#Follow @hobbinb — A truly all-star Self-Published #author. #FF

Featured Follower: Rob Blackwell

Bec read and reviewed his book, A Soul to Steal, giving it 5 stars. I trust Bec's opinion; after all, she reads more than I do, but when I heard how many books Rob has sold, I was flabbergasted. Despite everyone saying that finding an all-star self-published/Indie author is like finding a needle in a haystack (sorry for the cliche), I can safely say we have done it in short order.

I was glad Rob provided the following information in an email. I share part of it with you now.

Breaking the 1000 Book Barrier

I have a hard time defining “success,” especially when it comes to my first novel.

A lot of people asked me when I first published the book four months ago, “How many books do you want to sell?” The question was funny because the answer seemed so obvious, “As many as humanly possible.” But I felt like I had to give some answer, so I came up with 1000.

I did this in as scientific a way as possible—I picked a number out of thin air.

I knew that 1000 books wouldn’t make me a New York Times bestseller or let me quit my day job. It’s certainly not enough to make me the next Amanda Hocking, who probably sold 1000 books while you were reading this sentence.

But it’s a substantial number. It means that you are no longer just selling your book to friends and family. The average self-published novel sells less than 100 copies. At 1000, you have beaten the average by a factor of 10.

Still, it’s not so high it’s impossible to reach. If I had set my sights on 10,000 books, I would probably have despaired of ever reaching it. I’ve seen several indie authors reach 1000 books, many faster than me. So I knew this was a realistic goal.

Rob shared more than just that. He also told me HOW he did it. I'll save that for another day. Stay tuned.

A Sampling of His Website

The Best of What's to Come: A Time Traveler's View of 2012

I know—you are still busy reading about the best of 2011. But due to an unexplained rip in the space-time continuum, I was able to jump ahead in time one year and find out what the best of the new year is going to bring us. And folks, hold on to your hats. Because 2012 is going to be awesome!

To read more of this post, click here.