It's been a month since I posted about my summer sales experiment. I thought I'd take a moment to catch you up. I know I said I was going to recap after two weeks, but I was still gathering information. If you'd like to read the initial post go here: Summer Sales.
As of today, July 30th, I've given away just over 8500 books. Most of the books were given away at the beginning of the promotion. I gave away 6200 between June 18th and June 30th. I did two paid promotions in June advertising that the first book in the series was now free. I spent around $100 on June promotions. Not a lot to begin stimulating stagnant sales.
I don't want to bore you with numbers, but I can tell you this: as I said earlier, the freebie has stimulated sales across the franchise. My rough estimate is we sold between 200-250 books in July. While I haven't reached my goal of 750-1500 sales during the slow summer months, I am selling books during the toughest time of year to sell books. You may recall my May sales (before the experiment) across the franchise were below 100 books. At the rate I'm going I will sell around 600 books between June 18th and September 1st.
The lesson here is to not sit pat and watch your sales dwindle. Do something to stimulate them. If that thing doesn't work, try something else. For me, 600 books in 2 1/2 months is not a lot. But when I started this experiment my sales were in the toilet, so it looks like the experiment is working.
Another thing, always keep writing. It may be that next book that propels you into the Kindle top 100. Stop fretting over the books you've already written and write a new one. One more thing you should know: Sales seem to increase right after promotion periods, and fall off dramatically when you're not advertising. However, if you run too many freebie promotions you will lose effectiveness. I suggest you keep all your promotional activity over a one week period, then stop for a while. I'd say at least two weeks. And don't throw a lot of money at it. You want to make sure you're revenue is higher than what you're spending to advertise.
I'd love to hear how your summer sales experiments are going--or any ideas you might have to stimulate sales. Let's share the information. Please write me here. Now I'm going back to work on my latest; this one is a romantic horror/thriller The Memory Giver. This is the big one, the top 100 seller, I can tell ;-) You can read more about it here, and even download a free audio presentation of the book's prologue as well by clicking on the book title above.
Have a safe and enjoyable rest of your summer. Keep Reading-Keep Writing!
E
It is always great to hear that despite external circumstances, you are doing your part to ensure that your book is being sold. I admire your attitude that there is always something that can be done for your favor and that as a writer, you continue to push your limits and see that your work gets out there, no matter how far along the game you've come. As a young writer, I strive to adopt these traits because they will be the difference between myself and so many others that wish to find success in such a competitive market. I wish to stay true to your mantra of keep reading, and keep writing. Because knowledge is power and it will only fuel our craft that takes a lifetime to perfect. Thank you :)
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