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This is an interesting read: http://www.amazon.com/Vanity-Fairs-Book-Born-ebook/dp/B005LEWYYU I read the shorter version in this month's Vanity Fair but it provides a good overview of the traditional publishing company and how they find, buy and sell novels.
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Dec 17, 2011 19:25
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Roar posted:So, fun fact. Raising the price of one of my short stories from $.99 to $1.99 two days ago has had literally no effect on the sales - I'm still selling about 2-5 copies a day. Not best-seller list by any means, but doubling the royalty is a nice bonus. Gonna keep it at that price until Monday to see what happens. How long is your story?
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Dec 17, 2011 23:02
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I also just raised my prices. The effect has been an increase in sales. I'm gonna run a promo day sometime next month after the FREE rush runs out to see what happens. Man, I can't wait until January.
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Dec 17, 2011 23:08
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Metropolis posted:How long is your story? ~8000 words.
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Dec 17, 2011 23:26
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MattDaddy posted:I also just raised my prices. The effect has been an increase in sales. I'm gonna run a promo day sometime next month after the FREE rush runs out to see what happens. What were the prices (original and new)?
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Dec 17, 2011 23:42
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clockworkjoe posted:What were the prices (original and new)? Shorts (15-35k words) went form .99 cents to 2.99 Novel (65k words) went from 2.99 to 6.99  UPDATE: Sales have remained roughly the same, but profit has almost tripled today. January is going to kick so much rear end. MattDaddy fucked around with this message at 05:42 on Dec 18, 2011 |
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Dec 17, 2011 23:57
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So the big launch with the publisher went live today. I'll make sure to let you dudes know how this situation differs from my indie experience. Should be interesting, that's for certain.
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Dec 18, 2011 07:27
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Congrats, Goat Bouillabaise!MattDaddy posted:Shorts (15-35k words) went form .99 cents to 2.99 Wow. I'm finishing a novel now (55k words) and I was thinking of releasing it at $2.99. Now I'm wondering if I should aim for $5.99.
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Dec 18, 2011 09:31
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leb388 posted:Congrats, Goat Bouillabaise! Keep in mind that all the top selling writers seem to be pricing their books at .99 to 2.99. It's a tricky issue.
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Dec 18, 2011 09:44
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clockworkjoe posted:Keep in mind that all the top selling writers seem to be pricing their books at .99 to 2.99. It's a tricky issue. That's true. I'm calling it yet another experiment, but so far it seems to be working. MattDaddy fucked around with this message at 03:20 on Jun 26, 2013 |
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Dec 18, 2011 11:41
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Got a personal note on my last rejection. Editor called my short story an "Almost." Said it was "Brutal in a Lord of the Flies way." Think I'll go ahead and self-publish it.
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Dec 18, 2011 17:30
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psychopomp posted:Got a personal note on my last rejection. Editor called my short story an "Almost." Said it was "Brutal in a Lord of the Flies way." That's a pretty good rejection letter right there. Congrats, in a weird way. 
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Dec 18, 2011 22:33
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Also I would like to let you know you're all awesome. I think I made a note here about six thousand years ago saying I was writing again. Welp. All I have to show for it is a bunch of scribbled notes, doodles, and empty bottles. poo poo's hard. I remember why I gave up. I'm also right in the middle of attempting my transformation into a better human being. Multitasking really never was my thing. Sorry to clutter everything. I just figured if I started I could continue. Back to the notepad.
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Dec 19, 2011 07:27
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Part of writing is endurance. Don't give up. (And, yeah, poo poo is hard.)
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Dec 19, 2011 09:08
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AFM posted:Also I would like to let you know you're all awesome. Think of an interesting short story that you can write over the course of perhaps a few days. Take some time playing around with a cover. Knock it out at your own pace and then slap it up for sale at Amazon. If you don't have anything up yet, I have found it is easy to get wrapped up in refreshing the pages looking at sales and reviews at first - but try to avoid this and keep writing
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Dec 19, 2011 12:46
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So the sales for the weekend with the updated prices have been a rousing success, considering I sold more than usual. I'm not going to chalk that up the price increase, but at least I know it won't push people away from buying. That being said, apparently Smashwords hasn't told any of the other retailers I'm distributing to through them about the price increase. The Amazon robots found that out sometime between this morning and last night, and now it's back to $0.99. Can't do jack about it until all the retailers are on the same page. Oh well, at least it looks like it's on sale now.
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Dec 19, 2011 14:23
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Alright, I whipped up a quick cover for the story, and I'd love to get a general critique of it.
psychopomp fucked around with this message at 19:27 on Apr 13, 2014 |
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Dec 19, 2011 15:22
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Not digging the effect on the right side.
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Dec 20, 2011 02:38
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Hey Azure, I just finished your book, "The Dream Metropolis". http://www.amazon.com/Miles-Cressman/e/B005I5JH5Q Thoughts: While this type of book is not really up my alley, I found the many characters and the dreams they inhabited enjoyable. The dragon dream at the beginning was fuggin' awesome. It was pretty cool to see things shifting around so much and flow from dream to dream. Your prose is descriptive and your skill as a writer is evident. The dialogue shared between your characters moves well, and conveys what you want them to say easily. A nice mix of action and sci/fi that readers who like complex stories will greatly enjoy. The only problem I had while reading was that I felt the need to almost take notes on what was going on. This is not necessarily a bad thing; lots of readers do like an engaging and twisty story line, but for me, it was just a tiny bit more than I bargained for. Maybe I'm just a big dummy. For instance, I absolutely loved the concept and main story behind the movie Primer but the execution left me confused and wondering what the hell was going on. My own writing reflects this I think, and is therefore straight to the point. I don't take nearly enough time out for dialogue or character description because I can't wait to get to the action! Your story felt sort of like Inception, with many key differences, which I do think plenty of readers will appreciate. I guess the biggest problem you will have will be marketing it. It's obviously Sci/fi, but so many other elements tie together that some readers might be discouraged at tackling such a daunting, genre-spanning work. I encourage the goon writers here to give it a whirl and give their honest feedback as well. 
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Dec 20, 2011 03:28
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Roar posted:So the sales for the weekend with the updated prices have been a rousing success, considering I sold more than usual. I'm not going to chalk that up the price increase, but at least I know it won't push people away from buying. That's good news! I have the exact same problem with Smashwords' retailers not reflecting new prices, and Amazon keeps bumping down my price accordingly. I'm thinking of unchecking the options to send the book to all those other retailers--if people don't have a Kindle or Nook, they can get a Smashwords account. It's a fraction of my other sales, anyway.
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Dec 20, 2011 06:05
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Over the last two weeks I have er...penetrated the inner folds of erotica ebooks and selfpubbing. Using a secret pen name I have written a few short (6-10k word) extremely smutty ebooks and priced them all at $2.99. Things are moving slowly to start, but I sell at least 1 of these a day, usually averaging 2 sales of each book every day. By checking out what erotica writers are doing, it's very easy to see how so many of them are making thousands of dollars a month. It's not because of pure skill, either, it's mostly because of the subject matter, cover, and sheer volume of books available. Take for example how my erotica books are doing - I make about $4 a day off each one. Sometimes I do more, sometime I do less, but that's the average. Now, what if I had 30 of those same short ebooks for sale? After all, they are ridiculously easy to write, especially if you've ever watched porn. (and who hasn't?) Literally, I can spank one out (lol) in about 6 hours - that includes writing, editing, cover design, uploading. 30 x 4 = $120 per day, or $3600 per month. More than I am making at my EDJ. Granted, some will outperform others. Some will probably not sell much and others could possibly do extremely well. There's no way to know, that's why the most successful erotica writers have lots of books for sale (one of the most popular has over 100! He claims to bring in over $20k most months, and I believe him.), often bundling 3 or 4 shorts into one package. They sell most of their books @ $2.99 also, and I'm talking 5000 words short. In other words, even if you aren't into writing this sort of stuff, people are willing to pay more than 99 cents for your short stories and novelletes. Don't underestimate your writing or settle for less. If your book is not performing, don't lower the price, raise it. If it's still under-performing after that, then you might want to look into changing some things.
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Dec 20, 2011 14:57
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clockworkjoe posted:Keep in mind that all the top selling writers seem to be pricing their books at .99 to 2.99. It's a tricky issue. Very tricky. My sales were very slow at 2.99, so I dropped mine to .99 until the end of the year, just to see what happened. Sales for the entire month literally doubled in the space of three days. Sometimes I suspect that simply changing the price (up or down) gets it noticed in some manner.
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Dec 20, 2011 16:11
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workingdogv1 posted:Very tricky. My sales were very slow at 2.99, so I dropped mine to .99 until the end of the year, just to see what happened. Sales for the entire month literally doubled in the space of three days. Sometimes I suspect that simply changing the price (up or down) gets it noticed in some manner. Did your sales double or your profit?
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Dec 20, 2011 16:19
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http://www.amazon.com/Antigen-ebook/dp/B006O1XY3E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1324395646&sr=8-1 http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/antigen-db-baldwin/1108033238?ean=2940013888579 quote:Alex’s life as a graduate student is transformed when a laboratory fire destroys three years of research in a single morning. As he works to pick up the pieces he must overcome hostility from his department head and come to terms with his feelings for his lab partner. Then love and science combine to put him in a position to perform research in a way he never imagined possible. What he discovers will change his life, and the lives of those around him, forever. I decided in the summer that if I was ever going to write a novel that I should actually start one. Once I got some momentum it wasn't too bad. I'm not sure what to think of it. Some days I feel like it's pretty good. Some days I feel like it's terrible. I've had some beta readers offer feedback, but none of them are in publishing, so I really have no idea. They did seem to like it, though. Buy it and tell me! I sure learned a lot in the process and I'm already plotting a new (totally different) book.  edit: Added B&N link. Humbaba fucked around with this message at 17:34 on Dec 21, 2011 |
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Dec 20, 2011 17:25
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MattDaddy posted:Over the last two weeks I have er...penetrated the inner folds of erotica ebooks and selfpubbing. This is definitely true. My main short erotica story is where 90% of my sales come from, while I have one that's sold less than ten copies.
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Dec 21, 2011 01:51
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MattDaddy posted:Did your sales double or your profit? Sales doubled. The profit stayed just about where it had been. Right now I'm also thinking more about snaring new readers that can then get the rest of the series as it releases at full price.
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Dec 21, 2011 02:34
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MattDaddy posted:Hey Azure, I just finished your book, "The Dream Metropolis". http://www.amazon.com/Miles-Cressman/e/B005I5JH5Q As per the complexity: It was sort of the point I made going into the series. The fact that I based the series on dreams was something so open-ended that I felt it wouldn't do to just make it simple, I suppose. The next novel is, unfortunately, even more labyrinthine.  I usually don't write such complex stories, but I felt like challenging myself with The Dream Metropolis, and I hope it works out. The marketing is definitely an issue, but I've felt that pushing the noir element of the city attracts readers as well as explaining how the city is not real, but more of an abstract idea, flowing in and out of reality as its characters often do themselves. Azure_Horizon fucked around with this message at 03:35 on Dec 21, 2011 |
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Dec 21, 2011 03:16
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Azure_Horizon posted:For reals? Thanks dude! First smile I've had on my face all day. Leave a review on Amazon if you can. Sure. I posted a review for you that is honest and to the point. Much luck on your next one! That reminds me, I need to get off my kiester and review some of our other author's work here that I've finished reading! Prepare for incoming reviews, people!  PS- This is really odd, but for some strange reason my older thriller ebook has suddenly taken off! I made it free for a day last week and it seemed to die right after it went off sale. Now, I've sold over a dozen copies in the last hour, and at the most I was getting that many in a month! I've googl'd for answers but I literally have no idea where all these new sales are coming from. MattDaddy fucked around with this message at 04:42 on Jun 22, 2013 |
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Dec 21, 2011 06:00
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Whipped up a new cover for the other work I have while I wait for my First Reader to finish with the third story I've written. psychopomp fucked around with this message at 19:27 on Apr 13, 2014 |
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Dec 21, 2011 06:24
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psychopomp posted:Whipped up a new cover for the other work I have while I wait for my First Reader to finish with the third story I've written. Ooh, if it's possible, throw some footprints in the snow on the bridge walking away into the forest!
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Dec 21, 2011 06:45
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I am loving all the new stuff coming out of this thread. MattDaddy, I'd likely buy a book on your art of sexy deception. I've always found the use of pen names for such "side projects" intriguing, though I don't know if I could pull off something like that. Captain Fingerbang, when you get the chance could you add this and this to the Master List? The latter should be free today through Christmas with a KDP Selects promo for anybody interested. Has anyone seen much success using the banner ads on the forums? I've seen Corridors of the Dead pop up a few times (just bought myself a copy) and was wondering if it was worth the investment. I typically ignore ads, but I find myself clicking the ones on the forums more often than not.
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Dec 21, 2011 07:31
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The Manticore posted:Captain Fingerbang Sorry, it's Doctor Fingerbang. And yes (soon as I get to work ... because I am tired and feel old). I need to comb through the drat OP anyway. Thing's all a mess. As for the banner ads, I will say that they moved copies for me. Maybe not a huge amount, but they did work. They never quite justified the cost, but getting the name out helps. The best success I had was from indie review sites.
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Dec 21, 2011 10:53
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The Manticore posted:I am loving all the new stuff coming out of this thread. MattDaddy, I'd likely buy a book on your art of sexy deception. I've always found the use of pen names for such "side projects" intriguing, though I don't know if I could pull off something like that. It's something I've already got churning around up there - I'll be sure to let you know when it "comes" out, lol. Once I start to see some measure of success thats in line with what some of the more prolific authors are seeing, I should have some pretty good insight into what it takes to make it as an erotica author. The hardest part I think will be coming up with a catchy title. "FingerbangMisfire posted:Sorry, it's Doctor Fingerbang. Yeah, he didn't go to Fingerbang Medical School for 4 years for nothin'. Also, FBMF, I haven't forgotten about sending your copy to you from the contest - I'm putting in the order today as a matter of fact.
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Dec 21, 2011 14:02
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The Manticore posted:I am loving all the new stuff coming out of this thread. MattDaddy, I'd likely buy a book on your art of sexy deception. I've always found the use of pen names for such "side projects" intriguing, though I don't know if I could pull off something like that. Oh hey thanks for that! Hope you like it. I've been getting great reviews from people IRL, and I encourage them to post those online but so far not much luck. As for the ads, it's been kind of hard to meaure given how little info we get on where our clicks come from. Gut feeling I think it's been more successful than my GoodReads ad, as you're now the second person to at least mention it to me. I think it's exactly what you said and why I advertise here: I'm a lot more likely to click our ads, and I've found a few ebook gems through those ads.
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Dec 21, 2011 14:40
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So I've got one piece of existential horror, one story that's a fairy tale, one that's a steampunk mystery, one in the work that's a paranormal psychodrama ghost story, and a few others scattered across different genre. Should I be writing these under different pen names? Conventional traditional publishing branding wisdom says 'yes'. With self-epub, though, backlog is marketing. The more names one uses, the more concentrated each brand's identity - but at the cost of the sales all those other different-genre books would bring in. Are pen-names as important in self e-pub? Less important? More important? How finely do you want to split the genres?
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Dec 21, 2011 20:48
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psychopomp posted:So I've got one piece of existential horror, one story that's a fairy tale, one that's a steampunk mystery, one in the work that's a paranormal psychodrama ghost story, and a few others scattered across different genre. Personally, I put everything except the erotica under the same pen name. I'm far too lazy to even consider marketing yet another persona. I really don't care what my readers think if one day after writing horror and zombie books I decide to write a book about cute puppies. They can either like it or not And who doesn't like cute puppies?I wouldn't be too thrilled if my family read all the dirty, dirty smut I've been writing though. Imagine your kid coming up to you one day and asking, "Daddy? Did you write a book called 'Massive Gangbang Sluts'"? *I did not write Massive Gangbang Sluts. **Seriously, are they literally massive because they are so big physically, or is it that they are just such big sluts? The world may never know.
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Dec 21, 2011 20:57
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One of my books got refunded for the first time. Sucks, I was one sale away from 100 for the month! 
Roar fucked around with this message at 22:43 on Dec 21, 2011 |
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Dec 21, 2011 22:41
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Best thing I can figure out right now is "will my target audience also like this other book." I don't want to confuse/irritate/let them down while building my brand.acklog into the back of the book.
psychopomp fucked around with this message at 19:28 on Apr 13, 2014 |
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Dec 21, 2011 22:46
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The more you use pen names, the less of an opportunity you have to build your name as a brand. I agree with Mattdaddy - unless you have some pressing need to keep your books under a pseudonym (such as erotica, etc), making your name as recognizable as possible will only work in your favor.
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Dec 21, 2011 22:57
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Hugh G. Rexon presents "Massive Gangbang Sluts of Venus 12 : Part 2" gently caress it, I would buy it based on the name alone for 99cents. I think one of my favorite pics I ever saw on imgur was some dude who looked at his mom's kindle and one of the books listed was just called ANAL LOVE in all caps.
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Dec 22, 2011 07:42
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