For Those of You New to Indie Web-Based Retail…

 
…I would like to share a few bits of my experience. I've learned these lessons from 14 years of selling indie software and video games. From what I've seen, so far, they apply to indie fiction, as well.
 
1. Outdoor Holidays are Not Your Friend – "Outdoor Holidays" is my name for such (USA) holidays as the 4th of July, Memorial Day and Labor Day. These are holidays where people are much more likely to be outside having fun than they are to be inside browsing the Web or checking FB or anything else that requires more thought than a beer and a burger.
 
2. Conversely, Indoor Holidays are Your BFF's – "Indoor Holidays", however, are the best thing since…well…the Web. On holidays like New Years Day (not New Years Eve, that qualifies as an Outdoor Holiday), Xmas, and most of the summer vacation, though, people are indoors. And usually bored and looking for something to entertain them.
 
3. Welcome to the Fall Meltdown – The Fall Meltdown starts with the opening of public schools in mid- to late-August and runs through the end of September. A lot of retail businesses suffer in this stretch between "Back to School" and "Oh, look, the Xmas decorations are out already."
 
4. Every Day Starts from $0 – No matter how good yesterday was, today starts from $0. And today can, and will, take all 24 hours to go from $0 to some other, more useful number. Some days, you see great sales right at the starting gun on midnight–and then nothing the rest of the day. Some days are the polar opposite. Some days will be incredible. Some days will send you into fits of depression. The best way around the manic-depressive emotional swings is to limit how often you check. And keep a larger perspective, like the sales for the last 7 days or the last 30 days. There's less extreme variation in those figures.
 
Have one of your own? Does it have a pithy, slogan-like sound to it? Feel free to share it in the comments.
 
-David