The month of June has been very kind to me.

So it wasn’t my best sales month ever.
No, I didn’t finish I, DARK LORD on time.
I did have to work 16 days with only 3 days off scattered in between there (6/1/6/1/4).
Yes, my home air conditioner broke just as a record-setting heatwave came rolling through.

But none of that is June’s fault. I don’t blame her for my misfortunes and failings.

You see, I’m a glass half-full kind of guy. Always have been. It’s both my gift and my curse. And when I look back on the month of June, I see the effort my wife, friends, and family put into making Father’s Day special. I see the stress-fest my wife (again…she’s an angel people!) went through in order to throw me an amazing surprise gathering for my birthday. I remember how much fun my boys had at my (now) 7 year old’s birthday party.

Not to mention getting featured on Kindle Books and Tips, which increased I, MINION‘s sales (by A LOT) and helped it to break back into the Top 100 of Dark Fantasy for the first time since it’s release back in April.

















Throw in the fact that we were reviewed at 4 different blogs.
AND that I had my first ever author interview.
AND 15 reviews at Goodreads with a 4.20 average.
AND 13 reviews at the ‘Zon with a 4.7 average rating.

Are you starting to see June like I do? Is your glass half-full yet? Because in case you missed it, let me spell it out for you: IT ROCKED! LIKE FOR REALZ! I CAN’T EVEN FIND MY SOCKS!! THAT’S HOW BADLY (GOODLY?) IT ROCKED!! 

That being said, it’s time for me to dive back into the mind of the Dark Lord. Only he’s not the Dark Lord, not yet. He’s still just Sakroth. But things are collapsing around him, and he’s starting to slip.

Later, minions!

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

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*

I normally don’t do “Sorry.” Just ask my wife. Hi, honey! But in this instance, I do feel as though I owe you (all five or six of you) an apology. Why? Because it’s been twenty-eight days since I last posted here. TWENTY EIGHT!! Do you know how long that is? No? Let me put it this way.

28 days.
4 weeks.
672 hours.
40,320 minutes.
2,419,200 seconds.

As a brand spanking new author, particularly a self-published one, I should be posting once or twice a week minimum. I’ve got to establish an identity. Build a brand. Keep my readers engaged and exited. Etc blah blah. Know what I’ve been doing instead? Reading books, playing video games, annoying my wife, working on the sequel, and endlessly refreshing my Amazon sales data. (IS THAT A NEW SALE? IS IT? YAAAAAAAYA….AH NO. DERP DERP)

But better late than never, right? RIGHT!!!!!!

So how are things going with I, Minion, you ask? Things are going quite well! We’ve sold over a hundred copies to date, and a couple of fantasy book review blogs have been generous enough to add it to their lineup! The first scheduled feature that I know of is June 12th. When that happens, or if another one comes sooner, I’ll definitely let you know here.

On top of that, the giant box of paperback copies that I ordered arrived today! Which means that I’ll be sending out the signed copies to our contest winners here very soon (tomorrow, most like). It also means that if you’re so inclined, you can order a signed copy right here from my website (under the My Books tab) via PayPal, and as soon as the payment clears I’ll get it out the door and into your hands! Exciting times, people!

And just because I’m in a information-sharing mood: Know that I’m planning to release I, Dark Lord on June 30th (my oldest son’s birthday), and close out the trilogy on September 4th (the day my sister pushed her way into this world…literally! Ha!) with I, Savior. But don’t worry, I won’t wait until then to make another blog post.

It’s well after midnight. Ive got a 6 hour drive ahead of me tomorrow (today, technically!) and I believe The Wife AKA Facebook Publicist Machine AKA The Boss is rousing us sometime in the god-forsaken hours between 3AM and 4AM. I should be cuddled up next to her in bed! Instead, I’m sitting here in the dark, peering into my glowing computer monitor and drinking a Samuel Adams Summer Ale. Why, you ask? I’ll tell you!

It’s because I woke up this morning (yesterday morning, technically!) and saw that my novella, I, MINION, was sitting at the #21 spot in the Top 100 Paid Dark Fantasy at Amazon. Guess where it’s sitting now? No, not #25, though it did drop down to that number sometime around midnight. Try again? No? Well, alright. #15!!!! Yes, you heard that right….FIF MOTHA EFFIN TEEN!!!


















We broke the Top 20, and when I say we, I don’t really mean we. I mean you. You did it. It’s because of you: Sharing facebook posts, and tagging pictures with I, MINION on your virtual bookshelves. It’s because of you taking the time out of your day to actually download a copy, read it, and then tell everyone you know that you loved it. This isn’t my success. It’s not even our success. It’s yours. So congratulations! I hope that I can live up to the standard you’ve set for me.

It’s been absolutely unreal these last couple of days. Each and every time someone has left a comment saying how much they loved the book it just…blows my mind. And then I go and peek at I, MINION on Amazon, and see that it’s climbing the charts. Well, it’s safe to say that I’m still not quite sure that I’m not dreaming.

It’s been a very humbling and encouraging couple of days. Thank you all, once again. I’d keep going but I finally feel sleep’s siren call, luring me in. MY BRAIN: Oh, you have to wake up at 4AM? Let’s keep you awake until the last possible second. That way you can make really good decisions and not be a grouchy prick to your wife.

Cheers, all! *downs beer*

OMG OMG OMG OMG

I finally did it. About an hour ago, I submitted I, Minion to Amazon, B&N, iTunes, and Kobo. That means in less than 12 hours, people from all over the country will be able to read something that I created. Me. Lewis Dix. That big goofy bastard that you can barely understand. Yup! That’s right!

It’s been one hell of a ride, and I know that I couldn’t have done it without the love and support from my family and friends. To everyone that’s been there for me at one point or another along this incredible journey, I just want to say thank you! Thank you thank you thank you!

Being a writer, or any kind of artist really, is quite scary, when you think about it. You spend all this time pouring yourself into something – be it a book, a painting, or a song, and then you put it out there for the world to judge. Some of them will hate it. Some of them, if you’re lucky, will love it. Most probably won’t even care. But the fact of the matter is you’re exposing yourself to people you don’t even know.

It’s like pulling your pants down in front of the entire world. At first you’re all like, “MY JUNK IS HUGE” and you whip it out like nobody’s business. But once it’s out there, you start to second guess yourself. You start to think “Oh shit…is it really?” You can only hope that the world agrees with you. Or that they, at the very least, keep it in perspective. “Well, it’s big for his height.”

My junk is out there, people. In the coming days/weeks I’ll talk about the lessons learned. And in the meantime, I’ll figure out how I can plug this blurb into my product description:

“This amateur writer guy that I hang out with on rare occasions very rare occasions and mostly says inappropriate things more than appropriate things, finally came out with a book. If you are really desperate and lonely and want to read a new book maybe you can read this one. But you’ll probably be disappointed.” - My good friend Theresa

Ladies and gentlemen, we’re a go for launch!

MARK YOUR CALENDARS! APRIL 24th!

But Lewis, what are we marking?

JUST DO IT YOU HEATHENS!

Okay…..

Ahem.

Anyway, it’s finally happening. I’m pulling the trigger. My novella, which is really just a fancy word for not-quite-a-regular-length-book, is being released to the world on April 24th, 2012.

What’s that, you wrote a book?

Why yes I did. It’s called I, MINION, and it’s a fantasy story about love’s power to overcome any obstacle, even when said obstacle is the fact that you’re a walking corpse enslaved to a great big magic evil dude. Hmmm, reading over that last sentence makes it sound like it’s some kind of mushy romance story-with zombies. But I can assure you that it’s not. After all, love is at the heart of every good story. For example:

1. In Gladiator, Maximum Aurelius loved his family and Rome
2. In 300, same deal.
3. In Jurassic Park, the T-Rex loved eating people.
4. In Robocop, that adorable cyborg loved dispensing JUSTICE!!!

Without love, you got no story. And speaking of, I want to take this opportunity to thank my wife. Because without her love, I would have never been able to write it. Be sure to come back and visit often over the next 7 days, because I’ll be pimping the shiznit out of I, MINION. And talking about…stuff, and things (WALKING DEAD INSIDER’S JOKE…HIGH FIVE!!!)