The reality of self publishing and where "12,775 Days" is just 1-2 days after publishing
To say I hit a few "snags" is an understatement, but it's published and this is what I dealt with
My self publishing journey for 12,775 Days
I’ve been going on and on about the book I planned to publish, and I wish I could say the process was smooth, but it was just a little bit bumpy (not too crazy).
I planned for a publishing date of March 29, 2023 because that’s my sobriety date (4 years this year). At midnight on the dot I submitted both my paperback and Kindle versions for publication. It can take up to 72 hours to go live, and if I wasn’t so stuck on that specific date, I would have actually submitted it sooner and then announced when it was live. Unfortunately it must be on Cali time because both publication dates are for March 28, but that’s okay. The Kindle version was easy and approved sometime the following day. The paperback was not as easy. KDP denied it and told me I needed to fix the typing on the spine because it was “spilling over” which was actually pretty annoying because they accepted it when I ordered my proof copies, which looked fine to me. I had to go into my software where I edited the cover and adjust the font on the spine. In the preview it looked fine, but I’m simply praying to the KDP Gods that it turns out okay for real, because I haven’t even seen it yet. That finally went live yesterday on March 30.
This means I was able to track sales and reads on my dashboard for Kindle as soon as it went live, but paperback is a bit different because that won’t track until books that people ordered are shipped.
Let’s talk numbers for the first 1-2 days after publication
Everyone always wants to hear about the numbers and a lot of time authors are super private about them, and to an extent I am as well, but I also want to give a realistic vision of how hard this actually is (but is it really work if you love what you’re doing?)
Kindle went live immediately and the numbers started coming in. When publishing a kindle book you can choose to have it be part of Kindle Unlimited, which will allow readers with the subscription to read the book for free. Those without KU have the option to buy it for $6.99. With KU authors are paid based on the number of pages read. On Kindle the book is 211 pages in all. For March 29, the number of pages read was 331. For March 30 that number was 233. For today so far it’s at 41 pages. I’ve sold a total of two books through kindle.
The paperback came out a day later and because none of what I’ve sold has been shipped, I can’t say what I’ve sold but I know multiple people have let me know that they did purchase a copy. I will update in about a week when I have more numbers to go by.
At the moment according to Amazon, 12,775 Days is number 5,843 for the suspense category, 11,879 for suspense thrillers, and 64,692 in literature and fiction.
I should also say- my own grandmother who I dedicated the book to gave me 4 stars, so I’m keeping it humble lol.
Other stuff: What I’m reading
I recently finished The Treatment, the second book in The Program series by Suzanne Young. In all there are six books, and I absolutely loved the first two. This series follows the lives of teens in a world where suicide has become an epidemic and a place called the Program has stepped in with “special treatment” to help treat the depression that leads to suicide. They also push the idea that suicide is contagious, and one depressed person can infect another that isn’t infected. Using incredibly unethical medications and treatment methods, the program does what it think it does best in curing depression. Of course there’s a resistance, but I’m just starting book 3 called The Remedy and so far so good. I strongly suggest this series (so far).
I’ll leave you with this: