January Sales Reports

Today is February 15th, which means that I was granted the privileged of seeing my first monthly sales report. Hooray! And...tl;dr: I'm not a millionaire. But that's okay, because Family History: Part 1 was only published on January 4th, 2012. It would actually be pretty silly to expect to make that much money off a single $2.99 title in less than a month.

Now, for some actual statistics...

Total Amount Earned in Amazon US: $29.30
Total Amount Earned in Amazon UK: £9.94 (~ $15.58)
Total Earned in January 2012: ~$44.88

Many of you are probably thinking, "That's not very much at all!" But again, keep in mind that these numbers represent totals from less than a month of publication. Additionally, it is worth noting that, at the moment, I am exclusively published on Amazon. I'm not planning on continuing this exclusivity deal, though that is another post for another time.

Now, allow me to do a quick-and-dirty breakdown by title.

Family History: Part 1; US

• 5 Units Sold at 70% Royalty: $13.00
• 1 Unit Borrowed: $1.60
• 331 Units Downloaded Free

Family History: Part 1; UK

• 4 Units Sold at 70% Royalty:  £7.04 (~$11.04)
• 88 Units Downloaded Free

The Dowry; US

• 11 Units Sold at 70% Royalty; 4 Units Returned: $14.35
• 867 Units Downloaded Free

The Dowry; UK

• 2 Units Sold at 70% Royalty:  £2.64 (~$4.14)
• 111 Units Downloaded Free

Family History: Part 2; US

• 188 Units Downloaded Free

Family History: Part 2; UK

• 47 Units Downloaded Free

The Night Life: Chapter 1; US

• 1 Unit Sold at 35% Royalty: $0.35
• 138 Units Downloaded Free

The Night Life: Chapter 1; UK

• 2 Units Sold at 35% Royalty; 1 Unit Returned:  £0.26 (~$0.40)
• 33 Units Downloaded Free

Granted, it must be noted that KDP sent out a mass email tonight about sales reports not all being correct. From what I understand, the amount of money I earned this month should be correct, though I do believe there might be a few free downloads missing. However, for those who are in the loop who are thinking, "So why is it that YOUR sales reports are correct?", I figured I might as well throw in this little addendum to calm your nerves.

What I'm Expecting

• I honestly think the fact that I got any sales at all this month was somewhat of a fluke. I'm not expecting these numbers again, at least not for awhile. 
• However, since I have recently received two reviews for Family History: Part 1, I am hoping that I somehow see a jump in sales because of this.
• In terms of sales, I'm expecting to maybe average around $20 total, between the US and UK, per month. Maybe. (Like I said, I strongly believe that this prior month was merely a fluke.)

What I'm Hoping For...

• Most Importantly: I'm hoping to have The Night Life up for sale sometime around August. 
• I would be tickled if it became my best-selling novel. Of all of them, I believe this one deserves it the most.
• Money-Wise: I want to earn enough money from my writing that I can order a load of $100 bills, just so that I can fill a large room with said money and throw money all over myself while screaming, "I'm rich! I'm riiiich!" Realistically of course, I don't ever see this happening. :)

I Just Got My First Review. Eeeek.

Okay, so it's a 3-star review.

Personally, I'm totally cool with that, though. Because to me, 3-star reviews still mean that they liked it, or at least they thought it was okay.

Considering I wrote Family History Part 1 and Part 2 two years ago, though, and had not really looked at them too much since, I'm good with that. I know that I've gotten better. I also know that not everybody is going to like my writing. In fact, I'm surprised anybody's liked it enough to buy it. Especially The Dowry. I'm dreading the day somebody finally decides to review that book...*shudder*.

But honestly, I would rather have a mix of good and bad reviews. There's this one guy on my twitter who is constantly boasting about how his book has something like 27 Five-Star reviews. I clicked the link to his book to see if it was true. It was, indeed true, but there was something else missing - other reviews. That's right, his 27 5-Star Reviews were his only reviews.

Honestly, that just makes me feel like he has a generous extended family or an extensive group of friends.

Anyways, here is the link to Family History: Part 1 with the review. I'll post the text below:

KT Hall's Family History Part 1 is a generational tale about Collie Barrett and her descendants and how they deal with an old family curse. The story begins with Collie and her brief but passionate sexual encounter with a stranger. She gets pregnant from this encounter with Marie. Marie grows up to become a beautiful albeit naïve girl who, like her mother before her, finds herself with child and an uncertain future. 

It's easy to mistake the novel, which is set in the backdrop of 19th century England, as a historical romance. It's not. Far from it. Even though the bulk of the book deals with romantic love, the characters are complex and do not adhere to any kind of stereotype that you might find in romance books. Collie for instance is a strong-willed woman who is quite intuitive about people. Yet, her daughter, Marie, is almost the opposite. It's revealed in the book that while she thought she was pregnant with her beau's child, it was in fact his cousin that she had unwittingly been sleeping with. 

The writing is focused and does not meander. You can tell that KT Hall is a precision writer who values control. In fact, it might be too controlled. The story is divided into different time periods that almost read like thinly connected vignettes. This is a good thing if you like reading snippets of what life is like in 19th century England. However, in this case, you won't know it without the chapter titles. The author does not take the time to world-build so you're left with little to discover about what life was like back then. The characters all talk like it's Midwest USA, 2012. Maybe that's a point, if not the point. Some readers will like it because it's postmodern. For me, at least, it's a distraction and therefore at times it pulls me from the story, particularly when a character refers to someone as a "guy". Would it have killed the author to at least use some English slang--not all the time but at least once or twice--to create verisimilitude?

As for the family curse: I don't think it's ever intended to be a mystery. In the first few pages, you'll find out what it is. And yet, the author never truly delves into it. Perhaps, again, it's because the story doesn't end with Part 1.
Still, despite these shortcomings, the book is an enticing read, one filled with intrigue. When you read this book keep in mind that it's the journey that matters not the destination. It is, after all, just the first part of an even bigger story. I can't wait to find out what happens next.

...my favorite part was "KT Hall is a precision writer who values control."


Yay for first reviews!

And Now, Why I'm Here - A First Look at "Family History".

Family History.


What is it?

Put simply, and without much explanation, it's a project I worked painstakingly on for about 2-3 years.

And now, it's just "gathering dust" in my hard drive, because it's a 180k word monstrosity that I was sure was pretty much unpublishable.

Well...okay, so I didn't really try that hard, I'll admit, because reading so many "We don't like stories that are over 100k words unless you're Stephen King" was pretty daunting to me.

But, I kept it around while simultaneously working on my other (and current) project, The Night Life, thinking that I would one day do something with it.

And now, I think that day has finally arrived.

With the latest e-readers becoming so popular and self-publishing becoming more relevant, I figured that I might as well take this project and put it online. Hell, maybe I'll make $10, whereupon I could treat myself to a nice cheeseburger.

More importantly: maybe somebody would read it!

So, what's it about?

Well...it's about a lot of things.

But namely, it's about a family, and how they cope with an old curse.

But rather than attempt to type out a boring old synopsis, here's a preview:

Pressing the pen to the paper, Calvin Connor Dowling Deland began his last words: “It was the beginning of the end…”

            He paused to think, contemplating everything that had happened throughout his too-short life. He thought of Amber Ozzly, of Henry Austin and Marie, and of Northgate. He thought about all of the pain and suffering his ancestors endured and of the horrific consequences of fate’s twisted sense of humor. He thought of Jamie, time travel, and the limitless supply of drugs; Thalopolis, sex, Joel Barrett, and his mother. Though of course, nothing occupied more space in his mind than Collie. Picturing her face, he continued to write.

            “She was the beginning, and I was the end. She was the matriarch while I was the last loser at the end of the line… yet how could I possibly be the end when I’ve completely given myself over to the beginning?”

            “Because,” he scribbled, “I am not the end. My family line is not a line at all, but a circle. Because when you take a piece of string and connect the two ends, they will inevitably meet. Thus, like a circle, like Joel Barrett’s love for his wife, and like my enduring love for Collie, Family History does not end. In fact, it’s only beginning…again.”

            When he finished scribbling his last thoughts, Calvin gently placed Family History on the floor and replaced his pen with a small pistol containing a single bullet.