Someone Asked: Thank You, Next

I’ve recently had a small flurry of emails inquiring along the lines of when I’ll be releasing another book.

First, for the 99% of readers of my previous books who apparently missed it, I released a book in May 2018! You can request it through your Overdrive-affiliated library or purchase from the following sellers:

Moving on!

Sales of the most recent book keep authors alive while writing the next book. WCAD and 10KH each sold ~10,000 copies the first year post release. At ~$3 per book (after retailer cuts), that’s ~$30,000 per year, which after expenses and self-employment taxes is closer to $20,000 per year in my checking account. That’s obviously not enough to be the sole wage earner in a household of 4 adults in the United States, but it’s still slightly better than the take-home pay from a $10/hour day job, so I could justify calling writing a full-time job and supplementing with freelance work.

Silent Song, at the time of this writing, is 9 months post release. During that time, it has sold slightly over 100 copies, also known as 1% of what I needed it to sell in year 1 in order to survive while writing another book. August 2018 was absolutely the last opportunity to turn the failure around financially, and that didn’t happen. Since I had to take on more paying work at that time to cover the bills, I no longer have 40 hours a week to write. When I have 40 hours a week to write, it takes me a year to write a novel. When I have 4 hours a week? See you in 10 years.

In other words, there isn’t going to be a next book.

I’m sorry the news isn’t better, but I promise it sucks for the person who wasted over 20 years on this “career” only to end up making less in her last year than in 1996 way more than it sucks for readers who have millions of other options to console them.

Here’s to better days for us all ahead.

Someone Asked: Thank You, Next

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