I put my nose to the grindstone in December and got things done. This month I typed up 124,471 words, which puts me up to 1,251,573 for the year.
I put out several eBooks this month, my most ever. I also did quite a bit of work for other people, much of which can be read in Adventures in SEO #4. Besides that I’m just working and planning for next year. After all, I haven’t even been writing full-time for a year yet, and I’ve still got a lot of stuff to do.
Here’s some of the stuff I did this past month.
I put out several eBooks this month, my most ever. I also did quite a bit of work for other people, much of which can be read in Adventures in SEO #4. Besides that I’m just working and planning for next year. After all, I haven’t even been writing full-time for a year yet, and I’ve still got a lot of stuff to do.
Here’s some of the stuff I did this past month.
My eBooks
Wow, what a month! I got out 5 new eBooks this month, my most in one month ever, not counting January when I released 6, all of which had really been written years earlier and which I should have done staggered-releases for.
Here’s what I published this past month:
Things got started on December 9th when I released Tarot Card Killer. On the same say I also bundled my three Chinese historical novels into one boxed-set that you can read about in my post on Amazon boxed-sets.
The next week I put out Black Walnut, on the 17th, and then Please Say Something! on the 23rd. I was ready to put out Room 223 right before Christmas but there were some problems with getting my payment information up on the Kindle Worlds system, so I had to wait until the 30th to see that published.
Overall it was a real productive month, and a great way to end the year. I’ve now got a lot of new options for all those people buying books in January. Yeah, there’s a lot of expectation that January will be a big eBook sales month, so let’s keep our fingers crossed.
A downside to putting out so many books in one month is that I’ll feel the pressure to replicate that in following months. I just don’t think that’s possible, but I do hope to keep spitting out multiple titles a month.
Here’s what I published this past month:
- Tarot Card Killer
- The Warring States, Vol. 1-3 Box Set
- Black Walnut
- Please Say Something! 25 Proven Ways to Get Through an Hour of ESL Teaching
- Room 223
Things got started on December 9th when I released Tarot Card Killer. On the same say I also bundled my three Chinese historical novels into one boxed-set that you can read about in my post on Amazon boxed-sets.
The next week I put out Black Walnut, on the 17th, and then Please Say Something! on the 23rd. I was ready to put out Room 223 right before Christmas but there were some problems with getting my payment information up on the Kindle Worlds system, so I had to wait until the 30th to see that published.
Overall it was a real productive month, and a great way to end the year. I’ve now got a lot of new options for all those people buying books in January. Yeah, there’s a lot of expectation that January will be a big eBook sales month, so let’s keep our fingers crossed.
A downside to putting out so many books in one month is that I’ll feel the pressure to replicate that in following months. I just don’t think that’s possible, but I do hope to keep spitting out multiple titles a month.
Writing for Others
I did a lot of writing for other people this month. You can read about several of the jobs in the latest installment of Adventures in SEO, but here are some of the highlights:
- Tax Writing: I had a couple jobs writing for a tax website, which isn’t surprising since many people will be dealing with those headaches here real soon, including me I have to pay self-employment taxes so that means I send money to the government each quarter. Anyway, this job was fun because I got to really play on people’s fears that the IRS is out to get them Is that the case? Well, if you’re dumb enough not to pay your taxes, then yes, that will be the case.
- Malta Hotel: By far the oddest job I had this month was one I picked up on Christmas day. There was a guy in Malta that wanted a 200-word description for his vacation home, a “400 year old house of tradition” (that’s the name he gave me). I said alright, loaded up Google Maps, looked at his site, looked at other sites, and gave him something. He refused to pay me saying it wasn’t quality. I guess if you work on Christmas you can only expect a lump of coal!
- Secret Societies: It was a busier month than November, but it was still a bit slow. The largest project I had was writing a 30-page non-fiction book on “How to Make a Secret Society.” Pretty much I researched a lot into Skull & Bones and used that college fraternity as an example. It was a fun book to write, and you never know, maybe the next world-dominating society will have sprung from my mind. That’s a scary thought.
My 2014 eBook Marketing Prospects
First of all, I think my 2014 will be a helluva lot better than my 2013 was in regard to marketing my eBooks. See, I didn’t even really get started with that until just a few months ago, nearly 8 to 9 months after getting started with self-publishing.
So what does this mean? It means right out of the gate I’m getting my marketing machine going for 2014. Now, I’m poor, so that means my marketing machine isn’t that large or impressive and it sputters and coughs more than it runs full-bore.
But that didn’t stop me from getting a Bargain Booksy ad for Tarot Card Killer on January 8th. That book is good and it hasn’t gotten noticed. So instead of letting it sit there while I do nothing but hope someone buys it I’m going to lower the price to $0.99 and see if that site can work any marketing-mojo for me. Hey, after getting just 2 sales on that book in 3 weeks I’d love to get even 5 to 6 sales – 10 would be a good day.
We’ll see, and I’ve also submitted the same book to BookBub, which if accepted will cost me $360. Hey, I’m not worried – they’ve rejected me 11 times before, remember? (Update 01/04: Make that 12 rejections)
Besides that I’m hoping to do some book tours. I’ve got an eBook blog tour site book coming out next month and I’m going to start using some of those services. Mainly I want more eyes on my books, but if I can get a few reviews as well it’d be great – and it’d mean I could promote with some of the more selective sites that require 10 or more reviews.
Yes, I think there’s a lot of eBook marketing potential in 2014, but I also think there’s a lot of opportunity for people to do more creative marketing. What’s that? I haven’t a clue, but you’ll hear of some zany folks selling a million eBooks with no money and just a helluva novel approach. Hey, it could be you!
So what does this mean? It means right out of the gate I’m getting my marketing machine going for 2014. Now, I’m poor, so that means my marketing machine isn’t that large or impressive and it sputters and coughs more than it runs full-bore.
But that didn’t stop me from getting a Bargain Booksy ad for Tarot Card Killer on January 8th. That book is good and it hasn’t gotten noticed. So instead of letting it sit there while I do nothing but hope someone buys it I’m going to lower the price to $0.99 and see if that site can work any marketing-mojo for me. Hey, after getting just 2 sales on that book in 3 weeks I’d love to get even 5 to 6 sales – 10 would be a good day.
We’ll see, and I’ve also submitted the same book to BookBub, which if accepted will cost me $360. Hey, I’m not worried – they’ve rejected me 11 times before, remember? (Update 01/04: Make that 12 rejections)
Besides that I’m hoping to do some book tours. I’ve got an eBook blog tour site book coming out next month and I’m going to start using some of those services. Mainly I want more eyes on my books, but if I can get a few reviews as well it’d be great – and it’d mean I could promote with some of the more selective sites that require 10 or more reviews.
Yes, I think there’s a lot of eBook marketing potential in 2014, but I also think there’s a lot of opportunity for people to do more creative marketing. What’s that? I haven’t a clue, but you’ll hear of some zany folks selling a million eBooks with no money and just a helluva novel approach. Hey, it could be you!
A Look at the First Quarter
My whole goal for 2014 is to put out at least one book each month, but I have a feeling I’ll do better than that. Since I have to pay taxes on my earnings each quarter I tend to take a quarterly look at financials, although I break them all the way down to the day in my spreadsheets.
Anyways, I’d like to get out two ESL books in January and hopefully another two for the next two months of the quarter. Some of these will be short loss leaders for my more expensive ESL eBooks and the products on my ESL website.
I have high hopes that my SEO book will ride on the charts all year. Visit My Site, Bitch is quite the read, and the beauty of it is it only needs to get a few sales to get onto the Top 100 for SEO. Once people start reading the great advice in there it’ll sell several copies each week.
So that means I’ll probably be putting out another SEO book sometime before summer, which means I’ll start planning it around the end of March.
I like writing fiction and I’m planning on putting out The Hirelings in January, something I first started working on back in July. Besides that I’ll get going on my long overdue John Colter Mountain Man novel as well as my China series.
My Montana books do not sell. That’s disappointing in many regards, but from a business standpoint it just doesn’t make sense for me to invest my time in something that’s not giving me a favorable return. I still think I could get the third volume of my Montana history series out in February, but I don’t think anyone’s waiting for it.
Well, that’s been December. It was a good month, one that saw my birthday, Christmas, and New Year’s. Hopefully 2014 will be a good year for everyone. If you’d like to stay up-to-date consider signing-up for my mailing list.
My “Best” Posts of the Month
Your 2014 Self-Publishing Game Plan
The Marias Massacre – A Montana Disgrace
Three Months of Amazon Perma-Free Results
The Problems Discounted eBooks Pose
SEO, Self-Publishing, and 1980s Kevin Bacon Movies
Reclaiming Your Internet Bookmarks
What is Google Hummingbird and Why Should I Care?
Are Your Novels Puzzles or Blocks?
25 Proven Ways to Get Through an Hour of ESL Teaching
Anyways, I’d like to get out two ESL books in January and hopefully another two for the next two months of the quarter. Some of these will be short loss leaders for my more expensive ESL eBooks and the products on my ESL website.
I have high hopes that my SEO book will ride on the charts all year. Visit My Site, Bitch is quite the read, and the beauty of it is it only needs to get a few sales to get onto the Top 100 for SEO. Once people start reading the great advice in there it’ll sell several copies each week.
So that means I’ll probably be putting out another SEO book sometime before summer, which means I’ll start planning it around the end of March.
I like writing fiction and I’m planning on putting out The Hirelings in January, something I first started working on back in July. Besides that I’ll get going on my long overdue John Colter Mountain Man novel as well as my China series.
My Montana books do not sell. That’s disappointing in many regards, but from a business standpoint it just doesn’t make sense for me to invest my time in something that’s not giving me a favorable return. I still think I could get the third volume of my Montana history series out in February, but I don’t think anyone’s waiting for it.
Well, that’s been December. It was a good month, one that saw my birthday, Christmas, and New Year’s. Hopefully 2014 will be a good year for everyone. If you’d like to stay up-to-date consider signing-up for my mailing list.
My “Best” Posts of the Month
Your 2014 Self-Publishing Game Plan
The Marias Massacre – A Montana Disgrace
Three Months of Amazon Perma-Free Results
The Problems Discounted eBooks Pose
SEO, Self-Publishing, and 1980s Kevin Bacon Movies
Reclaiming Your Internet Bookmarks
What is Google Hummingbird and Why Should I Care?
Are Your Novels Puzzles or Blocks?
25 Proven Ways to Get Through an Hour of ESL Teaching
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