tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post4760917954932508094..comments2024-03-18T06:16:18.802-05:00Comments on A Newbie's Guide to Publishing: LOL NYTJA Konrathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08778324558755151986noreply@blogger.comBlogger132125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-7196657109540821212011-03-18T14:55:30.339-05:002011-03-18T14:55:30.339-05:00You make me laugh, Joe.
And I bet when you read ...You make me laugh, Joe. <br />And I bet when you read these 'lists' you laugh yourself, all the way to the bank. <br /><br />I think what I like best about digital is that the market sets the record straight, and levels a very uneven playing field. And the reader benefits.Ursulahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13202399120717363308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-59902889520208268332011-03-18T10:50:51.749-05:002011-03-18T10:50:51.749-05:00It Took The NY Times 14 Months And $40 Million Dol...It Took The NY Times 14 Months And $40 Million Dollars To Build The World's Stupidest Paywall<br /><br />http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110317/10393913530/it-took-ny-times-14-months-40-million-dollars-to-build-worlds-stupidest-paywall.shtmlGeorge Carravagionoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-53500803514281261542011-03-18T10:08:14.430-05:002011-03-18T10:08:14.430-05:00I wonder if there is really such a thing as unbias...I wonder if there is really such a thing as unbiased reporting. <br /><br />I received an email from a journalist yesterday telling me he doesn't interview ebook authors. I had included some of my book sales, awards, etc. and he completely missed that all of the books, except for AMONG WOMEN, are print books, including several anthologies in the Chicken Soup and Cup of Comfort books. <br /><br />I have been following your blog for a few weeks and just published my own ebook last week, but I wonder how long it takes to make a name and the kind of sales you and your colleagues are making. Except for Amanda Hocking, who came out with several books at once, all of the authors I've read on your blog already had fans and a following and several books in print. I wonder if it is possible to make the kind of sales you and the others are listing without a name or without at least a half dozen books in fantasy/paranormal genres. <br /><br />J M Cornwell<br />Among WomenJacklyn Cornwellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07703031152094274587noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-10096070855415241302011-03-18T04:04:54.290-05:002011-03-18T04:04:54.290-05:00I also strategized. I placed Distortion at $0.99 a...I also strategized. I placed Distortion at $0.99 and I placed the sequel, Agenda, at $2.99. I hope to gain some customers by making the series cheap to buy into. I also got the covers redone even though the books are basically new. Hopefully the rest of the books will sell themselves:) Thanks for the knowledge, Joe! I've gotten some great advice from your blog.<br /><br />Dodge WinstonDodge Winstonhttp://www.dodgewinston.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-61407485488648320432011-03-17T15:17:36.868-05:002011-03-17T15:17:36.868-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.J. E. Medrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09505810773159064262noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-34364555685453498892011-03-17T15:00:57.047-05:002011-03-17T15:00:57.047-05:00I think soon they will be running in fear of the I...I think soon they will be running in fear of the Indy's. The times they are a-changin'. <br />(and I think Konrath is leading the pack)Aimlesswriterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03012050763172251381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-76810266118421337712011-03-16T16:32:28.798-05:002011-03-16T16:32:28.798-05:00Joe:
If you've added up numbers for kindle, i...Joe:<br /><br />If you've added up numbers for kindle, ibookstore, smashwords, nook, kobo, and sony and then compared those with the totals for Nancy and Victoria and Debbie and came out ahead, then I admit I am misguided and the NYT has become an irrelevant rag.<br /><br />As for your second point about Hocking being on the same list as Twilight: I have no response. It's ridiculous for the NYT to leave her off it.<br /><br />The funny thing is that if you and Amanda and Locke have indeed been intentionally snubbed by the NYT, they're making an even bigger statement (albeit one that will hurt only the NYT) with it than if they had just put you guys on the list in the first place (where you deserve to be).<br /><br />- zAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-32062978358526660702011-03-16T15:31:22.916-05:002011-03-16T15:31:22.916-05:00Ack. I love misguided anonymous posters...
The Ti...Ack. I love misguided anonymous posters...<br /><br /><i>The Times' list adds eBook sales across ALL platforms. While Joe and John Locke are cleaning it up on Kindle, they are not doing so well on the other platforms (yet) it seems, and perhaps they just don't have the overall numbers (yet) to make the cut.</i><br /><br />Wrong. We both outsold Nancy and Vicki, who made the Times' list. We should have been on it.<br /><br /><i>Amanda Hocking wouldn't make the list even if she were published by New York. The NYT does not include YA/Children's titles.</i><br /><br />Twilight was on the Children's Bestseller List on the NYT. So why isn't Amanda?<br /><br />Bestseller should mean "that which sells best."<br /><br />Thanks for playing, though.JA Konrathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08778324558755151986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-65202473050458368882011-03-16T11:03:34.485-05:002011-03-16T11:03:34.485-05:00Makes me think of Dr Hook's 'Cover of the ...Makes me think of Dr Hook's 'Cover of the Rolling Stone'Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09398802177166008567noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-17327374270347012662011-03-16T10:22:27.888-05:002011-03-16T10:22:27.888-05:00To all the NYT staff posting here under "Anon...To all the NYT staff posting here under "Anonymous" -- <br /><br />This is the boss. Get back to work!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-70662542741028094802011-03-16T09:58:54.605-05:002011-03-16T09:58:54.605-05:00Couple of points:
1 - The Times' list adds eB...Couple of points:<br /><br />1 - The Times' list adds eBook sales across ALL platforms. While Joe and John Locke are cleaning it up on Kindle, they are not doing so well on the other platforms (yet) it seems, and perhaps they just don't have the overall numbers (yet) to make the cut.<br /><br />2 - Amanda Hocking wouldn't make the list even if she were published by New York. The NYT does not include YA/Children's titles (stemming from the Harry Potter days when they didn't want JK Rowling to take up half the spots on their list)<br /><br />So, Victoria and Debbie are legit (and not 'slipped on by mistake'), and all indies should feel encouraged that even the NYT will eventually let you on their list if you sell enough ACROSS ALL PLATFORMS.<br /><br />- zAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-57325535635359318182011-03-16T09:44:50.798-05:002011-03-16T09:44:50.798-05:00Ouch! That's funny, Joe!Ouch! That's funny, Joe!William Kendallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00331324250821836822noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-37877392128037858282011-03-16T08:49:12.236-05:002011-03-16T08:49:12.236-05:00Meant to mention that although the NY Times doesn&...Meant to mention that although the NY Times doesn't count books sold in many independents and on street corners, my pocketbook does. Both titles were published traditionally, but I'm thinking of following Joe's route.Connie Briscoehttp://writerrevealed.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-17662709483481400332011-03-16T08:41:37.652-05:002011-03-16T08:41:37.652-05:00As someone who has been on that NY list I can tell...As someone who has been on that NY list I can tell you that it doesn't have to mean a ton of sales. Recognition, yes. But recognition doesn't necessarily equal mega-sales. My best-selling novel (600,000 copies sold to date) never made the NY list and it sold five times more copies than the one that made the list. The title that didn't make the NY list sold mainly in small, independent bookstores and by vendors on street corners. The NY Times doesn't count them. True story.Connie Briscoehttp://writerrevealed.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-52830077483009234532011-03-16T04:38:17.533-05:002011-03-16T04:38:17.533-05:00nyt going to list ebks. Declines to list indie aut...nyt going to list ebks. Declines to list indie authors? That's just wrong. <br /><br />Reminds me of the great hero of Fitzmoromount. What's that noise I hear? Oh just the wind, Sire. A storm wind? No Sire, just the wind. Oh good, well everyone carry on as you were.<br /><br />...meanwhile, deep in the forest...500,000 armed indie authors march toward the undefended castle.<br /><br />On another note, long ago, before B and N/ Borders/ Joe Beth/Books a Million... when there were huge numbers of indies on the land, an author had to sell about 1000 books a month to make the bottom of the NYT list.<br /><br />As a journo and author, I'd say NTY pays no attention to the 'great unwashed' the same way they segregated sales of how to/ advice books from children's books, from paperbacks, from hardbacks, from fiction, from non-fiction. USA Today, I believe was the first to take 'em all on and list by sales from their reporting chains and stores, etc. <br /><br />Books a Million chain, for a long while, made their own bestseller list because they thought the NYT and PW and USA and Lib Journo lists were too, ah, unearthy in certain ways. <br /><br />As far as I know, the NYT list cant be bought, but.... some groups would buy up 'in bulk' certain political polemic books and thereby tilt the list... thus the NYT used to run in small print under those indicating that the book(s) showed unusual bulk sales the week prior.<br /><br />Also NYT likely wont list indie authors, I would guess, because indies are unlikely to pay ka-jillion rupees for ads, as the big six and also the little 600 often enough do. If the indies were throwing money around, NYT would be right there, is my hunch. <br /><br />Being in NYT list used to be good for one thing, increasing reach/ name recog. Now, watching what Joe and others have done, NYT not needed. Not. <br /><br />whomever copied out part of a review from NYT, it's just that too that is so passe, so not G. The idea that one person who imagines they breathe rarified air, can be a tastemaker for others. For one, I am glad to see the indies blow that pretentious set of t's on a boar hog out of the water. Ahem, that's a saying from the backwoods where I grew up. It goes... Worthless as a pair of t's on a boar hog. I know. Low class. The nyt would think so too. lol<br /><br />keep going Joe<br /><br />dr.cpeArchangelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18358062143743621676noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-19572917304213844432011-03-16T00:19:57.121-05:002011-03-16T00:19:57.121-05:00I have been reading this blog for only a few weeks...I have been reading this blog for only a few weeks now, and I am yet to publish anything on line. I have had a novel sitting on my hard drive, that I wrote two years ago, collecting cyber dust.<br /><br />I am furiously getting it ready to publish, hopefully by end of April, and I am now of the mind that every second I'm not getting it ready, is a second where I'm losing money.<br /><br />Thanks, Joe!LThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00073246755854400428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-14638022166179511062011-03-15T23:58:22.207-05:002011-03-15T23:58:22.207-05:00Awesome, just awesome. Thanks for a much needed la...Awesome, just awesome. Thanks for a much needed laugh. Derek also covered this on his blog. http://derekjcanyon.blogspot.com/2011/02/nyt-ebook-best-seller-list-excludes.html<br /><br />Stephen Knight said...<br />"The former "Gray Lady" continues to breathlessly chase relevance. Oh well."<br /><br />"Chase" relevance? More like dodge it like a hand grenade.<br /><br />The only good thing the NYT still does is cut paychecks for Paul Krugman, Nate Silver, and a few others. When those start to bounce, the Times will be worse than useless.Edward L Cotehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14261808281615177237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-29550596300836725732011-03-15T23:31:22.230-05:002011-03-15T23:31:22.230-05:00Thanks for noticing, Anon! And don't ask me ho...Thanks for noticing, Anon! And don't ask me how I got on there, with no mention of Amanda Hocking or John Locke or whoever.<br /><br />IDENTITY CRISIS is making fewer sales on Amazon than my sequel, but selling like gangbusters for Nook, so ... maybe that's it. What the hell do I know?<br /><br />And, no, I didn't pay kickbacks to anyone. lolDebbihttp://midlistlife.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-78536744688993902542011-03-15T23:18:19.094-05:002011-03-15T23:18:19.094-05:00I've been waiting for this post for a long tim...I've been waiting for this post for a long time Joe. What's the over/under for how long the N.Y. Times ignores the fact indies are outselling bestselling authors with their ebooks. A year? Six months? Are they going to be floating in the Ark before they finally admit those might be rainclouds overhead?Gary Ponzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13171541464149058048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-62968915423632241182011-03-15T22:12:54.739-05:002011-03-15T22:12:54.739-05:00Rose, I think I'd enjoy Mr. Chartwell too. And...Rose, I think I'd enjoy <i>Mr. Chartwell</i> too. And the reviewer seemed to like many aspects of the book.<br /><br />What bothers me most about the NYT bestseller list, and some of their reviews, is the idea that something can be chick lit OR literature, genre fiction OR art, an Indie bestseller OR a NY Times official bestseller. As a reader, I think some things aren't either/or, but both. <br /><br />P.S. Sorry that I keep typing "Indy"--I mean "Indie." (Although I'm sure Indianapolis has many wonderful writers too.)Maryann E.https://www.blogger.com/profile/12657281659463875079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-37912979089771490542011-03-15T21:55:07.076-05:002011-03-15T21:55:07.076-05:00Bella Andre and Tina Folsom have both been in the ...<i>Bella Andre and Tina Folsom have both been in the top hundred recently. </i><br /><br />Yep. I had three in the top ten on BN for a while there. However, I was NOT listed on BN's sidebar top ten on the front page. On that list, erotic/adult books are excluded. <br /><br />They do show up when you click the full list, though.Selena Kitthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17783685215421352626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-77403310916216653912011-03-15T21:45:40.620-05:002011-03-15T21:45:40.620-05:00Am I the only one who saw at least 2 indy authors ...Am I the only one who saw at least 2 indy authors on that NYT e-book list? Debbi Mack, at #35, and another author whose publisher was CreateSpace (Amazon self-publisher)? The list clearly didn't exclude them.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-89911014807792199422011-03-15T21:43:10.248-05:002011-03-15T21:43:10.248-05:00Yet again, another great article. Thanks, Joe.
I ...Yet again, another great article. Thanks, Joe.<br /><br />I don't know how you find time to update the site daily, but I'm glad you do.LThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00073246755854400428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-10556805913696757862011-03-15T20:14:19.150-05:002011-03-15T20:14:19.150-05:00Couple of points:
1 - Amanda Hocking wouldn't...Couple of points:<br /><br />1 - Amanda Hocking wouldn't be on the list even if she were published by New York. The NYT doesn't include YA/Children's titles (stemming from the Harry Potter days when they did not want to have JK Rowling hog all the spots on every list at the time)<br /><br />2 - Joe's 'The List' is doing well on Amazon, but remember that here they are taking ALL sales and not just Kindle sales. Perhaps he doesn't make the cut when you add up all ebook vendors and apply the weightings that the NYT uses<br /><br />3 - Perhaps John Locke is in a similar situation as Joe in that he is a Kindle guy. Also, note that the NYT exlcudes books offered by a single vendor, so maybe this applies here too (although I did see that John Locke sells on Pubit as well but maybe that's a recent addition). Still, I think Locke said the vast majority of his sales are on Kindle.<br /><br />Also:<br /><br />#36 on the eBook fiction list is Debbie Mack and her publisher is listed as Debbie Mack, so it's not that the others slipped through because of having a publisher name.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books/2011-03-20/e-book-fiction/list.html" rel="nofollow"> Latest NYT eBook Fiction List</a><br /><br />- zAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-3351230909685737242011-03-15T20:10:22.298-05:002011-03-15T20:10:22.298-05:00Couple of counter-points:
1 - Amanda Hocking woul...Couple of counter-points:<br /><br />1 - Amanda Hocking wouldn't be on the list even if she were published by New York. The NYT doesn't include YA/Children's titles (stemming from the Harry Potter days when they did not want to have JK Rowling hog all the spots on every list at the time)<br /><br />2 - Joe's 'The List' is doing well on Amazon, but remember that here they are taking ALL sales and not just Kindle sales. Perhaps he doesn't make the cut when you add up all ebook vendors and apply the weightings that the NYT uses<br /><br />3 - Perhaps John Locke is in a similar situation as Joe in that he is a Kindle guy. Also, note that the NYT exlcudes books offered by a single vendor, so maybe this applies here too (although I did see that John Locke sells on Pubit as well but maybe that's a recent addition). Still, I think Locke said the vast majority of his sales are on Kindle.<br /><br />Also:<br /><br />#36 on the eBook fiction list is Debbie Mack and her publisher is listed as Debbie Mack, so it's not that the others slipped through because of having a publisher name.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books/2011-03-20/e-book-fiction/list.html" rel="nofollow"> Latest NYT eBook Fiction List</a><br /><br />- zAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com