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Post by Becca Mills on Dec 2, 2014 17:17:12 GMT -5
Becca - now that your 2nd book is out, have you noticed/do you feel that the permafree is helping sales? Permafree has been wonderful for me with this new sweet romance series. It was literally like turning on a tap. Am getting steady sales now on Books 1, 2 & 3 ever since the Xmas novella went permafree. I can't wait to get Book 3 written in my Singapore romantic thriller series - which is currently DEAD - so I can try permafree on that as well!  I'm hoping permafree works for me as it does for you, Hsin-Yi. So far it's too early to tell. Solatium had some sales yesterday, but it's still not up everywhere, and I haven't announced it to my mailing list, yet. When I do that, I'll put it on sale for a few days (at $.99). Hopefully that will jump-start things. I'll definitely report back! |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 2, 2014 21:03:52 GMT -5
Permafree on my first one and 99 cents on my second one has brought the second one out of the dark. Plus, my mailing list is getting sign-ups again. However, when book three comes out, I'll be putting book 2 back to $2.99.
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Post by Becca Mills on Dec 5, 2014 14:27:03 GMT -5
I began publishing the second book of my series, Solatium, on Dec. 1. At this point, it's up on Amazon, Google, B&N, Kobo, Smashwords, DriveThruFiction, and iTunes. (I've had to put it up in dribs and drabs -- too busy to devote a whole day to putting it up everywhere.) So far, it's been at full price ($3.99). I've announced it on Fb and the threads on my Amazon author page, but have warned people it'll be going on sale, soon.
Now that it's up everywhere, my next step will be to lower the price to $.99 and send notices out to my mailing list. I think there are about 400 people on the list. Some of those folks signed up a *very* long time ago (like, 2.5 years), so I'm planning to sort the list by sign-up date and send somewhat different emails to more recent vs. older registrants. I'm expecting very low response rates from the older registrants ... I'd be hesitant to get back into a series after such a long wait, myself.
So far the book's sold about 100 copies and has picked up a handful of reviews. Since these are full-price sales, I can be pretty sure the book will cover its own costs, which is nice.
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Post by Suzy on Dec 5, 2014 14:32:18 GMT -5
Good luck, Becca! I think you're doing very well already.
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Post by Becca Mills on Dec 5, 2014 14:33:50 GMT -5
Good luck, Becca! I think you're doing very well already. Thanks, Suzy! |
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Post by Daniel on Dec 5, 2014 16:02:02 GMT -5
Now that it's up everywhere, my next step will be to lower the price to $.99 and send notices out to my mailing list. I think there are about 400 people on the list. Some of those folks signed up a *very* long time ago (like, 2.5 years), so I'm planning to sort the list by sign-up date and send somewhat different emails to more recent vs. older registrants. I'm expecting very low response rates from the older registrants ... I'd be hesitant to get back into a series after such a long wait, myself. My first thought after reading this was, "Don't apologize." The readers you want to reach are the readers who will celebrate your book launch with you, not the ones who will whine about it taking so long. If it were me, I'd send the same upbeat email to everyone and assume they will be thrilled to hear that the book is out. If they want to exclaim, "Finally!" when they read the email, that's okay. So far the book's sold about 100 copies and has picked up a handful of reviews. Since these are full-price sales, I can be pretty sure the book will cover its own costs, which is nice. Awesome! Congratulations. If you are doing that well even without the initial boost of your email list, things are looking good indeed. What costs?  |
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Post by Becca Mills on Dec 5, 2014 18:08:45 GMT -5
Now that it's up everywhere, my next step will be to lower the price to $.99 and send notices out to my mailing list. I think there are about 400 people on the list. Some of those folks signed up a *very* long time ago (like, 2.5 years), so I'm planning to sort the list by sign-up date and send somewhat different emails to more recent vs. older registrants. I'm expecting very low response rates from the older registrants ... I'd be hesitant to get back into a series after such a long wait, myself. My first thought after reading this was, "Don't apologize." The readers you want to reach are the readers who will celebrate your book launch with you, not the ones who will whine about it taking so long. If it were me, I'd send the same upbeat email to everyone and assume they will be thrilled to hear that the book is out. If they want to exclaim, "Finally!" when they read the email, that's okay. You know, I really, truly don't feel that way. I'm happy to grovel if it means I can get some of them back. I have no pride at all. I figured I'd send all of them flowers. Maybe chocolates. And a Chippendale. But seriously, I wasn't planning on apologizing so much as doing a bit more reminding of who I was and why I was writing to them. Since this is only a new-releases list, these are people who have heard a word from or, possibly, devoted a thought to me since June 2012. If I can get them to actually read the email and remember that they enjoyed Nolander enough to sign up for the list, maybe they'll still be interested. So far the book's sold about 100 copies and has picked up a handful of reviews. Since these are full-price sales, I can be pretty sure the book will cover its own costs, which is nice. Awesome! Congratulations. If you are doing that well even without the initial boost of your email list, things are looking good indeed. What costs? Oh, you know ... cover design ...  I hope you're right that the early sales are a good sign. That might be the current permafree in action -- and the collection Nolander is in, which is still getting a lot of downloads. |
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Post by Daniel on Dec 5, 2014 18:22:19 GMT -5
But seriously, I wasn't planning on apologizing so much as doing a bit more reminding of who I was and why I was writing to them. Since this is only a new-releases list, these are people who have heard a word from or, possibly, devoted a thought to me since June 2012. If I can get them to actually read the email and remember that they enjoyed Nolander enough to sign up for the list, maybe they'll still be interested. That makes sense. You should follow your instincts (they're probably a lot smarter than me). There's nothing wrong with customizing your message for different segments of your audience. You've just seemed disturbed and stressed at times by how long you took between Nolander and Solatium. No one else needs to know about that but your friends here at the Pub.  |
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Post by Becca Mills on Dec 5, 2014 18:43:11 GMT -5
But seriously, I wasn't planning on apologizing so much as doing a bit more reminding of who I was and why I was writing to them. Since this is only a new-releases list, these are people who have heard a word from or, possibly, devoted a thought to me since June 2012. If I can get them to actually read the email and remember that they enjoyed Nolander enough to sign up for the list, maybe they'll still be interested. That makes sense. You should follow your instincts (they're probably a lot smarter than me). There's nothing wrong with customizing your message for different segments of your audience. You've just seemed disturbed and stressed at times by how long you took between Nolander and Solatium. No one else needs to know about that but your friends here at the Pub. Awww ... <hugs!> Don't worry. I'll keep the self-flagellation to a minimum! |
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Post by Pru Freda on Dec 6, 2014 2:33:23 GMT -5
Yay! Well done, Becca. 100 sales on a $3.99 new release is great going. I hope there will be many more.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 6, 2014 10:41:27 GMT -5
I began publishing the second book of my series, Solatium, on Dec. 1. At this point, it's up on Amazon, Google, B&N, Kobo, Smashwords, DriveThruFiction, and iTunes. (I've had to put it up in dribs and drabs -- too busy to devote a whole day to putting it up everywhere.) So far, it's been at full price ($3.99). I've announced it on Fb and the threads on my Amazon author page, but have warned people it'll be going on sale, soon. Now that it's up everywhere, my next step will be to lower the price to $.99 and send notices out to my mailing list. I think there are about 400 people on the list. Some of those folks signed up a *very* long time ago (like, 2.5 years), so I'm planning to sort the list by sign-up date and send somewhat different emails to more recent vs. older registrants. I'm expecting very low response rates from the older registrants ... I'd be hesitant to get back into a series after such a long wait, myself. So far the book's sold about 100 copies and has picked up a handful of reviews. Since these are full-price sales, I can be pretty sure the book will cover its own costs, which is nice. I think it's awesome that your book has sold 100 copies (or more) so far! This makes me feel better about the length of time it has taken me to get my book 3 out. Congratulations! |
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Post by Becca Mills on Dec 6, 2014 14:38:21 GMT -5
Thank you so much, Jolie and Lynda! LOL, I'm definitely an outlier for long periods between book releases (2 years, 8 months, to be be exact ... now that I type it out, it seems *ridiculous* that it took so long). If I can retain a core readership despite the wait, I'll be trilled. It's something to build on if I get my act together better for Book 3. |
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Post by Becca Mills on Dec 6, 2014 14:42:09 GMT -5
P.S. Jolie, four months -- or five or six or seven or eight -- is only a long time between books in indie-land. Sometimes I think the expectations we put on ourselves are punishingly excessive. Yeah, almost three years is too long, but I think you're getting Benton out at quite a good pace. It really has not been long since Book 2 came out.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 6, 2014 14:58:55 GMT -5
P.S. Jolie, four months -- or five or six or seven or eight -- is only a long time between books in indie-land. Sometimes I think the expectations we put on ourselves are punishingly excessive. Yeah, almost three years is too long, but I think you're getting Benton out at quite a good pace. It really has not been long since Book 2 came out. Thanks! Yeah, I'm getting pretty good at blocking out all the indie noise and just focusing on what I can do. ~~~~ Becca, I've been watching your progress, and I'm very proud of you for getting another book out despite all the noise about when a person should release their next book. You could have gotten really down on yourself and not released anything at all. That happens to some authors, and it's a real shame. They just give up, and I think a lot of it is due to all the indie noise. I'm sick of it. If your readers had forgotten about you, you wouldn't have received 100+ sales right out of the gate. So screw that. Follow your own schedule, and do what you can do. |
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Post by Becca Mills on Dec 6, 2014 15:10:48 GMT -5
P.S. Jolie, four months -- or five or six or seven or eight -- is only a long time between books in indie-land. Sometimes I think the expectations we put on ourselves are punishingly excessive. Yeah, almost three years is too long, but I think you're getting Benton out at quite a good pace. It really has not been long since Book 2 came out. Thanks! Yeah, I'm getting pretty good at blocking out all the indie noise and just focusing on what I can do. ~~~~ Becca, I've been watching your progress, and I'm very proud of you for getting another book out despite all the noise about when a person should release their next book. You could have gotten really down on yourself and not released anything at all. That happens to some authors, and it's a real shame. They just give up, and I think a lot of it is due to all the indie noise. I'm sick of it. If your readers had forgotten about you, you wouldn't have received 100+ sales right out of the gate. So screw that. Follow your own schedule, and do what you can do. Thank you so much, Jolie! You're right. It was challenging to keep chugging along at my own (slooooow) pace. Thanks for being proud of me ... I'm sort of proud of me too, to tell you the truth.  |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 6, 2014 17:56:16 GMT -5
Thanks! Yeah, I'm getting pretty good at blocking out all the indie noise and just focusing on what I can do. ~~~~ Becca, I've been watching your progress, and I'm very proud of you for getting another book out despite all the noise about when a person should release their next book. You could have gotten really down on yourself and not released anything at all. That happens to some authors, and it's a real shame. They just give up, and I think a lot of it is due to all the indie noise. I'm sick of it. If your readers had forgotten about you, you wouldn't have received 100+ sales right out of the gate. So screw that. Follow your own schedule, and do what you can do. Thank you so much, Jolie! You're right. It was challenging to keep chugging along at my own (slooooow) pace. Thanks for being proud of me ... I'm sort of proud of me too, to tell you the truth. Awesome! You should be!! |
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Post by Becca Mills on Dec 6, 2014 18:26:35 GMT -5
Thank you so much, Jolie! You're right. It was challenging to keep chugging along at my own (slooooow) pace. Thanks for being proud of me ... I'm sort of proud of me too, to tell you the truth. Awesome! You should be!!  |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 8, 2014 22:15:21 GMT -5
Congrats Becca!
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Post by Becca Mills on Dec 9, 2014 0:08:42 GMT -5
Thanks, bookspressink! |
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Post by Becca Mills on Jan 5, 2015 2:09:49 GMT -5
Okay, updating December figures, including sell-through to Solatium ... and further "download-through" to a free short story I released December 15 (Theriac). Nolander downloads on Amazon: 444 Nolander downloads on Google: 2,446 Nolander downloads on the others: didn't bother counting ... probably 20-30 Solatium sales on Amazon: 551 Solatium sales on Google: 181 Solatium sales on the others: 19 (Total sales for the first month: 751 -- about 1/3 at $.99, the rest at $3.99) Theriac downloads on Amazon and Google: 594 Theriac downloads on the others: didn't bother counting; very few The big bump to downloads of Nolander on Google is striking, but sell-through from that bump is weak, so far -- only a handful of copies of Solatium are moving there per day. Google users seem to really, really, REALLY like a free book. |
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