Finchbearer
Vala
Or, Gilgamesh? Beowulf?
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LAUNCH DAY
- Thread starter Malik
- Start date
- Thread starter
- #22
Malik
Auror
Hey, STONELANDS is live. Get it for cheap while you can.
BIPOC MC! Dokkalfar! Women snipers! Gryphons! Machine guns!
Amazon.com: Stonelands eBook : Malik, Joseph: Kindle Store
Stonelands - Kindle edition by Malik, Joseph. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading Stonelands.
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BIPOC MC! Dokkalfar! Women snipers! Gryphons! Machine guns!
AAAAAHHH!!!! Much excite!
I haven't been on much so far today. Do you have this announcement on FB, yet?
- Thread starter
- #24
Malik
Auror
It might be on my personal page and I put it up on a couple of writing groups. I have no social media anymore other than my personal FB which I believe has double-digits on my Friends list.
Social media is the new smoking. Quit now and reclaim your health.
No. Kidding. I'm a terrible troll, so Jenny keeps me limited to where I can hide my name. lol I'd love to quit FB. Did quit Twitter before the Change. But the only thing I've got going for us is me running my mouth in social media and more than a little razzle dazzle.
- Thread starter
- #26
Malik
Auror
BOOM. Top 100, Military Fantasy.
With no social media. Go ahead and keep telling me why SM is important; I wasn't listening.
aters.
With no social media. Go ahead and keep telling me why SM is important; I wasn't listening.
aters.Not bad! A couple of my books hit the top 100 in Military Fantasy now and again, though they are usually in the 500-2000 range. 'Empire: The Complete Collection' is at 642, while 'Labyrinth War' is at 1750 (no promotion for most of a month).
Huzzah!!! That is fantastic! You do always tell the best stories.
pmmg
Myth Weaver
How can you have such numbers if you just launched today?
An impressive feat, congrats to you.
An impressive feat, congrats to you.
- Thread starter
- #30
Malik
Auror
Marketing.
My 2016 debut, DRAGON'S TRAIL was, and possibly still is, the bestselling indie fantasy debut novel of all time. With no major-publisher help, it has sold over 25,000 copies and is still selling. This is important, because Amazon notifies Kindle readers about new releases from authors they've read in the past.
My mailing list is small but rabid, and I add to it every year by appearing at fantasy conventions--not only as a writing panelist, but also demonstrating warfighting, swordsmanship, hand combat, and fieldcraft. So even without consistent releases--it's been EIGHT YEARS since my last book--I keep people interested. At cons, I go to parties. I'm nice. I'm funny. I floss. I make friends. I also make enemies, but there is no bad press.
My second book, THE NEW MAGIC, was pirated heavily right out of the gate and didn't sell well--I found it on a pirate site once with over 1,900 ratings, nearly 900 reviews, and a 4.6-star average, IIRC. So I know it's still being read. It cracked the Top 20 on a Goodreads list for the Hugos the year it came out, sales or no.
DRAGON'S TRAIL still--ten years later--occasionally breaks into the Top 100 in Fantasy. I can only assess that reading groups choose it. It still sells.
All three books are in print at B&N and indie booksellers, so I'm sure that hardcore fantasy readers recognize my name. (My cover artist used the same font for my name on STONELANDS as she did on my previous books.)
TLDR: I have readers.
I have no social media presence anymore; I'm "running silent," which I'm hoping is building an air of mystery. I sent an email to all my readers about three hours before STONELANDS went live. My open rate was 34% and the click-thru rate was 21%, which is off the charts. 5-6% is considered a home run. Like I said: rabid.
On that, I initially released in print-only, and not only was the initial sales response outstanding, going print-only apparently made some readers insane. Yesterday's click-thru rate was probably because of this.
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- Thread starter
- #31
Malik
Auror
Holy crap, it's still climbing. #70 right now.
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Can confirm all of this. I watched him do it.
*waves all the pom poms*
- Thread starter
- #34
Malik
Auror
It has been quite a ride.
Not everybody gets to sign active duty boobs. Like, in service as boobs, not retired boobs or boobs studying for entrance exams or slacker boobs. I haven't signed boobs... okay, yes, stripper boobs do count. I have seen many strippers. But there weren't any new releases involved with that.
- Thread starter
- #36
Malik
Auror
They were very nice boobs. Definite career high point.Not everybody gets to sign active duty boobs. Like, in service as boobs, not retired boobs or boobs studying for entrance exams or slacker boobs. I haven't signed boobs... okay, yes, stripper boobs do count. I have seen many strippers. But there weren't any new releases involved with that.
(For those not tracking, at a signing some years back when my books were really hot shit, a stunning woman in a skimpy cosplay outfit told me she only owned the ebook, "...but would you mind?" and pulled her top down for me to sign her breasts. Which is exactly the kind of thing that you daydream about when you're trying not to doze off in third-year theory.)
Mad Swede
Auror
Not something that ever happens at Swedish book signings. Contrary to popular impressions, Swedish women are fairly shy.
- Thread starter
- #38
Malik
Auror
I think we discussed this, but my wife Katie was on Allt för Sverige and
lost heartbreakingly by a matter of about a half-second in the final challenge, endearing her to what felt like the entire nation.
It was amazing, though, because we'd walk through a shopping center or be in a restaurant in Sweden, and I could see people staring, and some quietly gesturing to their friends, but when I'd nod to them, they'd look away, nonchalant.
The Swedes who did approach us were so gentle and so kind. It's like they had a script: they'd first ask where we were from. We'd say America, then they'd ask where in America, we'd say our town, and then they'd say, "You know, there was an actress from that town . . ." at which point we'd smile and ask if they'd like a photo. It may be the best place to be a celebrity on the whole planet.
That's a lovely picture of her, too.
- Thread starter
- #40
Malik
Auror
She's a knockout. I still don't know what she's doing with me. She must've lost a bet.
