My books have been available for two weeks. Tracking sales and Amazon rankings is interesting (though I try not to check too many times a day). Sometimes the numbers go up for no reason I can see. I didn’t take out an ad in the New York Times, nor was I aware of any significant publicity, yet one day I sold more than twice as many books as I did on my release day, when I assume relatives and friends were kindly supporting me by buying. And what makes numbers drop, or not increase on a day when I do have publicity, such as a post on what blogranks.com considers one of the most popular romance blogs, Love Romance Passion?
I paid my formatter to add both versions to iBooks because I’ve been reading so much about its increasing popularity, yet have sold the fewest there so far. I have difficulty navigating iTunes to view and learn about iBooks, so maybe others do, too.
I’m still seeking reviews and guest blogging opportunities. Blogging scheduled so far includes SlingWords on 2/4 and Romance Bandits on 2/5. I also have my first event as a published author on 2/4. I’m awaiting the Publishers Weekly review, and I hope a couple of others.
It’s time to focus on next steps. I’m tweaking manuscript #2, set in 1455. And I need to get it to my editor soon and start in on the cover….should I feature the hero, heroine, the couple, or not have people on it? Keep the castle theme, or include something else medieval? Will I do two versions going forward? Reupload already released books after add some great reviews, and/or an excerpt of my next book? These are just a few of the decisions on this indie published author’s mind. The jury is still out.
I need to make more time to pursue acting again, though I had a VO job this week, a print casting and submitted for a few projects. New plan: I’m going to divide my day in two or even three parts so I’m not deep into revising, then abruptly changing focus to submit to an audition, then switching again to follow up on a promotion opportunity. Because so many hours a day can be spent on my computer, I’ll also fit in some movement breaks.
