Sit Back and Read

I was in Walmart yesterday and saw the latest J.D. Robb book was out, and I wanted it, but couldn’t justify spending the $32.99 for the hardcover edition. It requires patience or a lot of money to keep up with my favourite authors.

Novels come out in hardcover first, then after a time, which depends on sales I would imagine, the paperback edition comes out. The process could take a year or more, hence the patience.

There are close to forty books in the “In Death” series by J.D. Robb and I have almost all of them in some form or another. Hardcover books I’ve purchased new or used, paperbacks obtained the same way, and then there’s my Kindle.

The cost of $32.99 was too much, but the $15.99 for the Kindle version was OK. I bought the book, and considered it a gift from the Thanksgiving Turkey this holiday weekend.

My bookcases are overloaded, again, even though I had downsized last year when I moved. It’s amazing how quickly I’ve accumulated more. A few book sales, the consignment shops, pass-alongs from friends, it didn’t take long.

I get free or cheap books for my Kindle through Pixel of Ink. I signed up for the daily E-mail of their books, some free, some discounted. I’m always surprised at the cost of E-books. It’s a bit of that old fashioned thinking of paying for something I can’t hold or see. You can get a cost savings over the hardcover prices for a new book, but there the bargains end. Only occasionally do the well known authors have sales on their books, in this format. So, if I want copies of older books I seek out the used bookstores.

When I published my first E-book I priced it at $4.99. I was told this was a reasonable price that people might spend for a new author. I’ve since reduced the price to $2.99 hoping that might have made it more attractive for readers to purchase.

Everything I’ve read supports that you have to do the work to be a success. You have to get your name out there, have reviews published, and be active on social media. For those of us who just like to sit back in our solitude and write, that’s not easy to do.

I’ve had some sales, and I’ll admit it’s a bit of a thrill to know there’s someone in the U.K. who purchased three of my books. For me, it’s the sense of accomplishment. I had an idea for a story, and spent the time to write it. I was dedicated enough to see it through the editing phase, to let others read it and take the feedback given and edit again. And I was brave enough to put it out there for others to read and judge.

For me, that represents success, no matter what the number of sales.

Since my family has already had our turkey dinner, I’m going to sit back this weekend and enjoy my new book, my own personal and private celebration.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian friends and family, have a great fall weekend.

T