Here are my Amazon Kindle sales figures and royalties for July as of today at 5:49 pm. All the titles are priced at $1.99, except for THREE WAYS TO DIE, which sells for 99 cents (Click on the image for a larger view):
I sold 444 copies of THE WALK and 54 copies of THREE WAYS TO DIE in June. If sales continue as they are, I'll fall a little short of those numbers this month (and far short of the Kindle sales enjoyed by Joe Konrath and John August, the authors who inspired me to do this). Even so, it's found money for an out-of-print book and a collection of three, previously-published stories.
Encouraged by even those small numbers, and with nothing at all to lose, I added Kindle editions of my out-of-print novels MY GUN HAS BULLETS on 7/14 and BEYOND THE BEYOND on 7/17. It's too soon for me to draw any conclusions about how they are selling.
Being a Kindle author and occasional commentor on copywrite issues, I wonder what your opinion is of the Amazon’s Kindle/1984 mess?
I’ve not got a Kindle but I’m in the UK with a Sony Reader and ‘The Walk’ looks interesting. Is it possible to purchase a PDF or Sony Reader version of the book?
Lee, I know you know the difference, but just in case any of your legion of followers don’t —
There is a difference between “out-of-print” and “rights reverted.” So before republishing your works on Kindle, be sure your rights have reverted, or the publisher may be able to ask for that $50 you’ll make. 😉
If you have an agent, he or she should be able to help you get your rights back — and be aware that your agent may also have a contractual interest in any sale of the book.
The Authors Guild or a literary attorney may be able to help those in sticky situations.
Jan makes a VERY important point. You need to get a “reversion of rights” letter from your publisher on your out-of-print books before posting them on Kindle…or shopping them to other publishers.
I was gifted with a Kindle yesterday, and my first official purchase was “3 Ways to Die” – so you will have at least one sale for July!
I have reversal of rights on MAN OVERBOARD: The Counterfeit Resurrection of Phil Champagne. But how do I convert the book to Kindle format? What episode of your tutorial covers that?
THE WALK, MY GUN HAS BULLETS, THREE WAYS TO DIE, and TELEVISION SERIES REVIVALS are available for download as PDFs, RTFs, and a variety of other formats at Scribd.com and smashwords.com
Doesn’t this mean you “self published” these books?
I thought that was the path taken by hacks and fucktards?