November 29, 2012

Book stats and accidental cover reveal (blog), and a #nanowrimo WIN

On Wednesday I "won" NaNoWriMo, clocking 50,000 words in just 27 days on a new novel I didn't even know I was going to write until I thought it up in October. It's not done yet, but today I'm setting it aside because...

I am on the verge of publishing the sequel to SEMPER. I'll be posting details of the sequel, FORSADA, over the next few weeks until its publication in mid/late January.

I've also got a new cover for Semper. The current cover is not totally hideous (I did it myself) but it doesn't really scream out young adult science fiction post apocalyptic adventure page-turner, does it? Here's the current cover, which has served me well since publication on January 22, 2012:


It actually looks WAY better in print. Although I have not yet approved the new version through CreateSpace, Amazon is already displaying the new cover. So, my accidental "cover reveal" day is today. Here it is:


Writer and designer friend Wendy Russ built that. Nice, huh? She also built the cover for Forsada, which is not yet ready to be revealed. Stay tuned.

After an initial honeymoon during the first half of the year, the old cover was holding back sales. Still, with minimal promotion (less than $100 out of pocket, not counting copies I donated or gave away), the book did okay in its first year:
  • Over 400 total units sold (349 ebooks, 110 print copies)
  • 8,334 free downloads of the ebook
That means that in 10 months this book has over 8,700 copies in circulation. Of course I don't for a minute believe all those have been read. A free download is easy to get and forget. But the book also has generated
  • 29 ratings on Goodreads (4.14 average) with 7 reviews
  • 25 reviews on Amazon (4.64 average)
  • 2 independent reviews by book bloggers
  • 1 high school book report
  • 1 photo of a kid 30 feet up a tree reading it on a sunny Saturday
I can't wait to get Forsada out and hear what people think of it. Early readers give it high praise. Some even like it better than Semper. Either way, I can't wait to have two books published. Stay tuned for details.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey, I have that print copy!

I like that, but I really love what Wendy did for the new cover. She is so talented, that Wendy!

Your stats are great. I wish you even more success with the second book!

Wendy said...

Yay, new cover! Can't wait until the new book is out too!

PJD said...

Thanks, Jennifer! Both for the good wishes and for owning the book!

Thank to you, too, Wendy, for designing a great cover. And an even better cover for the sequel. Can't wait to unveil that.