Last month I launched the second book of The Dark Profit Saga, and I’m really excited about the results. Fans of the books came out in force, and some additional marketing efforts on my part helped propel my books to new heights on the sales charts. Orconomics was the #1 Epic Fantasy and #1 Satire at the same time for a few glorious hours, and sales of Son of a Liche have been fantastic.
So let me say a big thank you to everyone who supported me through the launch, who picked up the book, and who helped spread the word about Arth. The feedback on the book has been incredible, and I really appreciate it.
That being said, there are number of things that I’ll be doing differently next time around. I tried to offer the audiobook, ebook, and print edition at the same time. That’s really difficult to coordinate, as evidenced by the fact that my audiobook launched 19 days early. I also stretched myself to make preorder bonus content available, and creating and preparing that content took weeks of planning and work.
Looking back, I’m not convinced either of those efforts helped me sell many more books. But I am sure they delayed the launch of the book by a couple of months. I know some people appreciated the loot or the audiobook timing (and I’m glad!), but as business decisions, they didn’t pay out as much as they needed to. Next time, I’ll be doing things differently.
One of the things I’ll be doing differently is making more fun, short-form bonus content. It takes a long time to plan an entire book, but I want to do more flash fiction, short stories, and other content to help flesh out Arth’s lore as I go. I’ll let you know how you can get your hands on that content. A great place to start is to sign up for my newsletter. Because sometime soon, I plan on releasing a bonus epilogue for Son of a Liche to newsletter subscribers.
I’ve got lots of exciting plans for Arth. They wouldn’t be possible without my readers. Thank you again for your support.
I may have spotted an error in the book. It says “…a long formula that involves Nove’s Constant, the number of people sharing an understanding, and the amount of time in which an event disturbing that understanding would be surprising.”
I believe this sentence should end with “arising.”
Looks like a typical error from using speech recognition software 🙂
Hi! Thanks for the comment. “Surprising” is the correct word, as I intended it anyway. Nove’s constant is about the expectations of the people involved as much as the events, and the impact of timing on those expectations, so surprise is a key factor.
Thanks for reading!
Orconomics blew me away, and I have to admit to being surprised that the second book was just as good. Really, I was expecting to be disappointed. But I certainly wasn’t. Nice job!
Personally, I’m not interested in short fiction (although I’ve read everything you’ve published so far, I believe). But I’ll definitely be interested in any novels you publish. You’re certainly off to a great start.
PS. I’ve decided to make my personal motto, in real-life, “There is not always a light at the end of the tunnel. That is why you must carry a torch.” Given everything that’s been going on in America recently, I need to remember that! So I need to thank you for that, as well.
Hey Bill, thanks for the kind feedback. I really appreciate it.
I think that’s a pretty good motto. It’s one I have to tell myself a lot lately.
Best.
Zack
It is a fantastic book. I shall be promoting it on some message boards. It is also a marked improvement over the already good first book.
Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks!