Mary’s Musings
Something serious this time
The subject of this post could well have been any one of these cryptic lines:
- As I gather my tax preparation materials, I reflect on 2021
- Most of you would say I’ve had a successful 2021
- I’m being paid less than minus $20 an hour
- Your review is worth so much more to me than my profit on your purchase of my book
Click on the book to go to that “Write a Review Page”
In 2021, I sold over 225 books. That’s over 700 pages in three titles with three different publishers and oh yeah, one award. Not bad when you consider that Forbes magazine had an article a few years ago that said that more than ninety percent of self-published authors sell fewer than one hundred books in their lifetime. My gross income was about as much as I originally thought it should be for me to break even. I was sadly and badly mistaken. I only make about five dollars for every book Amazon sells for me – less than twenty-five cents for each novelette. So, did I make money? Not by a long shot.
Let’s have a look at what I did in the last year (you can insert the costs and some things I did for each of the three books):
Prior to 2020, I:
Bought and read several books on writing
Had an agent/tutor for a few months that only wanted me to pay for her expensive classes
Decided the need to write was greater that the need to write a Pulitzer Prize winner.
In 2021, I:
Researched
Drafted,
Researched,
Re-wrote,
Researched,
Edited,
Re-edited,
Researched, Re-edited again (if anything, I’m under counting – I lost track of how many times)
Searched for editors
Looked at several sample edits of my first several pages
Compared price quotes
Hired an editor
Investigated several cover designers
Reviewed several sample designs
Compared design fees
Hired cover designer
Sent manuscript to my editor for editing,
edited her edits,
fired editor
hired new editor
edited full book again
Had a cover designed,
Researched self-publishing,
Built a marketing platform,
uploaded my finished manuscripts and covers to various self-publishing companies,
spent hours online or days waiting for tech support for everything from problems uploading manuscripts, to reclaiming fees I was falsely charged for a logo design,
established and administer a Facebook Group that covers my genre (with a couple of friends), attempted one Facebook advertisement,
Found a cover designer I liked better and hired to do my new books and replace the original “The Mesilla” cover,
Wrote more than twenty newsletters and blog posts,
tried giving away my book,
tried selling at a loss,
begged for help,
attended four book signings,
considered throwing in the towel,
cried over my keyboard until I thought about trying to get an agent and publisher (but then realized I’d only be eliminating the cover designing and editing and I wouldn’t have the control I have now)
The expense side of things will make your toes curl. Editors, cover designers, contest applications, software, tech support, research materials, book and author association fees, advertising (not much but lessoned learned), professional reviews, shipping, a new computer, camera and microphone for Zoom presentations, image editing software, map making software, floor plan software and several other things I’ve forgotten.
The sad truth is that had I decided to ‘go all out’ to sell my books, I could have easily spent multiple times what I did. Would it have been worth it? There’s no way of knowing. I do know this: At every turn, there is someone telling you they can provided a service that will sell your book.
It’s jungle out there. The one thing I know for certain is that reviews sell books. If you enjoyed my book, please post a review. It doesn’t need to be long.
| The San Augustin Book Two Finally! Just click on the book to be taken to the Amazon page where you can order one ... or more! | The Mesilla Book One New Cover, new illustrations, same book - pick one up for that special friend so you can read together! |  Now available in paperback! This thirty page novelette is takes us to the year before Jesus joins the Fountains. |
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The Santa Fe Railroad came to the Mesilla Valley in April of 1881. A huge crowd celebrated the event at the end of Depot Avenue – later renamed Las Cruces Avenue. The celebration was so large and raucous that the arrival had to be delayed because it was necessary to clear the throng from the tracks! After formalities, some of the crowd were given a short ride.
think. For years, Mesilla (often referred to then as La Mesilla) was the center of commerce and government in the Mesilla Valley. When the Santa Fe Railroad Company approached La Mesilla, the community leaders were hesitant to make the necessary property available for the right-of-way. Some influential folks had heard some pretty nasty stories about how ‘railroad towns’ became wild, uncivilized burgs filled with opportunists and criminals. Their hesitation proved fatal and the path of history of Dona Ana County permanently veered toward Las Cruces when local business man William Rynerson saw an opening and immediately offered up the needed land. Las Cruces got the route and a few years later, all the county offices were moved to Las Cruces. It was a bit of a sore point between the two communities for some years. Ironically, the same sort of situation had occurred a year before, which Rynerson must have known, when the Santa Fe Railroad Company by-passed their namesake town of Santa Fe in favor of Albuquerque in 1880.