THE Group for Authors! discussion

I had no expectations of success when I first began self-publishing - the mere feat of getting the book on a shelf was success enough. Since then it has evolved of course and I track sales (pitiful), downloads (healthy), web hits (highly variable), blog posts comments (sporadic), emails (plentiful), reviews and ratings (let's not go there) but what does success mean to you?

Basically, just covering costs would make me happy...everything after that will be frosting on the cake. That is turning out to be more difficult than anticipated due to waning interest in Japan's tsunami of 2011. Or it could be that few people are interested in reading a memoir on such a catastrophe. A month and a half after launch, paperback sales are still in the double digits, but eBooks appear to be healthier.

Success to me is getting a book written and published. A hard copy is success to me. An e-book is icing on the cake. I'm not expecting sales to be great right now because the information is slightly ahead of it's time but the collective consciousness of readers is going to meet my writings. I have no doubt of that. It's like with other authors of the past, I may not be here(so to speak) to see my popularity.

1) Sales, 2) Outreach, 3) Number of good reviews

All the best Alp, from Noorilhuda author of debut e-novel 'The Governess':

I recently received four awesome endorsements from authors and teachers for Chaos Theory - edgy YA crime fic coming out FEB - 2015.

"I'm in tears. Please read this late arriving endorsement below from 2013 Edgar YA finalist Kathryn Burak. I had given her until Dec 1st as we 1st requested. Her father died recently and I wasn't expecting this. And certainly NOTHING of this magnitude."

'Hi Meg,
I really enjoyed reading Chaos Theory. Kami is a truly original character and the story has so many great layers. You have fully imagined Kami's world! And I feel your expertise with pacing as we move through the intricately plotted mystery. It's a classic mystery with a contemporary—and yes, edgy—vibe—and so much texture to the layers of this story. I was so glad you held off with the information about the grandmother's death until the very end—and WOW! What a punch that scene delivered—so very real. Right then I get so much understanding for what the book adds up to—and it adds up to quite a lot. I'm really impressed at how you take the mystery elements and layer them into a great character-driven story.

So much admiration for you! I think this book is the beginning of a great career. All I can say is, "Look out mystery world—a big new voice has come to town."

"Chaos Theory amazed me with its twisting and turning plot and band of original characters the reader will root for right to the end. Kami’s got a chaos theory experiment running in her locker at school—trying to somehow put logic to work on the randomness of life, love, and grief. When she meets Daniel—who may or may not be responsible for his sister’s death from a drug-overdose—this fast-paced story takes on speed and leads readers through a mystery that deepens in surprising ways. It’s a great YA mystery from a promising new voice."


Thanks for giving me the opportunity to read your book before the rest of the world, and SO MANY CONGRATULATIONS on this success!'

THAT is all the success I need. Now to buckle down to improving my writing even more!

I write to entertain... feedback like this makes me feel vindicated for all of the hours and money I've invested:

5.0 out of 5 stars TOTALLY FUN! AWESOME SPACE OPERA THAT IS DIFFERENT FROM THE NORM., November 30, 2014
By Kay McNeely "Kaybooks" (Surprise Az) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Storm Clouds Gathering: Book-1 of the Sentience Trilogy (Kindle Edition)

Absolutely one of the most fun and entertaining series I have read in a long time. Plenty of action, well developed characters, both good and evil, wonderful aliens, and the coolest computer ever.

Already finished the first two books and can hardly stand the wait for the third one. Loved the play on planet and city names and refernces to the civil war, except this one has a much different outcome. Overall, I think the author did a fantastic job with this series, and I hope he continues to write for a very long time.

To my mind, success is anybody engaging with / enjoying your book. Yes, it'd be wonderful if sales were in the thousands, but that's the fate of a very lucky few. It gives you a real buzz to know someone out there not only liked your book but wants to read the next one - the highest compliment a reader can pay.

For me, I enjoy it when someone reads the story, and then gets something from it. When someone reads it, and then gives positive feedback; to be quite frank, I feel just over the moon. Of course it would be nice if positive feedback translated into sales, but that hasn't seemed to have happened. I suppose that's life. Personally, the best feedback that I received was from a friend since childhood and he indicated that he found it difficult to put the book down. Then he capped it off by saying, after all this time, I never knew you had it in you. (At that moment, I could have just crumbled).