Hey folks,
It’s been a while since my last post, and I apologize about that, but everything has been so busy recently that I finally just had to sit down and take some time to write!
First off, you didn’t get caught in the polar vortex while it was swirling about, did you? I had some delays on my flight back from Florida, but nothing too severe. More than a few students, however, were caught on the East Coast and missed the first week of school. For one of my busiest Christmases in a very long time, it seemed appropriate that it chose now to appear, so I’m glad I didn’t get caught more severely in it.
On the subject of Christmas, since I haven’t actually posted since then, I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday. Mine was packed, but still fun. Between wrapping up school, releasing Book 2, travelling and seeing everyone, there was little time to even breathe. But besides seeing a ton of family of friends, which is always nice, and eating way too much, I had the chance to talk to a school about writing and being an author, which is pretty cool.
One of our close family friends is a teacher at a local Catholic middle school, and I spoke to all the kids about writing, being an author, and even a little about DigiPen. They were very excited, and it was neat to connect with that age group. I read most of the great classics of science-fiction in middle school and early high school, and it was awesome to have the opportunity to inspire kids of that age.
I have to say though, I’m really impressed with teachers. I ended up doing three sessions of talks to (one for each of the grade levels), for about an hour to an hour and a half apiece, and it was really tiring by the end. Doing it all day would be a huge challenge!
But enough complaints! I promised an update on the Book 2, and a Book 2 update you’ll get. First off, Book 2 is doing well, but not as good as Book 1 was doing at this point. To be fair, Book 1 had much better sales during its third and fourth month than its first two, but we’ll see what happens. Ultimately, though, I’m not disappointed, because frankly, it’s been a very illuminating experience, and I can take what I learned and really apply it to Book 3. Here’s the quick version of the critical lessons I’ve picked up from Book 2 so far:
1) The $4.99 price is definitely viable, and in many ways far superior. Do I think it has had a negative impact on sales? Yes. Does that make it not worth it? No. On Amazon, a $4.99 book brings in 10X as much revenue per book as a $0.99 one. That’s pretty tremendous, and not to be discounted.
2) This is a huge one – don’t release near Christmas. DON”T DO IT. Last week of November at the absolute latest. To be honest, I wasn’t sure if releasing right before Christmas would be good or bad, but I decided to run with it because of the delays I encountered with the cover. In hindsight, it’s clear that was a bad decision. It’s very hard to build momentum around Christmas because everyone is already so busy, and often, shopped out. That basically translates into a hard time making sales with your core audience, with a random audience, and getting any word of mouth going. It’s a lesson learned.
3) Release on time. This is obvious, but it’s critical for momentum and word of mouth. I had difficulties getting the finished cover, but ultimately, the blame lies with me. The buck stops here (literally). When the time comes, I’m make sure Book 3 is totally ready to go, cover and all, and then I’ll start building momentum at least a month before. The real lesson is don’t create an artificial deadline for the book that you can’t keep because you’re trying to make it out before the holidays!
All in all, though, Book 2 is chugging along. It’s been a good experience, with lots of positive feedback so far. If you know anyone who hasn’t read it or Book 1, give it a share!
I’ll be hopping back on the promotion wagon in full force in February to drum up more support once I’ve gotten a couple other school projects and deadlines complete or well under way. For those of you who’ve read Book 2, please add a review! They really do help!
Well, that about wraps it up here. I’m starting up my next game right now, so I’ll give an update about that next week. See you next time!
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