Sales figures

[valarltd]

LJ cut for raw numbers
These are taken straight from my royalty checks (no money figures mentioned) no spin, no lies.


Ellora's cave:
Etarin: Total =668 copies in 6 mo, 458 the first month
Raising the dead=52 copies in 2008, 4-10 months of release ~300 total

Torquere:
Kestrel: 54 in first month of release, 98 in first four months

Ain't no easy run: 17 copies in 2008, 4-10 months of release
Miskatonic Mistletoe: 53 copies first month. 65 copies in 2008, Months 2-7 of release
Racing the Past: 51 first month, 71 copies first 4 months
Paying Forfeits: 34 copies in 2008, months 6-12 of release
Color of Magic 47 copies first month
Five time loser: 55 copies first month
Talk Like A Pirate Day: 45 copies, first 2 months

Phaze:
Collared Hearts. 44 copies first month. 118 copies first year
Pushing the Boundaries of Reality: 1 copy.


I see a strong pattern emerging...

Comments

[gina-stormgrant.livejournal.com]

Heh. We're reading each other's ljs simultaneously.

People kept asking me why I was willing to wait up to a year for EC. The answer? Because I suspected the figures were something like this.

Thank you so much for posting your personal sales data. That's very brave and community-minded of you.

Now I just need to hear from EC on that full they requested. (Although their Exotica line might be less-widely read.)

[valarltd.livejournal.com]

They're pretty standard for my stuff.
About fifty copies the first month, more in quarters to come. Never more than about 200 copes.

The Phaze results were disappointing. Not to mention we haven't yet gotten a trib copy of a book that came out 2 weeks ago. Yes, we have complained to our editor.

I will grumble about EC, but if I turn in a product done to house specs--no colons, all my brand names listed, a lot of my bad habits corrected--they don't edit nearly as onerously.

[melspenser.livejournal.com]

I agree, EC's editing is atrocious. I don't like getting jarred out of a story due to poor editing.

However, maybe they will improve.

[valarltd.livejournal.com]

Oddly, EC edits much more heavily than Torquere.
They've broken me of several bad writing habits.

I agree some of their strictures are a bit ridiculous.
But so far I've never had any necessary punctuation removed (except a colon. We differ on the necessity of colons) as a friend has with some commas.

[melspenser.livejournal.com]

Of course, I'm just looking at it from a reader's standpoint.

Also, I haven't picked up an EC book in over a year. And now that I'm starting to actually know some authors with them, I will go back and buy their books. Loyal supporter, and all that.

From the comments I'm reading, it sounds like they have improved. Maybe I should drag out the old credit card and go have a look see.

[valarltd.livejournal.com]

Send them to Emily Veinglory
She's got a spreadsheet and graph going.
I didn't split between site and distributors

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I'm actually shocked at these figures, although I suppose I shouldn't be. My first foray into pure ebookery (Chiaroscuro) has been an unmitigated disaster and makes about $15 a month. I don't know whether it's the subject (vampires) or the truly awful cover.

I think I'll stick to print (even if the publisher offers ebooks as an alternative) until forced otherwise as sales figures seem to be a lot higher. Standish has been selling anywhere from 500-1000 copies for a quarter for two years now...It will be interesting to see how Speak Its Name does, as it's available in both formats from the word go.

Thanks for posting them, I think it's a good idea to give new authors a realistic perspective, for all Ellora's claims that their authors are earning six figure salaries each quarter.

[valarltd.livejournal.com]

In fairness, Ellora's Cave says their top authors, who jhave long-running series, make that. They do claim it's possible to make a living. I doubt that. You can have three projects in the works, from reading to release, at any given time. I can't live on $35/mo for the year and a half-2 years it takes between releases.