Encouraged to keep going.

I'm amazed by how many people are willing to flat out buy my book when I show it to them.  Not knowing who I am.

Almost every day I work at Pegasus Books, I sell 2 or 3 copies, so if I worked more days, I'd probably sell a whole lot more.  In my store especially, I get so many out-of-towners in that there is a constant supply of new customers.

I get a kick out of the reaction people have to the book when they are walking by on the sidewalk and see it in the window.  It's a positive reaction without them knowing the writer is lurking inside.  Same thing with people picking up the book curiously in the store.  So the "Donner Party Werewolves" and the cover seem to work on their own.

My Vampire Evolution series is going to the press right now, so I should have those books in stock in a couple of weeks.

By the way, I don't have a review of Blood of Gold up yet, and only one of Rule of Vampire.  I think the trilogy got progressively better, but I've got to get people to read that far!

Anyway, I do feel like I'm starting to get unfiltered feedback -- that is, volunteered opinions from people I don't know.  People coming in the store just to tell me that they really enjoyed the book.  And it has been all positive.  I can tell they mean it, which is a big relief, you know?

I have to say, one unsolicited glowing review is worth a hundred sales, as far as motivation goes.

If I sell a few more books on Amazon, I will have reached my original -- admittedly modest -- goal.

I've sold about the same number in my store.

I'm guessing I've sold about the same number in all the other venues, but I'm not sure -- by how far up the 'best-seller' lists I am on Smashwords, it could be much more.  But I've been told Smashwords doesn't move as many units, so it could be much less.

But I think a guess of equal to the Amazon totals isn't probably far off. 

There is still some time to sell more, so I'm pretty satisfied with it.

I hope my publisher is too.

Other than what I've hand-sold myself, I really don't know the real numbers because that is proprietary to the publisher.   He'll report to me eventually, though I'm not expecting anything for a few more months.

Anyway, it's enough of a success -- in my eyes -- that I feel encouraged to keep going.