The book card took several attempts to get just right. I kept messing with Microsoft Word (again, I learn the hard way) which took a whole evening to tell me that it wasn't going to do what I wanted. When I went to Avery.com to get one of their templates for my card stock, I discovered that they have a very cool online card designer that does a pretty good job of integrating images and text. I managed to have a nice set of hand out cards in less than an hour of layout and printing. And I've been handing these out to friends, family, waiters, baristas, gas station attendants, etc. While the use of self-printed card stock is okay, I do plan on ordering some professional looking cards as well.
Sales?
So, I know you're itching to hear the figures. Book has been out for a week. How are the sales? Well, are you sitting down? Here it is - twelve. Yes, just 12. But hey, I'm a new fiction author, no current fan base (aside from some folks at work, a few friends, and family members), and it is a "short" story. I actually like to call it a "lengthy" short story. ;) Anyway, it's a good start with all things considered. I'll admit that in the back of my mind I was thinking how nice it would be for 1-2% of my Twitter followers to be interested in buying. Let's see - 1413 followers x .01 = 14. So, I'm 2 short of my Twitter market goals. Heh.
Actually, I'm not disappointed. This is just a start and it is going to take a while to build a following. As word spreads and reviews come in, I'm sure the sales will pick up. I don't expect to make my investment back any time soon. But once I get the next release out (Zegin's Abduction) and demonstrate that I'm serious about this series, the sales will pick up. This is a long term effort and I went into this knowing it would take time and persistence.
A Check List
I came across a wonderful check list on one of the Google + communities that I visit on a regular basis. I wish I had this list when I started this whole process. But I was quite pleased to see that I'm pretty close on following this list. The list is from the book, Indie & Small Press Book Marketing
First Review
Regarding Amazon.com, I just discovered yesterday that I could create a Author's Profile page. (Thanks to Alexandra Apostol for the tip.)
I should have known this since I had a book on Amazon since they started. But part of the reason I didn't know about the profile is due to it not being a link from the KDP site. It has to be set up and configured from author.amazon.com. So, now my Author's Profile can be found at www.amazon.com/author/timothyltrimble
Latest Statistics
Klout Score: 52 (+2)
TT.com Page Loads for the past month: 1077 (-199)
Twitter Followers: 1413 (+196)
G+ Peeps Following: 425 (+65)
Twitter and Google + have had nice jumps. Klout continues to make a slow gradual climb up. I'm sure I'll hit some type of plateau there since I'm not engaging in massive amounts of Twitter spam. The drop in the blog visits I attribute to my not writing a significant posting for a couple weeks (not counting the small release announcement).
In a few weeks I'll be taking a break from the marketing and postings to focus more on getting some actual writing done. I figure that I'm currently spending around 4-6 hours a week on postings, marketing, and reading other posts/blogs. That is significant when I could be spending that time writing. And all while holding down a full time job, 10-13 hours a week in community services, and taking care of my other responsibilities. Whew. How do I do it? No TV! Okay, I might watch a hour or two each week but that's about it. And I have significantly reduced my gaming. I said goodby to Eve-online and rarely hop onto Minecraft or Star-Trek Online. It's all a matter of priorities.
So, set your goals, keep reading, and keep on writing.
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