Here it is, totted up and turned into a pretty bar chart, the sales of my books in 2024. And doesn't it look lovely? I am very pleased with those sales figures, which might not make me the next Richard Osman, but are better than a kick in the teeth. And also, for that matter, better than last year, or any previous year. Let's break them down.
Grand total - 1810 books sold.
Just like last year, the biggest sales route by far has been live events, and of those, schools have been the biggest change of 2024. It was only in the spring of this year, knowing that I had Richard The Third to appeal to 7 to 12 year olds, that I started offering kids the chance to buy them in the schools I visited, and wow has that made an impact. Schools, or their pupils, will take 30 copies at a time, which very much adds up. As you can see when you look at this year's best sellers.
Richard The Third - 855 copies
(Last year that was 113 copies, most of those being to Kickstarter sponsors)
Colouring Books - 298
(
Last year = 379. These are big sellers at live events, but the big drop comes from online sales because of some books, eg the Doctors Who, Punk and a Eurovision colouring book, being de-listed from Amazon*)
Midsummer Night's Dream Team - 155
(Last year = 125. Last year my original three Shakespeares were the only graphic novels I had, and this was the poorest seller of the three. Could it be the new "Saturday Night Fever" logo that's caused this leap in sales?)
Prince Of Denmark Street - 91
(Last year = 143. Last year's biggest seller, deposed by Richard I guess, and leapfrogged by MNDT)
Findlay Macbeth - 86
(Last year = 133. My first book, on sale since April 2020, sadly losing out to the competition)
Space Elain - 85
(This was only a novelty I put together out of existing strips, in the middle of the year. But given it's had half the sales time of the other graphic novels it's rivalling them all)
Sweet Smell Of Sockcess - 59
(This sold almost all its copies on pre-release, since when it's sold nowt. I fear it doesn't have legs)
Joseph, Ruth & Other Stories - 31
(Another quick novelty, repackaging Bible stories in black and white. A harder sell than pure comics, but not bad for only 6 months on sale)
Shakespeare Omnibus - 29
(Last year = 13. This was a good showing. It's the big book, costing £18 compared to the individual books being £6.99, but it's sold double what it did last year. Almost all at live events.)
Book Of Esther - 23
(A slim repackaging, which I don't really flog live, but which sells in a steady trickle online)
Who Notes - 23
(As with Sweet Smell Of Sockcess, this sold all its copies on pre-sale, and nothing since. A flop.)
Tales From The Bible - 21
(Last year = 27. Keeping up with last year, this sold fewer online this time but more live. Not bad for a more expensive item.)
Others - 54
(These include Captain Clevedon and Socks Superhero Comics, which I could have itemised separately, but I've left it a bit late.)
(*NB I am able to get some books on to Amazon via D2D and via Lulu. Two years ago in 2022, I had (by the end of October, as my blog shows) sold 675 books that year, all thanks to Amazon KDP. However the following month my KDP account was closed (erroneously, obviously, as detailed here) so not only did my sales stop dead, but I never received the money for the previous three months. I know. Amazon doesn't allow you to open a KDP account again, for the rest of your life.)
In 2023, Amazon sales via Lulu accounted for 300 out of my total 989 books sold that year. In 2024 Amazon sales via Lulu account for 333 out of my total 1810 books sold. I confess, before I counted them up just now, I thought that figure was going to be lower. I'm amazed I've sold more online that I did last year (exactly 10% more in fact, and that's before December's sales have been added) so maybe I shouldn't grumble!
D2D to Amazon sales are 234 in 2024 (though that includes all 59 Sweet Smell Of Sockcesses and all 23 Who Notes). In 2023 it was 186, 100 of which were Richard The Third on pre-sale. (A look at how I get my books onto Amazon is looked at in detail here).
So, in conclusion, selling books in person is my main market, and selling them in schools the bigger part of that. Richard The Third sells well, but of course, on a return visit to any schools, I'll need a new title if I want to repeat that business. And online sales struggle, about which I don't know what I can do.
Plenty to think about as we look forward to 2025. A Happy New Year when it comes.
My Books and where to get them:
Shakespeare Omnibus Collection (all 3 books) - Paperback
Sweet Smell Of Sockcess - Putting A Show On At The Edinburgh Fringe - Amazon - ebook Joseph, Ruth & Other Stories - Amazon
Colouring Books: Hollywood Legends, Punk, Cult TV, Eurovision Vol 1, Eurovision Vol 2, Eurovision Best Of British & Irish, 1960s Pop, 1970s Pop, 1980s Pop, 1990s Pop, 2020s Pop, Bowie, Scottish Pop, Doctors Who, Royalty, Rom Coms
