# Failure.



## Kylo Ren (Mar 29, 2014)

With everyone talking about Christmas surges, I'm starting to think my book is a big, fat failure. Doesn't really change my plans. I'll keep writing book 2 and then book 3. I guess I did everything wrong. Oh well. I think I'll have to just ignore sales reports and forums until I've got more books out. It might be the only way to keep my sanity.


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## Guest (Dec 27, 2014)

My christmas surge was a dozen sales... the christmas surge isnt necessarily massive amounts for everyone. Dont worry about it too much. 

Edited to add that the first book in my zombie series is permafree, so the surge is people having had time to read book one and buy book 2 and free etc...   The more books you have out the better it is so just keep on writing.


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## NoCat (Aug 5, 2010)

The advantage of this is that you can always switch things up. Put book 2 out, change up pricing, covers, run sales, keep playing with things until you find what works for you. We aren't stuck, fortunately.


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## Kylo Ren (Mar 29, 2014)

No Cat said:


> The advantage of this is that you can always switch things up. Put book 2 out, change up pricing, covers, run sales, keep playing with things until you find what works for you. We aren't stuck, fortunately.


You're saying my cover and price are a problem?


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## A.E. Williams (Jul 13, 2014)

Regarding keeping one's sanity - forget about it.  

Is your aim to sell books, or write books?

They are two separate things, you know. Anyone can write a book. I did. 

Not everyone is great at selling their book. I am not. Yet....

The path to knowledge is beset with failure. 

Don't believe it? Think that's trite BS? 

Can you speak a foreign language? Play a musical instrument? Ride a bicycle? Swim?

Of all of those, only the first is something that is perhaps innately a human ability.

Instruments, bicycles and even swimming require outside factors...( ie a piano, the bike, and a pool of water).

Someone decided to learn and there were undoubtedly many many failures as the techniques of mastery were developed through trial and error.

Don't give up...redirect. If you are having a tough time, you may be quitting just before you develop the skill needed to function in this particular area.

Now, if you want to excel, then you are going to have to make sacrifices. 

Learn to sell. Learn it well. And then do it.

The only secret is to just do it.

Really.

A.E. Williams

PS -- Your covers look fine to me, and the price per number of pages seems fair. IMHO.


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## G. (Aug 21, 2014)

Look how your book did on your giveaway on Goodreads. You had over 1100 request. To me, that means your cover and blurb attracted a respectable number of entrants. In short, it *does* attract interest.

Marketing, timing, and the intangible of luck carries the rest.


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

You have a long book out for a short time.  Give the readers time to read it and get that next book written.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Surges are nice, but I've never had a Christmas surge. It's more like a nice steady build in January. Nothing spectacular, but pretty decent. Oddly enough, I've done better in the summer over the last couple of years.

I have to say that Nook readers are picking up on a wide variety of my books outside of my permafree series. But then, I do have a lot to choose from and I'm putting my series books into bundles. That's helping, too.

So, yes, keep writing and try to write in series so that the reader knows what to read next without having to think about it.


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## 77071 (May 15, 2014)

My sales and borrows are kind of steady right now. Don't think I've had a Christmas surge. That's ok. Steady is good.



> Oh well. I think I'll have to just ignore sales reports and forums until I've got more books out. It might be the only way to keep my sanity.


You've probably given yourself the best advice (for anyone) there.


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## vlmain (Aug 10, 2011)

From what I understand, your genre is very competitive. It's just a matter of time before people discover what a talented writer you are. I know this because I'm sitting here reading your collection of short stories, in a genre I don't typically like, and loving every word.


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## vlmain (Aug 10, 2011)

A.E. Williams said:


> Regarding keeping one's sanity - forget about it.


Sanity is overrated.


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## Lionel&#039;s Mom (Aug 22, 2013)

You're not a failure until you quit, and you already said you aren't quitting, so ...

I think No Cat was only saying you *could* do any/all of those things, not that you need to. It's important to try different things. A lot of people who experience the surge have a permafree, ran ads, had a sale, did bundles, etc. It's not necessarily an xmas miracle. 
Those things you can do next year when you have more books out.


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## Christine_C (Jun 29, 2014)

artofstu said:


> With everyone talking about Christmas surges, I'm starting to think my book is a big, fat failure. Doesn't really change my plans. I'll keep writing book 2 and then book 3. I guess I did everything wrong. Oh well. I think I'll have to just ignore sales reports and forums until I've got more books out. It might be the only way to keep my sanity.


The Heart Thief looks good, has a good cover, and the sample is interesting. I'm new to this and don't know anything about sales, so I have no idea why it wouldn't sell.

Have you done promos like ENT? And I wonder also about doing a blog tour and getting more reviews through goodreads, Facebook, and Netgalley?


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## CoraBuhlert (Aug 7, 2011)

Not everybody experiences a Christmas surge. I experienced one during my first year, which meant selling a thrilling 17 books in December rather than 8 or 9 the month before. Yes, a surge can look like that, too. I didn't have a Christmas surge at all the next two years, just steady sales in December. This year, I seem to be experiencing a mini-surge, which surprised the heck out of me, because I had resigned myself to the fact that I simply don't get surges.

What is more, _The Heart Thief_ just fell off the 30-day-cliff, which is often accompanied by a notable sales drop. And your collection hasn't been out for very long.

So in short, be patient, write more and don't give up. There are people who sell thousands of copies right out of the gate, but they're the exception rather than the rule.


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## Evenstar (Jan 26, 2013)

I had a surge, but I have two perma-free books that both lead to the other books. That's where the surge is. First the perma-free and then a pick up in follow on sales. Not spectacular, my bottom line never is, but enough to make me get a buzz. I don't think it is really acheiveable with only a couple of books.

Definitely write more and ignore ignore! Feel free to ignore me at your extended leisure, it's fine  But actually I think the sales reports and the forums are great learning material and I would personally indulge in studying both so that as you do write more (which I have no doubt you will) you will start to see the trends and patterns that work for _you_


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## NoCat (Aug 5, 2010)

artofstu said:


> You're saying my cover and price are a problem?


No! I wasn't being specific (I actually like the cover). I meant more that if you aren't seeing the results you'd like to see, playing with things like cover, blurb, price etc are all viable options. I wouldn't until book 2 comes out, personally, because it is often easier to see how things will work or change with more than one book in the series.


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## Silly Writer (Jul 15, 2013)

Your cover is awesome. Blurb is facinating, Look Inside shows you got chops.

Maybe drop the price to $2.99 long enough to raise the ranking and get reviews? You can always flip it back...


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## Dobby the House Elf (Aug 16, 2014)

No Cat said:


> No! I wasn't being specific (I actually like the cover). I meant more that if you aren't seeing the results you'd like to see, playing with things like cover, blurb, price etc are all viable options. I wouldn't until book 2 comes out, personally, because it is often easier to see how things will work or change with more than one book in the series.


While I appreciate No Cat's input, book 2 isn't out. I wouldn't bother 'playing about' until book #3. But that's just my experience. Her advice is sound though, if your books aren't selling, it might mean a play-about until you get more traction.

It's REALLY easy to get down about sales in your first year of publishing. There's a LOT of competition out there and it's super important not to take it personally, even though it hurts soooo much.


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## Ancient Lawyer (Jul 1, 2013)

My Christmas surge was more of a plop  sales slumped to zero and have remained constant ever since 23rd December.

I changed my categories and it seems to have been an unwise move.


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## Claire Frank (Jul 28, 2014)

I just want to say, I totally understand where you're coming from. My first book has been out a couple weeks and after a nice surge from friends and acquaintances, now I'm sinking further into invisibility. No sales for the last several days. I had pretty much the opposite of a Christmas surge. I think the chances of someone finding my book right now is essentially zero. But I'm hesitant to devote too much time and money to promotions before I have another book out. 

It is super early for both of us. Your book isn't a failure, and you didn't necessarily do everything wrong. Did lightning strike? Nope. Could it still? Sure. And if it never does, everyone says the best marketing push is releasing the next book. So I think your plan is good - keep going, keep writing, and things will improve. They have to from here, right?


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## Christine_C (Jun 29, 2014)

Besides promotions, blog tours etc., the only think you could think of doing differently at a later time is maybe changing the cover to include a visible face. I think the cover is excellent, but there is something anonymous about it since the boy is in shadow, and for a YA book maybe readers expect to see someone's face. 

My book is also YA and has a giant crow on it instead of a person, so who knows what will happen there. I may end up changing the cover too and just getting one of those cheap pre-made ones with a girl in a dress. 

The other thing is that for YA, it seems like at least some of the successful authors spend a ton of time on social media sites like tumblr, pinterest, instagram and also interacting with other blogs. It's a huge time-suck.


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## Elizabeth Ann West (Jul 11, 2011)

Art-

There's over 3 million ebook in the Paid Kindle Store. You are in the top 10% of the Paid Kindle Store. 6.7% actually. That's so not failure. 

It takes time.


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## Evenstar (Jan 26, 2013)

Claire is quite right.

And I know this is really really annoying to hear, but I didn't get any real traction until I had three books out on my first series.

You are actually doing way better than I was when I started


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## Christine_C (Jun 29, 2014)

Evenstar said:


> Claire is quite right.
> 
> And I know this is really really annoying to hear, but I didn't get any real traction until I had three books out on my first series.
> 
> You are actually doing way better than I was when I started


Yes - I would like to add a warning that you should listen to the more experienced authors and take my input with a grain of salt, since I know less than people who have been doing this for a while.


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## Wayne Stinnett (Feb 5, 2014)

I don't think there will be any kind of big surge, but more of a steady increase after New Years Day. Think about what you've been doing the last few days. Have you been reading as much as you usually do? I know I haven't. I've been shopping, getting things ready for a trip, driving, laughing and eating too much with family and driving again. I'm home now, but so are my wife and daughter, so we'll be doing things together. That's typical with most people during the holidays.

Since Mangrove was published on 9/29, I hadn't had a single two digit sales day. Until this week when I've had four since last Saturday. Even before Mangrove published, a drop into double digits was rare, going all the way back to June. 

Don't sweat it. Folks are just too busy these last few days. Once everyone's back to work after the first, sales will pick up by all those new Kindles and gift cards. Like Joe Nobody said, it's just something we have to live with. Sales will drop when it's sunny and nice and pick up when it's cold and snowing.


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## Marina Finlayson (May 2, 2014)

Wayne Stinnett said:


> I don't think there will be any kind of big surge, but more of a steady increase after New Years Day. Think about what you've been doing the last few days. Have you been reading as much as you usually do? I know I haven't.


That's such a good point! I know I've hardly picked up a book in weeks, with so much socialising going on. The thought of that week between Christmas and New Year sustains me through the madness of the Christmas preparations -- I know I can curl up with my new Christmas books and just relax. There must be a lot of people in the same boat.


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## KL_Phelps (Nov 7, 2013)

Christmas surge?!?! I must have missed out on that


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## anniejocoby (Aug 11, 2013)

Aw, man, you're not failing. You just begun. I don't remember what I sold the first few months, but it wasn't much. I started in June 2013, and it wasn't until November that I broke through. By that point I had three books out and just scored a BB ad. Things went bananas after that. Bananas. 

Things will probably go bananas for you, too. You just have to hunker down, write more books, and then promote them, somehow, someway. For me, my strategy was writing in serials in a hot genre, then making the first book of each serial permafree. Oh, and making sure that I got a fresh novel out every two months. Next year, I plan on getting a fresh novel out every month, just because I get faster with every book it seems.

So, yeah. Don't proclaim yourself a failure yet. In fact, don't ever proclaim yourself a failure. Just think of yourself as a work in progress, and that you just haven't yet found your own personal way of finding readers. But you will. Keep learning and growing and you will.


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## Cactus Lady (Jun 4, 2014)

My Christmas surge was a KU borrow today.

My sales surges tend to come when I'm doing a 99 cent promotion or when I have a new release (I also release new books at 99 cents for a limited time), so I'm working on developing a strategy to work those two things together. Maybe have the new release and one or two of my older books at 99 cents at the same time.


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## dgrant (Feb 5, 2014)

Christmas Surge? Is that having a retro soft drink to stay awake for Midnight Mass? Because our sales sure didn't change in an upward direction. No matter; December's been steady, and we usually see the growth in January and February, as the new kindle owners gradually start exploring past the authors they know and love and can only now and then find in the bookstore. 

You only have one novel, the first in a series, and a collection of shorts out; focus on writing and publishing book 2 before you worry seriously about sales on book 1, because book 2 and 3 are going to be what drive the sales and visibility of book 1. I know being told that must be as irritating as when I remind the godkids that they're teenagers, and what seems world-shattering now will look mildly annoying when they have some gray in their hair. It's still true.  

You are not a failure. You're an author with one book out. A good book, with a good cover and a blurb attractive enough the sample's sitting in my virtual TBR pile. If your sales aren't awesome, your discoverability not on the front page after the 30-day cliff, then, eh, you're playing the long game the same as the rest of us who are in this for years to come. There'll be a few mishaps, plenty of worries, and you'll survive this just like the elder godkid survived her first experience driving on a winding country road at night in a downpour. The car even survived, too! You'll be fine. 

PS - It's perfectly normal to hit the same worries every single time you start a new series in a different genre or even subgenre. I had to haul out the weekly sales tracking to remind my better half that the sales for first-in-a-series were doing about as well as the sales of our last first-in-series, and it was not a failure just because it was selling very poorly compared to a third-in-series release. And a friend of our was nearly climbing the walls by her fingernails when she went hybrid and released a first-in-series as her first indie book. Welcome to the club!


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## DawnLee (Aug 17, 2014)

I don't think sanity is among the desirable traits for writers, is it? If it is, I'm screwed.

If staying off the forums helps you, though, then do it. I'll miss your erudite snarkotomy, though.

Oh yeah, and most of the stuff everyone else said.


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## Someone (Dec 30, 2011)

Artofstu
There is nothing I hate more than when one is down and people coddle and appease them. IMO that doesn't nothing to help someone and, instead, the denial of honesty hurts them. So when I say that I really think it is due to people wanting to more books in the series out, I am saying it because that is what I honestly believe. I don't think you are being fair to yourself because, IMO, you just can't form an accurate view on the market's reception until, at the very, very least, the second book is out.


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## Sever Bronny (May 13, 2013)

Agree with everyone here, Artofstu 

Failure is giving up, so as long as you keep writing and churning out books, you'll get there. Some authors here only see "success" until their whole series is published. Your blurb, cover and "look inside" look great. What have you done from a marketing perspective? How are your keywords structured? Categories?

No worries if you don't reply--just prodding


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## sela (Nov 2, 2014)

Someone said:


> Artofstu
> There is nothing I hate more than when one is down and people coddle and appease them. IMO that doesn't nothing to help someone and, instead, the denial of honesty hurts them. So when I say that I really think it is due to people wanting to more books in the series out, I am saying it because that is what I honestly believe. I don't think you are being fair to yourself because, IMO, you just can't form an accurate view on the market's reception until, at the very, very least, the second book is out.


THIS.

Wait until your second and then third book in the series comes out. A lot of people hesitate to buy a book from an unknown author if it is a series book because they can't be sure it will be finished. When you get your second book up, you can do a promo on the first and that will get readers to take a chance. When the third (final?) comes out, consider permafree for the first. Experiment. Your cover blurb and preview are great. Give yourself time.

The only failure is when you give up and quit.


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## Lisa Grace (Jul 3, 2011)

What if Hugh Howey had said that after two books? He wouldn't have written WOOL, and he wouldn't be where he is today. He had seven books out when WOOL hit.


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## SunshineOnMe (Jan 11, 2014)

Elizabeth Ann West said:


> Art-
> 
> There's over 3 million ebook in the Paid Kindle Store. You are in the top 10% of the Paid Kindle Store. 6.7% actually. That's so not failure.
> 
> It takes time.


Love this! It's true. Hang in there, sales will pick up. You've already a success compared to the millions of people who still want to write a book (me included, as far as fiction goes!) Happy New Year!


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## Carol (was Dara) (Feb 19, 2011)

Like others have said, it's pretty tough to measure where you are until you've got several series books out there. Every once in awhile you'll hear of someone exploding right out of the gate with their first or second novel, but that's pretty rare. Most of us take a lot more books to get there.


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## Lefevre (Feb 1, 2014)

A.E. Williams said:


> Regarding keeping one's sanity - forget about it.
> 
> Is your aim to sell books, or write books?
> 
> ...


I agree!!

OP..Here's the thing..don't expect overnight success. Your books are not failures, your expectations are. Plus, did you set out to be a salesman or a writer? Possibly your path as a salesman has "failed" with 2 books out in just a few months, your path as a writer appears to be a success. I think you should have a bit more patience and not digest the usual kboard's braggadocio as universal reality. My suggestion is to use the anxiety to create something brilliant instead of refreshing your sales report.

Happy Holidays!


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## CEMartin2 (May 26, 2012)

2013, my first christmas season, saw no surge

2014, I put out a new book at yhe end of January and advertised my permafree #1 on Bookbub. Bam. Huge upswing for me. I went from making pizza money every month to take-the-family-on-a-weekend-vacation.

The point is, ADVERTISE. Somewhere. New kindle owners want to read, not browse through millions of titles. They aren't going to stumble across your book by chance.


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## Michael Buckley (Jun 24, 2013)

Two books are hardly enough to get noticed, you need at least four or five before people even know you exist. Some make it with one or two, most don't.

Nothing to get alarmed about, you need to build a back list so people have a better chance of finding you.

Failure is all part of success, if you never failed, how in the "H*LL" would you even know what success was?

If you write a novel that takes six months or more to complete you will be in this boat for a long time. Maybe write a three book series 15 to 20 k each and make the first one perma free, should get you noticed, you could probably write 45k in a month or two max.

A three book series would take you from two books to five, big difference. If your a novel only writer, then it could be rough times a head.


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## DGS (Sep 25, 2013)

Your cover is good. Your blurb needs more emotion and sizzle.  Last line is solid but rework the whole thing to be less telling and more selling.


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## Accord64 (Mar 12, 2012)

artofstu said:


> With everyone talking about Christmas surges, I'm starting to think my book is a big, fat failure.


I noticed that Heart Thief is in KU. Keep in mind that KU members can have up to ten books on their queue at a time, and you won't see it on your sales report until the reader completes at least 10% of it. So, in theory, a thousand KU members could have put your book on their queue over Christmas to read, but it might currently be number six (or greater) on their list. It's not like a Netflix queue, books take time to read.

I hope that's a little encouraging.


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## Christine_C (Jun 29, 2014)

I definitely need to read your book. There are a lot of connections to the one we just published: New England (I think), some kind of 17th century puritan/witch connection, puritan-sounding names, Wampanoag history, a new boy at school, and possibly a Salem Witch Trials background?  Anyway I need to read it (though I have to get through my current stack of books first. I had a look at your page, and I see we're both reading books by KM Alexander.) When I read it, I can do a review on my blog (not that lots of people read my blog, but it's worth a shot). I'll let you know if I think of anything else. 

It does make sense to me that people won't be buying these things till we've got more books out.


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## zoe tate (Dec 18, 2013)

artofstu said:


> I guess I did everything wrong.


Excuse an argumentative response, but I guess you did some things wrong and some things right. (That's true for almost all of us, I think?).

The best way forward (though it's also more easily said than done) is probably to try to identify, as confidently as you can, which things you did wrong, so that you can change the right things.



artofstu said:


> You're saying my cover and price are a problem?


Excuse a non-argumentative response  , but if we're talking about "Lurkers", the cover is a big problem, in my opinion.


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## Scottish Lass (Oct 10, 2013)

Kyra Halland said:


> My Christmas surge was a KU borrow today.


...and mine was a KU borrow yesterday. So it's all relative.

I _have_ almost achieved a prawny milestone of having an average of one sale/borrow a day during December (only one more needed) and I almost achieved that in November, so things are improved for me. I think that's mainly because it's winter again and my skiing books don't seem so much of an anachronism. But I now have 11 titles out (tho' some are short stories); like everyone else has said I think it's partly a numbers game. Or writing in a popular genre. Just keep writing!


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

zoe tate said:


> Excuse a non-argumentative response  , but if we're talking about "Lurkers", the cover is a big problem, in my opinion.


Stu explained on another thread that Lurkers is a collection of shorts he doesn't particularly care about, so he just tossed it up.


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## Scottish Lass (Oct 10, 2013)

For Heart Thief, if you can get yourself into some of the YA sub-categories you might get more traction - there is a SFF sub-category that would make sense.

For my story Nobody's Hero, I used categories:
JUVENILE FICTION > Science Fiction
FICTION > Science Fiction > Apocalyptic & Post-Apocalyptic

and [relevant] keywords:
Teen & young adult, Teens, dystopian, colonization, exploration

For yours you'd probably want to replace the apocalyptic category/keywords with fantasy and magic. 
HTH.


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## Christine_C (Jun 29, 2014)

Roz Marshall said:


> For Heart Thief, if you can get yourself into some of the YA sub-categories you might get more traction - there is a SFF sub-category that would make sense.
> 
> For my story Nobody's Hero, I used categories:
> JUVENILE FICTION > Science Fiction
> ...


I *think* if you put "coming of age" as a keyword, it automatically gets it into a YA category?

I've been playing around with categories, and I think Paranormal & Urban are too big. I chose "contemporary" instead, and I think occult under the suspense/mystery section. So it's in Fantasy & Mystery overall categories. If you have "magic" as a keyword, it puts it in paranormal anyway.


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## PearlEarringLady (Feb 28, 2014)

artofstu said:


> With everyone talking about Christmas surges, I'm starting to think my book is a big, fat failure. Doesn't really change my plans. I'll keep writing book 2 and then book 3. I guess I did everything wrong. Oh well. I think I'll have to just ignore sales reports and forums until I've got more books out. It might be the only way to keep my sanity.


This board can be very bad for a prawn's state of mind. There's always someone doing better. But if you look carefully, in between the Christmas surge threads, there are people wondering why Christmas sales are down. There are other people saying: meh, no change here (I'm in the meh camp). If you try to ascribe reason to sales numbers you really will go insane.

So relax, enjoy the holiday, have another drink and embrace your inner prawniness. And write book 2.

And for any other just-released-book-1 prawns out there, thinking: hmm, that didn't go so well, just remember that Wayne Stinnett sold 23 copies of his first book in the two months before book 2 came out. And that was only last year. Patience, my fellow prawns, patience.


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## EC (Aug 20, 2013)

I don't agree that the board is tough on prawns.  If it wasn't for this board many successful authors would have sunk without trace - and many are quick to forget it. 

When the going got tough -they bailed out. Prawns only need to know one thing - 

"Mental toughness is essential for success." - Vince Lombardi.

While the prawns are making an appointment with themselves to refresh the sales page every twenty minutes - the rest of us are making the only appointment that matters. 

We are back in our chair seeking to improve our business.


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

Heart Thief is next on my KU list.


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## Dobby the House Elf (Aug 16, 2014)

EC said:


> I don't agree that the board is tough on prawns. If it wasn't for this board many successful authors would have sunk without trace - and many are quick to forget it.
> 
> When the going got tough -they bailed out. Prawns only need to know one thing -
> 
> ...


^^^

You need to dedicate yourself despite sales. Despite 1-stars. Despite writer's block days. Despite periods of no writing at all. You need to sit in your chair and write when you don't feel like it. Write when you doubt yourself. Write ESPECIALLY when others doubt you.

Be open to criticism. Be open to help. Be open to accepting that you might never sell millions of copies, but there is somewhere in this writing game where you can carve out a nice space for yourself. Become friendly with other authors. Help them and they'll help you.

Sales go up and down and it sucks. You need a way to feel some satisfaction, pride, pleasure in this process where sales have nothing to do with it. Send the world a message with your writing, and be glad when people read your books and receive that message. Personally, I send the message of peace, of tolerance, of non-violence where possible, of equality between gender, race, culture and of learning to overcome one's demons despite all hope being lost.

What message will you send?

One day you're going to look back, on thirty or so books and see how far you've come. How polished your writing is. You'll see how impecable your taste in covers has become, or at least you'll learn to trust others when they tell you your covers are poor. You'll develop an eye for precision in word choice, punctuation, and sentence structure. Just as a fingerprint can be unique, so will be your narrative voice after all those years of writing. You'll feel immeasurable pride for how your persistent passion brought you to a place that you worked hard for, that you built all by yourself, and you'll be glad you never gave up.


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## Mark E. Cooper (May 29, 2011)

My Barclaycard bill is the only Christmas surge I've seen this year


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## Marina Finlayson (May 2, 2014)

PaulineMRoss said:


> And for any other just-released-book-1 prawns out there, thinking: hmm, that didn't go so well, just remember that Wayne Stinnett sold 23 copies of his first book in the two months before book 2 came out. And that was only last year. Patience, my fellow prawns, patience.


That's good to know. I only have to sell 14 more books to match Wayne Stinnett! I think I can, I think I can ...


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## Evenstar (Jan 26, 2013)

Oh, you want _those _stories?

No problem, I got a good one: I sold only 15 copies of my first book in the almost three months it took me to get out my second book.

_Fifteen in total over three months!_

That's the same book that less than two years later has close to 6000 reviews on Google.


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## EC (Aug 20, 2013)

Evenstar said:


> Oh, you want _those _stories?
> 
> No problem, I got a good one: I sold only 15 copies of my first book in the almost three months it took me to get out my second book.
> 
> ...


And those are the stories I love.


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## EC (Aug 20, 2013)

KJC said:


> ^^^
> 
> You need to dedicate yourself despite sales. Despite 1-stars. Despite writer's block days. Despite periods of no writing at all. You need to sit in your chair and write when you don't feel like it. Write when you doubt yourself. Write ESPECIALLY when others doubt you.
> 
> ...


Excellent.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

No Cat said:


> The advantage of this is that you can always switch things up. Put book 2 out, change up pricing, covers, run sales, keep playing with things until you find what works for you. We aren't stuck, fortunately.


I think the point is that, if you're not satisfied with your sales, experiment with the things you can directly control to see if they make a difference--things like the covers or price.. Even authors like Russell Blake, who sell hugely, experiment with new covers from time to time.

Betsy


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## rjspears (Sep 25, 2011)

My post Christmas surge consisted of one sale and one return.  

I like what one poster said -- this business requires mental toughness.  I have out two series consisting of 6 books and my sales have been underwhelming.  I market as much as I can afford and have had some decent book launches, but sales just haven't come.

But I'll keep at it.

Book 4 of my one series will be out next year and I'm working on a stand-alone outside my genre to see what happens.


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

Marina Finlayson said:


> That's good to know. I only have to sell 14 more books to match Wayne Stinnett! I think I can, I think I can ...


You got one from me, Marina -- your book has a terrific beginning! Couldn't help myself ...


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## Kylo Ren (Mar 29, 2014)

A lot of good comments on here, so thanks to everyone. I'll definitely be trying to do a bit more lurking than commenting in the near future, I think. And a lot more writing. Nearly halfway done with book 2.

What an emotional roller coaster the last couple of days have been. I admit that I'm a little more sensitive about my work than I should be. I just want everyone to love it, and that's just not going to happen. Yesterday, I was pretty bummed because a "reviewer" I gave my book to didn't love it. She didn't hate it or anything, but she didn't love it.

But then today a friend told me he loved it. Which is cool, but I take what friends say with a grain of salt. They're friends and want to be encouraging. But he also said his teen daughter loved it and is now a "hard core fan." What's more, she took the time to leave a message on my FB page telling me how much she loved it and also on her personal FB pages telling her friends she loved it. Will this affect sales at all? Probably not. But my friend's daughter is pretty much my target audience, and she's the first teen I've received positive (or any) feedback from. Her praise pretty much eradicates the bummer review from yesterday. Knowing that she genuinely enjoyed it is THE BEST, and makes all this worth it for me. Knowing that someone truly enjoyed my work helps me move forward. I'll be uber stoked all day, I know it.


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

Hey Stu.  You can ask some of my author friends what I think of their books.  They get varied opinions from book to book.  So don't worry about your reader not loving the book.  There are very very very few authors that I love everything they have done.


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## Lisa Grace (Jul 3, 2011)

artofstu said:


> But he also said his teen daughter loved it and is now a "hard core fan." What's more, she took the time to leave a message on my FB page telling me how much she loved it and also on her personal FB pages telling her friends she loved it. But my friend's daughter is pretty much my target audience, and she's the first teen I've received positive (or any) feedback from. Knowing that she genuinely enjoyed it is THE BEST, and makes all this worth it for me. Knowing that someone truly enjoyed my work helps me move forward. I'll be uber stoked all day, I know it.


Tape her note (and all your favorite reviews) above your desk or even to your bathroom mirror. Keep writing, because who knows when you'll find your breakout moment? To some it happens with a big bang, and others it is the quiet sweet sound of money being transferred into their bank accounts.


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

artofstu said:


> What an emotional roller coaster the last couple of days have been. I admit that I'm a little more sensitive about my work than I should be. I just want everyone to love it, and that's just not going to happen.


Just want to say I think this is an absolutely, totally, and completely normal way to feel, early on. It gets easier as you get some distance on that first book, put more titles out there, weather the early knocks, and so forth. Good luck!


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## Marina Finlayson (May 2, 2014)

Becca Mills said:


> You got one from me, Marina -- your book has a terrific beginning! Couldn't help myself ...


Ooh, thank you, Becca, you've made my day!

[quote author=artofstu]
But my friend's daughter is pretty much my target audience, and she's the first teen I've received positive (or any) feedback from. Her praise pretty much eradicates the bummer review from yesterday. Knowing that she genuinely enjoyed it is THE BEST, and makes all this worth it for me.
[/quote]

That's fantastic! Isn't that why we do this? To reach people with our stories? That kind of feedback is priceless. Congratulations!


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## michaelwlayne (Sep 7, 2013)

artofstu said:


> You're saying my cover and price are a problem?


Your Heart Thief cover rocks. That is def not a problem. Just keep writing good work, and give it some time. My two cents.


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## anniejocoby (Aug 11, 2013)

artofstu said:


> A lot of good comments on here, so thanks to everyone. I'll definitely be trying to do a bit more lurking than commenting in the near future, I think. And a lot more writing. Nearly halfway done with book 2.
> 
> What an emotional roller coaster the last couple of days have been. I admit that I'm a little more sensitive about my work than I should be. I just want everyone to love it, and that's just not going to happen. Yesterday, I was pretty bummed because a "reviewer" I gave my book to didn't love it. She didn't hate it or anything, but she didn't love it.
> 
> But then today a friend told me he loved it. Which is cool, but I take what friends say with a grain of salt. They're friends and want to be encouraging. But he also said his teen daughter loved it and is now a "hard core fan." What's more, she took the time to leave a message on my FB page telling me how much she loved it and also on her personal FB pages telling her friends she loved it. Will this affect sales at all? Probably not. But my friend's daughter is pretty much my target audience, and she's the first teen I've received positive (or any) feedback from. Her praise pretty much eradicates the bummer review from yesterday. Knowing that she genuinely enjoyed it is THE BEST, and makes all this worth it for me. Knowing that someone truly enjoyed my work helps me move forward. I'll be uber stoked all day, I know it.


Sounds like you got some good word of mouth buzz building with that young girl.  That's how it gets going! Get that second book out there, man! A year from now, you'll look upon these days and think "how funny that I once thought I was a failure, because look at me now!"


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