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  1. ChickenHawk

    [PROGRESS THREAD] ChickenHawk's Self-Published Fiction EBooks

    GOLD! 
    You'd think so, wouldn't you? Looking at it from the outside, it seems pretty incredible that I've come to this decision, but here are are some details that might shed light on it. My mailing list has gotten smaller because I did some significant culling of non-responders/non-openers. About...
  2. ChickenHawk

    [PROGRESS THREAD] ChickenHawk's Self-Published Fiction EBooks

    GOLD! 
    My books generally star women in their early twenties, but oddly enough, my readership tends to swing a little older. From what I can tell, there's a lot of Gen-x, along with some Boomers and Millennials. If you enjoy writing, you're so smart to keep on doing it. There's almost no downside --...
  3. ChickenHawk

    [PROGRESS THREAD] ChickenHawk's Self-Published Fiction EBooks

    GOLD! 
    For starters, I'm going to work on the many household related things I've been neglecting for the past few years -- clearing clutter, getting back in shape, etc. I also may work on a couple of minor inventions that I've been considering for a while now -- nothing earth-shattering, just...
  4. ChickenHawk

    [PROGRESS THREAD] ChickenHawk's Self-Published Fiction EBooks

    GOLD! 
    Well, as usual, I've gone way too long between updates. But here's a biggie. After giving it much thought, I've decided to take a serious break from self-publishing -- a break that may become permanent. There are lots of reasons for this, including massive burnout, but the primary thing fueling...
  5. ChickenHawk

    [PROGRESS THREAD] ChickenHawk's Self-Published Fiction EBooks

    GOLD! 
    Thanks so much for all of the input and ideas! None of them seem the least bit stupid, and I really appreciate you taking the time to list and explain them. With some of them, such as selling other products, I've heard of other authors making some money that way, but I'm sorry to say that I...
  6. ChickenHawk

    [PROGRESS THREAD] ChickenHawk's Self-Published Fiction EBooks

    GOLD! 
    It certainly feels like this on some days, and this may be true. To combat this dynamic, it seems that more and more romance authors are going the ghost-writing route or teaming up with other writers so they can release rapidly without burning themselves completely out. Stubbornly or not, I'll...
  7. ChickenHawk

    [PROGRESS THREAD] ChickenHawk's Self-Published Fiction EBooks

    GOLD! 
    Thanks for asking! Alas, I've got nothing terribly interesting to report except that I'm soooooo burned out on writing romance, and it's starting to show word-count wise. If I didn't have a backlist of like 20 romance novels, I'd almost certainly switch genres to something totally different...
  8. ChickenHawk

    Finally made that million. A Self-Publishers Story...

    EXECUTION 
    Thanks for such an informative post, and congrats on your success! As a fellow self-publisher, I totally agree that the U.S. Amazon store is overcrowded. Plus, advertising to the U.S. market is very expensive -- so expensive that without a decent-sized backlist, it's getting harder to be...
  9. ChickenHawk

    Are Non-Fiction "to do" Books Facing an Existential Crisis?

    HOT! 
    Oh yeah. But part of this was the timing. I hit a hot new niche during a goldrush. This was also before Kindle Unlimited. Plus, advertising wasn't even a thing. Neither Facebook nor Amazon ran ads for books, so authors didn't have to scramble (or pay) for advertising. In those days, a book would...
  10. ChickenHawk

    Are Non-Fiction "to do" Books Facing an Existential Crisis?

    HOT! 
    Sorry for the delay! Here's my numbers. Actually, it was quite interesting. 2014: Baseline, it was my first full year 2015: -81% (compared to 2014) 2016: -98% (compared to 2015) 2017: -106% (compared to 2016) 2018: +12% (compared to 2017) 2019: +24% (compared to 2018) 2020: +12% (compared to...
  11. ChickenHawk

    What Opportunities Will Arise From Cancel Culture And Political Polarization?

    HOT! 
    There's a huge need right now for dissident banks, credit card providers, Web service providers, etc. -- things to enable non-woke businesses to actually conduct business. Let's say you wanted to sell those banned books. In this climate, finding (and keeping) a bank or credit processor is a...
  12. ChickenHawk

    Are Non-Fiction "to do" Books Facing an Existential Crisis?

    HOT! 
    Hey, sorry it's taken me so long to get to this! I had to dig through my old taxes to get some numbers, but I've finally snagged everything I need. (Whew!) First though, just to make sure we're comparing apples to apples, here are a couple of questions... 1. With your figures, did you go by...
  13. ChickenHawk

    Are Non-Fiction "to do" Books Facing an Existential Crisis?

    HOT! 
    How embarrassing! I didn't even realize the discussion was on my progress thread because I've been in writing-mode. But I wouldn't have considered it ruined regardless. Still, I'm glad it was separated, just because it's an interesting topic on its own. :) I'd be happy to share it, but I don't...
  14. ChickenHawk

    [PROGRESS THREAD] ChickenHawk's Self-Published Fiction EBooks

    GOLD! 
    Yup, for sure! This is a good strategy, and happily, I'm still advertising Book #1, but not quite as much as I'd like for four reasons, all related to timing: 1. Right now, advertising is really expensive due to the holiday season. If I seriously ramp up marketing now, I'll be overspending...
  15. ChickenHawk

    [PROGRESS THREAD] ChickenHawk's Self-Published Fiction EBooks

    GOLD! 
    Sure! Here are the approximate word counts: - Book #1: 103K - Book #2: 84K - Book #3: 93K These are longish for my genre. I was especially concerned about the 103K word count for Book#1, but it turned out to be a real blessing, because lots of readers read the whole thing. As a result, the book...
  16. ChickenHawk

    [PROGRESS THREAD] ChickenHawk's Self-Published Fiction EBooks

    GOLD! 
    Thanks so much for asking! Yup, I managed to get the book written, but it just about did me in. (Only half kidding.) But alas, the third book in the series underperformed for various reasons, as follows: 1. LESS-THAN-RAPID RELEASE. The release of Book#3 in the series wasn't "rapid" enough to...
  17. ChickenHawk

    [PROGRESS THREAD] ChickenHawk's Self-Published Fiction EBooks

    GOLD! 
    Nope, not at all! I was making the same comparison to my husband so we're definitely on the same wavelength. :)
  18. ChickenHawk

    [PROGRESS THREAD] ChickenHawk's Self-Published Fiction EBooks

    GOLD! 
    Thanks so much for the congrats!!! Regarding cliffhangers, this used to be a terrific way to promote interest in the next book, and it worked really well with romance series that featured the same couple across multiple books (like Twilight, which featured Bella and Edward across four books)...
  19. ChickenHawk

    [PROGRESS THREAD] ChickenHawk's Self-Published Fiction EBooks

    GOLD! 
    Since I'm a newb at rapid release, I can only share some random thoughts, but here they are for what it's worth. :) About releasing every two weeks, I wonder if that's a little short of a timeframe to maximize your bang for your buck. It's true you'd get a nice bounce after releasing book two...
  20. ChickenHawk

    [PROGRESS THREAD] ChickenHawk's Self-Published Fiction EBooks

    GOLD! 
    Exactly! And I've noticed a big bump in profitability as a result. Plus, I spent much of December/January analyzing why some of my books sold so well while others didn't do so great. As part of this, I also read a few more books on plotting (my weakest point) and found areas of improvement. I'm...

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