Hi there and welcome to the Jenny Bravo Books blog! As a first-time author, I’ve decided to track the first three months of my earnings online for you. Enjoy!
self-publishing income report
It's reporting time! The August Numbers are in. The polls are closed. {Insert another phrase that deals with money.} Another month of being a published author has come and gone, so here I am, in my sweats, writing a fun post for you.
What's new this month? Well, I've been balancing two projects at once, and it's been. . . interesting. The prequel, Those Were the Days, is fixed and pretty, almost ready to hit the virtual shelves. The TATM mini-book from Simon's perspective is heading to editing next week. So basically, I'm telling you that I wrote stuff and you can read it soon. The end.
Onward to the numbers!
What I did this month
Started live-streaming
There's a fancy new app called Periscope that allows you to chat on the go with your audience. If haven't joined yet, hop on the bandwagon, my friends. Authors and creative entrepreneurs are sharing amazing content there. For my part, I'm sharing writing tips and novel secrets. Download the app here and follow @blotsandplots.
Chained myself to the keyboard
Again, I found myself in the #TATM tent, writing and editing away. In August, I made a big life change by moving back home to Louisiana, so I've found that I now have extra free time to work, which is awesome! Anyway, books, books, books.
Ran my first book promotion
Technically, this happened in September, but you can read this post about how I sold 43 books in a single day. Go #TeamTATM go!
KDP Book Royalties
Total Book Sales: 7 ebooks
Total KENP Read: 2383 pages
Total Book Royalties: $28.81
This month, a good majority of my book sales came from the KDP Select program: $12.25. Here's a chart of my sales below:
Screen Shot 2015-09-27 at 1.23.13 PM
And here's one of the KENP read:
self-publishing income report
Createspace Royalties
Total Book Sales: 3 print books
Total Book Royalties: $8.31
Dear owners of the above three books, thank you for making print books happen. I secretly root for you, my friends.
Total Amount Earned: $37.12
Thoughts on this month
Let's keep the ball going, gems and gents! Now, it's time to focus on promotion. Making new friends. Supporting my self-published besties like Rachel Del and Kristen Kieffer {get her workbook here.}
Discussion Time: Where are you spending the most time in your writing process? Promoting? Creating new content?
Have you read the articles? You know the ones. They say that print publishing is dying, and that e-books are all the rage. They say that self-publishers shouldn't even bother with print books anymore, that they're a waste of time. I admit that I've believed them before.
Here's the thing: maybe print books don't work for everyone. Maybe e-readers are the future. But let's take a look at this logically. If print books are dead, why is Amazon opening physical bookstores? Why are independent bookstores thriving? While there are many reasons, I'd like to sum it up in a word: experience.
As our lives move more and more toward the virtual, people are craving the tangible even more. We love the experience of an independent bookstore. We love the experience of finding our favorite book on the shelves. So, if you're thinking of discounting the print book, I'd take a closer look first.