Tuesday, July 26, 2011

10,000 Sales and Counting!!!

by Terry Spear

Marriage, Las Vegas Style

Ebook By Terry Spear

Published: July 23, 2011
Category: Fiction » Literature » Romance - Contemporary
Category: Fiction » Literature » Romance - Adult
Words: 48015
Amazon
B&N

I self-published for several reasons, but it turned into 10,000 in short order!



1. I was giving away my stories for free in my newsletter and readers wanted to buy them to get them in one book instead of reading them as a serialized read.

2. Fans were asking me to write faster, but I already write fast and have tons of stories ready, or nearly ready, to be published.

3. Some were novellas and my publishers weren't interested in anything that short. Some had already sold, the companies have bitten the dust, and I had the rights back. The epub companies they had been with hadn't sold but maybe a couple of dozen of the stories during a time when ebooks weren't as much in demand.

4. Some were novels that other publishers turned down. I'm never one to start something and not see it through. But after a couple of rejections, I'd set the manuscript aside and figure, the next one will make it. I did this so often, that I have a huge stockpile of books.


B&N
5. I'm eclectic, so love to read just about anything, and when I find an author's voice I love, I read everything she or he writes. Some readers are like me and are willing to check out my other works even if they're not about wolves or Highlanders. :)

Lady Caroline and the Egotistical Earl

Ebook By Terry Spear
Published: Jun. 12, 2011
Category: Fiction » Literature » Romance - Paranormal
Category: Fiction » Literature » Romance - Historical
Words: 91825



6. I can't NOT write. I have to write about different stuff as the mood moves me. It's that old saying, "Write the book of your heart." When I do that, I can get it out of my system and continue to write fresh werewolf stories, or fresh Highlander stories without them sounding as if I'm writing the same story over again, just changing the character names. I love my Highlanders and I love my wolves and now my jaguars, but it really helps if I can take a short break and write something else. Or even write something else while I'm working on a longer book and am trying to figure out where to go with it.

7. I hoped that maybe short reads that weren't as expensive might catch new readers' eyes and after giving them a try, they'd check out my other books.

8. I hope that someday I can just write and quit the day job.

9. I love to create new stories and no publisher would publish them as fast as I can write. :)

10. I love being able to write out of the box.


B&N
So 10 reasons turned into 10,000 as I uploaded my very first three vampire shorts the last two days of February.

I made 21 sales on Amazon that first day. More than I had made at one of my ebook publishers in the two years they'd had any of the books.

Vampiric Calling Goddess in Training

And the sales would dip and rise daily as I continued to edit books and add them to the growing list of books offered for sale. Until I counted them all up and was shocked to find I had sold 10,000 books already!

One of the reasons I'm self-publishing is that I can. It's like when I was doing embroider work and cross-stitching and quilting and rug-hooking...I had given more than enough to my family members that they couldn't use or want any more. And I began to incorporate that work into original handmade teddy bears that began to win awards. I offered them to the world.

So it is with my writing. I have more than enough stories to share with the world. And now more than ever is the time to do so.

I'm working on revisions to a couple who made a hasty marriage in Las Vegas, and I'm over a quarter way done on writing the new book in the World of Fae series, The Winged Fae. No sense in stopping now!!!




Do you find you have more ideas than you can write???

I have so many partially written books in addition to the fully written books that it makes it fun when I have a break between contracted books to look them over and work on them some more.

Whatever way you go with publishing, never give up! Write to your heart's content and love what you do! Readers will appreciate you for it. :)

Terry
"Giving new meaning to the term alpha male."
www.terryspear.com

6 comments:

Sheila Tenold said...

You inspire me, Terry. Your multi-genre writing--following your passion of the moment--is a great lesson.

I have a futuristic story premise which came to me in one huge brain dump. I've never considered that genre before. Now might be the time to open the folder and let fly!

Mona Risk said...

Terry, you're my hero. Yes I have so many ideas in my head and four books written half or third way, but where on earth do you get the time with a full-time job?

I don't have a full time job anymore but I am often taking care of my grandchildren, or having visitors at home or traveling. I've asked for one week of complete freedom as Christmas gift!


I also think that you are so successful because you already built a large readership.

Josie said...

Terry,
As I've mentioned before, I am in awe of all that you've accomplished. Everything you touch turns to gold.

Dawn Marie Hamilron said...

Terry, you are a great inspiration. Thanks for sharing your success!

Terry Spear said...

Ohmigosh, ladies, thanks so much for stopping by to comment. Work has been horrible and I had rush edits to do on THE SEAL IN WOLF'S CLOTHING, yesterday, still need to do the synopsis, and am now working on final line edits on DREAMING OF THE WOLF and have them due on A GHOST OF A CHANCE AT LOVE for this weekend. So I totally, totally forgot to check this blog on the 26th for comments!!!

Sheila, thanks so much!!! Yes, absolutely. If you are inspired to write the futuristic story, go for it. The Shadow Elf was like that for me. And I also wrote a shape-shifter futuristic that someday I've got to revise and post. But I loved writing them, loved trying something new and different. It was actually my first book dealing with shapeshifters!

Mona, thanks!!!! I HAVE to write all the time. It's like with all these edits. I go in at 11:30 this morning to work. So I'm working on the final line edits for DREAMING OF THE WOLF right now. I've already addressed the minor notes last night, and today I'm rereading the whole story to ensure we haven't missed anything. But even so, I probably won't have it done until my day off on Saturday. Then I have the other book to edit. :) Oh, and the synopsis to write for SEAL.

It does help to have a readership. And having more books out does help to spur on even more readership! So it's a win-win situation. :)

Josie, thanks so much!!! That makes me think of Midas! I'm so glad that I kept writing, even when the books didn't sell, and now have them to revise and can sell them myself. I'm so glad I kept submitting in the meantime. And no matter what, I keep learning how to do it better. We just can't ever give up!

Years ago, I wondered why I did this to myself--why I kept submitting to get rejected. But then I knew the truth. I can't not write. And I knew someday...one of the books would catch hold. And then I'd know it was all worth it. :)

Thanks, Dawn!!! Others before me inspired me to keep writing to fulfill the dream of publication. I was inspired by their stories and was glad to hear of their successes, knowing if I kept pursuing publication, I'd make it too.

Before I started self-publishing, I didn't just jump into it, but read about several others who have made a success at this. So I decided to do it, not sure if I would be a success at it, but like anything else, you won't know until you try, and couldn't love it more!! Thanks so much!!

Stephanie Burkhart said...

Terry, congrats on the success. It's very inspiring. Continued success, my friend!
Smiles
Steph