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My newest super-genre short has sold 310 copies in the last two days. It's currently outperforming my first novel from back in 2013.
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# ? Mar 13, 2015 23:03 |
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# ? May 11, 2024 16:30 |
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And that's a bad thing? I've been in such a rut the last year that I would kill for a runaway hit like that.
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# ? Mar 13, 2015 23:09 |
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Oh, not a bad thing at all. It's just a bit of a mindfuck when I watch something I gave no shits about whatsoever when I wrote it outperform something I put a ton of time and care into. Money is money, though.
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# ? Mar 13, 2015 23:12 |
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moana posted:You have to see what works and what doesn't for your genre. Ask other writers who are succeeding in your genre. Don't be surprised when they don't pour out information immediately; it probably took them years to learn the right way to do things and there are a lot of entitled artistes who want to snap their fingers and get the right answer immediately. I've got two questions, basically. 1. "What works and what doesn't": is this a way of saying that you have to write things a certain way or they simply won't sell? That you have to hit certain tropes and archetypes for people to buy the book? 2. Where do I find authors to ask questions, other than this place?
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# ? Mar 14, 2015 00:41 |
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chthonic bell posted:1. "What works and what doesn't": is this a way of saying that you have to write things a certain way or they simply won't sell? That you have to hit certain tropes and archetypes for people to buy the book? Would you read a fantasy novel that has neither elves nor dwarves nor dragons nor swords or magic? A novel labeled as "romance" but dealing with a man's love for his car? The fact of the matter is that people who buy genre fiction look for that genre, and these genres have certain expectations. Doesn't mean you have to play it 100% straight.
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# ? Mar 14, 2015 00:51 |
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chthonic bell posted:1. "What works and what doesn't": is this a way of saying that you have to write things a certain way or they simply won't sell? That you have to hit certain tropes and archetypes for people to buy the book? quote:2. Where do I find authors to ask questions, other than this place?
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# ? Mar 14, 2015 01:16 |
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Sundae posted:My newest super-genre short has sold 310 copies in the last two days. It's currently outperforming my first novel from back in 2013. Woah, that's awesome. Congrats. I think my first novel hit the 30 day cliff Although, since I was only averaging like 10 borrows a day anyway, the drop isn't exactly that huge. But I hit publish on novel #2 just now, so I'm pretty excited to set up promos and to corral some reviews in the next week.
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# ? Mar 14, 2015 05:19 |
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Tiny victories: I have the top result if you search the Kindle for "space heroine." Day Two. Still no reviews. WHY CAN'T THEY READ FASTER?
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# ? Mar 15, 2015 22:18 |
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Madurai posted:Tiny victories: I have the top result if you search the Kindle for "space heroine." day two of what? since publication? we've had this discussion before but I'm pretty sure you should expect several hundred paid sales per review
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# ? Mar 15, 2015 22:30 |
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You should send out ARCs a couple weeks at least in advance for reviews so that you have a nice blitz on review day. And yeah, less than 1% will review. My latest has less than 100 reviews, and it sells a few hundred copies a day. Not many people write reviews, it turns out.
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# ? Mar 15, 2015 22:37 |
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EngineerSean posted:day two of what? since publication? we've had this discussion before but I'm pretty sure you should expect several hundred paid sales per review Oh, I know. I can still sweat and make up nightmare scenarios in my mind, though.
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# ? Mar 15, 2015 22:40 |
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Be proactive about your reviews. Moana has a great point about ARCs, but as you're past that point, you'll need to do something else. As I've suggested before, go find your book on Goodreads and start sending polite requests (with the Amazon link to your book ready) to anyone who gave your book a nice review/rating there to also post it on Amazon.
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# ? Mar 16, 2015 01:13 |
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February KU borrow rate = $1.41.
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# ? Mar 16, 2015 21:03 |
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I just posted this over in BFC, but I broke my first year teaching salary last month with my book sales. Feels good, man. Crossing my fingers they keep up the same rate for March, holy god that would be amazing.
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# ? Mar 16, 2015 21:05 |
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Congratulations, Moana! I matched my monthly day-job salary for February, and this month is looking even better thanks to the newest hit (if it doesn't fall off a cliff in the next week or so). Hell yes. Now to write some more awesomeness. It feels good to have something go right again.
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# ? Mar 16, 2015 21:25 |
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moana posted:I just posted this over in BFC, but I broke my first year teaching salary last month with my book sales. Feels good, man. Crossing my fingers they keep up the same rate for March, holy god that would be amazing. congrats! that's amazing. I just put up my second book and am ranked under 8k with no promo and going strong. feeling optimistic right now.
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# ? Mar 16, 2015 22:23 |
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serious congrats Moana, I don't know how I did yet but a buck forty one is p good news
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# ? Mar 16, 2015 23:53 |
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what I mean is, stop lying, no Millenials can get rich and certainly not writing porn
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# ? Mar 16, 2015 23:55 |
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quote:what I mean is, stop lying, no Millenials can get rich and certainly not writing super-romance Fixed that for you. Seriously though, the last few months have been phenomenal. Not Moana or Sean phenomenal, but still like "take twenty years off the lifespan of that loan" awesome. I'm totally going full-time at this once my wife's loan is done, no question about it anymore. Given enough time and mental energy to write regularly / the way I used to before The Great Collapse of 2014 (okay maybe that's a little melodramatic), I'm 100% certain I can knock this poo poo out of the park.
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# ? Mar 17, 2015 00:49 |
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Just saying this thread is great and highly motivating. I've finished the first draft of a novel and I'm halfway done with a power-romance book. Thanks for all the info/help flowbee abortion fucked around with this message at 04:05 on Mar 17, 2015 |
# ? Mar 17, 2015 04:01 |
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If anyone is in need of editing, I have some slots left for end of March and beginning of April (will be unavailable for the week after Easter, though). All lengths and all genres (including super-romance) welcome. Drop me a line at booksidemanner at gmail dot com, and I'll be happy to discuss levels of editing, rates, etc.
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# ? Mar 17, 2015 17:01 |
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I can vouch for Hijinks being great to work with. She's edited several works for me now, and she is easy to work with, quick on turn-around, and does a great job with line-edits and word-choice criticism. She's downright spiffy, so hire her before I buy out all her remaining spots for the year. (I should have another one coming your way this week if you're available, by the way.)
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# ? Mar 17, 2015 17:22 |
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2015 is off to a great start, thanks KDP All Star bonuses (bonii)
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# ? Mar 17, 2015 20:33 |
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You got another one? Congratulations! I'm back on pace to my goal of doubling my writing income for 2015 compared to 2014. If this happens, that loan is as good as gone and I'll be ready for "retirement." Now I just have to get my family to accept that this is a reasonable business venture.
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# ? Mar 17, 2015 20:40 |
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Sundae posted:I can vouch for Hijinks being great to work with. She's edited several works for me now, and she is easy to work with, quick on turn-around, and does a great job with line-edits and word-choice criticism. She's downright spiffy, so hire her before I buy out all her remaining spots for the year. Awww, thank you! (Feel free to send the next one along whenever it's ready.)
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# ? Mar 17, 2015 20:53 |
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Sundae posted:You got another one? Congratulations! I got six lol
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# ? Mar 17, 2015 20:55 |
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Wait, six so far for 2015?? Jesus Christ - I thought they were account-based.
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# ? Mar 17, 2015 20:58 |
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Sundae posted:Wait, six so far for 2015?? Jesus Christ - I thought they were account-based. In February. There's 100 for authors and 100 for individual books, and also a different set for US, UK, and Germany. So that's 600 total.
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# ? Mar 17, 2015 21:00 |
Hats off to all of you, I'm not writing much but your success blows all of my attempts away. I'm at 8 super-romance that I've released over a 4-month period and I'm very envious of whatever it is you've been doing that has served you so well. Here's my 90-day history for comparison. I switched genres at the start of march and released 2 titles about a week apart which explains the bump there, but it's barely a fraction of what a few of you are making with half the titles and half the time. Be proud of your success and hold tight while I head back to the drawing board.
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# ? Mar 17, 2015 21:03 |
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It definitely looks like you're on an upward trend there, made like $20 or more yesterday, that's a start!
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# ? Mar 17, 2015 21:06 |
Yeah it just boggles my mind whenever I read about the amounts even relative newcomers are earning here or on the subreddit. I've been dealing with a bout of serious depression since January so my productivity and output has plummeted, but I think I need to find time to do some serious research. I don't consume enough of what I'm supposed to be writing and it definitely shows. For example the switch of genre last week was based on reading some stuff I wouldn't normally read and thinking "Hey, I'm sure I could do that better". I think I'll keep on that tangent a while and try to merge it with different genres and see how it goes. The old penname wasn't doing poo poo so I think I'll have to cut my losses - even though I prefer writing that stuff it's just far too pedestrian.
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# ? Mar 17, 2015 21:10 |
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Sulla-Marius 88 posted:Yeah it just boggles my mind whenever I read about the amounts even relative newcomers are earning here or on the subreddit. So do what they do. Here is the list of Top 100 supergenre authors, find someone who you like and copy them. http://www.amazon.com/author-rank/Erotica/digital-text/157057011/ref=ntt_at_kar_B008GFU7UO
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# ? Mar 17, 2015 21:25 |
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So how gloomy is the forecast for fantasy writers? All this super-romance is making me sad that I don't get much enjoyment from trying to write that super-genre. I'm almost done with my first revisions of this manuscript and I've got a couple other projects hanging around that I need to bang the rest of the way out. Soon it'll be time to revisit my blurb and sweat over cover art...
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# ? Mar 18, 2015 15:06 |
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Super-romance is treating me pretty well, all things considered. With a dozen stories published since late February, here's my chart. It's kind of subtle when things start ticking upward. That five-borrow February 25 blew me away when it happened, but now I look at March 13 and 16 (five-borrow and four-borrow days, respectively) like "OH JESUS WHAT DID I DO WRONG." I'm sure these numbers would terrify anybody making an actual living off of this stuff, but for me — considering it's just extra money and not something I plan on replacing my normal job with — it's great so far.
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# ? Mar 18, 2015 15:27 |
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RedTonic posted:So how gloomy is the forecast for fantasy writers? All this super-romance is making me sad that I don't get much enjoyment from trying to write that super-genre. I'm almost done with my first revisions of this manuscript and I've got a couple other projects hanging around that I need to bang the rest of the way out. Soon it'll be time to revisit my blurb and sweat over cover art... I honestly don't know the fantasy forecast. Have you looked at the Top 100 and the Hot New Releases charts to see if there are any self-pubs in it? How are they ranked compared to other genres in the overall store?
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# ? Mar 18, 2015 15:34 |
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Sundae posted:I honestly don't know the fantasy forecast. Have you looked at the Top 100 and the Hot New Releases charts to see if there are any self-pubs in it? How are they ranked compared to other genres in the overall store? Top 100 in fantasy/sci-fi is jpacked with paranormal shaper-shifter super-romance. It's not totally hopeless, though. e: I should clarify--not totally hopeless for someone not including super-romance in their work.
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# ? Mar 18, 2015 16:02 |
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Ahh, I should've expected that. Whoopsie.
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# ? Mar 18, 2015 16:20 |
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I can't speak for fantasy precisely; I write steampunk thrillers and mysteries. I do okay. It's really picked up since the last release in January. Nowhere near top shelf income, but I make enough to write full time, and that's really all I want.
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# ? Mar 18, 2015 17:55 |
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Toaster Beef posted:Super-romance is treating me pretty well, all things considered. With a dozen stories published since late February, here's my chart. Nobody who wants to stay sane in this business should look at a one day slump in sales and start invoking the name of our Lord and Savior. In fact, challenge yourself to only look at your sales on days that you publish a book. It is both rewarding and time saving. I also sperg out on the day the Amazon monthly sales report drops but I don't consider that a problem.
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# ? Mar 19, 2015 00:41 |
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# ? May 11, 2024 16:30 |
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EngineerSean posted:Nobody who wants to stay sane in this business should look at a one day slump in sales and start invoking the name of our Lord and Savior. I've been looking at it less and less over the first month, and I suspect by the end of the second month I will basically be doing what you're talking about. I think it's just that rookie disbelief of "wait, people are buying this" that needs to fade away.
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# ? Mar 19, 2015 11:15 |