I had to answer various questions and my answers may give you a bit of an insight into me as a person, rather than just an author and researcher.

You can read the interview at Warwick University Alumnus of the Month

The post Warwick University Alumnus of the Month March 2013 – Claire Ridgway appeared first on Claire Ridgway.

You can find out more about the book on the Books page or at Amazon.

The post On This Day in Tudor History – An Instant Best-seller appeared first on Claire Ridgway.

It’s a whopping 648 pages and is only $2.99 for the Kindle. Here are the links:

• Amazon.com
• Amazon UK
• Amazon Spain
• Amazon France
• Amazon Germany
• Amazon Italy
• Amazon Japan

The Blurb

On This Day in Tudor History gives a day-by-day look at events from the Tudor era, including births, deaths, baptisms, marriages, battles, arrests, executions and more.

This must-have book for Tudor history lovers is perfect for:

• Dipping into daily over your morning coffee
• Using in the classroom
• Trivia nights and quizzes
• Finding out what happened on your birthday or special day
• Wowing friends and family with your Tudor history knowledge
• Researching the Tudor period

Written by best-selling Tudor history author Claire Ridgway, On This Day in Tudor History contains a wealth of information about your favourite Tudor monarchs, their subjects and the times they lived in.
Did you know: On 17th January 1569 Agnes Bowker gave birth to a cat?

Book Extras

There is a book website which is still under construction – see www.onthisdayintudorhistory.com – and we hope to have the On This Day in Tudor History iPhone/iPad and Android app out in time for Christmas – exciting!

I’m more than happy to ‘virtually’ sign and add a message to your Kindle copy. You can request this through http://www.authorgraph.com/

I will post again as soon as the paperback version is available.

Reviews and Likes

Once you’ve read On This Day in Tudor History it would be wonderful if you could spare a moment and leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads. Reviews are so important to authors and they help readers make decisions when browsing.

You can also help by clicking “like” on the book’s Amazon page. Thank you so much!

The post Claire Ridgway’s On This Day in Tudor History Kindle Version Available NOW appeared first on Claire Ridgway.

• 9th September – We are being featured at Peace from Pieces
  (Book Feature)
• 10th September – Catch us at Mommy Adventures
  (Author Interview & Book Review)
• 11th September – We are having a Twitter View with Pandora Poikilos
• 12th September – We are being featured at Books Are Magic
  (Guest Post & Giveaway)
• 13th September – We are guest posting at Writer of Fiction
  (Guest Post)
• 14th September – We are being featured at The Bunny’s Review
  (Author Interview, Guest Post & Book Feature)
• 15th September – We are having a Twitter Blast with Pandora Poikilos

Interviews with Indie Authors: Top Tips from Successful Self-Published Authors is available now at Amazon at $2.99 for the Kindle version and $11.50 for the paperback. It is also available from the other Amazon sites and Barnes and Noble.

The post Book Tour for Interviews with Indie Authors 9-15th September appeared first on Claire Ridgway.

You can imagine how ecstatic I was when I looked at my sales figures on 27th August 2012 and found that I had surpassed 25,000 sales (not including free downloads or borrows).

Here is the breakdown:

• The Anne Boleyn Collection (February 2012) –  12,166
• The Fall of Anne Boleyn: A Countdown (April 2012) – 12,747
• Interviews with Indie Authors: Top Tips from Successful Self-Published Authors (31 July 2012 – a collaborative book)  - 157

My two Anne Boleyn books have also been number one best-sellers in their genre.

As I’ve said before, my figures just don’t compare to the likes of John Locke, Amanda Hocking, Tracey Garvis Graves, CJ Lyons and Bella Andre, but I am thrilled to bits and I have far exceeded my goal. My next goal is a total of 40,000 by 31st December 2012.

I really hope that these figures inspire and motivate other authors. The last six months have been hard work, and I am definitely suffering from a lack of sleep, but it’s all been worth it. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, self-publishing is not a get-rich-quick scheme, it takes commitment, hard work, respect for your readers and integrity. It also has to be treated like a business. Do due diligence and read up about it, and always be willing to learn from those who have gone before.

I’d just like to take this opportunity to thank those who follow The Anne Boleyn Files site and who encouraged me to publish my work. I never could have sold these books without the ongoing support and encouragement of those people, plus my readers and my family – a big thank you!

The post 25,000 Books Sold in Just Over 6 Months! appeared first on Claire Ridgway.

First, let me tell you a little about myself and my book projects…

I’m a non-fiction writer and my two books, published in February and April 2012, are both about Queen Anne Boleyn. I’m writing, therefore, for a very niche market. I’m also not an academic historian, I’m a researcher and blogger. I’m unique in the history world in my style of writing, I believe, because I present real history, based on the primary sources, but in a conversational style; that means I’m writing for a niche within a niche. I’m not writing for the masses, my target market is actually quite small when compared, for example, to thriller authors or romance authors.

I didn’t even bother taking my two book projects to a publisher because I knew that they would be deemed as “not commercially viable”, I just decided on self-publishing. Small niche, unknown author, not an academic historian… It was all bad news, but the good news was that I had been blogging for three years and my website had become known in the online Tudor history world. I therefore had a platform, a following who should, hopefully, be interested in my published work. It was all a complete unknown, though, and I had no clue how my first book would be received, particularly as it was a collection of blog articles (re-worked and with some new material added).

I decided to aim for sales of 100 per month and 1000 for my first year. I felt that these targets were realistic and do-able.

I’m now going to share my progress. Here are my monthly sales figures rounded to the nearest hundred and not including borrows or free downloads, just hard sales.

February

The Anne Boleyn Collection went live for sale as a Kindle edition on 17th February and as a paperback a few days later.
Number of titles: 1
Price: $2.99 Kindle, $12.99 paperback
Sales: 600

March

Number of titles: 1
Price: $2.99 Kindle, $12.99 paperback
Sales: 2400

April

My second book, The Fall of Anne Boleyn: A Countdown, went live for sale on Amazon on 27th April 2012 so was only for sale for 4 days of this month.
Number of titles: 2
Price: Both $2.99 Kindle, $12.99 and $11.99 paperback
Sales: 1400

May

Number of titles: 2
Price: Both $2.99 Kindle, $12.99 and $11.99 paperback
Sales: 4500

June

Number of titles: 2
Price: Both $2.99 Kindle, $12.99 and $11.99 paperback
Sales: 4000

July

On 27th July my third title, Interviews with Indie Authors: Top Tips from Successful Self-Published Authors, went live on Amazon, but Tim and I didn’t launch it until 31st July.
Number of titles: 3
Price: All $2.99 Kindle, one at $12.99, one at $11.99 and the other at $10.07 paperback – The Fall of Anne Boleyn was reduced to $10.07 from $11.99 by Amazon due to price matching.
Sales: 2900

Sales up to 16th August 2012

Number of titles: 3
Price: 2 at $2.99 and one reduced to $0.99 as a special Amazon Kindle promotion. Paperback – one at $12.99, one at $11.99 and the other at $10.07.
Sales: 1st August to 16th August: 5100

6 Months Grand Total

20,900 sales, not including free downloads or borrows.
My Anne Boleyn books have also been No. 1 best-sellers in their genre.

My Thoughts

Well, I know that I don’t compare to the likes of Bella Andre and CJ Lyons who are selling over a hundred thousand books per month, but am I happy with 20,900? Of course I am. My target was 1000 in my first year and I’ve sold nearly 21,000 in six months, so I am ecstatic! Over the moon! Bouncing off the wall and ceiling!

But it’s not just about sales, I’m also loving hearing from readers on a daily basis. It makes my day to receive an email from someone thanking me for my work. It’s an amazing feeling to know that your book is out there and being enjoyed.

What’s My Secret?

I don’t have a secret, a magic recipe or a quick fix to share with you, but here is what I did:

• I blogged regularly – Over the past three years, I have blogged at least three times a week on my Tudor history blog, www.theanneboleynfiles.com. The accidental outcome of this was that I built a platform, a following who enjoyed my writing.
• I built a list – I offered freebies to people who subscribed to my website and so had a list of emails to send news of my books to.
• I used social media to share my blog posts, to communicate with people and to spread news – Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Goodreads etc.
• I wrote quality books – I wrote the books I knew that my followers would want to read and I got them professionally copy-edited and hired a graphic artist for the covers.
• I made my books available on Amazon – Amazon is the giant in the book retail world so I listed my books on Amazon. I actually published them via CreateSpace and Amazon KDP.
• I marketed my books – I blogged about them, shared release information via social media, added them to book sites such as Goodreads, LibraryThing etc., I made use of KDP select to run free promotions, I did competitions and giveaways, I did virtual book tours on Tudor history blogs… You name it!
• I communicated with my readers and potential readers – I answered emails from readers, I replied to comments on my blog, I replied to tweets and posts etc. I engaged with my readers.
• I built relationships with other bloggers and authors in the Tudor history world – By the time I released my first book, I had lots of friends and contacts who were more than happy to spread the news about my book.
• I kept writing and publishing!
• I kept my integrity – I didn’t spam people and I didn’t leave fake reviews on my books. I believe that we reap what we sow.
• I treated my writing and publishing as a business – I re-invested some of the royalties I earned in my business by spending money on advertising on book sites.
• I learned from other authors and read books on self-publishing, writing and marketing.
• I gave – I gave free information, I did free promos, I did giveaways and I was giving of my time and information. I love answering people’s questions and giving people advice.
• Pricing – I chose to price my books low to give readers a great deal and also to encourage people to take a chance on me. My books took a few years of research, a lot of hard work and I also spent money on the cover designs and editing, but an author cannot expect readers to shoulder this cost.

In short, I worked hard.

There is no short-cut to success and self-publishing is certainly not a “get rich quick” scheme, but you can succeed if you are willing to work hard, learn from your mistakes, learn from others and help others. It’s a steep learning curve and I learn something new every day. I don’t know what’s round the corner for me, but the last six months have been amazing and I am continuing to work hard on my writing. If I can make a success of this, then you can, and I hope that my experience and the figures I have shared here will motivate and inspire you.

You can find out more about me and my books on my Amazon Author page – Claire Ridgway Author – and please do check out my other blog posts here.

The post 6 Months of Self-Publishing – My Progress appeared first on Claire Ridgway.

Let me share with you the story behind this book…

Tim and I were inspired by my journey into self-publishing in February 2012. I found lots of books to help me with the technicalities of self-publishing, but what inspired me and helped make my own books successful was reading the stories of authors who’d been there and done it, and done it successfully. I wanted to learn from the masters and find out what tools and techniques they used to ensure success. I knew it wasn’t down to luck, but hard work, and I wanted to get it right. As my own books hit the bestseller lists, I began to be asked how I’d done it and what advice I could share. That’s when the idea for Interviews with Indie Authors hit me. I knew that different authors had very different stories and strategies, so why not collect them all together and publish them to help newbie authors? The book was born.

It’s a wonderful book because the authors concerned have been so giving. Their stories are truly inspiring and their advice is sure to help other authors navigate their way through the minefields of self-publishing, marketing and promotion.

You can find out more about the book over at the book website – InterviewswithIndieAuthors.com or click hereto go directly to Amazon.com.

Book Blurb

Learn how to succeed in indie publishing.

With interviews from 34 of the hottest names in self-publishing, “Interviews with Indie Authors” contains a unique view into the world of the indie writer. Each bestselling self-published author shares how they ensure their books are a hit, and what led them to indie publishing in the first place. You will also find out what they think the future of self-publishing will bring. Their first hand experience is invaluable for anyone planning to succeed with their own books.

Whatever your background, you will learn from these incredible interviews.

With diverse genres such as thrillers, young adult fiction, the paranormal, romance, comedy, fantasy, horror, science fiction, mystery and even non-fiction, whatever you are writing about, this book has it covered.

Contains interviews with indie authors such as: Michael McCloskey, Nick Russell, Connie Suttle, Michael Prescott, Terri Reid, Hugh Howey, Scott Nicholson, Kristen Ashley, Aaron Patterson, Carol Davis Luce, Claire Ridgway, Alexa Grace, Marie Force, Shadonna Richards, Colleen Hoover, Barbara Freethy, Joseph Lallo, Rebecca Forster, Caryn Moya Block, Denise Grover Swank, Mainak Dhar, Imogen Rose, CJ Lyons, Bella Andre, Maria Murnane, Theresa Ragan, Russell Blake, Linda Welch, Debra Holland, J. Thorn, James Somers, Karen Cantwell, Tracey Garvis Graves and Elena Greene.

50% of the royalties from “Interviews with Indie Authors” will be given to charity. The money will be split between two charities – ROPE (Relief for Oppressed People Everywhere) and Goal for the Gambia.

The post My New Book – Interviews with Indie Authors: Top Tips from Successful Self-Published Authors appeared first on Claire Ridgway.

Here are clips from my interview when I was asked about how The Anne Boleyn Files started and also whether I saw The Anne Boleyn Files site as a ‘fan club’.

and

The post Documentary Interview – The Boleyn Project appeared first on Claire Ridgway.

The list is based on the previous months’ book sales, so a big thank you to those who have bought copies of  The Anne Boleyn Collection and The Fall of Anne Boleyn: A Countdown and who have spread the word – thank you!

I have been blown away by the support I have received and please know that I am eternally grateful. I feel truly blessed to be able to research the Boleyns and Tudor history on a full-time basis.

You can see the Top 100 list at Top 100 Indie Authors for July 2012. I’m at 77!

The post In the Top 100 Indie Authors Again! appeared first on Claire Ridgway.

Mock-up of cover

When I started my journey into self-publishing in January 2012, I wanted to know:

1. How to do it – Print on Demand versus packages from companies like AuthorHouse, how to format and sell e-books, how to get a cover designed, how to get an ISBN, tax implications etc. etc.
2. Other authors’ experiences of self-publishing and whether it actually worked.

Number 1 was easy. I found some excellent resources, online and in book form, on how to actually self-publish a paperback and e-book, but number 2 was harder as I actually had to find authors who’d done it and who had blogged or written about it. I wanted to know their real stories, why they’d done what they did, how they’d done it and how successful they’d been. It is inspiring to read accounts of self-publishing success and to learn from others who’ve been there, done it and are happy to wear the t-shirt! I’m always being asked how I did it and how I managed to sell my two books so successfully, so people want to know.

“Times are a changin”, as the song says, and more and more people are considering self-publishing, so Tim and I decided to interview some of the top indie authors – authors we admired and who had inspired us – and share their stories in a book, Interviews with Indie Authors – see the Interviews with Indie Authors website. These authors have been incredibly giving, both of their time and their experiences, and I’d like to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to them. Their stories will inspire and their tips will help other authors find success. The book will be released at the end of July 2012.

50% of the royalties from Interviews with Indie Authors will be given to charity. The money will be split between two charities – ROPE (Relief for Oppressed People Everywhere) and Goal for the Gambia. See the Charity Page for more details.

Interviews with Indie Authors: Top Tips from Successful Self-published Authors is due out the end of July 2012.

The post Interviews with Indie Authors Coming Soon! appeared first on Claire Ridgway.