(Yikes. What a title. The (But Fun!) I threw in there doesn’t even really jazz it up. An exclamation point just looked stupid. No one would exclaim after saying that.)
I’m Michigan bound today! My Amtrak (kill me) to Holland leaves at 5:20 and I’ll be rolling in around 9:30pm. My mom called me yesterday to alert me that Edy’s is having a huge sale and to ask what flavors of ice cream she should pick up.
So yes, it’s going to be an awesome stay in the mitt.
I’ve been chatting to you lately about my pretty minimalist lifestyle – my spending less lets you live happily making less philosophy - so I wanted to break down my pattern sales for those of you who might be curious about it. I know I was before I started trying to sell my patterns!
I went into producing this ebook with no expectations whatsoever. I know The Sweatshop will not make me a millionaire and I don’t want it to. I love it and it’s a bonus that I’m starting to be able to live off my work. This was my first try, my first try of many!, and the more patterns I write the more people I reach the more money I make from doing what I love. At least that is the plan.
So! The Summer Tour of Knitting Patterns Ebook went on pre-sale May 31st to a select group of my long term knitting students and supporters for a discounted rate of $12. Then it went public on June 1st for $18. On July 1st I released the patterns individually and their cost ranged from $2-5.50.
After two months of availability, here are my sales numbers:
Ebook Pre-Sale = 15 copies at $12 = $180
Ebook Sales at Full Price = 11 copies at $18 = $198
Individual Sales = $49.50
Individual Sales includes 6 copies of the Twin Cities Headband, 4 copies of Baby Sweater Buffet, 1 copy of Caitlin’s Cardi, 1 copy of Traverse City Tube Top, and 1 copy of The Loop Entrelac Tank.
I’ve made $437.50 on this project, and counting. I would absolutely call that a success!
Larger successes:
1. There has only been one mistake found and reported back to me and it wasn’t even an error in a pattern portion of the ebook.
2. Knitters that I don’t know are out there knitting what I’ve designed! Reading my words and making things that wouldn’t exist with out me. That blows my mind.
3. I have relationships with knitters now that I would never know if I didn’t write these patterns. They found one of my patterns, they liked it enough to purchase it, they knit it, they shared that process through the magic of the internet, and now we are part of each others lives.
The bottom line is that I had no expectations going in, so sales exceeded my expectations. But more than that is the knitting community’s reception of my patterns exceeded my expectations. I’m addicted to writing patterns that people want to knit. I want to see their pictures and read their thoughts! I love it.
So I’ve got to use this information to help me write better patterns in the future. This was my first try, and I’m going to make each next product better and better, which should lead to more sales and views and interest and, above all, more people knitting my designs.
I’m leaving in a few hours for a 5 week working vacation because of you! You motivate me to be better and better at what I love doing, which is a solid equation if you ask me.
