I published the following in March 2011. All I can say is, things have changed A WHOLE LOT since then.
February 20, 2011 will go down in the books as one of the most interesting days I’ve experienced lately, for a number of reasons.
To begin with, I had a book signing that afternoon at a local Barnes & Noble. The first order (50 copies) of my print edition of LEAST WANTED had arrived (just!) in time for me to bring with. So that was good. I also had surplus copies (plenty!) of IDENTITY CRISIS to sign, as well. All was in order. Meanwhile, on Amazon, I was selling downloads by the hundreds. The Kindle rank for LEAST WANTED was hovering at about #102. Oh, my God! Nearly in the Top 100! Don’t think about it. Focus on the task at hand.
So I did. We took my books and drove to B&N. A half hour drive (more or less). Schlepped my books from car to store. My husband helped, of course. He’s the greatest! Sat at a table and signed books from two to about four-thirty (more or less). I saw people I hadn’t seen for quite a while. It was awesome, really. Most enjoyable.
The author next to me (no names, please) was with a small press. Next to her was an author with Random House. After the signing was done, the Random House author left all her books behind on the table. The small press author said, “I sure hope I can get with a big press someday, so I can do that.” I said, “You realize what’ll probably happen? They’ll put those books in the genre section, spine out where almost no one will see them. They might – repeat, might – sell one or two out of the twenty or so books there. The rest will be returned to the publisher for a 100% refund. Is that what you REALLY want?” The small press author said, “Oh, yeah. I forgot about that.”
Meanwhile, I was selling hundreds of downloads on the Internet while I was sitting there signing books and talking to her.
So, after I gathered my things, I spoke to the CRM and she said, “You sold eight copies of LEAST WANTED and two of IDENTITY CRISIS.” She looked all sorrowful, as if I’d be disappointed. I wasn’t disappointed at all, actually. I was thinking about the hundreds of downloads, actually.
So when she suggested I might want to travel to the Eastern Shore to do an event with the other authors at my table, needless to say I was like, “Well, I can actually sell a whole lot more ebooks online.” And she said (get this!), “But don’t you want to find new readers?”
Um, who do you think are buying all those downloads? Kindle fairies? lol
I think the look on my face must have been priceless. My husband said later, “You really need to work on your poker face a bit more.” Oops!
Anyhow, I still enjoyed the signing, even if I only sold 10 books. I got to see people I haven’t seen in a while. I still like print books, I enjoy doing signings and I support my local bookstores. I also got to come home to some really awesome news.
While I was away signing my print books, LEAST WANTED hit the Top 100 in the Kindle Store. I became an Amazon bestselling author on February 20, 2011. Those words still sound a bit surreal to me. And I feel incredibly lucky and grateful to all the readers who’ve made this possible. Thank you!
*****
News flash: The Kindle fairies all died! 🙂
When you sell your books for less than a buck, people may buy, but they might never get around to reading what you’ve written.
Duh!
Random and Sundry Things 