The first 48 hours

Just the other day I was reading a blog that looked at the sale trends for traditionally published and self published books. For most traditionally sold books, the first week after the release is the most important. All of the marketing and money goes into selling the book to readers before it ever hits the shelves.

With self published books, readers are cautious about buying new titles, especially when it's by a debut author. Sales tend to be low for the first few months and gradually pick up over time as word spreads about the book. In other words, for a new self published author, the first 48 hours to a week aren't nearly as important as they can be for a traditionally published author.

Well the first 48 hours are over for me, and it's been really exciting. I didn't sell huge numbers, and just about every sale was to a wonderful and supportive friend, but I still made more sales than I had been expecting to make in the first month. I can't wait until the book is available in most stores, rather than just Amazon.com and Smashwords. Even more exciting will be when I start hearing back from people about what they thought of the story.  Up until now I had my doubts on whether it was worth my while to self publish, but I'm really glad I did.  I can't wait to find out what happens next.