First Fruits of my Endeavors!

June has been a full month. Every weekend I've had a couple book signing, with most being at Henny Penny gas stations. Through the gas stations alone over 300 copies of Swords of the Six have sold, and that number continues to climb!

I am starting to see the fruits of all my marketing push. A lot of people have heard about my book because they saw it somewhere (most often at the gas stations) or because someone told them about it. So far since the book's release March 1st I have handed out over 2,000 business cards. These cards have my book cover on the face, with the website, my email, and book teaser on the reverse. They are super cheap to print (because I order 10,000 at a time) and are very effective in getting the word out.

Next month I will be at Dodd Stadium in Norwich, CT. They are expecting over 2,500 people for the boyscouts sleepover and I will be holding a book signing there. More on this later.

Also, I'm really enjoying the occasional review of my novel. Today AMG sent me this link to a review by a Christian teacher in Oregon. Enjoy!

The Challenge of Making a Living as a Writer

Only a few thousand fiction writers in the US make their entire income off of their writing. The rest, like me, have a day or night job. I have been doing the math and have come to the conclusion that I average only 50 cents per book sold through my publisher. In contrast to that, when I self-published Swords of the Six, I made a few dollars off each copy sold.

Digital books (such as Kindle) offer the opportunity for authors to make more money off each copy sold. I can make 70% on a Kindle book. So even if I sell it for only a few dollars I make good return. This is exciting!

So does this mean that I should throw out the traditional publishing market? After all, many authors are now talking about self-publishing their books instead of continuing with their traditional publishing houses. But these authors already have an established market; people know to look for their books because the traditional houses have already spread word to their markets.

My plan is to do both. I am going to continue writing for traditional publishing houses to grow my readership, and I'm going to self-publish other titles on the side. Hopefully between the two I can bring my writing income to where it needs to be, sooner rather than later.