# Self-publishing success



## WriterJohnB (Jul 13, 2014)

I'm an author who has self-pubbed and traditionally pubbed with only  modest success. For five years, I've been bugging my daughter to allow  me to publish her novel to Kindle. She wrote it while a member of my  writers' group (since disbanded) and it's a high school girl-girl  romance coming-of-age story.

I put it on Kindle on June 12, Thursday evening, figuring to begin  promotion on the weekend. To my surprise, it took off, selling 12 copies  that evening and 27 on Friday. I decided to just let things run their  course. Well, it's been a month and the novel has been on the (lesbian)  best seller list for the entire time and sells an average of about 70  copies per day.

My conclusion is that, with a target audience, a well-written book will  do well if it catches the attention of an active group and causes a  buzz. My novels (written for my own enjoyment and not targeted) had no  audience to cater to.

By the way, her novel is "She's My Ride Home" and I've published exclusively on kindle (for now.)

JohnB


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## escorial (Jul 13, 2014)

well done


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## Potty (Jul 13, 2014)

Wow congrats! Mind if I ask what sort of commission she's getting from that? (professional interest of course)


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## Schrody (Jul 13, 2014)

Good question, Potty


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## Caragula (Jul 13, 2014)

Great news


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## shadowwalker (Jul 13, 2014)

Congrats to your daughter (and you for pushing for it)! I'll bet she's thrilled 

As to the audience, basic tenet of business - find a need and fill it. Figure out who's looking for this book and let them know it's there; word of mouth will often do the rest.


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## Pidgeon84 (Jul 13, 2014)

Wow! That's awesome! I might have to check it out.


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## TWErvin2 (Jul 13, 2014)

Cool news, JohnB.
Thanks for sharing.


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## dale (Jul 13, 2014)

that's really cool for your daughter. wow. just looked it up. she has 26 reviews and is like #2500 or so OVERALL. that's great.

edit: also, just read the 1st page. she's really good.


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## WriterJohnB (Jul 16, 2014)

Thanks, everyone. I think it helped that I put a realistic price on both kindle and createspace versions. $2.99 for kindle (I enrolled it in KDP select. Potty, to answer the royalty question, she gets 70% royalty on kindle. Hard copy price is $9.99, which gives her about the same amount of royalty.) Sales are beginning to decrease after a solid first month, so I might do a price promotion to rekindle (bad pun) the flame, but I'm going off the grid next week for vacation, so soon after that. I've been given permission to put a link up to her Amazon page, so here it is. 

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KY8S49W/?tag=writingforu06-20

I'm hoping she'll give me another (she says she has other manuscripts) and I can price it a bit higher now that she has "Amazon Cred." Also, if sales dwindle on Amazon, I'll take it off KDP select and publish it on other venues, such as Smashwords, where she might find a new audience. Thanks again for all you kind comments.

JohnB


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## Schrody (Jul 16, 2014)

dale said:


> that's really cool for your daughter. wow. just looked it up. she has 26 reviews and is like #2500 or so OVERALL. that's great.
> 
> edit: also, just read the 1st page. she's really good.



She is her father's daughter


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## TKent (Jul 19, 2014)

I read the excerpt on Amazon.  Can't wait to read this.  Congrats to both of you.

- - - Updated - - -

Where do you find what rank a book has on Amazon, if you don't mind me asking.  



> is like #2500 or so OVERALL.


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## TKent (Jul 19, 2014)

I just found the ranking.  Weird, I have never noticed it before.



> Where do you find what rank a book has on Amazon, if you don't mind me asking.
> 
> _
> is like #2500 or so OVERALL.
> _


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## BallerGamer (Jul 24, 2014)

Congrats on your success!

I've been doing a lot of research on self publishing, and this story further asserts one of my suspicions. Self publishing, specifically ebooks that can be read over an electronic device, caters more to a young audience. I've read a lot of good adult targeted indie books that just haven't done that well, and then I read a book that's aimed at young adults and they do extremely well. Maybe it shouldn't come off as that much of a surprise as younger people are the ones embracing this new age of technology and tablet reading, while (just from my personal experience) a lot of my adult friends are hugging tightly to the traditional ways of novel reading, books that are still made from paper.

So take my statements for what it's worth.


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## WriterJohnB (Jul 25, 2014)

BallerGamer said:


> Congrats on your success!
> 
> I've been doing a lot of research on self publishing, and this story further asserts one of my suspicions. Self publishing, specifically ebooks that can be read over an electronic device, caters more to a young audience. I've read a lot of good adult targeted indie books that just haven't done that well, and then I read a book that's aimed at young adults and they do extremely well. Maybe it shouldn't come off as that much of a surprise as younger people are the ones embracing this new age of technology and tablet reading, while (just from my personal experience) a lot of my adult friends are hugging tightly to the traditional ways of novel reading, books that are still made from paper.
> 
> So take my statements for what it's worth.



I don't think it's age as much as genre. Many of the reviewers stated that they are older, but enjoyed the novel because it reminded them of their teenage insecurities and angst, which I believe is common whether straight or gay.


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## Morkonan (Jul 25, 2014)

Much congratulations are in order!

Much congratulations!


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## chrisl (Jul 31, 2014)

Congratulations and well done! I'm considering coming out of retirement from my p/t job of trying to publish some short stories, and wondering now if self-publishing them as a 'book' would be easier -or at least it'd get done! Thanks for inspiring me to do more research on the topic.


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## WriterJohnB (Jul 31, 2014)

The book is going on promotion this weekend. Thu & Fri @ .99 - Sat & Sun @ 1.99 - Then back to 2.99 on Mon. I'm doing this because the book has been on the best seller list for 6 weeks but  has never actually hit #1. This should increase sales so we can market it as a #1 Amazon bestseller (It's currently at #2) I'll post what happens.


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## WriterJohnB (Aug 5, 2014)

As I expected, it jumped to #1 over the weekend and is still there. I wanted that #1 rating so I can use it in further advertising the book in the future.


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## Folcro (Aug 5, 2014)

I deeply envy your success. I wonder, are you getting many reviews?


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## WriterJohnB (Aug 6, 2014)

Folcro said:


> I deeply envy your success. I wonder, are you getting many reviews?



53 reviews: 36 5star, 16 4star, 1 3star


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## anthonyjmcgirr (Aug 23, 2014)

that's really great!  It's an amazing feeling when your story takes off 

And that's a good point about a niche.  If you broaden your horizons, it might not be as successful as you think.


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## h'aulian scribe (Aug 31, 2014)

Congratulations to your daughter for her success.


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## h'aulian scribe (Sep 3, 2014)

How did you go about marketing your daughter's book.


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## Threak 17 (Sep 5, 2014)

Congratulations to both you and your daughter.  May the future bring continued success!


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## WriterJohnB (Sep 6, 2014)

h'aulian scribe said:


> How did you go about marketing your daughter's book.



I didn't. That's the amazing thing. Every novel I've come out with, I've done all I can to promote interest with little success. With my daughter's book, it was apparently the cover, the blurb, and the target audience


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## Gavrushka (Sep 6, 2014)

Whereas I congratulate your daughter on the success of her début novel, it leaves me cold to think your book is not selling at least as well. - (Or the one I've read). "...and Remember that I Am a Man" sits comfortably in my top twenty books, and my judgement and tastes are mainstream.


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## zerofirezelo (Sep 14, 2014)

Congratulations to you and your daughter. Its a massive shame that you haven't had the same success for you own work but fingers crossed you can enjoy that feeling eventually.


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## Whosthatboy305 (Sep 19, 2014)

Cool beans


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## wainscottbl (Oct 1, 2014)

Wow. Very good! I just read a little and was hooked. Makes me want to watch Breakfast Club or Pretty in Pink! A coming of age novel, yes. I think you could have gone the traditional route and the published would have taken it. Is it possible to do that still? Maybe give it a year on Amazon and then have her submit it to a publisher? She's a very good writer.


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## denmark423 (May 6, 2015)

That's great! Hoping for you to publish more books.


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