A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats

shutterstock_76904563Instead of TIDE, a better word is WAVE, since The Perseid Collapse Series Kindle Worlds launch has been been an incredible tsunami (pun intended) of co-promotion, cooperation and buzz surrounding all of the novellas in the series. I couldn’t be happier with the level of participation, encouragement and sharing by all of the authors involved…not to mention the readers and fans that have multiplied our efforts. The whole thing has been awe-inspiring.

One of my sincerest hopes from the start, was that The Perseid Collapse Series Kindle World would Lift All Boats, helping to cross-expose readerships. My readers would check out other authors’ novellas and novels…their readers would check out mine. I know this has been Sean T. Smithhappening, but the extent of the impact didn’t sink in until recently. I received a message from Sean T. Smith, author of the novella Sunshine Patriots and The Wrath Series, which blew me away.

Rather than recap what Sean relayed, I’m going to turn this into a guest post. Take it away, Sean!

“When Steven Konkoly invited me to write a novella for his newly minted PERSEID COLLAPSE Kindle World, I jumped at the chance. I didn’t know much about Kindle Worlds, but I figured that since Steven was writing killer books in a similar vein to what I write and actually selling lots of them, it was a no-brainer.

My first novel, OBJECTS OF WRATH was published by Permuted Press last year, and I had absurd expectations about what my sales were going to be like. The novel is the first in a trilogy, and the second book released in August of 2014. The final book came out on February 2, the same day as the PERSEID COLLAPSE world launched.

My publisher is primarily known for zombie books, although that’s something which has been slowly changing. But my books aren’t horror in any way, and I struggled to find readers. I’ve had good reviews, but not nearly enough of them. It was a let-down for me, watching the slow slide into oblivion that my books were taking.

But…

After the launch of the PERSEID COLLAPSE Kindle World, several things happened. First, I got to see a nice Amazon ranking for the first time; SUNSHINE PATRIOTS, the novella I wrote for Steve, made it up to number three in Kindle Worlds for thrillers and mysteries, and it’s still at number 9 last I checked for top-rated thriller/mysteries.

The other authors, Bobby, Steven, and AR Shaw in particular, did a fantastic job at cross promotion, all across social media. Steven blogged and tweeted to his fan base, and the other authors did the same. I tried to pitch in, but my reach is still rather limited. Over the period of the last month and a half, I’ve seen my blog outreach increase, my Twitter following grow, and my sales rank spike dramatically. And it didn’t just go up for SUNSHINE PATRIOTS, all of my books saw nice jumps.

The increase in sales for my other novels led to my first book being approved for a Book Bub promotion, which is happening today and tomorrow. I should see another spike in sales beyond what I’ve already experienced, and find new readers. In particular, I think my books are getting in front of the RIGHT readers for the first time, and that’s a vital thing for an emerging author.

Not to share my dirty laundry, but here’s a screen shot from this morning. The long, consistent tail over the last month is a direct result of participating in the PERSEID COLLAPSE Kindle World. Obviously, I’d like to see my author rank and my sales get a whole lot better, but the difference thus far has been dramatic.”

This makes me smile. Congratulations, Sean. I can’t wait to read the continuation of The Sunshine Patriots series.

SeanT