March was very mellow for me.
There were no worries about money, no anxiety over eBook sales, and not a whole lot to complain about when it came to writing work. All in all, a good month. I managed to churn out 104,116 for the month, putting me at 319,011 for the year. Here’s what else happened.
There were no worries about money, no anxiety over eBook sales, and not a whole lot to complain about when it came to writing work. All in all, a good month. I managed to churn out 104,116 for the month, putting me at 319,011 for the year. Here’s what else happened.
Blogs
I really cut down on my blog output in March. Why is this? I’d say the prime reason is because the 2014 Montana Election Blog shut down.
Do I miss it? Not really, and I’m actually kind of happy not to have all that negative political nonsense in my life. It wears down on you, attacking and digging up shit on people everyday. And on top of that, nothing ever seems to change. The rich get richer and the poor, well, the poor keep getting poorer, if they can even afford to stay in the state at all. It’s dreadful, and frustrating to boot. So I gave up…for the most part.
This month I wrote 43 blog posts and that’s down 30% from the 61 posts last month. This is how those broke down over my three blogs:
Do I miss it? Not really, and I’m actually kind of happy not to have all that negative political nonsense in my life. It wears down on you, attacking and digging up shit on people everyday. And on top of that, nothing ever seems to change. The rich get richer and the poor, well, the poor keep getting poorer, if they can even afford to stay in the state at all. It’s dreadful, and frustrating to boot. So I gave up…for the most part.
This month I wrote 43 blog posts and that’s down 30% from the 61 posts last month. This is how those broke down over my three blogs:
As you can see, I’m still writing a lot about Montana, and I’m doing that on my Montana Blog. Yep, I’m even writing about politics from time to time, like I did a few days ago. Keep visiting each day to see what I write about next.
101 ESL PowerPoints
This month I released Teaching English: 101 ESL PowerPoints That Get Students Talking.
Now, that book was originally called “Teaching English: 25 ESL PowerPoints...,” but I changed it. I did that by adding “Bilingual English: 25 More ESL PowerPoints…” to it and then adding another 50 PPTs.
Confused yet? Well, try teaching some kids English. That’s who this book is for, and I’m selling it for $19.95 in print and $9.99 as an eBook. I made the book larger and combined it so I could do that, and so I could get some sales. The original book sold about 25 copies but the second volume sold just 3. Now I hope I can get some 101 lovin’ like English Rocks gets, and that book has sold a lot.
Now, that book was originally called “Teaching English: 25 ESL PowerPoints...,” but I changed it. I did that by adding “Bilingual English: 25 More ESL PowerPoints…” to it and then adding another 50 PPTs.
Confused yet? Well, try teaching some kids English. That’s who this book is for, and I’m selling it for $19.95 in print and $9.99 as an eBook. I made the book larger and combined it so I could do that, and so I could get some sales. The original book sold about 25 copies but the second volume sold just 3. Now I hope I can get some 101 lovin’ like English Rocks gets, and that book has sold a lot.
Colter's Winter
I got going again on Colter’s Winter this past month, which is the mountain man book I’ve been working on for two years now. That’s not quite true – two years ago I did the outline for it…sort of. It’s changed a lot, and so has my writing. My storytelling skills have as well, and they’ll be on full display with this book.
This book will kick ass! I’ll unveil the cover this month, and depending on how things go with work related writing, I’ll get this sucker out before summer…maybe May. I’ll put out the print version at the same time, so that’s why it’ll be a bit longer still. All in all, I’m excited!
Arcadia Publishing
A few days back I announced that I’d potentially be working with Arcadia Publishing on one of their “Images of America” books. These are 200-image books, but there are several problems with this:
So I’ve just about convinced myself to turn this offer down. I won’t say totally – I could still come across some huge image caches, but that’s doubtful. And if I don’t get free images, it’s just too expensive for me to do.
Stay tuned – I’ll be writing more on this topic soon.
- First, they don’t give you any support in getting those images, financial or otherwise.
- Next, the company keeps 92% of the book’s royalties.
- Then, you have to put together a list of local bookstores in your area that could sell the book.
- Finally, all of this takes away from other books I could be writing, books that could get more sales…sales which earn me more.
So I’ve just about convinced myself to turn this offer down. I won’t say totally – I could still come across some huge image caches, but that’s doubtful. And if I don’t get free images, it’s just too expensive for me to do.
Stay tuned – I’ll be writing more on this topic soon.
Book Sales
My book sales continue to churn along, and by far now, print sales are where it’s at.
I can charge more money, making more money for royalties. This means I can work less for others and more for myself. And when I work for myself, it’s writing books that people like to buy…sometimes.
Alright, they like to buy them, just not as much as I’d like. Sales this month for all my books were 135, which is actually up from the 105 of last month. And that’s not counting sales on Apple or B&N.
Print sales are up, but eBook sales are way down, and for that I pretty much blame Amazon KU/KOLL. Other than that, I blame my writing, book covers, lack of editing, blurbs, and about everything else. So I try to fix those, and get back about there. So far it’s working – I’ve been doing this for more than two years now, self-publishing with Amazon, and I’ve sold nearly 3,000 books. We talked about My Most Popular Books, and I urge you to check out that post to learn more.
I can charge more money, making more money for royalties. This means I can work less for others and more for myself. And when I work for myself, it’s writing books that people like to buy…sometimes.
Alright, they like to buy them, just not as much as I’d like. Sales this month for all my books were 135, which is actually up from the 105 of last month. And that’s not counting sales on Apple or B&N.
Print sales are up, but eBook sales are way down, and for that I pretty much blame Amazon KU/KOLL. Other than that, I blame my writing, book covers, lack of editing, blurbs, and about everything else. So I try to fix those, and get back about there. So far it’s working – I’ve been doing this for more than two years now, self-publishing with Amazon, and I’ve sold nearly 3,000 books. We talked about My Most Popular Books, and I urge you to check out that post to learn more.
April's Agenda
So what’s on the docket for this month?
I’m rip-roarin’ down the river on Colter, and I hope to have that book done this month. I really feel good about it, especially that most of the 25,000-word first part is laid out. Now I need to do the setup and then hit you over the head with the frying pan.
After that I’d like to do some fun Montana history blog posts, and finish up my ongoing fantasy fiction writing series. Perhaps I can also…I dunno.
I’m a bit behind this year still, as you can tell. I haven’t released a single new book this year, and it’s weird. I’ll get going here soon, don’t you worry. Thanks for reading!
I’m rip-roarin’ down the river on Colter, and I hope to have that book done this month. I really feel good about it, especially that most of the 25,000-word first part is laid out. Now I need to do the setup and then hit you over the head with the frying pan.
After that I’d like to do some fun Montana history blog posts, and finish up my ongoing fantasy fiction writing series. Perhaps I can also…I dunno.
I’m a bit behind this year still, as you can tell. I haven’t released a single new book this year, and it’s weird. I’ll get going here soon, don’t you worry. Thanks for reading!
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