Update: Test Market Success from Short Work

I just wanted to update you about my previous post in regards to serialization to help build a readership. 

I woke up this morning to check the status of my latest serialized novelette, "Run Mama, Run!" I must admit that I nearly fell out of my seat. I started a promotion to offer the first chapter for free this past Sunday and Monday, and when I checked the author rankings for the Free Kindle reads in the Mystery, Thriller, Suspense category, I found that its first chapter had ranked at #3. 

I can't emphasize how thrilled I was to see this, considering that there are not only thousands, but hundred thousands of free Ebooks out there that I have to compete with just to break the Top 100 ceiling. 

My current work, Run Mama, Run: Chapter 3 debuted at #37 in the "Paid" section of

that category. When chapters 1 and 2 first launched they only ranked in the top 100-200's, so I can only attribute that to the serialization that helped spread the word about this story. For me, the key to gaining more readers was also letting my friends and family know through the use of social media, which was Twitter, Facebook, and Google circles when the Ebooks came out. Word-of-mouth is crucial to the success of any business and if you develop a relationship with those readers and produce read-worthy work, they will do the rest for you. Plus, I have family and friends who have made gossip an art form, so that has helped me tremendously when it comes to telling others about my recent work. 

It's truly a privilege to be sitting amongst authors like Clive Clussler, Lee Child, David Baldacci, and Mary Higgins, Clark. But I have to admit that all of this has been a very slow process. I have been at this since 2004. I have clocked in countless hours of hard work learning about the business, online marketing, and I continue to work to perfect my writing. I'm not an overnight success, and I still don't feel I'm there yet. Once a writer breaks the top 10, he/she has to keep producing work to keep that readership coming, because it doesn't necessarily mean the writer will stay at that ranking. There's an insane amount of competition in the self-publishing industry. But, I LOVE it, and I love the independence and freedom that it gives me.
I'd like to end with a little motivation if you are a writer who is interested in doing the same: If writing is your passion, no matter the circumstances, keep writing, keep knocking on those doors, and if those doors don't open, find ways to create new doors to open yourself. Use this time to keep learning about the craft of writing and the business to help make it work for you, just as it has worked for me.