Twenty Seventh Income Report – June 2015 ($1518.37)

Are you curious about a one-year delay? I explained it in my first income report.

The most important event in June was the launch of Slicing the Hype. This book was my first real flop since book #4 published in December 2013.

I mean, From Shy to Hi hadn’t done well either, but it sold several hundred copies. I can easily extrapolate that even the current trickle of a few copies a month will result in  thousands of copies being sold over its lifetime.

It was a different story with Slicing the Hype. This book sold less than 200 copies in the first month, most of it during the launch, and then it totally disappeared from the bestselling charts. I’m writing this report almost a year later and total sales are less than 250 copies—and only 15 in the last six months. A total flop.

It was a big blow to my self-confidence (which had inflated after a couple of good launches at the beginning of the year).

I was discouraged.

I vented on my subscribers with a few bitter words about unfulfilled promises. I shared an advance reading copy with about 30 people and I got less than 10 reviews in the crucial first week.

“Smart people only believe half of what they hear. Wise people know which half to believe.”

As you can clearly see, it wasn’t wise at all.

However I didn’t quit writing. I finished another volume of the Six Simple Steps to Success series and started the work on Making Business Connections That Count which became volume #4 of the series.

I wrote some blog and guest posts.

I purchased Kimanzi Constable’s course about writing for big publications. I needed some exposure and leverage and hoped it will be the right solution for me. Before the end of June I submitted my first article to Good Men Project.

In the end of June my guest post was published on Rob Cubbon’s blog. It gained me some traction and readers were very fond of it.

Back to the failure of Slicing the Hype. I really allowed it to get to me. I invested in this book quite a lot of money and lost several hundred dollars. But I also invested a LOT into it mentally. It was the first time I tried to spread my gospel, my philosophy, my point of view.

And people were not interested.

It broke my spirit. I published another of my books only after 5 long months.

I got some consolation in my misery. The day after the launch of Slicing the Hype (which went very poorly) I called my friend. The entry from my journal:

“I called my friend. She had cancer. Again. I wanted to check on her, who knows how much time we will have?
Her cancer disappeared. Again. She had a pancreatic cancer 7 years ago.
Her doctors are confused and kind of annoyed that she isn’t dying, like she should.
I’m happy. Suddenly the extremely poor book launch doesn’t affect me a bit.”

On 29th of June I had a job interview.  It was a time for change.

The Income Report Breakdown

Income:
Amazon royalties: €1505.92 ($1671.57)
German translation royalties: €30.89 ($34.29)
Total: 1705.86$

Costs:
$10.5, Bknights promo on Fiverr
$10, RobinReads promo
$16, proofreading services Fiverr
$5, CopySpace fee
$29.99, Fancy Hands fees
$47, Kimanzi’s course
$10, social media promo service from jameshmayfield.com
$29, Aweber fee
$30, View From the Top Community fee

Total: $187.49

Net Result: $1518.37

Previous Income Report: May 2015 || Next Income Report: July 2015