This is just a quick update.
Since releasing my ebook, Sentry, my Amazon Bestseller ranking was "unspecified", but I just received word that I am now #50,536 below the bestseller. This may seem like a huge number from the top of the list, and if you read my previous blogs, my chosen genre (sci-fi) will probably never make the top spot, but there are around 2 million books on Amazon currently, mostly consisting of authors who are just like me. That means there are 50,536 other authors who are currently selling the same number of books as myself, which is oddly comforting. I will use this figure as a starting point, and update you regularly with any gains or losses, plus the steps (or mishaps) it took to achieve my latest ranking. I am HonestAuthor.
Friday 6 September 2013
Why isn't my ebook selling?
In this post I'll describe my experiences of what happened just after publishing my ebook. I published Sentry to Amazon (Via KDP, or Kindle Direct Publishing), Smashwords, and Createspace. The latter I used for my POD (Print On Demand) paperback edition, which handily links the two formats of the book together on the same web page for the buyer.
On with the show:
Three weeks after publishing Sentry I now have ten (1....0) official readers! Yay! But in another way, Boooo! Let's not forget, there are millions upon millions of people upon our beautiful planet, and less than one sneeze of them have even seen Sentry on Amazon or Smashwords, let alone have read the free first few chapters each website offers, and even less have taken the gamble on the few quid it costs to own a copy. I'm not easily disheartened, but considering the potential readership, this is definitely disappointing. Nonetheless, it's a start, and I intend to take this tiny grain of sand and turn it into a big sci-fi snowball, emitting lasers and suchlike.
On the plus-side, Amazon has sold my ebook to a couple of countries I probably did not know existed. It's probably only one or two ex-pats, who are desperate to read anything in english, even if it is only a road sign, but again, it is a start. By the way, you only get 30% Amazon royalty when your book sells in some countries, not the usual 70% - it depends on how snuggly you want to get with Amazon.
Where did I go wrong?
The simple answer is that I'm not sure yet. It's still early days, but perhaps the front cover is wrong. After all, I took a hell of a risk depicting a dog-like face behind the spacesuit. That might come back to bite me in the wotsit with its blue canine gob. Another possibility is that the book simply does not get rolling quickly enough. When I wrote Sentry I wanted to take a little time at the start of the book to set the scene, but we live in a world of instantaneous gratification (shortcuts all over the internet, fast food), and even the blurb on the back of the book is a shortcut to what it contains, not the whole story. Again, if this blurb is not right, it will switch potential readers off immediately. I know all this, yet I have done my best to counter all these facts while keeping the book true to how I envisaged it. Was I wrong? So far, probably, yes. But we'll see.
What am I doing right?
I've sent my ebook to as many online reviewers as possible. If anyone cares to ask, I will give them a list. On one occasion I even subscribed to a reviewer's website to try to increase my chances (spending a hideously expensive $0.99 on a lifetime subscription). I then started the Facebook page, then I started writing this blog. After that, I shamelessly told my mates, work colleages, neighbours and anyone within earshot that I am an author. That's not counting my mum and dad, familiy and friends, of course, all of whom I'm hoping will support me in the early stages of my career.
Finally, I'm just about to launch a competition. Check out my Facebook page for more info, but basically I am about to leave myself wide open to abuse from the sci-fi crowd, while still giving them a free gift. I am HonestAuthor, and I hereby raise my shields in preparation for attack. You'll find out what I did on the next post. Stay tuned for what might be my demise as an author!
On with the show:
Three weeks after publishing Sentry I now have ten (1....0) official readers! Yay! But in another way, Boooo! Let's not forget, there are millions upon millions of people upon our beautiful planet, and less than one sneeze of them have even seen Sentry on Amazon or Smashwords, let alone have read the free first few chapters each website offers, and even less have taken the gamble on the few quid it costs to own a copy. I'm not easily disheartened, but considering the potential readership, this is definitely disappointing. Nonetheless, it's a start, and I intend to take this tiny grain of sand and turn it into a big sci-fi snowball, emitting lasers and suchlike.
On the plus-side, Amazon has sold my ebook to a couple of countries I probably did not know existed. It's probably only one or two ex-pats, who are desperate to read anything in english, even if it is only a road sign, but again, it is a start. By the way, you only get 30% Amazon royalty when your book sells in some countries, not the usual 70% - it depends on how snuggly you want to get with Amazon.
Where did I go wrong?
The simple answer is that I'm not sure yet. It's still early days, but perhaps the front cover is wrong. After all, I took a hell of a risk depicting a dog-like face behind the spacesuit. That might come back to bite me in the wotsit with its blue canine gob. Another possibility is that the book simply does not get rolling quickly enough. When I wrote Sentry I wanted to take a little time at the start of the book to set the scene, but we live in a world of instantaneous gratification (shortcuts all over the internet, fast food), and even the blurb on the back of the book is a shortcut to what it contains, not the whole story. Again, if this blurb is not right, it will switch potential readers off immediately. I know all this, yet I have done my best to counter all these facts while keeping the book true to how I envisaged it. Was I wrong? So far, probably, yes. But we'll see.
What am I doing right?
I've sent my ebook to as many online reviewers as possible. If anyone cares to ask, I will give them a list. On one occasion I even subscribed to a reviewer's website to try to increase my chances (spending a hideously expensive $0.99 on a lifetime subscription). I then started the Facebook page, then I started writing this blog. After that, I shamelessly told my mates, work colleages, neighbours and anyone within earshot that I am an author. That's not counting my mum and dad, familiy and friends, of course, all of whom I'm hoping will support me in the early stages of my career.
Finally, I'm just about to launch a competition. Check out my Facebook page for more info, but basically I am about to leave myself wide open to abuse from the sci-fi crowd, while still giving them a free gift. I am HonestAuthor, and I hereby raise my shields in preparation for attack. You'll find out what I did on the next post. Stay tuned for what might be my demise as an author!
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