Monday, July 19, 2010

You Too Can Be a Kindle Millionaire....Or Not

Not too long ago, back in May, I put up an e-book called Reaper's Dozen at the Amazon Kindle store and Smashwords.Com. I figured I would give it a shot as others, some notable but others less so, weren't doing too badly with their e-books and bringing in some extra cash besides. Reviews have been kind (on Amazon); in fact, amazingly kind, as Evan Lewis was over at his blog http://davycrockettsalmanack.blogspot.com/2010/07/reapers-dozen-brian-drakes-salute-to.html.

Do note that Reaper's Dozen is a collection of short stories, and I think that's the reason sales have been so bleh since we started this. My other writing pals, one of whom is pulling in around $300 a month for her work (I could sure use that!), are doing far better, and they think it's because my book is note a full novel and readers would rather have that. I don't blame them as I myself am less likely to try out a new author unless it's a novel I can really invest in; after that, if short stories come out, I'll snatch those up, too.

So it's too early to call the Brian Drake E-book Experiment a failure, as I'm sure that once my spy novel The Eagle Intercept goes up, sales for Reaper's Dozen will pick up. Heck, my other pals have more than one title available, so it makes sense.

If not...

Well, I would rather not think about "if not" at this point, because it usually ends with my jumping off the roof.

Granted I'm only two floors up, and would cause far more embarrassment to myself than damage (what else is new?) but you know what I mean.

And if you haven't been over to Amazon to check out the action, here's a convenient link:

2 comments:

  1. I prefer short stories so I don't understand the mindset but many people have told me how they prefer full length novels to the pithy tales.

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  2. Sometimes an author's short stories are better than the equivalent novels, such as Paul Cain and "Fast One". I like the book but it's not what I turn to when I want a good example of his work--for that, I go to the short story collection "Seven Slayers". By the way, the title of Cain's collection inspired the "Reaper's Dozen" title.

    It will all work out in the end. We're taking baby steps here.

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