Enjoy!
All my best,
John H. Carroll
Showing posts with label free ebooks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label free ebooks. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 19, 2017
Smashwords July Sale
All but my most recent 2 books are on sale @smashwords for at least half off, including a couple of freebies. A lot of other authors have their books on sale. Click here to follow through, and feel free to shop for others too. :)
Saturday, May 28, 2016
Book Review: Soul Bonds, Book 1 of The Circle of Light Series.
The Circles of Light Series
The Circle of Light Series is an epic fantasy series filled with dragons, magic, adventure and everything wonderful about fantasy. It is excellent reading for all ages, well written and edited.
Book 1, Soul Bonds
Description:
Review
This is the first book in the Circles of Light Series. It is epic fantasy safe for young adults, though there is mild fantasy violence. If you're looking for books to keep your interest for lots of reading that may keep you up well past your bedtime, you've found it here.
Tika is a young slave girl with a mysterious past. After escaping from her slavery to almost certain death, she discovers the fascinating world of dragons. Those dragons are the best part of the story. I could tell the author spent a lot of time daydreaming about them and what their existence would be like.
The story begins immediately with Tika's discovery of those dragons. She forms a bond (thus the title name) with one and her life intertwines with the species from that point on. You learn about the dragons and about Tika for a chapter or two, giving you the foundation for the rest of the story.
While Tika is the main character, the story that follows is largely about the dragons. They have personalities as big as they are. The characters of the dragons are distinct. It's easy to fall in love with some and dislike others with a passion. Not surprisingly, they aren't all happy about having a human among them, a fact that becomes pivotal in the events that follow.
Once much of the dragon's story is presented, the plot switches back to Tika, who may be more than just a runaway slave girl. Tika is a strong and courageous woman without being a Mary Sue. She's capable and talented, but inexperienced. There are other strong women in the story whose conversations move the plot forward, rather than focusing on relationships and the such. Basically, the author avoids the pitfalls that plague so many other strong female leads.
Upon reaching a new destination midway through the book, the rest of the world begins opening up. The reader gets to meet some of the other races in the world. It's a fascinating world too with exotic geographies and civilizations that are touched upon without bogging down into mind-numbing world-building.
The villain and some of the evil races are quite easy to dislike. The villain's personality is well developed and multifaceted rather than being one-dimensional. There's also a good deal of mystery as to his past.
The ending closes the book well with excitement and suspense. It leads one to want the next story. The one negative I found was that it was difficult to keep track of the names on occasion as a few of them sound similar. But that was resolved as the personalities developed. Each character is very much their own and their voices are distinct from each other.
One of the things I liked is the mystery involved with every character, who they are and why they are that way. The author teases the reader with hints, but never fully reveals what the past may hold. There are stories to develop through the rest of the series.
E.M. Sinclair's writing is daydreamy (yes, that's a word). You can see the fascination she has in exploring her world with her characters. The book is professional quality and well edited. I highly recommend for all ages.
About the Author
"From as far back as I can remember, I have always had a feeling that Dragons are real. When you look at a wide sky there is a glimpse from the corner of your eye which must surely be a Dragon whisking past. I always regarded the stories of monstrous fierce Dragons as being completely wrong and I detested stories of St George and his dragon killing tendencies.
When I was still a small child my grandfather gave me a copy of Kenneth Grahame's The Reluctant Dragon. It made complete sense to me - a Dragon living in a secluded cave, wanting only peace and quiet to write poetry."
Disclaimer
I have decided to review books that I enjoy. I am an avid reader of fantasy, so most of them will be in that genre. I'm not taking any requests, just reading what catches my eyes. You'll find that most of these are from Indie Authors. The way I figure it, David Eddings, Anne McCaffrey, Alan Dean Foster and Piers Anthony (my favorite authors) already have enough reviews, but Indies could always use a few more.
It is important to note here that while I am a writer, I am doing these reviews as a reader. I also know a number of the authors I will be reviewing. This is not an exchange of reviews, nor have I been solicited by those authors to write the review. If I don't like a book, I won't review it.
All my best,
John H. Carroll
The Circle of Light Series is an epic fantasy series filled with dragons, magic, adventure and everything wonderful about fantasy. It is excellent reading for all ages, well written and edited.
Book 1, Soul Bonds
 |
| Smashwords Amazon |
A young slave girl flees from the Lord who owns her, choosing to die in the mountains rather than become one of his 'pretties'. When that death seems all too likely, she is found by one of the Dragon Kindred and Tika's life takes a twist she could never have imagined in her wildest dreams - or her worst nightmares.
This is the first book in the Circles of Light Series. It is epic fantasy safe for young adults, though there is mild fantasy violence. If you're looking for books to keep your interest for lots of reading that may keep you up well past your bedtime, you've found it here.
Tika is a young slave girl with a mysterious past. After escaping from her slavery to almost certain death, she discovers the fascinating world of dragons. Those dragons are the best part of the story. I could tell the author spent a lot of time daydreaming about them and what their existence would be like.
The story begins immediately with Tika's discovery of those dragons. She forms a bond (thus the title name) with one and her life intertwines with the species from that point on. You learn about the dragons and about Tika for a chapter or two, giving you the foundation for the rest of the story.
While Tika is the main character, the story that follows is largely about the dragons. They have personalities as big as they are. The characters of the dragons are distinct. It's easy to fall in love with some and dislike others with a passion. Not surprisingly, they aren't all happy about having a human among them, a fact that becomes pivotal in the events that follow.
Once much of the dragon's story is presented, the plot switches back to Tika, who may be more than just a runaway slave girl. Tika is a strong and courageous woman without being a Mary Sue. She's capable and talented, but inexperienced. There are other strong women in the story whose conversations move the plot forward, rather than focusing on relationships and the such. Basically, the author avoids the pitfalls that plague so many other strong female leads.
Upon reaching a new destination midway through the book, the rest of the world begins opening up. The reader gets to meet some of the other races in the world. It's a fascinating world too with exotic geographies and civilizations that are touched upon without bogging down into mind-numbing world-building.
The villain and some of the evil races are quite easy to dislike. The villain's personality is well developed and multifaceted rather than being one-dimensional. There's also a good deal of mystery as to his past.
The ending closes the book well with excitement and suspense. It leads one to want the next story. The one negative I found was that it was difficult to keep track of the names on occasion as a few of them sound similar. But that was resolved as the personalities developed. Each character is very much their own and their voices are distinct from each other.
One of the things I liked is the mystery involved with every character, who they are and why they are that way. The author teases the reader with hints, but never fully reveals what the past may hold. There are stories to develop through the rest of the series.
E.M. Sinclair's writing is daydreamy (yes, that's a word). You can see the fascination she has in exploring her world with her characters. The book is professional quality and well edited. I highly recommend for all ages.
About the Author
"From as far back as I can remember, I have always had a feeling that Dragons are real. When you look at a wide sky there is a glimpse from the corner of your eye which must surely be a Dragon whisking past. I always regarded the stories of monstrous fierce Dragons as being completely wrong and I detested stories of St George and his dragon killing tendencies.
When I was still a small child my grandfather gave me a copy of Kenneth Grahame's The Reluctant Dragon. It made complete sense to me - a Dragon living in a secluded cave, wanting only peace and quiet to write poetry."
Disclaimer
I have decided to review books that I enjoy. I am an avid reader of fantasy, so most of them will be in that genre. I'm not taking any requests, just reading what catches my eyes. You'll find that most of these are from Indie Authors. The way I figure it, David Eddings, Anne McCaffrey, Alan Dean Foster and Piers Anthony (my favorite authors) already have enough reviews, but Indies could always use a few more.
It is important to note here that while I am a writer, I am doing these reviews as a reader. I also know a number of the authors I will be reviewing. This is not an exchange of reviews, nor have I been solicited by those authors to write the review. If I don't like a book, I won't review it.
All my best,
John H. Carroll
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Book sales data for John H. Carroll, Nov 2010 - July 2013.
Last year about this time, I reported how many sales I had in this post: http://ryallon.blogspot.com/2012/06/my-book-sales-data-nov-2010-april-2012.html
I've decided to do that again. This time however, I'm not separating the numbers by store or month. With 22 titles over 3 years, it's an insanely complicated process to do so.
This is how many total sales I've had by
title. Each author is has
different strengths and weaknesses.
Genre also affects sales. I write
fantasy, which does not have as large of a fan base. If I were writing romance, then these numbers
might have been two or three times as high . . . although I suck at romance, so
they might have been worse.
One of my biggest strengths is the
fact that I’m fairly prolific. I've
published these books and short stories in addition to having a full time job
and spending time with my family.
I don’t market or social network
anywhere near as much I should. There
are so many sites to request reviews, and forums to talk about your book, that
a person could spend the rest of their life marketing one book. I prefer to work on the next, so I do minimal
marketing.
My primary form of marketing is "first book free" and free
short stories. This gets people to know
my name and brings a steady trickle of sales to my other titles.
These numbers are increasing each day, sometimes slowly, sometimes quickly. Also, there's no rhyme or reason as to the dates I chose to do the calculations.
| Sales Master Sheet | June 1 2012 | Oct 1 2012 | July 31 2013 |
| SALES (Date published) |
|||
| Rojuun (Nov 2010) |
295 | 299 | 344 |
| Anilyia (Apr 2011) |
692 | 1106 | 1982 |
| Kethril (July 2011) |
545 | 914 | 1724 |
| Willden omnibus (Oct-2011, unpub Mar 2013) |
659 | 1075 | 1075 |
| Dralin (Oct 2011) |
285 | 488 | 563 |
| Ebudae (May 2012) |
8 | 190 | 887 |
| Pelya (Nov 2012) |
0 | 0 | 716 |
| Wyvern (Apr 2013) |
0 | 0 | 421 |
| Rain Glade (Sep 2012) |
0 | 7 | 133 |
| Emo Bunny Illustrated (Apr 2012) |
6 | 21 | 62 |
| Collection of Children's Stories (Oct 2011) |
189 | 293 | 350 |
| Alien Coffee (Aug 2011) |
194 | 244 | 276 |
| Emo Bunny that Should (Jan 2011, unpub Mar 2013) |
147 | 148 | 148 |
| Zachary Zombie, Lost Boy (Apr 2011) |
62 | 62 | 144 |
| Drippy, Peg-Legged Rainbow (Sep 2011) |
15 | 17 | 25 |
| Unholy Cow (Oct 2011) |
21 | 21 | 57 |
| Attack, Sugar Plum Fairies (Oct 2011) |
52 | 52 | 111 |
| Phairyphant (Mar 2013) |
0 | 0 | 18 |
| Naughty Nanoworms (Mar 2013) |
0 | 0 | 9 |
| Blue Haired Alien Girlfriend (Nov 2010) |
37 | 39 | 91 |
| Test Pilot (Dec 2010) |
22 | 22 | 124 |
| Don't Ever Change (Feb 2011) |
44 | 44 | 67 |
| Zachary Zombie, Wicked Worm (June 2013) |
0 | 0 | 6 |
| Storage Room in the Grey Void (July 2013) |
0 | 0 | 4 |
| Grand Total Sales | 3273 | 5042 | 9337 |
| FREE GIVEAWAYS (Date published) |
|||
| Dralin (Oct 2011) |
0 | 0 | 10592 |
| Rojuun (Nov 2010) |
22728 | 31105 | 45529 |
| Emo Bunny that Should (Jan 2011, unpub Mar 2013) |
64087 | 69095 | 96317 |
| Zachary Zombie, Lost Boy (Apr 2011) |
28852 | 29437 | 39487 |
| Drippy, Peg-Legged Rainbow (Sep 2011) |
12288 | 16582 | 25153 |
| Unholy Cow (Oct 2011) |
10845 | 18192 | 28963 |
| Attack, Sugar Plum Fairies (Oct 2011) |
23905 | 30606 | 57706 |
| Phairyphant (Mar 2013) |
0 | 0 | 5 |
| Naughty Nanoworms (Mar 2013) |
0 | 0 | 6 |
| Zachary Zombie, Wicked Worm (June 2013) |
0 | 0 | 11 |
| Blue Haired Alien Girlfriend (Nov 2010) |
23798 | 25455 | 32402 |
| Test Pilot (Dec 2010) |
12769 | 22538 | 33739 |
| Don't Ever Change (Feb 2011) |
23063 | 24931 | 36483 |
| Grand Total Free Giveaways | 222335 | 267941 | 406393 |
| Heavy Increase in last giveaway column is largely due to 90,000 free giveaways via Apple being reported by Smashwords. Overall, free giveaways are down. In February of 2013, I decided to begin charging for most of my free stories due to the algorithms of most bookstore changing to minimize the power of free. Dralin, Rojuun and Drippy the Peg-Legged Rainbow are the only ones that are currently free. I hope this provides small insight to others. All my best, John H. Carroll |
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Why many of my short stories are no longer free
Sad Day
Most of my short stories are now $.99 instead of free, in spite of the fact that I originally intended to leave them free forever. In addition, I will be charging for future short stories that I write, including the Demented Children stories. :( I'm still leaving the first books of my trilogies free and one of the Demented Children books free at a time. It'll alternate throughout the year.
Why they were free in the first place.
For two reasons. One was the obvious marketing aspect. Most readers buy the books of the authors they know. The best way for me to get people to want to buy my books is to give them a sample of my writing.
The second reason was that I enjoy giving them away for free. Life is hard and often times many people can't afford a lot. There have been times when I've spent my last few dollars on a book rather than a meal. At a couple of points in my life, I've been homeless. If I got a few dollars, I would buy a used book and sit in the park while reading it. Also, a lot of young readers don't have a big allowance for books, so it's really nice to have free ones available.
Why they are not free now.
The self-publishing world is changing fast. What worked a year ago is ineffective now. Giving away hundreds of thousands of copies of my stories was an excellent way to get people to know who I am and gauge whether or not they like my writing style.
That's no longer the case. Amazon is especially eager to put the brakes on free books. When I gave away Rojuun in January of last year, I gave away about 25,000 books in the first two months. When I gave away Dralin this year, I got about 4000 downloads. That's even taking into account that my timing and marketing were better. Part of this is due to a glut of free ebooks on the market and part of it is due to adjusted algorithms that sweeps books under the rug much faster.
I've also noticed similar trends with Apple and B&N. It's getting much harder to compete and they're adjusting how they calculate sales and which books to highlight.
Now, an actual sale where money is exchanged causes my popularity to jump a bit, bringing me closer to the eyes of the masses. Therefore, if I sell a book at $.99, it doesn't just give me $.35, it also makes me more noticeable. The more noticeable I am, the more likely bookstores are to feature my books.
The more books I sell, the more likely I am to be able to make a living off of my writing. If I can do that, I can write more books and that's a win for everyone except the people who hate my writing!
I've mentioned in the past that I really don't know what I'm doing. Most of this is just guesswork based on observations I make about the market. All I can say is that I'm doing my best to write as many books as I can and hopefully make a living off of it at some point in the future.
I still have 3 books for free, "Rojuun", "Dralin", and "Drippy the Peg-Legged Rainbow".
I wish you all the very best and hope you find many wonderful stories to read. :)
John H. Carroll
Most of my short stories are now $.99 instead of free, in spite of the fact that I originally intended to leave them free forever. In addition, I will be charging for future short stories that I write, including the Demented Children stories. :( I'm still leaving the first books of my trilogies free and one of the Demented Children books free at a time. It'll alternate throughout the year.
Why they were free in the first place.
For two reasons. One was the obvious marketing aspect. Most readers buy the books of the authors they know. The best way for me to get people to want to buy my books is to give them a sample of my writing.
The second reason was that I enjoy giving them away for free. Life is hard and often times many people can't afford a lot. There have been times when I've spent my last few dollars on a book rather than a meal. At a couple of points in my life, I've been homeless. If I got a few dollars, I would buy a used book and sit in the park while reading it. Also, a lot of young readers don't have a big allowance for books, so it's really nice to have free ones available.
Why they are not free now.
The self-publishing world is changing fast. What worked a year ago is ineffective now. Giving away hundreds of thousands of copies of my stories was an excellent way to get people to know who I am and gauge whether or not they like my writing style.
That's no longer the case. Amazon is especially eager to put the brakes on free books. When I gave away Rojuun in January of last year, I gave away about 25,000 books in the first two months. When I gave away Dralin this year, I got about 4000 downloads. That's even taking into account that my timing and marketing were better. Part of this is due to a glut of free ebooks on the market and part of it is due to adjusted algorithms that sweeps books under the rug much faster.
I've also noticed similar trends with Apple and B&N. It's getting much harder to compete and they're adjusting how they calculate sales and which books to highlight.
Now, an actual sale where money is exchanged causes my popularity to jump a bit, bringing me closer to the eyes of the masses. Therefore, if I sell a book at $.99, it doesn't just give me $.35, it also makes me more noticeable. The more noticeable I am, the more likely bookstores are to feature my books.
The more books I sell, the more likely I am to be able to make a living off of my writing. If I can do that, I can write more books and that's a win for everyone except the people who hate my writing!
I've mentioned in the past that I really don't know what I'm doing. Most of this is just guesswork based on observations I make about the market. All I can say is that I'm doing my best to write as many books as I can and hopefully make a living off of it at some point in the future.
I still have 3 books for free, "Rojuun", "Dralin", and "Drippy the Peg-Legged Rainbow".
John H. Carroll
Friday, January 25, 2013
Dralin, Kobo and Trindiebooks.com
Trindiebooks.com
Trindiebooks.com is promoting Dralin as the special of the day. http://trindiebooks.com/dralin/
This is a site I recently discovered that finds and promotes books, including many free books, in the Kobo Bookstore. Trindiebooks got their name by combining the words traditional + indie = Trindie
You can follow them on facebook and twitter.
Trindiebooks.com Facebook
Trindiebooks.com Twitter
Kobo
Kobo is probably the most exciting ebook company out there. They are expanding internationally at a phenomenal rate. I see them gradually taking market share from Amazon over the coming years.
Dralin
The book Trindiebooks is promoting today is Dralin, Book 1in the Dralin Trilogy and the first book in my Ryallon series. (The Willden Trilogy was written first, but it occurs in time after the Dralin Trilogy)
Back in 2001, I began a story in the world of Ryallon that started with a man named Calren. As he was beginning his adventure, he met a woman named Pelya who had black hair, blue eyes and a sword at her hip. Pelya was so fascinating to me that I began to explore her story. Next thing I knew, I was writing a book called "The Liquid Wyvern".
Here's the thing about writing: It's a lot of hard work and it takes practice to do it well. After 40,000 words, I realized that I was making countless mistakes and needed to reevaluate. It was another 8 years before I finally began writing again, but I had lost that original book, so I started with the Willden Trilogy instead.
Then I found the Liquid Wyvern on an old disc. Having written three books by then, I realized how bad that original writing was. However, the story of Pelya still fascinated me. So I took the first chapter and turned it into the Dralin Trilogy . . . that's right. There was an entire trilogy in that first chapter. The original chapters 2 and 3 are going to make up the Wyvern Trilogy, which I'm writing now. What's really bad is I had an outline for 30 chapters, each of which could be a book. *sigh* The story deviates from them though, so it won't happen.
Anyway, Dralin begins by introducing the city of Dralin, a character in an of itself . . . a very sinister and dangerous character. It begins with a young runaway woman meeting a handsome and kind Guardsman with a heavy soul.
Description
There are many cities in the world of Ryallon that know the touch of despair and evil, but none like Dralin. Towers of wizards rise high into the air, shrouded in the mists of magical smog. Poor sleep in the alleyways, becoming deformed by pollution. Life is short for many.
Throughout all of it, the cunning and dangerous members of the City Guard do their best to keep evil and crime from destroying the citizens of Dralin. Trained to fight in streets that make no sense, they keep wickedness from taking over completely.
A young woman fleeing her past makes Dralin her destination. A young Guardsman with his own dark history hopes to make a difference in a city that is without hope. Are sorrow and despair their only destiny, or can love redeem them? Two young girls raised in this city learn life's hard lessons early. Will they be defeated by its evil?
Underneath the city lie hidden dangers even more terrible than those that lurk in its dark streets. Ancient ruins of civilizations past still hold onto the memories of how grand they once were, while menacing creatures hope for a tasty meal to venture into their domain.
The Dralin Trilogy is a dark, swords-and-sorcery fantasy series following the lives of a few unusual individuals as they desperately try to survive in the sinister city of Dralin.
Dralin is free in all stores, but I highly recommend Kobo :)
All my best,
John H. Carroll
P.S. Oh, and that original story about a guy named Calren? . . . He's still there, waiting impatiently for me to get to his story. ;)
Trindiebooks.com is promoting Dralin as the special of the day. http://trindiebooks.com/dralin/
This is a site I recently discovered that finds and promotes books, including many free books, in the Kobo Bookstore. Trindiebooks got their name by combining the words traditional + indie = Trindie
You can follow them on facebook and twitter.
Trindiebooks.com Facebook
Trindiebooks.com Twitter
Kobo
Kobo is probably the most exciting ebook company out there. They are expanding internationally at a phenomenal rate. I see them gradually taking market share from Amazon over the coming years.
Dralin
The book Trindiebooks is promoting today is Dralin, Book 1in the Dralin Trilogy and the first book in my Ryallon series. (The Willden Trilogy was written first, but it occurs in time after the Dralin Trilogy)
Back in 2001, I began a story in the world of Ryallon that started with a man named Calren. As he was beginning his adventure, he met a woman named Pelya who had black hair, blue eyes and a sword at her hip. Pelya was so fascinating to me that I began to explore her story. Next thing I knew, I was writing a book called "The Liquid Wyvern".
Here's the thing about writing: It's a lot of hard work and it takes practice to do it well. After 40,000 words, I realized that I was making countless mistakes and needed to reevaluate. It was another 8 years before I finally began writing again, but I had lost that original book, so I started with the Willden Trilogy instead.
Then I found the Liquid Wyvern on an old disc. Having written three books by then, I realized how bad that original writing was. However, the story of Pelya still fascinated me. So I took the first chapter and turned it into the Dralin Trilogy . . . that's right. There was an entire trilogy in that first chapter. The original chapters 2 and 3 are going to make up the Wyvern Trilogy, which I'm writing now. What's really bad is I had an outline for 30 chapters, each of which could be a book. *sigh* The story deviates from them though, so it won't happen.
Anyway, Dralin begins by introducing the city of Dralin, a character in an of itself . . . a very sinister and dangerous character. It begins with a young runaway woman meeting a handsome and kind Guardsman with a heavy soul.
Description
There are many cities in the world of Ryallon that know the touch of despair and evil, but none like Dralin. Towers of wizards rise high into the air, shrouded in the mists of magical smog. Poor sleep in the alleyways, becoming deformed by pollution. Life is short for many.
Throughout all of it, the cunning and dangerous members of the City Guard do their best to keep evil and crime from destroying the citizens of Dralin. Trained to fight in streets that make no sense, they keep wickedness from taking over completely.
A young woman fleeing her past makes Dralin her destination. A young Guardsman with his own dark history hopes to make a difference in a city that is without hope. Are sorrow and despair their only destiny, or can love redeem them? Two young girls raised in this city learn life's hard lessons early. Will they be defeated by its evil?
Underneath the city lie hidden dangers even more terrible than those that lurk in its dark streets. Ancient ruins of civilizations past still hold onto the memories of how grand they once were, while menacing creatures hope for a tasty meal to venture into their domain.
The Dralin Trilogy is a dark, swords-and-sorcery fantasy series following the lives of a few unusual individuals as they desperately try to survive in the sinister city of Dralin.
Dralin is free in all stores, but I highly recommend Kobo :)
All my best,
John H. Carroll
P.S. Oh, and that original story about a guy named Calren? . . . He's still there, waiting impatiently for me to get to his story. ;)
Monday, June 4, 2012
My book sales data, Nov 2010 - April 2012
This is how many sales I’ve had by
title per month. Each author is has
different strengths and weaknesses.
Genre also affects sales. I write
fantasy, which does not have as large of a fan base. If I were writing romance, then these numbers
might have been two or three times as high . . . although I suck at romance, so
they might have been worse.
One of my biggest strengths is the
fact that I’m fairly prolific. I’ve
published these books and short stories in addition to having a full time job
and spending time with my family.
I don’t market or social network
anywhere near as much I should. There
are so many sites to request reviews, and forums to talk about your book, that
a person could spend the rest of their life marketing one book. I prefer to work on the next, so I do minimal
marketing.
My primary form of marketing is free
short stories. This gets people to know
my name and brings a steady trickle of sales to my other titles. You may notice that sales jump in January
2012. That’s when I made Rojuun free and
it drew sales to my other fantasy novels.
I’m going to add total downloads for
each of my freebies at the bottom.
Tracking how many were downloaded each month is impossible due to
insufficient reporting. Apple does not
report downloads of free books at all.
Kobo has not reported free downloads since August 31st.
Nov 2010
(Published “Rojuun” Nov 24 and “Blue Haired Alien Girlfriend” Dec 27)
Rojuun: 7 Smashwords
Dec 2010
(Published “Test Pilot” Dec 24)
Rojuun: 5 Smashwords, 2 Apple
Jan 2011 (Published “The Emo Bunny that Should”
Jan 24)
Rojuun: 2 Smashwords, 3 Apple, 1
B&N
Feb 2011 (Published “Don’t Ever Change” Feb
24)
Rojuun: 2 Smashwords, 8 Apple, 3
B&N
Mar 2011 (Published Rojuun to Amazon March
26)
Rojuun: 8 Smashwords, 11 Apple, 8
B&N
Apr 2011 (Published “Anilyia” April 6 and
“Zachary Zombie” April 19) (Published Anilyia to Amazon April 7)
Rojuun: 7 Smashwords, 3 Apple, 3
B&N, 3 Amazon
Anilyia: 7 Smashwords, 3 Amazon
May 2011 (Published “Blue Haired Alien
Girlfriend”, “Test Pilot”, “The Emo Bunny that Should”, “Zachary Zombie”, and
“Don’t Ever Change” to Amazon May 5)
Rojuun: 2 Smashwords, 1 Apple, 9
B&N, 31 Amazon
Anilyia: 2 Smashwords, 8 Apple, 2
B&N, 18 Amazon
June 2011
Rojuun: 2 Smashwords, 6 Apple, 7 B&N, 15 Amazon
Anilyia: 2 Smashwords, 5 Apple, 3
B&N, 16 Amazon
July 2011 (Published “Kethril” July 17)
Rojuun: 4 Smashwords, 4 Apple, 5
B&N, 58 Amazon
Anilyia: 4 Smashwords, 5 Apple, 3
B&N, 12 Amazon
Kethril: 5 Smashwords, 1 B&N, 7
Amazon
Aug 2011 (Published “Alien Coffee” August
31)
Rojuun: 2 Smashwords, 8 Apple, 22
Amazon
Anilyia: 1 Smashwords, 4 Apple, 1
B&N, 17 Amazon
Kethril: 1 Smashwords, 7 Apple, 1
B&N, 23 Amazon
Sep 2011 (Published “Drippy the Peg-Legged
Rainbow” September 20)
Rojuun: 1 Smashwords, 4 Apple, 4
B&N 7 Amazon
Anilyia: 2 Smashwords, 2 Apple, 2
B&N, 6 Amazon
Kethril: 2 Smashwords, 3 Apple, 3
B&N, 29 Amazon
Alien Coffee: 2 Smashwords, 3 Apple,
3 B&N, 29 Amazon
Oct 2011 (Published “Unholy Cow” October 3,
“The Complete Willden Trilogy” October 8, “Dralin” October 16, “A Collection of
Stories for Demented Children” October 21, and “Attack of the Sugar Plum
Fairies” October 21)
Rojuun: 1 B&N, 11 Apple, 9
Amazon
Anilyia: 6 Apple, 4 Amazon
Kethril: 1 Smashwords, 3 Apple, 8
Amazon
Alien Coffee: 2 Smashwords, 3 B&N, 13 Amazon
Willden Omnibus: 4 Smashwords, 11
Amazon
Collection of Stories for Demented
Children: 13 Amazon
Nov 2011 (November suuuuuuucked for sales
directly through Smashwords. I’m really not sure why.)
Rojuun: 2 Apple, 5 Amazon
Anilyia: 4 Apple, 3 Amazon
Kethril: 5 Apple, 2 B&N, 7
Amazon
Alien Coffee: 3 Apple, 4 B&N, 20
Amazon
Willden Omnibus: 3 Apple, 5 B&N,
10 Amazon
Collection of Stories for Demented
Children: 1 Smashwords, 24 Amazon
Dec 2011 (Made Rojuun free on Smashwords.
Once again, sales sucked through Smashwords.
I just don’t know why November and December were so bad there.)
Rojuun: 1 B&N, 2 Apple, 8 Amazon
Anilyia: 9 Apple, 1 B&N, 7
Amazon
Kethril: 11 Apple, 1 B&N, 5
Amazon
Alien Coffee: 1 Apple, 6 B&N, 20
Amazon
Willden Omnibus: 1 Smashwords, 6 Apple,
4 B&N, 10 Amazon
Collection of Stories for Demented
Children: 2 Apple, 4 B&N, 39 Amazon
Jan 2012 (Amazon price matched Rojuun for
free, Rojuun sales after this through Amazon are Amazon UK, which hasn’t
pricematched. You may noticed the jump
in sales for the rest of the Willden Trilogy through Apple, B&N and
especially Amazon.)
Rojuun: 4 Amazon
Anilyia: 3 Smashwords, 29 Apple, 7
B&N, 126 Amazon, 1 Sony
Kethril: 2 Smashwords, 22 Apple, 7
B&N, 91 Amazon, 1 Sony
Alien Coffee: 6 B&N, 24 Amazon
Willden Omnibus: 9 Smashwords, 39
Apple, 10 B&N, 84 Amazon, 2 Sony
Collection of Stories for Demented
Children: 1 Smashwords, 9 B&N, 22 Amazon
Feb 2012
Rojuun: 3 Amazon
Anilyia: 1 Smashwords, 16 Apple, 19
B&N, 98 Amazon
Kethril: 1 Smashwords, 14 Apple, 16
B&N, 85 Amazon
Alien Coffee: 2 Apple, 2 B&N, 6
Amazon
Willden Omnibus: 7 Smashwords, 23
Apple, 17 B&N, 109 Amazon
Collection of Stories for Demented
Children: 1 Smashwords, 5 Apple, 3 B&N, 20 Amazon, 1 Kobo
Mar 2012
Anilyia: 8 Smashwords, 27 Apple, 9
B&N, 72 Amazon, 1 Sony
Kethril: 5 Smashwords, 22 Apple, 7
B&N, 53 Amazon, 1 Sony
Alien Coffee: 1 Apple, 4 B&N, 14
Amazon, 1 Kobo
Willden Omnibus: 11 Smashwords, 27
Apple, 24 B&N, 77 Amazon, 1 Sony
Collection of Stories for Demented
Children: 1 Apple, 2 B&N, 23 Amazon
Apr 2012 (Published “The Emo Bunny that
Should - Illustrated Edition” April 6)
Anilyia: 27 Apple, 21 B&N, 53
Amazon, 1 Sony
Kethril: 7 Smashwords, 25 Apple, 19
B&N, 51 Amazon, 1 Sony
Alien Coffee: 1 Smashwords, 1
B&N, 15 Amazon
Willden Omnibus: 7 Smashwords, 34
Apple, 11 B&N, 90 Amazon, 1 Sony
Collection of Stories for Demented
Children: 1 Smashwords, 2 Apple, 4 B&N, 16 Amazon
Illustrated Emo: 1 Smashwords, 4 Amazon
May 2012 (Published “Ebudae” May 13)
This data is incomplete, so I’m not
going to add it.
These are my current totals of sales
as of the date of the post. There are a
few Smashwords and B&N sales from May included.
|
Rojuun (sales)
|
295
|
|
|
Anilyia
|
692
|
|
|
Kethril
|
545
|
|
|
Willden Trilogy
|
659
|
|
|
Dralin
|
285
|
|
|
Ebudae
|
8
|
|
|
Emo Illustrated
|
6
|
|
|
Demented Collection
|
189
|
|
|
Alien Coffee
|
194
|
|
|
Total Sales
|
2873
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
Unexpected sales:
These are sales for books published
to Amazon that I wanted to be free. It
takes a while for Amazon to pricematch.
These are legitimate sales for which I earned money, even though I
wanted to give them away for free.
|
Titles that shouldn't be free
|
||
|
Emo Bunny
|
147
|
|
|
Zachary
|
66
|
|
|
Drippy
|
15
|
|
|
Unholy
|
21
|
|
|
Attack
|
52
|
|
|
Blue Haired
|
37
|
|
|
Test Pilot
|
22
|
|
|
Don't Ever Change
|
44
|
|
|
Total unexpected sales
|
404
|
|
|
Grand Sales Total
|
3277
|
In addition, I sold 250 books
through Amazon in May that isn’t included in these numbers. I don’t know how many I sold through Apple,
but it’s been running 30-80 per month this year.
Free downloads
These are all the downloads of
stories I give away for free. Free books
help readers to become accustomed to my name.
They also link readers to all of my other works.
|
Rojuun
|
22728
|
|
|
Emo Bunny
|
64087
|
|
|
Zachary
|
28852
|
|
|
Drippy
|
12288
|
|
|
Unholy
|
10845
|
|
|
Attack
|
23905
|
|
|
Blue Haired
|
23798
|
|
|
Test Pilot
|
12769
|
|
|
Don't Ever Change
|
23063
|
|
|
Total Free
|
222335
|
I hope all of this information will
help other Indie Writers to understand what to expect. Sales for most people start out slow and
gradually increase. A big key is that the more you write, the more likely you
are to sell books.
All my best,
John H. Carroll
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