I'm a bit late getting this out. This month's theme: reviews and advertising.
THE REVENANT AND THE TOMB
So, as you already know, the audiobook was released on March 31st. I have no sales data as of yet, despite knowing that I've sold at least three copies. Yes...three WHOLE copies!
One of them came right out of the blue - a person I know from the YouTube chats I participate in. He told me that he bought it (as I am always promoting my book), and that he thought the audiobook was awesome. SCORE! He left a review.
I've been advertising the book on my own (through things like scheduled tweets) and through paid boosts and adverts. Initially, I focused on the audiobook, but as of the writing of this blog, I'm trying to cover all of my bases. I have sales numbers for my paperback (good) and my eBook (miserable), but nothing reported yet on the audiobook. Findaway Voices claims that it takes two- to three-weeks before sales data shows up, which I'm hitting right about now. I'm going to give it four weeks before I start making a stink.
Again: I know I have at least three sales of audio books. Numbers should be showing up.
I also contracted a company to store ARCs (Advanced Reader Copies), and to offer a set number of free copies of my book in exchange for a review. Mind you - it is no guarantee of a good review, only that the reader will leave one once they complete the book.
As of the writing of this blog, here's where I stand:
Site | Reviews | Rating |
|---|---|---|
Goodreads | 10 | 3.9 out of 5 |
Amazon | 7 | 4.4 out of 5 |
Apple | 1 | 5 out of 5 |
I have 2 Bookbub recommendations (both 4 stars) on top of that.
I'd like more reviews, especially on Amazon, but all in all, it's not bad for my first release.
Which, by the way, if you want to help my efforts, please leave an honest review of my book if you've completed it. And please, leave the review at the site you purchased it from.
Reviews are essential for new authors, especially if they are self-published. I have to compete with a deluge of new titles being released every year, some of them only selling less than ten copies over their lifetime. I also have to compete with the big publishing companies, who have dedicated marketing and promotion departments. While my ratings are good, many readers will not even look at a book unless it has a certain, pre-determined number of reviews available to look over. Some only need five reviews / ratings, others have a threshold of ten. Thus, the more reviews I get, the more likely people will be willing to take a chance on my book.
So please, read and review. Thank you in advance.
THE WIZARD ODO
As of the writing of this blog post, I've reached Chapter 8 of 25 chapters during this initial revision pass. I just discovered that I need to split one chapter into two, so that maximum number of chapters is going to hit 26.
The revisions are going good. I'm debating on changing some of the characteristics of the main character. I'm also considering adding a chapter in the middle of the book - this, I think, is a good thing.
I need to get the lion's share of revisions by June, when my beta readers are available.
The Next Book
The next book is a bit of a toss-up at present. I've started on the follow-up to THE REVENANT AND THE TOMB, and I'm about 5 chapters in. At present, I'm just throwing ideas down on paper. Some of those ideas are complete chapters, while others are fragments.
This book will feature Halsedric (of course), Herodaini, and a new character named Roe. Tulvgir will not appear in this book.
What's the story about? Well, Halsedric is sent off to investigate reports of strange activity in the southern region of the Aweiliador. The Aweiliador is a large open grassland between the Sorrowing Sea, and the regions of The Vale and Nolangard (the land of the Nolans - Halsedric is of Nolan extraction ). His investigations lead him to a large forest known locally as "the Wychwood." As you can probably guess, the Wychwood isn't exactly a sylvan paradise.
The story itself is loosely connected to THE REVENANT AND THE TOMB. I will say this: pay close attention to the prologue. It's important for future books.
There are two connected short stories that I've written which relate directly to THE REVENANT AND THE TOMB. Besides finishing them, I'm trying to figure out how to distribute them as well as a fee structure. Most likely, I will sell them on my website at some point. Keep a sharp lookout for these.
Another story I'm seriously considering at present is a project that I'm dubbing "The Heretic." It is a Robert E. Howard-esque character of Cathar origin. The Cathars are a people who are very clannish, militaristic, and adhere to the worship of The Four. The character I'm currently crafting is the son of a deposed Cathar chieftain, who is restored to life by a wandering prophet in the same way Halsedric was. He too, will be an avenging force for the Allfather.
While I've always seen Halsedric as an outwardly passive and contemplative character, this new character will be both imposing and brooding. It will be a slight departure from the typical characteristics of the protagonists I generally write.
The story I have buzzing around in my head right now will include Tulvgir. The events take place in a period of time between THE REVENANT AND THE TOMB and Halsedric's next mission. In it, Tulvgir seeks honor and glory aiding this new character on a singular mission.
I'm pretty excited about this story and I have a clearly defined antagonist in mind. This adventure will involve a mysterious pyramid, located deep in a dense jungle to the south and east of my literary world. And, like many things I write, it will have tie-ins to other works I have completed, or am contemplating.
Hopefully, I will be able to provide another short, fun adventure as I did in THE REVENANT AND THE TOMB. And who knows, if the reception of this character was as good as that of Halsedric, I might do another story or two with him.
And that's all for now.