Sales, Pods and Audiobooks: 14 Months On, How’s That UK Financial Independence Book Doing?

On 21 August 2018 I published the first book to translate the US financial independence movement to a UK context.

(It’s not just about that, it’s also a one-year transformational change programme for midlife careerists stuck in a rut.)

Well, I am here to report that it’s not died on its ass (what a quintessentially British measure of success, David).

That was clear from my six-month update post earlier this year.

But has it kicked on since March 2019? And what’s happened over the last eight months?

With a little bit of kicking from me, and a helluva lot of support from people who’ve bought my book, the answer is yes.

Scores on the Doors

#1 7,172 sales across all formats since publication.

#2 Appeared on a plethora of podcasts over the past eight months, including ChooseFI, Meaningful Money, Maven Money and Informed Choice.

#3 Produced an audiobook (more on that in future posts).

#4 Delivered a talk at Adobe with one to come in January to a large Scottish Government quango.

#5 Amazon customer reviews now number 135, with a 4.7-median star rating.

#6 Averaged 1x RESET 1-2-1 coaching session per month.

#7 Received 1000+ messages from readers since launch telling me what changes they have made to their lives after reading RESET.

#8 And one other notable thing (more on that in future posts).

Thoughts

I’m not sure whether the book has found its audience or I’ve pushed it there. Certainly, it’s those interested in financial independence that have been drawn to it most, albeit it’s also responsible for introducing thousands of people to the community/movement, which is kinda heartening. Because FIRE can change lives.

I went to my first FIRE meet-up in Edinburgh six weeks back with Barney, The Escape Artist. That was fun. I also met The Mad Fientist. They are both nice blokes.

ChooseFI co-host Brad Barrett said this after reading the book:

“I don’t say this lightly: this is one of my top, if not my very top, financial independence books that I’ve ever read. I absolutely loved it. I feel like it’s the book if I had the guts to write my own book, that I would have written this.”

It’s important to keep a praise file when you write a bestselling book. Ninety-nine per cent of the feedback is positive but the negative reviews don’t get any easier. Albeit one particularly stinking review led to an amusing denouement when an American visiting the UK for a six-week period snapped up a copy of RESET from a charity shop for a pound, after a disgruntled Amazon reviewer indicated his intention to deposit my book at the nearest Oxfam at his earliest opportunity. She loved it, his loss being her gain.

There’ve been a few Facebook posts about RESET on various UK FI forums over the past two weeks that have blown me away. One, by a guy who’s read RESET a couple of times, has received 115 comments in three days. I’ve been lurking, not wanting to put people off commenting by giving my opinion, but it’s humbling to see people discussing important decisions – in this case investment portfolio make-up – using my book as a conversation-starter.

Last, I want to say thank you to everyone who’s read RESET, which if you count the page reads from Kindle Unlimited and the Kindle Owners Library, now runs into the tens of thousands. Any questions, I’m only an email or LinkedIn message away.

N.B.

Just to let you know, the Kindle version of RESET’s been selected for a Kindle Monthly Deal during November. That means you can grab it now for just £0.99.

And the great thing about that is because of the way Amazon works, if you buy the Kindle version of a book you can buy the audiobook version for a significantly reduced price. (That also applies if you bought the Kindle version last year.)

In RESET’s case that’s a mouth-watering (have you heard my dulcet tones:O) £3.49, compared to a full price of £22.89!

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