Jon F. Merz

 by Jon F. Merz

EBook Sales: 2012 Round-Up

By Jon F. Merz

This post is probably a little late by comparison to other yearly round-up posts, but so be it. I thought it would be interesting to run down some of my numbers from the year 2012, now that the year is officially in the books.

As I posted on facebook the other night, my ebook sales for 2012 were approximately 40,000. This number includes only my independently published work sold primarily across three platforms: Kindle, Nook, and Kobo. This figure does not take into account any traditional deals, other publishing projects I was a part of, etc.

So, let’s break it down a bit…

The Kindle remained the dominant sales platform for me by a nearly 4-to-1 margin. But my sales last year were actually not helped by the other Kindle global platforms, aside from the UK. I sell fairly decently on the UK Kindle site, but the US side outsells the UK by at least 5-to-1. I sell a few copies each month on the German Kindle site, and a scattered 1-10 copies across all others.

The Barnes & Noble Nook site is a consistent earner for me, but again, it pales in comparison to Kindle sales. That said, I like the Nook platform a lot because it’s very reliable. Whereas Amazon had several peaks and valleys over the course of the year for one reason or another, B&N stayed very consistent with marginal fluctuation – sometimes a hundred bucks extra sometimes a hundred bucks less – but always within a comfortable range.

Kobo became a new force to be reckoned with in the summer. But Kobo’s search engine leaves a lot to be desired. Trying to search for my own titles after they’ve gone live on Kobo is frustrating and they sometimes don’t show up for 24 hours in the search results, despite the title being live and on-sale. Kobo’s writer platform is one of the best, if not my favorite, for its ease of use and intuitive design. They get extremely high marks on trying to get things right and they’re incredibly responsive to feedback and criticism. My sales for the last five months of the year on Kobo have been “okay.” I’m not yet blown away by a rush on my titles and one of the reasons may be due to the fact that their search engine still needs fixing. That said, I have no doubt Kobo can become a huge force in ebook sales and look forward to putting more of my titles out on it.

My standout title for 2012 was, without a doubt, THE NINJA APPRENTICE. This is the book that my agent loved and wished he’d had come across his desk when he was in acquisitions. This is the book that also languished for eighteen months while morons in New York cast dispersions on it and said remarkably boneheaded things like “boys don’t read,” and “little commercial appeal.” This, as proven by the thousands of copies that I’ve sold since it debuted in May, is complete and total bullshit. To date, The Ninja Apprentice has sold over 10,000 copies and shows no signs of slowing down. It is consistently one of my bestsellers and was chosen for several summer reading lists last year. I’ll be releasing the second book in this series in mid-2013 and have high hopes for that one as well.

My Lawson Vampire series continues to be a major seller. With seven novels (including the traditionally-published book THE KENSEI), five novellas, and now nine short stories, the series is a consistent money-maker for me. Not everyone digs Lawson (I know, hard to believe, lol) but those who do have plenty of adventures to get lost in with more coming out all of the time. THE CRUCIBLE debuts next month and my freebie Christmas story I write for fans each year, THE SNITCH WHO STOLE CHRISTMAS was downloaded thousands of times – more than four times as much as last year’s story! Many of those who downloaded the story will be new readers and hopefully new fans who will get lost in more of Lawson’s adventures.

In 2012, I also had The Fixer translated into Spanish along with one short story, Interludio. So far, sales on the translations have not performed as I expected. This is one area I’ll be concentrating on in 2013 – publicizing the translation. I have a global audience and the need for translations of my work is growing. In 2013, I will be exploring bringing out other language editions of my Lawson series.

For 2013, my goals are to double my ebook sales to 80,000 sold. I’ll be bringing out a bunch of new stuff: new Lawson adventures, new Zombie Ryu installments, the next Ninja Apprentice novel, and a standalone thriller I’ve been working on. I’m also investing back into my business by setting up some serious analytics on my website and sales drives. I know next to nothing about analytics, so I’m bringing in a professional to set me up. She’s awesome and I’m looking forward to implementing her suggestions for maximizing my sales initiatives. My newsletter has been migrated over to a new email service provider, which gives me fantastic data reports. I’ve launched a new Birthday Club for my fans and will be unveiling some new stuff out here on the website.

2013 will also see a brand new project from me that I will not be revealing any details about just yet. It’s “related” to writing and will be of massive help (I hope) to both aspiring and veteran writers. Look for that a few months from now.

Overall, 2012 was a great year for EBook Sales. A lot of thinking right now says that ebook sales will slow. I think that’s hogwash. Any good writer will always sell if the book they write is good. And a savvy writer who gets invested in making his business the best it can be will sell much, much more. I intend to sell close to six-figures of ebook units in 2013 – if not more. Let’s see how it goes! And my best to all of you who are doing the same!

in authorpreneur / boston nocturne / Build a Bestseller / ebooks / for writers / how I write / libros electronicos / libros en espanol / novels / promotion & publicity / publishing / the ninja apprentice / Uncategorized / vampires / writing / zombie ryu 0 comments
 by Jon F. Merz

The Snitch Who Stole Christmas

By Jon F. Merz

THE SNITCH WHO STOLE CHRISTMAS

As you may know, each year I write a special Lawson Vampire Christmas story for my fans and give it away absolutely FREE here on my website. This is one of the ways I say thank you to all my awesome fans and friends for their support over the previous year. You guys are the best fans an author could hope for, so I like to give something back to you.

This year’s offering is THE SNITCH WHO STOLE CHRISTMAS and it runs around 8,200 words. This story takes place in 1999, a few years before the events that happen in the first published Lawson novel THE FIXER. You can download the story very easily by simply right-clicking or command-clicking the file links below and saving the file to your computer. Once you’ve saved it, you should be able to import the file to your e-reader of choice. I also have a .pdf file as well in case you prefer to print it out or read it on your desktop computer.

I’m very pleased to be able to offer this story to you all. If you enjoy it, please be sure to tell your friends to come and grab a copy for themselves as well. Last year, we had an amazing number of people download the story and I’m hoping to surpass that number this year. Since it’s free, folks have nothing to lose by downloading it. I hope you all enjoy it!

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and thank you again for all your support during 2012.
-Jon

THE FREE DOWNLOAD IS NOW OVER. THANKS TO THE THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE WHO GRABBED A COPY! I HOPE YOU ENJOY IT!

in fan appreciation / lawson / promotion & publicity / publishing / Uncategorized 0 comments
 by Jon F. Merz

Sears: Total FAILURE – Part 2

Back at the end of October, I wrote a blog post detailing the absolute unmitigated FAILURE of Sears to make good on its delivery of three appliances to my home. While blasting this around Twitter and other social media networks, I heard back from the folks apparently manning the “SearsCares” Twitter account who repeatedly assured me they would have the case manager make it right.

Eventually, I did indeed speak with a new case manager named Eric, who was professional and polite and we eventually reached an agreement regarding fair compensation for the failure of the company to make good on its promises. I would be refunded a certain amount and the refund would be put back on the card I’d used to make the purchases initially. There was one hiccup in this – the credit card I used to buy the appliances was compromised and I had to get a new one issued to me. A few more days of wrangling ensued mostly because Sears’ policy is to only refund the card that was used. However, to their credit, they agreed to refund the amount to my new card. At this point, we’re now approaching Thanksgiving and I was assured by Eric that the refunds would go through within days of the holiday. Sears would process one refund a day (again, this is apparently their policy) and I would therefore get three separate refunds to my card.

That was over three weeks ago and to date, I have not received one single cent of my promised refund. I have emailed repeatedly and again taken to Twitter about how horribly Sears has failed in its consumer relationship with me. Once again, Christine over at “SearsCares” has promised to get a case manager to contact me about it. That was two days ago and STILL I have not gotten a phone call or a refund.

I have tried to be fair throughout this mess. I have tried to give them the benefit of the doubt and been more than patient with them.

No longer.

As of today, I am filing an official complaint with the State Attorney General’s office in Boston, as well as alerting the various members of the media I know personally, and again taking to the social media universe. Because of the total and complete failure that my Sears shopping experience has been, I would urge anyone with money to spend it elsewhere. Sears has proven time and time again that they do not appreciate their consumers, they do not live up to their promises, and they do not care about making things right.

Do NOT give them your business and warn others to steer clear of them as well. If Sears cannot honor its commitments, it does not deserve to be in business.

Please be sure to spread this around as warning to others NOT to make the mistake I made in buying from Sears. Thank you.

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 by Jon F. Merz

Why It’s Important to Subscribe to My Newsletter

My newsletter is one of the most important things I have as an author. It lets me keep all my readers informed of my new work, writing, happenings, and all sorts of assorted goodness. There’s free fiction and more in each issue and I try to make it a bit more interesting with each installment. 2013 will see some cool changes as well with more added content every month. I always recommend that people subscribe and stay subscribed and this morning presented a perfect reason why.

Starting in January, Instagram says it now has the right to sell your photographs. Go read the article and nuke your Instagram account and then come back and we’ll continue.

Back? Okay, so Instagram is owned by Facebook. They bought Instagram for billions of dollars and now they have a very popular photography site that they are planning on turning into a serious revenue stream for themselves. I don’t use Instagram (I think I did once, but I nuked my account this morning just to be sure) but I do use Facebook. A LOT. I post tons of things out there to both my personal profile and my fan page. And my thinking is that if Facebook enacts a stupid policy change like they just did with Instagram, then what’s to stop them from doing the same at Facebook itself? While they’ve repeatedly said they won’t charge anyone to use Facebook, will they attempt to sell things that people post as a revenue maker? It’s possible. is it likely? I don’t know.

But I do know that if they ever did, my Facebook presence would disappear in a second. And that’s why I’m urging you all to subscribe to my free newsletter now so we have a redundant system of communication between us. Yes, you can find me on Facebook and stay up-to-date, but what if Facebook goes down or I stop posting there? By being a member of the coolest newsletter subscriber base on the planet (if I do say so rather immodestly) you’ll be sure that you always get the latest and greatest from me.

A new issue is dropping in a few days, so don’t wait. Subscribe right now by plopping your email address into the little box below. It’s quick, easy, and totally free. I will never sell your information to anyone. Ever. Period.


in boston nocturne / common sense / fan appreciation / promotion & publicity / publishing / Uncategorized / website / writing 0 comments
 by Jon F. Merz

Family Security

The news today out of Newtown, CT is horrible on so many levels. It’s hard to know how to even begin to fathom the evil that would rob innocent children of their lives. When my sons got out of school today, my wife and I were there to greet them, hug them, and then most importantly, sit down and talk about what happened.

I know a lot of parents think that shielding their children from atrocities like this are what they should do, but I happen to disagree. Children need to know that evil exists and it can strike anytime, any place, and it can happen to anyone. The better prepared they are, the better chance they have of surviving if (heaven forbid) they ever find themselves in a situation like what happened earlier today. Due to some personal messages I received after posting a status update to this effect, I have decided to elaborate on some ideas as a public service. I hope you find them helpful. These are things my wife and I discuss with our boys. You may want to do the same.

1. First, talk to them. Walk them through the tragedy so they understand. This is a delicate and difficult process. My wife and I were both tearing up as we talked with our sons today. But they should see that. Because they’re not parents, they don’t necessarily understand how much the thought of losing them hurts. Seeing your pain will help impress upon them how serious a matter this is. As you discuss the event, stop often and ask how they’re feeling and if they have questions. Kids need to know that evil exists – it’s not fearmongering or ruining their innocence; it’s better preparing them for the real world. Sadly, these are the times we live in. I’d rather have my children lose their innocence than lose their lives.

2. Teach them that their awareness is their single best defense. In today’s busy world, our kids often have their heads down or on other things aside from what’s happening around them. Because they may not yet be big enough to physically defend themselves, awareness is their best weapon. Practice exercises with them like asking them to recall what sort of car just drove by. What was the license plate of that car? What color sweater was that woman wearing on the train? Have them do the same to you. Make it a game, but at the same time make sure they understand how vital it is to be aware. Not sometimes. Not once in a while. But all the time.

3. Get them familiar with the sound of gunfire. Now before you all rush to your emails and send me nasty messages, hear me out. We live around the way from a gun club. The sound of gunfire is around us fairly constantly – especially on weekends. Each time we hear guns going off, we make sure the boys recognize it. We’ve driven them past the range so they can hear how loud it is up close and what it would sound like to be near a gun. What this does is prompt their subconscious to recognize gunfire and alert them if those sounds happen in a place where there shouldn’t be gunfire, i.e, a school or shopping plaza. Even an extra second or two is an advantage in a crisis situation.

4. Answer their questions honestly. If you don’t know the answer, tell them you will find out and get back to them, and then do it! We stressed that they should listen to their teachers today, but if they find themselves alone and unable to get back to the safety of their classroom or they are unable to flee to safety, that they should pretend it’s a game of hide-and-seek and they should try to find the best possible place to hide and then stay there until the police come.

5. Establish communication procedures. How will you get in contact with them and vice versa? Make sure they know that you will come for them and be able to communicate. My sons learned my cellphone number before they could say their address properly. Nowadays, they have multiple ways to get in touch with both my wife and me.

6. Make sure you prepare as a family. If you’re in a restaurant or movie theater, do you and your spouse have a plan for responding to a threat? My wife and I know exactly what our roles are in such an event. Evacuation of the kids and dealing with the threat are both parts of our plan. That may not be possible for you depending on whether you have training or not, but a clear evac route is necessary. Teach your kids to make a note of the exits whenever they enter a new place, restaurant, theater, etc.

These are just a few of the ways you can better prepare your children and your family for the possibility of a hostile event. I wish such things didn’t have to be discussed, but unfortunately, in today’s world they need to be.

I hope you’ll all join me in sending out thoughts, prayers, well-wishes, and positivity to those affected by this horrible tragedy. And please share this post if you think it will do some good.

Be well everyone.

in common sense / life thoughts 0 comments