Join me on my road to publication (part 10)

My multipart series chronicles the ups and downs of an ordinary person striving to becoming a novelist in the real world. The series will span more than five decades.

If you’ve read parts 1-9, you can skip the intro (though it’s a fascinating intro 😀):

I’m the author of ten published novels, three novellas, and two nonfiction books. Seven of the novels, the three novellas, and one of the nonfiction books were traditionally published. I self-published the remaining three novels and nonfiction book.

This might seem impressive to some, but it goes without saying that I’m no Stephen King, especially when it comes to our respective bank accounts. Despite boasting over 70,000 purchases/downloads of my books, my total cash royalties are in the low five-figure range because (admittedly) most of the sales were free or inexpensive ebooks. Regardless, it’s likely there are authors who would trade places with me, which might be viewed as a depressing commentary on how extraordinarily difficult it is for a no-name to hit it big.

Though I’m not the only author on Substack chronicling something like this, my story has unique elements that I believe will be informative and relatable to writers and readers. Over the next several months, I’ll post a bimonthly account of my journey to publication—from the 1970s when I was a young man with big dreams to a recently retired dude who hasn’t given up on those dreams quite yet. Here is part 10.

Let’s talk about sales

In previous posts, I wrote about the intense editing process that led to the publication of my epic fantasy series with a traditional midsized house. Book 1 came out in August 2012. Book 6 completed the series in October 2014. That 26-month stretch was a whirlwind of activity.

In part 1, I described my 17-year-old self declaring to the world that I was going to become a famous novelist and make $75 million.

Did the publication of my series achieve either of those goals?

No.

But 17-year-olds tend to dream big and worry about the details later.

So …. what did I achieve?

Almost 40,000 people purchased or downloaded at least one of the books of this series. But despite those impressive-sounding numbers, I made a lot less than $40,000.

Why the disparity?

1. There were relatively few paperback sales.

2. Many of the ebook sales came via low-priced promotions.

3. Authors don’t start receiving royalty payments until their advance has earned out. Publishers also deduct expenses such as production costs, marketing expenses, and distribution fees before calculating royalties. (See “important point” below.)

Sigh.

Your first thought might be that my publisher let me down. But that’s not the case. They were legit pros who did everything that most midsized houses are capable of doing. The reality is, unless you’re able to sign with one of the world’s top ten or even top five publishing houses, then the sales results you’ll achieve might look similar to mine. Some of you will do better. Some will do worse. That doesn’t mean that midsized and smaller publishers don’t have their fair share of success stories. I’m just saying that in my opinion, the odds of hitting it big are stacked against the average, no-name author even if he or she publishes with a traditional house.

IMPORTANT POINT: Not a single penny ever came out of my pocket to pay for anything. This is as it should be. The publisher covered all the expenses for content editing, copy editing, line editing, cover designs, interior designs, marketing, promotions, professionally produced audiobooks, and countless other things.

Anyway, back to my story.

October 2014 morphed into January 2025 in what felt like the blink of an eye. Sales declined and reader interest faded. Early this year, my publisher reverted my rights to me. After eleven-plus years, my epic fantasy series was out of print. Rather than feel depressed, I took this as an opportunity to breathe new life into the series, which is ironic considering the word “Death” is in the title. I was grateful for all that my publisher did for me, but it was time for both of us to move on.

I’m now in the process of self-publishing new editions. I’ll go into more detail about this in a later segment of Join me on my road to publication.

Up next: The scary power of a lone-wolf reviewer.

Promotional note: Anyone interested in a free ARC copy of my newest release, The Death Wizard Chronicles | Volume 1, can get it here on NetGalley.

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Previous episodes

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9