When I published my first book (Raven) back in the Spring of 2011, I had absolutely no idea what I was letting myself in for. I hadn't a clue about how to get myself known in a world full of authors. And over the past couple of years this world has grown dramatically. I think I was lucky I started when I did, because I managed to get my foot in the door just before millions of other authors started to realise how easy (and awesome) it is to publish independently.
Raven's sales were slow at first, a few per month for a couple of months. Then around the time that I was about to release my second book, December Moon, I decided to make Raven free. Boy was that a great idea! I believe that single moment was what launched my writing career.
Raven continues to be free and still sees downloads in the thousands every month.
With the launch of the first book (The Ghost of Josiah Grimshaw) in my new series (The Morgan Sisters) late last year, I had yet another struggle to let everyone know about it. Sure, I had thousands of readers of The Raven Saga, but no way of letting them all know about the new series. So here I am, essentially starting from scratch. Earlier this year, I penned a novella (Daisy Madigan's Paradise) and made it available for free. Downloads have been slow - nowhere near as good as Raven (even though I've had some awesome reviews). I wondered whether it's because it's a novella? Maybe people aren't so keen? I really don't know. Since then, I've released the next book in the series, The Temporal Stone. And to try and increase sales, I've just made the first book free as well. Fingers crossed that it will work this time! Wish me luck!
Be sure to visit all the other Indie Lifers this month: