It’s frustrating I know
I shared the beginning of a book in yesterday’s post
That went out late, but thems the breaks
Because sometimes… it happens
Priorities have to get shifted
Like this book
A PINT OF PROBLEMS
I wrote it
Gave away a lot of copies
Sold a few more
And people said they liked it
It’s got 4.16 stars on Goodreads as average reviews
So there is that
But…
very few people have gone on to read the sequel
A FIFTH OF TROUBLE
Why?
I could ask the same about OLD MAGIC
4 stars but the reason folks didn’t like it was because it was short
Which I did and do on purpose sometimes
Write a minamally viable product to test the waters
See what the market will want to buy
And Old Magic was a best seller in Kindle Unlimited, back when I was in that program
But the sequel?
Again, hardly anyone bought it…
Despite me getting the second most amount of emails to Chrislowrybooks at gmail.com
Than on almost any other book
Why?
Ware the Cats of War holds the record for the most emails sent to me asking “Where is book 2?”
Or when is book 2 coming out?
I’ve given away thousands of copies of this book through bookfunnel and even had it on a Facebook campaign
It is by far my biggest list…
Except
No one bought book 2
Even the people who emailed me to ask for it, didn’t buy when I sent them a direct link
Since I’ve worked this business of mine for years, I know how to study data
And good data not only provides direction, but makes you ask questions
Like where to go next
Or what to do next
And the thing is, since I’ve been in this biz for so long,
And writing for almost thirty plus years
I have an extensive backlist of books
And more than a few series that I wrote specifically for the way people were reading them (Kindle Unlimited)
And in that program, my read through rate was about 60%
For every 10 people who read book one
6 would go on to read book two
and 3 or 4 would keep going into book 3
Where they would keep reading so long as books came out
That’s how KU was designed to work
And it did for me
Until two things happened
Amazon changed and Trad Publishers put their books into the program
A lot of them first in series books so that anyone who wanted to move on to book 2
Paid Trad Pub prices for it
And that shift on that platform made me make a shift in how I worked
Which is entreprener 101
Be flexible
Which is how I ended up writing so many pulp fiction westerns
Not because they sold on wide platforms
Westerns are a tiny niche in the world of readers
But…
For me, they were huge on Youtube
And even though the number one complaint on YOUTUBE is AI narration
Every month, people listen
Now I’ve expanded thrillers to a new THRILLER THURSDAY youtube channel
And my watch time (listen time) is great
The same with the MYSTERY CHANNEL
So I have to study what comes next and how to make those viewers/readers
Keep going into book 2 and 3 on Youtube
While still trying to deciper the mystery of why no one buys book 2
(and I’ll get 5 – 10 emails or comments from this post with people bragging “they don’t buy books, they get so many for free”)
Which is like going to the grocery store and bragging, “I don’t pay for fruit, I just eat it while I shop.”
I’ll get on a soapbox about people who brag about not paying small business owners
But not now
Now, I’ll go mow or write or mop or pick up #10 from after school football practice
And while I’m in the parking lot waiting for him to come out from the gym
I’ll ponder…
Why?
the Mission Brief a 5 book for $5 boxset of The Shadowboxer files.
And also, I told you that we’re running up against a hard out on the MASSIVE THRILLER BIG BOXSET because it’s just too many books for too little price
So here is your ONE MORE LAST CHANCE to pick up 25 books for only $20
Til Friday
That’s because I have some changes in May and This MASSIVE THRILLER BIG BOXSET will go up in Price.
If you’ve been on the fence, or just waiting, go grab your copy today before the price goes up at midnight.
MASSIVE THRILLER BIG BOXSET
Keep your head on a swivel, and get ready for a brand new Shadowboxer File in ten days!
I don’t know about anyone else (and probably am not the answer to your question since I did get your second and third,etc books), but I often read the first book of a series, like it and ask about upcoming books. If they’ve already come out I probably get them. But if it’s a while before the next in a series, I’ve probably gotten into some other series before the one I thought I’d want comes out. And so often don’t buy that next one. Also, I tend to read books that are several hundred pages- a habit of my old age when only kids books were short and true adult books entertained you for several days at a time. That’s why I bought three of your massive sets - science fiction, magic and the shadowboxer.