Well, Well, Well—Numbers and Lessons Learned

Looks like Tears of Heaven won’t quite make the goal of 100 sales in its first year run.  Even if Del and Marrin are able to match their best quarter so far (see table below) they’ll still be shy by an entire quarter.  Rogue demons from hell, it seems, are no match for the cut-throat world of book marketing.

It looks like we’ll have to wait until 2Q2015 before we achieve that particular milestone.

Quarter	Books Sold	Running Total
4 Quarter 2013	13	13
1 Quarter 2014	24	37
2 Quarter 2014	11	48
3 Quarter 2014	14	62

In spite of that, it’s been a remarkable ride since Tears of Heaven was picked up by Wild Child Publishing, and I received my first, honest-to-goodness contract as an author.  The book has received some impressive praise from all quarters.  Out of the current 41 reviews on Amazon, Tears of Heaven has maintained a high star count—currently 4.7 out of 5.  By comparison, Patrick Rothfuss’ The Name of the Wind is holding fast at 4.5 (although that's with nearly 3,300 reviews).  Rothfuss far exceeds most writers (certainly me) as a master storyteller, and his first installment of The Kingkiller Chronicle is a beautifully wrought and wonderful book that everyone should read.

No seriously.  If you haven't read it, please pick up a copy.

In addition, because of Tears of Heaven, some wonderful and amazing people have come into my life.  Even if another contract didn’t come my way, I’ll have made some great friends and come in contact with very worthwhile folk all over the world.  I am better for having written and published this book.

But the best of all have been these little notes:

Del has two guns, and they're both for you!

“Hey Rob, when is the next book coming out?”

Tears of Heaven was originally envisioned as the stand-alone story of Del, a half-angel/half mortal Nephilim who wended and wound her way through history.  In the past, she was a force to be reckoned with, she laughed, and fought, and loved and was filled with joy.  In the present, she’d become bitter, angry and scarred, but she remained as dangerous as ever.  How she transformed, how she grew and continued to grow, is the story of Tears of Heaven.  There was also a lot of sword and gun play.  How she continues to move forward, how she is becoming more than herself and prospering, that’s the story I’ve found in Hell Becomes Her.

I’m sure that I’ll offer this all up again toward the end of the year, but thank you to everyone who has made this all possible.  There are far too many to name, but anyone who follows this blog, anyone who offered me early assistance, and of course, anyone who has read the book—Thank you.