This was a pretty good month, although not a lot happened. I only put out 1 book and my eBook sales weren’t that good. All in all, it’s getting harder and harder to be a professional writer, especially with paid writing work drying up on me.
Of course I could just be saying all that because I had about 2 weeks off this month where I did nothing. Yeah, my son got a hernia mid-month and then he had to have an operation the next week. After that he had to stay home for a week and half, and I had to watch him. My productivity went down big time.
Still, I managed to write 109,355 words for the month, pushing me up to 1,227,848 words for the year. What’s more, I’ve now got 49 eBooks selling, compared to 18 this time last year.
All in all, not much to complain about.
Of course I could just be saying all that because I had about 2 weeks off this month where I did nothing. Yeah, my son got a hernia mid-month and then he had to have an operation the next week. After that he had to stay home for a week and half, and I had to watch him. My productivity went down big time.
Still, I managed to write 109,355 words for the month, pushing me up to 1,227,848 words for the year. What’s more, I’ve now got 49 eBooks selling, compared to 18 this time last year.
All in all, not much to complain about.
A Slow Month?
Last year in my post called A Slow November, which went up exactly one year ago today, I complained about my lack of writing work from other people and my slow eBook sales.
So I went back and looked, and discovered that my eBook sales were actually way better than now. I sold 140 books last October and 137 last November…and that’s when I had but 17 to 18 books published.
Fast forward to this year and I’ve got 48 to 49 books out and 70 books sold in October and just about 65 for November. Overall, sales are down, and I know I’m not the only author feeling the pinch.
You’re going to hear a lot more complaints about Amazon from big name authors, authors that got used to their Kindle Select and Kindle Unlimited Bonuses.
What’s more, however, you’ll hear a lot more from those mid-listers getting only $3,000 to $5,000 a month in royalties when they’ve been used to getting $7,000 to $10,000. In other words, we’ve got a lot of authors out there that will either have to:
That’s a dreadful thought, especially for artists. So it should be fun to watch sites like the Passive Voice, the Digital Reader, Dear Author – although I don’t check them much at all anymore – and…I dunno, what?
I don’t get a whole lot of sources anymore – I took Joe Konrath’s site off my bookmark bar awhile ago, Hugh Howey doesn’t interest me anymore, and I always forget to check in with Anne R. Allen once a week. The Book Designer has thoughts from the editor once in a fortnight and I got rid of Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s site awhile back…when that wonderful series for self-publishers ended.
I must admit, I’m a bit of a glut when it comes to sources to learn or copy from, and with my banning from Kboards back in February, I’m not much good for sitting around all day and shooting the breeze, either.
All in all, I’m looking forward to the new and shifting landscape that 2015 will bring, and I’m sure you’ll like my take on it when I release my 2015 Self-Publishing Guidebook late this month or early the next…depending on how those fickle winds blow.
So I went back and looked, and discovered that my eBook sales were actually way better than now. I sold 140 books last October and 137 last November…and that’s when I had but 17 to 18 books published.
Fast forward to this year and I’ve got 48 to 49 books out and 70 books sold in October and just about 65 for November. Overall, sales are down, and I know I’m not the only author feeling the pinch.
You’re going to hear a lot more complaints about Amazon from big name authors, authors that got used to their Kindle Select and Kindle Unlimited Bonuses.
What’s more, however, you’ll hear a lot more from those mid-listers getting only $3,000 to $5,000 a month in royalties when they’ve been used to getting $7,000 to $10,000. In other words, we’ve got a lot of authors out there that will either have to:
- Live within their means or…
- Get a job.
That’s a dreadful thought, especially for artists. So it should be fun to watch sites like the Passive Voice, the Digital Reader, Dear Author – although I don’t check them much at all anymore – and…I dunno, what?
I don’t get a whole lot of sources anymore – I took Joe Konrath’s site off my bookmark bar awhile ago, Hugh Howey doesn’t interest me anymore, and I always forget to check in with Anne R. Allen once a week. The Book Designer has thoughts from the editor once in a fortnight and I got rid of Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s site awhile back…when that wonderful series for self-publishers ended.
I must admit, I’m a bit of a glut when it comes to sources to learn or copy from, and with my banning from Kboards back in February, I’m not much good for sitting around all day and shooting the breeze, either.
All in all, I’m looking forward to the new and shifting landscape that 2015 will bring, and I’m sure you’ll like my take on it when I release my 2015 Self-Publishing Guidebook late this month or early the next…depending on how those fickle winds blow.
Montana Politics
I’m getting really sick of politics, but I keep writing about it each day. Honestly, I want to quit.
I don’t feel as though there’s any leadership politically in Montana. I feel that we’d rather let our purse-strings lead us than our passion. And that’s sad. Because you can have all the money in the world behind you when you get up on that stage, but if people don’t care what you’re talking about, what’s the point?
And having the leader of our state be the cheerleader for dark money raising? God, that’s a huge mistake long-term.
But as I always say, what do I know? Probably not much – I lost my election and have alienated most of the political people in the state, in my opinion, so it probably would be best to throw in the towel. And hell, the blog’s named “2014…” shouldn’t I give it one more month and call it a day?
We’ll see. I like saying what I think, and I’m not sure it’s hurting me. I think it’s helping me, and those political podcasts? Damn, that’s good public speaking practice. You certainly won’t hear me saying a lot of “ums” and “you know’s.”
All in all, keep reading my political stuff and I’ll keep putting it up.
Well, that’s a lie – no one was reading it when I started but I kept putting it up then. I’ll probably just keep doing the same.
Really, what do you do with people that won’t quit? It’s usually best just to get out of their way.
I don’t feel as though there’s any leadership politically in Montana. I feel that we’d rather let our purse-strings lead us than our passion. And that’s sad. Because you can have all the money in the world behind you when you get up on that stage, but if people don’t care what you’re talking about, what’s the point?
And having the leader of our state be the cheerleader for dark money raising? God, that’s a huge mistake long-term.
But as I always say, what do I know? Probably not much – I lost my election and have alienated most of the political people in the state, in my opinion, so it probably would be best to throw in the towel. And hell, the blog’s named “2014…” shouldn’t I give it one more month and call it a day?
We’ll see. I like saying what I think, and I’m not sure it’s hurting me. I think it’s helping me, and those political podcasts? Damn, that’s good public speaking practice. You certainly won’t hear me saying a lot of “ums” and “you know’s.”
All in all, keep reading my political stuff and I’ll keep putting it up.
Well, that’s a lie – no one was reading it when I started but I kept putting it up then. I’ll probably just keep doing the same.
Really, what do you do with people that won’t quit? It’s usually best just to get out of their way.
How to Write
I released my mega-volume of writing tips, tricks, tactics and tantrums on November 7. I put it with KDP Select, for as I said in the promo post, the book was just too damn large for Smashwords, file-size-wise, not ego.
It’s a good book, and I’m happy to keep it at $2.99 and I’m happy to get a handful of sales on it each month. I’ll also be happy to update it and get that 527 page count up even higher, closer to 1,000…which is Joe Konrath advice book territory.
Writing and publishing today is all about knowing your targets and your goals and the impediments that lie in wait, eager to trip you up along the way. Most of the time that’s just ourselves, our laziness, bitchiness, or plain ol’ stubbornness. We’ll see how that gets us all through this difficult and trying year ahead.
It’s a good book, and I’m happy to keep it at $2.99 and I’m happy to get a handful of sales on it each month. I’ll also be happy to update it and get that 527 page count up even higher, closer to 1,000…which is Joe Konrath advice book territory.
Writing and publishing today is all about knowing your targets and your goals and the impediments that lie in wait, eager to trip you up along the way. Most of the time that’s just ourselves, our laziness, bitchiness, or plain ol’ stubbornness. We’ll see how that gets us all through this difficult and trying year ahead.
The Jongurian Mission in Print
On November 23 The Jongurian Mission came out in print format, and it’ll cost you $9.85 to buy. No one has bought it yet, although the eBook just shot up the charts to #800 or so in the Kindle Free Store.
I’ll have another post on that, and the marketing that can do that for you, later this week.
I’ll have another post on that, and the marketing that can do that for you, later this week.
Looking Ahead
December will be a busy month, mainly because it’s the last month of the year. There’s a lot to get done and get out the door. Here’s what I’ve got planned:
Well, that’s it. I’m going to start in on December now. Thanks for reading!
- Dulce Base: My NaNo book is still 95% finished, and I just need to edit it up, fill in some placeholder text, and cement the ending. I also need to put in a few hints and thriller and suspense handles, things that will make it a real page-turner. And the cover layout…which is the step that’s holding me up now.
- SEO 2015: I’m not sure what I’m calling this book yet, but it will have SEO 2015 in the title. It’ll also have a lot of information on content marketing and social media. Right now there’s about 110 pages on this and I suspect the book will be around 250 pages and 50,000 words or so by the time I put it out on December 30. I’ll practically be giving it away to those on my mailing list in a bid to boost it in the rankings before New Years.
- Self-Publishing 2015: Following the same format as SEO 2015 is this guide to self-publishing for the New Year. I’ll again go through all the relevant blog posts on self-publishing, each week of the year for 2014. You’re getting a view of how the year unfolded and what the experts thought. It’s history, and it’s history you’ll want to learn from and then apply to your own marketing endeavors.
- Social Media and Getting Elected: This book will probably come out in mid-January, and it’ll be a real Machiavellian book for the 21st-century and our digital age. I’ll discuss all a candidate needs to know to get their Twitter and Facebook and Google+ accounts set up, and working for them. All in all, this book is already chock-full of useful stuff and it’s only 25% done.
- John Colter Novel: I will finish this book, damn it, that I’ve been thinking about since May 2013. I got started on it this past month again, and now that NaNo’s done, I think it'll be a main project for January. All in all, I feel I’ll be putting more novels about that deal with Montana history this year, since I already have an eager market for all things Montana.
Well, that’s it. I’m going to start in on December now. Thanks for reading!
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