Scott Oldford Site

Tag: book sales

  • Why Sales Numbers Don’t Matter (Much) for Your First Novel

    Why Sales Numbers Don’t Matter (Much) for Your First Novel

    My publisher sent my second quarter sales report at the end of August. As discussed previously, it’s pretty standard for those to come in long after the quarter ends — in my case, two months after.

    Folks, it was not what I hoped.

    Because my book released halfway through March, and based on my Amazon rankings during this period, I believed my initial launch surge of sales would go at last two weeks into Q2, which was about half of that launch surge. Thus, I expected to see Q2 sales about on par with my Q1 sales (which encompassed presales and two weeks of my launch).

    Turns out: Nope.

    Between April and June, I sold a whopping 118 copies of my novel. So, still not a bestseller.

    This made my heart sink, because I now realize that I am not going to make my initial goal of selling 1,000 copies in my first year (which will end in March 2016).

    Not only is this number far below what I’d need to be on pace for my 1000-copy goal, but I’ve only seen my Amazon ranking continue to sink since this period ended, so my sales trend is going in the wrong direction.

    So yeah, it stings.

    Unfortunately, a sales dip is normal, particularly when you only have one book on the market, and particularly when you’re with a small press.

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    Demystifying debuts

    The debut novel holds a lot of reverence.

    For writers, it’s a symbolic step that takes them from “aspiring” to “professional.” For readers, it means an exciting new voice to check out, and they can be the first to discover it.

    For a lucky few who manage a major publishing deal for their debut, and who are chosen by that publisher for a large marketing investment, the debut can shoot a writer straight to stardom.

    For the rest of us, this only the first step in a long road ahead.

    • Books in a series tend to hit sales “critical mass” at book three, according to my publisher. Which makes sense, because every true fan is now three potential sales, instead of just one.
    • As a result, there are certain promotional steps my publisher won’t take until the series has three books in it (like run a BookBub promotion). My publisher has strongly discouraged me from spending my own budget on this, too. I have taken this advice, and I find it a wise approach.
    • Many authors report seeing a “tipping point” in their sales trends around book eight to 10 (series or not), where they are discovered by more readers, each reader buys more books, and there is an overall upward shift in sales trends. My own observation of authors at every stage backs this up.

    In other words, if you want a long-term career as a writer, the debut novel is not a sales machine. It’s a first step for growing a readership.

    Platform over profit

    Based on this conclusion, I’ve chosen to approach my debut launch as a tool to grow my platform, rather than a product for immediate profits.

    This means I am prioritizing my investments (time and money) for ways to use my book as a credential to take actions that will support my more long-term goals.

    These are:

    • Get an agent and major publisher for my next book after my current series.
    • Grow a readership who will want to buy my future releases.

    To this end, I am active on social media, I blog, I send out a newsletter.

    I invest in Facebook ads to grow my email list and recently started giving away a free novella as an incentive.

    And I’m pitching to speak at relevant events on panels and on my own.

    Shift your thinking

    I may not make my sales goal for year one, but let’s be real: it was pretty lofty. There’s actually a silver lining in all this, and it’s nothing to sneeze at:

    Just four months into the launch of my first book, I have surpassed the “average” mark for first-year book sales.

    The average book, measuring everyone from that self-pub guy who throws his book on CreateSpace and does nothing else, up to JK Rowling, sells 250 copies a year (and only 2,000 in its lifetime). As of June, I’m at 322.

    Between this fact and all I’ve learned about debuts in general, rather than beat myself up, I am choosing to shift my thinking. Instead of stressing over short-term goals, I am setting myself up for future success.

    How are you investing in your writing future?

  • 7 Ways Besides Sales to Make Money Off your Novel

    7 Ways Besides Sales to Make Money Off your Novel

    When my first novel came out, my publisher’s PR department had me write articles for magazines, websites and book bloggers to promote my book.

    It’s difficult to say exactly which pieces drove sales and put royalties in my pocket, but one thing was sure: I wrote a lot of free material.

    A chat with a writing colleague led me to approach the release of my second book a different way. We realized that even though essays and articles are traditionally used to generate income via book sales for non-fiction work, we know there is money to be made writing articles and personal essays.

    We often use our lives as inspiration for writing, so why not use our books as a prompt for material we could get paid to write?

    Here’s part 1 of 2 on how to exploit your novel for additional publishable material.

    1. Location, location, location

    Where is your novel set? New York, Teheran, Moscow or Buenos Aires? Wherever it is, chances are you can find something interesting about the locale and write an essay about it.

    Keep an eye on the news coming out of that place, choose an angle that would connect that news to the action in your novel, and pitch away.  

    2. Setting

    Where have you set your scenes? Do your characters visit spas, go to museums, jump off buildings, or hide in caves? Wherever they are, you can probably come up with an article that could include one of your chosen settings.

    How about “Ten most visited caves in the world”? Or “Spas made famous by novelists?” Or “Buildings that remind people of dragons”? You get the idea.

    Travel and airline magazines can pay well for these kinds of articles.

    3. Food

    Chances are, your characters eat at some point in your narrative. Whether it’s a simple breakfast of scrambled eggs or an exquisite five-star Michelin dinner, you can get mileage out of any and all food mentions in your work.

    Write a round-up of most common breakfast dishes in the world. Or create a listicle of hardest-to-get-into Michelin-starred restaurants. Or combine the two ideas and see if you can find Michelin-starred restaurants that serve breakfasts.

    The sky’s the limit when it comes to food — and food-based ideas you can extract from your work.

    Look for magazines aimed at food lovers — there’s no shortage of the latter, though pay can vary.

    4. Accessories

    Does your character like luxury brands? Do you write erotica and include adult toys in your narrative? Or is there perhaps a furniture theme?

    Take a look at your novel and make a list of every accessory that makes a notable appearance. Brainstorm the angle you could take on those accessories. “Most popular high-end brands in fiction” or “Sex toys through the eyes of 10 characters” could make quite an interesting piece.

    Consumer-focused websites for specific industries often look for these types of articles.

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    5. Your characters

    Is your hero based on a real-life crush? Does an old boss make an appearance?

    You don’t have to name names, but if there’s a story behind the story, there’s a market for it.

    Whether you’re in hiding from the North Koreans because you’ve made fun of Kim Jong-un or your book centers on that time you were betrayed by your best friend, you can write a personal essay about it. (Just make sure you do it under a pen name so no dictators can put you on their A-list).

    You may be able to look for publications that profile famous people. The higher the profile, the bigger the publication that might be interested.  

    6. Your research

    Not everything in your book came straight from your imagination. Some of it came from Google and other research portals.

    Did you find yourself deleting your browser history in case the FBI wondered why you were looking up how long it takes someone to die of hemlock poisoning? Or are you now an expert on apple breeds in 18th century France?

    If so, there’s a probably a publication out there on just that niche. Alternatively, it might fit into a more general-interest piece. If you went down the rabbit hole researching trivia for your novel, readers will be just as curious.

    Sites like Mental Floss, Ozy and The Atlantic are full of quirky and interesting articles that may inspire a new way to share your research.

    7. Lessons

    Your characters learned and grew through the events you wrote for them.

    Whether it was how to get over a broken heart, or fix their finances and get out of debt, or to make amazing cupcakes, those characters must have top notch advice for others wanting to do the same thing.

    How-to articles, especially food-based, can find homes in all kinds of publications.

    Do you have any ideas for themes and topics inspired by your books?

    In part 2, we’ll show you how to turn you — the writer — into a source of money-making, book-promoting essays.