Forged in Fire's First Year Sales and Royalties Report

This a my first post on my pretty new blog, which is linked to my fantastic new website, which was paid for by royalties from a book that I originally self-published, but was picked up by Montlake Romance and is scheduled for re-publication on September 4th.

When I first self-published I intended to share my sales numbers, marketing strategy and success or failure with the blog-sphere in the hope sharing information and strategies might help everyone in the long run. But as often happens, life got too complicated and busy and I posted less and less and finally quit completely. 

But I've always intended to do a yearly totals once my book had been up a full year. As it happens, my book won't make a full year, at least not as a self-published title. After speaking with my Montlake marketing team earlier this week, I decided to pull my version of the title down and give the book a rest before Montlake releases their version on Sept 4th.

I unpublished it on Tuesday, 11.5 months after I'd self-published it.

It's fitting that I post the final sales and revenue the book brought in through this past year here, on the blog that matches the website that the book paid for.  

When I started this self-publishing journey I was an unknown author, with no publishing history, no fan base and no real platform. I think I had about 170 followers on twitter and 20 on Facebook. But none of that ended up mattering. I did a month long blog tour to introduce my book, as well as set up other guest blogs through sites I knew readers gathered. I also posted the book, one scene at a time, to Wattpad, where it quickly gathered a following. Some of my first sales were to Wattpadders, as were my first reviews. 

I published the book Sept 7th, 2011. September’s royalties were right around $400 dollars. In mid-October about half way through my blog tour, the book took off. Since then my lowest monthly royalty was $2800. (October's) My highest monthly royalty was $12,800. (Febuary's)  Most months it averages between $4500-6000 a month, with several months hitting around $9000.

The lowest the book dropped in the Kindle Store was #30, and it only stayed down there for a day or so. But it was enough to get me KDP's attention and they actually assigned me a KDP representative. O-O

The book had sold 9,998 copies by the last day of December. Since Jan 1st, 2012 its sold an additional 33,619 copies, for a total of 43,621copies since publication. (I include borrows in this figure. Since we get paid for them, I count them as a sale) To date the book has earned $88,732 in royalties.

A couple of interesting side notes. Back when I first published FiF, I would have KILLED to get a letter from KDP asking if they could use my book in one of their promos. Wouldn't you know it, the letter finally came on the fifteenth of August, a week before I'd promised to pull my book down.  #headdesk

While I haven't been approached by any movie companies, or foreign publishing houses looking to buy subsidiary rights, (more's the pity) I have been approached by several agents, including one who had rejected the book off the query ten months prior. I've also been approached by a couple of editors from the Big Six Houses!

Very surreal to have them coming to you! LOL

At the moment I don't have any titles up at all, self-published or otherwise. Forged in Fire will be re-released on September 4th. But I'm also planning to self-publish Yesterday's Child, a paranormal romantic suspense, on December 5th.  I tell you, December can't come fast enough. I'm having dashboard withdrawals.

Here's the cover of Yesterday's Child. 

My editor called Yesterday's Child an intriguing mix of Twin Peaks, Pet Cemetery and Invasion of the Body Snatchers. LOL

Here's a quick Blurb:

When her son vanishes without a trace, Deborah St. James is the prime suspect in her child’s disappearance. Until nine years later, when he walks back through her door: without having aged a day, wearing the same clothes he disappeared in, and with no memory of the previous nine years.