tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post1066838017848723129..comments2024-03-18T06:16:18.802-05:00Comments on A Newbie's Guide to Publishing: The List Experiment UpdateJA Konrathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08778324558755151986noreply@blogger.comBlogger125125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-15553790021128096312011-06-20T10:22:08.667-05:002011-06-20T10:22:08.667-05:00I am currently trying to change the price of my eb...I am currently trying to change the price of my ebook from the introductory price of 99c to $2.99 but whatever I do the price stays the same 99c. what am i doing wrong. I have gone through the bookshelf actions page and it says that it is $2.99 but on the actual page to buy it, it has a line through the digital list price of $2.99 and says that it is priced at 99c?Patti Robertshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16804826039868021068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-9780793509507663592011-03-20T14:36:29.914-05:002011-03-20T14:36:29.914-05:00as of now, march 20th, at noon,
two days since our...as of now, march 20th, at noon,<br />two days since our last report,<br />"the color of heaven" is at #83,<br />down 4 spots in the last 2 days.<br /><br />"the list" is at #39, down just<br />one spot in the last 2 days,<br />meaning joe is getting _rich_.<br /><br />pay attention, folks, time to<br />price your books at $.99 and<br />move them up the rankings,<br />so you can then switch back <br />to $2.99 and get rich like joe!<br /><br />-bowerbirdbowerbirdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05962115094107919533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-71606464980407646362011-03-20T14:34:37.581-05:002011-03-20T14:34:37.581-05:00as of now, march 20th, at noon,
two days since our...as of now, march 20th, at noon,<br />two days since our last report,<br />"the color of heaven" is at #83,<br />down 4 spots in the last 2 days.<br /><br />"the list" is at #39, down just<br />one spot in the last 2 days,<br />meaning joe is getting _rich_.<br /><br />pay attention, folks, time to<br />price your books at $.99 and<br />move them up the rankings,<br />so you can then switch back <br />to $2.99 and get rich like joe!<br /><br />-bowerbirdbowerbirdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05962115094107919533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-27326143765723441102011-03-18T18:38:28.492-05:002011-03-18T18:38:28.492-05:00as of march 18th at 4pm,
"the color of heaven...as of march 18th at 4pm,<br />"the color of heaven" is #79,<br />down 11 ranks from yesterday.<br /><br />and "the list" is now at #38,<br />down 7 ranks from yesterday.<br /><br />-bowerbirdbowerbirdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05962115094107919533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-9250174521580476442011-03-18T18:36:33.364-05:002011-03-18T18:36:33.364-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.bowerbirdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05962115094107919533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-24982493274453018132011-03-17T15:00:28.661-05:002011-03-17T15:00:28.661-05:00as of march 17th at 1pm,
"the color of heaven...as of march 17th at 1pm,<br />"the color of heaven" has<br />surged back to rank #68...<br /><br />"the list" is now priced at<br />$2.99, so we'll mark the<br />transition at this point...<br /><br />"the list" now sits at #31,<br />down 8 from yesterday...<br /><br />-bowerbirdbowerbirdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05962115094107919533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-28950090988033413892011-03-16T15:00:07.095-05:002011-03-16T15:00:07.095-05:00as of march 16th at 1pm,
"the color of heaven...as of march 16th at 1pm,<br />"the color of heaven" has<br />continued to fall, at #78...<br /><br />"the list" is still bouncing<br />around the top-20, at #23.<br /><br />-bowerbirdbowerbirdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05962115094107919533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-18490898187414580762011-03-15T13:31:29.298-05:002011-03-15T13:31:29.298-05:00it's tuesday, march 15th, 11am,
another highly...it's tuesday, march 15th, 11am,<br />another highly symbolic day...<br /><br />"the color of heaven" is #71,<br />continuing its gradual decay.<br /><br />but that's not what's "symbolic".<br /><br />no, that would be the fact that<br />amazon is now including games<br />in the best-seller list, and they<br />are infesting the list big-time...<br /><br />7 of the entities on the top-14<br />are games -- scrabble, sudoku,<br />crosswords -- rather than books.<br /><br />i would think they'd want to do<br />two different lists, but i am not<br />running the place, obviously...<br /><br />meanwhile, "the list" (the book)<br />is still holding on at rank #20...<br /><br />-bowerbirdbowerbirdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05962115094107919533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-73194343341357027002011-03-14T11:33:48.201-05:002011-03-14T11:33:48.201-05:00here's your update report for
monday, march 14...here's your update report for<br />monday, march 14th, at 9am.<br /><br />"the color of heaven" has now<br />fallen from the top-50, at #53,<br />continuing its downward trek...<br /><br />"follow the stone" is now #45,<br />meaning john locke now has<br />all 7 of his books in the top-45.<br /><br />his newest has jumped to #5,<br />and he has 4 books in the top-9.<br /><br />"the list" is standing at #17,<br />and joe informs us that it is<br />selling 36 times as many units<br />as it sold a month ago at $2.99,<br />making 6 times as much profit.<br />that's right. six times as much.<br /><br />the message seems very clear...<br /><br />$.99 books move up the list,<br />and $2.99 books move down.<br /><br />again, i thank robin for pointing<br />this little experiment out to us.<br /><br />-bowerbirdbowerbirdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05962115094107919533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-88666983390337820062011-03-11T23:03:08.313-06:002011-03-11T23:03:08.313-06:00and... bingo!
as of 9pm pacific,
on friday march ...and... bingo!<br /><br />as of 9pm pacific,<br />on friday march 11,<br />john locke now has<br />4 books in the top-10.<br /><br />amazing. just amazing.<br /><br />-bowerbirdbowerbirdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05962115094107919533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-62971160361598801432011-03-11T14:07:37.498-06:002011-03-11T14:07:37.498-06:00more symbolic events today,
as of noon, friday, ma...more symbolic events today,<br />as of noon, friday, march 11th.<br /><br />first, "the list" is dancing around<br />the #20 mark, right now at #20.<br /><br />recall that just four weeks ago,<br />at $2.99, it was at rank #1078.<br /><br />now, at $.99, it's in the top-20.<br />so a bestseller was languishing,<br />because it was "overpriced" at<br />$2.99... who woulda thunk it?<br /><br />now it probably sells 840 copies<br />every day, which is _21_times_<br />what it was selling before, and<br />it brings in 3.5 times the profit.<br /><br />so much for the often-unstated<br />assumption that the 70% royalty<br />automatically gives more profit.<br /><br />it's making _more_money_ at<br />$.99, despite that unfair 35%,<br />_because_more_people_buy_it._<br />that means more readers, and<br />-- if the book is worth its salt --<br />that means _more_fans_too_...<br /><br />more money, readers, fans,<br />and attention from the world;<br />that's something to attend to.<br /><br />but there's _more_ symbolism!<br /><br />because that newest k-book by<br />john locke, the one which has<br />only been out for about a week,<br />just yesterday hitting rank #30?<br /><br />it is now sitting at rank #16...<br /><br />that's right, it positively vaulted<br />over "the list"... john locke now<br />has _4_ books in the top-16...<br />(and 3 of 'em are in the top-9.)<br /><br />so konrath moved his one book<br />to the top-20 with a $.99 price,<br />but john locke has moved _4_<br />books to the top-16 using $.99.<br /><br />so while konrath was trying to<br />use one $.99-inexpensive book<br />to sway buyers to purchase his<br />other $2.99-inexpensive books,<br />a tactic that didn't really work,<br />at least not like he'd expected,<br />john locke was pricing all of his<br />7 books as $.99-inexpensive and<br />they're all pushing one another,<br />in a brilliant cross-selling move.<br /><br />oh yeah, "heaven" is now at #45,<br />below #44 "follow the stone" --<br />john locke's worst-ranked book.<br /><br />-bowerbirdbowerbirdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05962115094107919533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-74749016349530454252011-03-11T04:58:46.208-06:002011-03-11T04:58:46.208-06:00I have enjoyed reading. .Thanks for taking the tim...I have enjoyed reading. .Thanks for taking the time to discuss this, I feel strongly about it and love learning more on this topic.Cosmetic surgeryhttp://www.globalmedicaldirectory.us/index.php/location/Maryland/Salisburynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-45883867307313672512011-03-10T14:12:10.679-06:002011-03-10T14:12:10.679-06:00our "color of heaven" watch
has a report...our "color of heaven" watch<br />has a report today registering<br />a highly symbolic moment...<br /><br />just now, noon pacific time,<br />on thursday, march 10th,<br />"the color of heaven"<br />dropped down to #46.<br /><br />that might not _seem_<br />like a "symbolic" number,<br />until you also learn that<br />the book now occupying<br />#45 is "follow the stone",<br />which just happens to be<br />the _worst_ ranking for<br />_any_ of the 7 k-books by<br />john locke, including the<br />one he released last week.<br />(which now sits at #30!)<br /><br />that's right, john locke<br />now has all 7 of his books<br />in the top #45, all of 'em<br />now ranking better than<br />"the color of heaven"...<br /><br />of course, the notable fact<br />about john locke's 7 books<br />is that each costs just $.99.<br /><br />but "the color of heaven",<br />at $2.99, continues falling.<br /><br />so this symbolic leapfrog of<br />all _7_ john locke k-books<br />over "the color of heaven"<br />dramatically represents the <br />_dynamic_takeover_ of the<br />kindle top-100 bestseller list<br />by low-priced $.99 e-books,<br />even against the $2.99 price.<br /><br />adding to this symbolic moment,<br />"the list" has just hit the top-20,<br />and now sits at position #19...<br /><br />i'd like to thank robin for<br />exhorting us to focus on<br />this interesting interplay...<br /><br />-bowerbird<br /><br />p.s. also, in related news,<br />sam torode had raised the<br />$.99 price for his e-book<br />"the dirty parts of the bible"<br />to $2.99, so as to cash in on<br />its #50 status in the top-100,<br />only to see it fall out of that,<br />dropping under rank #200,<br />then #300, then #400, and<br />ultimately lower than #500.<br />(it sunk to #592 on march 6.)<br />it was a spectacular free-fall.<br />however, he's put the price<br />back at $.99, and the book<br />is rebounding, up to #368...<br />however, i wonder how long<br />authors can manipulate the<br />rankings is such a manner<br />before customers catch on<br />and punish such behavior...<br />no customer wants to be the<br />guinea pig in an experiment.bowerbirdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05962115094107919533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-36035496611121833882011-03-09T16:16:40.425-06:002011-03-09T16:16:40.425-06:00after it rattled around the #30s
for the last 5 da...after it rattled around the #30s<br />for the last 5 days, here today,<br />wednesday, march 9th, "the list"<br />made a big leap into the 20s...<br /><br />it started at 29, but notched it<br />one number better at an hourly<br />pace, or it seems, now sitting<br />at #24, at 2:16pm on march 9th.<br />recall that exactly 1 month ago,<br />it was stuck in mud at #1078...<br /><br />that's right, it wasn't even in the<br />top-1000 list. and now it's #24...<br /><br />konrath is selling 720+ a day,<br />which is _18-times_ as many,<br />for _3_times_ as much profit.<br /><br />and as far as we can tell, yes,<br />this book is _still_climbing_...<br /><br />watch out.<br /><br />***<br /><br />but "the color of heaven"...<br />well, gee, not quite so good.<br /><br />it's now ranked at #42...<br /><br />(funny, with #24 and #42.)<br /><br />not good.<br /><br />from #17 to #42 in a few days.<br /><br />a big fall down the mountain...<br /><br />***<br /><br />one of these books is priced<br />at $.99, the other at $2.99...<br /><br />one is rising, the other falling.<br /><br />can you guess which is which?<br /><br />-bowerbirdbowerbirdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05962115094107919533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-37830398636200600262011-03-08T22:22:36.044-06:002011-03-08T22:22:36.044-06:00It reminds me of toys that I desperately wanted wh...It reminds me of toys that I desperately wanted when I was a child but my parents could not afford them. Now that I'm an adult I can afford those toys but I know that I won't enjoy them in the same way.Ecommerce Website Developerhttp://www.ecommerce-web-developers.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-41007172373958921112011-03-08T15:52:17.501-06:002011-03-08T15:52:17.501-06:00and now, 1:52pm pacific,
on tuesday, march 8th,
&q...and now, 1:52pm pacific,<br />on tuesday, march 8th,<br />"the color of heaven" is #37.<br /><br />coincidentally -- or not --<br />"the list" is right now #36.<br /><br />the irony will be apparent.<br /><br />-bowerbirdbowerbirdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05962115094107919533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-54367219357605187422011-03-07T18:36:39.786-06:002011-03-07T18:36:39.786-06:00"the color of heaven" was #17
yesterday ..."the color of heaven" was #17<br />yesterday afternoon, march 6th.<br /><br />it is #26 today, march 7th...<br /><br />-bowerbirdbowerbirdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05962115094107919533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-27500444727963665582011-03-07T18:27:45.578-06:002011-03-07T18:27:45.578-06:00The List is at 31 on Monday.
Just might have a s...The List is at 31 on Monday. <br /><br />Just might have a shot at #1 if things keep going this way. <br /><br />Nice job Joe.Ty Hutchinsonhttp://tyhutchinson.posterous.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-33770419735144054862011-03-07T17:18:58.851-06:002011-03-07T17:18:58.851-06:00@Alexander
My understanding is that Amazon pays 3...@Alexander<br /><br />My understanding is that Amazon pays 35% on 99 cent books not 30%. And even 30% of 99 cents is still 29.7 cents, not 20. (math is my passion and as an accountant you don't round numbers up or down when doing a balance.<br /><br />@Stephanie Laurens<br /><br />You don't need an Amazon-virginal computer to check the international prices - you just need to log out. Then you go to Kindle Store and can select the region.<br /><br />Europe is Mainland Europe without UK.<br /><br />What drives me nuts is that there seems to be no rule to the international pricing.<br />The List is 0.99 US and 2.99 Europe<br />but Joe's book Origin is 2.99 both in US and Europe.<br />Sometimes books are most expensive in Europe but I also came across a book, that was cheaper than the US price. Grrrhhh...German Readernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-12208572203450592042011-03-07T15:13:44.326-06:002011-03-07T15:13:44.326-06:00German Reader, 30 percent, not 35. i rounded down...German Reader, 30 percent, not 35. i rounded down to 600, and was estimating 20 cents a copy. <br /><br />Renee, my dream was always to be at the Hugo awards ceremony, and to loose to Harlan Ellison. So thats still doable for me.Alexanderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05336552199178319319noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-61310966143892151452011-03-07T14:28:49.113-06:002011-03-07T14:28:49.113-06:00@Michael "So why am I still considering the N...@Michael "So why am I still considering the NY offer? It's not Stockholm Syndrome, since I've never had a NY contract."<br /><br />I wonder about this too. Stockholm Syndrome? Yes, some writers are struggling with that. But there is something else going on here, at least for some of us. <br /><br />It reminds me of toys that I desperately wanted when I was a child but my parents could not afford them. Now that I'm an adult I can afford those toys but I know that I won't enjoy them in the same way. <br /><br />It would be SO COOL to walk into a store and see my book. Yessir-ee world! Gaze upon it's awesomeness! <br /><br />But then I would have to come back to reality and morn the loss of artistic control... and maybe watch moths come flying out of my wallet.<br /><br />Sigh.<br /><br />Letting go of a dream is hard, but the situation has dramatically changed. Barbie dolls just can't deliver the same charm anymore.Renee Pinzonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01051567618283568525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-32576696712516175232011-03-07T11:37:35.585-06:002011-03-07T11:37:35.585-06:00Even if Joe's experiment won't work for an...Even if Joe's experiment won't work for anyone, the information about how it <i>is</i> working for Joe is gold.<br /><br />Joe, so I see your coherent argument for why I should ignore the NY interest in my latest book. My other books--the ones that came close and failed--are doing just fine on their own, even though I've only been live for seven weeks.<br /><br />My new book is my best yet and I'm 95% convinced that I can make more self-pubbing than taking an advance for around 10K. So why am I still considering the NY offer? It's not Stockholm Syndrome, since I've never had a NY contract. Battered wife syndrome?Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07551467903768212968noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-45839871925841650992011-03-07T11:21:35.648-06:002011-03-07T11:21:35.648-06:00I was adding in my B&N and UK sales to that 1,...I was adding in my B&N and UK sales to that 1,000 sales per day in Feb. I was also higher in rank for most of Feb, sitting around #35, which meant around 750 sales each day on Amazon US.Victorinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06052077366367623323noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-89188101757721562182011-03-07T10:33:45.300-06:002011-03-07T10:33:45.300-06:00I had purchased "Truck stop" back upon i...I had purchased "Truck stop" back upon it's release and while I liked it it didn't really "grab me" whatever that means. As soon as you dropped "The List" down I thought what the hell and bought it. I read this blog every day, so if nothing else it's a purchase. <br /><br />I have to say, I'm less than half way through but this one has grabbed me. I was already thinking "I'll have to try some of Konrath's more horror oriented stuff"<br /><br />So I think the .99 will work from more than just the straight up revenue from "The List".<br /><br />In just two weeks and change that's 9,000 people, how many convert into fans? Into life long fans?Burritoclockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14374448569322397824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-38422790891413599812011-03-07T09:28:03.016-06:002011-03-07T09:28:03.016-06:00I don't think this is really a good experiment...I don't think this is really a good experiment for a newbie. You are established and have a good following. You have multiple books available. <br /><br />I think this just proves that if you are doing good now, you can do even better (if you are established).TheSanPintoTimeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11618877484964426456noreply@blogger.com