Ready for more confusing statistics about book sales? Here are some numbers and analysis from the Association of American Publishers. One good point they made was that in 2014, there was a huge bump in sales of children's and YA titles because of the Frozen craze and the last book in the Divergent series. Once again, like previous reports this accounting only includes reports from the the members of AAP and these are only for the first part of 2015. People are still buying lots of books. They're just buying more self-published books.
Last Saturday's Book Expo in York, Pennsylvania ranged from a medium to great on a success scale. Great was the atmosphere. Lots of enthusiastic writers and artists. Hundreds of readers, many of them children. I met some new writers and chatted with long time friends like Cate Masters, Allison B Hanson, Heather Heyford, and Don Helin. That was the success part. At an event like this, authors pay for their table space. You have to sell a lot of books to even break even. I'm happy to say that I sold enough to pay for my table and a little bit beyond that. Not bad because the table was expensive. Beyond the books I sold, I also handed out a lot of cards and had a number of people who snapped pictures of my books with their phone or looked them up right there. So hoping that means some additional digital sales. And it was fun.
 |
| Me, taken by Cate Masters |
On more news from last week front, I received a new contract for the first book in my newest space opera romance series. Title isn't set in stone yet, so I'll share it later. I'm busy with the second one and happy with my word count if not sure about the pacing of the contents.
I have so many lists of things to do on my writing desk that I'm thinking of making lists of lists. I'm trying to get those done in between raking leaves and doing some major house cleaning. I've mentioned many times that I don't like the cold but the one weather condition I really try to avoid is wind. And it's been so windy. I'm thinking of just raking the leaves out of the flowerbeds and from under the trees and hope the wind carries them all into the woods or into the neighbors' yards.
A few of the things I enjoy about fall weather is the crunching of leaves when I walk or jog. The sound of geese flying south. The brightness of the stars on a clear cold night. The change of seasons is a beautiful treasure with mysterious of science and the grace of God giving me an appreciation of what I've been blessed with. So slow down, October, and let me enjoy it a while longer.
"In wilderness I sense the miracle of life, and behind it our scientific accomplishments fade to trivia." Charles A. Lindbergh
"It is not easy to walk alone in the country without musing upon something." Charles Dickens
Are you working on that short story? Ever make a list of lists? Do you enjoy a change of seasons? What do you think of my nefarious plans to send my leaves on their way to another land?
30 comments:
That's awesome you sold enough to pay for the table. Seems so unfair they charge so much for space.
Congratulations on the contract.
And either just leave the leaves so they blow into neighbor's yard or mow them down.
That's encouraging news about book sales. I believe people will always read fiction, so writing isn't in danger; the way we deliver and distribute our work will probably continue to evolve, though. Congrats on the new contract!
I'm glad you had such a good time at the Expo!
re: seasons
As long as it doesn't get bitterly cold, I'm good. I've become a wuss with frigid temps in the last few years.
Great to see you there! Sorry the pic turned out fuzzy (darn camera phones)
I was not ready to see snow yesterday. Brr!
Congrats on the contract!
Just breaking even at the Expo would've been considered a success.
It was freezing outside this morning. And 63 degrees in the house. I finally had to break down and turn on the heat.
I live in Rochester and for years, we would have this huge wind come through in October or November and blow every leaf from our yard into our neighbors. Now that we've added a bunch of trees, we need a rake. Oh well, the kids love jumping in the piles.
Happy fall!
I live in Rochester and for years, we would have this huge wind come through in October or November and blow every leaf from our yard into our neighbors. Now that we've added a bunch of trees, we need a rake. Oh well, the kids love jumping in the piles.
Happy fall!
That sounds like it was great! And congrats on the contract. :) I wish October would slow down too.
Congrats on all of those sales, and an overall successful Expo experience! It's true, at an event like that, breaking even is more than worth it, just to make more future fans, get some more awareness, and make some great new industry connections.
October is going fast and I love October, so I wish it would slow down a bit.
Congrats on the sales! I knew you would make a killing. ;)
The best we get here in CA is a shift in light, and I love that change. Things are suddenly softened under the October light. Great news about your sales! And you look as if you're having a good time at the sale table.
Let's hope people keep buying more and more books. As for me I'm running out of room and money and have too many unread books on my shelves.
I like compiling lists. I have a bunch of lists that I've been meaning to put together. I need to get busy because time is slipping away all too quickly.
Arlee Bird
A to Z Challenge Co-host
Tossing It Out
Hi Susan - fun meeting up with other blogging-authorly-friends. But the book expo table worked out well - that's great you broke even .. and had some others take some notes to look at the book later. Good news, then the contract ... even better - so pleased for you. Leaves not a good idea!!
Cheers Hilary
Sounds like you did great at the book expo. Congrats. And please, don't rake those leaves into your neighbor's yard! :) My mother-in-law has a neighbor that does that to her...and she has as million of her own leave and really doesn't need any more!
Hehe, you make me laugh... Thanks for the nice comment over on my blog! I have to admit that my brow raised when I read that you rake yoru leaves from your flowerbeds when I intentionally rake them into them. xD
Thanks for sharing those stats with us, you know, about the book sales. I haven't been keeping up with the writerly world as I ought. Life has taken me into an unexpected turn and I find that that side of me is being silenced. *sigh*
♥.•*¨Elizabeth¨*•.♥
Unfortunately, I've had way too much on my plate to even think about writing :(. I'm so bummed about it. I really wish October would go slower so I had more time. And congrats on breaking even. That sounds pretty nice.
Congrats on the successful book expo and on the new contract! And yeh for the coming together of lots of readers and writers!
Lists of list? Oh yeah.
Congrats that you did well at the book event!! Pretty impressive!! Just basically these days write out a grocery list myself :) One year when we lived in Montana, it was really windy on Halloween. All the leaves we had in our yard blew elsewhere, as did everyone else's on our block. I'm not sure where they ended up, but it sure made getting rid of the leaves very easy that year :)
betty
I love the change of seasons, especially summer to fall & winter to spring.
Glad to hear that you did well at the book fair!
Good for you! You did well with those sales :)
I love October, but it's definitely going too quickly!
I wish I could write short stories but all my writing comes out at poetry form.
It's a wonderful competition all the same.
Yvonne.
Congrats on the contract and sales. Wait! Kids book sales went up? Where's my "up" lol
Sounds like the Expo was a lot of fun. Best wishes on your new book. I know it is good. The book I read was great.
Wonderful you sold enough books to cover your table and a bit more. Congratulations. I love autumnal weather too. Doesn't last that long round here, there are areas which have had snow, not here yet thank goodness.
That's great you did well at the fair. As for your leaf idea...no comment :) And I love the change of seasons, but I wish winter would change to spring a lot faster.
Well, I haven';t started. I did begin a new job this month after a one year hiatus and been pretty darn busy with training and all. So I have a good excuse.
Your Expo sounds successful (break even and a little profit:) PLUS you generated interest. Good for you!
Fall is my favorite season, too. We don't get much in FL... but it's coming.
We did craft shows for five or six years where we had to pay for our table. It was amazing, how many crafters were happy just to make their table. Not us, we were there to make money.
Glad your weekend went well and good deal about the new contract. Sounds like things are rolling along well. Hot dog.
Glad the Expo went well. Breaking even sounds like a win and I agree that the sales figures probably just means the industry is shifting. Nothing wrong with that, people have even easier access to books so I don't think there's any danger.
I don't worry about leaves, we have a small garden which is hemmed in by fences and a separate garage/office so not much wind gets in. Love crunching them though.
I submitted a story. I think the theme invites epic tales, I had to shave off over a thousand words to stay within the wordcount. So I just hope it doesn't feel too crammed!
I have a to do list on my phone its gotten so bad. LOL. You took a ton of books to the expo. I'm always worried about whats enough and whats too much. Maybe the thought of slugging them back and forth makes me cringe :) super excited about a new romance from you
Post a Comment