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That's fantastic. I'm so glad this thread is helping people. (And I don't want to sound like Debbie Downer, but 10k is pretty short for $2.99 -- I have a 35K serial I'm releasing and I had to ask here if folks thought that was too short.) But, hey, screw it. You're being upfront about it. I hope it does well.
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Jun 30, 2013 22:31
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FingerbangMisfire posted:(And I don't want to sound like Debbie Downer, but 10k is pretty short for $2.99 -- I have a 35K serial I'm releasing and I had to ask here if folks thought that was too short.) Thank you. I got that figure from here: https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/?p=7891 It's an oft tossed around link that even D2D itself links in their FAQ. Smith's point is along the lines of what impression of quality the price suggests, but I'm not terminally beholden to his guidelines. In fact, I may lower the price at some point, and my plan is to definitely lower it when I release the second installment. I'm also thinking about giving away copies, but I'm not entirely sure how I'll go about that just yet.
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Jun 30, 2013 22:58
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You need to charge at least $2.99 to stay in 70% commission range. People still pay for short stories at that.
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Jun 30, 2013 23:05
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Longbaugh01 posted:Thanks! Though, I can only take credit for the idea of the cover. The execution was all someone else. Well I guess I can see your point. By all means, please let us know how it is doing. Serials is one thing I'd love to get into.
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Jun 30, 2013 23:09
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Longbaugh01 posted:Thank you. I got that figure from here: https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/?p=7891 It's an oft tossed around link that even D2D itself links in their FAQ. Smith's point is along the lines of what impression of quality the price suggests, but I'm not terminally beholden to his guidelines. Y'know, that's an interesting article. I've always been stuck in a $.99 to $2.99 mentality. Maybe it's time for that to change. Thanks.
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Jun 30, 2013 23:23
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Faded Mars posted:You need to charge at least $2.99 to stay in 70% commission range. People still pay for short stories at that. Yeah this was a big part of it as well that I forgot to mention. Not that I'm even primarily in it for the money, but you have to sell many times more copies at $.99 to get the same returns you would selling less copies at $2.99. I forget the exact figures, but I've seen them many times before. ArchangeI posted:Well I guess I can see your point. By all means, please let us know how it is doing. Serials is one thing I'd love to get into. It may not be foolproof, and I'm glad Sundae agreed, but I'll definitely report back on how well (or badly) it worked sometime down the line. FingerbangMisfire posted:Y'know, that's an interesting article. I've always been stuck in a $.99 to $2.99 mentality. Maybe it's time for that to change. Thanks. It certainly gave me a different perspective than the one I had gained from this thread and others, but it's also probably one of those YMMV things. If it ends up helping you in any way, then I'm glad. Would you be ok with adding Processional to the OP Fingerbang? Edit: vvvv Thanks! Longbaugh01 fucked around with this message at 06:04 on Jul 1, 2013 |
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Jul 1, 2013 00:47
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Longbaugh01 posted:Would you be ok with adding Processional to the OP Fingerbang? Dunzo
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Jul 1, 2013 05:52
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Longbaugh01 posted:In fact, I may lower the price at some point, and my plan is to definitely lower it when I release the second installment. I'm also thinking about giving away copies, but I'm not entirely sure how I'll go about that just yet. The only reason I would drop a price below $2.99 is for promotional reasons. So I'd wait until after you have at least one more release at $2.99 before doing it. Also, it's hard to tell if there's a difference between $0.99 promotion vs free but I do find that you will get more critical reviews when it's free. I know several romance authors who have successfully promoted a serial by putting the first one at $0.99. And finally, if you feel that a story is too short for $2.99, then put several together at $2.99. It's better to keep above the 70% threshold since the 35% is just giving money to Amazon (unless of course, you are doing it for promotional purposes).
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Jul 1, 2013 16:31
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What's too short for $2.99?
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Jul 1, 2013 16:59
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psychopomp posted:What's too short for $2.99? That's up to you and your comfort level. One of my early break-out stories is 4500 words but it has action and explicit, yet fairly vanilla, sex in it. It seems like readers generally like stories that are a little bit longer, like 10k+, but who knows. From my more recent experience, longer stuff sells better but there are readers out there who do enjoy short stories. Just make it good. And if you're not comfortable with putting it up at $2.99, then write another story and pair the two up in a story bundle for $2.99.
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Jul 1, 2013 17:51
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Thanks inkblottime. That's helpful. I'd planned on dropping this one to .99 when the second one is released for sure. I also always planned to bundle some when it gets to between 3-5 installments depending on how long they end up being and overall plot arc. I think of how Scalzi had a lot of success with his recent Human Division serial and then bundling it at the end into a season, with a second season on the way. In a way, I almost use a television model when it comes to this.
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Jul 1, 2013 17:55
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Longbaugh01 posted:Thanks! Though, I can only take credit for the idea of the cover. The execution was all someone else. Glad I could help out. Just took a peek and the intro looks much improved! And really, no problem on the critique. I often find that I gain just as much from critiquing as the writer; perhaps even more.
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Jul 1, 2013 18:27
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inkblottime posted:Also, it's hard to tell if there's a difference between $0.99 promotion vs free but I do find that you will get more critical reviews when it's free. I know several romance authors who have successfully promoted a serial by putting the first one at $0.99. Is that because people give more thought to whether they will actually like the book if they have to buy it? Because I was torn between putting mine up for free on Smashwords, versus $0.99 for this very reason; if it's free, you're going to get more people just downloading the book without considering if it is something they would enjoy. Thus you end up with more people not liking it who weren't really in your demographic to begin with (or your book just sucks). I've always been of the mindset to make at least my first one free because I didn't write to make money and I also felt weird about charging people to read my poo poo. Of course, there isn't anything wrong with wanting to have some returns for something you poured your heart into; I just never felt comfortable with it. But I think that has more to do with my own worries as to whether something I write is worth $0.99.
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Jul 1, 2013 19:01
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into the void posted:Is that because people give more thought to whether they will actually like the book if they have to buy it? Because I was torn between putting mine up for free on Smashwords, versus $0.99 for this very reason; if it's free, you're going to get more people just downloading the book without considering if it is something they would enjoy. Thus you end up with more people not liking it who weren't really in your demographic to begin with (or your book just sucks). I've always been of the mindset to make at least my first one free because I didn't write to make money and I also felt weird about charging people to read my poo poo. Of course, there isn't anything wrong with wanting to have some returns for something you poured your heart into; I just never felt comfortable with it. But I think that has more to do with my own worries as to whether something I write is worth $0.99. At .99 the biggest investment is the time spent reading it. I mean, put it in perspective. What can you get for 99 cents? That is less than a coffee.
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Jul 1, 2013 19:14
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inkblottime posted:That's up to you and your comfort level. One of my early break-out stories is 4500 words but it has action and explicit, yet fairly vanilla, sex in it. It seems like readers generally like stories that are a little bit longer, like 10k+, but who knows. From my more recent experience, longer stuff sells better but there are readers out there who do enjoy short stories. Just make it good. And if you're not comfortable with putting it up at $2.99, then write another story and pair the two up in a story bundle for $2.99. Perhaps it's different in erotica, but I had been selling non-erotic mystery and thriller 10k-16k stories for $2.99 and, while positive, the reviews universally decried the cost as too much. I've currently got them listed at $1.99, collections of 3-4 for $3.99, a collection of 7 for $4.99, and a 30k short novel for $4.99. The only price point that bothers me is the $1.99 shorts, honestly.
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Jul 1, 2013 19:16
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workingdogv1 posted:Glad I could help out. Just took a peek and the intro looks much improved! And really, no problem on the critique. I often find that I gain just as much from critiquing as the writer; perhaps even more. You were beyond helpful and thanks! Hope you enjoy the free copy, though I'm sure you're sick of the story by now! 
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Jul 1, 2013 19:34
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psychopomp posted:Perhaps it's different in erotica, but I had been selling non-erotic mystery and thriller 10k-16k stories for $2.99 and, while positive, the reviews universally decried the cost as too much. I've currently got them listed at $1.99, collections of 3-4 for $3.99, a collection of 7 for $4.99, and a 30k short novel for $4.99. It is definitely genre-specific. Erotica does not follow the same pricing rules as full-length fiction. $1.99 is the worst possible price point. You lose all the cheap-book buyers while still not getting 70% royalties. gently caress $1.99. I'll take it so far as to say that if readers for a genre demand a $1.99 price-point, I will write a different genre.
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Jul 1, 2013 19:59
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ArchangeI posted:At .99 the biggest investment is the time spent reading it. I mean, put it in perspective. What can you get for 99 cents? That is less than a coffee. Right now it's sitting at Smashword for free and I've had 90 downloads. Would it be better (considering the promotion at the end of July) to just set it at $0.99 or is it a loss at this point? Like I said, my goal is to not make money. But I don't want to shot myself in the foot by having a bunch of people who it might not necessarily be written for read it and then leave reviews that it is crap. I mean, if it's crap it's crap. But I'd rather hear that from someone who likes and reads a lot of the genre, rather than someone who just downloaded it because it was free, you know? into the void fucked around with this message at 21:32 on Jul 1, 2013 |
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Jul 1, 2013 21:23
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into the void posted:Right now it's sitting at Smashword for free and I've had 90 downloads. Would it be better (considering the promotion at the end of July) to just set it at $0.99 or is it a loss at this point? Like I said, my goal is to not make money. But I don't want to shot myself in the foot by having a bunch of people who it might not necessarily be written for read it and then leave reviews that it is crap. I mean, if it's crap it's crap. But I'd rather hear that from someone who likes and reads a lot of the genre, rather than someone who just downloaded it because it was free, you know? Then price it higher to weed out the non-genre readers? (Within reason anyway and taking into consideration its length.)
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Jul 1, 2013 22:17
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Longbaugh01 posted:Then price it higher to weed out the non-genre readers? (Within reason anyway and taking into consideration its length.) Yeah. Haha, the solution is pretty obvious. My brain is just stubborn.
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Jul 1, 2013 23:17
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Sundae posted:It is definitely genre-specific. Erotica does not follow the same pricing rules as full-length fiction. Seriously gently caress the $1.99 price point. I hate that Amazon set it up that way. And yeah, it is true if you don't have good action and/or explicit sex, then readers will expect more story for the price. That being said, if you have a good story, it will sell just as well at the $2.99 price point as $1.99 or $0.99. You shouldn't be giving a majority of your royalties to Amazon unless you consciously do it for promotion. They make enough money off traditional publishers.
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Jul 2, 2013 00:30
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So, on the other end of the spectrum, what do you guys think about how much to charge for longer works? I just finished up a 93k+ word YA novel (first part of a series, but with definite beginning, middle, and end). It has plenty of action. I've heard a while back that $2.99 is just the ultimate price point for everything, but is this still true? Or is everyone noticing about the same number of purchases at the $3.99 price point?
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Jul 2, 2013 00:54
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HPanda posted:So, on the other end of the spectrum, what do you guys think about how much to charge for longer works? I just finished up a 93k+ word YA novel (first part of a series, but with definite beginning, middle, and end). It has plenty of action. If you don't have a following, I'd say $2.99 or $3.99 is probably your happy point. I don't know which would be better, though. For my genre, almost everything prices at $2.99, so I don't have much say in it unless I want to get priced out. Sundae fucked around with this message at 01:15 on Jul 2, 2013 |
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Jul 2, 2013 01:10
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(taking down links)
Azure_Horizon fucked around with this message at 20:35 on Nov 2, 2013 |
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Jul 2, 2013 01:16
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Azure_Horizon posted:The fourth and final book in my A Paean to Dreams series, titled The Dream Reprisal, is up on the Kindle store now. Very lovely cover. Actually, all of your book covers are quite nice, in their own way
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Jul 2, 2013 01:41
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into the void posted:Very lovely cover. Actually, all of your book covers are quite nice, in their own way Thank you very much. I think I'll be sticking with my artist friend for all future covers until he's too busy to do them.
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Jul 2, 2013 01:42
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HPanda posted:So, on the other end of the spectrum, what do you guys think about how much to charge for longer works? I just finished up a 93k+ word YA novel (first part of a series, but with definite beginning, middle, and end). It has plenty of action. Go with $3.99 for novels. I know Dean Wesley Smith goes on about pricing indie novels at $6.99 or $7.99, but I feel that's a mistake. I think JA Konrath has it right. $3.99 is good. It's still in impulse buy range, and it offers decent royalties. I priced my zombie novel at $6.99 initially, and it did okay sales, but I feel like I shot myself in the foot. It's at $3.99 now, and I wish I'd started it there. Probably would have made more. Smashwords even released some study they did of their 2012 sales and discovered that $3.99 has replaced $2.99 as "the" price point.
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Jul 2, 2013 03:40
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So, I see a lot of people going with digital distribution, is it basically free to do? I would love to see my novels in physical print, but they're all part of a series and publishing companies are so risk-averse that I doubt they'll take a series from an unknown. My idea was to go digital, and then later run some kind of kickstarter to self-publish through one of those small press publishers if it was popular enough. As far as digital distribution goes, since the OP seems to lack information on it, is it a "sell through us AND NO ONE ELSE" market or is it a market where I can throw my story everywhere it would fit (if there are genre specific marketplaces)? None of novels are nearly ready, but I like to plan ahead. Is there a post or a wiki somewhere I missed on this?
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Jul 2, 2013 05:26
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I'm just posting as a reader. I so admire writers and wish that marvelous talent had been one of my gifts. Instead, I'm a voracious reader. If you have not published anything yet, your first book should be 99¢. Even slightly established authors will give you book 1 of an installment for 99¢. If I see anything that looks at all hopeful, I treat 99¢ as if it were free. Once I am hooked, you can charge me more, easily $3.99 for a novel and 2.99 for a substantial segment. To promote your writings, I strongly suggest that you join Goodreads, become an active participant in a few groups and then post a notice about your book or donate to their giveaways. There are authors who made it pretty big on Goodreads such as Robin Hobb. I've given this opinion some serious thought but of course, it is just an opinion. I joined this group to get heads on up and coming new stars of the writing field. So write already.
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Jul 2, 2013 05:40
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specklebang posted:If you have not published anything yet, your first book should be 99¢. Even slightly established authors will give you book 1 of an installment for 99¢. If I see anything that looks at all hopeful, I treat 99¢ as if it were free. Once I am hooked, you can charge me more, easily $3.99 for a novel and 2.99 for a substantial segment. And I broke into the top 1000 on the Kindle store! I'm doing this because I'm in it for the long haul with this pen name, and everything I've read points to growing your mailing list as the best way to get a stable income and good reviews immediately upon publishing. Nobody is going to waste five bucks on my novel as a no-name, but 99 cents? Like you said, that's basically free. Pimp your mailing list in the front and back of your books. It gave me an invaluable boost on my novel.
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Jul 2, 2013 05:49
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That's another thing, I despise mailing lists. I don't want to run one, I don't want to be on one. Apparently that's the best way to promote books? Who thought that up? Edit: Unless you mean I just have this massive list of email addresses that I click send-all on and send them an email when I put out a new book? Terashell fucked around with this message at 06:35 on Jul 2, 2013 |
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Jul 2, 2013 05:53
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I realize I haven't given it enough time, but I'm starting to wonder if I did shoot myself in the face by not launching my story at $.99.
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Jul 2, 2013 06:32
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Longbaugh01 posted:I realize I haven't given it enough time, but I'm starting to wonder if I did shoot myself in the face by not launching my story at $.99. Have you publicized it anywhere?
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Jul 2, 2013 06:35
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Aureliano, I love your username and definitely want to check out your book. Not sure if you know about goonreads, but check out our thread here too. We just hit our 101st goon book at the site. A lot of people in this thread list their books there. For anyone interested in printing their books, I found a pretty decent printer (http://www.360digitalbooks.com/) that starts as low as 25-book print runs at really reasonable rates. Their customer service is pretty awesome too. I have a small press and generally print elsewhere, but one of my authors prefers 100% recycled paper, which isn't offered by a lot of printers. Also, a book I wrote got a mention in Dissent Magazine. The book is Back to the Garden (mentioned earlier in the thread, but which now has a new cover), which just recently went into print. For my first novel, I took on a huge subject, climate change, and wish now that I would have maybe not involved quite so many characters. I felt honored this particular essayist liked the book and included it in an article among much bigger authors. Oops, I forgot I had just posted the new cover recently. Can't seem to delete attachments though. Jenny of Oldstones fucked around with this message at 06:49 on Jul 2, 2013 |
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Jul 2, 2013 06:46
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tarepanda posted:Have you publicized it anywhere? On a Twitter account under my pseudonym I've had running since February or so with ~850 followers, FB pages for pseudonym and series, tumblr, and added it to Goodreads and Goonreads. I'm going to look into getting more involved with GR, but it's difficult with the limited time I have everyday. So oftentimes it's a choice between writing (like) or marketing/promotion (dislike). I'm thinking of doing a Twitter book giveaway on Wednesday to generate some momentum. As far as the pricing thing, I'm just concerned I'm missing out on that initial wave of sales that might be there if it was .99.
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Jul 2, 2013 07:24
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You could also check BookRooster.com, though I'm not sure if they take serials.
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Jul 2, 2013 07:50
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Longbaugh01 posted:On a Twitter account under my pseudonym I've had running since February or so with ~850 followers, FB pages for pseudonym and series, tumblr, and added it to Goodreads and Goonreads. I'm going to look into getting more involved with GR, but it's difficult with the limited time I have everyday. So oftentimes it's a choice between writing (like) or marketing/promotion (dislike). I'm thinking of doing a Twitter book giveaway on Wednesday to generate some momentum. I just got into publishing too and I think it's all a learning experience. Next book, try it out at 0.99 and see how the sales compare. For now, decide if you wanna drop it down to 0.99. I think I didn't do myself any favors by offering it for free when I first published on Smashwords. I upped it to 0.99, but I think I missed out on the initial new book bump. But like I said, it's a learning experience. 
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Jul 2, 2013 07:51
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ah, yeah, pseudonyms, those are another good thing I'm clueless about. I have a few in mind but difficulty deciding which to use. Are there any rules of thumb out there for picking one? (Adding this to the pile of questions I have)
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Jul 2, 2013 13:40
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I think that 99 cents makes a good temporary price point when it comes to running a sale if you don't want to go free. However, I feel its utility is limited, as is the utility of any marketing, until you have a decent library built up. See, the whole point of marketing isn't to sell that book. Heck, that book's purpose isn't to sell that book. You don't want sales. What you want are fans. Repeat customers. Yeah, a $2 profit is nice, but you want someone who is so into your books that they splurge and buy them all at once, and then is a guaranteed sale whenever you put out something new. That's the point of the mailing list, by the way. You don't sign people up for it. You allow them to sign up. Then, when you release a new book, you send out your email and everyone on the list goes out and buys a copy. psychopomp fucked around with this message at 16:22 on Jul 2, 2013 |
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Jul 2, 2013 13:54
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Terashell posted:ah, yeah, pseudonyms, those are another good thing I'm clueless about. I have a few in mind but difficulty deciding which to use. Are there any rules of thumb out there for picking one? (Adding this to the pile of questions I have) How are you approaching it? Do you just want a general pseudonym for all sorts of work, or are you planning to have different names for different genres? A good pseudonym is like a character name, and will help sell your book as much as the title and cover design. What are you writing? Military fiction? Paranormal romance? Non-genre fiction?
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Jul 2, 2013 14:52
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