Hold Me to Account: Month two stats of a self-publisher

Stats:

Smashwords: (this month has been much flatter and more consistent - and I've been on holiday so I can't be exact - so I won't give the day by days) 266



My website: 2



Year Zero Website: 1



e-mail requests:



Scribd: 3



Total: 272 (target 300)



Books:

Direct from Lulu: 1



My orders from Lulu: 15



Sold through bookshops: 13



Direct sold by me:



Ordered online from me: 1

Total sold: 15 (target 25)





Significant events:



There were no significant events plugging the smashwords downlaod, as I noted last month. This month I have been gearing my energies to the book launch in Oxford (specific blog on that coming in the week), and launching the blog of the Year Zero website.

At the start of the month, I joined operation ebook drop, a project launched by ex-serviceman Ed Patterson in which authors offer servicemena nd servicewomen free ecopies of their book to put on Kindles so they have something to read on their tours of duty. My involvement is not something I've publicised because it's not designed to promote the book but to help peopel who need books to make a terrible situation more bearable, but it may be relevant. I have had two personal e-mailed responses, so this accounts for at least two downloads.



I have had 3 reviews this month (links from here):
3 October from Scott Pack of 5th Estate who used the phrase "Some moments of genuine promise in this debut novel suggest that Holloway could have a future outside of the world of peer review sites and print on demand"

6 October from DJ Young, who was using the book as an example of "the quality of what can be: ebooks or print-to-order offerings from independent or self-publishers are often maligned as the ghetto of the publishing world. With so many economical changes happening, the idea of the author/entrepreneur who provides direct commerce with his readers is no longer a bad joke publishers and agents can tell themselves anymore."

28 October from Erica Friedman, CEO of Yurikon, the lesbian manga publisgher who said "Songs From the Other Side of the Wall is a *very* good book"



October 10: the Year Zero blog goes live. We have had new fiction there almost every day since, in additionto articles on the craft and nature of writing and a weekly advice column. This has improved our visibility across the web. We are by no means anything other than minnows, but we have gone from around 50-60 hits a day to over 200, and yesterday we had 356


A number of articles came out aboutYear Zero this month, where my name has been mentioned, at Emprise Review, Editor Unleashed, Moxie Mezcal, and Fake Plastic Souks. And on 29 October Digital Book World referred to this monthly column. (All the links are available here)



29 October was the launch for the book in Oxford. It was held at the Albion Beatnik bookstore in Oxford, in conjunction with the album launch for singer-songwriter Jessie Grace, whom I chose because she sings like the main character in my book (she is also brilliant)



On 6 October the book was featured on the Aspiring Mangaka and Writers Club book tour

I was on holiday and utterly inactive on the web from 15-22 October (not pre-announced for security reasons)

Analysis
I missed both of my targets this month. That despite a successful launch (all 13 bookstore copies were sold there, and aroudn 60 people were there on the night) and some favourable reviews.

I am still not Amazon listed after the Published by You debacle on Lulu. I have not been able to afford my ISBNs through Nielsen (more pricey than through Lulu) and have chosen to wait rather than get a free Lulu one. I believe this will hold back sales considerably online.

Nonetheless, I am upbeat about the possibilities raised by the launch and the progress on the Year Zero site. I am planning another event in London in December. Now that I know I can both organise such an event and coordinate with musicians successfully, I will be uch more proactive in seeking regular media coverage. My naming names policy means thatI must point out that my local paper, The Oxford Mail, refused to cover this event, which I find both surprising and highly disappointing, as they have covered previous things I've done (maybe that's why!!). I hope they will be supportive in future, but I also hope my "I don't change policy" means I stick to my guns - I am the same now as I will be if I ever get successful, and my book is the same. I hope I am polite and courteous always when I approach people, and I hope I offer interesting content. If, therefore, I DO ever get successful, media who give me the brush-off now will get the very minimum cooperation from me then.

Coming next month:
My university alumni office has arranged a big event in Berlin celebrating the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. As this ties in with the book so well, I decided it would be daft not to do something with them. They have agreed to promote the book and I will give them £1.50 from each book sold from Lulu in November and December. This money will be donated to the Student Counsellnig services. If this works and sells some copies, I would like to extend it to causes I care about much more next year,and to whom I can present figures.

I believe a couple more reviews will come out next month.

I will be focusing my efforts on organising and promoting the main Year Zero launch in London, and Free-e-day, and will have little time to promote my own book. On the ther hand, the Year Zero press material wil be much more organised from this month, and will be more targeted, and the book will be included in the "our books" part of the press pack. Nonetheless, in the light of this, and the ongoing ISBN dilemma, I expect November to be a fallow month. So my predictions are:

Downloads: 200

Books: 5