How many books I sold in one year
A year ago, I published Missionary Position: A Slightly Irreverent Guide to Sex After Purity Culture.
Since then I sometimes get asked how it's going. And because social media tends to show us only the biggest wins, I thought I'd answer honestly.
First you should know this: My goal with this manuscript was never to make a bunch of money.
I wrote most of this book in 2019 with the hopes of getting traditionally published and even then, my goal was always to add to the growing body of work helping people heal from purity culture and build healthier, more joyful relationships with sexuality.
Basically, I wanted an accessible way for people to do the work of purity culture deconstruction.
And after years of failing to get picked up by a traditional publisher, I self published. I believed I could still reach my goal with this alternative way of distribution.
Full transparency: I invested $12,500 into this project. That covered developmental editing, copy editing, line editing, sensitivity reading, fact-checking, graphic design, layout design, formatting, book cover art design, and help navigating the publishing process to KDP.
With the exception of throwing myself a launch party (highly recommend), I spent $0 on marketing.
Every book sale came from word of mouth, social media, podcast appearances, speaking events, book clubs, and all of you sharing the book with your communities. I am forever and ever in awe and grateful!
So here are the numbers after one year:
• 1,422 books sold (paperback, ebook, and audiobook combined)
• $6,607.94 earned in royalties
So financially, I'm still about $5,900 away from breaking even.
And honestly? I'm delighted.
Because while this book hasn't been a financial victory it has absolutely been a success story.
More than 1,400 people have chosen to spend their time with these ideas. They've highlighted pages, shared copies with friends, discussed it in book clubs, and hopefully felt a little less alone in the process.
For context, most self-published books sell fewer than 200 copies over their lifetime. So while Missionary Position won't be funding my retirement, it has reached far more readers than I ever imagined.
I think we need more conversations like this.
Not every meaningful project becomes wildly profitable. Not every worthwhile endeavor scales. Sometimes we create things simply because they matter. Sometimes success looks like making a small contribution to a much larger conversation.
And that's exactly what I hoped this book would do.
Thank you for buying it, sharing it, reviewing it, recommending it, and trusting me with the vulnerability of reading tough subjects. This project exists because of your support.
You, my friends, have made my biggest, hairiest, and most audacious dream come true.
A year later I still leave you with gratitude and awe,
P.S. If your book club, small group, women's group, therapist consultation group, college class, or friend group is reading Missionary Position, I'd love to join you for a Zoom discussion! Just reply to this email and tell me about your group. If schedules align, I'll happily join the conversation! It's my favorite thing.
Celeste Holbrook 3000 S Hulen Street Suite 124-731
Fort Worth, TX 76109, USA
You can Unsubscribe or Manage Preferences all you want, but you’ll always be in our heart.