Final 2012 Sales Numbers

When I first put out For Nothing, my debut novel, I was pretty sure that no one would read it outside of my close friends and a few family members.  I was even more sure that some of my friends and family would buy it and never read it, but I could always say I had become a part of the literary world.

If I put out my novel, I thought, at least I would have a small place in the world that I loved so much, where imagination is king and the only limitation is the extent of ones creativity.  So I wrote a novel, put it out, and was fully expecting to never surpass 100 copies sold.  And it may have been that way if e-readers and indie supporters weren't able to connect with authors they way they can now in the age of social media and ever expanding networks.

I sold roughly 2,700 copies from May of 2011 until the end of 2012.  I put out a second book Buffalo Soldiers, and this year have eclipsed 4,500 sold of For Nothing this year plus another 3,000 sold for Buffalo Soldiers.  The yearly total is 7,500 books sold this year and over 10,000 sold since May of 2011.  Needless to say, each month feels like a dream. 

I really am appreciative of each person who has picked up my novels and given them a go.  Even though I keep the pricing down, I understand the time commitment that goes into reading a book and that has value added to the cost I put on my printed ideas. After all, time is money.  

So thank you.

The third installment of An Upstate New York Mafia Tale is due out in April and I couldn't be more excited about the direction the story is taking.  We have the familiar faces from the first two novels coming together again, albeit with a greater focus on fan favorites Rafael Rontego and Alex Vaughn. I heard the gripes from my die hard fans that Buffalo Soldiers deviated from their favorite characters a bit too much (a necessary evil to set up book three) and have brought you back to the characters you have grown to love...or hate.

So I will leave you with this very brief passage from book three, Ashes to Ashes (unedited of course, so don't be a grammar hater):

Excerpt from Ashes to Ashes:

The lights dimmed in and out as a pale and solitary bulb swung above him in taunting circles, casting shadows across the room that elongated and then disappeared like spooked apparitions. A jolt of pain traveled up his spine and tried to claw its way out of the back of his jerking eyeballs. He tried to focus on something, anything, but only the cinder-block walls greeted him, and always with the black shadows that reached out for him, beckoning to him, pulling him towards their inescapable bosom.

There was another stab of pain into his side that reverberated the length of him, dragging its teeth across his lowest rib bone. Knuckles clenched down on the metal table upon which  his body lay splayed across and his eyes rolled towards the cool and wet steel. His hands were slick with his own blood and his legs twitched with the pain, kicking out spasmodically as if trying to assault the ghosts that peeled his skin apart. Sucking in air as fast as he could, he tried to calm himself, but just when he thought he might conquer the agony, he felt another wave of it grate across his weakened body. His stomach convulsed and he nearly sat straight up with the shock.

“Ivan,” he yelled. He felt his veins tighten around his neck, threatening to strangle the shout from his throat. His voice sounded fair away but he could hear it echo in the small chamber. One of the ghosts appeared in front of him then, no more than a foot before his face, distorted and ugly.

“Shut up Rafael,” the ghost said. His hiss sounded like a whisper. “Do you want the police to storm this place?” A clammy palm seized him by the forehead and pushed him back onto the table, the place of his torture.

TTFN Denmonites!

-ND