First I want to thank everyone for all the support this year. wow 2011 was such a roller coaster ride - some ups and some downs.
I started the year with chronic vertigo, in acquisitions, down in book rejection, parted with my wonderful agent, gave up on writing, decided to put out Untraceable, then ended the year with wonderful new blogger friends (all of you), no vertigo, and wonderful sales for Untraceable (the book everyone told me would not sell). All backed by my wonderful family and friends who never wavered on their support for me and who were all healthy and happy.
Honestly? I could cry just talking about it all.
As promised, I wanted to update you on my sales since you all have taken this journey with me. I owe a lot of Untraceable's to you guys - all my blogger buddies who have supported me so openly and actively. So, as I promised I will share personal details. Let me say this is very hard for me to post b/c 1) I have no idea what is good or bad in this industry. I just know I'm doing beyond what I expected for me so that is all I can do. 2) I might be totally embarrassing myself if they aren't that great. and 3) what if everyone assumed or thought i would sell more? Oh well, this is great for me so I am focusing on that. Esp considering last year this time, I had sold none :)
So are you ready for my numbers??
Today - I am ranking #75 in children action and adventure and at about 1,500 in overall ebooks. Very good for someone small time like me.
Total sold = approximately 2,700 copies!
- Smashwords - 44
- B&N - 150
- Amazon - 2257* (without amazon promotion 1000 copies = 1257)
- paperback - 100 (as you can see this is a small percentage of my sales.
*Let me say that Amazon did run a special promotion on my book and put it for free for 2 days (while still paying me my royalty on 99 cents) and it really bumped my numbers. During that time - there were about 1000 downloads. It got my in top ranking and kept me there once price returned to normal. Since then it has been about 100 in sales a day. So in all fairness - this was not my doing. I had only sold about 600 prior to that promotion and 600 since. I have no idea why they chose me for this.
So again - if you don't count that 1,000 they got me - I only sold about 1,000 to 1,200 copies on Amazon for the month - still beyond my wildest expectations.
My Kindle Nation ad I told you about (that I purchased before my book came out for 170$) ran for 3 days the week before Christmas and was very successful. Enough to where I made back more than I put in my money. I think I sold about 150 copies that day plus it kept me in top 5,000 ebooks so if you are wondering - it is definitely worth the investment! So, I say do it.
2012 Untraceable Updates
I have several ads scheduled for Jan and Feb on pixel of ink ($170), bargain books for nook (free), frugal ereader (50$) and digital reader (free) = total of $210. My price is returning to its normal price at 3.99 this week so it will take me about 80 books to make that money back which I HOPE I can sell in Jan :)
- I am on Untraceable book tour with the awesome Teen Book scene in January (yay) and with wonderful Katie at Mundie Moms the beginning of Feb. I never turn down a blog visit so feel free to email me if you would like me to visit your blog ;) (shelli@srjohannes.com)
- My special edition of Untraceable - which will have the original ending - is scheduled for March.
- Uncontrollable is scheduled for summer 2012. I will give you a hint. This time Grace encounters the endangered red wolves being reintroduced in North Carolina.
- I am also working on a new project for late next fall.
On The Bright Side - my tween angel book is coming Jan 31st
- The book is currently in copy edits.
- If you have a blog that focuses on MG or tween, please sign up here :) I would be honored to visit on your blog.
- The cover for the book was shot this weekend with Vania at VLC Photo - and it is amazon.
- The huge cover reveal on Mon, Jan 16th. (yay!)
Indelibles Launch
I started a marketing/support group (similar to the Tenners) that consists of about 25 AMAZING Indie Authors. We will be officially launching on Monday, Jan 9th with fun giveaways. We will be having a "Blogger chat" on Jan 11th and a writer/author chat on 18th to answer questions on self and indie pubbing. So put those dates on your calendar and join us for a Q&A and giveaways. More info next Monday on 9th.
IN HIS EYES Anthology - scheduled for Feb 14th
This is a Valentine anthology from authors in the Indelibles. The anthology is a awesome collection of short stories - which are all from the POV of HOT male characters.(who can deny that??) My story will include Mo and his perspective on Grace. So check it out!
RT Convention - scheduled in April
I will be selling and signing books at the RT Convention in Chicago in April so come and see me if you live close by. :) More deets as it gets closer.
Blog Updates
- I am redesigning my web site - so stay tuned.
- I am also adding Tween Tuesdays where I will talk about tween books and tween marketing along with my tween book journey.
- I will still be doing Bookanista posts on Thursdays and any IndieViews with Indie authors on Fridays.
- Also - I will have a surprise post once every month (and you won't know when) - Blogger Appreciation Day - one day a month where I will feature a wonderful blogger who has support ed me and give away prices to you all - just to say thanks for your support.
The topics will not happen every week but these will be the daily themes. I promise I will do as much as I can. One HUGE pet peeve of mine is when authors/writers work hard to get a blog following, have bloggers help them launch a book, and then come back and say "they are too busy" to blog. THAT IS NOT ME AT ALL! So I will do as much as I possibly can to keep a special connection with all of you. No matter what is happening!
So, tell me - what are your plans for this year? Personal or writing wise? Any special events coming up for you?
15 comments:
Awesome and congrats!! I think you did great and wow... so much work! Kudos to you.
Congratulations!! Those sales sound damned good to me. You should be very proud!
Congrats and...just got your book, yay! Looking forward to your tween release, too.
One of my goals for this year is to get my blog reading much MUCH more organized. It fell apart a wee bit and missed out on following along with some of my faves (ie, yours!) as the year went along. Been seeing great things about UNTRACEABLE, had it on my get list...read this post and realized _you_ were the author! Oh my. So bit of a heads up for me to get it together in 2012.
Cheers and all the best in the new year!
Congratulations!
Wonderful sales and thanks so much for sharing all that you are learning. It really makes a difference to all of us out here in blogland.
shelley
I think those are terrific sales! A good place to start.
I've never understood when published authors backed off from social media after their release b/c that's when they should be out there!
Here's to 2012!
Congratulations! I think those are fabulous numbers!! Well done.
You have a lot of exciting stuff coming up - looking forward to staying in the loop! :)
Happy New Year!
Those are awesome sales. Congrats! And here is to many more good things to you this year! :)
Hi Shelli, I just purchased Untraceable from the Indie Book fair that I'm also in! (My novel is Fireseed One). Reading about all of your indie sales tips is very helpful!
Though it may have started out rough, you pulled through it amazingly. Congratulations on a great year!
I don't know how you find time to sleep, but I'm so glad things came together for you as 2011 went along. Hoping 2012 is good from start to finish! :-)
Wow! You are so inspiring! I'm amazed and excited and thrilled for you. This is a moment to remember. Interestingly as I was making dinner tonight I was wondering about how your book was doing and it was so fun reading about your experiences. Thank you for sharing!
Shelli - I skimmed through your stats, but what I really wanted to say is that I am halfway through Untraceable now and I LOVE IT!
You wrote a great book. So glad you took the bull by the horns to publish it yourself. Shame to think it might have sat in the proverbial drawer otherwise.
Happy New Year!
I am very, very, very, very PROUD of you. That's all I have to say. Well, that, and I hope 2012 brings a little more magic (and book sales) into your life. Happy New Year! ***sparkle, sparkle***
Wow! Just catching up....what a year! Saw your name on Indelibles. Congrats on the release of your book and thanks for sharing the sales info...very cool! Great job!
You ended the year on a very high note, that's impressive in my mind. And those numbers look outstanding to me! :)
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