A Novel Anniversary
Celebrating A Momentous Triumph
On November 28, 2022, my modest little debut novel, The Journey, was launched out into the world. What was to follow, has been nothing short of astounding. To say I had zero expectations would be an understatement. Honestly, if I only sold a handful of copies I would have been happy. Even happier if that handful actually liked it.
When you're competing with big players and even bigger publishers, who have the biggest pockets to market, advertise, and sell their books, just getting on the field is an achievement in itself. So while it's heavily skewed in their favour (and deliberately rigged that way), this dinky-di Aussie from a small coastal town, was just chuffed to be playing alongside the big boys and girls.
Realistically, while I'm no chance to sell thousands of copies or generate hundreds of reviews out the gate, the fact that some of you supported me and my dream by buying my debut novel, actually read it, then left very glowing reviews, is in my humble opinion, a huge win!
HELL, FOR TWO STRAIGHT DAYS I WAS AN AMAZON "BESTSELLER" IN TWO CATEGORIES!
Then last year, almost a year to the day of release, The Journey won two awards! Considering I only entered three international competitions, that in itself, was:
a surprise,
unexpected, and
humbling.
But win it did... twice!
As a result of that win, I can now be classed as an award-winning author.
When the only awards I've ever won are a few sports' ribbons during school athletics carnival days, and "second prize in a beauty contest" courtesy of Monopoly, this was a really big honour.
Since then, after all the hubbub died down and people moved on, and it coming up to two years since my novel went public, sales have dwindled (common among all authors) and reviews have dried up (though they're always welcome). To say it's been a grind would be putting it lightly.
As a long-time avid reader who now finds more established authors or multi-award winning writers' books a little humdrum these days – rarely does a fiction novel wow me any more – I know I can do much better and go for gold!
I believe in my book so much, knowing it's every bit as good as, if not better than more well known authors, that I'm using this platform to re-promote my award-winning novel.
The reason I started this newsletter in the first place was to build-up a mailing list (because email lists are king)! That way, when I was ready to launch another novel, I'd have a ready made audience to help propel sales and boost reviews, in order to start climbing those author rankings.
BEING AN INDIE AUTHOR IS HARD FRICKEN WORK!
In fact, being an indie-anything is.
But in order to make it more appealing to those who haven't read it, or don't know about it (or said they couldn't wait to read it), I've drastically reduced the price of both my ebook and paperback.
Now, this isn't about making money, because it's never been about that for me –and besides, indie authors don't make much of anything on the behemoth that is Amazon (more on that below).
This is simply to get my novel out there to as many people as possible, as cheap as possible, in the hopes that some will buy it, read it, and love it enough to share, promote, rate, review, and help spread the word in any way imaginable.
So for all those subscribers who haven't bought it yet or wanted to, now is the best chance to purchase your own copy.
I've made the ebook 0.99c (normally $4.99 USD) for a limited time only from now until the book's second anniversary on November 28. *Amazon only let you do a price promotion for 7 days. And even then, only in the US and UK markets.
However, the paperback version, I have drastically reduced to $10.99 USD (normally $14.99) because that's as low as it's possible to go on account of printing costs and monies collected via Amazon. I tried for less but I'd owe Amazon money and no one wants that.
To better highlight how Amazon works, below are two screenshots of printing costs, Amazon's cut, and any royalties I might make after that. (It's not much).
Image 1: To give you a clearer view, for a book that sells for $10.99, printing costs $4.22, leaving approximately $6.77, of which Amazon takes their cut of $4.39, leaving me with the princely sum of $2.39. And when distribution is expanded outside of Amazon, I get a whopping $0.18¢
Image 2: In Amazon Australia, a book that retails for $18.58, printing costs $8.32, Amazon recoup $8.44, while I am left with a paltry $1.82.
While it appears to be grossly in Amazon's favour (because it is), I'm just grateful to have a worldwide distribution platform to sell and market my books.
5-STAR RATINGS & RAVE REVIEWS!
I've been really fortunate that I've a loyal friendship/fanbase. Without some of your incredible reviews, and 4 or 5-star ratings, my book would be languishing in the digital dungeons somewhere in the back blocks of the internet.
But as a result of the enthusiasm, genuine love and excitement of my adventure fiction story, where many readers have not been able to put it down – with several reading it in a single day (some in a single sitting) – I can proudly declare that I have 70 ratings across both Amazon and Goodreads, averaging 4.7 stars (Amazon), 4.42 (Goodreads), 59 total reviews, 50 of them 5-stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I've sold over 100+ copies (print and ebook), landed in a couple of libraries in the U.S (including the U.S Library of Congress), a tiny library in Yelapa, Mexico, where we had our memorable book launch, several personal libraries, and soon to be a handful of public libraries here in Australia. With some podcast interviews lined up, and further promotion via the marketer/publicist I mentioned, along with scoring that $2000 bonus of Goodreads book reviews, there's still plenty to celebrate.
It's the book that keeps on giving!
If you type in the words: 'Mark T. Rasmussen + The Journey' into a search box, you get a lot of links: my website; Amazon; Goodreads; Netgalley (review site); several blog posts; guest spots; etc. But the one that stood out was Leo – Brave's browser A.I. Leo has collated all the info and sums up what my novel is all about, perfectly.
'The Journey by Mark T. Rasmussen is a thought-provoking and emotionally charged novel that explores the complexities of the human experience. Written in a lyrical, first-person narrative, with a focus on character development and introspection, the author’s use of descriptive language and poetic metaphors creates a vivid atmosphere, immersing readers in Raiden’s world. Through his journey, readers are invited to reflect on their own struggles and the importance of self-awareness, relationships, and personal growth.'