Almost Three years...

[VydorScope]

I have been a "independent" or "self-published" author for almost three years now. (only counting my fiction years, non-fiction goes back further but is unrelated to these numbers). In Nov 2010 I released my first book... and tonight I loaded all of my Amazon Data in to Excel to look at...

(NOTE: I have never done ANY promotional spots, paid for advertising/etc.)
(NOTE: This is Amazon Data only - I also sell on Smash, B&N, and etc)

From Nov 2010->April 2011, the book cost 99 cents. In that time I sold 53 books for a grand total of $18.55 royalty.

May 2011 -> Book goes permafree (I did not even know the term at that time, never mind how to make that happen.) I "sell" (give away) 5200 copies that first month. Made it to #5 on the charts, was a fun ride!

June 2011 -> Book II is released @ 2.99 - Sells 50 copies that first month alone - $93.91 royalty. Yes, in one month I blow my previous 7 months of royalty out of the water.

To date I have given away around 21,000 copies of book one. Putting all my book sales on a graph shows something interesting...

The first month of a new release I have a spike in sales, but after that future books sell at about the same rate that prior books do. This leads me to conclude that if book 3 is out when people read book 2, they will buy it. If book 3 comes out 6-9 months after book 2 people are less likely to go find it.

So my suggestion for anyone starting out and planning a series... if possible hold your series until several books are ready and release them close together. Maybe one a month? Time appears to be an enemy here.

That is of course based completely on the anecdotal evidence of one author. Do others see the same?

[John Carroll]

I published my first November of 2010 too!

I've never paid for advertising, but I do a fair amount of marketing. It's nowhere near as much as most.

As far as when to publish, I publish whenever I finish a new one. Each new release does bring about a spike in sales. It's bigger each time. I would wait until a person has at least 2 of a series before making them permafree.

[crich70]

Congrats VydorScope. I bet it's hard to believe that it's already been that long.

[gmw]

Thanks for sharing that VydorScope.

It would be interesting to know how many of those 21,000 give-aways have been read.

Looking at John Carroll's post, and your own, I find the timing curious. November 2010 is when I finished the first draft of my first book - but it took me two years to decide to try self-publishing.

I have deliberately not rushed work on publishing my second book, instead waiting for the third (and concluding) book to be complete. A lot of this was just that I didn't want the distraction, but your post suggests that it may have been a good choice anyway.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by VydorScope

I have been a "independent" or "self-published" author for almost three years now. (only counting my fiction years, non-fiction goes back further but is unrelated to these numbers). In Nov 2010 I released my first book... and tonight I loaded all of my Amazon Data in to Excel to look at...
....

That is of course based completely on the anecdotal evidence of one author. Do others see the same?

Excellent! Thanks for sharing that. I'll have to guess at my numbers but they are pretty much 'peanuts'

I've been at the ebook self-publishing (Amazon only) a bit over a year now starting with the release of my poetry book. I've probably sold a couple of dozen copies of it over the last year. I've done a variety of fiction and non-fiction shorts that have been released at 99 cents and < $2. My latest release is my book of science essays/articles of which I've sold 8 copies this past month.

Overall I've made about enough money for a nice dinner out.

I've actually been in a bit of a quandry/lull for the last few weeks. I have more ideas/topics for additional (more speculative) science essays and have actually written three of them but my muse is being schizophrenic again and pushing me towards writing more fiction. Which I am thinking I will actually do.

I continue to write poetry as it happens and am gradually acquiring enough that I should be able to release a new book sometime in the coming year.

It seems novels are the place to be to make more of a go of it, but I'm more of a short-order-writer (poems, essays, short stories, flash-fiction/non-fiction). One must do what they can.

[crich70]

I've always been given to understand that the writer 1st of all writes for him/herself and I presume anything else after that is gravy. Though of course some have an easier time getting the gravy than others.

[kennyc]

I've heard that but I'm not sure it's always true. I'm sure it is in some cases, but others certainly seem to be in it for the audience, money, fame, etc.

[VydorScope]

Originally Posted by kennyc

I've heard that but I'm not sure it's always true. I'm sure it is in some cases, but others certainly seem to be in it for the audience, money, fame, etc.

Everyone is in for their own reasons. I am in it because I like to tell stories and interact with fans. I do not want fame, but of course I would accept any and all monetary benefits.

[morriss003]

I uploaded my first book in 2009. After I made about $2,000 Amazon realized that people could get it free at Smashwords, and they've price matched ever since. It's been downloaded about 150,000 times now. In 2013 I published a sidequel for 2.99. It sold 56 copies the first month and has climbed each of the following months. I invested in banner ads at two popular ebook sites, and I'm presently running a Google ad. Have I seen any results from the ads? Hard to say. I may back off from all ads for a couple months and see what happens, but I'm getting between 4 and 9 clicks a day on the Google ad.