# Milestone: 2 Years of Writing, 200,000 books sold + a baby



## H.M. Ward (May 16, 2012)

March 27th is my 2nd birthday as an indie writer!  I started with this book and sold 27 copies my first month. This book started it's life on the traditional path. I had a hot shot NY agent (not my current agent) and the book was on submission. I ended up pulling it and walking away about 10 days later. Best decision of my life. I would have happily taken $30K for that book. I earned so much more than that from this series. Plus they wanted to make it into Percy Jackson meets Twilight. Ick. Ick. Ick. Short version, I took my ball and went home. Best decision I ever made.


To date, the DEMON KISSED series has sold over 25,000 copies and was my bread and butter until last summer when I started writing romance.

My first romance book ever - Scandalous hit the NYT and USA today bestseller list in Jan after sleeping for nearly 9 months. It was so weird. My fanbase was largely YA PNR, so when I started with romance I pretty much had to start over. 

I was shocked this book did that well. And a little embarrassed. Talk about writing your heart on your sleeve. Hee hee. SCANDALOUS getting so much attention really helped my other romance titles gain some momentum.

At the same time SCANDALOUS hit the bestseller list, I released the first book in a new serial THE ARRANGEMENT. I almost didn't write it. I mentioned it to my editor and got a raised eyebrow. I felt silly and back burner-ed it until Jan. I'm about to hit another milestone with this series. It's been out for about 10 weeks and is creeping up on 100,000 copies sold. It'll hit that mark by the end of the month.


If you've seen my posts, you know I was in shock that I sold 100,000 books this Jan. It took nearly 2 years to hit that goal. It's ten weeks later! And ppl bought another 100,000! It's the coolest thing ever! I have a new agent that gets me, sold some foreign rights, and have a new novel coming out next month. It's been a wild ride. It seemed like once I hit the point where I could quit my day job (I owned a swank photography studio - I shot the covers for the Demon Kissed and Bane series) that things really picked up momentum. I feel like a runaway train right now. I keep waiting to hit a wall, but so far so good. I've had my heart in my throat since Jan.

I just wanted to post this b/c its mind blowingly amazing. I NEVER ever thought I'd sell that many books. I thought if I busted my ass, maybe 8K? Yeah, I had no idea what I was getting into. Things I learned - its hard work, time consuming, and you need more than one book. Like the more the better. The title that hit the top of the list helped push new readers toward my other books. Those other titles made it possible for me to earn a really good living from this. My hero (can I say that ?) is Konrath. I remember reading his blog right before I pulled my MS. I was in the hospital with a pregnancy that was going horribly. I spent the past two years chronically ill. The baby was born and is fat and healthy. Check out the pudge. He's 18 months now. I can't get him to sit still for pictures to save my life.

__
Sensitive content, not recommended for those under 18
Show Content










Anyway, I used Joe as a benchmark/ goal for total sales for the past few years. I kept hoping to sell as much as him. I watched what he did, what worked, what didn't. I read so much stuff, tried things that worked, tried things that didn't. (Last march I tanked my sales. That was fun.) Anyway, this month I passed Joe's sales stats! Whoop! Whoop! Talk about thing that I never thought would happen. Like ever.

To date I have 30 titles ranging in price from 99 cents to $4.99. Free didn't work for me. Total fans combined are around 70K (FB, Twitter, email list, blog followers, GR, etc). I've been doing giveaways, but switched to SASEs b/c there were too many ppl requesting and it took over a day to send everything out. The PO Box is full, but the coolest thing is that these ppl are sending me hand written letters! They're stuffed in the envelopes. 








The first time I opened one and saw a letter, I nearly cried. Since then, I've gotten tons of hand written notes. Some of them are pages long, thanking me for writing, telling me how my books touched their lives and helped them through some tough times.

Can I say OMG? OMG! I did the SASE to save time. I ended up writing every single one of them a letter back. I can't not answer them, not when they're writing stuff like that.

Anyway, I just wanted to share. I finally found a good niche for me, a job I'm good at, and the perfect place for an introvert.  Chubs is crying. TTYL


----------



## A.A (Mar 30, 2012)

Very awesome story, Holly!

And awwww at your little 'pudge'. Just gorgeous


----------



## mathewferguson (Oct 24, 2010)

Well done!

It's freezing cold here in Melbourne today and your story warmed my heart!

For The Arrangement - is the 100,000 copies the total across the books you have out in the series or just the first one?

Again, good work and keep going!


----------



## Bilinda Ní Siodacaín (Jun 16, 2011)

Holly, this is amazing! I'm so thrilled for you! Really, really thrilled. You're living the dream. I wish you not thousands, but millions of sales in the future. And the pudge is seriously utterly adorable.  

Bilinda

ETA: Our indie birthdays are almost the same, my second is around the 27th/28th of March too.


----------



## Al Dente (Sep 3, 2012)

Thank you so much for posting that. I needed some inspiration today, and you just provided it. Congrats on your success.


----------



## Andykay (May 10, 2012)

Your stats are insane. Incredibly inspiring. It's funny to think authors who are getting their starts in a digital world are still getting hand written fan mail, but the contrast just kind of makes that even more awesome.

Congrats on the success!


----------



## EC Sheedy (Feb 24, 2011)

The pudge is awesome cute! Your story incredibly inspiring. May you continue to have magical sales.

Thanks so much for sharing.


----------



## S. Shine (Jan 14, 2013)

Thank you for posting all that! Very inspiring!  

A big congrats on your success!


----------



## TJHudson (Jul 9, 2012)

Congratulations on your family and your career!


----------



## HAGrant (Jul 17, 2011)

Thanks for sharing your wonderful story... and the photos of your gorgeous little boy.


----------



## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

Holly, heartfelt congratulations. Your story is so inspirational. Thank you for sharing it with us -- both the amazing turns of events as it happened, and in this narrative that puts the whole thing into perspective.

The Pudge is one of the cutest babies I've ever seen. Holy cow. How d'ya like that foot, little guy?


----------



## Kay Bratt (Dec 28, 2011)

Major congrats, Holly. With the writing and the beautiful little fellow---you've got life by the tail now, girl!


----------



## Sharebear (Sep 25, 2011)

What a cutie!!
You're awesome, and your story is better still! Congrats!


----------



## Quinn Richardson (Apr 20, 2012)

Disappointed.  I only opened the thread to see how much you got for the baby.

But congratulations on selling books and getting letters and whatnot.

Quinn


----------



## LG Castillo (Jun 28, 2012)

Congratulations, Holly and may your books continue to have great success. You are such an inspiration! 

Pudge is a cutie!


----------



## RoseInTheTardis (Feb 2, 2013)

Very awesome! Happy Anniversary!


----------



## Ardin (Nov 1, 2012)

Awesome story. Thanks for sharing. 
And well done!! It's really inspiring. 
And cute baby.


----------



## Laura Lond (Nov 6, 2010)

Congratulations!!! That's just awesome... 

And the baby is sooooo cute!


----------



## H.M. Ward (May 16, 2012)

DDark said:


> and lol I thought you sold the baby, too (based on the subject line) Cutie pie!


LOL! Damn comma!


----------



## Selina Fenech (Jul 20, 2011)

Amazing success story, and a gorgeous bub! Congrats on both! My little girl is around the same age, lots of fun but so BUSY BUSY BUSY!


----------



## journeymama (May 30, 2011)

Congratulations. That's awesome.  The success AND the baby.


----------



## Jay Allan (Aug 20, 2012)

Congratulations, Holly.  It's well deserved success.  You've done everything right.  You're covers are fantastic, and I know from your posts you've put a lot of effort into finding effective methods of advertising and promotion.  

Now don't let up! This is no time to sit back and relax!


----------



## CJArcher (Jan 22, 2011)

Congratulations, Holly!! What a wonderful journey. And the bub is gorgeous.


----------



## 48306 (Jul 6, 2011)

Wonderful success story on never giving up! Congrats to you, Holly.  LOVE the chubby baby pic! I kept thinking while reading this..OMG, she wrote all those books while a toddler was running around? *boggles the mind*


----------



## Anna K (Jul 2, 2011)

Thanks for the inspiring post, Holly. It is so good to keep in mind the success may happen anytime (especially on these months of very low sales).  Between your post and seeing Hugh Howey in Portland, I am super motivated for my 9-day writing marathon coming up.

30 books in 2 years? With a baby? Wow.


----------



## ChrisWard (Mar 10, 2012)

That's just legendary, congrats!


----------



## Mathew Reuther (Jan 14, 2013)

Sure is awesome to read this Holly. Thanks a ton for sharing with us. 

Like others have said, we're all wishing you many, many more sales.


----------



## Lisa Grace (Jul 3, 2011)

Wow! Congratulations on your precious little squirmy bundle and all the wonderful things happening in your writing career.


----------



## N. Gemini Sasson (Jul 5, 2010)

Good things happen to good people. You're proof that a slow start doesn't mean you won't take off at some point. Gives me inspiration to try something new.


----------



## Bec (Aug 24, 2012)

What a wonderful, inspiring story, Holly. Congratulations!


----------



## WG McCabe (Oct 13, 2012)

Congrats, Holly. I even bought a copy of Scandalous and romance isn't a genre I read.


----------



## K.R. Harris (Jan 25, 2012)

Awesome, Holly! Congrats!


----------



## That one girl (Apr 12, 2011)

Congrats, Holly! This is so awesome and inspiring. 

Now I have to check out this SASE business because I'm seriously not enjoying this shipping stuff and Paypal does not cooperate with Wordpress. 

Good luck with the next book!


----------



## EdShull (Mar 1, 2013)

Congrats, Holly! It's great to hear the story and see that there was a tipping point. I'm looking forward to what you learned at 300,000.


----------



## lewaters (Jun 25, 2011)

It's truly amazing what you've accomplished in only two years. You deserve every success with such a hard work ethic, passion for writing, and such business smarts. I'm so proud of you and can't wait to see what you will accomplish in two more years!


----------



## BlankPage (Sep 23, 2012)

_Comment removed due to VS TOS 25/9/2018_


----------



## 56139 (Jan 21, 2012)

Congratulations, Holly!    Your baby is adorable!


----------



## SEAN H. ROBERTSON (Mar 14, 2011)

holly w. said:


> March 27th is my 2nd birthday as an indie writer!  I started with this book and sold 27 copies my first month. This book started it's life on the traditional path. I had a hot shot NY agent (not my current agent) and the book was on submission. I ended up pulling it and walking away about 10 days later. Best decision of my life. I would have happily taken $30K for that book. I earned so much more than that from this series. Plus they wanted to make it into Percy Jackson meets Twilight. Ick. Ick. Ick. Short version, I took my ball and went home. Best decision I ever made.
> 
> 
> To date, the DEMON KISSED series has sold over 25,000 copies and was my bread and butter until last summer when I started writing romance.
> ...


Holly, your life is one word....WOW!!!!!!!!! HUGE CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR CHILD & BESTSELLER SUCCESS!


----------



## Wansit (Sep 27, 2012)

Major congrats Holly! A beautiful story.


----------



## Soothesayer (Oct 19, 2012)

holly w. said:


> I owned a swank photography studio


 

Congrats on a great year.


----------



## jdfield (Oct 4, 2011)

Well done. Duly inspired.


----------



## T. Lee Cook (Dec 27, 2012)

Congratulations! You are an inspiration. Precious baby. So cute!


----------



## dalya (Jul 26, 2011)

This is exactly what "overnight" success looks like when you really look!  Congratulations!!


----------



## 54706 (Dec 19, 2011)

Holly, you continue to be a huge inspiration.  You've obviously worked your buns off and now you're reaping the rewards.  Good for you!!!  Keep posting your successes.  They keep me writing.


----------



## Shalini Boland (Nov 29, 2010)

What a fantastic inspirational story! Congratulations Holly. And your baby is gorgeous!!


----------



## zzzzzzz (Dec 6, 2011)

I've got about a year and 5000. I feel pretty good about that.


----------



## Vera Nazarian (Jul 1, 2011)

Keep on rocking, Holly! Your publishing success story is an inspiration, and the baby is ADORABLE!!!

Congratulations times a billion!!!


----------



## trublue (Jul 7, 2012)

Wow, I hope to be like you someday. Great job. And how cute is that baby


----------



## Rick Gualtieri (Oct 31, 2011)

Awesomeness!  Congrats on it all.


----------



## Cheryl Douglas (Dec 7, 2011)

I'm so thrilled for you, Holly! Congratulations on your success. I look forward to seeing what the next year will bring for you... more amazing things, I'm sure


----------



## Hugh Howey (Feb 11, 2012)

What an awesome story! I blogged about you today. I think we're going to see more and more people reaching these milestones in the years to come.


----------



## H.M. Ward (May 16, 2012)

Hugh Howey said:


> What an awesome story! I blogged about you today. I think we're going to see more and more people reaching these milestones in the years to come.


Awh! Thanks Hugh! I seriously thought that if a book didn't spike to the top within 10 days of being released that it wasn't going to. Ha ha. Apparently that's wrong. It's really easy to get discouraged when things don't just take off. I never expected this. There seems to be a slow grow paradigm that gets overlooked. Thanks for the plug and have fun on your book tour! I saw you AMA the other day. Awesomesauce, that was!


----------



## Rick Gualtieri (Oct 31, 2011)

holly w. said:


> I seriously thought that if a book didn't spike to the top within 10 days of being released that it wasn't going to. Ha ha.


Ditto on this. Then, "mysteriously" one of my books starting shooting up the charts about a year and a half after release. You never know.


----------



## Hugh Howey (Feb 11, 2012)

Rick Gualtieri said:


> Ditto on this. Then, "mysteriously" one of my books starting shooting up the charts about a year and a half after release. You never know.


Wow. I just blogged that this would happen years from now on my website, only to come back and read that it already has!

I think this is the most overlooked advantage to self-publishing. Your books NEVER go out of print.


----------



## Dee Ernst (Jan 10, 2011)

Great story, cute baby - hope the next few years are just as amazing.


----------



## Jonathan C. Gillespie (Aug 9, 2012)

Super mega congrats! Very inspiring. I wish you continued success


----------



## Ben Mathew (Jan 27, 2013)

What an amazing turn of events. Congratulations!


----------



## Hudson Owen (May 18, 2012)

Congratulations!  Does anyone comment on your black-and-white covers?


----------



## H.M. Ward (May 16, 2012)

Hudson Owen said:


> Congratulations! Does anyone comment on your black-and-white covers?


They LOVE them, which I thought was kinda weird. I prefer color, but hey, whatever works.


----------



## jlmarten (May 9, 2012)

It's a good thing you didn't listen to the naysayers about how you can't earn a living in self-publishing. Happy Anniversary and congratulations!

And a word of advice: If you're going to sell that precious little bundle, do it while they're still young. I discovered with all three of mine that if you wait until they become a pain in the petute, they want you to pay them to take them off your hands.


----------



## Shayne Parkinson (Mar 19, 2010)

Congratulations, Holly! Most of all on your super-cute baby, of course.  But also on your patience, persistence, and solid hard work. You set a great example.



holly w. said:


> I seriously thought that if a book didn't spike to the top within 10 days of being released that it wasn't going to. Ha ha. Apparently that's wrong. It's really easy to get discouraged when things don't just take off. I never expected this. There seems to be a slow grow paradigm that gets overlooked.


I sold < 200 copies in my entire first *year* of self-pubbing. It took almost two years before I reached a sort of tipping point. Now, almost four years after starting the self-publishing journey, I've just passed the 250,000 mark.


----------



## chalice (Jan 5, 2013)

*You deserve all of the success that you are enjoying now. 
All of your hard work is now paying off in spades.
And your book covers are just to die for.
I love them.
And your baby is so cute.

Regards,
Shana Jahsinta Walters.*


----------



## LilianaHart (Jun 20, 2011)

Congrats, Holly!


----------



## Starfire (Jun 25, 2012)

Oh, Holly, what an adorable little Chubster! <3

And congratulations, _and_ and Happy Anniversary!


----------



## H.M. Ward (May 16, 2012)

Thank u everyone!!!!!


----------



## Kenny Soward (Dec 1, 2011)

Awesome, and encouraging! Especially for this first book guy.


----------



## Hudson Owen (May 18, 2012)

holly w. said:


> They LOVE them, which I thought was kinda weird. I prefer color, but hey, whatever works.


Good. That encourages me to stay with my cover for City of Rain.


----------



## Zelah Meyer (Jun 15, 2011)

Congratulations on the sales and the baby.  In fact, I am in awe of you accomplishing so much with a small baby to look after!  Well done you - on so many levels!


----------



## Amanda Brice (Feb 16, 2011)

Congrats, Holly, and adorable baby boy! (Mine will be 16 months next week.)


----------

