September 22, 2026, marks five years since I launched my first book, Suit to Saddle: Cycling to Self-Discovery on the Southern Tier.
A year later, Forty to Finish: Cycling to Victory on the TransAmerica Bicycle Trail followed.
Five years seems like a pretty good time to look under the hood.
My professional career has focused on sales, marketing and business development. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about how to take something to market: establish priorities, allocate resources, execute a plan and see what happens.
I’ve approached publishing much the same way I approached my professional career and my bicycle race across America.
When I set out to race across the country, I knew what I wanted to accomplish. The objective was clear and never changed.
Start at the starting line. Finish at the finish line.
I had a strategy. I also had a daily riding plan mapped out in advance.
Weather. Terrain. Fatigue. Road conditions. Nutrition. And the 4-H’s—Hills, Humidity, Heat and Headwinds (and a sore butt)—were all contributing factors to the daily adjustments.
The goal didn’t change. The strategy didn’t fundamentally change. But the tactics did.
I stayed true to my objective and finished the race 16 days faster than I had thought possible.
And even after finishing, I wondered if I could have done it faster.
Publishing a book was obviously different, but there was a surprising parallel.
I took a risk.
I was an amateur writer with a story I was passionate about telling. I thought, who wouldn’t want to read about a normal guy riding a bicycle 7,300 miles through 18 states and 528 small towns across the heartland?
I didn’t have a publishing background. What I did have was an understanding of business, marketing and sales—and a willingness to figure it out.
Fortunately, I found Bublish early in the process.
They helped guide me through editing the manuscript I had written over six months, from July 2019 through December 2019. Production, distribution and launching the book were also foreign to me, and I welcomed the help.
That allowed me to focus on what I wanted to do: tell the story and find readers who would enjoy it.
I developed a plan. Just like the bike race, the plan evolved.
I learned. I tried different things. I asked the Bublish team for feedback and I adjusted.
Five years later, I thought it was time to look at the results.
Early on, I was pleasantly surprised when Amazon listed both books as a #1 New Release in the Cycling Travel Guide category. Forty to Finish recently reached #4 in the Best Sellers ranking, while Suit to Saddle reached #16 at one point.
With thousands of books released worldwide each month, finding a spot on the ranking report was gratifying.
So, how many books does a first-time self-published author actually sell?
I’ve always been curious about that. Where do they sell? Paperback or eBook? What about international sales? And does an audiobook make a difference?
So here are my numbers.
Between Suit to Saddle and Forty to Finish, I’ve sold roughly 2,000 copies.
(A little secret: My folks ordered several dozen at launch to give to their friends.)
About 60% have been paperbacks and 40% eBooks, with a handful of hardcovers.
Approximately 96% of sales have been in the United States, with the rest spread across Great Britain, Europe, Canada and Australia.
The audiobook is just getting started. Forty to Finish was recently released in audio, and I’ve sold roughly 10 copies so far.
I’m also beginning to see some activity through library channels.
One of the many benefits of working with Bublish has been distribution. The books are available online, through bookstores, libraries, and both wholesale and retail channels—places I never would have had access to trying to manage everything myself. I’ve also attended several book festivals, setting up a display and selling books. The opportunity to have conversations with people about cycling, adventure and the stories behind the books has made those experiences worthwhile.
Bublish also provides a dashboard with real-time metrics. The Monday morning market-share check-in on the prior week’s sales feels familiar.
I spent much of my business career looking at dashboards and using data to figure out what was happening.
Now I get to do the same thing with my books.
Are 2,000 books a lot?
I have no idea.
I have no benchmark for what a self-published author with two adventure-travel books is supposed to sell over five years.
For me, though, it’s pretty satisfying to know that approximately 2,000 people have spent some of their time reading a story about one guy who decided to ride a bicycle across America—twice.
My Army buddy Carlos, pictured below, is one of them.
The books haven’t made me a lot of money.
And that’s OK.
The money is certainly nice, but it was never the primary reason I started. Referred to as passive income, it certainly does seem to pass me and miss my bank account on occasion.
I wanted to see if I could take a story, turn it into a book, get it into the marketplace and find people willing to read it.
Five years later, I look back and reflect on creating something I genuinely enjoyed.
I like keeping the stories alive, putting them in front of people who might enjoy them and occasionally hearing from someone who was inspired to take on an adventure of their own.
And that has led to some pretty unexpected opportunities.
One example was a video interview with a South African company focused on adventure and leadership.
That’s pretty cool.
In many ways, the books have blazed a trail of their own, connecting me with people I never would have encountered otherwise.
Tons of fun.
I’ve tried a number of different tactics and leaned into several different types of outreach generally considered good ways to stay in front of an audience.
But I also know myself.
If I don’t enjoy doing something, I’m probably not going to sustain it.
The things I’ve continued doing are the things I actually enjoy.
The newsletter has become one of them.
I enjoy creating America Up Close and using it as another way to highlight one of the 528 towns I rode through.
Blink and you miss the one intersection, stop sign, gas station or grocery store.
The newsletter addresses that.
I’ve enjoyed creating Book Bubbles; connecting an idea or contemporary story to an excerpt from one of my books.
I’ve enjoyed presenting to cycling groups, library audiences, retirement facilities and the occasional corporate or home gathering.
I especially enjoy the questions, and the looks I get when someone in the audience is clearly trying to process how someone like me actually did what I did.
Then there’s the most basic approach to creating awareness: Word of mouth.
Someone reads a book and recommends it. Someone hears me speak and tells a friend. Someone shares a story.
Those things feel natural to me.
I’m going to focus on the things that feel genuine: the newsletter, Book Bubbles, book festivals, presentations and sharing something on social media when I believe I have something worth sharing.
The five-year mark gives me a chance to step back and evaluate what has actually happened.
The books continue to sell, primarily in the United States and primarily in paperback and eBook formats.
The audiobook is a new experiment.
Library distribution is worth watching.
And the international market, while small, tells me the stories can find readers outside the United States.
When I launched Suit to Saddle on September 22, 2021, I had no idea what would happen.
I certainly didn’t have a five-year plan.
I had a story I wanted to tell.
That’s it.
Five years later, I have two books, roughly 2,000 sales, an audiobook that is just getting started, readers in the United States and several other countries, and a much better understanding of what happens when you put a book into the marketplace and pay attention to the results.
And just like the bike race, I find myself wondering:
Could I have gone faster?
Could I have sold more?
Probably.
Not the point, though.
The point is that I took the risk, established my own vision, developed a plan, executed it, adjusted along the way and learned something from the experience.
And I’ve learned something else:
The best marketing strategy is the one that fits who you are well enough that you’ll actually keep doing it.
Thanks to everyone who has bought a book, read a book, recommended a book or left a review.
Reviews are very helpful in increasing a book’s visibility and reaching new readers.
You’ve made the past five years pretty interesting and rewarding.
What comes next?
A college friend and I were recently talking about retirement. We’re both at the age when that next chapter is beginning to sit right in front of us.
And we found ourselves asking essentially the same question:
What will we do?
It’s an interesting question.
After spending decades working, building careers, raising families and filling our calendars, the idea of suddenly having nowhere to be sounds pretty appealing.
For about a week.
Then what?
Looking ahead, I’d like to get back to some of the 528 towns I rode through. I’m hoping to visit local bike shops, reconnect with some of the communities along the routes, and participate in book festivals along the way.
Five years ago, I was simply excited to hold the first paperback copy of my first book in my hands. I had no idea where that book, or the second one that followed, would take me. I’m still curious to find out.
I can’t wait to share more about what’s ahead…
Continue the journey and click links below to check out my books, read past newsletters and discover more about the hundreds of towns I encountered along the way.
Amazon- eBook & Paperback – Suit to Saddle & Forty to Finish
Spotify- Audiobook – Forty to Finish
America Up Close – Newsletter Archive
