The elusive sales data… There are pros and cons to enrolling
in Amazon’s Kindle Select program. Five
days in every ninety of being able to give away the title for ‘free’, is a
great marketing perk. The bad part is having your novel only available on
Amazon. I was interested in having Diary of a Bad Boy available for library
lending, too, where an author could gain a percentage from Amazon’s royalty
pool. The book is near and dear to my
heart so I really just wanted people to read it. That said, I decided to pull
Diary from Smashwords and Barnes and Noble and see if I could pump some life
into it. An experiment where I had nothing to lose - the book was selling less
than five copies a month. You had to commit to ninety days, and they were
upfront about the author needing to opt out of the program, because once
enrolled they automatically renewed at the end of the commitment. I know other
authors who utilized the program and did very well – reaching the top one
hundred of the Amazon Free list.
Diary of a Bad Boy only got to 162, but I was pleased just
the same.
I’ve been under killer deadlines for the past four months
(yeah! Not complaining, lol) so I sort of forgot about the program until I
heard a friend talk about how well she was doing. So just before Sleuthfest, I
stuck Diary of a Bad Boy up for free – then went away and again, forgot about
it. Poor Diary
So I tried again. This time I promo’d on my loops, facebook
and twitter. I told people about it and asked my friends to tell friends. I
almost didn’t do this topic because the numbers are so small, lol, but then I
decided to be honest and share.
In the past six weeks, from 2/18 to 3/31, I have sold – not
given away – 31 copies of Diary of a Bad Boy. It sells for 2.99. The book has
never once been taken from the cyber library.
For the 3/1 to 3/3 promotion, I gave away 1242 free copies
in the US, and 142 in the UK
For the 3/28 to 3/30 promotion, I gave away 2043 US copies,
and 15 UK copies.
I’m hoping that the promo got my name in front of
readers. I really can’t do much else
with the royalties but get a manicure, lol.
The numbers for Diary in the past month are consistent with my two other
self pubbed YAs – Wiccan Chalice sells for 1.99, and Wiccan Wishes, a short
short <g> sells for .99 – they are steady performers around the twenty
five sales, each title, per month.
As you can see, I won’t be buying that mansion across the
ocean just yet – but I am banking on the long term. I will continue to write
and add more to my self pubbed list. I am selling with a small publishing
house, and a boutique publisher. My agent is shopping to New York publishing
houses – eventually, things should come together and one project will help the
other. Then – look out mansion!!
My new older teen novel, Zombyre, My Love, will be available
on Amazon and e readers everywhere April 6th. It is also available in print, if you prefer
the old fashioned way of reading! Thank
you, Rhonda, for inviting me to your blog!
Traci www.traciehall.com
Thank you, Rhonda - love your blog site, and can't wait for Finley!
ReplyDeleteTraci, I finished reading The Diary of A Bad Boy. I love it so much I am writing a review on Amazon today and I recommended to my cousin's daughter who I hope will recommend it to her class in school. That book is a keeper.
ReplyDeleteTraci,
ReplyDeleteI can't wait for you to get your mansion. The parties will be wonderful and the wine will flow free! Get going girl. People of the universe - buy Traci Hall!!!
Mona!! Thank you - that is really awesome ((hugs))I really appreciate you taking the time to write a review, too xoxoxox
ReplyDeletePatrice - you can buy the mansion next door. Our parties could be WORLD famous!!We can name our little neighborhood Barneywood, lol
ReplyDeleteThank you! Oh, you mean the other Barney
DeleteTraci, you're the most cheerful and hardest working writer I know. And you're consistent. I see that mansion in your future, if that's what you really want ;0)
ReplyDeletewell, thank you very much!!! Im not sure what I would honestly do with a mansion but it sounds nice. So long as it came with a maid :)
DeleteI am surprised, I thought you'd sell tons!!! Wonder why some sell so fast and others are slow to sell. And it's such a fantastic touching story!
ReplyDeleteWhat are readers looking for???
Mary, what readers are looking for...if we could all tap into that, we'd all be sitting at the top of the Times list! Interesting, but sad, numbers...
DeleteI downloaded it and am looking forward to reading it!
ReplyDeleteHi Brooklyn Ann! You have so many names, lol - I hope you enjoy the book :)
DeleteI picked up a copy for my Kindle about a week ago. Haven't read it yet, but it's in my TBR folder!
ReplyDeleteThank you Suzanne Lilly - I hope you enjoy!!
Deleteas an addendum, I did sell twenty more copies in the first week of April, well beyond the free download...I hope this information is helpful!