It's always a crapshoot, according to other indie authors I've spoken to, when you upload a book. It could be ignored. It could do OK. Or it could totally take off. I always wanted other people to read what I wrote because I enjoyed reading what other people wrote, if that makes sense. I'm hypercritical of myself, so it never occurred to me that people would actually buy my stories and like them. I'm not sure why.
Then I uploaded Wildfire. I get royalties from it, which is super cool. Not a lot, but enough that it has paid for the shutterstock photos, part of my photoshop subscription, part of my website upkeep, my web domain, and part of my ISBN numbers. Yes, I do my own covers. It's an even more humbling experience than writing. I'm not artistic. Anyway, people have read it and they like it! I don't have a ton of reviews yet, but the ones I do have are positive. I redid my search terms recently and it kind of took off. For me, anyway. It hangs out in the 100-200's in the Amazon.com rankings for its genre. Except for on amazon.de, where it's at a solid #30. Awesome!
Well, then I uploaded Common. I anticipated a similar response to Wildfire. The books have a different voice. Common is slower paced and not quite as "racy." I figured I'd get a lot of, "Is there a plot?" comments when I got them. Well maybe they're coming because Common took off like crazy. It gotten as high as #26 in its genre on Amazon.com and is currently in the 60's-80's (#30 on amazon.de... Yay Germans! Danke shon! Darn blogger won't make an umlaut...). It's currently ranked higher (at least for the next hour) than Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. ROFL at that one. I have also finished paying for everything I've spent bringing these books to my readers, which is amazing! Which means I might be able to get fancy with the covers for Earthquake (The Program #2) and Rarity (I think that's what Lora Fletcher #2 will be called, but don't quote me on it).
So.... THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!! All of you strangers who have read my books and are seeming to like them are phenomenal.
I haven't read wildfire yet but I just finished Common and I really loved it! Am hoping to see a sequel soon!😊
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you liked it! If you haven't, please leave a review on goodreads and amazon. The sequel to Common is all plotted out, but I'm working more on the sequel to Wildfire right now. I will have more time to write over spring break and the summer, so hopefully I will get the sequels out sooner than I am anticipating! Thank you!!!
DeleteI got "Common" as a Kindle Unlimited book. Started reading it last night. Couldn't put it down till my heavy eyelids forced me to. Finished reading it this evening after work. I even read while I was eating dinner, ha ha, to my family's long-suffering eyerolls. Anyway, I immediately went to Amazon to purchase the book because I'm a re-reader, and then to my dismay, saw that there is no sequel yet. But now I don't know what happens to Lora and her friends. Sigh. Whine a bit. Anyway, I'll be waiting with baited breath for the release. Do you have a newsletter I can subscribe to to find out when it is released? It goes without saying that I'll be purchasing "Wildfire" as soon as I post this comment.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you liked it! Book 2.... I've started it, but it's not coming as fast as I'd like. I admit to being distracted by another project. But Book 2 of either the Program or LF should be out by summer's end. I don't have a newsletter yet. I know other authors use mailchimp, and I'm considering that for the future. For now, I try to update my blog every 1-2 weeks. My 7-year-old just got out of school, so once he starts camp, I anticipate being back on track with everything.
DeleteBut to let you know, LF2 starts st the ball. Lora dances and develops a new magical skill. All the old crew are there, and they're having a great time. So great, in fact, that they refuse to leave and let me write another scene ☺
Oooh! I can't wait. Thanks for the sneak peek. I'll be keeping an eye out.
ReplyDelete