3 Plot Twists After 10 Years, 10 Books and 10,000 Sales

I was extremely fortunate my second baby was a good sleeper. Ten years ago, in August 2015, when my daughter was three months old, I started writing my first book. I could put her down for a nap and guarantee a good hour or two to tap on my keyboard.

Dutifully following every single step in the Self-Publishing School course I had invested in, and with regular check-ins from my author buddies, Steph and Marcy, I published Easy Peasy Potty Training by November of that same year.

Becoming an author was a life-long dream come true. I was simply happy to have my name under a book title. Selling a few copies was a bonus.

If you asked me at the time what I was envisaging now I was a published author, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you. Even if I had clearer expectations, I still believe there is no way I could have predicted where I would be ten years into my author journey. It has been one wild ride.

Here are three plot twists after 10 years, 10 books and 10,000 sales…

1) Plot Twist 1 – 10 Years

Writing Easy Peasy Potty Training unleashed my creativity. It was quickly followed by Easy Peasy Healthy Eating and then a pivot to the Nourish Your Soul self-help book series. I blinked. Soon I was an author of ten books.

Plot Twist: I wrote all ten books in the first five years of being an author. I haven’t published a brand new title since late 2020.

Due to the kids getting older and a decision to pursue my professional career outside of writing, I haven’t had the bandwidth to embark on a new book. I know that the majority of authors work and write books … but not me.

Full-time employment and a busy family life haven’t stopped my creativity. I still enjoy writing blog posts and I am constantly redrafting the verses in my next children’s picture book draft. One day I may publish a new title again.

In addition, the business of being an author also doesn’t cease. Although I am hardly ever on social media any more, I do promote my backlist via ads, promos, YouTube, podcast interviews and any other adhoc marketing tools and services. Even without writing the next book, ten years on as an author, I am busier than ever.

2) Plot Twist 2 – 10 Books

What I did not understand when I started on my author journey was that one book does not equal one asset. I have written and published ten books. But I don’t just have ten assets.

Plot Twist: The current tally of my author business assets sits at 33!

Each book has both an eBook and a paperback version. That is 20 assets right there. In addition, Maxy-Moo Flies to the Moon is also in hardback, the two Easy Peasy books are now available as professionally narrated audiobooks and there are collections (boxsets) and workbook versions from the Nourish Your Soul series.

I am currently looking into creating more hardback versions, audiobooks, workbooks and collections plus investigating translations for some of my backlist. The sky is the limit about how many assets I can generate. It is going to be interesting to see just how many assets I can produce in the next ten years even if I never write another book.

3) Plot Twist 3 – 10,000 Sales

I honestly cannot believe I have sold 10,000 books. I had to check and recheck all the data. It is truly an enormous number.

If you break it down, 10,000 sales over 10 years equates to 1,000 sales per year. At an average margin of $3 per book, this does not equate to a prosperous author business.

But… who cares?!

Selling 10,000 books is beyond my wildest dreams as an author. I don’t care what anyone says. It is worth celebrating. I am shouting it from and to ALL the rooftops.

Plot Twist: Half the sales are from one book!

Yes, Easy Peasy Potty Training, my first book, has sold around 5,000 copies to date. The rest of the books have sold from a handful to a few hundred copies each.

Of course, being my first book, Easy Peasy Potty Training has been around longer and would naturally have sold more. However, half of all the sales implies something else is at play. I believe it is a combination that the book is relatively short, solves a specific problem and is well reviewed that it consistently sells and sells and sells.

Ten Years of Plot Twists

I had no idea when I started writing that the next ten years would be fill of shocks, shake ups and shenanigans. In addition to the plot twists above there have been other zingers to contend with.

Amazon readily sells Crappy to Happy but won’t let me advertise it due to the ‘profanity’ in its title. A New Zealand children’s book award wouldn’t let me submit Maxy-Moo Flies to the Moon because the illustrator was not a Kiwi. And there is no way to forget that time when someone created an audiobook of Rediscover Your Sparkle without my knowledge or permission.

I may not have been able to circumnavigate all of these upheavals without the community of writers, authors and creatives I have connected with along the way. Writing is a solo activity. When I started, I thought I may get lonely. However, in a welcome plot twist of sorts, I have been buoyed, supported and encouraged by many others on the same journey.

Today I want to give specific thanks to all the amazing people that wouldn’t be part of my life if I hadn’t started writing.

From my initial author buddies and SPS cohort to Auckland Authors, Mastermind Bloggers and the Creative Freedom community, it has been awesome to connect. I am grateful for finding people to help me bring my books to life including cover designers, formatters, my expert narrator, Kathleen Li, the very talented illustrator, Catty Flores and especially Kate, my patient editor (who once sent ME chocolates!). Thanks also to the coaches, mentors and course creators who I have learned so much from. And I am humbled by the generosity of a wide variety of influencers and those that have welcomed me on your virtual summits, podcasts and as a guest blogger.

Last and certainly not least, thank YOU. Thanks for reading, sharing and championing my blog posts, books and other creative outputs for the past ten years. I appreciate it more than you will ever know.

Here is to ten more years of plot twists.

I wouldn’t have it any other way.