Amanda Hocking

There’s only one day left until Switched hits bookshelves, and I’m filled with a mixture of unparalleled excitement and absolute terror. I hope all of you have that pick up a copy enjoy the book, and I can’t wait to hear what people think of the brand new short story – “The Vittra Attacks.” Nobody’s read that yet, and I’m excited to get feedback.

Also, if you do pick up Switched in stores, don’t forget to take a picture of yourself with the book in the store and send it to me (via Twitter, Facebook, or email – hockingbooks@hotmail.com). I’ll be posting my favorites this week. Just make sure that if you do take pictures, you don’t do anything to get yourself in trouble. I’m not encouraging lawbreaking or rule-breaking of any kind. Only fun.

 made a video the other day where I pronounced all the words in the Trylle Trilogy that I get questions about. The most obvious one is, “How do you say Trylle?” I’ve got that one in there, along with a few others, and I hope it helps those of you with questions 🙂 (P.S. I’m wearing my new glasses).

So I hope you and all your friends and every person you’ve ever made any form of contact with picks up Switched this week. And to everyone who does, and everyone who has already pre-ordered, thank you guys so much! I’m so grateful for all the support I’ve gotten so far, and really, all of this is an amazing, surreal experience.

I can’t be everything to everyone.

When I blog, I have to think about who I am writing for. Is it for readers? Is it for other writers? Is it for myself? Because how answer that question affects what kind of blog I write.

I used to just say whatever I wanted to say, because nobody was reading it. I had free reign to be inappropriate and silly and sometimes to vent and complain. About anything I want. Because who cares? It’s not like anybody read anything I said.

Now just writing a blog, I have so much to think about. There are still so many things I want to say. I want to talk about my path as a writer. I want to talk about how grateful I am for my readers and some of the really neat, inspiring fan mail I get. I want to talk about my books and the exciting things I have coming up. And sometimes, I just want to talk about Christian Bale and Batman.

But I haven’t defined what kind of blog I want this to be. I think mostly because I have defined myself as one thing I want to be.

I write books, and I am so, so very grateful for all the things that have come along with that. The ability I have to connect with other people on a really personal way. I’ve read far more books than I’ve written, and I know how deeply you begin to care for characters and stories that don’t exist. And I am so humbled and thankful that so many people have begun to characters and stories that I created.

But that is not at all I am. I’m also a daughter, and a grand daughter, and a friend, and a pet owner, and a lousy roommate. I have a gramma who I have been very close to who is now struggling with Alzheimer’s, and I know I don’t spend as much time with her as I should, but seeing the effects that it’s had on her is very, very hard for me.

I have schnauzer and three cats. One of those cats was only supposed to be here temporarily, and she freaks out and meows at my door because she can’t stand to be away from me.

I have friends who call me and try to spend time with me, but I am impossible to get a hold or do things with because I am almost always working. I live on the computer. And I’m always writing and editing and trying to answer emails (although lately I am getting more than I can keep up with).

I am so, so grateful for all of this. But I am truly overwhelmed. I have not yet figured out how to manage my time or when to say when. I am working constantly.

Last week, I was approached by a publishing company. We talked on the phone on Monday before Christmas. They wanted to publish the Trylle Trilogy, but they wanted me to wait to release Ascend with them. It would probably be late 2011. I didn’t like it, but I had to at least consider the offer.

I know how disappointing and upsetting it was to some readers. Most were very supportive and understanding. But doing everything that I do – marketing, editing, writing, making covers, etc – is exhausting. I am exhausted. And it takes away from my time and ability to write books. So when somebody offered to share the load with me, I had to at least listen.

And to be perfectly honest, I was and still am hurt by some of the responses I got. For me to not even consider something that could benefit myself, my books, and the readers because of a date I had set up seems not only unfair but bad business.

I don’t do things on a whim. I don’t randomly think, “Hey, let’s mess with my readers.” I am completely aware that my readers are the reason I have food on the table. I put an immense amount of pressure and stress on myself because I know that. I know that it’s because of people with families and bills and problems spending their hard earned on money on something I created that I get to do this. I really do understand that, and I couldn’t be more grateful for it.

Eventually, I decided the offer was not in the best interest of myself, my books, or the readers. I won’t go into it, because it’s a private thing. But the fact that I would have to hold off on releasing Ascend did factor into my decision.

But I can’t do everything everybody wants me to do all the time. I can’t have Alice end up with both Peter and Jack. I can’t be everything to anybody. I can only be me, and I will always try to do the best I can and do right by everybody I come across and treat people with respect.

But that doesn’t mean I can always give you everything you want. I have a finite amount of time in this life, and it frustrates as much as it does you.

Most of you are really great and understand and amazing and beyond anything I could ever ask for. I am truly honored and humbled to have had the response that I’ve had and the readers that I’ve had and the overall support and encouragement. I cannot say enough about that. Really and truly.

But sometimes, if some of you get upset about something I’ve said or done or a decision I’ve made regarding my personal life or my books, can you please take a moment to consider that I am a person. I am an author, yes, and somewhat of a public figure because of that. But I am not a commodity. I do things that I hope people will enjoy and give them some happiness, but I do not live to serve.

As much as it pains me, I cannot be and do everything. And that’s the sad truth of life.

I keep trying to think of something inspiring to say to go with this blog. Something about how indie authors can make it and you shouldn’t give up on your dreams. About changing tides and control being in the hands of the writers and the readers for the first time. But in my mind, I’m really just thinking, “Holy hell. I can’t believe this happened.” 

I don’t have much  else to say about my December sales, except thank you. Thank you!

B&N sales are tricky because Yesterday & Today’s sales aren’t included in the monthly total, so I tried to put the three spread sheet things together as best I could.

Smashwords has reported some sales from November, which I subtracted off of the total. But they’ve only reported sales from Barnes & Noble through 12/25, and I know I’ve sold books through them in the last 5 days. So this number is actually a bit low.

My total sales for the month of December as of 8:30 PM, 12/30/10 are an absurdly even 99,000.

Which brings my total books sold, since April 15, 2010: 148,887 books

The subtitle of this blog could be titled “How Google Alerts Are Ruining My Life.”

It’s too easy for me to find misinformation about myself, and I can’t help myself. I have to correct it. I’m compelled to set the record straight. So be prepared for a long-ish blog where I say things.

Okay, first of all, I’m not “averaging” 30,000 sales a month. To be honest, I’m not “averaging” anything. I’ve only been at this for going on 9 months, and every month has been different. I’m not going to post my monthly sales totals (mostly because I’m lazy but also because December isn’t over yet).  But if you were to average out my current total of books sold over 9 months, I’d average about 15,000 books a month.

Second, my agent isn’t why I’m successful. That’s not saying anything bad about Steve. But he is my agent – not my publicist. He has done no marketing for me. He and his foreign agents have negotiated deals with foreign publishers and pitched my books to other foreign publishers. They’ve also pitched audio and film rights. That’s what an agent does. They don’t set up up marketing campaigns. They don’t edit books or make covers. They pitch books to various people who buy rights and negotiate contracts.

On a side note, I think it’s going to be more and more common for self-published authors to have agents. Why? Because I can’t read foreign contracts. I don’t know how to negotiate for a better deal. And most movie studios won’t accept my calls. You dig?

Third, I use the word foxy. Okay? Me and my friends all use the word foxy. All the time. In fact, in reference to attractive young men, I refer to them almost exclusively as “foxy” or “dreamy.” I think the word “cute” is for puppies, and “sexy” sounds dirty. I will not apologize for using the word foxy.

Fourth, I had nothing to do with this book: Kindle Maestro. I have not read it. I did not help write it. I do not endorse it. I have no idea what’s inside of it. But I strongly believe that everything you need to know about publishing on Kindle is available for free on the internet, and most of it at Joe Konrath’s blog.

Fifth, I am not magical. Having me endorse your book will not help it sell. Having me read your book will not help it sell. I do not have special powers. People credit for me for things I had no power over. If I could make other people’s books sell, Jenny Pox would be #1 in the Kindle store. And it’s not. So I’m clearly not magic.

Sixth, I have a Frequently Asked Questions tab at the top because I want to make life easier on you. So please check it out.

Seventh, my age seems to be of some dispute, which seems strange to me, since I have my birthday posted all over the place. I’m sixteen. Just kidding, I’m not. But I’ve considered telling people that because then my success would seem even more awesome. But I’m not sixteen. I’m twenty-six.

I feel like I read something else incorrect that had me enraged, but I don’t remember what it was, so it must not have been very bad.

If I come across as snappy or snarky, I apologize. It’s not my intent to be. And I don’t feel crabby. But I do feel a bit… overwhelmed lately. I’m not complaining at all. But a lot has happened in a very short amount of time, and I’m still trying to figure out the best way to do everything.

The bottom line: I write books for teens about trolls and vampires and zombies that are meant to be fun and entertaining. That’s it. Although lately, I’ve spent more time playing Robot Unicorn Attack than writing, but that happens to be the best game ever.

Look. Ascend is coming out, you guys. And it’s coming out soon. How soon, do you ask? I’m going to be sending it out betas this week. I’d wanted to send out betas last week, but because of things I’ll explain later on this week, that didn’t happen.

Then once I hear back from betas, I’ll start sending out ARCs, and I’ll release it shortly after that. So that’s what’s happening.

And later this week I will explain why it was delayed. Again, I’m sorry for the delay. But it’s really only going to be pushed back about a week or two. So… it’s not so bad. Really.