It's hard to sell books.
Almost impossible, really.
It's even hard to give books away for free.
The results of the five-day promotion in which I gave away the first two Abe & Duff books in their entirety to Kindle patrons resulted in only about 1700 downloads. That's not nearly the number I hoped for in this promotion, but it's better than nothing, obviously. If I can get a slew of good reviews out of it, maybe it'll be worth it in the end.
As usual, your book does not exist to Uncle Jeff and the Amazon Avengers until you hit 50 reviews. Right now, I think #TheSingleTwin is holding steady around 23 or 24, so that's not ideal. There are just so many detective novels out there, and so many people competing for readers that it's almost impossible to get people interested in a new series.
Not to mention, people have reported feeling overwhelmed by the events of the last two years so they have been seeking comfort items instead of risking seeking new items. New TV shows have been struggling, but meanwhile, The Office, Parks and Recreation, Scrubs, and MASH have been killing it on streaming services--people want things they know as a grounding technique. They are coping. They don't have the brain space to try new things right now. All things considered, it's a perfect storm of impossible odds. It's a good thing I don't do this for recognition. Or money.
In other news, I did my first live event in years at the Germantown Community Library the other night. Only five people attended, sadly. Three of those five were friends of mine. And one of those friends was actually someone I brought with me from Madison. I've done events where no one showed up, so I am extremely grateful to those who did show. It was nice to get out and shill books again. It's so hard to program events during the best of times, and it's even harder to program during a pandemic.
I'm hoping to get a few events scheduled in the next few months, but we'll have to see. I know a lot of book stores and libraries are choosing to do virtual events instead of live events, and I don't know if I could do one of those. One of my greatest fears is programming a virtual event and looking down at the little counter that shows the number of guests tuning in to see "0." It's like the nightmare about showing up pantsless on the last day of finals and you can't find your classes. Same level of fear and discomfort.
Craig Johnson did an online event last fall when his latest Walt Longmire book launched. I tuned in and I was one of more than 1500 people watching. Those are some good numbers. Of course, if you hit the NY Times Best Seller list 15+ times, I guess you can generate that sort of interest.
The pre-order link for Kindle version of the new Abe & Duff book, #WhereArtThou? is live now. Tell friends.
If you're looking for the hard copy version, I'll post that as soon as it clears processing. I've okayed the final proof, so it's set in stone now.
I'm both looking forward to its launch and being terrified of the future potential reviews. I know my sense of humor isn't everyone's cup of tea, so I always worry about jokes translating, especially through text where you don't get the benefit of performance and voice tones.
Still, I think this is a really great book. It was fun to write. I really hope people will enjoy it.
I'm working on Abe&Duff 4, as well.
No idea on the plot yet. Or title. Stay tuned.
Thanks for reading.
--Sean
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09RTGZDSG
