Minions!! Behold!! Nah, just kidding.

I just wanted to pop in real quick to share some awesome happenings with you all. As of today, Sunday the 24th of June (Holy crap!! This month is flying by!) we’ve had four, that’s right, FOUR book bloggers review I, Minion. That’s not to take away from all you amazing peoples who’ve taken the time to write reviews via Amazon or Goodreads because seriously, you guys and gals rock.

Said bloggers (links to be found below) gave us a 4/5, 5/5, 3/5, and 4/5. *fist-pump*

I also did my very first author interview over at Dee’s Reads!! You should go check it out ASAP!

Dee’s Reads: 4/5 stars
Step Into Fiction: 5/5 stars
Vailia’s Page Turner: 3/5 stars
Musings from an Addicted Reader: 4/5 stars

It is with a sick child in my arms and a heavy heart that I come before you today. Well, more like a busted ego than a heavy heart. You see, this morning I realized that I, Dark Lord simply isn’t ready to be released on June 30th as I’d originally planned. I chose that date because it coincided with the birthday of my oldest child, and I’d already released I, Minion on my (now) 3 year old’s name-day. Figured it wouldn’t be fair of me to put a book out there on one kid’s birthday and not the others, right? Right! It would be even more unfair, however, to both you and me, if I were to release my second book without being absolutely confident in it’s erm…completeness.

I, Dark Lord is a bigger book in many ways. Not only in word count, (over twice as long as the first) but in ambition and scope. Here we have a character who has changed in so many ways, struggling with his feelings and with his guilt while simultaneously counting his lucky stars. We also have the titular Dark Lord — Sakroth, before he was in fact the Dark Lord. After all, nobody starts off bent on becoming a tyrannical overlord. Something has to happen along the way to transform them. What is it they say? The road to hell is paved with good intentions…

Now, I’m sure many writers struggle with the “second book blues.” I know I do. Worried that it’s not going to be as good as the first. That it won’t sell as well. Will anybody even want to read it? Are my characters evolving? Or is it just more of the same? These fears plague me constantly. But it wasn’t to their incessant whisperings that I finally succumbed. It was to my own. It’s not ready, plain and simple. Nor would it be by the 30th.

Does that mean I don’t believe in my book? Absolutely not! It’s precisely because I do believe that I know this is the right decision. Okay okay okay. So what’s the new release date? To be honest? I’m not sure. But right now I’m aiming for the 11th of July. Both ebook and print format. And I’ll be starting right away on I, Champion, because I’m sure you’ll be chomping at the bit to see how it all unfolds. I know I will be!

And since I feel bad, I’m going to leave you with a little teaser. This was the sketch my cover artist sent to me when we were first discussing how I wanted the cover for I, Dark Lord to look. It’s come a long way since…but still, it’s something.

As it’s been a couple of weeks since my last blog post, I figured I’d jump on here today to share with you all just how well things are going for me here in the writing life. Because, believe you me, things are going well. Especially when you take into consideration that I’m just some guy who wrote a book and decided to publish it himself on the internet. That, in my opinion, is the most important takeaway from all of this.

I’m just some guy who wrote a book and decided to publish it on the internet.

I often have family and friends ask me how many books I’ve sold, or how much money I’ve made. When I give them the numbers, I can see the look of disappointment on their faces or hear it in their voice (HI MOM!) as if they expected me to give them Stephen King or Fifty Shades of Grey like numbers. FUN FACT: One in five books sold in 2012 was a part of the Fifty Shades Trilogy. What these loved ones seem to forget is that I’m just some guy who wrote a book and decided to publish it on the internet.

But they shouldn’t feel too bad. Sometimes I have a hard time remembering this myself. I see other self-published writers report their successes and read the sales reports at the end of the month and I often think to myself: Man, how come I’m not selling that many books? Most of the time the answer is simple. I’m writing in the wrong genre. Many of the indie authors reporting massive sales write romance and erotica. Plain and simple. There is a giant market for those books. Their authors can’t seem to pump out new material fast enough. Paranormal romance is another big category.

Don’t believe me? Check out this book.

It’s about a freaking shape-shifting hedgehog. In love. And it’s in the Top 5,000 books on Amazon, which means it’s probably selling somewhere around 300+ copies a month. A book about a shape-shifting biker hedgehog hooking up with a bartender, not much longer than I, Minion, making its author over $500 a month. I’m in the wrong genre, see?

Only, I’m not. I love science-fiction and fantasy. I’ve grown up reading stories about elves and magical swords and dark wizards and spaceships and scary aliens ever since I was a kid. So it’s only natural that I’d want to start my own career in those same genres. Granted, I, Minion isn’t a typical fantasy story — but that’s okay. It’s my fantasy story, and I love it. And chances are, if you’re reading this long-winded blog post about I’m not even sure what anymore, then you loved it too.

That, my friends, is what it’s all about. Being a writer isn’t about the number of sales. It’s about making things up in your head and sharing them with others. Now, don’t get me wrong, I enjoy getting paid as much as the next guy, and I hope that one day I’ll be able to write full-time. Getting paid to make up stories? How cool is that! But that’s not why I do it. I do it because I enjoy it. Because I love finding out what happens to my characters just as much as you do. And because it’s a hell of a lot cheaper than half a dozen other hobbies I’ve had over the years.

Now, onto the stats! I published I, Minion on April 24th this year (Happy Birthday, Liam!). In just four days, these were our numbers:

• 64 US Kindle sales
• 7 iBook sales
• 2 Nook sales

Note that these were all ebook sales, as that’s all I had available at the time. 73 sales, in 4 days!! To be honest, that’s about 70 more sales than I expected — and it’s all thanks to you. The way it works is, at the $0.99 price point, Amazon offers 35% royalty, B&N 40%, and iTunes 70%. As you can imagine, it didn’t add up to very much money for me. And that’s okay! I didn’t go into this expecting to become rich right away. In fact, I don’t expect to become rich at all.

May Sales:

• 36 US Kindle Sales
• 38 US Paperback Sales
• 1 UK Kindle Sale
• 2 iBook Sales
• 3 Nook Sales

For a total of 80 sales in the month of May!! WOO! That’s freaking awesome! Remember, I’m just some guy who wrote a book and decided to publish it on the internet. And most likely my friends and family were responsible for the first 64 sales back in April. Now, while I don’t doubt that many of them purchased a copy in May — that also means we had numerous strangers buy a copy!

Thus far, a little over a month into this writing gig, and I’ve made about $50. Hey! That’s $50 that I made with my brain. $50 not from working, per say, but from doing something that I enjoy. So you see, I’m not exactly rolling in the dough. Especially when you take this into account:

• Editing Cost for I, Minion: $90
• Cover Design: $60
• CreateSpace (Paperback) Proof: $13.50
• CreateSpace order of 25 Books for Giveaway/Sale: $73.40
• Mailing Costs for Giveaways/Reviews: $23
• TOTAL EXPENSES: $259.90 TOTAL PROFIT: -$209.90

Throw in the $35 I’ve spent on a bit of marketing (joining a Kindle Fire Giveaway and getting featured in a daily Kindle Books and Tips e-mail on June 30th) and you can see that I’m REALLY not swimming in the dough. Far from it. But again, that’s okay. You see, even though the writer in me doesn’t care whether or not I get paid, the publisher in me does. It’s his job to make sure that I promote my work. That I find readers to read it. And, most importantly, that I sell it. He knows that as with any good business, you have to invest money to make money. So that’s what I’m doing. Investing $$ to put forth the best product that I can.

Hopefully, somewhere down the line, we’ll go in the black and actually start making money off this thing. In the meantime, the writer in me is going to keep writing books. Because it’s fun and he enjoys it. And if you decide to buy them and read them, the publisher in me will not only thank you, but jump up and down with joy and dance a little jig. Hmmmm, I see a youtube video in my future.

Got something to add to this convo? By all means, leave a comment. Happy Sunday! Is anyone else drinking yet? It’s not too early, is it? *peers over his shoulder*