...it ain't so easy, selling self-published books. Not that it's much better if you're traditionally-published; according to Publisher's Weekly (07/17/06), the average traditionally-published American book sells about 500 copies. And that was in 2006. The trad-pub numbers have dropped since then.
Not knowing any better, in 2010 we offered our self-pubbed short story set, After Things Went Bad, to the world. Turned out, the world didn't care.We weren't sure how we should promote the the thing and, so, we pretty much didn't bother. Oh, we mentioned it here and on a writer's forum (where we sold one copy. Thanks, Manuel!) but then we grew tired of talking about ourselves. Pretty hard to believe, eh? So there ATWB sat, unknown and unwanted, until we discovered Sift Reviews.
Sift Reviews was almost as new as we were, back then. The Sift crowd had created a website dedicated to reviewing self-published/independent science fiction and fantasy stories so we knocked on their door. Sarah, one of the editors there, said she'd give our work a gander. When she was done gandering, Bad had collected a five star review. Sift's first five star review.
Following their kind words, a few people noticed and our mini-collection started selling a few copies. If The Atheist's Daughter hadn't come along, it would still be our #1-with-a-bullet sales leader.
Since that time, the Siftians have chugged right along and they've recently posted their 100th review. In celebration of this achievement, they decided to do a "Best of Sift" set of interviews with all of their five star authors. Happily, we're included in the mix.
Now, you might think we'd have been the first people they interviewed -- following a chronological pattern -- or, maybe, the last people interviewed -- if they wanted to do a reverse chronological thing -- but, alas, no. We thought maybe they'd go alphabetical by title, or alphabetical by author, but, again, not so.
We finally figured it out. The Sift Group is thinking way outside the box. They're posting the very best of their best on Sundays. The next-to-the best on Mondays. And so on.As it happens, our interview is being posted today and you'll find it here. If you care to drop by, we hope you'll like it.
Not knowing any better, in 2010 we offered our self-pubbed short story set, After Things Went Bad, to the world. Turned out, the world didn't care.We weren't sure how we should promote the the thing and, so, we pretty much didn't bother. Oh, we mentioned it here and on a writer's forum (where we sold one copy. Thanks, Manuel!) but then we grew tired of talking about ourselves. Pretty hard to believe, eh? So there ATWB sat, unknown and unwanted, until we discovered Sift Reviews.
Sift Reviews was almost as new as we were, back then. The Sift crowd had created a website dedicated to reviewing self-published/independent science fiction and fantasy stories so we knocked on their door. Sarah, one of the editors there, said she'd give our work a gander. When she was done gandering, Bad had collected a five star review. Sift's first five star review.
Following their kind words, a few people noticed and our mini-collection started selling a few copies. If The Atheist's Daughter hadn't come along, it would still be our #1-with-a-bullet sales leader.
Since that time, the Siftians have chugged right along and they've recently posted their 100th review. In celebration of this achievement, they decided to do a "Best of Sift" set of interviews with all of their five star authors. Happily, we're included in the mix.
Now, you might think we'd have been the first people they interviewed -- following a chronological pattern -- or, maybe, the last people interviewed -- if they wanted to do a reverse chronological thing -- but, alas, no. We thought maybe they'd go alphabetical by title, or alphabetical by author, but, again, not so.
We finally figured it out. The Sift Group is thinking way outside the box. They're posting the very best of their best on Sundays. The next-to-the best on Mondays. And so on.As it happens, our interview is being posted today and you'll find it here. If you care to drop by, we hope you'll like it.
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