Hello Posse,
I'm sure you have noticed that my blog posts have been few and far between lately. In truth, I was very burnt out after getting the ebook of Into the West: Sharon Springs published.
I had been staying up until about 4 or 5 am many days working on getting everything set and ready for publication. I was spending a good deal of money on advertising and promotions. I put the book up for pre-order to try to help create some anticipation and possibly gain some extra sales. It was a lot of work and I was excited to do it.
However, since releasing the book for pre-release sales and including all sales up to today, I have made about $6. Needless to say, the excitement is gone.
I am really at a loss. I had a great response when I gave the first book in the serial away for free. It made it to number 41 on the best sellers list for free westerns on Amazon. I had hoped that would bring more readers to the serial. Unfortunately, that has not happened.
I have been spending a lot of time discussing my options with P.R. I really want to finish this serial because the story is important to me but I am spending a lot of time and money on something that isn't profitable. In fact, I'm losing a LOT of money daily on this endeavor.
The options we have discussed are:
1. Finish my Into the West Saga Serial (ITWSS) to the fifth novella as planned. Ignore the sales and just consider this serial as practice, which is basically why I started out with a novella serial in the first place, to learn to write well in small instalments in case I sucked at writing fiction.
2. Take a break from this serial and write something in another genre to possibly get some actual profits coming in so I can come back and finish the ITWSS later.
3. Produce the first audiobook for ITWSS and see if that brings in any new interest.
This is where I'm at right now. No matter which one I end up choosing I will be writing the first chapter of Into the West: Most Wanted and posting it on the hidden page on my website for those who have read Into the West: Sharon Springs and found the clues to find the hidden page. I actually plan to start writing that either this weekend or Monday but beyond those plans, I don't know where I will be going from here.
I do promise to let you know when the first chapter of Into the West: Most Wanted is up on the hidden page for those who have or will eventually find it. I also promise to let you know where I go from here as soon as I figure that out. If any of you have suggestions. I would love to hear from you.
Until then, thanks for following my crazy attempts at building a writing career. My greatest hope is to make it so you can all one day tell your friends you followed me when I was just a struggling writer before I became NYT best selling author! If you are going to dream, dream big!
Take care,