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

Jordi

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F*cking niceee job CH!!! Congrats on your success and dedication!!
Seems that you born to be a thriving writer! you only needed a little inspiration to believe that it is possible to live as a writer. I´m really happy that you made it with that golden book.
I can´t believe the knowledge in this forum, this thread together with HfR´s and Giroud´s threads are pure gold!
So now that you have a golden book, what do you think about exposing for your book in blogs about your genre ?
I think it would help it to get to the top10 maybe or who knows?
Since it´s a great book I think the correct exposure would boost even more your sales.

Keep it up!
 
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RHL

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That's the million-dollar question, isn't it? I wonder the same thing. Take the first four books I published under a different pen name. Three were in a series starring the same character. They were of a similar length, a similar plot, similar everything. Book one did, eh, not much. But that was okay, because it was the first book. I wasn't expecting much. Then book two showed promise. Yay! Gaining momentum. But nope. Book three was a total dud. To this day, book two still outsells the others by a ratio of 3 to 1.

Search Twitter, Reddit, and read your Amazon reviews to see if anyone says "I saw it on XXXXXX, or XXXXXXX brought me here." It hardly matters now, you've got the crowd and your quality content will ensure you keep it, but organic traffic doesn't build logarithmically like that by accident, and it'd be nice if it was a celeb or blogger who mentioned you, if you could hit them up to return the favor for your next book. Too bad Amazon doesn't share incoming/referral data.

Oh, and lest I get consumed by all this technical crap, con-grat-u-freaking-lations. Crack a bottle of whatever you like, cause you killed it.
 

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CH this is amazing I have been following your thread for a while now your progress and success has been truly inspirational.
 
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ChickenHawk

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Well, it's official. I QUIT MY JOB!!!! Everyone was really excited and supportive of my decision, and oddly unsurprised -- probably because I'm always doing weird stuff like working on inventions, blogs, books, game shows, whatever. Alas, most of these things were spectacular failures, including a line of hypnosis audios that failed to, well, ahem, actually help anyone lose weight. But I digress... I've got about two weeks left, and then I can write full-time. Yay!

Anyway, here's a quick view of the January stats
  • Books Sold: Approximately 12,900
  • Earnings: Approximately $25,400
  • Highest Earnings/Day: $1,475
  • Highest Rank: #114 in the Amazon Kindle store
  • Current Rank: About #200
  • Mailing List: About 680 people signed-up

What I'm Doing Now
  • The Job: Quitting the job has been surprisingly time-consuming. Transitioning work, giving the notice, researching health insurance, etc., lots of little details to take care of, it's been a bit of a time-sink. But obviously, that will go away quickly, which will leave more time for..
  • Book #2: I've been working like crazy on my outline for book 2, and drafting chapters in totally random order, much like I did for book one. Since much of the material is still hand-written, I'm not sure how many words I have yet. But I'm guessing it's a little over 20,000. I've announced a late March release-date, so even with quitting my job, it's going to be a couple of really busy months to get this out in time. But I'll move Heaven and Earth to make it happen, that's for sure.
An Admission: I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I almost felt uncomfortable sharing the above results, because it felt a little like bragging. And yet, I know firsthand what it's like to be in the trenches, working really hard and not yet seeing any rewards. And I know that here on this forum, I've absolutely loved, loved, loved seeing all the success stories, both because it's wonderful to see hard-working people succeed, but also because it gave me hope that with enough hard work, and the right idea, some of that success might come my way. Anyway, all this to say, I hope this offers encouragement to anyone still in the trenches.

Food for Thought: Remember those four books I published under my original pen name? Well, in January, I sold less than 30 copies of all four books combined. I offer that nugget to encourage anyone who's discouraged with their results so far. Sometimes, a turnaround can come quickly and take you by surprise. :)

Aaaaand, need I say it? Must. Write. Faster!
 
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COSenior

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Well, it's official. I QUIT MY JOB!!!! Everyone was really excited and supportive of my decision, and oddly unsurprised -- probably because I'm always doing weird stuff like working on inventions, blogs, books, game shows, whatever. Alas, most of these things were spectacular failures, including a line of hypnosis audios that failed to, well, ahem, actually help anyone lose weight. But I digress... I've got about two weeks left, and then I can write full-time. Yay!

Anyway, here's a quick view of the January stats
  • Books Sold: Approximately 12,900
  • Earnings: Approximately $25,400
  • Highest Earnings/Day: $1,475
  • Highest Rank: #114 in the Amazon Kindle store
  • Current Rank: About #200
  • Mailing List: About 680 people signed-up

What I'm Doing Now
  • The Job: Quitting the job has been surprisingly time-consuming. Transitioning work, giving the notice, researching health insurance, etc., lots of little details to take care of, it's been a bit of a time-sink. But obviously, that will go away quickly, which will leave more time for..
  • Book #2: I've been working like crazy on my outline for book 2, and drafting chapters in totally random order, much like I did for book one. Since much of the material is still hand-written, I'm not sure how many words I have yet. But I'm guessing it's a little over 20,000. I've announced a late March release-date, so even with quitting my job, it's going to be a couple of really busy months to get this out in time. But I'll move Heaven and Earth to make it happen, that's for sure.
An Admission: I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I almost felt uncomfortable sharing the above results, because it felt a little like bragging. And yet, I know firsthand what it's like to be in the trenches, working really hard and not yet seeing any rewards. And I know that here on this forum, I've absolutely loved, loved, loved seeing all the success stories, both because it's wonderful to see hard-working people succeed, but also because it gave me hope that with enough hard work, and the right idea, some of that success might come my way. Anyway, all this to say, I hope this offers encouragement to anyone still in the trenches.

Food for Thought: Remember those four books I published under my original pen name? Well, in January, I sold less than 30 copies of all four books combined. I offer that nugget to encourage anyone who's discouraged with their results so far. Sometimes, a turnaround can come quickly and take you by surprise. :)

Aaaaand, need I say it? Must. Write. Faster!

Love, love love this! SO happy that you shared specifics...it really is encouraging. Very exciting to feel as if we're sharing your journey.
 

Get Right

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I can't stop grining about your journey.

Congrats!
 
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Erock87

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Wow, truly amazing.

Well done, CH. And I am glad you posted your stats, reminds me of the light at the end of the tunnel.

I'm interested in seeing how the momentum carries into your next book. Love reading this thread!
 

Thriftypreneur

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Well, it's official. I QUIT MY JOB!!!! Everyone was really excited and supportive of my decision, and oddly unsurprised -- probably because I'm always doing weird stuff like working on inventions, blogs, books, game shows, whatever. Alas, most of these things were spectacular failures, including a line of hypnosis audios that failed to, well, ahem, actually help anyone lose weight. But I digress... I've got about two weeks left, and then I can write full-time. Yay!

Anyway, here's a quick view of the January stats
  • Books Sold: Approximately 12,900
  • Earnings: Approximately $25,400
  • Highest Earnings/Day: $1,475
  • Highest Rank: #114 in the Amazon Kindle store
  • Current Rank: About #200
  • Mailing List: About 680 people signed-up

What I'm Doing Now
  • The Job: Quitting the job has been surprisingly time-consuming. Transitioning work, giving the notice, researching health insurance, etc., lots of little details to take care of, it's been a bit of a time-sink. But obviously, that will go away quickly, which will leave more time for..
  • Book #2: I've been working like crazy on my outline for book 2, and drafting chapters in totally random order, much like I did for book one. Since much of the material is still hand-written, I'm not sure how many words I have yet. But I'm guessing it's a little over 20,000. I've announced a late March release-date, so even with quitting my job, it's going to be a couple of really busy months to get this out in time. But I'll move Heaven and Earth to make it happen, that's for sure.
An Admission: I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I almost felt uncomfortable sharing the above results, because it felt a little like bragging. And yet, I know firsthand what it's like to be in the trenches, working really hard and not yet seeing any rewards. And I know that here on this forum, I've absolutely loved, loved, loved seeing all the success stories, both because it's wonderful to see hard-working people succeed, but also because it gave me hope that with enough hard work, and the right idea, some of that success might come my way. Anyway, all this to say, I hope this offers encouragement to anyone still in the trenches.

Food for Thought: Remember those four books I published under my original pen name? Well, in January, I sold less than 30 copies of all four books combined. I offer that nugget to encourage anyone who's discouraged with their results so far. Sometimes, a turnaround can come quickly and take you by surprise. :)

Aaaaand, need I say it? Must. Write. Faster!

Those numbers are incredible. And what's more incredible is that you still have plenty of room to grow - like breaking the top #100 and watching your visibility go through the roof.

1 month. 1 amazing book. 1 brand new career. Fastlaner for sure. I truly hope to post one of these soon too. Congrats and thanks very much for sharing (especially the numbers, they're inspiring as hell)!

If there's anything that I really take away from this, is that it's all about writing the absolute best story you can.
 
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ctcrompton

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Just wanted to say @ChickenHawk , this is an incredible thread. Motivating and inspiring. As @MJ DeMarco pointed out, it gives me a thrill of excitement reading about your success!

Keep it up!
 

COSenior

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Loving this thread! My 9 year old has just started writing her own books any tips for a young author?
Encourage her. Let her just write without offering too much advice, which could put pressure on her when she doesn't need it.
 
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ChickenHawk

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Loving this thread! My 9 year old has just started writing her own books any tips for a young author?
Wow, that's awesome! Aside from COSenior's most excellent advice, it might be worth getting on your public relations hat to see if you can drum up any publicity. Remember that gradeschooler who sold that book "how to talk to girls," it was a terrific seller because the story was picked up by the national media, how he created the book (if I'm recalling correctly) to sell at some school event. If nothing else, your daughter's book might be worth a local press release or something just to see. Those things are always a longshot, but if it's a compelling story, it couldn't hurt.

Regardless, congrats to you and your little Fastlaner!
 
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AubreyRose

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YEEHAW! Congrats on an amazing January!!!

I hit about the same topout rank as you back in october and had similar results (a little over $20k). Without another breakout hit, I'm back down to $10k/month or so since then, but there will always be another breakout hit as long as we keep writing :D Congrats...
 

ChickenHawk

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YEEHAW! Congrats on an amazing January!!!

I hit about the same topout rank as you back in october and had similar results (a little over $20k). Without another breakout hit, I'm back down to $10k/month or so since then, but there will always be another breakout hit as long as we keep writing :D Congrats...

Thanks for the congrats, and for sharing details! It's really interesting to see the trajectory. $10K a month, WOW, even several months later. Man, that's seriously impressive! It reinforces the need to keep going and push out those titles, because you never know which one will break out. And even if one particular title doesn't break out right away, more titles equals more opportunity to rack up a steadier, more stable income. Great info!
 

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Congrats on your success...but I'm curious...why is the title such a big secret? Are you afraid someone will copy your theme/style/genre? (Hard to do, in my opinion.) Over at KindleBoards everyone promotes the heck out of their titles...and many of the authors here on FL do the same. Heck, I'd probably buy a copy of your book if I knew the title!
 
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ChickenHawk

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Congrats on your success...but I'm curious...why is the title such a big secret? Are you afraid someone will copy your theme/style/genre? (Hard to do, in my opinion.) Over at KindleBoards everyone promotes the heck out of their titles...and many of the authors here on FL do the same. Heck, I'd probably buy a copy of your book if I knew the title!

I'm not worried that someone will copy me. If anyone here wants to copy a successful book, they could just go to Amazon and model a book ranked much higher than mine. Mostly, I'm just a naturally modest person and value my privacy.

(EDIT: The more I thought about it, the more I found this question amusing coming from someone who also values his privacy, unless your real name is, in fact, Klondike98.)
 
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Klondike98

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I'm not worried that someone will copy me. If anyone here wants to copy a successful book, they could just go to Amazon and model a book ranked much higher than mine. Mostly, I'm just a naturally modest person and value my privacy.

(EDIT: The more I thought about it, the more I found this question amusing coming from someone who also values his privacy, unless your real name is, in fact, Klondike98.)

Whoa...you get defensive just because I ask the title of your book so I can go buy a copy?
 

Rawr

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Whoa...you get defensive just because I ask the title of your book so I can go buy a copy?

:banghead:




CH, I can't wait to hear how the next book's launch goes with those list numbers! I bet you'll hit 1000 subs before it's out, that's insane and should give a heck of a push!
 
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Dan Willis

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Wow, that's awesome! Aside from COSenior's most excellent advice, it might be worth getting on your public relations hat to see if you can drum up any publicity. Remember that gradeschooler who sold that book "how to talk to girls," it was a terrific seller because the story was picked up by the national media, how he created the book (if I'm recalling correctly) to sell at some school event. If nothing else, your daughter's book might be worth a local press release or something just to see. Those things are always a longshot, but if it's a compelling story, it couldn't hurt.

Regardless, congrats to you and your little Fastlaner!

Thanks! That is a great idea I will definitely make that happen.
 

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This is such an inspiring post.
I just finished my first novel (or novella - it's only 45K words) and am working on getting it on kindle (cover, formatting, etc.).
I'm inspired by your dedication and persistence, as well as your ability to write consistently. Based on your results, I'm the one who has to Write Much Faster!
So happy for your success and will be tuned in to hear about further updates.
 
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ChickenHawk

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Thanks so much, and congrats on finishing your novella! That's AWESOME! And for what it's worth "only" 45K words. Hah! That's still a TON of words, IMO.

If you haven't already (I apologize if I've just missed it), I hope you'll start a thread highlighting your background, your journey, your successes, things you learned, etc. I know we have a lot of them going, but it's so exciting to see the different paths and follow along!
 

Thriftypreneur

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Whoa...you get defensive just because I ask the title of your book so I can go buy a copy?

It's not defensive... there wasn't much really defensive about her post, that I could tell.

I think for many, it's that the mindset on TMF is radically different than most writer or reader forums have. People don't want one of their readers Googling their pen names and finding a very detailed post about how they started from zero and were going after it with TMF principals (making money - largely viewed as an evil endeavor) in mind.

Some people aren't worried about this and have structured their progress threads accordingly. I personally wouldn't want my readers browsing mine, for example. Not because I'm giving them a shoddy product, but because, out of context, it can look like nothing but a money grab - regardless of how much effort, creativity or determination I inject into my works.
 

AubreyRose

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Whoa...you get defensive just because I ask the title of your book so I can go buy a copy?
Some people have their real names tied to account names and they don't want to out themselves. Especially as a female author, it's scary to know that anyone can find you IRL - I've had dozens of FB messages and emails ranging from guys telling me that they loved me and would treat me right 4EVA if only I would marry them to guys telling me in explicit detail how they're going to find me and rape me. And all of my personal info is very surface-hidden, anyone wanting to find me could do so with a few clicks. Hell, I even have a real picture of myself, which most authors don't use for their author pics.

I don't blame anyone for wanting to keep their privacy. From conservative family members to "friends" hitting you up for money when they know you're rich to neighbors who report you to the police for your erotica (ALL this has happened to author friends of mine)... a little bit of defensiveness is justified.
 
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Thriftypreneur

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Some people have their real names tied to account names and they don't want to out themselves. Especially as a female author, it's scary to know that anyone can find you IRL - I've had dozens of FB messages and emails ranging from guys telling me that they loved me and would treat me right 4EVA if only I would marry them to guys telling me in explicit detail how they're going to find me and rape me. And all of my personal info is very surface-hidden, anyone wanting to find me could do so with a few clicks. Hell, I even have a real picture of myself, which most authors don't use for their author pics.

I don't blame anyone for wanting to keep their privacy. From conservative family members to "friends" hitting you up for money when they know you're rich to neighbors who report you to the police for your erotica (ALL this has happened to author friends of mine)... a little bit of defensiveness is justified.

This is also well said, especially from someone who has experience.

@Klondike There's plenty of reason to keep a pen name private, interpreting that as a "You're not worthy to see my work" is definitely the wrong impression you should be grabbing from this forum. A better question might be, "Why do you choose to keep your pen name separate? What are the pros and cons you're weighing with your new success? And... if it's cool, can I get it in Private Message?"

While most forums you can usually interpret resistance as a mark condescension and standoff-ish, just by it's nature, this is one forum where that is usually not the case. The benefit of the doubt goes a good distance here, in my experience. :)

I haven't slept in a while... (damn new novel!) I'll stop rambling now.
 

Dan Willis

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ChickenHawk what kind of promotional do you run on your books?
 

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