Hello, Readers!

It’s been a HECK of a week! “War of Night” debuted on November 12th. The journey has been an emotional roller-coaster. Was it a success? Well… that depends on your POV.

What did we expect to see?

Well, I’m not sure we had expectations. But, we knew that 90% of indie-authors who self publish never sell 100 copies of their book in its lifespan. So, that seemed like the logical first bar. The “median” book (taking out the “big dogs”) sells about 250-1000 copies in the lifespan of the book. If a book sells 3000 copies (in the trad published world) it is generally seen as a success! So, those seemed like the bars.

• 100 +
• 250-1000
• 3000+

What did we want to see?

Well, I was hoping that numbers would come in FASTER! The slow reporting (due to shipping, fulfillment, potential returns, etc.) is just EXCRUTIATING. Digital copies (ebooks) may not come in for another MONTH! What the heck?! So, we’re looking at physical sales only that have been reported. We also wanted to see the details of WHO (stores) bought them. We did a specific campaign for a store and wanted to be able to see if there was a return on investment. Do we see that? Not at this time. Just the general region (US, UK, AUS, etc.) that the purchases were made in. Frustrating to say the least.

What DID we see?!

Well, that’s the good news! We are really happy so far with what we’ve seen.

According to the limited data we have… we’ve seen at least 106 physical copies be sold retail. Combined with the 8 we sold in person (Thanks LodgeCon!) that means our initial numbers are sitting at 114 copies sold (with UNREPORTED sales still to count). So, for those of you following along, that means we’ve ALREADY cleared our first benchmark!

With another event (such as C2E2) plus any digital sales, the second bar should be ENTIRELY doable. Plus, there were little joys in there such as the single sale in the UK!

Between retail and independent sales, we’ve seen about $500 in royalties. Is it enough to cover the expenses of the book? No. Is it enough to retire on? No. But is it a start? YES!

Greyson and I have watched video after video of people saying “Oh, if you put out 20 books like me, you TOO can make $1000 a year!” We just shook our head and asked… “Is that enough?” Our answer was “NO!”

We’ll actually be planning a video ourselves of what we’ve learned, what it meant, and how we did things. We want to encourage other authors to go out and SELL. Look for the wins!

Also… if you haven’t got a copy… what are you waiting for?!

What’s Next for Sainan Books?

Well, big things.

First, editing “Old Bones, Old Ways.” Second, Greyson is DEEP into editing “Welcome to Avernus.” I’ve begun a side-project about dragons (yet untitled) that has me super excited. AND… we’re likely going to be looking into an AudioBook series for “Manticore’s Shadow” once “Old Bones” is published.

Event functions (C2E2, FanExpo, Huntsville Comic Con, etc.) are all being looked at and applied for. As those get announced, we’ll hit them on socials. But it’s exciting times!

Gratitude

So, was it a success? Yes. Absolutely. We’ve got our first book into the world. People are reading it. Sales were WAY above 90% of the market, and WE did it. But, we didn’t do it alone!

Greyson’s support staff of Derek and Johnny. My Wife and kids. Our family of beta readers. Jeremy Close (our webmaster). These people have stood by us since the beginning. Without their support, this dream would have been FAR more challenging. Thank you to everyone for what you’ve done for us.

Until next time. Be Kind.

Clevenger

P.S. Library?!