tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post6218560472093035350..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.comBlogger211125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-70419879987359189272011-03-23T02:46:13.688-05:002011-03-23T02:46:13.688-05:00robert said:
> I think you owe
> our ho...robert said:<br />> I think you owe <br />> our host an apology.<br /><br />i appreciate your input, robert.<br /><br />but when i consider the totality<br />of what i have said, i disagree...<br /><br />i won't "apologize", because<br />i never leveled any charges<br />specifically against konrath.<br /><br />in fact, i specifically excluded<br />joe from charges, because of<br />the transparency of his tests.<br />did you catch that part, robert?<br /><br />i made my points about a<br />particular tactical strategy,<br />not any one specific person,<br />a strategy which i do believe<br />is a "bait-and-switch", and<br />if that label isn't appropriate,<br />then you can attach another.<br /><br />but it's also the case this is<br />a "self-correcting" problem,<br />in the sense that the books<br />fall out of the top-100 list,<br />due to the raised-up price,<br />just like they got _on_ to<br />the list with the lower price.<br />i'm in the process now of<br />documenting that side of it.<br /><br />i'm also documenting that<br />it's not that easy to move<br />the book into a position<br />where you can benefit from<br />the price-raising strategy.<br /><br />still, deep to its core, it is<br />a _dishonest_ tactic, and<br />if we cannot agree on that,<br />then surely we could agree<br />that it's "gaming the system".<br /><br />i give konrath props, because<br />i'm someone who appreciates<br />the cleverness of somebody<br />who can find a way to do that,<br />because it illuminates the holes<br />in the system. but then those<br />holes need to be _plugged_...<br /><br />i think amazon will do that...<br /><br />and if it doesn't, it'll be because<br />amazon likes the $.99 k-books,<br />because it takes a 65% share...<br /><br />but in the long run, this tactic<br />will harm the recommendation<br />engines that authors depend on,<br />and which readers also rely on.<br /><br />now i am a social psychologist,<br />so i know that in this situation,<br />people are gonna follow their<br />selfish inclinations instead of<br />protecting their group interest.<br /><br />so even though i give everyone<br />the _general_ argument about<br />why this is counterproductive,<br />to raise up their consciousness,<br />i fully expect that authors will<br />"follow the money" anyway...<br /><br />so that's why i've taken the tack<br />of encouraging them to do so...<br /><br />the sooner you all try to work<br />this angle, the sooner everyone<br />will find out that it will not work<br />once everyone is trying to do it,<br />and _you_yourselves_ will soon<br />demand that amazon call a halt,<br />to protect yourselves from your<br />own worst part of yourselves...<br /><br />because of all of these things,<br />i can be very zen about all this.<br />you'll learn this all yourselves;<br />there's nothing i need to teach.<br /><br />so i'm aiming at a bigger picture;<br />joe is just the main exemplar...<br /><br />and he's tough... he can take it.<br /><br />so no, there will be no "apology".<br />this tactic is counterproductive,<br />long-term, and it needs to die.<br />and y'all will see that, so it will.<br /><br />-bowerbirdbowerbirdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05962115094107919533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-14587046027636467182011-03-19T11:48:37.662-05:002011-03-19T11:48:37.662-05:00Bowerbird, your claim that The List "doesn...Bowerbird, your claim that <i>The List</i> "doesn't deserve to be seen as a Top-20 seller" because there's some sort of trickery involved in experimenting with its price, is utterly preposterous. It's insulting not just to Joe, but to all the customers who each <i>willingly pay</i> what they think the book is worth.<br /><br />The only point in getting on the Top 100 list is <i>advertising</i>. Buried in the mountain of titles, Joe's book wasn't getting the advertising benefit of being on a bestseller list, where casual browsers would notice it. So Joe lowered the price of <i>The List</i> to get onto the Kindle Top 100 bestseller list -- if it could. <br /><br />But that determination was made by paying customers, each evaluating the book by comparing it with many other alternatives. Thousands decided to buy <i>The List</i> rather than competing titles, even hundreds also priced at 99 cents.<br /><br />What does that tell us? That <i>the book's previous lower ranking had nothing necessarily to do with its quality -- only its visibility</i>. <br /><br />More people are now discovering a good book that was previously buried invisibly under tons of other titles. And they are buying it <i>even at a higher price</i>, because -- in their judgment -- they think it's <i>worth it</i>.<br /><br />Joe hasn't manipulated anyone, let alone been "unfair." In fact, he <i>paid</i> for his current sales ranking: In effect, he bought advertising space on the Kindle bestseller list. The purchase price for that advertising space can be measured in lost income-per-sale. When he cut his price from $2.99 to 99 cents, Joe also cut his income-per-sale by a factor of six times -- in hopes of bringing his book to the attention of a wider audience.<br /><br />Now that his investment succeeded by winning his book a much bigger audience, he's RECOUPING his lost income-per-sale by raising its price back to $2.99. And the positive market response is telling us that THIS is the book's natural price level. If the book were no good, then people wouldn't be paying that price. But they are -- only because they now know of its existence.<br /><br />It is particularly insulting and completely unfair to accuse Joe of a "bait and switch." You obviously don't even know what that means. The term refers to a <i>fraud</i>: promising a buyer something, taking his money, but then failing to deliver the promised good or service, and providing something else instead.<br /><br />It would only be "bait and switch" if Joe had promised one kind of book, then delivered something different. Or, if he advertised a 99-cent price, then when the customer clicked the Amazon "buy" button, he was billed $2.99 instead. <br /><br />That is NOT what Joe is doing. Everyone who bought his book at 99 cents paid exactly what they were willing to pay. Everyone who bought the book at $2.99 paid exactly what <i>they</i> were willing to pay. No deception or unfairness is involved; each person is deciding individually what the book is worth to him, and getting exactly what he paid for. <br /><br />I think you owe our host an apology.<br /><br />--Robert Bidinotto<br /><a href="http://www.robertthewriter.com" rel="nofollow">RobertTheWriter.com</a>Robert Bidinottohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11777797272563802442noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-30120587401886746932011-03-19T02:47:10.788-05:002011-03-19T02:47:10.788-05:00the trick will eventually die out,
I dunno. It...<i> the trick will eventually die out,</i><br /><br />I dunno. It's been around since the days of P.T. Barnum and the 10 cent item "On Sale Today Only for 15 Cents!" so I don't see it ending soon.<br /><br />But Amazon could separate books below $2.99 into a separate list, as they've done with free books. I think that would be reasonable. Maybe we could even convince the NYT list to do that. (Not.)<br /><br />Tara Maya<br /><a href="http://amzn.to/f3pyrU" rel="nofollow">The Unfinished Song: Initiate (US)</a><br /><a href="http://amzn.to/grH5wR" rel="nofollow">The Unfinished Song: Initiate (UK)</a>Tara Mayahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09095632631554776002noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-21449330117448353822011-03-19T01:22:43.174-05:002011-03-19T01:22:43.174-05:00tara said:
> I'm sure bowerbird
> k...tara said:<br />> I'm sure bowerbird <br />> knew I meant no harm.<br /><br />of course! we're cool, tara! :+)<br /><br />and my previous offer to format<br />your e-book for free still stands.<br /><br /><br />> I still don't agree, however (I <br />> think) that changing the price <br />> somehow accrues bad karma<br /><br />well then clearly you are in <br />a state of complete denial... :+)<br /><br />because this is bait-and-switch,<br />and is almost a classic case of it.<br /><br />at a price of $2.99, the rank for<br />"the list" was down at #1078...<br />after years, it'd stabilized there.<br /><br />priced at $.99, it went to #15.<br /><br />different prices, different ranks.<br />that's _fair_; it reflects reality.<br /><br />that was the bait.<br /><br />the switch was the price-change,<br />back up to $2.99. but the rank<br />stayed the same, in the top-20,<br />where it now had huge visibility,<br />visibility it'd _obtained_ at $.99,<br />but which it is now _exploiting_<br />at the price of $2.99. _unfair._<br /><br />the reality is that it made it to<br />the list using the price of $.99.<br /><br />at $2.99, it doesn't deserve to<br />be seen as a top-20 bestseller...<br />it should go back to rank #1078.<br /><br /><br />> I don't see why you should <br />> suddenly not deserve the <br />> good reviews of your book<br />> if the price changes.<br /><br />hold it... i never said it should<br />lose its _reviews_... those will,<br />at least largely, be independent<br />of the purchase-price, i'd think.<br /><br />same with the star-ratings...<br /><br />but the top-100 bestseller list?<br />that shouldn't be available to<br />books that got onto the list at<br />the lower price and then had<br />their prices jacked up. unfair.<br /><br />and the recommendations of<br />"people who bought this book<br />also bought this other book..."<br />have a clear relationship with<br />the price of the books, as you<br />can see just by looking at 'em.<br /><br />low-priced books are linked to<br />other low-priced books, and<br />high-priced books are linked<br />to other high-priced books...<br /><br />it's a breach of the trust that<br />customers place in the system<br />to be abusing that relationship.<br /><br />are authors gonna do it anyway?<br /><br />probably, which is why amazon<br />should disallow the practice...<br /><br />nobody will benefit long-term if<br />the recommendation engines are<br />sabatoged by gamesmanship...<br /><br /><br />> It's not bad, at least from <br />> the consumer's point of view, <br />> to have turnover <br />> in the top 100 books.<br /><br />but there won't be any diversity<br />once all the bestseller lists are<br />polluted by the books which are<br />priced at a higher level than the<br />one that got them _on_ the list.<br /><br />moreover, eventually customers<br />will "route around the damage"<br />by _refusing_ to buy any book<br />in the top-100 which is priced at<br />a level above $.99, because they<br />will assume it is gamesmanship.<br /><br />the trick will eventually die out,<br />when books immediately fall off<br />the list once prices get raised...<br /><br />plus it will become more difficult<br />for any book to get _on_ the list<br />unless it's priced at $.99, either<br />temporarily or permanently...<br /><br />because every book will have<br />to compete against not just<br />the permanent-price $.99ers,<br />but also those books which are<br />using that price "temporarily"<br />just to make the bestseller list.<br /><br />a book that's _honestly_ priced<br />at $2.99 won't stand a chance.<br /><br />and let me be perfectly clear...<br /><br />this affects _much_ more than <br />just the top-100 bestseller list.<br /><br />all the "temporary" $.99 books<br />will create a massive jam-up<br />at the top of the rank system,<br />and _every_ book underneath<br />will suffer from the traffic-jam.<br /><br />again, downward pressure on<br />pricing is _inevitable_, but this<br />will serve to supercharge the<br />surge of "race to the bottom".<br /><br />but since the trick works now,<br />and works well, and means<br />big cash for the authors who<br />choose to use it, it will be used.<br /><br />so i hope amazon steps in...<br /><br />-bowerbirdbowerbirdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05962115094107919533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-36069093975362457272011-03-18T23:00:05.130-05:002011-03-18T23:00:05.130-05:00My big month was January. February belonged to Bel...My big month was January. February belonged to Bella and Tina over there at BN. ;)Selena Kitthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17783685215421352626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-32078273518674035642011-03-18T22:34:20.587-05:002011-03-18T22:34:20.587-05:00"Erotica really rocked the B&N charts in ..."Erotica really rocked the B&N charts in February. I'd love to see a pie chart for that month including numbers from Selena Kitt, Bella Andre, and Tina Folsom. I have a feeling the erotic piece of pie would be really, really big... so to speak."<br /><br />LOL, Ellen! Really, really, really big....<br /><br />But seriously, just looking at my own numbers and having had GAME FOR LOVE in the top 30 on Barnes and Noble's bestseller list for two weeks in February, I think you're right to guess that our book sales would add up to some *big* numbers.<br /><br />:) BellaBella Andrehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10311489124653224178noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-38714136147045974712011-03-18T22:33:06.022-05:002011-03-18T22:33:06.022-05:00Hal Spacejock rocks!Hal Spacejock rocks!Tara Mayahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09095632631554776002noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-52535650090878324572011-03-18T21:36:05.621-05:002011-03-18T21:36:05.621-05:00@Simon:
I'd love to see you do some stuff tha...@Simon:<br /><br />I'd love to see you do some stuff that you control without Fremantle, Simon. <br /><br />Yeah, I know, everyone here in Oz loves them but really, you've been in this game for so long you deserve the cream now.<br /><br />That main site of yours has been pulling PR1 on google for 'self-publishing' for, what... years, surely?<br /><br />My advice... because it's worth, oh, I dunno, sweet-fuck-all according to my missus: give us a cool new series with that voice of yours. 20-40000 words straight to kindle. <br /><br />I'll buy it.<br /><br />BTW: check out Simon's Hal Spacejock series people.chrisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-60867171603626616392011-03-18T19:33:32.780-05:002011-03-18T19:33:32.780-05:00yes, but simon, you've been
doing this for a l...yes, but simon, you've been<br />doing this for a lotta years...<br /><br />you thought you were gonna<br />pass yourself off as a newbie?<br /><br />some of us know you goin'<br />way way back, brother... ;+)<br /><br />say hello to simon haynes,<br />everybody...<br /><br />-bowerbirdbowerbirdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05962115094107919533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-83023904295421103882011-03-18T18:52:37.619-05:002011-03-18T18:52:37.619-05:00There are four novels in my series and I thought I...There are four novels in my series and I thought I'd report on my findings after ten days of ebook sales.<br /><br />I priced the books at 1.99 for the first in the series and 4.99 for each of the others. There's also a bundle offer of all four books for 14.99.<br /><br />They're sold via my own website, not Amazon. (My publisher holds the worldwide ebook rights. Letting me sell them via my site was a compromise deal - they'll get them onto Amazon eventually.)<br /><br />So far all but three of the sales have been for the 14.99 bundles. Two people took the 1.99 offer on book one, and one reader bought a copy of book 2 at 4.99<br /><br />Sales have accelerated from 1 or 2 bundles per day at the start to 4 or 5 bundles per day now. Doesn't sound like much, but it works out to 60-75 bucks per day at the moment, and even after splitting that 50/50 with my publisher it's already more than the backlist (printed) copies are earning me at 8-10% royalties.<br /><br />I do have a couple of fairly active websites (100k visitors/month between them) which help to publicise the ebooks, but I'm watching with interest for any sign of accelerating sales - that would indicate word of mouth for the books, rather than random folk buying the books because they happened to visit my websites.Simon Hayneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02660767551431793439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-18170610149063555962011-03-18T18:05:15.208-05:002011-03-18T18:05:15.208-05:00@hotboy:
John, if Ancient Futures is the novel yo...@hotboy:<br /><br />John, if Ancient Futures is the novel you have on Kindle you probably have to do some reworking with that cover.<br /><br />Plenty of good cover artists around the place. Joe's (Carl Graves) or Zoe Winters' (Robin Ludwig) cover designers might be a great place to start.chrisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-11634071667458312532011-03-18T17:58:27.762-05:002011-03-18T17:58:27.762-05:00@Bowerbird (somewhere way back in the comments)
N...@Bowerbird (somewhere way back in the comments)<br /><br />No problem. I brought it up because your comment seemed a little 'short'.<br /><br />But, hey, I'm Australian, I get things upside down.<br /><br /><br />@Hotboy:<br /><br />John, read through Joe's blog and glean the info you need to get those unpublished books into the cash. Also go and read Robin Sullivan's blog (write2publish.blogspot.com) she's got some great stuff there too.<br /><br />Hope it goes well for you.chrisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-88176844498476419012011-03-18T17:49:22.392-05:002011-03-18T17:49:22.392-05:00I noticed one of Scott Nicholson’s books is priced...I noticed <a href="http://tiny.cc/p7rsx" rel="nofollow">one of Scott Nicholson’s books</a> is priced at $.89. Amazon must have matched that from somewhere, since their minimum is $.99.<br /><br /><a href="http://tiny.cc/dxhx7" rel="nofollow">Pocket-47</a>Jude Hardinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09994813046526310594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-89501417392953788542011-03-18T17:22:50.407-05:002011-03-18T17:22:50.407-05:00maybe i shouldn't have been
quite so flippant...maybe i shouldn't have been <br />quite so flippant there... :+)<br /><br />i'm _glad_ that sam is open<br />about what he is doing, and<br />i think joe has done writers<br />a _tremendous_ service with<br />how transparent he has been.<br /><br />so when i talk about matters<br />like "gaming the system" and<br />rail against them, don't mistake<br />any of that as condemnation...<br /><br />joe has done nothing "wrong",<br />any more than a kid who takes<br />apart an alarm-clock to see<br />how it works is doing "wrong",<br />even if it ends with the thing<br />not working correctly when he<br />puts it all back together again.<br /><br />even when joe's heart is not<br />completely pure, his openness <br />buys him a lot of forgiveness...<br /><br />just so we're all clear on that...<br /><br />and i think sam should do the<br />price-matching experiment...<br /><br />but he should also grok that<br />amazon is probably listening.<br />i would be, if i were amazon.<br /><br />***<br /><br />mark said:<br />> I'd think that in the terms <br />> writers agree to when <br />> publishing at Amazon, <br />> Amazon reserves the right <br />> to price-match, and <br />> if the price drops down <br />> into the 35% royalty rate, <br />> that is what Amazon will pay<br /><br />i woulda sworn that that's what<br />those terms used to say, but<br />when i checked just yesterday,<br />when the subject came up here,<br />i discovered that amazon pays<br />70% on a price-matched book<br />with a normal price of $2.99...<br /><br />so now i am a bit confused...<br /><br />because it's also the case that<br />amazon has a "favored nation"<br />clause that prohibits you from<br />selling a book at a lower price<br />_as_list_price_ at another site...<br /><br />so i guess if you list a book at<br />the kobo site as $2.99, _but_<br />kobo itself slashes the price,<br />then amazon will still pay 70%<br />if it _matches_the_price_...<br /><br />which is what john is saying.<br /><br />but john was not specific that<br />amazon _will_ actually match<br />a $.99 price on another site...<br /><br />in the past, i recall reports<br />that amazon would _not_<br />price-match below $2.99...<br /><br />so, again... more confusion.<br /><br />so hey!, do the experiment!<br /><br />the worst that can happen is<br />amazon sandbags your book<br />-- stops selling it completely.<br /><br />-bowerbirdbowerbirdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05962115094107919533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-24136738026546076832011-03-18T16:52:36.974-05:002011-03-18T16:52:36.974-05:00Hi! I've had two novel published and eight pla...Hi! I've had two novel published and eight plays produced, but I stuck an unpublished novel on Kindle and it sold diddly squat. Victoria Strauss put me onto this blog. Great stuff! I'll have to read it and try to understand how to do this stuff. I've got seven other unpublished novels to go!! johnmckenzie.blogspot.comHotboyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04968836346704128744noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-49753231080975106352011-03-18T15:20:13.785-05:002011-03-18T15:20:13.785-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Samhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16775300000004502564noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-44513985302045919762011-03-18T15:19:04.927-05:002011-03-18T15:19:04.927-05:00>Dan and Sam
I can confirm that the 70% commiss...>Dan and Sam<br />I can confirm that the 70% commission rate continues on 99 cents books when The River drops the price to match B&N.John Poetzelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10064515472146304426noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-38020799131065814952011-03-18T15:18:30.794-05:002011-03-18T15:18:30.794-05:00"fooling amazon is quite another.
(you can be..."fooling amazon is quite another.<br />(you can bet amazon's listening.)"<br /><br />Yes, I'd think that in the terms writers agree to when publishing at Amazon, Amazon reserves the right to price-match, and if the price drops down into the 35% royalty rate, that is what Amazon will pay. It doesn't make sense otherwise. <br /><br />If it happens and you get the 70% rate, great, but I'd put that down to a glitch rather than Amazon policy.<br /><br />And frankly, the more indies try to game the system and get around Amazon's intentions, the more Amazon will tighten things up and, possibly, begin to pass on that expense to the self-publishers.Mark Asherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13758940020912520294noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-267817691636430202011-03-18T15:09:52.691-05:002011-03-18T15:09:52.691-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.John Poetzelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10064515472146304426noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-11580867145317558802011-03-18T13:53:51.677-05:002011-03-18T13:53:51.677-05:00I'm sure bowerbird knew I meant no harm. I sti...I'm sure bowerbird knew I meant no harm. I still don't agree, however (I think) that changing the price somehow accrues bad karma, or that Amazon should do something that encourages price stickiness. (I think it's much better to let authors experiment with price without feeling afraid of losing their ratings. Personally, such a penalty would make me never want to introduce a $.99 book, for fear of never being able to change it.)<br /><br />It's not bad, at least from the consumer's point of view, to have turnover in the top 100 books. And from the authors point of view, I don't see why you should suddenly not deserve the good reviews of your book if the price changes. If reviewers think a book is "okay since it was $.99" they usually say so. Otherwise, if they liked it, I don't think they would tell people they liked it only at a certain price. Maybe I'm wrong, but that seems weird to me. You can read pbooks at a variety of prices too, including free from the library. <br /><br />Tara Maya<br /><a href="http://amzn.to/f3pyrU" rel="nofollow">The Unfinished Song: Initiate (US)</a><br /><a href="http://amzn.to/grH5wR" rel="nofollow">The Unfinished Song: Initiate (UK)</a><br /><br /><br /><br />Tara MayaTara Mayahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09095632631554776002noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-53626969115716399262011-03-18T13:10:12.553-05:002011-03-18T13:10:12.553-05:00sam said:
> (hoping Amazon will then
> ...sam said:<br />> (hoping Amazon will then <br />> strike it down to 99 cents)<br /><br />you do know amazon <br />can hear you. right? ;+)<br /><br />tricking customers is one thing.<br />(there's a lot of them, and most<br />of 'em aren't probably listening.)<br /><br />fooling amazon is quite another.<br />(you can bet amazon's listening.)<br /><br />-bowerbirdbowerbirdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05962115094107919533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-66880510643602961972011-03-18T13:04:11.191-05:002011-03-18T13:04:11.191-05:00sam's "dirty parts of the bible"
exp...sam's "dirty parts of the bible"<br />experience is a very telling one.<br /><br />he rocketed up to rank #50<br />on the basis of the $.99 price,<br />thanks to some leverage from<br />the amazon recommendations<br />based on "water for elephants".<br /><br />then he raised his price, and<br />his ranking fell. precipitously.<br />the book fell as low as #592...<br /><br />he put the price back to $.99,<br />and has been crawling back, as<br />the rocket is not quite as fast<br />the second time up the charts.<br /><br />here are his numbers:<br /><br />> 2011/03/06, 06pm, #592<br />> <br />> switch from $2.99 to $.99<br />> <br />> 2011/03/09, 07pm, #436<br />> 2011/03/09, 11pm, #350<br />> <br />> 2011/03/10, 09am, #363<br />> 2011/03/10, 04pm, #353<br />> 2011/03/10, 08pm, #312<br />> <br />> 2011/03/11, 08am, #301<br />> 2011/03/11, 01pm, #325<br />> 2011/03/11, 02pm, #310<br />> <br />> 2011/03/12, 05pm, #424<br />> <br />> 2011/03/13, 01pm, #323<br />> <br />> 2011/03/14, 01am, #284<br />> 2011/03/14, 04pm, #282<br />> 2011/03/14, 08pm, #320<br />> <br />> 2011/03/15, 02am, #285<br />> <br />> 2011/03/16, 01am, #256<br />> 2011/03/16, 04pm, #272<br />> <br />> 2011/03/17, 11am, #268<br />> 2011/03/17, 01pm, #294<br /><br />as you can see, the trend is<br />clearly upward, but there are<br />obvious wobbles throughout,<br />and the rise is not so speedy.<br /><br />so this does not appear to be<br />a trick you can use repeatedly<br />on one book in a short time...<br /><br />-bowerbirdbowerbirdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05962115094107919533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-71594234528526031132011-03-18T12:39:24.454-05:002011-03-18T12:39:24.454-05:00Dan: When Amazon itself lowers the price below $2....Dan: <i>When Amazon itself lowers the price below $2.99 they continue to honor the 70% rate. At least that is my experience with this title. Whether that would still hold with a drop to 99 cents I can't say.</i><br /><br />This is the most important question. To me, it seems like the holy grail of pricing to have a 99 cent book earning 70% royalty. <br /><br />I will try to see if Amazon can do it on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dirty-Parts-Bible-ebook/dp/B003K15MO0" rel="nofollow">Dirty Parts of the Bible</a>, by keeping the Nook price at 99 cents and then raising the Kindle price (hoping Amazon will then strike it down to 99 cents). It will take at least week (for the next Amazon sales report) to see if it works...<br /><br />Has anyone else tried this?Samhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16775300000004502564noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-1138364611446671462011-03-18T12:38:34.496-05:002011-03-18T12:38:34.496-05:00as for the $.99 price-point...
lower prices are i...as for the $.99 price-point...<br /><br />lower prices are inevitable...<br /><br />because supply will outrun<br />demand. it is that simple...<br /><br />but just because low prices<br />are "inevitable" doesn't mean<br />that you have to jump to 'em,<br />especially not immediately...<br /><br />now, in particular, given the<br />unfair "royalty" from amazon,<br />it's stupid to jump to $.99...<br /><br />but writers want readers and<br />any "royalty" beats none, and<br />customers love low prices, so<br />the die on this has been cast.<br /><br />but i don't "advocate" $.99...<br /><br />yes, i sometimes make fun of<br />the writers who try to tell us<br />that "i lowered my price and<br />my sales went down" and that<br />"customers don't mind paying<br />higher prices" and "i will not<br />devalue my product" and all<br />of that wishful thinking crap...<br /><br />sure, you'll find some people<br />who "don't mind" high prices.<br />but if you think that _your_<br />product is so special that it<br />defies general economics,<br />you are deluding yourself...<br /><br />$.99 _will_ sell lots of books.<br /><br />but that doesn't mean that<br />it's the "right" price, and i<br />certainly don't "advocate" it.<br /><br />because i simply don't care<br />how you price yer darn book,<br />since i ain't buying it anyway.<br />put that in a pipe. smoke it.<br /><br />***<br /><br />as for gaming the system...<br /><br />yes, i think it's a bad idea...<br /><br />i think it's a _terrible_ idea!<br /><br />but not because it won't work.<br />it will work. and spectacularly.<br />that's a big part of the problem.<br /><br />thanks to a suggestion from<br />robin, i've been tracking the<br />ranking for "color of heaven",<br />which used its $.99 price to<br />get in the top-100 and then<br />raised the price up to $2.99...<br /><br />because of the higher price,<br />its ranking has been falling,<br />but it has taken a full 12 days<br />to drop from #17 to #74...<br /><br />> 2011/03/06, 04pm, #17 <br />> 2011/03/07, 05pm, #26 <br />> 2011/03/08, 05pm, #38 <br />> 2011/03/09, 02pm, #42 <br />> 2011/03/10, 05pm, #46 <br />> 2011/03/14, 04pm, #54 <br />> 2011/03/15, 02am, #62 <br />> 2011/03/16, 01am, #76 <br />> 2011/03/16, 04pm, #74 <br />> 2011/03/17, 01pm, #68 <br />> 2011/03/18, 10am, #74<br /><br />it might take another 9 days<br />-- or more, who knows? --<br />to drop out of the top-100,<br />so it has made _boatloads_<br />of cash after its price-raise.<br /><br />and "the list" will do the same.<br /><br />(and it's not like either will<br />_stop_ making money after<br />they fall out of the top-100.)<br /><br />so this "strategy" does work,<br />in the sense that it delivers<br />a bunch of cash to a writer...<br /><br />the unintended side-effect,<br />however, is that it also ruins<br />the usefulness of the engine<br />that does recommendations,<br />and the value of the top-100.<br /><br />readers depend on those<br />systems to cull through the<br />massive amount of e-books<br />being offered these days!<br /><br />and every writer, including<br />konrath and other authors<br />who are gaming the system,<br />wants to -- _needs_ to! --<br />_make_use_ of those same<br />recommendation systems,<br />and thus depends on them<br />to be healthy and work right.<br /><br />that's how your work can be<br />_found_, for crying out loud!<br /><br />so gaming those systems is<br />like shitting where you eat...<br /><br />now, hopefully amazon will<br />realize that it, too, depends<br />on having a healthy system,<br />and it will make rules that<br />prevent any such "gaming".<br /><br />(it will be easy enough to<br />have a rule that says that<br />you lose your ranking if<br />you raise your price and<br />you have to start over...<br />or maybe you would just<br />forfeit 200 ranking slots,<br />or whatever does the job.)<br /><br />in regard to the point that<br />authors have been gaming<br />the system for months now,<br />that might well be true, but<br />when joe konrath uses a trick,<br />his transparency means that<br />a big bunch of people will be<br />using that trick from now on.<br /><br />so the issue is now serious...<br /><br />-bowerbirdbowerbirdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05962115094107919533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-25664393564362392862011-03-18T12:28:48.547-05:002011-03-18T12:28:48.547-05:00the references to poetry
are interesting, because
...the references to poetry<br />are interesting, because<br />it is precisely my history<br />helping to create the art<br />of performance poetry<br />for the 21st century that<br />gives me experience in<br />the self-publishing realm.<br /><br />the whole process of taking<br />something that was seen<br />as "worthless" and trying<br />to obtain the attention<br />of an audience is one<br />with which i am familiar.<br /><br />i've seen a lot of people<br />trying a lot of different<br />tactics to get a leg up...<br /><br />so i know which ones<br />work, and which ones<br />don't work, and which<br />ones backfire on you...<br /><br />i have had "skin" in this<br />"game" for a long time...<br /><br />-bowerbirdbowerbirdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05962115094107919533noreply@blogger.com