Ever since I got back from a week of camping (bliss: no cell phone or Wi-Fi access!), I haven’t been writing, or promoting, or much of anything. I’ve been reading, trying to find a book that will hold my attention and get me jazzed, but that’s been tough too. As far as writing goes, I’m at a bit of a standstill. I finished a draft of a children’s chapter book, and my first readers (my kid and the husband) gave it a thumbs up. My writing group will critique it later this week, and I’m going to a workshop in a couple of weeks at Book Passage with Amy Novesky, so I hope to get some good insight there as well.
Here’s the brutal truth: sales have slowed way down on The Flower Bowl Spell. I know I can only hold myself responsible for that. Most sales have been to friends, family, and the occasional acquaintance. I doubt a total stranger has bought the book (not counting the freebies downloaded during E-book Week on Smashwords back in March). If I could “break in” to the stranger market—sounds weird, I know—then maybe sales would take off. But for now, I’m dialing back promotion because it hasn’t really paid off. I did two blog tours this summer, working my butt off writing guest blog posts and answering interview questions and visiting the host blogs. Yet there wasn’t a pick-up in book sales.
Consequently, at this point I can’t justify the cost (editing, book cover) it would take to put out a second book. I’m in a wait-and-see mode. A holding pattern.
Part of this limbo has to do with my non-author life. My kids are about to head back to school, which means soon there will be more of a routine in place for us all (although more stress as we navigate homework and after-school activities, among other things). Another part is my freelance-writer life, and thank goodness it’s alive and kicking to help with the bills, etc.
Things are bound to change—of course I want to put out a second book! Most likely it will be a short-story collection, because that’s what is the most ready and polished. I also hope to query agents about the children’s chapter book sooner than later. I would love for it to be out there, published by a traditional press that can support it as a series.
We shall see. Time will tell. It always does.
“I know I can only hold myself responsible for that.” I don’t think you can hold yourself responsible for slow sales, Olivia. Seems to me you’ve been very active in promoting your e-book. I think the difficulty in reaching the “stranger” market (i.e. non family, friends and colleagues) is what I’ve heard referred to as the “discoverability” issue. And I think it’s inherent to e-books, at least as things stand right now. A discussion on a list I follow recently compared the costs of e-books vs. printed books: many felt that production costs for printed books were higher. But as one person put it, “the advantage of book discoverability for print books still makes these costs pretty much worthwhile”. I haven’t heard of any solutions for this. All I know is that when I want to borrow an e-book from my library, unless I have a specific title in mind, browsing is very cumbersome and frustrating.
Ah, discoverability! That is the tough part. That might be where luck comes into play (out of my hands, I guess), where the book gets handed off out of my inner circle and into another…and another and another. Aka word of mouth. Thanks, Anne!