The Year in Review!!!! Goodbye 2012...
Hello good people,
First if you have not heard, Black Rain 2 is out. And Black Rain 1 is FREE for a limited time!!!
It's time to take a look at the past year and share success stories and failures. And see what we learned and what is coming up for 2013!!!!
I made the decision to embark on the self-publishing journey in September of 2011. Over a five month span I began work on writing what would become the first book in a sprawling science fiction series called the Black Rain Journals. The book was titled The Voice and featured a unique episodic structure and relied heavily on character development. Black Rain is in essence my War of the Worlds, a homage to HG Wells, Close Encounters, and all those awesome old alien sci-fi movies.
On January 18, 2012, I uploaded The Voice to Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing Service. The rest is as they say history or will be some day.
Since then I have published 4 more books including the second book in Black Rain: The Widow and The Orphan.
The Pied Piper of the Undead was a zombie short story that debuted in March and was followed by BOOM in May.
December saw Bandwidth join the list with Black Rain 2 ringing in the New Year.
There were several things that happened in the course of the year that affected how I shaped what would become my publishing platform. The first was Amazon's new KDP Select Program. Select called for authors to enlist their books exclusively on a 90 day contract. In exchange, the titles would be included in Amazon's Lending Library which allowed Prime Members to "borrow" one book a month. Amazon dedicated a set amount of funds each month to pay authors a set amount per borrow depending on the library's activity for that month. Authors were also given "marketing" days in which they could set the price of their book to FREE and have promotional giveaways.
Since it's formation, Select has been a very polarizing program, with some loving the benefits of exclusivity while others opted out after their first go around and vowed never to return. For me Select has been a valuable tool in gaining critical exposure in a steadily growing marketplace.
Another thing that happened this year was my idea to partner up with other writers in an attempt to pool our resources and collectively build a larger market presence by supporting/marketing our titles under an umbrella imprint. The imprint is called iFiction! I invited another self published author, Everette Bell, and a close friend, John Fulk, to join. Under the imprint,we will focus on shorter stories and serialized fiction. We will also be open to co-writing some projects. Two titles have made their iFiction! debut and more are following throughout 2013. The imprint is still in its early stages, but I believe it can be a nice marketing tool as long as the members all work together to produce quality work and share net resources. I've got some good guys on board, so hopefully we gain some ground on the bestsellers.
Of course the biggest event of 2012 was the diagnosis of my son with leukemia on July 5th. He is well on the way to recovery but the treatment has been a long road. With the hospital visits and chemotherapy, writing was put on hold from July until October, a large part of the year. But things have really turned around for my son, and I hunkered down and really focused on iFiction! and releasing more titles for the end of the year and have been in a writing zone since early November with no sign of slowdown.
So how do the numbers look for 2012? I'll break it down by title with a little note on the book's performance, sales numbers, borrow numbers, FREE copies, and then end with # of reviews and overall rating on Amazon.com.
Black Rain: The Voice
First books in epic series normally do not do well on the ebook platform. Many readers wait until multiple books have been released before starting a series. Overall, I believe The Voice did well even with this mark against it.
SOLD 72 + 9 paperbacks
BORROWS 4
FREE 970
RATING- 4.6 on 8 reviews
The Pied Piper of the Undead
Zombies sell. That's the bottom line. This was far and away my top title. So much so that due to demand I am working on sequels. I also think it is one of my best so far.
SOLD 588 + 37 audiobooks
BORROWS 193
FREE 5502(!)
RATING- 4.3 on 26 reviews (more reviews = a more balanced rating)
BOOM
BOOM was a very unique story. I dubbed it a psycho-thriller. After release it flopped and I considered it a failure. But Select has helped it gain exposure and it has done well in the library the past 3 months.
SOLD 29
BORROWS 48
FREE 555
RATING- 4.4 on 5 reviews
Bandwidth
Still too soon to see how overall reception has been. So far the reviews are split. It is a wild, weird story. There are two versions. The second version is what was published. On hindsight, I wonder if the first one was the superior one.
SOLD 7
BORROWS 2
FREE 370
RATING- 2.5 on 2 reviews
So let's see, carry the 2 and add that and.....overall I sold 989 total books over 3 different platforms and gave away 7397 copies during release promos. Not epic numbers compared with the people who write full time but respectable for a first year writer.
A study said that self published authors who sell through the Kindle AVERAGE $500 of total income during their careers. I more than doubled that amount in the first year. I'll take that as affirmation.
SOOOOOOO.......where does that leave 2013? Well for starters, my son is entering the calmer maintenance phase of his treatment. Because he will not have to visit the hospital weekly, I am looking for a job to help with our overall income. But writing will be a part time job for me. I am confident I can still get a good number of projects finished in the upcoming year.
In March, I have Madicon at James Madison University. Madicon is the university's annual Science Fiction and Fantasy Covention. I will be selling Black Rain paperbacks and I want to have a short story collection available.
The collection will have the above shorts plus one or two more. So really most of the book is already done. With an eye towards the short story paperback, I have tweaked the upcoming schedule:
BLISS is halfway finished.
RED MAGUS is the first "mini serial" from iFiction! 2 to 3 episodes. It leads into a larger serial. It is my first foray into the crime genre and I will include it with the collection.
Paperback for BLACK RAIN 2 is coming end of the month.
After that PIED PIPER OF THE UNDEAD 2 is coming this summer. I have it all mapped out and the third book in prelim stages.
BLACK RAIN 3 will be started in the summer. Hopefully for a late summer release. THE TOWN is going to finish off the first half of the series.
Looking at audiobooks for BOOM and BANDWIDTH.
And that is all I am going to announce. Anything else depends on how much extra time I have or what the market is asking for.
I write every day and if I can't write, I am thinking about what I am going to write. I hope to make great gains in 2013 with an eye on one day becoming a full-time writer.
Thank you all for a super year. It's surreal to know I actually have fans not only in the States but in the UK, India, Central America and all over. I love hearing from each and every one of you. Never be afraid to ask a question or share your opinion. Or just stop by and say hello.
Special thanks to Laura Gaylord, Laura Clark Smith, John Fulk, Wartooth Ebooks, Book Reviews by DC, my market friend Rhonda, and my little bro, Chris Whetzel. Your support is much appreciated.
peace,
Mike
First if you have not heard, Black Rain 2 is out. And Black Rain 1 is FREE for a limited time!!!
It's time to take a look at the past year and share success stories and failures. And see what we learned and what is coming up for 2013!!!!
I made the decision to embark on the self-publishing journey in September of 2011. Over a five month span I began work on writing what would become the first book in a sprawling science fiction series called the Black Rain Journals. The book was titled The Voice and featured a unique episodic structure and relied heavily on character development. Black Rain is in essence my War of the Worlds, a homage to HG Wells, Close Encounters, and all those awesome old alien sci-fi movies.
On January 18, 2012, I uploaded The Voice to Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing Service. The rest is as they say history or will be some day.
Since then I have published 4 more books including the second book in Black Rain: The Widow and The Orphan.
The Pied Piper of the Undead was a zombie short story that debuted in March and was followed by BOOM in May.
December saw Bandwidth join the list with Black Rain 2 ringing in the New Year.
There were several things that happened in the course of the year that affected how I shaped what would become my publishing platform. The first was Amazon's new KDP Select Program. Select called for authors to enlist their books exclusively on a 90 day contract. In exchange, the titles would be included in Amazon's Lending Library which allowed Prime Members to "borrow" one book a month. Amazon dedicated a set amount of funds each month to pay authors a set amount per borrow depending on the library's activity for that month. Authors were also given "marketing" days in which they could set the price of their book to FREE and have promotional giveaways.
Since it's formation, Select has been a very polarizing program, with some loving the benefits of exclusivity while others opted out after their first go around and vowed never to return. For me Select has been a valuable tool in gaining critical exposure in a steadily growing marketplace.
Another thing that happened this year was my idea to partner up with other writers in an attempt to pool our resources and collectively build a larger market presence by supporting/marketing our titles under an umbrella imprint. The imprint is called iFiction! I invited another self published author, Everette Bell, and a close friend, John Fulk, to join. Under the imprint,we will focus on shorter stories and serialized fiction. We will also be open to co-writing some projects. Two titles have made their iFiction! debut and more are following throughout 2013. The imprint is still in its early stages, but I believe it can be a nice marketing tool as long as the members all work together to produce quality work and share net resources. I've got some good guys on board, so hopefully we gain some ground on the bestsellers.
Of course the biggest event of 2012 was the diagnosis of my son with leukemia on July 5th. He is well on the way to recovery but the treatment has been a long road. With the hospital visits and chemotherapy, writing was put on hold from July until October, a large part of the year. But things have really turned around for my son, and I hunkered down and really focused on iFiction! and releasing more titles for the end of the year and have been in a writing zone since early November with no sign of slowdown.
So how do the numbers look for 2012? I'll break it down by title with a little note on the book's performance, sales numbers, borrow numbers, FREE copies, and then end with # of reviews and overall rating on Amazon.com.
Black Rain: The Voice
First books in epic series normally do not do well on the ebook platform. Many readers wait until multiple books have been released before starting a series. Overall, I believe The Voice did well even with this mark against it.
SOLD 72 + 9 paperbacks
BORROWS 4
FREE 970
RATING- 4.6 on 8 reviews
The Pied Piper of the Undead
Zombies sell. That's the bottom line. This was far and away my top title. So much so that due to demand I am working on sequels. I also think it is one of my best so far.
SOLD 588 + 37 audiobooks
BORROWS 193
FREE 5502(!)
RATING- 4.3 on 26 reviews (more reviews = a more balanced rating)
BOOM
BOOM was a very unique story. I dubbed it a psycho-thriller. After release it flopped and I considered it a failure. But Select has helped it gain exposure and it has done well in the library the past 3 months.
SOLD 29
BORROWS 48
FREE 555
RATING- 4.4 on 5 reviews
Bandwidth
Still too soon to see how overall reception has been. So far the reviews are split. It is a wild, weird story. There are two versions. The second version is what was published. On hindsight, I wonder if the first one was the superior one.
SOLD 7
BORROWS 2
FREE 370
RATING- 2.5 on 2 reviews
So let's see, carry the 2 and add that and.....overall I sold 989 total books over 3 different platforms and gave away 7397 copies during release promos. Not epic numbers compared with the people who write full time but respectable for a first year writer.
A study said that self published authors who sell through the Kindle AVERAGE $500 of total income during their careers. I more than doubled that amount in the first year. I'll take that as affirmation.
SOOOOOOO.......where does that leave 2013? Well for starters, my son is entering the calmer maintenance phase of his treatment. Because he will not have to visit the hospital weekly, I am looking for a job to help with our overall income. But writing will be a part time job for me. I am confident I can still get a good number of projects finished in the upcoming year.
In March, I have Madicon at James Madison University. Madicon is the university's annual Science Fiction and Fantasy Covention. I will be selling Black Rain paperbacks and I want to have a short story collection available.
The collection will have the above shorts plus one or two more. So really most of the book is already done. With an eye towards the short story paperback, I have tweaked the upcoming schedule:
BLISS is halfway finished.
RED MAGUS is the first "mini serial" from iFiction! 2 to 3 episodes. It leads into a larger serial. It is my first foray into the crime genre and I will include it with the collection.
Paperback for BLACK RAIN 2 is coming end of the month.
After that PIED PIPER OF THE UNDEAD 2 is coming this summer. I have it all mapped out and the third book in prelim stages.
BLACK RAIN 3 will be started in the summer. Hopefully for a late summer release. THE TOWN is going to finish off the first half of the series.
Looking at audiobooks for BOOM and BANDWIDTH.
And that is all I am going to announce. Anything else depends on how much extra time I have or what the market is asking for.
I write every day and if I can't write, I am thinking about what I am going to write. I hope to make great gains in 2013 with an eye on one day becoming a full-time writer.
Thank you all for a super year. It's surreal to know I actually have fans not only in the States but in the UK, India, Central America and all over. I love hearing from each and every one of you. Never be afraid to ask a question or share your opinion. Or just stop by and say hello.
Special thanks to Laura Gaylord, Laura Clark Smith, John Fulk, Wartooth Ebooks, Book Reviews by DC, my market friend Rhonda, and my little bro, Chris Whetzel. Your support is much appreciated.
peace,
Mike
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