April 2023 Newsletter

Happy Spring everyone! This is Justin with our latest newsletter!

Current Events

The biggest piece of news is that Shades of Resilience is almost ready to be sent to the editor—clocking in at just over 75,000 words. Right now the biggest task is going through and tying up loose ends and addressing my various notes throughout the writing process. We're planning a book cover reveal within the next month so stay tuned.

Writing Updates

Continuing from last month's newsletter focusing on A Glimpse of Color, I figured we can discuss some numbers—specifically sales numbers and profit margins. I'm not sure how many self-published authors out there discuss this sort of thing, but it's important to understand the uphill battle we face. With all the talk around AI and the use of ChatGPT, these challenges will only become more difficult to navigate.

Within the first month the book was released in January 2021, we got 50 sales—12 eBook and 38 paperback sales. Our total sales are 71 units, of which 20 were eBooks and 50 paperbacks. As you can see, the level of sales dropped off a cliff after the initial buzz of family and friends buying the book. I didn't fully understand how to use Amazon ads and by the time I was toying around with running ad campaigns, our daughter Twyla was born and a whole new chapter of parenting commenced.

Let's break down some numbers!

For the paperback, I looked at what other novellas with similar page counts were selling for and decided to go with $7.99 for the paperback. Each book costs $2.46 to print and after Amazon takes their cut, I'm left with $2.34 royalty on every paperback copy sold. You can elect to take a lower royalty payment for "Expanded Distribution", which basically is a chance at getting your book in "bookstores, online retailers, libraries, and academic institutions."

With eBooks on KDP things get a bit more complicated. You see, Amazon charges the "Delivery Fee" based on the file size of the eBook. The larger the file, the more the price.

There are two royalty options with eBooks, 35% or 70%. With the higher royalty rate, while you make more on each sale, Amazon charges for the delivery fee. The lower royalty option doesn't charge you based on the file size. Since the book was not even half a megabyte, I went the 70% option. My assumption was that most of my sales would be for eBooks, but so far it's mostly been paperbacks! If I include all the downloads that you received in signing up for our newsletter it's more even.

All together, we've made a whopping $137.41 from all our sales combined. For reference, the book cover, formatting, and sizing alone was over $600. I paid around $145 to my editor when she reviewed my first draft. Countless more was spent on Amazon ad campaigns, Instagram paid posts, and other promotions that did not result in a positive return on investment.

Now I wasn't expecting to hit a home run with my very first book. The Elli Twy brand wasn't even a thought yet. Someday we may redo the cover and expand the book for a deluxe or limited edition, but that's a ways off. Every book is a learning experience and an opportunity to see what works and what doesn't. In contrast, Manju's Kerala Christmas has sold over 200 copies this past holiday season!

Writing Inspiration

At the George household, we're very big on breakfast. One of our favorite recipes is from the New York Times on making a Dutch baby.

Image courtesy of: Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist; Hadas Smirnoff. Prop Stylist: Megan Hedgepeth.

It's one of the easiest and quickest breakfast recipes out there. I usually add a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg into the blender for that extra little kick. As the oven is preheating, I usually throw the cast iron in there so it gets up to temperature faster. The other neat little trick is to make sure all your ingredients are at room temperature. Top the final product with powdered sugar, some pure maple syrup (not the fake stuff!) and enjoy with your favorite breakfast beverage—which is coffee for me, tea for Ashley, and chocolate milk for the kids!

Happy Writing!

Elli Twy Publishing