Answering the Question: How’s the Book Selling?

What a cool past eight months.

In the time since the publication of Dead Odds, many readers and friends reached out to pass along their congratulations on the novel and to send their well-wishes about the reception of it, both critically and commercially.

The question eventually comes around.

“How’s it going so far?”

The answer is: Pretty well, but I suppose it could always be better.

Photo credit: Luna Wang

I sent Dead Odds into the world with great anxiety and no set expectations. From attending author conferences, seminars, workshops, book-signing events and book fairs, I connected with a number of mystery and thriller authors as well as authors in other genres (romance, young adult and Sci-Fi, most notably). Some were published, others were on their way.

With the exception of one, Tim Dorsey, who is as brilliant at marketing as he is at crafting entertainingly original tales, they all cautioned me to walk into this world with realistic hopes. Dream big but live in reality. And the reality, they said, is that selling books is harder than writing them. And writing a good book is damned tough. “But, hey, best of luck!”

GOAL 1: MAKE THE BOOK GOOD

My biggest fear about Dead Odds is that readers would think it sucked. Never mind that the editors on the project were optimistic and encouraging.

Guess what? It doesn’t suck. Conrad Keane and Tina Rossi resonate. The plot works. The story captures.

Reviews on Amazon and Goodreads have been kind, and the ratings are good, averaging 4.75 out of 5 stars. (No reviews or ratings on Barnes & Noble yet, which may say more about B&N than the book.)

Last month came more affirmation. Dead Odds is a semifinalist for a Royal Palm Award, given by the Florida Writers Association, for the top mystery from 2018. The FWA announces finalists this summer and winners in October.

Beyond those official words and stars were what some readers, but not reviewers, sent directly to my inbox. Those have touched me. The book grabbed them on some level, and they took time to let me know. That’s awesome, and it makes me happy that I was able to deliver a fun get-away experience to someone else.

I’ve had others reach out to tell me they have the book and they’re waiting to take it on vacation with them. How cool is that?

The sales side of the business hasn’t warmed my heart to the same degree.

THE BOOK SALES STRATEGY

When the e-book hit the market in mid-October, it was only available through Amazon, and it was enrolled in Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited program. The cost was $4.99 to readers not participating in KU. For those in KU, Dead Odds was free. For those downloads, I made money from each page that was read.

During Thanksgiving, just before Christmas and just after the New Year, I dropped the price of the book to 99 cents as part of an Amazon-sponsored sale. By the time 2019 came, I’d had more than 600 downloads, most as part of the KU program.

I received sales bumps when the book first came out and each time I dropped the price as part of the sale.

I gained another sales bump when the paperback edition of the novel came out just before Christmas.

In mid-January, I made the decision to “go wide,” the publishing term for ending my exclusivity with Amazon. I published an e-version on Kobo, Barnes & Noble’s platform, and kept the price the same as on Amazon.

Since then, I’ve looked into expanding my publishing platforms: Apple and audio. I opted not to go with Apple, mostly because of the technology involved in getting the book there. Anecdotes from other authors lead me to believe Amazon remains the gorilla and that there simply aren’t many eyeballs for books on Apple. And now all content on Apple products is starting to go through a drastic change. (See the demise if iTunes.)

An audio version of Dead Odds is still on the board. I studied the revenue models for audio books — and the costs involved. A friend, fellow mystery author Ray Flynt, is finishing off his first audio book. My decision is likely to be based on Ray’s experiences, at least for now. Stay tuned.

Almost exactly eight months since Dead Odds found a spot in the crime fiction universe, it hasn’t hit any best-seller lists and hasn’t made the author rich. At least, not financially.

My soul feels like a million bucks.