It All Pays Off

My Christmas book, Tivoli’s Christmas, was released by Prismatic Publishing in late November, 2008. Sales were good between then and the Christmas holidays, that year. Then things slowed down as the book went out of season. But the following September the first book in the Millerville Mysteries series, The Mystery of the Grinning Buddha, came out and there were more sales as friends and neighbors and book stores took an interest in books that most 8 to 12 year-old children enjoy–a good mystery. Sales picked up around the holidays of 2009 with the two books feeding on each other and discovering a broader audience. What really set things on fire was the release of The Mystery of the Ugly Bottle. This season, in addition to new people discovering my Christmas book, those who bought the first mystery are purchasing the second one. And, next June the third book, The Mystery of the Haunted Lighthouse, will be released. I can hardly wait until the holiday season of 2011, not that I enjoy wishing my life away.
I have been discovering, or creating, more and more ways to market my books. Last year, I thought I had come up with everything and was feeling a bit discouraged (or challenged, in reality). It’s too late this year for a lot of my marketing ideas, but I am writing them all down on 3×5 index cards. I will place all the ideas on an action-plan chart that extends from now all the way through the end of 2011.
The other thing I will be adding next year is copies of my music for piano. Individually, they won’t cost a whole lot, but each one will be one I enjoy playing myself.