I've been self-publishing for exactly a year today. I got the crazy idea from stumbling across the Amazon website, seeing all these unknown authors with their pretty covers and interesting plot summaries, and most importantly all those $$$ signs next to their book titles! Wow, I thought, this is the answer! I've always loved writing, it's come easily and naturally to me, so why do I need to be slaving at a day job if I can become a self-published author and get my share of that pie?
So I dived in. I wrote my first novel, as an adult, over three months while working full time. I ran it through a buddy for some quick editing, designed my own cover, studied the submission rules at Amazon, and then KAZAAM! Published and ready to sell! Well...
I went the KDP Select route, which involved being exclusive to Amazon for a three month period. I figured that would be okay, they were the best, after all! With Select, you get a five day FREE promotion period, where your book can be given away to entice sales. I used my five days instantly, and got really excited when almost 400 people downloaded the book! When the promotion ended, I waited for the sales to begin, especially since "The Days Beyond" had climbed up the Amazon charts during the promo, but then... Nothing. Nada. Zip.
Once the book had a selling price again, downloads stopped almost instantly. I promoted heavily on Twitter and Facebook, was excited with reviews that I was getting sent back to me via my website, and I thought, it's only a matter of time! This book is going to sell! A month later, with no sales, I realized that wasn't going to happen. I was stuck in a three month deal with Amazon, and I wasn't selling any books, no matter how much I promoted it! And no, I wasn't pushing a $4.99 premium price either... I was only asking $0.99! The day my Select deal ended, I moved over to Smashwords.
I had been looking at their site for a while before deciding to publish with them. Yes, they were smaller than Amazon. Yes, it might seem crazy to move from the giant of self-publishing to this secondary option, but I had my reasoning... At Amazon, after the three month Select period ended, my book was ranked 1,214,365 on their site. One millionth! WTF? Were there really that many Indie books out there? Was my book really THAT bad? How could it be, I was getting great reviews (just not on Amazon for some weird reason - although a few people told me they tried to, but were refused!) and my small base of 'fans' were bugging me for another book already! The numbers astounded me. That's probably the reason I moved across to Smashwords, because they were smaller and I wouldn't be lost in the crowd there, I hoped!
The other aspect of Smashwords which interested me, was that I could set my book price to FREE anytime I wanted to, not just for a 5 day period if you're on the Select program at Amazon. This allowed me the freedom of managing my promotions on an ongoing basis. It was also easier to prepare the book for publishing vs Amazon, and Smashwords promised to make my book available at several other online book stores... which they DID! It was a no-brainer, really, and the best move I ever made.
So I sold millions of copies of my book... No. Not really. In all honesty, the same thing happened! I ran a free promotion for the first week or so, saw another 400 free copies being downloaded, put a price on the book of $0.99 and... Nothing. Zip. Nada. This had me confused beyond words. At Smashwords, my book was ranked in the Top 20 in the Thriller, Free category! It was on the charts! It was earning Smashwords reviews (3 x 5 star) and yet I couldn't sell a single copy!
When I released my second novel, "December Dead", I already knew there was a plethora of fans waiting for its release! I was getting asked daily about when it would come out, about how excited people were, about how they couldn't wait to read it. The day it released, I put a price on it of $0.99. It would sell, I told myself. People are waiting for it! Lol... no. I think I sold two actual copies. Die hard fans, I guess.
The bottom line, I guess, is that I came to a simple decision at this point. I loved writing. People loved reading my books. I wasn't Stephen King or Dean Koontz yet, so people weren't going to fork out their hard earned cash on an unknown author! That would be crazy especially when there are SO MANY free books on offer on a daily basis across the web! That would be like trying to sell ice in Iceland. Unless your ice had been on the New York Times bestseller list, of course, or Tom Cruise would be playing your ice in a Hollywood movie deal!
Since I removed the $ signs from my books on Smashwords, I've felt an enormous weight lift off my shoulders! I'm no longer feeling pressured to sell, sell, sell! I've started doing other important things - such as writing my third book, "The Trembling", and in the meantime both "The Days Beyond" and "December Dead" are moving up the free charts again. There's no financial reward, but there is a small sense of pride! I get new downloads every single day, on both. My name, my brand, is slowly infiltrating the enormous readers market, and perhaps, in time, somebody will say: "I can't wait to buy Wayne Roux's new book!" or perhaps they never will... does it really matter?
Until it's my bread and butter, in my honest opinion, no it doesn't! :)
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