Considering everything going in the world, the past week was a pretty good one for me.
Almost a year after its initial publication, my novel Whizzers—which had flatlined in the Kindle store—suddenly spiked to #179,500.
When one of your babies jumps that much, it gets your attention. So the natural thing to do is celebrate by letting people know. Sometimes that gets others onboard, and sales spike higher.
Of course, you don’t always know who’s buying your books. But last week, a member of my extended family reached out to let me know she’d bought a copy of Whizzers.
In part, that may account for a second spike in sales, up to #70,297. That’s out of the 4M+ books in the entire Kindle store, a giant, heartwarming leap for a book that’s been available since July 2019.
Wait, Is This A Sales Pitch?
I’d forgive you if you questioned my motives for posting such trivia—in the middle of a global pandemic, police brutality protests, and, well…everything else happening right now. I get it. This could certainly be seen that way.
But as an author whose main focus is on character, and whose most recent novel focuses on spirituality and redemption, I have a different take. And that’s what today’s post is really all about.
In a time of fear, riots, political upheaval, and an exhausting fight against a deadly viral enemy, are books like mine just luxuries…or do they start to come closer to resembling necessities?
Trying to Make A Living
The other aspect of this discussion is that, like so many of us, my wife Sunny and I are fighting for our future, as she so eloquently puts it. Although I don’t make a living from my novels, I always feel that any royalty payment I earn from them is the “best” money I earn in any given month. Sure, it’s great to get a few pesos for my freelance projects, but those are always for someone else’s benefit. The novels are wholly my own. We don’t have kids, so the books truly are my babies.
If you haven’t had a chance to check out Whizzers, I’d encourage you to do so now when it could really help boost future sales. Visibility can lead to more visibility. If you’ve already read and loved it, maybe even reviewed it, please tell your colleagues and friends about the novel.
By the way, spike or no spike, Amazon won’t let me lower the Kindle price below the current $3.99 price point. I’d love to offer a free book—so if you download Whizzers between now and July 20th and send me a screen shot of the receipt, I’ll personally email you a copy of one of my other three novels. Your choice. That’s my gift to you, the reader. And, as always, thanks for spending some time with me.
