So some things are working for me as an author, and some aren’t. Here they are:
- My short story – I have 334 downloads of The Silver Collar on Smashwords. A surprising number of people have bought it for kindle too, even though it is free on Smashwords and I put a link as a comment. I wonder when Amazon will get around to fixing that….
- https://www.facebook.com/weloveebooks – This one worked for me and got me 10 sales in one day. The problem is, that is all I got and I’m not sure if I can put more books on there or what.
- Lots of Connections – I made a serious push to put The Lustre out where as many people could see it as possible. Also, I put my free short story everywhere I could find to put it. That seems to have upped my visibility a little and I get a few sales here and there where The Disenchanted Pet has gotten none.
- Having more books out there – It seems that the more books I have available, the more people are reading.
- Time – Yes, the time I have been online and the time my books have been available has worked in my favor. This is another plug for starting your platform early. If I had 140 blog followers and 432 twitter followers before I first published, I think things would have been easier for me.
Things that didn’t work/aren’t working:
- Kickstarter – My campaign didn’t earn even a fraction of its amount. Maybe I tried too soon or asked too much. I noticed the ones with lots of support had some kind of perk outside of the book itself – a contribution to a charity or something.
- The 99 cent Network – My book was up initially, but now I can’t find my book on the site at all, even though I paid for four months. I emailed them about this and have heard zip-o in return. Boo! I also have no way of knowing if I got any sales through them.
- Selling my books at places other than the biggies – I found a lot of little side ebook sellers and posted there. I didn’t see any extra sales, though. No one has sent me big checks because my book is a bigger fish in a smaller pond. I don’t think I am hurt by it, but I don’t know if I will spend the time and effort to put future books out there if I get no return.
- Kindle Select – I had hoped that putting the zero-sales Disenchanted Pet up as a Kindle Select title would give me a little boost, but I’ve seen no new sales.
A little about book reviews and getting them: I sent out requests for review of The Lustre to 11 different bloggers in March and recieved 2 replies, one a yes and one a no. It isn’t easy to even get a reply, let alone a review. (Don’t feel bad if you email 3 and don’t get any response.)
As a book reviewer, I am getting lots and lots of requests, even though my list is so long. I’ve amended my review policy and have said “no” to some books I didn’t think I could enjoy enough to give a good review. I still have enough time to reply to everyone, but I can see where an established reviewer would have a hard time.
Kate Policani 
I’ve read that the most successfull e-writers are those with multiple books available. And that it’s a slow, gradual process. So hang in there and keep at it!
Thanks! I can see where that would be true.
Kate, just to echo. About my sales, I’ve been told this too: “it’s a slow, gradual process” making a name that will bring the audience you should have.
I agree with JM & Maria. At the moment I’m trying to work out where my marketting efforts are best concentrated because sometimes I think that a lot of what I do in that area is a waste of time. I’m going to focus on getting reviewers for Give me a Break. I got pretty poor responses for requests for A Matter of Perception, but I kept a note of who I contacted and what their response was, so this time I won’t waste my time with those who didn’t reply or weren’t helpful. I’m busy finding a whole bunch of new ones and there’s plenty out there. I’m working through this bookblog listing http://www.bookreviewblogs.com I check their policy first and if they don’t do reviews on Indie books, I move straight on. If my novel ever comes out with a trad publisher, I might have missed a few that could have been good, but I’m not sure I want to deal with those who make that distinction anyway.
It’s hard to tell what will work. I’m most disappointed about the 99 cent network.
Thanks for this very interesting post Kate. It is good to see someone taking the time to share their experiences. I found the Kindle select free days programme effective in generating sales but only for a short time (1 week) after the promos ended. I am not sure what was the reason for that, if it was that folks still thought the novel was free and went there and bought it anyway. Like you, the more I blog and post guest articles etc, the more sales there are. My main disappointment with Amazon and Barnes and Noble is the inability to see where the daily sales are coming from to figure out what sources are most effective. I run a few ads in addition to blogging and guest posting, but can’t tell which is most effective. (I know I could shut down all and do one at a time, but I am frankly more interested in keeping the momentum right now.) Best of luck to you, and thanks again.
I agree about Kindle numbers. Best of luck to you too!