Kindle Sales, Redux...

Perhaps I should stop using words like "redux." Anywho, I thought I'd report on the Kindle sales I'm making since I'd been kind enough to whine about them earlier in the month.

I'm happy to report that though I had projected a total of 4 (four) sales for the month of September, and though I'd later reported that after hundreds of dollars in giveaways at the latest iteration of Bouchercon (fabulous event, by the way) my sales had jumped to 5 (five) for the month, I am now at a total of 8 (eight) sales for September and think I have an outside chance at 10 (yes, ten).

Strange, however, that not a single one of all those sales is of my best collection - Killing Ways 2. Note that this collection isn't just the second collection I put out. It is also as much better than Killing Ways 1 as 2 is greater than 1 - that is, one hundred percent better. Not to discourage you, however, here is a link to my first collection. Not as good as the second, but probably better than anything else you'll spend 99 cents on this year. Except for the second collection, of course...

Title Time

Part of the fun/agony of producing the ebooks I've been working on is coming up with good titles. Perhaps I've acquired some stodggy habits being an English professor for so many years, I tend toward Blah, Blah, Blah, and Other Stories. See for instance, my Killing Ways: Stories. It does the basics - it tells you there's some killing, and it tells you it's not a novel but a collection instead. but it doesn't grab you like I'm Gonna Git You Sucka*.

I've got another collection coming up. Six stories. (Makes me consider something like Revolver, but it's not like a gun plays a part in every story, just 4 out of 6). I've described them before, so I'll do it again:

Two "Stoop the Thief" stories, one published in CRIMESPREE MAGAZINE years ago and the other published in an anthology from Bleak House called UNCAGE ME! The marvellous Jennifer Jordan accepted both stories for which I'm grateful. The second story was even nominated for a prize which was an honor. It also got me a very nice mention in Publisher's Weekly.

The next two stories would be Ray Cruz stories. Ray's a meanie. In any event, the first was also published in CRIMESPREE, the second came out in PLOTS WITH GUNS.

Then there'd be another CRIMESPREE selection: "Elena Speaks of the City, Under Siege." This one actually won a prize and it may well be the only second person story you'll ever love. Or read even. They're kind of rare.

And finally, a story that was published in BRONX NOIR from Akashic Books and edited by SJ ROZAN: "Early Fall." It's quite dark and based on a real person I knew. It's sort of a tribute to a real street battler who dedicated her life to helping prostitutes and addicts get off the junk and get clean.

The title I've got so far is Stoop the Thief and Other Urban Heroes Note the slight variation on the usual style. But since they're all urban stories, I'm wondering if something like "No Mercy Zone: City Stories" or "Killer City: Stories" Or "The Pitiless Street: Stories" Or...well, you see I'm no good at this. Help me out. Give me a title I can use, and if I use it, I'll send you a book. Not one of these fake electronic books either. A real book with a signature in it. Not my signature. Maybe It'll be Alafair Burke's signature. Or Laura Joh Rowland. Or Maybe SJ Rozan. Who knows? Talk to me.


* Taken.

Kindle Success, Part III

Okay, so now I have a total of six sales with royalties adding up to about $7 if I do my math correctly. Each ebook - Killing Ways: Stories and The Devil's Snare: A Comedy - has sold three copies. Sounds like I've made some coin off of stories that hadn't earned me any money (though a few were published previously around the web on now defunct sites). But being an old fogey, I asked Amazon to send me a check instead of routing money straight to my bank so they won't send a thing until I've reached a hundred bucks and at this rate it'll be July when that happens. And they take an $8 processing fee so right now, I owe them a dollar...

Not to mention that two friends brought copies so real sales are less than they appear, but...

In the world of short story publication, any sale is a good thing.

And I've got plenty of other stories to put out there. And when they're all out there working for me instead of taking up desktop space, I might make $7 A DAY... nothing to sneeze at since that turns into $2555 a year. Given the fact that most of the two dozen short stories I've published over the years earned $0, $2500+ would definitely be welcome.

Plus, I'm working on bringing THE CONCRETE MAZE to Kindle.

We'll see.

Kindle Descriptions

I forgot that I was supposed to describe my Kindle projects here. Great marketing maven I am...

Here goes for a short story (4670 words) called "The Devil's Snare: A Comedy" :

While tempting 72 year old Edith Porter, the Devil gets a little more (or less) than he bargained for.

If I were to give the book a cover photo, it would be a bobble-head devil with its base in a twine noose. Can't find a booble-head devil.

Here goes for Killing Ways: Stories (about 41,000 words):

1 - The Most Dangerous Man in New York City: 1969-1977: Winter 1971 is the first Ray Cruz story, and it shows why Ray Cruz fits the description in the title. Ray takes on the Italian mob - all of it - and doesn't do too badly.

2 - Daughters is the second Ray Cruz story. In it, he gets out of jail and his old boss has some work for him. He's not too interested in returning to a life in crime, but then the man he's asked to take care of earns Ray's very violent hate.

3 - Family is my first flash fiction and it involves Viktor Petrenko, ex-Soviet special forces, current new York City tough guy in the rescue of a baby. Don't worry. The child will come out unharmed. Can't say the same for everybody else in the story.

4 – Viktor Petrenko, Bring Them to Their Knees Viktor is in South America when he’s offered a job he can’t refuse – rescuing a little girl kidnapped by a drug cartel. He’s equal to the task of killing, but can he save the girl?

5 – Viktor Petrenko, We Will Make You Beg shows Viktor in Rikers Island Prison in New York awaiting his trial for tax evasion. The prison toughs want to make him choose a side and New York detectives want him to start talking about a dismembered body they found, but all Viktor wants is to be left alone with his memories of the one love of his life - Elena.

6 – Viktor Petrenko, Have You No Mercy? Viktor is sentenced to prison for tax evasion, but a white collar crime puts him in among the country club set for the first time in his life. While the other prisoners hardly know what to make of him, Viktor spends his nights dreaming of the Balkan Wars – the first time he met the love of his life, Elena.

7 – Excerpt from Man of Disaster is a taste of a novel in progress that should be ready for the summer. In it, scientists on the run from paid assassins involve Viktor in their troubles, and when the love of his life, Elena is threatened, Viktor responds the only way he knows how – murderously.

8 – Into the Woods is the story of a man and his psychotic delusions – delusions that seem real to the people they disembowel…

9 – Long Distance is the story of a con man who claims that his non-speaking friend can retrieve the voices that have spoken on your phone lines even if the speaker is dead. One little old lady wants to hear the last word of her now departed husband, but the message he left may not be what she wanted to hear…

10 – Murder at DynaCorp is about the investigation of a death – the head of research firm DynaCorp was found in his office with his heart sitting on top of his chest, but with no incision on his body.

Some of these were published in Demolition Magazine run by Bryon Quertermous and one was published in Flashing in the Gutters. Excellent ezines that should have had much longer runs.