I’m nearing the end of the second day of the Christmas sale. I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow – whether or not things will spike up now that the holiday is done. The returns haven’t been quite what I’d hoped for, but I believe they’ll still be sufficient to accomplish what I wanted, which was to gain a few more reviews for the books than I currently have. Some of the reviews I’ve requested haven’t appeared as yet (speaking only about books that are currently published), and given that Amazon is currently cracking down on sock puppet reviews (not that I have any) – which has the unintended consequence of eliminating actual reviews from people who received a copy of the book as a gift rather than as a purchase – there’s just been some real difficulty in garnering the reviews needed to promote my books effectively. Thus, the giveaway might just generate enough reviews to put the books over the top.
The second and third reasons are important, but not as significant at this stage. Second, is selling some more books and making a little more money than has been coming in of late. We’ll see what manner of dent this little giveaway has toward that end. I’ll probably see a slight bump, if nothing else. The third reason is finding new readers – which is always important. I’m sure there’ll be a net increase in fans of the books, but again, not as many as I’d like.
The books have fallen off of their high marks. We did break the top 40, but now I’m back down to the top 70. Then again, tomorrow may be the day that changes things, given that people are more apt to buy when they’re not focused on the holiday. I suppose I could chalk that up to the learning curve. In a real sense, everything I do – promotion wise – is totally experimental. If I knew some magic bullet that would create tremendous publicity and help my books sell like I know they can, I’m sure I’d be using it by now. But alas, such charms remain hidden to me. Success in this line of work seems so unbelievably random. But what else can I do besides keep plugging away and trying to do a little better tomorrow than I did today? That, and praying for lightning to strike?
Still, it’s like I told my wife back in 2005, when I started writing with a view toward publishing: “Baby, this is a ten-year plan. Not a one year plan. Ten years to start seeing results.” We’re now seven years in, and I’ve finished nine novels. I’ve got three more years of writing before I can reasonably take stock to see whether or not it’s been worth it. I’m thinking that, by that time, we’ll have made it (maybe just made it, but made it nonetheless). I just need to be patient and diligent and attentive to what the sea change in publishing means for a career as a novelist. And I need to remain confident in the talents and skills God has given me. And the stories that are still begging to be told.
That being said, this next year is swiftly upon us, and along with making sure I try to publish intelligently, I also intend to get back to having fun at this. It’s too much work with to little reward not to enjoy doing it.