Two Years Knitting by Faith

Today is the 2nd anniversary of Knitting by Faith.  And I've said it before, but I am still pleasantly surprised at how well received this book has been.  As of today, it is just a few copies shy of 2,000 sales.  If I included the returned copies, I'd be well over that number.  

If you've read through my blog you know that I am a little flighty and undisciplined with my writing.  By now I had hoped to have at least one or two more books published.  Part of the delay is making myself do the work and the other part is fear of failure. 

The Atlantic Monthly put out an article last year about why writers procrastinate.  Does it say something about me that it took me a year to read this one?  Perhaps you've read it already.  The first half of the article resonates with me.

Wherever you are in your writing life - from a seed of an idea or several books published, it's all a process.  In David Gerrold's book, World of Wonder, he states, "Your first million words are for practice.  They don’t count.  Remember that."  A million words are about 10 books (for me maybe 20).    

When I hit one million, I'll let you know.  You do the same.  Until then, I'm at 10,180, 989,820 to go.  

Two Years Dreaming

Two years ago, I closed the door to my office and turned in the keys, saying good-bye to a regular day job.  I had a rough plan in mind - find some sort of part time job to bring in income and write.

I started by bringing in funds by selling stuff we had, in our overstuffed, cluttered home.  The things I thought I needed to have, using the money I earned with my time were sold for a fraction of their worth.  But there were lots of those items and enough money came in each week that I didn't get a "real job."

Then winter came and the money trickled in then froze solid for a little while.  By this time I was putting my finishing touches on my first book, Knitting by Faith.  The book was published in the spring and then it was time to get rid of more stuff in the house and plan for our trip to England and Scotland.

Then suddenly, I found myself working one day a week at our local yarn shop and teaching classes on the side.  Royalties from my book came in every month from around the world.  It reached #1 for knitting books for kindle and stayed in the top 100.  The next book was outlined and begun.  I also become active in a writing group.

A Year And A Day

Knitting by Faith was published a year ago and a day.  This little book has gone out there with my hope and prayers.  Many times I've prayed while writing and publishing that God would use this book for His glory and not mine.  And here's what God has done with it this last year:

• Ranked the #1 knitting book for kindle
• Almost continually on the top 100 knitting books for kindle 
• Ranked in the top 100 inspirational books for kindle
• Ranked in the top 100 knitting books
• Sold over 1,100 copies
• 22 reviews with a 5 star average rating
• 5 popular highlighted sections
• Pinned on pinterest
• Featured in an ereader girl list

But it's not the statistics that I enjoy most, it's the personal comments from people.  I've heard that it was part of a church's knitting group.  Yesterday on the anniversary, a friend from a previous church started reading it and is including it in part of her devotions.  It's stories like these that mean more than being ranked #1.  Although that ranking is fun, too.

This process started before I was a teenager when I wrote my first book.  But long before that, God put inside of me the dream to write.  And so, I encourage you to follow the dreams that God has given you whether it's writing, painting, rock climbing, accounting, etc..  Listen to that dream and let God lead you.  The journey may not be perfect, but He's perfecting something inside of you.

Look What's #1...

I was watching my stats this month for Knitting by Faith and seeing them go up a bit the last few days.  There's also been 2 more 5 star reviews, so maybe more momentum is happening or someone is out there pinning or sharing about it.  This morning, I had a nice surprise.  KOF is ranked #1 for knitting books in the kindle store!  I was as high as #3 before but never thought I'd get to #1.   I'm pretty happy about how my "baby" is doing out there.

You may have noticed I haven't blogged in a little while.  I have a good reason - pneumonia.  Not much going on here but healing and rest.  I should be well enough to still go to the British Isles in a couple weeks so the timing of being sick wasn't too bad.  Although I was about ready to get my travel article critiqued, so that will have to wait until after the trip now.

First Week Stats

A week ago, I hit the "publish" button and have enjoyed a modestly successful week of sales and my first review.  Some of the stats of my book so far:

• 1 week in the top 100 knitting books for kindle, varying from #6 to #47
• Over 30 sales worldwide
• 1 - 5 star review

But there's no rest for the self-published.  The learning curve continues as I learn to:

• Publish on Smashwords
• Set up POD on CreateSpace
• Learn how to promote my book
• Look into setting up my own publishing house or whatever that's called
• Advertise on other places such as ravelry after it's up on Smash & CS

And start another book to publish.  No wonder I don't have much time during the day anymore.  I already have a pretty full job, even though for now it's not paying that much yet.  However I did sell enough copies to receive a royalty deposit whenever those go out.

Next week will probably see me fall in the ranks, but I have hope that it will bounce back again in a few months.

Banner Day

Like my new banner?  All that desktop publishing experience that I had over the years is finally paying off.  I may deepen the background color for the next round, though.  And I will be making a few more similar advertising pieces after I am up on Smashwords; Nook, tablets, etc.  

I am one sale away from a royalty deposit!  Yeah, I am checking my sales stats quite a few times a day, can't help myself.  Holding at #7 in knitting books for kindle, 20,386 overall for paid kindle books.  

Not Done Yet

In the "falling action" of putting Knitting by Faith up on kindle, I had temporarily forgotten that I wasn't done with it yet.  When I first started down this ePublishing road, I decided to go for Amazon kindle publication first.  After that, I would meander over to Smashwords and then have it available for other readers and formats.  And finally, put out a print on demand version via CreateSpace.

That means I'm only 1/3 of the way done with this publishing business and still have a couple more learning curves to navigate.  Did I mention that this is a lot of work?  Fortunately, the next two steps will be a little easier.  The content is in place and I'm no longer fussing over the book.  I only need to figure out how to put it out there and release it.

A lot of time is going into this guinea pig of a book.  If I had put the same amount of hours in at a burger joint, I could probably pay a mortgage payment by now.  I just have to keep reminding myself that this one is not about money, it's about the process.

Sales rankings:

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #28,977 Paid in Kindle Store
#7 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Crafts & Hobbies > Knitting
#77 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Crafts & Hobbies > Needlecrafts & Textile Crafts > Knitting
#88 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Religion & Spirituality > Christianity > Christian Living > Inspirational

3rd day in the top 20 knitting books for kindle.  I don't think that's too shabby for a first attempt.  Plus I have a review now.  Still not enough for a royalty deposit, but maybe in a few days.