The March sales numbers are in!
First, a quick recap: I released The Guardian on December 8, and the first month I sold 19 copies. In January, I sold 33 copies. In February, I sold 67 copies.
I had two goals for March: to release a new book, and to break 100 sales for the month. On March 14, I released Cross My Heart.
Here are the numbers for The Guardian:
Amazon US: 34
Amazon UK: 2
BN: 38
In 31 days, I sold 74 copies of The Guardian, which averages to 2.38 sales per day.
Here are the numbers for Cross My Heart:
Amazon US: 22
Amazon UK: 5
BN: 134
In approximately 17 days, I sold 161 copies of Cross My Heart, which averages to 9.47 sales per day.
For the entire month of March, I sold 235 copies of my books across the board. This is 7.58 sales per day.
I'm kind of pathetic at making predictions, and it's early, so I don't want to make assumptions, but here are my thoughts after this month:
MYTH: Newbies should price their books as low as possible.
FALSE. Pricing may matter, and $2.99 might be the "sweet spot," but readers will pay more if they're interested in the story. The Guardian is listed at $2.99, and Cross My Heart is listed at $3.99. Cross My Heart is selling more. Way More. Remember: I had no fan base before I uploaded The Guardian.
I could lower the price to see what happens, but right now I feel YA sales are typically lower than genre fiction sales, so I'm not sure I could make the difference (6x sales for a $.99 price point). I'm happy with my numbers, the price, and the reviews so far (all four and five stars!!).
MYTH: YA Contemporary Realistic isn't selling. Write a vampire book.
FALSE. The theme right now with YA novels is Dark Dark Dark. Vampires Witches Wizards Angels Werewolves Faeries. Even in the traditional publishing world, YA contemporary novels are more like a dull roar. And promotion wise? They're hidden behind the Fantasy/Urban Fantasy novels. This means that agents and publishers are taking fewer risks when it comes to realistic contemporary fiction. Remember when I mentioned those agents told me that Cross My Heart wouldn't stand out in such a "competitive market?" One hundred and sixty-one copies in just over two weeks is kind of insane, in my opinion. I think it's doing all right.
MYTH: An indie writer should take up as much virtual shelf space as possible.
TRUE. I mean, did you see what happened when I released book two?
Bottom line? You need a good story and a reasonable price. The readers will find you.
This is month four of my indie experiment; I have two books out, and I sold 235 copies in March.
This makes 421 copies sold since I started in December. Not too shabby.
Oh, and Sunday? Best. Sales. Day. Ever.
KK
