Thursday, July 14, 2011

First Week Sales for Saint Peter Killed God

OK, so after the first week I sold five copies of Saint Peter Killed God. Not a bang but maybe a spark. I want to thank the five people who bought a copy and not all is bad. I’ve gotten more followers on Twitter but now I’m worried. I started to think about what happened ten years ago when I was grocery shopping. I noticed a teenager staring at me while I was picking out spaghetti sauce. He stared at me as if he were assessing me as he walked by.


I went to the next aisle over to pick up some rice when I noticed him again. His hands were in their pockets as he strolled down the aisle staring at me from head to toe. He gave me a brief smile. I smiled back.

The boy was smaller than I was so I didn’t feel intimidated by him. He looked barely old enough to be in my freshman English class. He seemed to be the type that would sleep as I taught of Romeo and Juliet. It was strange that he walked around without a cart and didn’t look at any of the food on the shelves, but was that a crime? I thought about how strange it would be if I went up to the manager and said how I didn’t like the way this young man was looking at me.

As I continued shopping, I bumped into him several more times and tried to ignore him.

I was loading my groceries in my car when I heard a scream. I saw the same teen running away from a woman with her purse.

I could have dropped my groceries and chased the boy. Tackle him. Bring back the purse. And be a hero. I thought about doing it. But I had two bags of groceries in my arms. I looked down at my shoes. Moccasins weren’t the best running shoes. As I thought about saving the day, the distance between me and the boy increased as my chances of being a hero decreased.

I’m tempted to give up. Only five copies sold in one week. But I don’t want the same regrets of what I could have done. So I’m going to keep trying. I want advice – how can I get people to enter Slush Pile Reader’s sweepstakes? I feel SPR is being very generous offering a $1,000 prize, $1,800 in all. Please, if you haven’t entered the contest, do so now. Invite friends. Help me spread the word. I know a few of you have read SPKG on-line. You can do me a favor by writing a review on Amazon or Smashwords or somewhere else. Become my friend on GoodReads or LibraryThing. Become a fan on Facebook. And please feel free to offer advice by commenting on this post.

Metaphorically speaking, I’m ready to drop the groceries and give chase. I’m just asking for a little help.

2 comments:

  1. *Hand to heart* I saw an elderly lady fall over in the gutter once. I just froze in fear, by the time I came to my senses a flock of people came to her aid. Yep don't want to be around me in a crisis! A huge congrats on your milestone! I saw your email and was in my mind to reply, so well done! Don't give up 5 is great, and if there is one thing to be certain of even in my limited knowledge of being an aspiring indie is that everything goes in waves. Some weeks are off the charts and others are really quiet in my blogging stats. Sales will be the same. I am happy to spread the word via my media sites. This is an exciting time for you to get to this amazing step, now you get to do another part and get it out there! Sorry I am not full of life changing advice as come the time for my release you will be a pro and I will be picking your brain. Put down those groceries and enjoy the ride! Good Luck!

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  2. Ohhhh don't give up now! You've only just started. It was at least two months before The Magic of Finkleton took off. Sometimes it takes time for word to spread in the readers world. Some currently popular books, were not so popular when they first came out. Give it some time. You'll get there :)

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