tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post3161587221127360068..comments2024-03-28T02:00:11.260-05:00Comments on A Newbie's Guide to Publishing: Ebook Sales Down? Here Are 15 Tips!JA Konrathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08778324558755151986noreply@blogger.comBlogger67125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-34946400672738402082015-01-12T05:43:16.497-06:002015-01-12T05:43:16.497-06:00Joe, Thanks for the pep talk and book promotion ad...Joe, Thanks for the pep talk and book promotion advice. I was wondering which selling platform folks were having the most success with, selling on Amazon or Smashwords or somewhere else?<br /><br />Do you advise trying to learn how to convert your own books to the different sellers formats and also learn loading one's own books to save money or should new author's pay to have that done and work on something else like social media marketing?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01478662888666992521noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-83633991319960773172014-10-24T16:23:26.577-05:002014-10-24T16:23:26.577-05:00Excellent tips to keep in mind. As an emerging sel...Excellent tips to keep in mind. As an emerging self-published author I have found that having at least two varieties of my book definitely boosts traffic and downloads. I have a free audiobook-style podcast and a recently published ebook for my science fiction novel FRACTURED. Even the tip you mentioned on getting your book translated (something that is still a daunting thought) helps push me in the right direction. Here's to hoping the ebook purchases start coming in as I alter my process! Thank you for these ideas, especially the one on using advertising boards! Raeelliotthttp://www.raeelliottbooks.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-7812321375723361642014-09-18T03:36:47.854-05:002014-09-18T03:36:47.854-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12033557853688240475noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-48135270256130000152014-09-15T09:51:35.000-05:002014-09-15T09:51:35.000-05:00Joe,
Have you (or anyone else) ever used or heard...Joe, <br />Have you (or anyone else) ever used or heard of "NetGalley" or "PR Newswire"..? I have read that becoming an IBPA (Independent Book Publishers Association) has certain benefits but I am not sure.. <br /><br />Shawn RaifordAntifragile Authorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02718366632724826266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-92027898646839979192014-09-14T20:44:00.864-05:002014-09-14T20:44:00.864-05:00Here is my secret to creating more sales of ebooks...Here is my secret to creating more sales of ebooks or print editions. Be committed to being a 1-percenter. <br /><br />First: Create a damn good book. And disregard the over-emphasis on perfect editing and a great book cover. Instead, follow this valuable advice that has served me well over the years.<br /><br />"It's better to do a sub-par job on the right project than an excellent job on the wrong project."<br />— Robert J. Ringer<br /><br />Second: Once you have written the "damn good book", then put more time and effort to promote the book than 99 percent of writers are not willing to do. My motto is: <br /><br />"Content may be king but promotion is the supreme ruler."<br /><br />Just a note that I first started self-publishing in 1989, with my role model being Robert J. Ringer. He is the only person to the best of my knowledge to write, self-publish, and market three #1 New York Times bestsellers in print editions. His books sold several million copies in the 1970's and the 1980's. Not so long two of Ringer's self-published books were listed by "The New York Times" among the 15 best-selling motivational books of all time.<br /><br />Robert J. Ringer was a 1-percenter and that was the key to his success. It it the key to my success as well. That is why my pretax income from self-publishing (and just a bit from traditional publishing) will likely be around $200,000 this year. (By the way, I only work one or two hours a day.)<br /><br />Part of being a 1-percenter at marketing is coming up with marketing techniques that virtually no one else is using. I have at least 50 to 100 original creative techniques that I have used over the years to sell over 800,000 copies of my books (mainly self-published). I have used similar unique techniques to get 111 books deals with foreign publishers. My books are now published in 22 languages in 29 different countries. I have accomplished this without using a North American foreign rights agent.<br /><br />Incidentally, as I write this, the print edition of my self-published "How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free" has an overall sales ranking of 176 on Amazon.com. Yesterday it reached 144. I self-published this book over 10 years ago. True, I have never gotten this book in Amazon's top 100. But when I do, it won't be because of luck. It will be because of the many creative techniques that I use to generate sales, techniques that most writers are too lazy or too uncreative to come up with.<br /><br />Here are three reasons via quotations why I make a great living as a self-publisher today by working one or two hours a day:<br /><br />“The amount of money you make will always be in direct proportion<br />to the demand for what you do, your ability to do it, and the difficulty of replacing you.”<br />— Earl Nightingale<br /><br />"The great creative individual is capable of more wisdom and virtue than collective man ever can be."<br />— John Stuart Mill<br /><br />"The good ideas are all hammered<br />out in agony by individuals, not<br />spewed out by groups."<br />— Charles Bower<br /><br />Moral of the story: Paying your dues as a writer and marketer takes time. At first, you must put in a lot more creativity and effort into new projects than you get out of them. You will put in five to ten times what you are getting back. Later, you will break even, getting back something equal to what you put in. In time, however, you will get back ten to twenty times what you put in. This is when you will be prosperous and free. People will then wonder why you are so lucky compared to them.<br /><br />Ernie J. Zelinski<br />The Prosperity Guy<br />"Helping Adventurous Souls Live Prosperous and Free"<br />Author of the Bestseller "How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free"<br />(Over 200,000 copies sold and published in 9 languages)<br />and the International Bestseller "The Joy of Not Working'<br />(Over 275,000 copies sold and published in 17 languages) Ernie J. Zelinskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01271565900719821395noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-87140312623752209252014-09-12T13:13:27.782-05:002014-09-12T13:13:27.782-05:00Hey Joe,
I've always thought I had you beat on...Hey Joe,<br />I've always thought I had you beat on both age and number of rejections before I went indie.<br />Yeah, sales are flat. I keep writing because it's fun and I have a very efficient support staff. I'd like to increase my number of readers. Note that I said "readers." I'm not in this for $$$, but I'd like to cover costs. My pricing seems to follow yours closely, so I think I'm competitive there.<br />PR and marketing isn't my forte, but your ideas are a useful checklist to keep trying.<br />r/SteveSteven M. Moorehttp://stevenmmoore.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-14168845259414523842014-09-12T11:06:33.262-05:002014-09-12T11:06:33.262-05:00I could be wrong, but it seems there was more calc...<i>I could be wrong, but it seems there was more calculation than luck involved.</i><br /><br />Have you ever read a good book that wasn't successful? Have you ever read a successful book that wasn't good?<br /><br />Calculation doesn't mean much without luck. Deliberately targeting a specific audience, or using a proven formula, is no guarantee you'll be seen, let along bought. Too many steps along the way involve things beyond the writer's control.<br /><br />ORIGIN was an extremely calculated effort by me to emulate the success for Jurassic Park. It got over 50 rejections before I self-pubbed. Jack Daniels was specifically meant to evoke the fear of serial killer thrillers such as Thomas Harris, and the fun of mystery and police procedural authors like Robert Parker and Ed McBain. When I published, there were modern successful authors in each field, Patterson and Evanovich.<br /><br />But I never got Lee Child level distribution, so my sales were modest... until the Kindle came along. <br /><br />I got lucky that I sold the series. Unlucky that it didn't become a bestseller. Lucky that ebooks were developed. Unlucky that my series was controlled by a publisher who had no clue what to do with it. Lucky I found a way to get those books back. Lucky that when I did, the sold.<br /><br />Some of my favorite authors never had huge success. Thomas Cook, Rob Kantner, Graham Masterton, wrote as well or better than Lawrence Block, Robert Crais, and Stephen King. Yet they never achieved the same sales. <br /><br />Blackburn, by Bradley Denton, had a serial killer as the hero years before Dexter. F. Paul Wilson invented urban fantasy, but never hit the heights of Jim Butcher or Laurel K Hamilton.<br /><br />Luck always plays a part, no matter how deliberate or talented or hardworking the author is.JA Konrathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08778324558755151986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-74471731486958286422014-09-12T09:53:24.496-05:002014-09-12T09:53:24.496-05:00I put a lot of free content on my blog, and Blogge...I put a lot of free content on my blog, and Blogger has a gadget for translating every page. Now that's sweet.Ripley Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10057163192303993783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-78137281370920353012014-09-11T19:43:09.072-05:002014-09-11T19:43:09.072-05:00"So am I also selling myself short when I say..."So am I also selling myself short when I say my career has been built on luck, too?"<br /><br />Absolutely.<br /><br />"Shh. No one tell Travis McGee."<br /><br />Exactly. When you were a kid, it was Travis McGee. When I was a kid, it was the A-Team and MacGyver. Lee did nothing new. He took a proven formula and refined it through a series of books that slowly gained more commercial success than either of the other previously mentioned IPs. I could be wrong, but it seems there was more calculation than luck involved.Joshua Simcoxnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-4593774679792867972014-09-11T14:23:55.019-05:002014-09-11T14:23:55.019-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16298343190864662091noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-8043200901280421862014-09-11T11:21:01.183-05:002014-09-11T11:21:01.183-05:00and the power of legacy distribution more so than ...<i>and the power of legacy distribution more so than luck. </i><br /><br />Getting legacy distribution like Lee has gotten is indeed luck. Maybe 1 author in 50,000 gets that kind of distribution. <br /><br /><i>he refined the formula until it reached a new level of commercial appeal</i><br /><br />Shh. No one tell Travis McGee.<br /><br /><i>To say that he built his entire career on luck would be selling the man short.</i><br /><br />So am I also selling myself short when I say my career has been built on luck, too?<br /><br />It's always luck. You can't force people to buy your book. Most people don't know your book even exists.JA Konrathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08778324558755151986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-60253426854961032952014-09-11T07:52:14.890-05:002014-09-11T07:52:14.890-05:00Someone up the thread asked about translators.
I&...Someone up the thread asked about translators.<br /><br />I'n trying babelcube.com where you can put your book/s up for free with no upfront costs and you share the royalties.<br /><br />As there's no way I'd ever manage to afford to get a series translated (or even ONE book!), this seemed the only option to enable me to see my books in translation. <br /><br />Though, since doing this, I've read a post on Joanna Penn's blog where she asked for translators interested in a royalty-share deal to contact her. So if you, too, have a load of visitors to your blog it might be worth trying that.Geraldine Evanshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16995524076543017163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-62969022306372021292014-09-11T07:47:46.133-05:002014-09-11T07:47:46.133-05:00Thanks, Joe. Commonsense, as always.
I'm toda...Thanks, Joe. Commonsense, as always.<br /><br />I'm today trying some promos for the first book in my 15-strong mystery series, which I finally managed to persuade amazon to price-match to free in the US.<br /><br />Hope they don't decide to switch it back to paid before the promos start! Geraldine Evanshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16995524076543017163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-81095309936111074992014-09-11T04:33:02.296-05:002014-09-11T04:33:02.296-05:00Thanks for the informative post, Joe. Going back t...Thanks for the informative post, Joe. Going back to the grindstone now.Meb Bryanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03429690082160319693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-25963603826612136662014-09-11T03:29:48.004-05:002014-09-11T03:29:48.004-05:00Ah, BookBub! My submission was rejected within 12 ...Ah, BookBub! My submission was rejected within 12 hours. In my effort to "think positive" and to heed JK's tip #13, at least it's better than waiting around for months to be rejected by some big name industry agent/publisher. #jerks Anjo Bordellhttp://anjobordell.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-89359068623082136562014-09-11T03:00:30.417-05:002014-09-11T03:00:30.417-05:00Joe take a shot and two beers, call me in the morn...Joe take a shot and two beers, call me in the morning.Harry Sarkisianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02734703704447800714noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-14911477174880496312014-09-11T01:30:12.147-05:002014-09-11T01:30:12.147-05:00Holy crap! A real post about publishing without a ...Holy crap! A real post about publishing without a negative word about someone else! I nearly had a heart attack. I just pop in here to see if you'd ever get back on track with the original purpose of this blog: to help new indie writers. To actualy be a "guide to publishing", not a place where you bitch and moan about Hachette/Amazon/New York. It's good to see some real advice here again.<br /><br />Thanks, man!Nick Marsdenhttp://www.nickmarsdenauthor.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-5708535189999633192014-09-10T22:57:26.094-05:002014-09-10T22:57:26.094-05:00The human brain is inter alia, a pattern seeking m...The human brain is inter alia, a pattern seeking mechanism--and often finds patterns where none exist. The mind is scared shirtless of randomness. Luck in publishing scares those who buy into the myth that if you work hard, take your vitamins, and do the Hokey Pokey, you will turn yourself around. One of the great things about this blog is the repeated statement that the above myth ain't necessarily so. Luck is the uncontrollable factor, you can be prepared as all get out but sometimes opportunity doesn't show up. So the moral of the story is continue playing the game as the more you play, the more possibilities to get lucky arise. It isn't fair, but fair is a large part of the words fairy tale.w.adam mandelbaumnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-42224567885904281212014-09-10T19:07:03.886-05:002014-09-10T19:07:03.886-05:00"He fell into the same trap that many do; bel..."He fell into the same trap that many do; believing he deserves his success, and then backward-engineering why. The conclusion he drew was that cream rises to the top. He's wrong--it's luck."<br /><br />I would attribute Lee's success to an appealing formula (backed with solid craftsmanship) and the power of legacy distribution more so than luck. He's really no different than Coca-Cola in the sense that he produces a product from a successful formula that millions of people enjoy consuming.<br /><br />The concept of a problem-solving knight errant was certainly nothing new when Child penned his first Reacher--THE A-TEAM and MACGYVER were doing it way back when I was a toddler--but he refined the formula until it reached a new level of commercial appeal. Maybe luck was a small part of the equation, but Child strikes me as someone who knew what he was doing from the very beginning--right down to the way he structures his sentences for maximum impact. To say that he built his entire career on luck would be selling the man short.Joshua Simcoxnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-56847161013096285662014-09-10T18:16:56.308-05:002014-09-10T18:16:56.308-05:00I totally agree that success depends in a lot of v...I totally agree that success depends in a lot of variables that aren't in our control. You may write a potential best-seller and happen to release it just as someone with more name recognition releases a similar book, condemning yours to obscurity, for example.<br /><br />There are no guarantees, so the only thing to do is keep showing up until you hit that bullseye - or until you die trying. The only thing that's guaranteed is that you'll lose if you stop trying. <br /><br />I started last November. I'm finishing my third novel right now (and yeah, I'll get back to work in a few minutes), learning what works and what doesn't by trying new things (and by reading blogs like this one, of course). No instant success here, but I've sold over $5K from Amazon KDP so far, and I'm hoping to double that amount in 2015 and triple it in '16. <br /><br />I'm not holding my breath waiting for my books to sell 100,000 or a million copies. If it happens, awesome. If it doesn't, oh, well. Either way, I will keep writing, trying new things and having the time of my life.C.J. Carellahttp://cjcarella.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-10944089812399168672014-09-10T18:04:56.295-05:002014-09-10T18:04:56.295-05:00I just gotta say, I love these practical tips. I f...I just gotta say, I love these practical tips. I feel like they can easily be incorporated by both indie authors and trad pubbed authors looking to supplement their publishers efforts. Great tips, thanks!<br /><br /><a href="http://fromsarahwithjoy.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow">Sarah Allen<br />(writing blog)</a>Sarah Allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01185278849400551014noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-35925383031776280412014-09-10T17:25:29.793-05:002014-09-10T17:25:29.793-05:00when preparedness meets opportunity.
Woody Allen ...<i>when preparedness meets opportunity.</i><br /><br />Woody Allen said 80% of success is showing up.<br /><br />Maybe. But when someone else has the power of yes or no, showing up, plus talent and hard work, may not be enough.<br /><br />My very same books that were rejected by publishers have earned me hundreds of thousands of dollars. My very same books that were accepted by publishers have earned me 10x what I made through them now that I have my rights back.<br /><br />Why?<br /><br />There is nothing intrinsic in a bestseller. Sure, there are formulas that work, and a minimum amount of ability required, but you can't qualitatively compare two mysteries and figure out why one sold a million copies and another sold a hundred.<br /><br />Texas Bullseye fallacy. Anyone can attribute significance after the fact. The trick is to predict it. <br /><br />In publishing, that's impossible. No one knows. If they did, every Big 5 book would be a huge bestseller.JA Konrathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08778324558755151986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-1452661686599326482014-09-10T17:19:31.221-05:002014-09-10T17:19:31.221-05:00I've never heard Lee say that his books sell b...<i>I've never heard Lee say that his books sell better than Author X's because they're better than Author X's</i><br /><br />It was from a conversation we had years ago, and it stuck with me. His participation in Authors United, and the BBC interview he did, support a position of legacy entitlement, which I strongly disagree with. But I could very well be misrepresenting him, and he might very well disagree with me. I haven't spoken with Lee in a while, and I shouldn't put words into people's mouth.<br /><br />That said, it took a lot of self-control not to fisk his BBC appearance. Had it been available as a transcript, I would have.JA Konrathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08778324558755151986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-3914317860045155162014-09-10T17:16:00.889-05:002014-09-10T17:16:00.889-05:00Joe, you were willing to act when new opportunitie...Joe, you were willing to act when new opportunities arrived.<br /><br />Many people simply can't do this....<br /><br />You can't have change without change!<br /><br />Uncertainty is a fact. <br /><br />People spend a lot of time/energy/money trying to deal with the feelings that the fact of uncertainty brings up.<br /><br />Most of these coping mechanisms lead to limitation and life getting pretty small.<br /><br />"I don't know how it will turn out" - which feels really uncertain - becomes "I won't try." The result being that nothing new is ever attempted.<br /><br />Uncertainty is the place of creativity. <br /><br />Every painter has faced the blank canvas, every writer has faced the blank page/screen...no one knows exactly what will end up there.<br /><br />Does that feeling paralyze you or intrigue you?<br /><br /><br /><br />Veronica - Eloheimhttp://eloheim.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-64585027510701336662014-09-10T15:54:38.461-05:002014-09-10T15:54:38.461-05:00So instead of random forces at play that do not ca...So instead of <i>random forces at play that do not care about you, and function without any predictability</i>, maybe one of our definitions of luck could be <i>when preparedness meets opportunity</i>. :)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16298343190864662091noreply@blogger.com