A Date with the Devil is coming...

I release A Date with the Devil in 8 days. I can't believe it is really happening. I remember the day I got the idea for the opening scene of the book. I was so excited. It was something different, something dangerous.

I struggled with word count and meeting certain standards, but with my beta readers help it became a goal I could reach. Then the reviews began pouring in. 

"I bow before you woman! This is your best book ever! I loved Into the Darkness, I adored Emerging from Darkness, but this? THIS IS JUST PERFECT!" - Ewelina R.

"Kira Adam's newest standalone novel is a fast-paced novel that is expertly crafted and beautifully written. Bryce's journey is heartbreaking, and Kira Adams pulls no punches when telling us what Bryce suffered at the hands of her abusive ex-boyfriend, Robbie." - Sara M.

"I laughed with her, cried, screamed and cheered her on. A Date with the Devil is so beautifully written that when I started it I couldn't put it down. I finished it in 2 hours." - Angie C.

"This story seriously broke my damn heart. It hit so close to home, that in some parts I was crying, not only for Bryce, but myself as well." - Lucii G. 

"I don't know how best to say this, but this is so realistic and brutally honest in its depiction of abuse, it was difficult to read. I finished it last night and still find I'm gritting my teeth fighting back the emotions of it all." - Tammy H.

That is just 5 of the reviews. It has 34 rankings on Goodreads currently, 27 of them being 5-star reviews!

People are saying it's my best novel to date. That makes me so nervous, for a few different reasons. Whatever I write after this has to top it. What if the release is lackluster and I spent all the money on promotion for no reason?

There is a lot riding on this release for me since EFD was such a flop. I really thought offering ITD for free at the same time EFD was out would give me decent release day numbers...but not that many people have purchased EFD which is depressing for me.  

We're doing a release day party, a book blitz through YA bound tours, 2 Fiverr promotions, 2 eReader Owl promotions, a Thunderclap, and probably some advertising through Facebook. I am hoping I see a good return on investment. 

Check out this awesome promotional photo one of my street team members made me. 

Pretty cool, huh? And then a teaser I made for the big countdown! I can't wait to share some Tyson teasers with ya all. Until then, tata!

It's almost been a year since I first began publishing...

You heard that right.

I published my first book, My Forever on May 18th, 2014.

Since then I have racked up handfuls of reviews and published a total of 8 books, along with joined an anthology, and released a box set of my Infinite Love series.

When people first decide to self-publish, it's so confusing what to expect. I wasn't sure if my books would immediately be picked up or if it would take a while for me to build that platform. You never know what is the regular amount of sales to expect per day, per week, or per month.

I've wanted to be transparent for awhile about my experiences with my sales. So here goes.

Originally, when I first began publishing, I had my books listed on every platform imaginable. And then, they were only selling through Amazon, so I pulled them all and listed them under KDP Select.

Below, I will list how many books I sold per month and how much money I made.

May '14
Books sold: 9
Money made: $3.06

June '14
Books sold: 14
Money made: $17.74

July '14
Books sold: 17
Money made: $21.34

August '14
Books sold: 51
Money made: $46.90

September '14
Books sold: 103
Money made: $111.45

October '14
Books sold: 149
Money made: $152.33

November '14
Books sold: 150
Money made: $123.73

December '14
Books sold: 79
Money made: $75.79

January '15
Books sold: 348
Money made: $369.65

February '15
Books sold: 510
Money made: $302.14

March '15
Books sold: 673
Money made: $755.00

April '15
Books sold: 344
Money made: $355.00

Total amount of books sold so far: 2447
Total amount of money made: $2334.13

As you can see, I've been generally trending upwards, but the months are not always consistent. We are halfway through May as it is, and this month I'm barely over $100 so far on my sales, if that. The months that I gave away more free books was when I made the most. 

Ideally, I would like to make enough money off my books that I wouldn't have to have another job to supplement my income, or I could have a part time job. This is what I am working towards. I hope some day, I will be able to say all of my hard work has paid off.

As it stands, the most books I've sold in one day was right around 40+. Most days I range anywhere from 4-12 sales. Some days I am below that and some I exceed it. Like I said, inconsistent. However, I am building a platform, and more people have heard of me than ever before. My goal is that by the time I turn 30, which is a year from now, that I will be able to call myself a full-time writer.

I've never had a ranking lower than 6,000 and that was for an anthology I'm in. My individual lowest ranking was in the 8,000's. My goal is that in the next year, I will hit within the 5000's. I hope I can I do it.

I have tried many different things to boost my sales, giveaways, book blitzes, book tours, cover reveals, reviews, etc. And until I find the magical combination, I will continue to try different things. It'll be interesting to see where I might be sales-wise in a year; whether I will still be trending upwards. I really hope so.

Hope this helps some of you out with what to expect. I should also mention that I spent every single day doing some form of promotion, marketing, editing, writing, revising, formatting, etc. So, I've basically been a robot. I published 8 books my first year of publishing. I'm interested to see how many it will be this year.