My sales info

Okay folks, here it is. I was asked about my sales, so here goes.

When publishing I went with the e-book and print versions. For e-book I went with Amazon and Draft2Digital. D2D distributes to iBooks, Nook, Inktera, 24 Symbols and Kobo for me, for a fee of course. For print I went with Createspace. 

E-book sales from September 2015 - March 2016

                                                                Units sold                            Royalties

Amazon                                                       9                                        $ 16,84

Draft2Digital                                               6                                        $ 10, 47

Total Roylaties earned                                15                                       $ 27,31

Print book sales August 2015 - March 2016

                                                                Units Sold                            Royalties

Createspce                                                    2                                        $ 2,68

As of 31 December 2015, I had ordered my own books through Createspace to try and sell in South Africa. Mostly because family members and friends wanted to buy copies. I bought the books in 2 batches (December batch and February batch).

First batch December2015 (sold for $12.50 per book in South Africa)

Units Ordered                   Money Spent                     Money earned back

 10                                       $ 110, 49                               $ 125

Second Batch February 2016 (sold for $ 12,50 per book in South Africa)

Units Ordered                    Money Spent                    Money earned back

 13                                       $ 132, 44                                $ $12,50

Here is the numbers of books sold by me in Total

Units  ordered              Units sold            Money spent.          Money earned back

  23                                11                           $242,93                    $ 137, 50

As you can see, I am currently running at a loss of $ 105.43. So I really have to try and sell those remaining books. As all money I make has to go towards editing for the second book, if I can finish it:(

I might have been hasty ordering in the second batch. I think I was a bit overconfident.

So that is it. Let me know if you have any questions. Oh, if you are wondering where I got the money to buy in my own books, I was naughty and spent what I have saved for the editing of my second book.

How much I spent publishing my first book

I wondered for months about whether this post was appropriate, or not. I didn’t want to offend anyone, after all. But when I first considered self-publishing, knowing how much it cost to publish was one of the things I wanted to know. Of course, this is only a reflection of how much I spent and my reasoning behind them.

I spent $ 686 on publishing my book. 88% of the money went toward editing and the rest towards my book covers (e-book + print edition). For me, editing and the cover was the most important. I opted to do the formatting myself, because I couldn’t afford to hire anyone else to do it. I live in South Africa and at the time of publishing, the rand was R 12 to $1. Meaning, for the $ 686 I spent, in my own currency it worked out to R 8232. For me that’s a lot of money. I wasn’t working a proper day job during those times. I was working as my brother’s research assistant/ data capturer. I was paid whatever he could spare. So I had to publish on the budget I had. It’s not an excuse. It’s just the truth.

If you can believe it, hiring an American editor and cover artist was more affordable than hiring someone from my own country. I’m happy for both my editor and cover artist. They gave me two fantastic products, which I am over the moon with.

As you have read I didn’t have a marketing budget. At the time of preparing for the book’s release I didn’t feel like making a big deal of the release was what I wanted. So, I only tried marketing forms that were free. I mainly had my blogging friends help me out. As someone just starting out in publishing I thought it was the best choice for me.

So, that’s a breakdown of my costs. What do you think? Any questions?

Writing makes it all better (IWSG)

I think I’m a magnet for all kinds of negativity. No matter how positive I try to be, bad things still happen. I think that’s just life. One can’t have things your own way all the time. But, one thing I have noticed is that writing is always there for me. When it feels like my heart is being ripped apart, I can channel it into my writing. Writing is my safe place. It is my home. Even if I write one word for the whole day, which is what I’ve been doing the past few weeks, I feel better for writing that one word instead of not writing at all.

Yes, I suffer from depression. Yes, I’m a pessimist. But writing balances me out. Writing makes everything better even when I think my writing is a form of torture sometimes. Writing enriches my life. I can’t imagine not writing.

How about you?

The Insecure Writers Support Group was created by the talented Mr. Alex J. Cavanaugh so that writers can share their insecurities and/or encourage others who need support with their own. You can visit Alex Here, or if you want to join us in discussing our insecurities on the first Wednesday of each month, you are welcome to join by going Here.