Celebrating Independent Authors
Do you ever get that question, “How many books have you sold?” Do you know the answer to the question? Well, today we’re going to talk about why you might want to know this number and the best way to keep track of books sold.
If you’re not keeping track, let’s start with the why you might want to. Continue reading “How Many Books Have You Sold?”
Ode to the Reader
Twas the night before I uploaded to KDP and all through the house,
Not a creature was stirring as my hand hovered over my mouse.
My masterpiece had been edited and formatted with care,
While visions of soaring up Amazon’s rankings floated through the air.
Okay, I’ll stop now.
You know that feeling you get when you check your dashboard and you’ve sold another book, or a reader has borrowed your book through Kindle Unlimited? You know what I’m talking about. It’s that little jolt you receive. It doesn’t matter if you’re selling thousands of books a month or a handful, there’s still some kind of a charge. I can attest to this because I’ve been in both camps. I’ve had months where I’ve sold tens of thousands of books and I’ve had months where the sales barely trickled in. Yes, ‘tis a fickle vocation we find ourselves in, isn’t it. As the jolly season approaches, I find myself in a contemplative mood, and I was wondering – what is that little burst of energy we feel when the numbers increase on our screen? What does it really mean? And, what should we do about it? Continue reading “The Self-Publisher’s Dashboard of Gratitude”
I don’t think there’s an avid reader in the world who would argue that eBooks haven’t changed the way we read. It’s nothing for someone in the U.S. to publish a novel, and through the wonder of the World Wide Web, a person in Australia finds it. Even ten years ago it was almost unimaginable to think we could sell books like that. When paper was king, that same reader in Australia would have to jump through hoops, pay an exorbitant amount (including import taxes), and patiently wait while their book was sent to them by the slowest route possible. Not today!
Where is your audience?
Two major eBook sites can help give you that answer. Smashwords.com has the best “metric” for seeing where your books are selling. Amazon is not quite as good due to their constrictive sales channels and their data reporting. Your market with them consists of: U.S., India, U.K., Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Japan, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and Australia. I’m sure they’re working to add more, but for now, this is all they offer.
Let’s take Smashwords for a spin. Because of their agreements with twelve global distributors (I don’t think they have the partnership with Amazon yet), you never know in what country your book will find a new home. Continue reading “How Global Are You?”
Do you often wonder how many books you are actually selling? Of course, you’ll get your report from Amazon each month and maybe even a report from your publisher once a year or quarter, but what if you could find out how many sales you were making on a daily basis, or even on an hourly basis? Even better, what if you could spy on your rivals and see how their books are selling? Well, gather round everyone, you can!
Now, don’t spread this about, but I am going to give away a secret I have hung onto all year. It’s allowed me to check out other authors’ books and compare my sales then go off and cry in a dark room. I discovered a site that can tell you what sales you have made. It’s called NovelRank. Here’s all you need to know. Continue reading “Tutorial: NovelRank”