Honestly, I don’t even know how to start this post–I am utterly lacking in the word department, which is pretty ironic for a writer, isn’t it?
200,000. Books. Sold.
Back in 2012 when Becca and I dipped our toes into the self publishing waters we never imagined it would lead here, but it has…because of all of you. Again, I can’t think of the appropriate words! All the kind ways you have helped and supported us…Thank you seems so unworthy, but it’s all we can say, a thousand times!
When we started down this road with our crazy idea for an Emotion Thesaurus, I had told Becca I would be ecstatic if it sold 50,000 copies in its lifetime. We underestimated just how many other writers struggled with emotion. What a thrill to know this book, and our others, are helping writers all over the world!
It’s been a long time since we shared numbers. I know some find sales transparency helpful and hitting this milestone seemed like a good time to update ours.
So here’s where we’re at, as of Feb 2017:
The Emotion Thesaurus, English only, Pub date: May 2012 (Print, ebook, PDF): 120,101
Foreign rights: Japan, Korea, Romania, China, Taiwan
The Positive Trait Thesaurus, English Only, Pub Date: Oct 2013 (Print, ebook, PDF): 31,659
Foreign rights: Japan, Korea
The Negative Trait Thesaurus, English Only. Pub Date: Sept 2013 (Print, ebook, PDF): 34,874
Foreign rights: Japan, Korea
The Rural Setting Thesaurus, English Only. Pub Date: May 2016 (Print, ebook, PDF): 7,206
Foreign rights: Japan
The Urban Setting Thesaurus, English Only. Pub Date: Oct 2016 (Print, ebook, PDF): 6,734
Foreign rights: Japan
Excluded from overall count: Emotion Amplifiers, a $2.99 companion. Pub Date: Dec 2014 (ebooklet & PDF): 37,306
About these numbers:
- Print outsells digital (I think this is common with reference books)
- No books were set to “free” except Emotion Amplifiers. (EA downloads are not part of the overall count)
- No books have been enrolled in exclusive programs to date
- We didn’t play with ebook pricing (instead we chose a reasonable price and stuck with it)
- But we did try a one-day “group book sale” of the ET at .99 to experiment
- To date we’ve tried only one ad in a high-volume newsletter (we lost money)
- No accurate numbers for foreign sales yet (but we will update once we do)
- Our books are at Amazon, Createspace, Kobo, B & N, Smashwords, and Apple, and available as a PDF using Gumroad. We don’t use Ingram Spark (yet)
Rather than re-invent the marketing wheel…
We’ve talked about the marketing approach we’ve taken in greater length in other posts and interviews, so if you like, visit this tag to find other numbers & data posts, look through some of our past events we’ve run, and check out our marketing tag for extra help.
Also, we strongly encourage you visit our tool page for more marketing help, including social media handouts, marketing interview links, a VERY helpful swipe file from our last book launch.
GIVEAWAY (Open Worldwide)
20 Thesaurus eBooks (Winner’s Choice)
5 one-month subscriptions to our writing web app, One Stop for Writers
How could we celebrate such a terrific milestone without a little giveaway? So, if you’ve been looking to test drive one of our books, or have been itching to try One Stop For Writers, just enter using
THIS FORM
Contest is now over–thanks everyone!
Congrats to Paul, Rachel, Robin, Ellen, Wendy, Janet, Kara, Sandy, Silvana, Denyse, Allison, Sussu, Kimberly, Gaye, Donna, Reana, Gifford, Vicky, Tara, Carol, Anna, Susan, Traci, Melinda & Anne
Again, thank you for buying, recommending, and using our books.
Again, thank you for buying, recommending, and using our books. (And all the fun pictures posted to social media. THE BEST!)
We hope our books continue to supply ideas and help push your writing to the next level. Look for The Emotional Wound Thesaurus to make an appearance later this year. 🙂
Legal stuff is here, and prizes will be drawn Monday, March 6th, 6 PM EST.
Angela is a writing coach, international speaker, and bestselling author who loves to travel, teach, empower writers, and pay-it-forward. She also is a founder of One Stop For Writers, a portal to powerful, innovative tools to help writers elevate their storytelling.
Thank you!
These books look like they will be awesome!
Congrats!!! I have them all. So helpfull.Save lots of time
That’s great to hear–we are so glad. Thanks for the kind words 🙂
Ladies, I have all five actual books, plus the Emotion Amplifiers and they are invaluable Congratulations on the 200K mark but more than that, many thanks for the many, many hours you have put in to make these books available.
Looking forward to more of these books in the future.
Thank you so much for the kind words, Peter!
Congratulations on this important milestone! All the best for the sales in future. 🙂 — Suzanne
Thank you so much Patricia!
Hi, ladies–what a fabulous milestone indeed! However, I’m not surprised. Along with Donald Maass’s The Emotional Craft of Fiction, and Lisa Cron’s Story Genius, your thesauri are my bibles, and with me when I’m writing.
I probably shouldn’t categorize you alongside the master of horror (sorry), but besides Stephen King (his are auto-sent to me the day they release), your books are the only ones I do not hesitate to order when available. You and Becca never fail to deliver an excellent resource.
A huge thank you, and a hearty CONGRATULATIONS to you both. CHEERS!
I will take a mention with SK ANY DAY. LOL, you have made my day, Susan–thank you so much for the kind words and congrats. And I agree, both Story Genius and Emotional Craft are great. 🙂
I am so proud of you ladies. I own three of your books and use them every time Im stuck.
Aw, thank you Kitty! <3
Congrats!
Thanks Traci! 🙂
Congratulations! I have all of your books, and use them constantly when I’m writing. They are filled with such good ideas. When my mind goes blank, I know exactly where to look for inspiration. I look forward to the next one.
Thank you Bev! We are still amazed by this milestone–amazed and grateful. Thrilled that you find the books a help when you’re writing! 🙂
I love my Emotional Thesaurus. It sits next to my computer. I have used a few of the others online. This are great! Thank you for creating such books-
Thank you, Sheri! We are so glad our content is there when you need it. I hope your writing is going well!
Huge congratulations, Angela and Becca – I’m not surprised, and you deserve all that success! Interesting to see how you approached the sales side – I’ve often thought reducing the price doesn’t always mean more sales, or vise versa!
I don’t know that there is a right way for pricing–so much depends on the book and genre. This is what has worked for us, but may not work for all. But I do think there is something to be said for simply choosing a fair price and respecting readers’ wallets, especially for ebooks. This is something I don’t understand with traditional publishers, and think they shoot themselves (and unfortunately their authors) in the foot by setting prohibitive prices on ebooks.
I’m proud to say I am a lucky owner of ALL your thesauruses (looking forward to the Emotional Wound thesaurus!!!) and would gladly share if I were to win more. Of course, the “One Stop” offer is amazing, too!!! Congratulations to you both for the astounding work you do. We are all SO grateful! 😀 😀 😀 oxox
Thank you Donna. YOu are so very kind–we are lucky to have you in our corner <3!
Amazing and well-deserved figures. I have one Thesaurus on my desk all the time – the Emotion Thesaurus, and others accessible via Kindle or Kindle PC. Where would our writing be without them?
Thank you Roland! We feel very lucky our thesauruses get to hang out where all the action is! 🙂
What an accomplishment! I use my Urban Setting and Emotion Thesaurus the most often. I find I usually miss one or two things that can enhance my writing.
Writers are missing out on a great resource if they don’t have these two books. If I wrote stories in rural settings, I’d grab that one too.
You are so lovely–thank you for that, Mona. We are so happy you find out books to be helpful 🙂
This is AMAZING!! I have 2 of your books but would love to have all. Great resource guides. Congrats to you both!
Thank you Donna! I am a bit shell-shocked myself; I never imagined this 5 years ago. It’s wonderful to know our books are doing some good out there. 🙂
Congratulations!!! I’m so very happy for you both! What a huge milestone and accomplishment.
These are hands down the best tools for authors!
Thank you so much Allison! And congrats again on your own happy news!
Congratulations! I have two of your thesauruses and they are fantastic!
Thank you Christine. We are so very glad you find our books helpful. Thanks so much for all the writerly love 🙂