Celebrate Scottville Event

I haven't done much posting of author events on this blog, which is where I really should be doing it instead of on My Quality Day. Maybe I'll try to do better.

Anyway, today was a fun little opportunity. Never discount fun little chances to sell books. This was a very local event celebrating some new businesses in Scottville, the town where I live. Space was free, lots of businesses held drawings for prizes, bounce house and activities for kids. All the things that make small towns fun.

The Cats and Jammers band played live music, which was really good- old time and folk music with a really upbeat sound, but not so loud that you couldn't hear yourself think or talk to people who might want to buy books.



I sort of stumbled into the opportunity. There is a new local author, Sandi Malburg. She's written a book of local history, "Lost Towns of Mason County." She was offered a chance to sell her brand new book, and then it sort of expanded to include other local authors, and I jumped on it.



I sold several books, had another internet TV interview, may have a chance for a local radio interview, and may have gotten my Dubois Files series in the elementary school library. Local people who know you are always going to be great supporters... assuming you put out quality books.

And now... it's been a busy day. I'm going to take Sandi's book and go get comfortable.

Dubois Files at Storybook Village

So, yesterday I was in Pentwater, and some book friends reminded me that I haven't been in to check out Storybook Village, and ask her about buying my books.

I got myself downtown and went in. Had a nice chat with the owner, Barbara Sims. She's created an amazing, enticing world of books, special toys, and a kids' movie theater (undersea film was looping when I was there) at the bend on Hancock Street.

It's truly an honor to have my children's books, the Dubois Files, for sale at this store.




This is how you must do it, if you decide self-publishing is for you... one bookstore at a time. Even if you find a distributor who will put your books in their catalog, they will no longer make the contacts for you.

Ahead of the Curve, But a Long Way to Go

I recently read an interesting article in Galleycat that compared the levels of income made by various types of authors. Their information was taken from Digital Book World. Here's the chart I found most interesting.



It might be a little difficult to interpret. The four bars are different types of authors. I'm not sure how aspiring authors make anything... but I suppose some people label themselves as aspiring even if they make a little money. The blue color is the percent of authors in each category that make nothing. As in $0.00 a year. Zero. One would expect that for aspiring authors. But look at the blue color in the Self-published bar. It's 20%. That's a fifth of all self-published authors who make not one penny from all their work. (And it's almost that many for traditionally published authors- getting a publisher does not guarantee money.)

Now look at that pukey-green color. It's the biggest band of color for the Self-published authors. It goes all the way up to about 78%. Now subtract out the 20% that make nothing, and 58% of indie authors make something, but less than $1000 a year. I guess that's ok if you want to write for a hobby, but it's not even a dent in any kind of income to sustain a person.

So the blue and green together show authors who make under $1000 a year. That is over 50% of traditionally published authors. That suddenly doesn't look so magical, does it. Those who are hybrids- use both self publishing and publishing companies manage to drop that to about 45%, but still not great. For complete indies it's almost 80%.

I think there's an error on the chart for the next band. The band-aid color is the next one up, but in the legend it's pale blue. I suspect the legend is wrong. So look at the band-aid band (who chose those colors, anyway?). This is authors who make between $1000 and $2000 a year. For indies, it's about 10%. And it's the band where I fit.

I'm very encouraged by this. Sure, I'd like to be higher. My goal at the moment is to be in the orange band, but I had no idea that I'm already doing better than about 80% of self-published authors.

Thanks to all my readers, editors, promoters, and fans for getting me there!

You can read the entire article at Most Authors Make Less Than $1,000 a Year: DBW

"Salmon Sea" Selected for a Broadside

Ludington Art Fair (photo by JHY)

Have you ever heard of a broadside? Neither had I, except in the obsolete sense of a newspaper-like poster used to disseminate news or advertising in pre-Civil War times. However, I guess they have really caught on some places as a way to get art and writing out to the general public.

One of the West Side Gang leaders thought they would be a good offering to have at the Ludington Art Fair. We had to submit poems for inclusion, and I had one make the cut. They had art work added, and were printed on good quality paper.

The poem of mine that was chosen is named "Salmon Sea." I'll be sending it to everyone on my Mail Chimp List for free, when I reach 50 subscribers. Have you signed up?

Book Sales- August 2012

  I've decided to post sales numbers for August, because if nothing else, I hope they will be a benchmark I can compare to later and see the growth.

My goal was to sell three ebooks a day, and I (or the books on their own merits) succeeded. Promotion is such a crap shoot, but I keep trying to get more links and mentions and reviews and...

With all venues together that I know about (North Country Cache is in a number of bookstores on consignment. I won't know those sales numbers for months), here are the August results. All the others are ebook sales.

North Country Cache (paperback only)- 7

Devotions for Hikers- 4
Get Off the Couch with Joan- 1

News from Dead Mule Swamp- 74
The Hollow Tree at Dead Mule Swamp- 1217 (free)
Paddy Plays in Dead Mule Swamp- 39

Total ebooks sold for money- 118

My goal was to have more than 3 sales a day. If I'd remembered to count in the Smashwords distribution sales I would have realized I was already close to that and might have chosen something higher. Nevertheless, I'm pleased. So the overall average of paid ebooks was 3.8/ day. I was thinking I should only hope for 3.5 for September, but now 4/day is looking very possible.

If you are a member at Smashwords, and haven't clicked me as a favorite author, I'd really appreciate it if you would. You can do that at my Smashwords author page. It only takes a minute!

Book Sales- July 2012

  Such a guessing game! Should I post sales numbers so readers will know how few books I sell yet, or should I post them because they aren't too bad for a relatively new self-published author?

I'm going to do it for the past month, because I did make a personal goal, whatever its significance.

With all venues together that I know about (North Country Cache is in a number of bookstores on consignment. I won't know those sales numbers for months), here are the July results. All the others are ebook sales.

Devotions for Hikers- 1
Fall Off the Couch Laughing- 2

North Country Cache (paperback only)- 2

News from Dead Mule Swamp- 43
The Hollow Tree at Dead Mule Swamp- 977 (free)
Paddy Plays in Dead Mule Swamp- 27

Total ebooks sold for money- 73

My goal was to have more than 2 sales a day, and I made that. I've been promoting quite a lot, so my goal for August is 3 sales a day.

Sometimes it's really discouraging. It takes a ton of work to get people to buy, even with good reviews. All of the books now have several reviews by people who are not friends, but how is a potential buyer to know that? How does one continually find new pools of people to promote to?

It's a challenge!

Hey- if you haven't "liked" the books on Amazon, or agreed with the tags, it would be great if you would do that. It only takes a minute!

My Amazon author page

(A month after I made this post I realized that I had not been checking the Smashwords report from their other distribution outlets. So in addition to the above, I sold 16 News from DMS, 2 Paddy Plays in DMS, 1 Toby & Harry, for a total of 19 more books.)

Paddy Plays Enrolled in Smashwords Summer Sale

cover design by Farah Evers

 
Smashwords is running a Summer Sale for the entire month of July. I've enrolled Paddy Plays in Dead Mule Swamp for 25% off. This means that if you choose to buy this book from Smashwords during July, you'll be sent a coupon code and the book will cost only $2.24 if you use that coupon.

Even if you haven't finished reading the first two books, July would be a great time to buy Paddy, and save some change!

Orders for North Country Cache

Amazon ordered two more copies of North Country Cache this week. I'm always happy to see orders come from people I (presumably) don't know. That means that word is getting around about the North Country Trail.

However, I also noticed that my sales rank slipped below a million. Not that I'm very worried about it, but it used to be around 800,000. It's quite possible that the drop is only related to holiday sales which might bump other titles up.

I'd be thrilled to have a higher rank, but I realize that's not very realistic for a supposed niche book. It's been enjoyed by almost every non-hiker who read it, but the first assumption is that it's a book for hiking freaks!

Order of Devotions for Hikers

I got an order for ten copies of Devotions for Hikers this week, to be delivered tomorrow. Horray!

That means I need to print more. I'm really glad that I wrote down EXACTLY how to do that and put it in my file, and also that the new printer doesn't seem to have any idiosyncrasies that cause it to print differently from the last one.

I have all the printing done, and am assembling them next. I have chosen to print this book myself, because it keeps the weight very small- something that backpackers are always worried about, and the printing costs are very low this way, as well.

I'll never get rich offering this little booklet, but it is a slow, but steady, seller. If my records are accurate, I've sold 62 copies with almost no promotion. I just put it out for sale with my other things when I give a program. Of course it's listed at Books Leaving Footprints

I have a file with ideas for a second volume. It's also available as an e-book at Smashwords. Click the picture of the cover to go there.

Spirit of the Woods Program and Book Sales

Last night I gave my program "The North Country Trail and the Kitchen Sink" for our local chapter of the North Country Trail Association. There were quite a few guests there, so that was fun- to educate a lot more people about the trail.

I thought that the group was pretty well saturated with book sales, but I sold two copies of North Country Cache, so that's always a good thing.

Also, there was one ordered through Amazon this week.

I have no bookings coming up until spring, and that date is not firm yet. If you are in the Midwest and would like a great program at a reasonable cost, let me know! You can see the flyer of my offerings and prices at Books Leaving Footprints. (Click on Meet the Author, see lower left corner)

Successful Program for Dunes Audubon

Last night I gave a brand new program, "The North Country Trail in Michigan" to the Sable Dunes Audubon. This program is the first in a series that will focus on a particular state of the NCT. They wanted a program of 30 minutes. I wasn't sure, until I gave it in front of an audience, if I had produced the right length, but it was just fine. Then they asked me questions for another 30 minutes after that!

I added video to this program. Some of the slides are the same as from my longer program about the whole trail, but I want each program to be fairly unique, so that people won't think that if they've seen one they've seen them all. I had a video of my friends and I singing "The Happy Wanderer" from my final hike in August of last year. I took the sound track from that and added video clips of nature scenes that I've shot along the trail over the last couple of years, since I went digital. I want to tweak it a little more, but it isn't too bad for a first effort.

Using such a familiar song had just the opposite effect from what I expected. I thought it would be trite and people might be bored. I guess most people don't go around singing that all the time, because they were delighted, and some even sang along. Now that is audience participation!

They want me back next year to talk about local trails. That's not quite as good as a solid booking, but pretty close. I'm trying hard to work on the idea that you shouldn't leave a program without having a booking for another one, somewhere.

I had a pile of my brochures, about the programs I offer, and several of those were picked up.

There were about 35 people there, which they said was a really good turnout. I also sold one book. That's not too bad for a non-trail group, where I know that several of the members already have a copy.

Successful Program in Marquette

Marquette is a beautiful city. And they have a lot of beautiful miles of North Country Trail.

On Tuesday I hiked 8 miles with a trail group that was visiting the area. It was fun seeing some miles that I hadn't hiked for several years.

That evening about 30 people came to the Peter White Library to see "The North Country Trail and the Kitchen Sink." Most of them were already trail folks, and I hope that I was able to give them more of a vision for the whole trail. They do a great job of keeping their section in good condition.

I sold six copies of North Country Cache! I was actually surprised, because the Marquette area is where I have sold more books than any other place. I'm not complaining!

Program and Book Sales

The program went really well! Despite torrential rains and lots of lightning and thunder there were 50 people who showed up. The library that sponsored the program was really happy- that was a high turnout for their program series. I concur that it was a good turnout. I usually get large groups when the program is for an outdoor or hiking club, but not always so many when it's aimed at a general audience. This was also in my local area, part of the Pentwater Library summer series. I hadn't yet given this program locally, so that might have helped, although there were only about five people there that I knew.

I sold four copies of North Country Cache, and one copy of Devotions for Hikers, so that was also a great success. That's a good sales percentage for that size group.

And, one good "rule" of public speaking is that you should never leave a program without having the next one lined up. I may have pulled that off. If the man I spoke with follows through, I'll have a program in September.

I personally have difficulty pushing my books as hard as I need too. I tend to be more retiring when it comes to sales, and would like books to sell themselves. But that is totally unrealistic unless you happen to be on the NY Times Bestseller list (ha!). I think I did a pretty good job last night, for me.

Here's a piece of phenomenal news! Last week I paid off the last of what I borrowed from a couple of friends to publish North Country Cache. I still haven't paid off what I borrowed from myself, but all the money made tonight can begin to go toward that goal. Since I'll need cash for North Country Quest in the next year or two, that is a great milestone.

Getting Ready for a Program

I am giving one of my programs this evening, "The North Country Trail and the Kitchen Sink." It informs people about the trail through my own adventures on my end-to-end hike. It's also my best marketing tool for selling North Country Cache.

There are a few little tweaks I want to do for the program (nice that Power Point is so easy to work with!). I also have to redo my brochure which lists all the various programs that I can give. I now have my own digital projector, and so I need to remove the part that says I need one. I'm going to raise the price for my two keynote programs a bit too. Now that I AM the only woman to hike the entire trail, I think my credibility demands it.

Wish me lots of book sales! This is actually a local program, at one of the area libraries. I haven't given a local showing for a long time, and never of this particular program, so I'm hopeful of a good turnout.

Program and Book Sales

The week just flew by! Last Saturday I was the primary speaker at the Finger Lakes Trail Conference Spring Weekend in Cazenovia, NY. They loved the program, and learned a lot about the larger view of the North Country Trail. Over 300 miles of their trail is concurrent with the NCT.

My newest program is "The North Country Trail and the Kitchen Sink." It's still a tiny bit too long- I need to somehow rip a few more slides out of it. Sigh.

I put out a short stack of "bump and dent" North Country Cache (those ones returned from Partners) at a reduced price, which all sold, and then also sold two more at full price. I kept some dented ones for another time.

Also sold one paper copy of Devotions for Hikers!

First Payment from Smashwords

As you may have noticed in the sidebar, I have two ebooks listed at Smashwords. I'm happy with their percent paid to the author, and their broad distribution base. If you meet their formatting standards for Premium Content, you'll be listed with several major ebook distributors.

I have received my first payout of $10.55. I know this is very small potatoes, but it makes me seriously happy to have broken into the ebook world in at least a small way!

Program for West Michigan Ikes

This evening I gave my program, "The North Country Trail and the Kitchen Sink," at the Annual Fish and Game Dinner of the Dwight Lydell chapter of the Izaak Walton League. It was well-received, but the group was smaller than they expected.

I'm posing with Fred Eyer (treasurer) and Georgia Donovan (president). It's one of those pictures that doesn't really say much, but at least we are all smiling.

I sold one book. I was hoping for two, but for the size of the group, even one is good, particularly since this group's primary focus is fishing, not hiking.

I've been trying to apply the theory to my life that you shouldn't ever leave a program without making a contact to book another one. Didn't succeed in pulling that off tonight, but Georgia is a live wire- she might recommend me to someone else. One big problem is that my good printer died over a month ago. I hooked up my old printer, to limp along, but I'm out of business cards, and program flyers. Other things that require quality printing are low too, but I still don't have the cash to replace the good printer. It's a problem!

Hey! If you'd like to book a great program, check out my offerings at Joan Young's Program Info

Sale of Devotions for Hikers

Just sold the second e-copy of "Devotions for Hikers." This is a small booklet with ten Christian devotions based on hiking and trail themes. I've sold quite a few in print, and decided to offer it as an e-book last fall.

It's available at Smashwords.

I entered the world of e-publishing in the fall, and I have no idea what would be considered a good sales rate. There have been 173 views of the free portion of the booklet, and two sales. That's a 1% conversion rate. Good? Bad? I have no clue.

Walk Eight Miles - Sell Two Books

I had planned to hike a short distance with two guys today who came up from Ohio and Indiana to do some hiking on the North Country Trail. What I didn't know was how far I would be hiking with them. So, what with one thing and another, it ended up being a total of eight miles, and it took most of the day.

The distance was fine, but now I'm behind on quite a few other tasks I need to get done.

The really good news is that each of them bought a copy of North Country Cache. Hooray, hooray!

For a niche book, such as NCC, sales from personal contacts is the best form of marketing. Many people think that it's just going to be a boring account of day after day walking along, where I camped, what I ate. But when they spend a little bit of time with me, they begin to get the idea that my writing might be more interesting than that.

Another Amazon Order

Wow- I got another Amazon order for North Country Cache before I had mailed the last one. This allows me to send 2 copies in one box, which will save me a tiny bit of money.

Several orders a month would be an awesome trend, and Amazon would probably order 2 copies at a time if this becomes the norm. I'm not holding my breath, but it's nice to dream.

At least I get enough sales now that when I put my title, North Country Cache, in the Amazon search box, my book comes up as the top entry. That used to make me nuts... that if someone searched for my exact title, some other book was shown to them first. (It's a good book, I finally actually bought it, but really... if someone asks for a specific title, shouldn't the search give it to them?)