Here I am at the edge

 Over 1,000 copies sold. The headline does not lie, but the truth lies beyond that catchpenny phrase. A catchpenny phrase is the same as a headline grabber. My  Forgestriker  series has sold more than 1,000 e-books, but when you look at the sales figures, you see why I cannot accept the bestseller title . Those sales have come over more than a decade; while that might appear promising, the truth is that I sold, on average, two copies in the series a week over the 12 years the series has been on sale. How can I claim to be a best-selling writer when I earn less than $1 a week from  writing ?

  Forgestriker was not the opening To most people my first science fiction project is the best selling Forgestriker series, but this is not so as years before that I began an online serial called The Word which is inspired by Ray Bradbury 's short story Fahrenheit 451 .  After several weeks and 15 chapters, (about 90 pages), I stopped writing this serial that is why it is forgotten. Why did I stop writing in mid-story? The answer is easy to understand - I was writing as many pages at the time as the story was attracting readers, so I saw no point continuing a story nobody was interested in reading.  At the time of ending, I had developed several possible off-shoot story lines if the serial brought in sales, but as the readers are not interested they too were shelved.

Dolor y Gloria Pain and Glory is the title of a film by Pedro Almodovar . The film is about a film producer who is looking back at the sadness and glories he has had over the years, something I can relate to with ease. Pain A decade struggling to get a publisher interested in my work, while I watched writers who my friends considered lesser talented than I prosper for want of two things, They live in the USA and have money to spare for publicity . Wasting money, I couldn't spare in buying a book cover for a romance novel  that never sold. Finding out the only publishers interested in me are scam sites where I'd have to pay for publication. Glory My one blinding success story in my decade of struggle is the science-fiction series Forgestriker which has sold over 850 e-books in five years.

Fighting your demons. He sat staring at the blank screen, the only thought going through the writer's mind. It was Neitchze who said:  "if you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back at you." You are not kidding! He'd spent days gazing idly at the blank screen, once he'd had dreams of writing about the worlds he's created, now all he could think was  "Is it worthwhile?" The more he thought about what he could be writing, the harder the task became for him to write. He found his mind was locked in a downward spiral to oblivion; the venue he'd fought to avoid now loomed large in his sight.  For years, he'd tried to convince himself that what others had said about his writing was true. Was he truly a good writer, or were they just being kind to stop him from falling apart? No matter, it didn't help now, even if he was a good writer the drive had gone. Where once dwelled the flames of passion now had turned to an icy cold that no...

Forgestriker is still selling after more than four years. After more than four years, my Science Fiction series      https://hereiamattheedge.blogspot.com/2016/04/forgestriker-hit-series.html#.WxPI7UgvzIV   is still going well.

My Science Fiction bestselling series. My Science Fiction bestselling series can be read from this link   https://www.draft2digital.com/book/

In the sky with Forgestriker. My bestselling science fiction series is still flying high after four years on sale, something must be good with my writing   https://disqus.com/home/channel/indieworld/discussion/channel-indieworld/when_you_are_hot/ .

Fahrenheit 451 With the growing numbers f young people playing online and using apps on their phones I can see the time when books will be banned as they are in the film Fahrenheit 451 based n the novel by Ray Bradbury . All I hope is I am not around to see the death of literature as we knew it; or perhaps it has happened already. In this world it is hard for an author, such as me, to make a living, the main ingredient needed is not talent or imagination but money.  Several years ago, I wrote an online serial based on the death of books in a world of electronic games, even though the science fiction  serial was free, it had few readers and I stopped writing it after two months.

My e-book market I have been asked many times what made me write in the style of an American? The primary factor is that approximately 95% of my e-book sales      https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B007U50BOI   and  https://www.draft2digital.com/book/62636   are in the  USA . The two highest compliments I have been given are I think like a Jew,     https://hereiamattheedgeblogspotcouk.wordpress.com/2017/11/22/compliments-come-in-many-forms/   and write like an American    https://hereiamattheedgeblogspotcouk.wordpress.com/2017/11/29/more-compliments/ .

Is there a way back from the edge? I often think I am like the character Carl Kolchak,   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kolchak:_The_Night_Stalker , as the majority of my writing is never seen. ​ In the words of  Hunter S. Thompson , I am a vagrant journalist  https://hereiamattheedge.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/i-am-vagrant-journalist.html#.WYHUG4grLIU . After being a semi-successful writer of  #scifi   hereiamattheedge.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/without-forgestriker.html#.WYHY24grLIU , I have dropped to being a  blogger  like many thousands of teens who blog about pop music – how the mighty have fallen.

WHY? Why did I return to #writing ? My writing was never about the money to me, after all beyond my #scifi  series Forgestriker  nothing has sold. To me, a sale is a sign of appreciation for the time invested, I only make $0.60 cents per #ebook .  The main reason I returned is that I needed a release for the build up of stress in my life over the last two months, it isn't only the fire that created the tension there are other issues involved.

The Mormons are welcome to my wages as a bestseller writer On the bus yesterday were two Mormon young ladies, I had to smile to myself as years ago I was asked if I'd donate 1/3 of my wages to the church.  I thought, "You're welcome to all my earnings as a writer , but you get far on $1 a week."

The success of Forgestriker It is hard for me to accept but with over 800 e-books sold, I need to think of myself as a BestSeller in the world of ScienceFiction .  I have fought the title because I don't make a lot of money from my  e-book sales   but with the Forgestriker series selling over 800 e-books, I was told by friends and colleagues to consider myself a bestseller.

What the buyer doesn't take into consideration I've said at each turn, that being an Indie writer I need to weigh outgoings against the possible income - that's why until last week I'd never bought a cover. My  luxury  item   I knew in my heart when I bought this cover that it would not pay for itself, but I wanted a nice cover in my stock.  You'd think with eleven sales platforms on  Draft2Digital   www.draft2digital.com/book/235628 , the various aspects of  Smashwords   www.smashwords.com/books/view/719595   and the mighty site at  Amazon   www.amazon.com/dp/B071CSVHFD   that selling a measly ten copies would be easy, but no book outside the  Forgestriker  series has sold even five copies in over a decade on Draft2Digital. Another aspect of my costs is that I sent hard copies, printed, of The Chronicles of Mark Johnson t o three sites in the USA.

July 2016 July last year was the last time I sold ten e-books in a month.   I will never know who my buyers are, all I can say is thank you from the bottom of my heart.    After the last few months, when things looked at their bleakest, I gave up hope of seeing the days of a ten sale month, but YOU did it!     Already this month, you have bought ten of my  e-books  and I can't thank you too much.

It isn't always about the amount of sales Zombiewatch Sometimes, it is what sells that matters, not the amount of e-books you sell.  That has been the drawback for me, while Forgestriker   http://alsdomain.weebly.com/forgestriker---the-hit-series.html   has thrived, my other stories have died, until this week when two stories other than the series sold.

As it won't happen Now appears to be the opportune moment to tell you, I was considering entering a prestigious science fiction writing section that paid for stories. I could have sent in my award winner for a lower rate. I decided not to post anything in; I don't have any confidence in my ability to entertain the readers these days.

. It's gone This month is the 8th anniversary of the final book launch in my bestselling scifi series of ebooks . They kept selling , in small ammounts all this ti me; in other concepts it is about 6 years since I stopped writing any type of ebook as none sold.

Don't ask me why the series became a bestseller. I have no idea. I'm amazed as anyone, at the continued sales for my #scifi   series. To date (21/10/19), the series has sold over 850  ebooks . All on Barnes & Noble . I did consider writing further stories of the exploits of the men, soon to be women, of the 7th but sales for the series, in general, have been weak with Forgestriker  selling 350 copies.   Book 7 ( Caldera Awakens)

New Scifi coming this year Walking with the ghosts This extract is from a new story I have started.  Walking with the ghosts      Dave Cooper, ex-guardsman, walked through the empty hulk of the hunter/destroyer "Empires' Wraith," and thought. Is it true, can a ship impose its personality on the crew? A few months ago, if you'd asked me, I would have said no. But, after only a few days on here, things happened which made me think. Did she want us dead?      Dave grew up in the days after the fall of the Baalite Empire. For the people on Baal life had become intolerable; they had become refugees on their planet. It wasn't only the victorious Commonwealth of Frieland troops who imprisoned the people; the earth itself appeared to have risen against them. There were numerous reports of volcanic activity – unheard of in recent times – and the Ferrnix at the core of the planet had become destabilised and started to fill the air with poisonous ga...