September has been a busy, busy month, and it’s been one of the least productive in terms of actually getting any writing done. Instead, I’ve spent a considerable amount of time trying to grow some alternative revenue streams, while attempting to keep my existing income steady. It’s been a real slog. But it was totally worth it.
On the 18th of September, I launched a new book. I didn’t publish via Amazon, Nook, Kobo, or iTunes. Instead, I launched the title on WarriorPlus – a popular sales network for internet marketers. Here are the results I woke up to this morning, 2 weeks after launch:
The book in question was a re-written version of “Supercharge your Kindle Sales”, with new content and a different cover. With the help of an experienced internet marketer, we were able to recruit 90 affiliates to help us launch this title and drum up over $10,000 of revenue within a couple of weeks.
The best part? That $10,000+ of income was split between me, my JV partner, and eight-dozen self-employed affiliates. Less than 3% went to the WarriorPlus site, meaning 97% of the money we made stayed in the hands of a group of self-made, hard working entrepreneurs. No publishers or retailers required
And even more exciting than that – more than 800 people picked up a copy of the book during the launch (at $11.97), and I’ve had a steady flow of emails thanking me for putting this content together. More important than any of the money I’ve made from this, I’m actually helping others get their foothold in the publishing game, which is worth all the effort by itself.
The end result of this is that September is looking like it’s going to be my best month so far – and it looks like I’ve (finally) been able to find a credible alternative revenue stream to Amazon. Just to put things into perspective, here’s how September breaks down for me:
The WarriorPlus launch is labelled “Affiliate” here, just to make things line up with previous reports. You can check out my previous three months of sales to see how the above stacks up HERE. You’ll notice Amazon has stayed pretty steady, while other streams have risen and fallen. Is it any wonder why Amazon is the preferred retailer for most self-publishers?
I’ve posted before about the apparent obsession many authors have with “being everywhere” as though that’s some kind of sensible strategy. Obviously, it all depends on individual circumstances, but when Nook, Kobo, and Apple make up less than 15% of my overall income, there’s still a huge amount of risk if my other revenue streams go belly up. Just “being everywhere” isn’t going to be enough to protect you, unless you’ve got some kind of marketing plan to keep those income sources growing. So, why not seek out alternative sources of income? There’s more to publishing than Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and Apple – although, I do LOVE Kobo – they’re amazingly supportive to Indies and it’s been worth dropping out of KDP Select just to be listed with them. In short, there are alternatives – you’ve just got to go looking…
My next post is going to cover how to launch a new Kindle release into the top 1,000 paid ranks on Amazon – at full price. I’ve done this three times now, and I’ve got a solid process I’m going to be sharing with you. So, if you’re not signed up for blog posts via email yet, drop your name and email into the signup form below to get updates as they happen. Oh, and go buy my books. They’ll give you inner peace, solve world hunger, and are all an excellent way of eating up space on your internal storage. The paperback versions also make quite serviceable hats.
And now I want to hear from you! Are you finding success outside of Amazon or the other retailers? Are you working on anything to expand your product portfolio? I’ve love to hear from you in the comments section – just leave a note below.
If you want a step-by-step guide to getting started on your email list, go download “Reader Magnets”. This free ebook will show you how to put this process in place and start building your email list – click below to grab your copy:
