Woke up to this on Legends of Windemere: Beginning of a Hero‘s Amazon site:
- #98 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Fantasy > Epic
I’m back on a list. 🙂 I’m also 7 away from 3,000 eBook sales. Unless you count foreign and paperback sales then I’m probably closer to 3,300. Add in the free downloads and I’m nearing 5,500. If Amazon doesn’t count those in my numbers then I’m not.
Still, it’s nice to see that listing again. Though, I really wish I had a clue as to what I’ve done right, so I could pass the secret on to others. As an aspiring college student, I never liked the answer ‘it’s all luck’ that the published authors/professors gave me. It felt like they were hiding a secret. Now, I’m wondering if it really is all about luck, timing, and massive amounts of hard work. I guess that’s my suggestion to people. Work hard, don’t give up, and search for as many marketing tactics as you can find.
Legends of Windemere 
As with most things in life, it’s all about luck. 😉
Congrats, I’m impressed.
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Thanks. I guess luck is a bigger deciding factor than most people would like to admit.
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Wow. Awesome sales. So happy and proud of you!
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Thanks. This should keep my momentum going for the second book. Fingers crossed that I can stay on schedule with that.
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Crossing my fingers for you! It really is good writing, Charles. And neat writing to. No stumbling over awkward sentence structure.
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Thanks. I’m happy to hear that people like it. My standard question is always: pick a favorite character? 😉
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ummm….. I would have to think about it….
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I like that answer.
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As far as I can tell, the biggest factors are writing something people want to read, making sure they know how to find it… and luck. 🙂
Glad to see something you’ve been doing is working for you, and I hope the trend continues!
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Guess my dancing and yelling on Twitter helped out. I’m still amazed how well the book is running. It’s been suggested that I’ve been helped out by the surge of Hobbit-mania and the popularity of Game of Thrones. People are scrambling for new fantasy according to my more avid reading friends.
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Do we get to be Fantasy hipsters now? “Pfft… I was reading and writing it before it was cool.” 😀
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Sounds like a plan. I’ll get my tie-dye shirt . . . or is that a hippie?
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It only counts if you’re wearing it because it’s ironic, even though no one can agree what that means. Also, a mustache. Or… I don’t know anymore.
Well, we can have the attitude, and I think my glasses might qualify, if not my wardrobe.
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I got the glasses, but the mustache will have to be a ‘no’. I tried it when I was just out of college and I looked like a scrawny supervillain. Even worse, my facial is a mix of black, brown, blonde, and (for some bizarre reason) red. My facial hair expert friend swears that the coloring is a sign that I was not designed for anything beyond basic scruff.
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Congratulations. Ride that wave and produce the second book as quickly as you can before people forget who you are. Keep your name out there in the meantime. You’ll do great!
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Trying. All I need is the cover art, which should be done by the end of the month.
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That’s fantastic Charles! Maybe all those free sales had a more immediate effect than you expected. 😉
I think a lot of it boils down to the law of averages. No matter what you do, somethings will fail and somethings will succeed. Then throw in the ridiculous amount of factors that could change it and it’s near impossible to judge when is or isn’t good to unleash something. It’s may, so people are out more and less likely to be on their computer on Amazon than in the Winter. Yet people buy a lot at this time of year because it’s getting towards the summer holidays and for some reason that encourages a spending spree. Even then count in the way Thursdays are often quiet days while people love buying things on Friday to enjoy over the weekend. Yet, should July 4th fall on a Friday, you can be damn sure people ain’t gonna be sitting on their laptops checking out amazon books for the day.
So the point of that whole ramble is this: There’s so many factors in play that it’s extremely hard to predict what will or won’t work and when to do them. It’s not luck, though, as in a way it is all predetermined. But that’s the philosophy student in me talking…
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That certainly is a ramble. 😉 Though, I do have another theory. eBook readers make it easier to carry a library around, so people might be buying quickly and running off to errands. They get the book within seconds (or minutes), so there’s no waiting and they can read it whenever they have a spare moment.
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While this is true, when it comes down to purchases I don’t think it works quite as much as people tend to imagine. While a book for .99 is cheap, it’s still money. Most people I know have an initial flourish when they get their reader but then they calm down after they realise how quickly it adds up, sometimes they’ll almost never buy again.
Considering the popularity of readers nowadays, the initial spark of “I must buy everything” has petered out for the majority of people.
So basically, your sales are more than likely coming from good marketing, a good page on Amazon and some word of mouth. The good thing? It means your hard work actually pays off. 🙂
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Definitely. The price is starting to become less of an importance as far as the first book goes. I’m still not interested in raising it since the second one is going to be on the way. Going for 2.99 with that one since it feels like I have a strong enough foundation to do it.
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Definitely seems like the right idea to me. Even several books down the line a first book for .99 will get readers in while still giving the series value. If one book is crap they’re not gonna buy a second anyway, and if one is good then they’re definitely willing to throw out an extra few quid.
The second book is when they really get behind you as an author and show the support. 🙂
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Fingers crossed that it works out that way. Just hit 3,000 eBook sales, so still motoring ahead.
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That is great! I’m so happy for you Charles! I hope you continue to stay on the list and keep selling the books!
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Me too. Even if I fall off, it’s good to know I’m lurking in the shadows of the list and just waiting for a spot to open.
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Lurking…very funny!
I’d say you’re dancing in the shadows! Sounds happier 😉
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I dance in the light. When in the shadows, I lurk like a Lich or Hellfire Elf. Just waiting for an opportunity to pounce. 😀
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Hahaha! That is too funny! And almost scary: you just reminded me of a mountain lion!
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Is that a compliment? My knowledge of mountain lions is rather limited.
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W-e-l-l, I’m terrified of montail lions. So I’m not sure, but the whole ‘lurking in the shadows’ gave me a very vivid mental picture… 😉
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er hmm: Mountain Lions! (I know how to spell, really I do!)
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I’m sure they’re scary considering they’re stalking predators. The closest thing we have to that around here are stray cats. No comparison.
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I’d take a thousand stray cats over one lion. Want to trade? 😉
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I’m thinking. The screeching fights in the dead of night are pretty annoying.
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At least you can throw a shoe at them without worrying about the shoe being thrown back…or being eaten. (You, not the shoe.)
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Good point.
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I agree Charles it is all about the hard work and the consistent research in social media as well. Good on you and congrats are in order.
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Thanks. Though, I forgot about the downside. I have a nasty habit of falling off the lists and then reappearing at a higher number. It drives me up the wall at times because I keep going ‘dang, I’m off the list’ then I look again two hours later and I’m higher than I was before. I think I’m too invested in the listings right now.
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