've sold more of Book 1 than anything else so far, and then Book 2, with Book 3 in the rear, but so far in March, I've actually sold more of Book 3 than Book 2, which is a little strange, but I'll take it.

I feel so incredibly grateful to have this opportunity to write what I want and publish it on my own. Becoming a self-published author was a HUGE decision for me, and one that I am proud of every single day. I want to send out a big THANK YOU to everyone who has been so supportive of me. Thanks to everyone who purchased a book. Everyone who left a review or blogged about my books. Thank you to my critique partners who have gone through all three books with a fine-toothed comb to make them better. And thank you especially to my amazing husband who convinced me that I was good enough to make it on my own and who challenged me to take a chance.

I sound like a freaking oscar winner here, but I do feel like I've somehow won the lottery or something. Being an author was a lifetime dream of mine, and to see the success that has come so far makes me truly grateful. 10,000 books in less than 5 months! I can't believe it. So far, 3400 have come from this month alone. I hope that sales continue to grow and that there is no end in sight to this new career and the joy and excitement that comes along with it.

My next big milestone? Selling 500 ebooks in one day will be another huge milestone for me. So far, my best day was just after Book 3 was released and I sold 410 books in a day. Another sales number milestone I want to set for myself is selling 25,000 ebooks total. My prediction on when I might hit these goals? I am hoping to hit the 500 ebooks in a day mark by May when Book 4 comes out. I think that I might hit the 25,000 books sold total by June or July, if I'm lucky!

Top 1000 in the Kindle Store!

Yesterday, BEAUTIFUL DEMONS hit another milestone by breaking into the Top 1000 Kindle Books. That's the entire Kindle store, which includes traditionally published books as well as self-published. In December, I hovered around 20,000-30,000 sales rank. Last month, I was up between 10,000-16,000. So, seeing those numbers, you can understand my excitement at finally cracking the Top 1000!!

According to Novel Rank, my highest sales rank to date occurred yesterday around 6PM. It was 916 in the Kindle store. Right now, it's at 949. I'm so incredibly excited that my sales in the Kindle store have picked up this month. I've already sold more books through the Kindle store in 9 days this month than all three previous months combined.

I think one of the most exciting aspects of this success is that even though it's relatively slow, it's all my own. I worked hard and I did this. I accomplished something I always wanted to do by writing a book and publishing it. Some people diss those of us who self-publish - saying that we're not good enough to be published traditionally and that our novels must be lesser quality if we're selling them so cheap, etc. There are a million arguments out there in defense of traditional publishing. I say it's not a competition. These days, there's room for both. If you don't believe in self-publishing, don't do it. But for some of us, self-publishing is the most exhilarating, life-saving, dream-making opportunity out there for writers.

Thank you so much to all the people out there who have bought my books. I appreciate every single sale, and hope will all my heart that you are enjoying the Peachville High Demons series. Currently, Book 2: INNER DEMONS, is at 1900 in the Kindle store (with an all-time highest rank of 1319). That's huge progress for me, and I'm so incredibly grateful. I can't imagine what it might feel like to actually get into the Top 100. That must be one of the best feelings in the world. For now, I'm extremely happy with this latest milestone and the opportunity to continue doing what I love most.