I’m currently writing a book on self-publishing: my experience, some tips, some of my behind-the-scenes, expectations vs reality, the happy moments…It will not be a book on how to become a millionnaire, but hopefully a book that will give you insights, ideas, resources…If you have any questions you’d like me to tackle in this book, don’t hesitate to send me an email or leave a comment. This blog post will be featured in that book.
Did you know I wasn’t planning on writing A SUMMER LIKE NO OTHER? Did you know that this is the book that got the attention of a French publisher, got picked up by said-publisher and enabled me to be in French bookstores? Did you know this book now has 115 reviews on Amazon?
I published A SUMMER LIKE NO OTHER in July 2015. More than 5 years ago. And since then?
A SUMMER LIKE NO OTHER has been translated in French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Chinese. It is currently perma-free in English on all e-retailers (Amazon – iTunes – Kobo – Google Play – Scribd – Hoopla). It is available in paperback on Amazon and very soon will be available on Bookshop.org. It is also available as audiobook. (Audible – Amazon – iTunes).
I sold more more than 1200 paperback copies of the English edition of A SUMMER LIKE NO OTHER since 2015. And it has been downloaded for free more than 16000 times. I haven’t advertised this book in English for years and just last July, 400 people downloaded it and I sold 56 paperback copies.
The French version has even much better numbers: both for the paid e-book and for the paperback version. Especially since the French paperback version was picked up by a French publisher and was also sold in bookstores and supermarkets and Cultura and la Fnac and in libraries…:-)
It is truly the little book that could. 🙂
115 reviews on Amazon and counting…
Did you know the English version of A SUMMER LIKE NO OTHER has now more than 100 reviews on Amazon?
I mean, granted, not all reviews are raving…the one on top of the Amazon page is a one-star review, telling readers not to read A SUMMER LIKE NO OTHER because it will make you angry. And another one on the German Amazon site talks about the fact that this book isn’t Oscar Wild-esque and lacks moral…
I wanted to share those reviews, but apparently, Amazon reviews belong to Amazon due to copyright? Something else to check out in more details later.
Why am I sharing that this book has some negative reviews? To show you that all books get negative reviews. And that’s perfectly fine. Not everyone will like what you’re writing. Not everyone likes what I’m writing.
And some of those negative reviews might actually help your sales, believe or not. The sales of A SUMMER LIKE NO OTHER didn’t dwindle since that 1-star review took center stage on the product page.
And while, I still get these little moments where my stomach clenches as I release a new book…wondering about those first reviews trickling in, checking my book page to see if anyone reviewed it or what readers thought about the story I spent months on…I don’t dwell on them as much.
And fine it’s also easier not to dwell on them when most reviews are four and higher, and some readers call A SUMMER LIKE NO OTHER the greatest book they’ve read or that they fell in love with the characters.
And did you know A SUMMER LIKE NO OTHER got reviewed in The Guardian? I mean that’s pretty cool.
The story behind A SUMMER LIKE NO OTHER…
I wasn’t planning on writing A SUMMER LIKE NO OTHER.
My goal was to write ALWAYS SECOND BEST as a standalone companion novel to ONE, TWO, THREE. But as I drafted ALWAYS SECOND BEST, I kept on thinking about that summer between Nick & Em. I kept on thinking I needed to really get to know them better. I kept on thinking maybe I should write it out.
So, I did. I did it as a way to really get to know Nick & Em and to make ALWAYS SECOND BEST stronger.
It was only supposed to help me understand the characters better, but I fell in love with that summer story.
And I drafted it very very quickly. It took me a few months only between the moment I started drafting it and the moment I sent it to my copy editor.
My critique partners loved the story and this was one I didn’t need to revise a lot. I had been thinking about it so much while I had started drafting ALWAYS SECOND BEST that I couldn’t wait to dig deeper into their summer.
And it ended up being A SUMMER LIKE NO OTHER (Nick & Em #1). And the rest is history…
Languages and more languages…
A SUMMER LIKE NO OTHER is available in French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Chinese.
I even signed with a French publisher!
The French version really took off when I published it. It shot up the charts…I released ALWAYS SECOND BEST in French not long after and it also did very very well…and that’s how A SUMMER LIKE NO OTHER caught the attention of a French publisher. And made me a so-called hybrid author (self-published and traditionally published).
On November 21st, 2016 I received an email from a French publisher, who contacted me by email to see if I would be interested in signing with them for the French versions of A SUMMER LIKE NO OTHER & ALWAYS SECOND BEST. Plus a possible option book.
At first, I thought it was a scam.
Really.
I don’t have an agent and I wasn’t sure how to go about it. I don’t recommend selling your foreign rights without an agent. An agent may have been able to negotiate different aspects of the contract for me. I got lucky, I think. One, because I speak French 😉 and thus, I was able to do my research, see the story of their imprint, look at the other authors they had signed with, and negotiate with them directly. I only sold the rights to the paperback version and not other format or languages. Two, they have been very good with all follow-ups. They, unfortunately, no longer carry the YA line but they were part of a bigger imprint and thus, I still am receiving royalty information and everything.
They also ended up buying the option book! And they acquired the French version of ONE, TWO, THREE as well.
I got an advance. I got author copies. I got promotion. I even saw my books in French bookstores and grocery stores! Kind of like one of my books making it into Target-level of excitement!
Writing this still feels surreal, even though it happened about four years ago for the first contract and about two years ago
Bilingual copies…
A SUMMER LIKE NO OTHER is available in several bilingual editions (I really need to add a tab on my blog for those 🙂 – coming soon!):
German/English, German/Italian, Italian/English, French/English…
And it will be soon available in even more bilingual editions, as I’m regaining the rights of several languages in the coming weeks/months.
The first sentence in different languages…
The pop music blasts from the speakers so loudly that it resonates within me.
Des haut-parleurs s’échappe une musique pop assourdissante ; le son est si fort que chaque note résonne dans mon corps.
Die Popmusik dröhnt so aus den Lautsprechern, dass sie in mir widerhallt.
La musica pop esplode così forte dalle casse che mi risuona dentro.
La música pop suena tan fuerte en los parlantes que retumba en mi interior.
Uma música pop explode nos autofalantes, tão alta que ressoa dentro de mim.
Bonus scenes, anyone?
If you’ve read A SUMMER LIKE NO OTHER and would like to receive some exclusive bonus scenes, don’t hesitate to sign up for my newsletter. 🙂
Thank you to everyone who has given this little book of mine a chance, from my critique partners to my French publisher to all the people who have read it in whatever language and format. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to review it. Thank you to all the readers who have sent me an email to let me know how much they loved this book…
Let me know if you have any questions…any behind-the-scenes you’d like to read more about…and don’t hesitate to send me questions about my experience with self-publishing that you’d like me to answer in the book I’m currently writing.
Elodie Nowodazkij 