An educational month since book launch on Kindle and beyond

It’s been a month since my virtual book launch. I self-published Funnel Vision in hopes of not just sales – I don’t have dollar signs in my eyes, despite the success of a few self-published authors – but in the hopes of gaining readers for a novel that I have lived with for a long time.

Still, people are curious about sales, so I can say I’m now in the 20 percent club – books that have sold more than a hundred copies. I hit that mark a couple of weeks in. Sales did well in the first few weeks thanks to a lot of great support during the launch. They’ve slumped in the past week, but dips are to be expected, I think. I hope. And despite modest sales, it’s done pretty well in customer-review rankings. If you looked today in the two Amazon genres in which the Kindle edition is listed, it was No. 34 in top-rated romantic suspense and No. 139 in top-rated action-adventure (a HUGE category, so – hooray!). But I’m pretty sure these review rankings don’t really help get a book discovered by the masses. It takes being in the top 100 in sales on any given list. And that goal is many, many thousands of rungs above me on Amazon’s ladders.

Sales aside, it’s really interesting seeing the book reviews come in. I’ve been lucky in receiving some nice ones on Amazon, even from people I don’t know or don’t know well. But as it’s not about the sales, it’s also not necessarily about the stars (though you’ve gotta love ’em). I am fascinated by readers’ reaction to the story, which is still something I’m thinking about every day as I write a sequel. Could a reader really be friends with my heroine? Is the hero sexy or despicable? I love to read these thoughts, no matter how disparate, because it means people are reading the story and, gosh darn it, having a reaction. And isn’t that what we want as writers? On the other hand, I have to be careful not to let these lovely voices get inside my head as I continue writing in this fictional world. I have to let my characters find their own way.

If you want to weigh in and haven’t read this storm-chasing adventure, the e-book is on Kindle and Nook. It’s also available in paperback. Get more info and see the book trailer here. Happy chasing!