Happy Sunday, WG2E-Land!
Several times over the past few weeks, I’ve read in your fabulous comments how disheartened many of you are when you try advice and examples you’re given here on The WG2E, and you don’t see an overnight change in your Ebook Sales. Or, you do in fact see an immediate bump in sales but that only lasts a day or two, and then you cycle down again.
I wanted to take a moment and let you know that none of these promotional and marketing strategies we share with you are designed as life-altering, get-rich quick tools.
Honestly, there ain’t no such thing in this business! 
There just ain’t!
In Publishing, Time is Money…but often it’s a long time with money that very slowly begins to increase when evaluating it as a monthly average. And often, it puts you in the red before you come charging back in the black.
***Note: That’s not to say that you won’t have HUGE swings of fast money. For instance, around this past holiday season, I was making between $1,000 and $2,000 per day (going as high as $3,000 per day) on my Boxed Set. Now, I make around $2,000 per month on that product.
Let me give you a few more of my own personal experiences as examples.
And, I’ll start out by saying that, for me, the two years it’s taken me to now be at the level where I’m making over $100,000 per year does seem quick when compared to the 10+ years I traveled the TradiPub Road to Oz without a single dime earned! Hell, I’d spent over $75,000 during that journey without a penny in return!!! Which, btw, I would not advise! LOL!!!
But, two years is still a long shot from being an “overnight” success story!
Here’s the scoop:
1. I Indie Epublished for the first time in August 2010, and I sold 27 books that first month across all platforms and made around $30.00.
2. I dropped my debut release from $2.99 to 99 Cents in February 2011. And then did the same for all of my fiction books in mid-July 2011. So that by August 2011, my one-year anniversary as an Indie Epublished Author, I’d made around $3,602.00.
***Note: Just that single price change took me from an average of between $30 and $200 per month to around $800 per month.
3. In September 2011, I implemented my “First One is On Me” strategy, where my debut release was now FREE on all platforms. (This was prior to KDP Select.) In just a few days, that book – BOOTSCOOTIN’ BLAHNIKS – became the #1 FREE Book on Amazon and soon on Nook too.
***Note: That change took me from making around $800 per month to $2800.00 per month. Yep, that FREE offering gave the sales of my entire backlist a gigantic boost.
4. Holiday Season 2011, I published my first Boxed Set at a $2.99 price point. At the time, there was nothing else like it. No one had 6 books for just $2.99.
***Note: That change took me from around $3000 per month to now over $14,000 per month.
5. For 2012, I’ve focused on connecting with readers and really increasing the number of Ebooks I have on cyber shelves across all platforms. I want readers to buy everything I’ve got…and they are!
***Note: I’m now – all the high and low months taken together – going to earn over $100,000 in 2012. And that’s before my superfab Christmas book comes out with the A-mazing Theresa Ragan!!! Who knows where that will take us!
Each decision then, each marketing tool and/or strategy, over time, has compounded to drastically change my monthly income. But it sure as hell didn’t happen overnight! Even my Boxed Set Bliss took about a month before the $1,000+ per day milestones.
And yes, even after this level of success, even after hitting both Amazon’s Top 100 Bestselling Ebooks List and B&N’s Top 100 Bestselling List too, and having multiple months in the $10,000 to $14,000 range, I’ve still had cycles this summer where I’ve made around $4,000 per month, which still beats my first year all together!
The moral of this post is to hang in there. Let each tool have time on its own to work and then add a new tool with it to get that wonderful compounding effect.
***Final Note: None of this would have worked over the long haul, if I hadn’t been spending most of my time chatting with readers, not fellow writers, but readers while cranking out the next book and the one after that then that and so on.
It’s Your Turn, WG2E-Land: We’d luuuvvv to hear your “overnight success” stories. Also, how long do you let a certain promotion go before you mix it up a bit?
P.S. You can read more about all of this in my Bestselling On-Publishing Book 10 Years and 24 Hours to Indie Epublishing Success.
The Best of Overnight Success Wishes — D. D. Scott
This is sooooo true, DD! “Each decision then, each marketing tool and/or strategy, over time, has compounded to drastically change my monthly income. But it sure as hell didn’t happen overnight! ”
It takes a lot of time, patience, and work to build up your sales figures into something steady and worthwhile. Having more books on your virtual shelf will help this so much, so you need to get writing, not just sit back and relax after you’ve written your first book and think the money will start rolling in. But don’t sacrifice quality, though, for quantity because it won’t work!
Excellent points, Sibel! You definitely can’t sacrifice quality for quantity!
And I will let y’all in on another strategy, that I’ll blog in full about soon…
Simply make your stories shorter. There’s really no reason for 300 to 400 page books now. Peoples’ attention spans are getting shorter and shorter. They don’t have a ton of time to read. They’re often reading while doing other things, like commuting to and from work, waiting in car pool lines, at the doc’s office, waiting at soccer practice…give ‘em great shorter reads that they can finish in a few days (say 100 to 200 words). I’m hearing from a bunch of my readers that they love that I’m a “quick fun read.”
Hi DD,
Splendid post and I absolutely agree with what you’re saying. My first year as an ‘Indie’ writer began in May 2011, and I was thrilled when I made a sale a day for the first month. Since then it’s been a case of sometimes 2 steps forward and 1 back – but sales have always been in the +++ position for almost each month thereafter. August 2011 was abysmal which was why I wrote a post last month reminding everyone that this is traditional, summer sales are usually slow and low compared to the rest of the year. The beginning of this year saw my own sales soar, especially during March and April when I sold over 35,000 copies of The Surgeon’s Blade, and incidentally selling high on one title always seems to have a great knock-on effect with the rest of your other books. I change my book prices from time to time, making one 99c or occasionally free and this does seem to kick-start a sluggish period.
Overall it does take time and the key is to ‘Keep Calm and Not Panic’! If you’ve got a good product on offer and you’re reaching your target audience it WILL happen – just have a little Faith (ahem!) and patience and keep those new titles coming. Thanks for all your other great advice over the past year, good reading!
Fabulous points, Faith! Luuuvvv this one and have found it sooo very true:
“…incidentally selling high on one title always seems to have a great knock-on effect with the rest of your other books.”
It is all about ‘Keep Calm and Not Panic’…and just get to crankin’ on that next great book which you’ll offer at a great price. And along the way, connect with readers!!!
Thanks DD for being so honest with us and sharing your “tools” to success. I have been self pubbed now for around 14 months and like you started slow, then saw my first book priced at .99 start selling like crazy, over a hundred a day. My excitement level was over-the-top. I made $10,000 in my first year but have noticed a drastic slow down in the past few months, but I’m ready to put another book up this week and my first box set. Now, after hearing your great success with your box set I have decided to price mine lower. Thanks so much for your timely advice.
U betchya, Patrice!
No worries on your summer slow-down. Like Faith mentioned above, summer is generally the slowest book buying season. And along with that, sales are cyclical. You’ll have highs and lows and bunches of in betweens too!
Congrats on your fabulous success!!! U Go, Girl!!!
Thanks DeeDee! I needed to hear this (again) as over the last couple of days I’ve been close to simply quitting. Yesterday especially.
I had a couple of good months over the summer when my current book released and I’ve not done anything different, if anything I’ve added some things to try and gain readers – but after seeing September sales of only 11 books (not counting what ever few were downloaded for free in KDP) was the breaking point. And Nook? I sold 0 books for September. 0!!! I’ve never NOT sold a single copy of any of my books.
And yes, I’ve lowered to .99 and it was great for a couple of days. . .my prices are between .99 and 2.99 and I lower or raise according to what is going on (ie new sequel to series, etc.)
I’ve been at this for a year and a half – I’ve yet to see even $100 for a month in sales let alone $1000. I quite simply don’t know if my writing sucks (I know it doesn’t – I’ve been told so by professionals) or what the deal is.
So there we are – And I have a new release in November – hmmmm. . .
I’ve always been of the mindset, Jamie, that the only peeps who don’t make it are those who quit. And that single sentiment is what’s kept me going almost 13 years now in this business…10+ years when I didn’t make a dime.
I would suggest that to give yourself a fabulous new boost that you begin to really find a unique way to brand yourself…not just your books…but you. For example, I know from getting to know you on Facebook that you have the coolest personal life…you are always going on these A-mazing trips…what if you somehow branded that part of you…? Like a where in the world is Jamie type of thing…
I reread this and realized that while it has been years longer that I’ve been in books, it’s only been the past year and a half since I first epublished – but I still should have sales better than I do. . .
And yes, perhaps DD using something with my travels in my branding might just work – as my characters are always off to some new place.
Head hurting too much right now. . .could it be it’s too full of ideas?
Full of ideas can be painful…till you act on ‘em…the best medicine of all, my friend.
Hi Jamie,
Your books look fabulous and I’m going to pick one up right away! Don’t get too down . . . from everything I’ve seen, it’s a slow build and takes time. Also, I noticed that once I used D.D.’s advice on positioning my book for bestseller categories on Amazon (i.e. finding categories that aren’t too crowded), my book sales picked up. I think it’s all about finding a way to get in front of readers somehow, something I’m learning more about every day!
I think readers would love to read about your travels. I think D.D.’s advice is great!
Wavin’ atchya, Riley!
The Categorization really does work very well…basically, it is a new reader base to tap into with each category you choose.
Thanks for the encouraging post for someone who has just embarked on the indie publishing journey. My sales seem to be on par with what you experienced when you first started out, which give me great hope for the future.
I can relate to the long journey. I have been writing for 15 years and earning money as columnist, editor, and freelancer along the way, but my aim has always been to be a novelist. All those other writing ventures dropped into my lap and I couldn’t pass up the money or the experience. What do they say? Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans.
Everyone talks about the “gatekeepers” not being there with indie publishing. Perhaps the biggest gatekeeper that will weed out writer is a lack of patience for building a career.
I will remain patient and continue to plug away.
You nailed it right here, Janice:
“Everyone talks about the “gatekeepers” not being there with indie publishing. Perhaps the biggest gatekeeper that will weed out writer is a lack of patience for building a career.”
Remaining patient and continuing to plug away is the key. Mix it up along the way with some of the reader-friendly strategies I note above, and you might just help your stars line up a wee bit quicker.
I think also you’ve got to decide, as a writer, if this is a career you’re going for (as a novelist) or that you simply would like to see yourself published. And there is no wrong answer here, but the answer that is right for you will determine your approaches.
Yes, I agree that tenacity is one of the most important qualities an indie writer can have: sinking our teeth in and not letting go, no matter how discouraged we might get.
Tenacity does indeed rule in this biz…I like to think of it as being the bull in the china shop.
Another great post, D.D.
I finished reading 10 YEARS AND 24 HOURS a week or two ago. ANYONE who is interested in publishing and promoting their own work ought to pick up a copy.
I need to write a review of this soon – but I’ve got to get ready to get to work today. My day job awaits – dammit.
Thanks sooo very much for the 10-24 shout-out, Steve!
I’m thrilled you enjoyed it!!!
I can’t wait to see your twist on my techniques!
Have a great day, my friend!!!
It’s a GREAT book! Highly recommend. I’ve learned so much from it.
Thanks bunches, Riley! I’m thrilled to hear you learned a lot from 10-24 too! Nothin’ beats Writers Helping Writers Reach Readers!!!
I am still hanging in there! I notice that when I am a guest on a blog, my sales go up. When I promote on various Yahoo groups, my sales go up. The downside to promotion, is less time to write. I also noticed that the more books I produce, the more sales I make (newest release My Banished Highlander are only about 20% higher than the last title, and I see both totals climbing.) Thanks for suggesting we ‘hang in there’
Excellent, Nancy! And your sales are going up with each of these because you’re tapping into a new reader base! Well done!!!
And yep, each time you release something new, you’ll usually see your backlist get a nice bump too. The reason is that people like to read in order…so if they discover you down the line, they’ll often go back and start at the beginning.
‘Hang in there’ is the name of the game!
I read somewhere that the best way to make a decent living as an indie author is SHELF SPACE, SHELF SPACE, SHELF SPACE. It’s great news for authors, as writing is what we love to do best, anyway.
Increasing your cyber shelf space is indeed one of the best ways to increase your visibility too, Riley. Basically, you’re giving readers additional ways to find you with each new book you release.
I’m adjusting to new ideas in ebook PR..it’s different and makes you think. I tried DD’s technique of secondary ‘different’ categories that fit the book – and wow – Best Laid Plans posted #33 in fashion design – and the book is all that and more. I do wish Amazon had more allowable categories. But today, went thru and did totally different secondary categories that fit my fiction titles.
Am trying to use FB and twitter more but I don’t want to be obnoxious – there are a few authors who post like every hour the same thing…drives me and others crazy.
Am trying the blog give-a-way – and see how that goes.
And to pay it forward – hosting indie/established authors on my radio show…last Saturday on a repeat show – erotica – we had 4000 listeners who stayed for the entire 2 hours!! And that was a podcast!
It’s a learning experience and seems to change daily…but DD’s blog certainly helps. Thanks
Atta Girl, Elaine!
Categorization helps a great deal because each of those category list you climb the charts on means you’re more visible. Congrats on your climb, btw!
As long as your content on social media is friendly and relevant, you won’t be obnoxious. It’s that “buy my books” and posts about your books all day long that drive people batty.
Way to Pay It Forward to with your Radio Show too! I can’t wait to be your guest!!!
Another excellent post. Your final note, ” I spend my time chatting with readers, not fellow writers”, really struck me. I follow a couple of groups on Facebook and am amazed at how much time many writers spend each day chatting back and forth with other writers. Some of it good information sharing about the trade but much of it idle chatter of bored minds. Our readers are our customers and “the customer is always right”. thanks, Bill
It’s amazing isn’t it, Bill? LOL! It took me the longest time to figure out that, for the most part, it’s not fellow writers who are our customers. We don’t have as much time to read as regular readers. So, it’s the regular readers we need to spend more time with.
Yes, but where do we FIND these readers? That’s the million dollar question!
Check out my comments from my post yesterday, here on The WG2E, Riley, and you’ll be well on your way to finding readers. I can’t wait to see what you do with these and my other 10-24 ideas.
Thanks for all your wise words, DeeDee. I’m storing them up for when I publish my first novel, hopefully at the end of the year. Patience has never been one of my virtues, but I know it’s a must in this business. And I know I need to get that one up and start on the next, so I’m going to try my best to do that and not worry about the numbers for right now.
I read a post recently that compared publishing to the stock market. You ride out the highs and lows and you tend to make more in the long run. So that’s my plan.
Patience has actually never been my virtue either, Rhonda! In fact, I think it’s highly overrated! LOL!
Here’s what I do to trick myself into having some…I just keep writing the next book and the one after that and after that and so on. Before I know it, time has passed and lots of exciting new things have filled the void.
Thanks, D.D. for the great post. It’s encouraging. Everyone on the Kindle community is complaining about september sales. It’s a relief to hear that things cycle, and there is hope for the upcoming xmas season. I’ve also enjoyed reading your 10 years and 24 hours. As another reader said, I, too, need to post a review, but to be honest, I’m STILL reading it. I keep re-reading parts, returning to the great advice and your encouraging candor again and again. So, in reality, I guess I feel as if I haven’t really ‘finished’ it yet. Thanks for being such a help and inspiration for us newbies. And anyone here who hasn’t bought D.D.’s 10 years + book on publishing, it’s a great resource, well worth the price–worth more than she’s asking, so pick up a copy.
my profile: I started out e-publishing with my debut novel in April. First month, I made $12.95 on Amazon, and about $11.82 on Smashwords. Since then, I have published two more novels, and each month since April, my sales have increased. Sept was lower than the three summer months, but still pretty good compared to April & May. So, those who are just starting, keep at it, and keep adding titles. After my 2nd novel was published in June, I saw an increase not only in that book’s sales but also the first one. I’ve just launched a 3rd this month, and am working on the 4th, a sequel to my first book, so then I’ll have a ‘series’ going. Once I release the sequel, I plan to drop the price of the first one, following D.D.’s example.
Thanks again D.D., your generosity in sharing with us is priceless!
Lily
I hear ya on the complaining on the Kindle Boards, Lily. Actually, I try to stay away from that stuff, ’cause it ends up being total Debbie Downers to me. I focus on the cyclical nature of this biz and just try to find new ways to bump my visibility during each down swing.
I’m over the moon to hear you’re enjoying 10-24 too! And it’s perfectly fine to keep on using it over and over and over again. That’s exactly what I hoped it would be…a continuance source of inspiration. A book that you’d go back to again and again, thinking, okay…this time, I’m going to try this approach or this one.
And you go girl with your fabulous job at adding to your very own cyber shelf! Well done!!!
Thanks for the encouraging post, DeeDee, and all the advice you so freely share. You’re an inspiration.
U betchya, Dana! And it’s getting to know all of you that inspires me to continue to share the luuuvvv.
Great advice as usual, DD! Thank you for sharing!
xx, Lauren
Sure thing, Lauren! Cheers, my friend!!!
Hi DD,
I am in LOVE with your WG2E website/blog. I belong to a local writers group and mentioned your site. Is it okay if I post a link to your site occassionallly on our MeetUps group site. I won’t copy/paste the articles, only the link with a named reference to your site along with a sentence describing the article. Most of us our newbies trying to figure all this Epub stuff out.
You are more than welcome to post links, Sheri, and quote anything you’d like! We’d luuuvvv to have your local group join our community. All of you are welcome anytime and all the time!!!
Thanks sooo much for the sweet shout-out!
Thanks, DD. These are encouraging numbers. I appreciate your honesty. Your comment about writing shorter is something I realised in June. My first book released in May was 137,000 words. It takes forever to write and edit and cost more for professional editing. My second book was about 36,000 words. It took 19 days to write and another month to edit. At this rate, I could easily publish six books a year. As you say, people love short, quick reads. I also found they are a blast to write. Tight story lines, bing, bang, boom! The end.
I’m loving writing shorter length stories too, Diane, and I’m thrilled you’ve discovered this approach too. There’s something very satisfying to your muses about this too, don’t you think? It’s more of an instant gratification thing, I think, in that you’re seeing that finished product sooner and can celebrate that and then move on to the next one, knowing before too long, you’ll have a nice cyber shelf of books to help people find you.
Yes, I agreed. Quick, shorter novels are satisfying.
The biggest problem with me sometimes is staying focussed. With so many things going on in my life, it’s easy to forget how long it takes to complete a story. I’ve proven to myself that I can complete the first draft of a 36,000-word novel in 19 days, yet it’s taken me 30 days to get only 15,000 words down on my current project. If I don’t remind myself every day to get those new words down, I get caught up in other writing activities (writing and reading blogs, visiting Facebook, answering email, marketing, starting other projects).
I think I’m going to print this blog post and stick in on the wall next to my computer to remind me off the possible roads ahead. My goal is to have six novels out in one year. I can do that if I keep focussed. Thanks, DD.
D.D.,
I love how you are always so open and transparent about your journey and everything that has worked (and not worked) for you. It’s why I keep coming back to this blog every week! Congratulations on your success. You are an inspiration.
One question I have for you is: if you were a new indie author today, would you still do the free book or would you go the KDP Select route? I’m leery of KDP Select, but I know a lot of authors who’ve had good success with it.
I would also LOVE to know where you find your readers! I spend most of my time connecting with other authors and would love to know where to find more readers (besides Goodreads).
Thanks again, D.D.!
Thanks so much for the sweet shout-out, Riley.
Great questions too!
The Answers:
If I was a new indie author, I’d still do my FREE Book Approach “The First One is On Me” like I did starting back in September 2011 because I want to be available on all platforms all the time. That said, I know that Amazon isn’t price-matching Free like they used to BUT people can still get the FREE Kindle version via Smashwords. I just don’t like Select. I think it was a brilliant move on Amazon’s part for Amazon, but not for authors. Why not for authors? Because I think, long term, exclusivity hurts authors more than helps them. Yes, you can get huge temporary surges from whichever platform your exclusive with, but when that time is over, you’re starting from scratch everywhere else. I also think it’s confusing and frustrating for readers…I don’t want to have to say to a reader, “Well, yes, I’ve got a new book out, but it’s only available on ‘x,’ you’ll have to wait three months to get it on your Ereader.”
As far as finding readers, here’s a superfab fun technique to get you started:
To begin to “find” your readers, make a list of the elements in each of your books.
For example, I began with the following for my Bootscootin’ Books: bootscootin’/country line dancing, cupcakes, bbq, meat n’ three diners, pastry chefs, fashion designers, country lifestyle, Nashville TN, having babies, having twins, ponzi schemes, Vegas, tractor supply stores, etc.
I did Google searches. Facebook Searches. Twitter Searches. Now Pinterest searches too. Searching for people who enjoy these elements like I do. That way, I can spend time with peeps who enjoy the same things as I do, and then maybe, they’ll like me and then check out my books too.
Does that help a bit?
Notice, I’m not looking for readers of these elements…just peeps who enjoy these things. I spend time getting to know peeps without talking about my books first.
Thanks for this reminder. I look at my sales each day and wonder. But they are going up slowly, so is my earnings. I remember reading an ebook earlier this year that said if you see your writing as a business, then think of it like other businesses which makes profits during the first three years. So, it can take up to three years to start really earning profits from your writing. I will going to a conference in November, where there is a day intensive course on making yourself a brand. I will be doing that and hopefully will come from there knowing how to create myself and my books and get readers to notice me more.
Thanks for another great post, D.D.! Really appreciate the great information and encouragement!
Thanks for another great post, D. D.!
Great info, as always.