Happy new year!
2022 was a significant year for me as an author, a stepping-stone year. I learned some things that some of you may find interesting and hopefully helpful. Most notably:
My co-writer and I published a first-in-series at the very end of 2021, and we saw that book cross the $10,000 threshold in sales on its own, even though book 2 didn’t come out until the very end (November) of 2022—almost exactly a YEAR later.
That’s 1 book to 10k.
Now that book 2 is finally out (with book 3 scheduled to be released no later than November of this year, 2023–trying for sooner this time), we’re aiming to build on that revenue. But it’s still certainly remarkable to me that a single book generated those sales on its own, and I know my co-writer has voiced his own surprise and excitement. It’s by far the most successful single book I’ve ever published.
We did not rapid release. We were not able to throw a ton of ad money at it. All we could do was put the pre-order up for book 2 and see if book 1 caught traction in the meantime.
It did.
So, why?
A few things:
- My co-writer is already established in the genre.
- The book has a very clear genre with a rabid readership (Military SciFi)
- The book is written, covered and blurbed to that genre
- We’ve made use of countdown deals and stacked promos, plus a small but steady spend on ads
- (bonus) …it’s a LONG book. 500 pages.
To elaborate on each…
Getting a co-writer for this series is one of the best decisions I think I could have made. Early on, I conceived of the series as something I’d write with another more-established author whose work I admired and respected. I’m not an established writer in the genre; this is my first foray. He is; he has a healthy, engaged readership already, and deep connections with other authors in the genre to tap their readers as well. But I also chose my co-writer because they’ve actually been in the military. I have not. Their guidance has been invaluable in terms of delivering realism and authenticity to our books; that’s a special kind of currency for this genre in particular.
But, backing up even before those contributions, I knew I had to put together a compelling package for my co-writer to even say ‘yes’ to. I knew I had to make it clear that I was able to offer something to my co-writer in return. So, I read. A LOT. Dozens of military sci-fi books, both the classics of the genre and newer series. Trad published and indie. I read my co-writer as well. I took notes on those books AND…I mined their reviews. Seriously. I read every single review of every book I read. I took notes on those reviews; I looked for patterns, particularly what readers loved about them. Also what readers didn’t love. I used those insights to refine my plot and create my characters for the series, and I created a three-act outline for the first book. Then, I wrote the first few chapters. Once I was happy with those chapters…well…I procrastinated. I fidgeted with them for too long…before finally sucking it up and sending it to my co-writer. His ‘yes’ was a ‘HELL YES.’
It was then a matter of applying the theoretical work to the actual prose. My co-writer was invaluable in that regard. We did an outline first—a detailed one; not exactly on purpose. That was me realizing how I write best. I need an outline that walks me through the story from beginning to end. It was great for our collaboration, though, because it allowed my co-writer to spot issues before we’d even written them. Then, I wrote. I’d pass my rough words to him, and he’d polish them. Rewriting, editing, and punching up where necessary. He handled the cover and wrote the blurb using his expertise in the genre. We released with a polished package aimed squarely at a very defined audience.
It started selling almost immediately. Not in big chunks, mind you, but it was selling. Steady. The length of the book was a bonus here: it meant our KU income was hefty, and military sci-fi does really well in KU. We did a countdown deal around this time last year. It did very, very well. We rode the tail on that for several more months. And then with minimal ad spend (it was only the one book, remember, with a pre-order—can’t really jam on advertising when the returns are so small) to help the book maintain a rank/sales floor after we fell off the 90-day cliff…it just continued to chug along while I wrote book 2. The length of the books was a down-side there, to be honest. It took us longer than we wanted…but we still finished it on time to fulfill the pre-order, thank LAWD.
We passed $10,000 in gross sales in like August or September, I think, along with 450-ish reviews. Once book 2 came out six weeks ago, we had almost 500 pre-orders. That means—with the addition of signing an audiobook deal and receiving some advance money there—that we’ve already equaled that figure. We’ll see how book 2 continues to do, but it seems to be following in its predecessor’s footsteps: it’s not running wild, but it is selling. Steadily. Times two now, because we have two books (and the third up for pre-order). We’re running another countdown deal soon. We have book 3 up for pre-order and it has ~100 sales so far. Audiobooks coming in a couple months. The series appears to have legs.
So…I share all this really to say: there is no one way up the mountain. Boiling it all down, these are my biggest takeaways from our modest success thus far:
+Know your genre. When you understand who your reader is and you give them what they want, you will sell.
+Don’t be afraid to reach out to someone who knows more than you do, or has more experience. Sharing your work with them can be a really powerful thing. Don’t be afraid to seek out a co-author!
+Write the best story you can, whatever that means for you. For me, it’s do. the. work. And by that I mean: don’t settle for something you know needs to be better. Roll up your damn sleeves and work on it until it’s fixed. Don’t settle.
+And finally…don’t worry about what everyone else is doing. Just write and release. Could we have made a ton more money by rapid releasing? Without question. But, I can’t write that fast yet. And I spent a long time not writing AT ALL because I felt like I couldn’t catch up. That disparity between what I was able to do and what I could see others doing just made me stop completely. I see now that it doesn’t matter. Speed is relative. By endeavoring to go as quickly as *I* could, I was able to get the work out there…and see that it was successful in a completely different way.
There’s no one way.
Except writing and publishing the best book you can. That’s the way. Everything in between is up to you.
Happy New Year.