Whenever I'm a little depressed with my sales (and of course I usually have only myself to blame for it), I try to cheer myself up by figuring out where I am in relation to long-term goals. Basically, my dream is to earn XXX amount each month. This amount is sufficient to pay for household expenses and still have enough to set aside for savings as well as for my travel fund (my #1 weakness). Oh, and this amount also includes what I pay for taxes and advertising expenses for my books.
To arrive at this amount, I use the calculations that I borrowed from Joe_Nobody of Kindleboards. I already discussed this before I think, but in case you don't want to search for it in my archives then here it is again.
(COMPUTATION BELOW IS FOR SAMPLE PURPOSES ONLY)
Monthly Income Target: P90,000 (this should leave you with about P50k every month once taxes and advertising expenses are deducted)
Estimate royalty per $2.99 (my regular price for ebooks): P86
Average number of copies sold per book per day: 5 across all retailers (let's aim for a really small number, meaning even if you don't lift a finger, you will still surely sell this number per book each day)
Royalty per book per day (P86 x 5): P430
Daily Income Target (P90,000 / 30 days): P3,000
# of books you need to publish in your lifetime (P3000 / P430): 6.97 or round up to 7 books.
To be safe, let's just say you need 8 books in total. Eight books priced at $2.99, selling FIVE COPIES A DAY EACH. If you can manage that, you can then earn a gross monthly income of P90,000 per month.
Right now, I am at 19.8% of my target number of books to be published in this lifetime. Knowing this number makes me excited and it definitely gives me motivation to write. One reason why I want to reach my target quickly because when I do, I will have more time not just to spend with my family and loved ones but it also means I'll have more time to write in advance. I can write an entire series and then release it all at once, which I know is how readers usually prefer to read books in series (I'm kinda the same as well hehe).
So, yes, I was a little depressed earlier, but now I'm not. :D Off to writing so I can be another book closer to my target. Wee!!!
To arrive at this amount, I use the calculations that I borrowed from Joe_Nobody of Kindleboards. I already discussed this before I think, but in case you don't want to search for it in my archives then here it is again.
(COMPUTATION BELOW IS FOR SAMPLE PURPOSES ONLY)
Monthly Income Target: P90,000 (this should leave you with about P50k every month once taxes and advertising expenses are deducted)
Estimate royalty per $2.99 (my regular price for ebooks): P86
Average number of copies sold per book per day: 5 across all retailers (let's aim for a really small number, meaning even if you don't lift a finger, you will still surely sell this number per book each day)
Royalty per book per day (P86 x 5): P430
Daily Income Target (P90,000 / 30 days): P3,000
# of books you need to publish in your lifetime (P3000 / P430): 6.97 or round up to 7 books.
To be safe, let's just say you need 8 books in total. Eight books priced at $2.99, selling FIVE COPIES A DAY EACH. If you can manage that, you can then earn a gross monthly income of P90,000 per month.
Right now, I am at 19.8% of my target number of books to be published in this lifetime. Knowing this number makes me excited and it definitely gives me motivation to write. One reason why I want to reach my target quickly because when I do, I will have more time not just to spend with my family and loved ones but it also means I'll have more time to write in advance. I can write an entire series and then release it all at once, which I know is how readers usually prefer to read books in series (I'm kinda the same as well hehe).
So, yes, I was a little depressed earlier, but now I'm not. :D Off to writing so I can be another book closer to my target. Wee!!!
