General Discussion
People often ask me why "X" book isn't out yet. Sometimes, the answer is simply because it is being worked on. Other times, the answer is because "I'm not feeling it", and then there is the business answer - the series isn't making enough to sustain me taking time on another release.
Things that would change the order when I take a closer look are:
• Highest Grossing to worst
• If a book was free for a long time (Shadows of the Ancients and Birthrights are examples)
• Book prices ($0.99 vs 3.99)
• Royalty % (some royalties are 35% others are up to 70%)
• Time in publication (if the gross is weak after years vs if it looks lower because the book has only been out a month or two)
• Beginning books in a series that spent a long time at $0.99 (35% royalty) and special books at same price (Dancing with Danger, Angel Girl, The Infinite Something, A Year and a Day, Proven, Smoke and the Flame are examples)
• I have 57 titles total published under my names. There are 49 books in the list (two sets of tied books at #7 and #24) and eight titles not included in this lineup because they are out of circulation for good.
HIGHEST GROSSING BOOKS TO WORST (Year of publication is next to each book along with series info.)
1. The Other Princess (Aces High MC - Charleston Book 1 - 2019)
2. Falling into the White (The Ancients Series Book 2 - 2013)
3. Revelations (The Awakening Trilogy Book 2 - 2011-2016, currently out of circulation)
4. Redemption Weather (Aces High MC - Cedar Falls Book 1- 2019)
5. The Princess and the Prospect (Aces High MC - Charleston Book 3 - 2019)
6. A Love so Hard (Aces High MC - Charleston Book 4 - 2019)
7. JoJo (S.H.E. MC Book 2 - 2019). TIED WITH The Killing Ride (Aces High MC - Charleston Book 4 - 2019)
8. Incarnations (The Awakening Trilogy Book 3 - 2011-2016)
9. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (Aces High MC - Dakotas 2019)
10. Branches of the Willow (The Ancients Series Book 3 - 2013)
11. Everlasting (Aces High MC - Charleston Book 6 - 2020)
12. Wait for Me (Savage Vipers MC Book 1 - 2022)
13. Crushed (Aces High MC - Tallahassee Book 1 - 2020)
14. The Forgotten Wife (Robeson Family Novel Book 1 - 2020)
15. His Bittersweet Regret (stand alone - 2022)
16. A Twist of Fate (Aces High MC - Charleston Book 5 - 2019)
17. The Restart and the Remedy (Aces High MC - Dakotas Book 3 - 2020)
18. The Broken Beginning Part 1 (Aces High MC - Charleston Book 8 - 2021)
19. Dancing with Danger (Aces High MC - Dakotas Book 1 - 2018)
20. Shadows of the Ancients (The Ancients Series Book 1 - 2013 - many years free/$0.99)
21. Letters to Lily (stand alone 2015)
22. Angel Girl (S.H.E. MC Book 1. 2019)
23. The Broken Beginning Part 2 (Aces High MC - Charleston Book 9 2021)
24. Proven (Aces High MC - Cedar Falls Book 3 - 2019) TIED WITH Keys (S.H.E. MC book 3 - 2021)
25. Bound by the Moon (The Ancients Series Book 4 - 2014)
26. Aces High MC - Charleston Box Set 1 (books 1-5 - 2019)
27. Smoke and the Flame (Aces High MC - Cedar Falls Book 2 - 2019)
28. Devastate Me (Savage Vipers MC Book 2 - 2023)
29. The Infinite Something (TIE Book 1 - 2018)
30. The Infinite Beat (TIE Book 2 - 2019)
31. Revived (Valhalla Rising Book 1- 2020)
32. Ghosted by Texas (Loved for the Holidays Book 2 - 2022)
33. Entwined (Vukodlak Brew Series Book 1 - 2017)
34. Enraged (Vukodlak Brew Series Book 2 - 2020)
35. Redemption Duet (Aces High MC - Charleston Box books 1 & 2 - 2019)
36. Cupid Broke my Heart (Loved for the Holidays Book 1 - 2022)
37. Ridden by Darkness (Dark Leopards MC Book 1 - 2020)
38. Surprise Me (Savage Vipers MC Book 3 - 2023)
39. A Year and a Day (Aces High MC - Charleston Book 6 - 2020)
40. The Fortunate Ones (TFO Book 1 - 2020)
41. The Groupie Journal (stand alone - 2021)
42. The B Team (Dark Leopards MC Book 2 - 2020)
43. Aces High MC - Charleston Box Set 2 - 2022)
44. Birthrights (The Awakening Trilogy Book 1 - 2011-2016 most of life free)
45. The Voodoo Follies (2011)
46. Breathless (Death Viewers Series - 2014)
47. Catch a Falling Star (Falling Star Series - 2013)
I mentioned "things that would change the order" earlier. By that I meant "Order of Importance" as per what I look for when I decide which books to focus on next. Sometimes, it's down to what I'm feeling at the moment. Some of those "feeling it" books were surprise releases, when I was supposed to be focused on other books, and many of them are in the top twenty! That is a huge consideration for me, because when I'm in the zone with a book - it usually makes a bigger impact with readers. Six of the top twenty titles were surprise books (including The Other Princess and Redemption Weather).
Something else I take into account is this: Devastate Me and Surprise Me are numbers 28 and 38 on this list, which would look like that series is doing awful, except they have both been released for less than a month. With Wait for Me in the top twenty, and the other two titles outpacing so many other books in less than a month, it makes the series a priority for me to finish.
Outside of time, I factor in free and $0.99 runs. Both Shadows of the Ancients (20) and Birthrights (44) were free for a long time. Shadows hold the record for most downloads of all my books, even though it comes in at #20 and it is followed by Birthrights even though it is #44. So, despite those two first books in a series not doing as well monetarily, despite time available, they were advertising for the other books in the series that did do well. So, if there were more books in those series, they would be pushed through ahead of everything else (as long as I was feeling the writing).
I also factor in outside contributing factors, such as with The Fortunate Ones. For the first few weeks of release, Amazon had that book hidden, and flagged as erotica, so no one could find it. By the way, that is my tamest book outside of my YA titles, and the cover models were wearing layers of clothing. How it got flagged as erotica is still beyond me, but it killed my book launch and lost that book momentum. So, when I look at how low down the list it is, I factor that in, and still plan to release the other four books in that series.
Which books are coming soon?
• Bad at Love (Bad at Love Book 1) by Christine Michelle
• Baby Me (Savage Vipers MC Book 4) by Anne Storm
• Echoes of Everything (Aces High MC - TallahasseeBook 2) by Christine Michelle
• When the Last Petal Falls (Robeson Family Novel Book 2) by Christine Michelle
• And more to come...
J'aime