More Numbers

The whole family is sick other than me so all I've had to do today between taking care of 3 people is run a few numbers between getting up and down. Here are my 2011 sales on Kindle:

1) The Assassin
2) Escape
3) Bounty Hunter
4) Deadlock
5) Day of the Assassin
6) A Soul Worth Taking

I even took it a step further and analyzed my all-time sales since my first book in 2008 and their percentages.

Amazon Kindle   80%
Paperbacks         7%
B&N Nook        6%
Mobipocket        5%
Smashwords       1%
Apple                 1%

I was surprised that paperbacks came in at #2, even though it was a distant second. I would expect going forward that Amazon will continue to be where the majority of my sales come from. Mobipocket has ceased operations so that is no longer in the equation. I imagine the Kindle will continue to be at least 80% of my sales unless I can make a bigger dent into the Nook store, but it seems harder for unknown authors to make a mark there.

Just some numbers I thought were interesting and figured I'd share.

The Protector

The Protector is out! Pick up your copies at Amazon or Barnes and Noble. Here are the links:

The Protector
Drobania is on the verge of a rebellion. The leader of the rebel forces is a great warrior named Todel and was once the comander of the empire's elite guard unit, The Protectors. The rebels have been raiding the lands of neighboring countries in hopes of embroiling Drobania in war, allowing them to take over. In order to stop the rebellion it's decided by Drobania's Queen and Council that the best way to end it is to eliminate their leader.


A small band of soldiers is sent to the mountains to find Todel, who is unmatched in battle, and kill him. The man in charge of this band, Taidyn, is the current commander of The Protectors, and the only man capable of killing their former leader. Though Taidyn reluctantly accepts his orders, he is unsure if he is able to complete his mission. The reason....Todel is his father. Will Taidyn be able to kill his father? Or will he succumb to his temptations and join his father's fight against the empire? Taidyn will embark on a mission to save not only the empire, but himself.

Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/The-Protector-ebook/dp/B0078ISENM/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_t_1
 
Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-protector-rye-james/1108814972?ean=2940013901414&itm=2&usri=rye+james

The Protector cover

Here it is, courtesy of Streetlight Graphics, the cover for The Protector.

2012 Goals

I probably should've posted this 4 weeks ago, but better late than never, right? For those wondering about those Kindle sales from my last post, don't worry, it'll be posted this week. But until then, my goal for this year is to get 3 books released. The Protector is a definite, the cover's being worked on now, and is being edited. It will definitely be out by March. The Crew will most likely be the 2nd one. At the rate I'm writing, The Crew should be done writing by mid-March, at which point it can be edited and the cover done. I'm shooting for July-August release. The 3rd book will most likely by The Woods. It was actually supposed to be next after The Protector, but writing The Crew has been going so smoothly that it's gone past it. Even so, I'd like to release one book of The Evil Series each year, so if The Woods got released later in the year, that would be accomplished. I'm shooting for a October-November release for that. I'm typically not the fastest writer, as I tend to edit as I go, if there's no hiccups it's possible I could get a 4th book out...maybe. No guarantees on that though.

My other goal, as it is for every writer, is to get more sales. My sales for Barnes and Noble, after a good start, have been horrible. Somehow, I need to find a way to reach those readers. Similarly, I need to increase sales at Amazon. At times they're OK, at times they're slow. I haven't got that one breakout book yet that catapults me, maybe this year it'll happen. You can never predict how a book will connect with people though so we'll see.

2011 numbers part 1

At the end of the year I look back and tally up all the numbers from each platform and see how each book did. So far, everything's totaled, except for the Kindle sales....which make up a large majority of my sales. Nevertheless, I figured I'd share the rankings of the books across the other platforms (Nook, Smashwords, Mobipocket) I get the reports each month but looking at them all together, it's not what I thought it would've been. Here are the rankings excluding Amazon:

1) Escape
2) Bounty Hunter
3) The Assassin
4) Deadlock
5) A Soul Worth Taking
6) Day of the Assassin

I found several interesting tidbits from this. First, Escape has always sold the best on Mobipocket, but I didn't realize it was selling the best on Nook as well. Second, sales on Nook started off well from Jan. through Mar. but fell off a cliff after that. I'm not sure what happened but they've never picked up after that either. Part of it may be that I've found it very challenging marketing to Nook owners. Somehow, I've got to get those numbers to pick up. My next post will be with the Kindle sales in which I fully expect The Assassin to take over the top spot. Stay tuned.

Website

Just wanted to let everyone know that I am working on changing the website a little bit. The current website is a little bland and boring so I wanted to spruce it up a little. So far, I've added a direct Twitter feed to the main page as well as uncluttering the front page. I've changed a couple sections already. I'll be taking down the short story on there and listing all my books along with links to where to buy them (Amazon, BN, etc.). I'm also adding a Future Works section to keep everyone informed on what's in the pipeline. This page will have the titles, along with what the story's about, word count, percentage to completion, and what status the book's currently in (editing, writing, etc.). I think that'll be a cool feature to follow. I've also added a review/interview section for people to see what interviews I've given and some of the reviews I've received. I've also put in a Connect With Me area where people can find me on Twitter, Facebook, Blog, and Email. Hopefully these changes will make the site better. Any ideas or suggestions feel free to drop me a line.

Deadlock FREE

One of my books, Deadlock, will be free on Amazon from Dec. 14 to Dec. 18.  This is part of a new program Amazon is offering in which Deadlock will be exclusive to them for the next 90 days. So if you're interested in the book and have a Nook, or something else, you'll have to wait. Judging from the sales of Deadlock on non Kindles...there aren't many of you out there! I'm hoping this will help sales for the other books and give me a little jump. Please tell all your Kindle owning friends!