Getting my books on sale online continues to be a struggle, ever since I lost my Amazon KDP account (at the end of 2022, as per blogs passim), but I'm largely managing it. As you can see above, getting "Global Distribution" is a hit or miss affair. What you see is from my Publishing pages on Lulu. This shows that the hardback version of Richard The Third was Approved for Distribution, but the Paperback version was Rejected. At time of writing, the new revised Second Edition is "Distribution Pending".
When it comes to sales, D2D accounts for all of my online sales of Richard. Not a single copy has been bought via Lulu (see my 2024 Year Sales table here). Some books, then, have difficulty reaching the biggest market of all (Amazon) and some find it easier...
If you go to Amazon, as you can see, you'll get a choice of three different versions of Midsummer Night's Dream Team. For £6.99 you can get the D2D (Ingram Spark) edition. 36 of these have sold this year. Or for £11.99 you get the original Lulu version (which has the Shakespeare text at the back), and for £10.99 you get the updated, shorter Lulu version (with no Shakespeare text). I cannot work out which versions have been bought, but in total only 12 have been bought this year.
Findlay Macbeth comes in two versions - £7.99 for D2D/Ingram (which has under-sized images on all the pages, which I have yet to amend, having been alerted to it. 9 copies sold this year), and £10.99 for Lulu (only 2 sold this year)
Prince of Denmark Street comes in three versions - £10.99 Lulu with original cover design and Shakespeare play at the back, which also offers a Kindle version for £2.39 - my only Kindle book as far as I can see; another £10.99 Lulu with newer cover and no play at the back (between them, 12 sold this year); and a £6.99 D2D/Ingram (10 sold this year)
Colouring books are my biggest sellers online, all via Lulu. They sell an average of ten copies a month. But, and it's a big but, it's increasingly hard to get them listed on Amazon. My most recent production, Hollywood Legends, got an immediate "Rejected" from Global Distribution, as did Space Elain, Joseph & Ruth, Cult TV, the Socks Annual, and Poopy Doo Doo Heads. That's every colouring book and most graphic novels produced in 2024.
The only books that have squeezed through and been accepted for Global Distribution in the past year are Attack Of The Sausages (Kids comic covers 2024), the colour edition (the black and white edition, with identical contents but in monochrome, got rejected); Sweet Smell Of Sockcess (all text) and Who Notes (also all text). So any of my books in black and white and with pictures has been rejected by Amazon's Global Distribution. (The revised version of Richard The Third is currently Distribution Pending).
Worse, some books that were being sold on Amazon have been de-listed this year, including the Doctor Who Colouring Book (which sold 8 copies in Jan & Feb on Amazon then stopped dead), and the Shakespeare Omnibus (3 sold in Jan to April, then stops dead). In both cases Amazon's listing just says "currently unavailable". It's done this too with Punk Colouring, Eurovision Vol 1, and Rom Coms. I can only assume I've been blacklisted by Amazon, so I'm lucky that some books have found their way through the net.
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.
Here's to a 2025 of trying to getting my books out there, to whoever I can by whatever means I can manage.
My Books and where to get them:
Richard The Third - Amazon - Etsy - Barnes & Noble - Waterstones
Findlay Macbeth - Amazon - Etsy
Prince Of Denmark Street - Amazon - Etsy - Kindle
Midsummer Nights Dream Team - Amazon - Etsy
Prince Of Denmark Street - Amazon - Etsy - Kindle
Midsummer Nights Dream Team - Amazon - Etsy
Shakespeare Omnibus Collection (all 3 books) - Paperback
Space Elain - Amazon - Lulu - iBooks - Barnes & Noble
Joseph, Ruth & Other Stories - Amazon
Captain Clevedon - Amazon
Tales Of Nambygate - 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
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