April. Birthday month.

My son and I share a birthday. It’s awesome and annoying at the same time.

This year it fell on a Saturday, so the night before I went out with friends and on Saturday had a party for him. It was lovely. He was spoilt as usual. I was a little too. I even sold a few books this month and finished writing the third one in the series.

One of my goals for April was to enrol Lethal Instincts into KDP Select. The purpose is to giveaway as many books as possible and to get people to sign up to my email list (I’m still trying to figure out how that is supposed to work!) Check out below how many books were given away and how many sold and all my other monthly stats including queries and income.

The purpose of offering the first book in the series for free is to get readers onto my mailing list. More people on the mailing list means more readers buying my books. If platforms like Amazon, Kobo and the others change their policies, I still have readers to sell books to, directly.

By the end of May I’ll have three books available on Amazon, I’ll finally be ready to start doing some marketing. Many authors will tell you that it’s a waste of time and money if you don’t at least have three products to your name. What’s the point in spending a fortune when there’s a chance that people are going to forget you?

I agree.

We live in a fast paced society that craves content and wants everything right now.

I know I do.

I can’t remember what I read yesterday let alone what I did last month unless it really piqued my interest.

This tells me two things: it’s much harder to engage with readers because of the overload of content out there and that I need to slow down and enjoy the moment.

I need to take a breather and enjoy the moment. Well, there’s a holiday coming up so I’m looking forward to a bit sunbathing and cocktails by the pool and nothing but trashy romance and heart-stopping thrillers to get through in between building sandcastles, paddle-boarding and jet skiing. So much to do, so little time. I’m hoping to enjoy a few Espresso Martinis. Hmmm, yes please.

But before that happens, let’s get down to business.

Business By The Numbers in April

Queries sent: 3
Responses: 2
Accepted: 1
Follow ups: 0
Income: $278.06 (this is from pitches that were accepted in March & April)
Books sold: 4
Books Given Away: 111
Income: $6.38 (almost double the previous month!)
Total writing income: $284.44 (+8200%)

May Goals

1 – Publish Lethal Aftershock – Book 3 in the Lexi Ryder Crime Thriller Series. Lexi’s world is turning upside down. She doesn’t know who to trust. The law is fuelled by bureaucracy rather than justice. The trajectory of Lexi’s life is taking a turn she didn’t expect but was inevitable. It’s time Lexi took the law into her own hands. Trouble is brewing. Trouble is her middle name. I’m excited that book three is finally coming out. I should have scheduled the editor earlier but these things happen. We live and learn. Lethal Aftershock is out mid May!

2 – Write and schedule two months of blog posts. I’m aiming to publish two times per week, so that’s 16 posts. I’ve got the ideas now just to execute them. I’m stretching myself very thin and I want to spend more time with my family so schedule posts and writing them in advance will ensure that I have more time and energy to be with my son throughout the week while still taking care of the business side of my personality. I’m a working/business mama and there needs to be a balance although sometimes there’s no such thing.

3 – Send out 30 pitches. Writing books costs money. Starting a business costs money. I want to earn a full time living writing books but before that happens I need to freelance my booty off. That means writing about personal finance, health and fitness, travel and anything else that tickles me fancy. I’ve worked that I have a 10-20% positive response rate so that means if I send out 30 pitches I should get 3-5 writing jobs. I’d prefer a regular one but I’m happy with one-off’s if they bring home the bacon!

4 – Affiliates. I need affiliates on my site to make extra income so that I can continue writing and producing. I’ve got a few project ideas up my sleeve and there are a lot of products that I love using and would love to share and recommend with you. They are making me a better and more productive writer and author-entrepreneur. Have you got an author blog yet? Check out my post on How to Start An Author Blog.

5 – Run more. I signed up for the Gold Coast Half Marathon in July. I’ve run a couple of times as well as the full but since having my son I’ve been running sporadically. Signing up for a half marathon changes that. I need to run a minimum of three times per week for at least 30-60 minutes. Writing is a sedentary activity unless you have a treadmill desk (does anyone use these? Would you recommend them?), so signing up for a half marathon is a great way to stay in shape, refresh the mind and work on story ideas in a productive way. Gotta love multi-tasking!

6 – Sell and giveaway 500 books. Lethal Instincts and Lethal Disposal are both available on Amazon. Lethal Aftershock is coming soon!

7 – Get 20 email sign ups. Baby steps. I’m currently sitting on 7. So I need another thirteen. If you want a free copy of Lethal Disposal, all you have to do is sign up for my email list.

Did you achieve your April goals? What are you planning for May?