One year ago today, I did the one thing that I never thought that I would do: publish my work. My first book was published on August the 15th, 2012, and I know the person who purchased the first book. I’ve come a long way in a year. It has been a learning process and I have learned what makes up that process.
11. That is the number of books/works that I have published/completed as of today. I started out with two books in August that were already completed and sitting on my computer’s hard drive. I learned how to format, design, and structure a book. But the other books were not written over the course of twelve months. No. I wrote 9 books in 4 months.
You see, when I started, I sold that one book in August, but I sold no more. At the time, I was struggling through a very rough time in my life, so I cast aside my dreams of writing and had planned to let the dream die right there. In April of this year, I decided to check the status of the books and I learned that I had actually sold 2 books last year. The first one in August, and the second book in November.
That second book sale breathed new life and hope into my dream. From that moment on, I decided to term myself a writer. I called myself a writer, an author, whatever it took to hammer the notion within my brain, and I began to do what writer’s do… I wrote. I churned out book after book after book. In May, after the release of my 5th book, my sales began to increase.
I had a few more sales in June, and one in July. But, OH MY GOODNESS at August!
30. The number of books as of this morning that I have sold. The majority of those sales occurred this month across 2 sales channels. Those numbers do not take into account the 7 international sales that I have.
You would probably say, “But there are people out there who sell on average, 500 or more books per day.”
That’s okay. Let them sell their 500/day. They are also the same ones complaining when their flash in the pan marketing techniques have evaporated and sales have dwindled to nothing because they have reached their intended peak. So they churn out another book, feed more money and effort into marketing, and go at it again.
That’s great. But I have done nothing more than write a few posts on a blog. I have not spent one dime on marketing. I’m choosing the steady road upward. The constant climb without the rollercoaster hills and plateaus. I want to soar and not sink.
My goal has been to write what I love and ignore the status quo of choosing a niche and only 1 genre. Who can write for only one genre? Even Rowling finished out her YA and went to mystery and adult novelty. Why? Because once she had completed her contractual agreement, she was finally freed to try her hand at something else.
That is what I have been doing. Trying my hand at something until it feels right, but writing the stories that I want to write.
I am bound by no contract, because I chose the self-publication route. It’s not the traditional publishing route, but at this point, my share of the sales are much greater than if I were under contract. I am also free to explore other genres. For right now, until I settle into something I love, I am enjoying this freedom. Right now, writing is fun and cathartic.
When I finally broke the news to my father last month as to what I have been up to this past year, he seemed disappointed in me. It was almost as though I had chosen this as a career over teaching. I still love to teach, but while I am waiting, I am writing, because I need something to occupy my mind and I need something that will at some point provide extra income.
Most of the channels through which I publish have a minimum threshold for royalty payment. Over all channels but two, the amount is $10. Kobo requires $100, and Google Play is but $1. Once you have accumulated enough for the minimum, payment is issued 60 days after the end of the month in which that minimum was met. As of last week, I had finally earned my $10 on two different channels, meaning I will be receiving my first royalty payments in October. I’m so excited. I feel as though this will be a huge boost to motivate me even more in the upcoming year.
So, how did I celebrate my one year anniversary?
Pancakes at 4:30 a.m. with my son and finishing the 11th book.
Just for the record, my highest selling book has been Operation Homecoming Queen. It was written in response to a student telling me in 2007 that there were no books to read. She had read all of the good books. The excerpt that I began with, which was a piece of the ending, I wrote in class to show students how to set mood and tone in a piece of work. From there, the story created itself. It’s a simple inspirational story about true beauty and true friendship.
As for the next year? Who knows? But I am looking forward to taking each step along the way and learning as much as I can, from as many as I can.
