Milkshake has ticked along quietly since mid-October 2011.
In recent months it has sold, on average, one copy each day. This makes it feel like prospective buyers are patiently queuing to log on to Amazon, one-by -one to make their purchase.
Now, as the northern hemisphere summer finally kicks in, it's interesting to see how sales, even of my obscure, low-charting debut novel , have started to pick up.
Helped, no doubt by my publisher; Taylor Street Publishing who have signed 'Milkshake' up for Amazon's Kindle Select program. In return for giving Amazon exclusive ebook rights, they allow a number of promos which see 'Milkshake' offered for free, for a limited time only. This not only allows the opportunity for a free copy (and hundreds have taken up the offer), but also pushes the book up the Amazon chart and closer to the more popular titles. This in turn appears to attract actual sales, once the promo period ends.
So, coming out of a 2-day promo at towards the end of June, the notoriously unreliable, but nevertheless compelling sales estimate website Novelrank, began suggesting sales of more than 1 per day!
In fact, in the last 7 days, Novelrank has estimated sales of 20 copies on Kindle.
So I'm hoping I've caught a wave of people stocking up their e-readers ready for their summer holiday. I've also tweeted and face-booked the fact 'Milkshake' is primarily set in July 2002 - exactly 10 years ago this month. Readers may enjoy the heightened sense of timeliness by reading it in the next few weeks.
Although I don't yet have the figures for this most recent promo offer, combined with the last, and judging by how 'Milkshake' leaped fairly rapidly up both Amazon.com and Amazon UK, I'm estimating there to be around 2,500 copies out there. This bodes well for people wanting to find out what happens next in the story.
The sequel The Destiny Stone is currently with the publisher, awaiting editing. I'll keep you posted on its progress towards publication.
Finally, two more generous readers have taken the trouble to leave reviews on Amazon. This is, as always, great feedback as well as valuable unsolicited publicity for potential buyers looking for a great summer read!
Monday, July 2, 2012
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Blog 16 - Slides Down Easily
After the success of the free Kindle downloads for Milkshake,sales picked up to around 3 per day on both Amazon UK and US. The publisher tried another 48 hour freebie on the last couple of days in May, but, as he predicted ,the uptake was not as high. The downside was, when the book appeared back on Amazon 'for sale' it had lost its ranking and was in the teens on the UK and the hundreds of thousands in America.
The previous experience showed people appeared to be more attracted to titles higher up the chart and there has only been a couple of sales in the last 4 days. The new cover may be a factor, but there are too many other variables to consider as well.
The final draft of the sequel is nearly ready to be sent away and I may get my first royalty cheque in the next week or so from the publisher, for Milkshake. I actually got my first royalty about a month ago thanks to a solitary sale of a hard copy via my local bookshop in Nelson, Page & Blackmore who are great at supporting local authors.
The previous experience showed people appeared to be more attracted to titles higher up the chart and there has only been a couple of sales in the last 4 days. The new cover may be a factor, but there are too many other variables to consider as well.
The final draft of the sequel is nearly ready to be sent away and I may get my first royalty cheque in the next week or so from the publisher, for Milkshake. I actually got my first royalty about a month ago thanks to a solitary sale of a hard copy via my local bookshop in Nelson, Page & Blackmore who are great at supporting local authors.
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Blog 15. New publisher, new beginning
The Kindle Select free promo for 'Milkshake' lasted approx 48 hours. During that time around 1400 free digital copies were downloaded from the Amazon.com & .UK sites.
Since then, sales have really picked up, more in the UK than the States, with on average 4 copies a day being purchased for actual money. This trend is set to continue with a couple of recent developments.
I've signed to Taylor Street Publishing; a US-based company with bigger promotional and marketing aspirations than my previous publisher. They also have contacts in film and TV. I've been told (and said myself) 'Milkshake' is quite a 'cinematic' story, and the yet to be published sequel even more so.
I'm looking forward to the next stage of the journey me and Taylor Street are taking together.
As part of the 'refreshed' look to "Milkshake', the cover will shortly be updated. Will this change to the visual attraction on Amazon make any difference to sales, especially in the American market?
Do people buy based on the cover art, or the blurb?
With the new cover running initially for a month, it will be interesting to watch the sales figures.
Since then, sales have really picked up, more in the UK than the States, with on average 4 copies a day being purchased for actual money. This trend is set to continue with a couple of recent developments.
I've signed to Taylor Street Publishing; a US-based company with bigger promotional and marketing aspirations than my previous publisher. They also have contacts in film and TV. I've been told (and said myself) 'Milkshake' is quite a 'cinematic' story, and the yet to be published sequel even more so.
I'm looking forward to the next stage of the journey me and Taylor Street are taking together.
As part of the 'refreshed' look to "Milkshake', the cover will shortly be updated. Will this change to the visual attraction on Amazon make any difference to sales, especially in the American market?
Do people buy based on the cover art, or the blurb?
With the new cover running initially for a month, it will be interesting to watch the sales figures.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Blog 14 Marketing strategy creates a FREE download!
Yes, I know the title looks like one of those spam emails, but in this case its absolutely true!
As part of a cunning marketing plan, Night Publishing has removed 75% of its titles from Smashwords and handed sole e-publishing rights to Amazon.
This means, for a limited time Milkshake is FREE! (yes, you're meant to click on the link!)
The idea is everyone loves free stuff and, with the northern hemisphere summer fast approaching, and the time to sit around the southern hemisphere winter fires almost upon us, now is the idea time to take advantage of some free ebook entertainment.
As the free downloads encourage curious readers, the free version of Milkshake will slowly rise up the Amazon chart. At a certain point it will then become a 'pay per view' only. Hopefully that point will be when its chart position and popularity become irresistible and voracious readers will clamour to pay just 99c for their own copy.
That's the theory (I think!) anyway.
Now let the games begin...
As part of a cunning marketing plan, Night Publishing has removed 75% of its titles from Smashwords and handed sole e-publishing rights to Amazon.
This means, for a limited time Milkshake is FREE! (yes, you're meant to click on the link!)
The idea is everyone loves free stuff and, with the northern hemisphere summer fast approaching, and the time to sit around the southern hemisphere winter fires almost upon us, now is the idea time to take advantage of some free ebook entertainment.
As the free downloads encourage curious readers, the free version of Milkshake will slowly rise up the Amazon chart. At a certain point it will then become a 'pay per view' only. Hopefully that point will be when its chart position and popularity become irresistible and voracious readers will clamour to pay just 99c for their own copy.
That's the theory (I think!) anyway.
Now let the games begin...
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Blog the thirteenth - Around the world and back
I've just returned from a 3 - week trip to the UK to visit family, taking in Paris, London Cardiff and a brief stop in San Francisco airport. After 10 years, my impression of the UK was - what recession? There are more retail outlets than ever, with a constant stream of people emerging from them laden with bags of 'bargains'.
A new phenomenon was the ubiquitous Apple Store where people seem to just stand around in huge numbers gently stroking Ipad screens. A bit like a nightclub but without the booze. Or dim lighting. Or music. No one seemed to be successful though. Not one person seemed to be leaving having actually secured the services of the aforementioned Ipad. They are, after all, not a cheap date.
The other trend I encountered was the apparent insatiable appetite for German cars. The M3, M25 and M4 motorways were choked with a seemingly endless variety of Mercedes and BMW's, with a few Audis and frequent VWs thrown in as well. I swear the same sporty black Merc kept lapping me on the M25.
In book news, I took a few copies of Milkshake to give to friends and relatives. I decided it would be a bit of fun to leave my last copy in the departure lounge of Terminal 3 at Heathrow.
I wrote inside asking the finder to pass the book on when they'd finished and note their brief possesion on the Milkshake facebook page So I sat down, carefully placed the book on the empty chair next to me and then waited until the cleaners had passed by before walking away.It felt a bit like one of those subtle document drops you see in spy movies. Only later did I remember that the opening chapter is actually set in a Heathrow departure lounge in 2002.
The sequel to Milkshake is currently with 4 beta readers, one of whom has already given me plenty of feedback to work on now I'm back in front of a proper PC rather than a netbook which seems to have about 20 minutes battery life before needing re-charging.
Incidentally, it was nice to see how many locations offering free wifi also offered the chance to re-charge laptops etc free of charge.
I'm off to start work on amending the first draft of TheDestiny Stone. It's 6.40am and I've already been up for 2 hours thanks to jet lag!
A new phenomenon was the ubiquitous Apple Store where people seem to just stand around in huge numbers gently stroking Ipad screens. A bit like a nightclub but without the booze. Or dim lighting. Or music. No one seemed to be successful though. Not one person seemed to be leaving having actually secured the services of the aforementioned Ipad. They are, after all, not a cheap date.
The other trend I encountered was the apparent insatiable appetite for German cars. The M3, M25 and M4 motorways were choked with a seemingly endless variety of Mercedes and BMW's, with a few Audis and frequent VWs thrown in as well. I swear the same sporty black Merc kept lapping me on the M25.
In book news, I took a few copies of Milkshake to give to friends and relatives. I decided it would be a bit of fun to leave my last copy in the departure lounge of Terminal 3 at Heathrow.
I wrote inside asking the finder to pass the book on when they'd finished and note their brief possesion on the Milkshake facebook page So I sat down, carefully placed the book on the empty chair next to me and then waited until the cleaners had passed by before walking away.It felt a bit like one of those subtle document drops you see in spy movies. Only later did I remember that the opening chapter is actually set in a Heathrow departure lounge in 2002.
The sequel to Milkshake is currently with 4 beta readers, one of whom has already given me plenty of feedback to work on now I'm back in front of a proper PC rather than a netbook which seems to have about 20 minutes battery life before needing re-charging.
Incidentally, it was nice to see how many locations offering free wifi also offered the chance to re-charge laptops etc free of charge.
I'm off to start work on amending the first draft of TheDestiny Stone. It's 6.40am and I've already been up for 2 hours thanks to jet lag!
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Blog 12 Beta readers and a fly on the wall
An update on beta readers for the Milkshake sequel; The Destiny Stone. Thanks to some generous offers, I have 3 willing readers (2 in New Zealand and 1 in Australia), who have agreed to go through the draft in the next couple of weeks.
In Milkshake news I had an interesting experience this week. A work colleague has purchased the paperback version from The Book Depository (free worldwide delivery) and keeps asking me about various aspects as she reads. Meanwhile, my manager has downloaded the e book onto her Ipad from the Amazon.com site. On Thursday I overheard them discussing what page they were up to, what had happened so far and how much they were enjoying it.... all without acknowledging I was actually in the room! This proved to be far more immediate and worthwhile than any written review I've ever had!
Incidentally I now have 10 reviews on American Amazon and 7 on the UK version.
Also this week, Milkshake had been reviewed on the popular and well-respected KIWIreviews website. It'll be interesting to see whether or not it generates any sales at all.
Milkshake has now been on sale since mid-October 2011. I understand this week the publisher gets all the royalties and sales details from places like Smashwords (and all its affiliates; Kobo, Barnes & Noble etc) and Amazon. Once the figures are passed on, it'll be my first indication of actual sales numbers.
In Milkshake news I had an interesting experience this week. A work colleague has purchased the paperback version from The Book Depository (free worldwide delivery) and keeps asking me about various aspects as she reads. Meanwhile, my manager has downloaded the e book onto her Ipad from the Amazon.com site. On Thursday I overheard them discussing what page they were up to, what had happened so far and how much they were enjoying it.... all without acknowledging I was actually in the room! This proved to be far more immediate and worthwhile than any written review I've ever had!
Incidentally I now have 10 reviews on American Amazon and 7 on the UK version.
Also this week, Milkshake had been reviewed on the popular and well-respected KIWIreviews website. It'll be interesting to see whether or not it generates any sales at all.
Milkshake has now been on sale since mid-October 2011. I understand this week the publisher gets all the royalties and sales details from places like Smashwords (and all its affiliates; Kobo, Barnes & Noble etc) and Amazon. Once the figures are passed on, it'll be my first indication of actual sales numbers.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Blog 11. How social is a social network?
This afternoon I finished the sequel to Milkshake . Unlike Milkshake which I struggled to title until re-reading the final draft, this sequel had a title virtually from the first page.
The Destiny Stone is complete at just under 78,000 words.
No-one has read it yet.
I've decided I need a few Beta readers to check things like plot, if the various timelines integrate with each other as well as grammar and spellings etc.
So as a small experiment in the power of social networking, I've advertised for Beta readers on Facebook, Twitter, and the website of my publisher, Night. One fellow Night author has already kindly agreed to read it through, on the basis of enjoying and being a staunch support of Milkshake.
It will be interesting to see where (if any) the offers come from, how many I get, and also what feedback I eventually get from them.
I'll keep you posted.
The Destiny Stone is complete at just under 78,000 words.
No-one has read it yet.
I've decided I need a few Beta readers to check things like plot, if the various timelines integrate with each other as well as grammar and spellings etc.
So as a small experiment in the power of social networking, I've advertised for Beta readers on Facebook, Twitter, and the website of my publisher, Night. One fellow Night author has already kindly agreed to read it through, on the basis of enjoying and being a staunch support of Milkshake.
It will be interesting to see where (if any) the offers come from, how many I get, and also what feedback I eventually get from them.
I'll keep you posted.
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