I’m starting to get requests for interviews from newspaper reporters and radio show hosts and I know how important it is to give some sort of real sales figures. So I took time yesterday to go over all of my carefully compiled statements at Amazon. Wow! To date, we’ve sold over 40,000 Kindle copies of the Klepto Cat Mysteries and we’ve given away an additional 12,000 Kindle books during some of the promotions Amazon offers authors.
I published the first Klepto Cat Mystery as a Kindle book in June of 2013. These are sales figures through March of 2015.
What are my secrets to success? Well, there are actually no secrets. I (and other professionals) have been teaching and preaching three major concepts for years.
- Write what is wanted/needed by a segment of readers. And then write for that reader—keep the reader in mind throughout the entire writing process.
- Hire a good book editor before launching that book.
- Promote, promote, promote. No one will buy a book they don’t know exists. Books need exposure. It is up to the author to know who his audience is, where they are, and how to approach them. Then you must do the legwork—go ahead and approach them, entice them. And continually remind them to read your book. Nudge them, give them incentives to read your book instead of (or along with) the others in this genre or topic.
If you write fiction, consider publishing your books for Kindle. We first publish each of our Klepto Cat Mysteries (revved up cozy (or light) mysteries), for Kindle. We have 10 books currently published for Kindle. We then follow up with print copies. Six of the books in this series are in print. But they sure don’t sell as well as the Kindle books do.
Now this is not true across the board. We sell more print copies of my books for authors—“Publish Your Book,” “Promote Your Book,” and “Talk Up Your Book,”—than we do Kindle or audio books. But we’ve learned that the majority of those who read fiction, do so on their e-readers.
I hope this bit of advice from someone who has experienced it will help you to enjoy the success you desire. It’s not easy. It may be a stretch for you to write within a popular genre when you’d rather write your memoir, for example. But if you want publishing success, it is important that you follow these suggestions.
If you’re curious about the Klepto Cat Mystery series or you know someone who would enjoy reading a light mystery involving cats, here’s the link to the Amazon page: http://amzn.to/1kAI8I2