10-22-2010, 04:39 PM | #16 |
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You're only shooting for 50!? Dude, I sold that in the first month after I released Oort Perimeter, my very first novel ever published! And aside from all my followers in the FOSS community, I was pretty much an unknown. Wow, I guess after hearing that I don't feel quite as bad anymore about how many I'm selling right now per month. heh. I thought that you were doing bad if you sold less than 100 a month, and here you're saying that you'll be happy if you sell 50 overall! 0.0;;
I figure I could probably sell a LOT more than I do per month now if I could only find a way to get better know, but that seems to be an uphill battle under heavy fire these days. T_T |
10-22-2010, 04:42 PM | #17 | |
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mod·es·ty /ˈmɒdəsti/ Spelled[mod-uh-stee] –noun, plural -ties. 1. the quality of being modest; freedom from vanity, boastfulness, etc. 2. regard for decency of behavior, speech, dress, etc. 3. simplicity; moderation. Last edited by Bilbo1967; 10-22-2010 at 04:45 PM. |
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10-22-2010, 08:52 PM | #18 |
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Wes, for you I'll buy one. And I'll get one of those new fangled 3D televisions so that it feels like you can live in the wasteland of New Vegas.
I may be able to swing a Wii too, but you're going to have to work for it. Now, get back in that room and get to writing. You've got a bestseller to make me. |
10-22-2010, 08:57 PM | #19 |
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lol, sorry about that Bilbo. I wasn't trying to brag. I was just stunned that average sales numbers for most authors were that low. I had always pictured them being much, much higher. In fact, I thought my sales numbers, as they are, were a pittance in comparison to what the majority of other authors here were getting. I didn't realize they were actually in the upper 10% rather than the lower 5% where I had thought they were. Now I feel like a complete ass for even replying. T_T;;
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10-23-2010, 05:19 AM | #20 | |
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10-23-2010, 08:23 AM | #21 | |
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It seems like writing is a lot like many art forms. The top in the field make a lot. It is very hard to get known enough to get to that level of sales. Many of the rest make far less then they would have spending that time at an entry level job. Has to be something you do because you like doing it, and not something for the money it seems. |
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10-23-2010, 05:34 PM | #22 |
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There's an old joke about writing as a profession -- You can make a killing, but you can't make a living.
Even in the mainstream publishing world, it's difficult to get by on royalties alone. Over 80% of the authors with books currently in print still have day jobs. Of the other 20%, I'd guess more than a few are being supported by spouses or trust funds. Another old saying -- One writer's trough is another's pinnacle. For my own books, I consider sales of less than 500 copies in the first week to be failure. I have friends who consider not making the NY Times list to be failure. As with many things, YMMV. |
10-23-2010, 05:52 PM | #23 |
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What really annoys me is that if I went back to work as a journalist, I'd be able to afford a cleaner and two family ski holidays a year. As a novelist, when I finally get published, I'll be doing well to pay for a weekend in London.
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10-23-2010, 09:01 PM | #24 | ||||||
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Oort Perimeter Destiny's Mission TDA1 As for ebooks of my novels on Amazon, I don't have them in kindle format yet because I still haven't decided if I want to offer them in that format. (which, sadly enough, is the only version Amazon will allow. Argh.) Mostly because I don't want to encourage Amazon's dominance of the market (never encourage a tyrant to further oppress people), nor do I want to foist Amazon's DRM onto people, or their reader. Does it hurt my sales? Probably. But I'm one who prefers to stick to his ideals. If at some point I think that it'll be alright to put my books up for offer in Kindle format, then I'll do it. Until then, I'm only selling dead tree editions through Amazon. Quote:
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Case in point. I ran into one author locally who writes children's books. Her books have sold like mad, but the stuffed toys she had made of her book characters have gone like gangbusters. Even people who haven't or won't read the books have been snatching them up by the case. (ok, not the case, but certainly the handful) I think she told me that for every new book she releases, only about 20% of her income is from the book, and the other 80% is from merchandise she's made to sell as companions to the books. Now I'm not all about selling out and going the merchandising way, but dang, if you can 2-4x your income just by adding a few collectible items to your list of things for sale, then I'm game. And for those who are getting all moral about how this spoils the true nature and reason for writing, I think that you're wrong. Why? Well, if the extra items pay your bills and keep a roof over your head, and allow you to write to your heart's content without having to worry if the gas will be shut off, then I think it's worth it. If it's done purely out of selfish greed, then it's wrong. But if it is done with the mindset of helping you continue doing what you love, then I see nothing wrong with merchandising your books. Last edited by Steven Lake; 10-23-2010 at 09:04 PM. |
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10-23-2010, 09:16 PM | #25 | |
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BTW, DRM is an option that the publisher on Amazon (not Amazon) controls. If you don't like it, don't switch it on. |
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10-24-2010, 01:04 PM | #26 |
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Well, since I have a small farm and can live without electricity, gasoline, telephone service, anything bought, sold, or processed, then I probably could escape starvation.
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10-24-2010, 09:42 PM | #27 | |
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10-24-2010, 10:23 PM | #28 |
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Well I'm published through a regular publisher too. Oddly enough, I liked what they did with the first book I published with them that I ended up going to work for them. ^_^ And it's been a great relationship and a cool advantage for me because if I ever have to swing it on my own in the future I'll already have a lot of valuable knowledge under my belt that I can use to further increase my sales.
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10-25-2010, 10:12 PM | #29 |
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I wouldn't give up my day job to live off royalties. I make more in an hour by day than I make in six months from books. Well, so far anyway. Of course I do give two of my three away for free. But that's marketing.
I'm self publishing through smashwords. I notice their Barnes and Noble distribution channel generates the most $$. |
10-26-2010, 03:12 PM | #30 | |
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However, despite sounding a little bit cocky, or perhaps, more like a university student asking somebody in kindergarten why they haven't got their head round calculus yet. I know you didn't really mean that in the tone it comes out. OK. The book's fine. Paperback out next week, e-book out on smashwords only. The killer is time. Marketing takes research and networking. Research and networking take time, selling takes time, come to think of it, putting my entire book into clean html so I can publish it somewhere other than Smashwords and it might actually achieve some e-book sales will take a SOD of a long time. My problem is, I have 90 minutes a week and I am as CASH poor as I am time poor. I don't have the time to build up a following on FOSS or anywhere else that might give it the kick up the communal arse it needs to sell bucket loads straight away. I'm bending it backwards getting here for a couple of hours a week. Hmm... What to do? Slow burn. It's is the only option. Selling my book can only happen at about the speed glaciers move. But if it's good that doesn't matter because I'll catch up in the end. If my 50 friends and rellies read it and like it they'll tell their friends, they'll write reviews on Amazon and then maybe, just maybe, I'll sell more. Mr Godin's ideas virus, if you like, if it's good it will sell. Book them and they will come. The thing is, the viral, no money approach isn't going to happen overnight. I know my limitations. I'm piss poor at sales, so the way I have to do it, is let other people enjoy my book, let them do the evangelising and sell it for me. The word of happy readers will carry far more weight than me doing it, anyway. So yeh, you've more sales than me but watch this space, buster. I may well catch you in the end. Cheers MTM Last edited by M T McGuire; 10-26-2010 at 04:22 PM. Reason: clarity |
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