As mentioned last week, writing the book is the easy part… at least easier than selling the book.

Kindle, on Amazon, has at least 9,000,000 titles. Some estimates are up over 12,000,000. Amazon isn’t saying, but the assumption is that over a million titles are added every year, and even that is accelerating. Just to give an idea of scale, if those were paper-published titles, the shelf to hold them would be over 1500 MILES long, and would be expanding at about a hundred miles a year, and that expansion would be getting faster.

Somewhere along that 1500+ miles are my books… which add up to about 6 inches. Maybe a little less. My goal this year is to grow my book sales. Frankly, it won’t take much… but at the same time, it is going to take a lot.

I published my first novel, Planning Vengeance, in November 2019. Shortly after that (literally two days), I pushed out Dig Two Graves. I had actually written it as one book, but it was too big… like 500 pages. I split it apart into two books. It took until February, 2020 for the third book, You Don’t Know Jack. The fourth book, Who, What, When, Why? was published in April, 2020. Those were also written mostly at the same time. In fact, I had envisioned them to be reversed in their release order, but that changed in January, 2020… but that doesn’t matter.

After the fourth Dixon-Prince book, I started on a book about Gunny Grafton (working title is Grafton), but it is still incomplete. It’s actually getting close… despite me having started on it before WWWW? was complete.

Triple Cross was published in January, 2021, and broke away from the Dixon-Prince series… mostly. And then Lies and Omissions was published earlier this month.

I think there are two ingredients that I will need to amp up sales to a point where it is worthwhile. The first is more titles. Launching two new titles this year has helped, and I actually have two more that are getting close, Grafton (working title) and The Call (also a working title) are both in the Beta Reader stage. And I have a couple more that are in the writing process. In other words, it is likely I will have a total of six books released this year, and could have as many as eight.

Ideally, a readers starts reading, and likes them and reads more of them… and if I have a total of a dozen titles, even if I have given away a book or two to get them into my fold, I might manage to get five or ten sales from those giveaways.

Another goal… which is related, is to get more review. I have resisted paying for reviews. I’d rather have an honest 4-star than a BS 5-star. I joined one site briefly where I would read and review another author’s book, for points, and others would get points to read and review mine. It took a LOT of time. I read the books I reviewed, and gave an honest review. I actually read a couple of didn’t review them, but instead sent a message to the author with feedback… I didn’t want to be the guy that posted a bad review of their work. In return, I got several reviews which were complete junk. They bought a book… or read it on Kindle Unlimited… but it was pretty obvious that they didn’t read it.

So, goals for the year… Get reviews… Sell books. Easy-peasy.

I haven’t mentioned it too much here… and I probably should… but I am also writing on Vocal Media. It is a site that allows authors to post up and get paid for their traffic. The pay for traffic is seriously weak, but it’s something. But they also have contests, some of which I have suitable material to enter. Read More

I have dropped a few stories on Vocal of late, and thought I would mention them here.

Little Orphan Annie, which is for a challenge regarding adopted dogs. Annie was a Golden Retriever mix I used to have that had been a stray. She was a beautiful dog with a wonderful heart. I’d love for you to give it a read… I’ll make about 2/3 of a penny.

Junkyard Dog is another challenge entry… and I already know it isn’t going to win. The challenge is about thrift stores… so I posted up about junkyards. They are kind of the same, right? Anyway, I figured the contest needed a little balance.

Here’s one that will give pause to those that like to take things out of context… Trapped in The Closet. Not that you would have guessed, but it is literally about being trapped in a closet. I will not say the girl’s name (she was a lovely girl at the time, and now a lovely woman), but I was stuck in her closet, fearing for my life… It’s also a contest entry. The fictionalized account is in Lies and Omissions.

In the next few days, I plan on writing another fiction story for the site for another contest. But I haven’t hit on the right story for that one.

You can see everything I have posted there by going to my author page… Link here. Yes, I make money when you read the stories… six-tenths of a cent per read. I’m sure there is an FTC guideline I would be in violation of if I didn’t state that…

Enjoy.

You can get your Kindle copy… it is live and in living color…

I wrote a bunch of posts on “Skater“. I put up excerpts and stuff. But, when it came time to actually release it, the working title changed to Lies and Omissions. Read More

Anyway… check it out. Read some excerpts and maybe even look at the book over on Amazon. If you want to, buy it… It’s a fun book, and my sales are low enough that I’ll know you got a copy.

In the last year and a half, I’ve released six books… five novels and one collection of novellas and short stories. Honestly, while it isn’t “easy,” writing the books is the easier part of authoring. I can control it. I can set a schedule, brainstorm ideas and plot twists and research characters.

It’s after that when I lose control. Read More

I can’t make people read it… even for free. Heck, even getting the word out that I have a book is tough, much less getting actual sales.

There was a time, we’ll call it January, when I could write a blog post, post it to my FaceBook Page (not profile) and then share it out through my profile. Over the next twenty-four hours, I would have a few dozen hits on the page. Often, after that, the call to action would result in at least some traffic… and maybe even a book sale. If I was offering a book for free, maybe a dozen or three downloads.

Then came the algorithm change. Now, six hits off a blog post is a big deal. Sad, isn’t it. I have people that no longer even see that I shared a blog post, either on my page or my profile… it just disappears. But I do get a lot of ads from FaceBook telling me I can promote my post… hmmm.

BTW, I did try a few FaceBook ads. Did some Instagram ads too. I didn’t go after them in a big way, but I did find that people have a distaste for sponsored posts on FaceBook and Instagram. They weren’t effective. I’m sure they are killing it for some people, but I know that they didn’t do much for me.

I’m running Amazon ad campaigns right now… they aren’t doing much either. But they also aren’t costing me much at all, so I’ll keep doing what I can to tune those… and I have gotten more from the $1 I have spent on Amazon ads v the $20 I put into FB and Insta… Just sayin’.

Anyway, writing the book is the easy part. If you want to be an author, and you want to make a little money from it, be ready for a slog through marketing.

Here… buy a book… 😉 (the covers are links)

Amazon has now listed it as available for pre-order. It will be delivered to your Kindle device sometime on Saturday! You can be one of the first to grab my newest book.

Lies and Omissions is about Linda Keller. A beautiful photographer with a hellish past. She escaped an abusive relationship and built a new life for herself and her two daughters, but just as she found new love and happiness, her past come screeching into her future, threatening to destroy it all.

A younger man, a psycho ex-husband, two teenage daughters and a lot of gossip. How many times does Linda have to escape her old life?

Nick Tower could get just about any girl… except the one he wanted. When he thought he had won, karma delivered a knock-out blow. But when he got off the mat, he found the love of his life, if only she would accept him.

But Nick was on the verge of another loss. Just when it seemed like he could have it all, it all seemed like it would come apart.

Pre-order here on Amazon for Kindle. Lies and Omissions.

There it is… the new permanent title of the book I called Skater while working on it. I never wanted it to be called that… but I was stuck in that mode for so long. My plan is to release the book on Friday, with a NEW chapter that nobody has read but me… Flying without a net on that, no Beta Readers comments, etc.

Linda has a buried past, but when she falls in love, it claws its way back, threatening to blow up her new life. Not only could she lose the love she never knew she needed, but her past could tear her daughters from her, too.