A few days ago, I finally got the final sales figures for the month of August and was astonished to find that I had sold 108 copies ! That means that my total sales figures have doubled in just one month, since I sold just 100 copies in the first year of publication. To say that I am pleased then is then an understatement.
25 of these copies were sold prior to the 13th, so could have been from anywhere - libraries order through a different supplier (Bertrams), so as I contacted most of them at the end of July, some may have been through that source, the rest were probably just individuals ordering through Amazon etc. 2 copies were also sold in the United States, so that means that I sold 81 copies through Gardners in around 2 1/2 weeks. Most of them will be to various branches of Waterstones, since I have been busy ringing all 300 or so of them in turn. I started with the local ones first, since they were more likely to order, and have been gradually working through the rest of them from A-Z. So far I have got as far as the H's, so this is a very good start.
This week though seems to have flown by in a blur of book shops, local papers and everything else that happens in ones every day life. I have been checking Gardners site every day, and earlier this evening it said they have 28 copies in stock. This week then has been a little slower than previous weeks, but I am still making good progress. I have some more Waterstones who have signed up and placed orders - namely, Aberystwyth (Wales), Braehead (Scotland), Folkestone (Kent), St Neots (Cambs), Ilford (Essex) and Inverness (Scotland). I guess that they have all then ordered just the one copy, but one copy is one copy, and it is another foot (or six) through the door). The beauty of the Waterstones system is that once you are in a store, and they have ordered your books, then when one sells, then another is automatically reordered. So that means that I will not have to follow up with these stores - they will soon let me know after all if, or perhaps I should say when, the books start to sell.
I also had an order this week direct from my own website - to a lady called Tracy Saunders who lives in Spain. I got to her know via another writers forum (a POD comparison site actually) called Books and Tales, run by the very strangely named Clea Saal. I do find a lot of these American names very peculiar indeed and can't help wondering at their origins. Anyway, Tracy is writing a book, soon to be published by I-Universe about a Christian martyr called Priscillian, and I for one am thorughoughly looking forward to reading it. She seems very knowledgeable on these matters, which is more than be said for myself, as I know very little about this aspect of Christianity.
According to the Surrey Advertiser, I am an expert in a lot of things. They described my book in this weeks edition as a 'philosophical work about the history of man and the meaning of the universe'. At least though they didn't call me Jane, unlike the more immediate local paper, who said that my book 'was proving a hit right across the world'. The piece was entitled 'June finds winner in lost continents', and they then referred to me actually in the piece as Jane! Honestly I know I shouldn't moan as it is all free publicity that helps to sell books, but don't these people employ proof readers. It is bad form to say anything other than thank you, so I will keep my mouth firmly shut from now on.
I actually rang LBC radio earlier this afternoon (it seems like more than 10 days since I sent that book to Southern Counties) to see if they might be interested in conducting an interview. They didn't think they had any show that was suitable, which is a shame, since it seems that their Sunday morning shows do not feature interviews. The only other possibility might be the Friday night psychic show that Edwin Courtenay is frequently on, but I don't really see myself on there to be honest, as it is more about esoteric stuff really - channelling, spells and the like, and that isn't really what my book is about. Still, there are other stations out there, and plenty more fish as they say in the sea!
Will carry podding along nicely then!
25 of these copies were sold prior to the 13th, so could have been from anywhere - libraries order through a different supplier (Bertrams), so as I contacted most of them at the end of July, some may have been through that source, the rest were probably just individuals ordering through Amazon etc. 2 copies were also sold in the United States, so that means that I sold 81 copies through Gardners in around 2 1/2 weeks. Most of them will be to various branches of Waterstones, since I have been busy ringing all 300 or so of them in turn. I started with the local ones first, since they were more likely to order, and have been gradually working through the rest of them from A-Z. So far I have got as far as the H's, so this is a very good start.
This week though seems to have flown by in a blur of book shops, local papers and everything else that happens in ones every day life. I have been checking Gardners site every day, and earlier this evening it said they have 28 copies in stock. This week then has been a little slower than previous weeks, but I am still making good progress. I have some more Waterstones who have signed up and placed orders - namely, Aberystwyth (Wales), Braehead (Scotland), Folkestone (Kent), St Neots (Cambs), Ilford (Essex) and Inverness (Scotland). I guess that they have all then ordered just the one copy, but one copy is one copy, and it is another foot (or six) through the door). The beauty of the Waterstones system is that once you are in a store, and they have ordered your books, then when one sells, then another is automatically reordered. So that means that I will not have to follow up with these stores - they will soon let me know after all if, or perhaps I should say when, the books start to sell.
I also had an order this week direct from my own website - to a lady called Tracy Saunders who lives in Spain. I got to her know via another writers forum (a POD comparison site actually) called Books and Tales, run by the very strangely named Clea Saal. I do find a lot of these American names very peculiar indeed and can't help wondering at their origins. Anyway, Tracy is writing a book, soon to be published by I-Universe about a Christian martyr called Priscillian, and I for one am thorughoughly looking forward to reading it. She seems very knowledgeable on these matters, which is more than be said for myself, as I know very little about this aspect of Christianity.
According to the Surrey Advertiser, I am an expert in a lot of things. They described my book in this weeks edition as a 'philosophical work about the history of man and the meaning of the universe'. At least though they didn't call me Jane, unlike the more immediate local paper, who said that my book 'was proving a hit right across the world'. The piece was entitled 'June finds winner in lost continents', and they then referred to me actually in the piece as Jane! Honestly I know I shouldn't moan as it is all free publicity that helps to sell books, but don't these people employ proof readers. It is bad form to say anything other than thank you, so I will keep my mouth firmly shut from now on.
I actually rang LBC radio earlier this afternoon (it seems like more than 10 days since I sent that book to Southern Counties) to see if they might be interested in conducting an interview. They didn't think they had any show that was suitable, which is a shame, since it seems that their Sunday morning shows do not feature interviews. The only other possibility might be the Friday night psychic show that Edwin Courtenay is frequently on, but I don't really see myself on there to be honest, as it is more about esoteric stuff really - channelling, spells and the like, and that isn't really what my book is about. Still, there are other stations out there, and plenty more fish as they say in the sea!
Will carry podding along nicely then!
