Book Sales Breakdown 2016

Another year down and another bunch of books sold. My goal for 2016 was to sell 1,250 books. I made it there in late-November / early-December. I actually finished 2016 with 1,325 books sold for the year. Like my 2015 breakdown, I'm going to break down my sales from most sold to least sold and all of the cover images are linked to the Amazon page for that book if you want to check it out. When I list a current price, that is the price of the ebook (and generally the price that the book sold at for all of 2016.) Total sold is the number of books sold of that title since it was published.

Ebook Sales: 340
Audio Book Sales: 31
Paperback Sales: 9
Current Price: $3.99
Books Sold 2016: 380
Total Sold: 663







Minor Demons is really starting to gain some momentum. 380 copies is the most I've sold of any single book in any year so far as an author. I think the fact that there are two follow-up novels and a prequel novella out now really helps. I have a lot of readers who enjoy this series who grab new books as they come out, but 2016 saw a lot more people stumbling into Minor Demons and giving it a chance. I ran a few targeted promotions at $0.99 but I've moved away from giving away free books for the most part because it isn't anywhere near as effective as it used to be. Minor Demons may be my first book to sell 1,000 copies. I hope it gets there in 2017. If you've read it and enjoyed it, please recommend it to your friends and / or leave a review. It has 20 reviews on Amazon US with a 4/5 star rating and 5 reviews on Amazon UK with a 4.8/5 star rating. I also shelled out the money to create audio books for Minor Demons and Middle Demons. The Major Demons audio book is almost complete and will be released in early 2017.

Ebook Sales: 313
Audio Book Sales: 10
Paperback Sales: 6
Current Price: $4.99
Books Sold 2016: 329
Total Sold: 634







Middle Demons has almost as many copies sold as Minor Demons and it was my top selling book last year. Now that Middle Demons has been out for a while, the numbers suggest that 95.6% of readers who read Minor Demons have gone on to read Middle Demons. I'm very happy with that number. The series seems to be doing well with Kindle Unlimited readers on Amazon as well. I'm a little worried about the sell through on the audio books, but I haven't paid too much attention to audio books since 2014. They're never huge sellers for me.

Ebook Sales: 236
Audio Book Sales: N/A
Paperback Sales: 7
Current Price: $4.99
Books Sold 2016: 243
Total Sold: 243







Major Demons was released in May on Friday the 13th. It hasn't even been out for a full year yet and it's already sold 243 copies. I got a lot of positive feedback from readers following the release of Major Demons, many of them hoping for another book in the series. I did give some thought to ending the series here and tying up the ending a little more so I didn't leave a few things open-ended. Readers convinced me that they enjoy this series enough that I should continue it. The Major Demons audio book will be available soon (hopefully February, it was delayed a little and I'm reviewing it right now) and I expect sales numbers to go up now that it has a full year to sell. I'm working on the next book in the series, Minor Nephilim, which I expect to launch in 2017.

Ebook Sales: 42
Audio Book Sales: N/A
Paperback Sales: N/A
Current Price: $9.99
Books Sold 2016: 42
Total Sold: 42







In an effort to get more readers interested in the series, I released Angels and Demons: The Demon Trilogy bundle that includes Minor Demons, Middle Demons, Major Demons, and Outcast Demons as a bonus. It has done pretty well and does better in some countries where I don't sell as many books (India, Canada, and Australia among them.) If you want to get your friends hooked, tell them to pick up The Demon Trilogy. It'll save them a little money over buying the books individually.

Ebook Sales: 19
Audio Book Sales: N/A
Paperback Sales: 17
Current Price: $3.99
Books Sold 2016: 36
Total Sold: 82







My fifth bestseller for 2016 was my photo tour of the Caribbean. This book also sold the most paperbacks for 2016. I imagine it'll break 100 total copies sold in 2017 and become the second of my travel photo books to do so (the only one that has made it so far is East Coast History.) If you want some ideas of what to check out in the Caribbean, check out this book. It has some great pictures and some interesting history.

Ebook Sales: 14
Audio Book Sales: 10
Paperback Sales: 6
Current Price: $2.99
Books Sold 2016: 30
Total Sold: 166







My short history article on Caribbean pirates and privateers is slowly making its way to 200 copies sold. When it reaches that point, it will be my second history article to do so (Constantine: The Emperor of Tolerance reached that point a while back.) This article goes along great with my Caribbean travel photo book. Definitely worth checking both out if you're headed to the Caribbean.

Ebook Sales: 13
Audio Book Sales: 0
Paperback Sales: 15
Current Price: $2.99
Books Sold 2016: 28
Total Sold: 96







Moving along alphabetically (tied for 7th place), Gateway to the Vikings: L'Anse aux Meadows comes next. I actually traveled to L'Anse aux Meadows in 2016 and released a travel photo book for the site plus Boston and Halifax. It goes great with this short history article. Feel free to check them both out. Gateway to the Vikings also placed 2nd for most paperbacks sold in 2016.

Ebook Sales: 28
Audio Book Sales: N/A
Paperback Sales: 0
Current Price: $2.99
Books Sold 2016: 28
Total Sold: 28







Law school and work get in the way of me just writing all day. That being the case, I wanted to get another Angels and Demons book out when I had some free time to write over the summer. I decided to write a prequel to Minor Demons. It's roughly 40,000 words (so a little more than half the length of the novels) and follows the demon Bumalin as he becomes a memory thief in the Philippines. It hasn't really sold many copies yet, but I only released it in late August so I'll give it some time. If you've read the three novels but haven't read Outcast Demons yet, head over to Amazon and grab a copy.

Ebook Sales: 12
Audio Book Sales: 4
Paperback Sales: 8
Current Price: $2.99
Books Sold 2016: 24
Total Sold: 139







My short history article on Luther Standing Bear was in the also-bought section of Luther Standing Bear's own works on Amazon last year. It sold 78 copies in 2015. Obviously that's not the case anymore, as it's down to 24. It's still a great short read and way less than the publishers of other works on Luther Standing Bear will charge you. That's still one of my favorite history book covers. It features an Igarut shield and spear I bought the last time I was in Baguio.

Ebook Sales: 4
Audio Book Sales: 10
Paperback Sales: 9
Current Price: $0.99
Books Sold 2016: 23
Total Sold: 182







These seven short computer stories from my days as an in-home computer technician were put together for an eight hour writing challenge. I put this entire book together (including the cover that I made in MS Paint) in under eight hours. It has now sold a total of 182 copies and is my most popular selling audio book overall. That's the most accidental success I've had with any title, so I just leave it alone and let it do it's own thing. It isn't very long, but it's very entertaining for a $0.99 ebook. It was also my best selling book in 2014.

Ebook Sales: 7
Audio Book Sales: 13
Paperback Sales: 0
Current Price: $0.99
Books Sold 2016: 20
Total Sold: 64







My Geekus Maximus short stories are hidden gems. Seriously, if you're a little geeky and want some laughs, go buy everything I've written under my Geekus Maximus pen name. It'll cost you less than $3 total (or nothing if you're in Kindle Unlimited). This 8,000ish word short story follows an out of work computer tech named Robert who finds new clients in a fantasy land of dwarves, elves, goblins, trolls, and talking horses. Yes, the trolls have original technology riddles that I created. See if you can solve them before Robert does.

Ebook Sales: 5
Audio Book Sales: N/A
Paperback Sales: 13
Current Price: $3.99
Books Sold 2016: 18
Total Sold: 121







If you enjoy U.S. history, you will enjoy this travel photo book. Over 125 photos and brief histories from: the Capitol, the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the White House, Arlington National Cemetery, Mount Vernon, Monticello, Jamestown (with excavation photos), Gettysburg, Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, the 9/11 memorial, and more. History nerds will dig this book.

Ebook Sales: 15
Audio Book Sales: N/A
Paperback Sales: 2
Current Price: $2.99
Books Sold 2016: 17
Total Sold: 92







This 54,000ish word collection contains three short stories I wrote when I was first starting out as an author. It follows the last known descendants of Dr. Jekyll as they take on and attempt to stop the descendants of Mr. Hyde. They don't sell a lot of copies and don't make much money, but I will be adding the first short story to a multi-author bundle soon in 2017. If you like the Angels and Demons series, I imagine you'll have a good time with these as well, even though they're shorter.

Ebook Sales: 7
Audio Book Sales: 4
Paperback Sales: 2
Current Price: $2.99
Books Sold 2016: 13
Total Sold: 250







Constantine: The Emperor of Tolerance was my best selling book in both 2012 and 2013. It's a modified version of my senior thesis and explores the idea that Constantine shaped Constantinople as a city open to both Christians and pagans. By doing so, he set a model for emperors to follow. Any time an emperor diverted from that path like Theodosius (in favor of Christians) or Julian (in favor of pagans), it led to civil war. This one is my personal favorite. I'm thrilled that it's up to 250 total copies sold now.

Ebook Sales: 5
Audio Book Sales: 2
Paperback Sales: 4
Current Price: $2.99
Books Sold 2016: 11
Total Sold: 140







I wrote Explanations and Advice for the Tech Illiterate because I saw a need for it as an in-home computer technician. It covers a lot of computer and home theater basics and helps you understand the terminology and what you should be looking for in retail stores. I had these available on all outlets for a year and they still only sold on Amazon, so they'll be going back as Amazon exclusives this year. Great series if you need some help with technology basics.

Ebook Sales: 3
Audio Book Sales: 2
Paperback Sales: 5
Current Price: $2.99
Books Sold 2016: 10
Total Sold: 56







I actually thought I would stop the Tech Illiterate series after Volume II, but a reader left a review letting me know that she had purchased both the ebooks and the paperbacks (which she marked up) and that they had changed her life. She didn't feel afraid of technology anymore. She asked me to continue the series, so I did. I'm hoping the series does better back as Amazon exclusives this year.

Ebook Sales: 1
Audio Book Sales: N/A
Paperback Sales: 7
Current Price: $2.99
Books Sold 2016: 8
Total Sold: 33







I've talked about what's in this travel photo book before, so let me tell a story about the cover. That tiger was asleep nearly the entire time we were there looking at it. I had time to buy a shirt and walk around for a while. The tiger slept the whole time. As we were leaving, he popped his head up and I ran back. When I looked through all the photos I took for this book, one of the shots of the tiger that I took when I ran back was my favorite and ended up on the cover. I'm really glad he woke up.

Ebook Sales: 2
Audio Book Sales: 2
Paperback Sales: 3
Current Price: $2.99
Books Sold 2016: 7
Total Sold: 64







This is a pretty cool little article that traces some early sources towards the origin of prayers through Archangels and intercessory beings. The praying couple on the front are the Mary and Joseph from the carved nativity set I bought in Baguio. As you may have guessed, my house has a lot of wood carvings from Baguio. A lot.

Ebook Sales: 4
Audio Book Sales: N/A
Paperback Sales: 3
Current Price: $3.99
Books Sold 2016: 7
Total Sold: 37







This book is a great photo-based tour of three major Asian cities. The cover features the entrance to the grave of the 47 Ronin. Definitely worth checking out.

Ebook Sales: 3
Audio Book Sales: N/A
Paperback Sales: 4
Current Price: $2.99
Books Sold 2016: 7
Total Sold: 32







This is my photo-based travel book on Hawaii. It was my only book to sell 0 copies in 2015, so I guilt-tripped everyone in my last Book Sales Breakdown. The guilt-trip worked, because it sold a few copies early in 2016 and then a few more later on in the year. So thanks everyone. Someone go buy a copy now so I don't have to guilt-trip you in the 2017 Book Sales Breakdown. :-P

Ebook Sales: 4
Audio Book Sales: 1
Paperback Sales: 1
Current Price: $0.99
Books Sold 2016: 6
Total Sold: 36







This is the second short story in the journeys of Robert the computer tech. In this one, goblins release a virus so that they can drum up business for their anti-virus software company. My sister did the cover for this one. I'm gonna say it again, go buy every Geekus Maximus book. Less than $3 total.

Ebook Sales: 5
Audio Book Sales: 1
Paperback Sales: 0
Current Price: $2.99
Books Sold 2016: 6
Total Sold: 56







This is a combo of two really short articles, one about the theocracy that existed in early Utah and the other about Gregory Palamas of the Eastern Orthodox church. I'm really surprised it sold an audio book, because it's been blasted over on Audible. Writing about anything religion-related always brings out people with really strong opinions.

Ebook Sales: 2
Audio Book Sales: N/A
Paperback Sales: 4
Current Price: $2.99
Books Sold 2016: 6
Total Sold: 43







I miss the Philippines like crazy. I lived over there as a missionary from 2005-2007. In my travels, I've also discovered that I just really like islands in general. I also hate snow... especially Utah snow. This is a unique book in my travel photo series because I speak fluent Tagalog, so I've included some Tagalog words and a lot of really cool places to check out. The rice terraces of Banaue (on the cover) have been farmed for thousands of years. If I ever make enough money to retire early, I might move to the Philippines... or the Caribbean... or just away from Utah.

Ebook Sales: 4
Audio Book Sales: N/A
Paperback Sales: 2
Current Price: $2.99
Books Sold 2016: 6
Total Sold: 32







I should have named this one Traveling the U.S.: Salt Lake City. This mostly explores historical sites in Salt Lake, Echo, and Park City. It was fun to walk around and learn a little more about the history of Salt Lake for myself. It's a cool book with some great pictures.

Ebook Sales: 0
Audio Book Sales: 5
Paperback Sales: N/A
Current Price: $0.99
Books Sold 2016: 5
Total Sold: 39







This short story was free for a long time to generate sales of the next two short stories. I've changed it back into a $0.99 ebook and I think a lot of the readers interested in the series just buy the $2.99 bundle. I'm fine with that. This does have an amazing audio book version, though.

Ebook Sales: 3
Audio Book Sales: N/A
Paperback Sales: 2
Current Price: $2.99
Books Sold 2016: 5
Total Sold: 5







In our 2013 east coast history travels, we didn't have time to make it up to Boston. This year, I suggested we go to Boston and then fly up to Halifax to drive down and see L'Anse aux Meadows. We put that vacation together and I got some amazing photographs of colonial history in Boston and the only confirmed North American viking site up in Canada. It's a steal at $2.99. Go read it.

Ebook Sales: 3
Audio Book Sales: 0
Paperback Sales: 0
Current Price: $1.99
Books Sold 2016: 3
Total Sold: 46







This is the short story that started it all for me. I wrote it way back in 2012 when I decided being an author would be a fun hobby. I had no idea how much fun it would be and that it would eventually lead to an extra passive income every month. I still really like the cover for this one, even though it doesn't necessarily gel well with the genre.

Ebook Sales: 1
Audio Book Sales: N/A
Paperback Sales: 2
Current Price: $2.99
Books Sold 2016: 3
Total Sold: 11







This is the only Tech Illiterate volume that hasn't made back its costs, but I don't care. That's not why I wrote this one. I wrote this one because a reader asked me to continue the series. Her review made me feel like I had done something life-changing for her, so I wrote Volume III. It'll eventually make back its costs.

Ebook Sales: 2
Audio Book Sales: N/A
Paperback Sales: N/A
Current Price: $8.99
Books Sold 2016: 2
Total Sold: 10







So the history article collection finally got a new cover. I ran a Facebook ad early last year when I was still experimenting with Facebook ads. The ad sold two copies. I'll take it. At least the history article collection didn't go a year with nothing. If you're interested in a few of my history articles, buy the collection. It'll save you a lot of money.

Ebook Sales: 2
Audio Book Sales: N/A
Paperback Sales: N/A
Current Price: $5.99
Books Sold 2016: 2
Total Sold: 2







I created this bundle that includes all three Tech Illiterate books to save readers some money if they want more than one. I don't expect it to sell a lot, but it has already sold one in 2017.

Ebook Sales: 1
Audio Book Sales: 0
Paperback Sales: N/A
Current Price: $1.99
Books Sold 2016: 1
Total Sold: 24







This is a short 10,000ish word novella I wrote as a follow-up to Jehovah and Hades. I stopped the series after this one, but the things I learned writing this series ultimately led to my decision to write Minor Demons in 2013. Thank you to whoever purchased the single copy that this short story sold in 2016.


I've already sold over 100 books so far in 2017. That's insane. I'm actually starting to get some fans with the Angels and Demons series. Here's the total breakdown for the past 5 years:

2012 Books Sold: 157 (156 ebooks, 1 paperback)
2013 Books Sold: 372 (222 ebooks, 139 audio books, 11 paperbacks)
2014 Books Sold: 636 (404 ebooks, 160 audio books, 72 paperbacks)
2015 Books Sold: 998 (885 ebooks, 70 audio books, 123 paperbacks)
2016 Books Sold: 1,325 (1,099 ebooks, 95 audio books, 131 paperbacks)

That puts me at 3,488 books sold since I started in 2012. I put a lot more time into this now than I did back in 2012 and I hope the numbers continue to trend upwards. That's why I'm aiming to sell 1,750 books in 2017. That's a bigger jump than I've seen in years past, but I will be releasing the 4th Angels and Demons book this year and at least start working on the 5th. Ultimately, I would love it if I sold enough at some point in the future that I could go down to being a part-time lawyer and / or IT guy and dedicate more time to writing. I'm definitely trending towards that, so thank you to all of my readers. Here's to a great 2017!

You can check out my 2015 book sales breakdown here, my 2014 books sales breakdown here, and my 2013 book sales breakdown here.

Smart Home: A Review of 3 Smart House Products

When I get home at night, I get out my phone and give it a voice command. That one command unlocks my door, turns on the lights in two rooms, and changes my thermostat from Away to Home. What follows is a review of the 3 smart house products and the iPhone app that helped me get everything set up so that parts of my house are voice controllable. These 3 devices work with Apple's Homekit (two of the three also work with Amazon's Alexa) and they allow me to control them via Siri voice commands. If you're considering any of the products here, please use the link I provided as I get a small commission from Amazon. Thanks.

Smart Thermostat: Ecobee 3

The Ecobee is a smart thermostat that responds to voice commands from both Apple's Siri and Amazon's Alexa. You can preset comfort settings (temperature ranges) for both Home and Away and even control your house temperature remotely. Since installing an Ecobee, I got a check from Questar for about $100 for installing a smart thermostat and I save about 20% monthly on my energy bill.

Installation: The installation wasn't too bad, but it may require putting an adapter on your furnace. It was a little nerve racking installing the adapter thinking that worst case scenario I could blow up my house. Fortunately, that's not how it played out. Other than that, everything was pretty easy to install. Here are a few pictures:

The larger black square is the Ecobee and the small white square is a room sensor. The room sensors allow you to control the temperature in different areas of your house. The Ecobee comes with one room sensor and you can add up to 32 total. I have mine in my bedroom. The entire install took about half an hour.

App: The Ecobee app is pretty basic, but it allows for easy control of the Ecobee from both inside and outside your house / home network. Before I had the voice macro commands set up, I used to set my house temperature right before I went home from work. By the time I arrived home, the house was done either heating or cooling. I haven't had any issues with Siri voice commands or macro commands I've set up (like the "I'm home" command I mentioned earlier). You can check out the Ecobee on Amazon by clicking here.


Smart Lock: Schlage Sense

The Schlage Sense is a lock that uses low-energy bluetooth to communicate with voice commands via Siri. There's also an option of punching in a 4-8 digit code that you can set up and change via the app and you can always use the key that comes with it instead.

Installation: The Sense lock was pretty easy to install with one minor issue. When I initially installed it, I could get it to unlock but couldn't get it to lock. I called customer service and they walked me through a factory reset (the reset process wasn't in the manual). Their customer service was great. After that, the installation went smooth and everything worked. Here are some photos of what it comes with and what it looks like on an actual door:

The entire install took about 45 minutes if you include the phone call I had to make to their support team. If you don't run into that problem, I imagine it could be installed in half an hour or less.

App: The app has issues with seeing the lock via bluetooth on rare occasions, but it's generally fine. The app allows you to lock or unlock the door and it allows you to create temporary or permanent 4-8 digit passcodes that you can punch in on the number pad to get in. This is a great feature if you have multiple people using the door and you want everyone to have their own passcode. It's also great if you just want to let someone in temporarily, because you can delete the passcode after it's used. The app also tracks when the door opens and closes, so you can be aware of what times the door was unlocked and locked. You can check out the Schlage Sense on Amazon by clicking here.


Smart Lights: Philips Hue

Philips Hue lights are LED bulbs available in both white and color that can be controlled by Apple's Siri and Amazon's Alexa. The starter kit comes with the router attachment and two white bulbs. I ordered an additional two bulbs to control the lighting in four areas of my house.

Installation: The installation was pretty easy. There's a small white box that plugs into your router via Ethernet and then the majority of the set up takes place from the app after the lights are installed and turned on. The app took a few minutes to do a firmware upgrade on the router attachment. Here's what it the router attachment looks like:

Setting up everything, including swapping in the LED bulbs, took about 20 minutes. I took the extra step of naming each of the bulbs for the room they're in to make Siri commands easier.

App: I've heard that there are some issues with the app and color bulbs, but it works flawlessly with the white LED bulbs. You can turn lights on or off via the app or turn them on or off with Siri. You can also group lights in the same area together to make things easier. You can check out the Philips Hue Starter Kit on Amazon here.


The "I'm Home" voice command

After setting up a smart thermostat, a smart lock, and smart lights, I wanted them all to work together with a macro command. Apple has announced that there will be a Homekit app available in iOS 10, but there's a free app available right now that works really well with Homekit devices after you figure it out. The app is called Hesperus and it's available from the Apple App Store. Once I downloaded it and it added my devices, I was able to make a "scene" called "I'm home." Now when I get home from work, I say "Hey Siri, I'm home." Within a few seconds, my door unlocks, my thermostat changes from Away to Home, and the lights in two rooms turn on. Companies are working with Apple more and more to release new Homekit products. There's now a fireproof safe, smoke detectors, and even a security system that you can control with Homekit.

Additionally, some of these products can take voice commands from Amazon's voice assistant, Alexa. To look into that route, check out the Amazon Echo here.

Book Sales Breakdown 2015

I still enjoy adding up how many copies each of my books has sold at the end of the year. Since there's a three day weekend coming up and I'm almost done with my homework, I decided I would get this blog post ready to go. My goal for 2015 was originally set at 800 book sales. I met that at some point in October or November. I increased the goal to 1,000 at that point. I missed 1,000 sales but not by much. Like my 2014 breakdown, I'm going to break down my sales from most sold to least sold and all of the cover images are linked to the Amazon page for that book if you want to check anything out or purchase a copy. When I list a current price, that is the price of the ebook (and generally the price that the book sold at for all of 2015). Total sold is the number of books sold of that title since it was published.




Ebook Sales: 303
Audio Book Sales: N/A
Paperback Sales: 2
Current Price: $4.99
Books Sold 2015: 305
Total Sold: 305




Middle Demons is my first book to break 300 sales. It was also one of the only books I released in 2015. I actually finished writing it during a three week break in between law school semesters. It sold a lot of copies when it was first released and then spiked again during the early summer. This book continues where Minor Demons left off and sets the stage for Major Demons, which I'm working on right now. I hope to release Major Demons at some point in 2016.



Ebook Sales: 229
Audio Book Sales: N/A
Paperback Sales: 3
Current Price: $2.99
Books Sold 2015: 232
Total Sold: 283




Minor Demons is now my third book to break 200 sales and will likely be the second to break 300. I did have it free for a while and gave away around 4,000 copies with a couple of ads. I'm thinking about taking it back to free to boost sales of Middle Demons. I was hoping to have Major Demons out sooner, but law school got in the way again. The nice thing about Minor Demons having a price tag was that it got to ride the wave when Middle Demons was first launched and spiked in the summer. I get more emails and messages from readers telling me how much they enjoyed Minor Demons than any other book I've written so far. That's always good to hear about the first book in the series you're writing.



Ebook Sales: 45
Audio Book Sales: 8
Paperback Sales: 25
Current Price: $2.99
Books Sold 2015: 78
Total Sold: 115




My article on Luther Standing Bear joins the ranks of my books that have sold more than 100 copies. I honestly don't know how many are at that point anymore. Luther Standing Bear had uncharacteristically high sales this year and I think it came from the fact that new editions of Luther Standing Bear's books were released or republished. My article appears in the also-bought section on pretty much all of them, which drove traffic to my shorter, less expensive article. Luther Standing Bear also came in first for paperback sales (though it didn't make the most money of any paperback, it just sold the most copies).



Ebook Sales: 29
Audio Book Sales: N/A
Paperback Sales: 17
Current Price: $3.99
Books Sold 2015: 46
Total Sold: 46




Traveling the Caribbean was one of the few books I released in 2015. It has pictures and brief histories for all the historical and interesting locations we visited in Puerto Rico, St. Maarten, St. Kitts, Antigua, St. Lucia, and Barbados. It includes the remains of forts, plantations, windmills, ship dockyards, and a shipwreck as seen from a submarine. Definitely worth checking out. It ended up selling the third most paperback copies and it's doing really well so far this year as well.



Ebook Sales: 18
Audio Book Sales: 19
Paperback Sales: 7
Current Price: $0.99
Books Sold 2015: 43
Total Sold: 159




These seven short stories from my days as a computer tech were written for an eight hour writing challenge. The collection also ended up selling the most copies of any of my books in 2014, due in large part to its audio book sales. It ended up selling the most audio books in 2015 as well, but that wasn't a whole lot. I didn't release any new audio books in 2015. With the change in the contract terms ACX threw at authors and narrators, it just isn't worth the time to do royalty splits anymore and I don't have the money to front any new ones. All that being said, Horror Stories still came in at fifth place and sold a respectable amount. The cover was created by me with a pencil, paper, scanner, and MS Paint (because I only had eight hours to finish the whole thing). It's a terrible cover. I'm not sure why it keeps selling, but the fact that it does still amuses me.



Ebook Sales: 21
Audio Book Sales: N/A
Paperback Sales: 20
Current Price: $3.99
Books Sold 2015: 41
Total Sold: 103




Traveling the U.S.: East Coast History is the longest in my World Travels series and it has the most pictures. It came in second place overall in 2014 and just sold its 100th copy not too long ago. It also came in second this year for most paperbacks sold (and it made me the most money of any paperback). It covers a lot of cool stuff, including the Capitol, the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the White House, Arlington National Cemetery, Mount Vernon, Monitcello, Jamestown (with excavation photos), Gettysburg, Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, the 9/11 Memorial, and more. It was one of the coolest vacations ever and I loved putting the book together when we got back.



Ebook Sales: 21
Audio Book Sales: 3
Paperback Sales: 4
Current Price: $2.99
Books Sold 2015: 28
Total Sold: 68




Gateway to the Vikings sold 20 copies a year for the first two years it was available. This year, I removed it from being an Amazon exclusive and sold some copies at Barnes and Noble and Apple, bringing it up to 28 copies sold this year. I researched L'Anse aux Meadows, the North American Viking settlement, for a Scandinavian history class when I was still getting my undergraduate degree in history. We're planning on actually visiting there this year and a travel photo book will likely follow shortly afterwards.



Ebook Sales: 15
Audio Book Sales: 7
Paperback Sales: 4
Current Price: $2.99
Books Sold 2015: 26
Total Sold: 237




My article on Constantine will always be awesome, even as it fades in sales over time. It was my first book to sell 100 copies and my first book to sell 200 copies. It also was my best selling book in 2012 and 2013. It's a modified version of my senior thesis that I wrote for my history degree. It goes into the empire Constantine established that balanced the rights of pagans and the emerging religion of Christianity. It also looks into trends after Constantine died. If they kept the empire tolerant, the empire prospered. If an emperor leaned to heavily towards favoring Christians (Theodosius) or pagans (Julian) then the empire erupted in civil war. It really is a great read for the price and will be an interesting article for anyone who enjoys looking into the Roman and Byzantine empires.



Ebook Sales: 12
Audio Book Sales: 2
Paperback Sales: 10
Current Price: $2.99
Books Sold 2015: 24
Total Sold: 129




I wrote Explanations and Advice for the Tech Illiterate in 2012 when computer clients asked about a book that would help them learn the basics and I didn't know of a good one. This short guide gives a basic understanding of home theater audio and video, audio and video cables, computer viruses, email security, encryption and passwords, backing up your data, and computer speed / startup items. It's also a member of the 100+ sales club. I wrote the final book in the Tech Illiterate series earlier this year and I love the reviews I get on all three of these books. I'm really glad they're helping people.



Ebook Sales: 8
Audio Book Sales: 9
Paperback Sales: 5
Current Price: $2.99
Books Sold 2015: 22
Total Sold: 136




Caribbean Piracy: Pirates and Privateers is another article I wrote during my undergrad days. It explores the government-like structure set up by the Caribbean pirates (and privateers) of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It goes really well with my travel photo book of the Caribbean. Like my article on Constantine, sales have fallen, but it's still a member of the 100+ copies sold club. I picked up the shark tooth knife and monkey mask on the cover in Hawaii. The dagger is a spear head dagger I had custom made the last time I was in the Philippines.



Ebook Sales: 14
Audio Book Sales: 3
Paperback Sales: 0
Current Price: $0.99
Books Sold 2015: 17
Total Sold: 30




Geek of Legend: The Goblin Anti-Virus is the second book in my Geek of Legend short story series. These short stories follow Robert as he fixes broken computers and technology in a world of dwarves, trolls, goblins, elves, and talking horses. In this story, Robert is sent in to kill a virus that the goblin anti-virus company created to drum up business for themselves. More geeky troll riddles. More fun with a mixture of tech from our world and creatures from another. My sister actually drew the goblin on the cover. I would love to write more of these, but they'll need to sell more copies before I can justify the time to do that. They're very funny and entertaining if you have a dollar to spare for a copy.



Ebook Sales: 13
Audio Book Sales: 3
Paperback Sales: 1
Current Price: $2.99
Books Sold 2015: 17
Total Sold: 57




This article actually tied The Goblin Anti-Virus for sales in 2015, so I just went alphabetically. This is another article from my history undergrad days. It follows the use of Archangels and other intercessory beings in the Book of Tobit, the story of Joseph and Aseneth, the Book of Daniel, the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, and the appearances of the Archangel Gabriel in the New Testament. It's not comprehensive coverage of the subject, but its still worth a read if you're interested in that kind of stuff.



Ebook Sales: 12
Audio Book Sales: N/A
Paperback Sales: 4
Current Price: $2.99
Books Sold 2015: 16
Total Sold: 75




I renamed Jehovah and Hades: Books 1-3 to go with Modern Day Jekyll & Hyde: Books 1-3, because that's less confusing. It follows the last known descendants of Dr. Jekyll from Stevenson's Jekyll & Hyde. This collection has three short stories I wrote in 2012 when I was just starting out as a self-published author. The cover is new; I had it made in 2015 to try to increase sales. It's slowly making its way to 100 sales. I would love for it to make it there this year.



Ebook Sales: 5
Audio Book Sales: 1
Paperback Sales: 6
Current Price: $2.99
Books Sold 2015: 12
Total Sold: 46




I wrote the second volume in my Tech Illiterate series in 2014 after some positive reviews on the first book in the series. This one covers what to look for when buying a new computer, things to remember when you upgrade your computer, operating systems, a general technology rule I call "the weakest link," wireless and networks, streaming and streaming devices, ultra HD and 4K TV, and internet browsers. It's roughly the same length as the first one. If the first one helped you, this one should, too.



Ebook Sales: 4
Audio Book Sales: 6
Paperback Sales: 1
Current Price: $2.99
Books Sold 2015: 11
Total Sold: 50




The Mormon Theocracy is a collection of two short articles I wrote while getting my history degree. One goes over the theocracy that existed in the early Utah territory that the Mormons created. The other article looks into the philosophies of Gregory Palamas of the Eastern Orthodox church. I actually made a mistake when I made this an Amazon exclusive, because it was selling pretty well at other ebook retailers. I should have left it alone. It is now available again at Barnes and Noble, Apple, and elsewhere, but it hasn't recovered.



Ebook Sales: 8
Audio Book Sales: N/A
Paperback Sales: 2
Current Price: $2.99
Books Sold 2015: 10
Total Sold: 26




Traveling the U.S.: Utah includes photos and brief histories from historical locations around Salt Lake City. I probably should have named it to reflect that, but I also got pictures from a railroad town called Echo and Park City. It's a fun read and has some beautiful pictures. It's worth checking out if you'd like to know a little more about the historical sites of Salt Lake.



Ebook Sales: 7
Audio Book Sales: N/A
Paperback Sales: 2
Current Price: $2.99
Books Sold 2015: 9
Total Sold: 37




Traveling Asia: The Philippines was the first travel photo book I wrote. This one is a little different than the others, because I lived in the Philippines for two years and speak fluent Tagalog. I included some of the local animals, historic sites, and some Tagalog words. It was fun to write and has some beautiful pictures of the Banaue rice terraces plus some helpful info if you ever plan on traveling to the Philippines.



Ebook Sales: 4
Audio Book Sales: N/A
Paperback Sales: 5
Current Price: $2.99
Books Sold 2015: 9
Total Sold: 25




Traveling the U.S.: San Diego is one of my most picture-heavy travel photo books. We visited the San Diego zoo, the San Diego Safari Park, Sea World, Cabrillo National Monument, Old Point Loma Lighthouse, and the USS Midway. There are a lot of great shots of animals from the zoo, safari park, and Sea World. This is the only book in my World Travel series that still doesn't have any reviews. I hope that changes this year.



Ebook Sales: 8
Audio Book Sales: N/A
Paperback Sales: 0
Current Price: $2.99
Books Sold 2015: 8
Total Sold: 8




Explanations and Advice for the Tech Illiterate Volume III is the last book in my Tech Illiterate series. I started it a while back and finished it up in 2015. At this point, I don't have the time to focus on keeping all of these evolving with the times, so I stuck to general themes that would be helpful to any beginner. Volume III goes a little more into dealing with current technology trends, but also has some more basics. It covers digital camera basics, surge protectors and clean power filters, wireless charging and solar power, smart watches, self-driving and electric cars, smart home and home automation, plus a few additional articles. If you have the first two, this is a must buy. I need to add links at the ends of the other two so people know this is available now. I haven't found time to do that yet.



Ebook Sales: 4
Free Copies: 115
Audio Book Sales: 2
Paperback Sales: 2
Current Price: Free
Books Sold 2015: 8
Total Sold: 44



Geek of Legend: The Elvish Screwdriver is the first in the short series under my pen name that I mentioned above. It was free for part of the year and $0.99 for part of the year. I've decided to just leave it as a freebie to get people reading the series. This one has the first three geeky riddles I thought up for short stories, so grab a free copy and see if you can solve them before Robert does.



Ebook Sales: 5
Audio Book Sales: N/A
Paperback Sales: 3
Current Price: $3.99
Books Sold 2015: 8
Total Sold: 30




This book in my World Travel series covers some great history from Tokyo, Taipei, and Hong Kong. Three large Asian cities in three different countries. I got photos and provided brief histories of the following sites:
Tokyo: Temple of the 47 Ronin, both Tokyo towers, a Shinto temple, a Buddhist temple, shots from around Tokyo
Hong Kong: the Men Mo temple, the fishing village, major corporate buildings, shots from around Hong Kong
Taipei: Taipei 101 (2nd tallest building in the world), shots of Taipei while at one of the Taipei night markets



Ebook Sales: 1
Free Copies: 732
Audio Book Sales: 5
Paperback Sales: N/A
Current Price: Free
Books Sold 2015: 6
Total Sold: 34



The Journals of Jacob and Hyde was my second self-published short story and the prequel to Jehovah and Hades. It has been a free ebook for most of the time since 2012. In that time, I've given away somewhere around 10,000 copies. It's also available as a really cool audio book with multiple narrators doing character voices. It's a good read and there's no reason not to grab a free copy.



Ebook Sales: 4
Audio Book Sales: 1
Paperback Sales: 0
Current Price: $1.99
Books Sold 2015: 5
Total Sold: 43




Jehovah and Hades was the first short story I self-published way back in early 2012. It follows a computer hacker and his brother, an assassin, as they take on a corrupt mayor over in the Philippines. It still sports the cover Doug Beckstead made for me. This is where it all started. I sold 4 copies at $0.99 the day this was published. That's when I decided that maybe I could get somewhere with e-books. Jehovah and Hades is around 4 years old now, but it's still a fun story. Check it out.



Ebook Sales: 3
Audio Book Sales: 1
Paperback Sales: N/A
Current Price: $1.99
Books Sold 2015: 4
Total Sold: 22




Jehovah and Hades: Federal case is an add-on short story that comes after Jehovah and Hades and is also included in the three book collection. It's a fun short story and I definitely recommend it if you enjoyed the first two stories.



Ebook Sales: 1
Audio Book Sales: N/A
Paperback Sales: N/A
Current Price: $9.99
Books Sold 2015: 1
Total Sold: 8




I'm still thinking about what to do with this collection. It has all of my history articles except for the two in The Mormon Theocracy. It needs a new cover. I've thought about making a paperback version and a hardcover version. Ultimately, it just falls really low on my to-do list and I've left it up because it sold a copy last year at $9.99. Maybe I'll do something with it in 2016. Maybe I'll continue to ignore it. Only time will tell. (Note: I gave this book a new cover and I'm going to run some ads on it. We'll see what happens.)



Ebook Sales: 0
Audio Book Sales: N/A
Paperback Sales: 0
Current Price: $2.99
Books Sold 2015: 0
Total Sold: 25




This just makes me sad. Traveling the U.S.: Hawaii sold 14 copies in 2014. It was my only book to not sell anything in 2015. No ebooks. No paperbacks. That's a wolphin on the cover. A whale-dolphin hybrid. Someone should have bought a copy simply because that's cool as hell that wolphins exist and I got a picture of one flipping out of the water. So here's my real goal for 2016. This book needs to sell a copy. At least one. I don't like any of my books going an entire year with no sales. Someone just go buy a copy now so this won't be a sad story again in 2016. It's got awesome pictures. Over 60 pictures of: Sea Life Park (Oahu), USS Arizona Memorial (Pearl Harbor), Hanauma Bay (Oahu), the Polynesian Cultural Center (Laie), and a nature hike (Oahu). So check it out. The wolphin on the cover is crying right now. He'll stop as soon as someone buys a copy. Shameless self-promotion. I know. Have a heart and help me out anyways. :-P (Note: As of 1/18/16, at least one person has purchased a paperback copy and an ebook copy of this book. The wolphin has stopped crying. Thank you to whoever I guilted into purchasing this. I promise it has cool pictures and interesting info.)


So there we go. Another year completed and another year of sales trending up overall. I didn't include sales from any anthologies or collections that I contributed a story to, because I don't have those numbers.Here's the total breakdown of the past four years:

2012 Books Sold: 157 (156 ebooks, 1 paperback)
2013 Books Sold: 372 (222 ebooks, 139 audio books, 11 paperbacks)
2014 Books Sold: 636 (404 ebooks, 160 audio books, 72 paperbacks)
2015 Books Sold: 998 (805 ebooks, 70 audio books, 123 paperbacks)

That puts me at 2,163 books sold since I started in 2012. I still think that's ridiculously cool. 41 of my ebook sales came from non-Amazon retailers this year. My non-fiction stuff is now available at Barnes & Noble, Apple, Kobo, Scribd, and other places. I'm planning on keeping them out of Kindle Unlimited, because the payout is way too low for non-fiction. I'm also planning on releasing at least the following in 2016:

- Major Demons
- A travel photo book of Boston and L'Anse aux Meadows

I might throw in a Geek of Legend short story if those start selling a few more copies. Major Demons is currently at 46,500 words and it will end at around 70,000 words. I hope to write some more in March when I have a week off from law school and then take it up again over the summer. For all the readers who are patiently waiting, thank you for being patient. You can help me out a ton by leaving reviews on anything of mine that you've read. The more books I sell, the more time I dedicate to writing when I have free time. Reviews help me sell more books. My goal for 2016 is 1,250 books sold. I can pull that off if Major Demons takes off running right out of the gate. I hope it will. If it follows the trend set by Middle Demons, I should have no problem. Thanks for reading and good luck to everyone in 2016!

You can see my book sales breakdown for 2014 here and the breakdown for 2013 here.