tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post6239247118583246993..comments2024-03-28T02:00:11.260-05:00Comments on A Newbie's Guide to Publishing: More Advantages to Self-PublishingJA Konrathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08778324558755151986noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-61013799941531935492016-04-05T08:21:30.544-05:002016-04-05T08:21:30.544-05:00Awesome post, Joe. I like the way you write. Would...Awesome post, Joe. I like the way you write. Would like to share with you one article that might be an excellent addition to your self-publishing list, here is a link to it: http://bit.ly/1Tz8jzI<br />Enjoy reading, waiting for your feedback!Anthony Bergshttps://writersperhour.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-22255759175516323292016-04-01T18:09:06.629-05:002016-04-01T18:09:06.629-05:00>> Anonymous Anonymous said...
"On...>> Anonymous Anonymous said...<br /><br /> "Only 40 Self-Published Authors are a Success, says Amazon"<br /><br /> https://claudenougat.wordpress.com/2016/02/07/only-40-self-published-authors-are-a-success-says-amazon/<br /><br /><br /> How about fisking the above article?<<<br /><br />I don't think it deserves a fisking, honestly. <br /><br />Just off the top of my head, the Amazon Kindle All Stars pays prizes to their top 100 KU authors based on pages read. To get to the _bottom_ of the list, you need to have about 2.5 million pages read, which amounts to $10,000-12,000 in earnings, depending on the per-page payout on a given month. That means a hundred people are making at least $10,000 a month, which may not be Stephen King money but certainly well above the median income in the US. And that's the top hundred among people enrolled in the KDP Select program. So, actually, there are a lot more than 40 people 'making it' in self-publishing. The author seems to think there are 40 people selling 200,000+ copies a year and then people selling a couple hundred books a year, and nobody in between. C.J. Carellahttp://www.cjcarella.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-88593260073383964992016-03-31T14:38:26.627-05:002016-03-31T14:38:26.627-05:00Very interested in hearing how the price increases...Very interested in hearing how the price increases affect your sales. And looking forward to reading all your new releases! The rock star? It's either Elvis Costello or Chris Isaak.William J. Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03363006166880987871noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-83259343682290818302016-03-30T08:35:58.287-05:002016-03-30T08:35:58.287-05:00Great post. Thanks! I have decided to self-publish...Great post. Thanks! I have decided to self-publish due to the lack of constraints on wordage. My novel falls short of the 80,000 - 90,000 word count traditional publishers want and my story is told in full under that. I have had it critiqued professionally just to make sure I wasn't missing anything - I wasn't. It is now with an editor and I am really excited to get it finished and on the market for readers by the end of the year. Hopefully it will excite readers as much as it excited me to write it. All the best and have a great week. Nicolahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14674648154579013578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-69747757488966364982016-03-30T03:01:25.532-05:002016-03-30T03:01:25.532-05:00"Only 40 Self-Published Authors are a Success..."Only 40 Self-Published Authors are a Success, says Amazon"<br /><br />https://claudenougat.wordpress.com/2016/02/07/only-40-self-published-authors-are-a-success-says-amazon/<br /><br /><br />How about fisking the above article?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-3398153587075544592016-03-28T23:17:46.896-05:002016-03-28T23:17:46.896-05:00What does KENP mean?What does KENP mean?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-62542634248904531422016-03-27T13:02:13.500-05:002016-03-27T13:02:13.500-05:00Thanks for the great post, as usual! You have inf...Thanks for the great post, as usual! You have informed many of my choices in self-publishing, including releasing my first e-book, Age of Mystics, today. I can not thank you enough for the education you provide to those of us looking at our options.<br /><br />Cheers!<br />Chris WaltersChris Waltershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02353151722804641170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-36530705462358368972016-03-27T09:32:31.152-05:002016-03-27T09:32:31.152-05:00I did a crossover combining my "America's...I did a crossover combining my "America's Galactic Foreign Legion" series with "Breaking Bad." (America's Galactic Foreign Legion - Book 21 - Breaking Very Bad) I'm told it's legal if you're work is a spoof. Maybe. There are hundreds of "Breaking Bad" spinoff products for sale on Amazon.com, and I doubt they all got permission.<br /><br />http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51c26uEu70L._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-v3-big,TopRight,0,-55_SX278_SY278_PIkin4,BottomRight,1,22_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpgWalter Knighthttp://www.waltknight.yolasite.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-21758251342822883102016-03-26T23:26:12.904-05:002016-03-26T23:26:12.904-05:00(Just got Rum Runner via KU, btw).
I have done a ...(Just got Rum Runner via KU, btw).<br /><br />I have done a lot of price experimentation. Currently offering full-lenght (100,000+ words) novel at $3.99, any novels shorter than that at $2.99, and short-story to novella lengh at $0.99. I might try a higher price point in the future, but right now I'm worried about messing with a good thing. And I'm finding that deep discounts still work when trying to grow an audience.<br /><br />I released my last novel for an introductory $0.99 price for 12 days. It was the first of a new series/genre, and wanted to use the discount marketing websites like AwesomeGang and Fussy Librarian to promote the book release. Not sure how or why, but it was a huge success. I sold over 3,000 copies at the promo price, and when I raised it to my customary $3.99, the high rankings helped sell another 3,000 copies the rest of that month(not counting over 2 million KENP pages read during the same period). KU accounted for well over 60% of sales, and a much higher ratio during the low-price period.<br /><br />Admittedly, during the same month I also scored a Book Bub promo for my first novel (after seven attempts), so the new novel might have benefitted from that. Still I'll definitely keep releasing new novels at a low price for a week or two. I found doing it manually instead of using a Kindle Countdown Deal worked out better because my international sales (which were also at the discounted price) also shot up markedly - I ended up making more money from the UK alone than I normally did from the US in a 'normal' month.C.J. Carellahttp://www.cjcarella.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-33059402467397421602016-03-26T19:13:51.352-05:002016-03-26T19:13:51.352-05:00"When I like an author, I want to read as muc..."When I like an author, I want to read as much as I can by that author."<br /><br />My hippie aunt introduced me to Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. in 1972. After reading "Breakfast of Champions" I tracked down everything I could find from Vonnegut. <br /><br />As for Dr. A... Found "Nine Tomorrows" and then spent about a bazillion years tracking down everything Asimov.<br /><br />Binge reading works for me.<br /><br />DanD. C. Chesterhttp://1008productions.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-5512207422734147882016-03-26T15:19:01.800-05:002016-03-26T15:19:01.800-05:00Yeah, yeah, yeah, still on my agenda for this year...Yeah, yeah, yeah, still on my agenda for this year. Going well. I'm kicking myself.Mark Terryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09410424046477699059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-35106006394849188612016-03-26T13:30:39.591-05:002016-03-26T13:30:39.591-05:00As always, great information to make wise decision...As always, great information to make wise decisions in this business. Thanks!Jill Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10754506629717417267noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-32591901768730059912016-03-25T19:06:10.035-05:002016-03-25T19:06:10.035-05:00Thanks for the tip on KDP pricing support. I'l...Thanks for the tip on KDP pricing support. I'll be checking that soon. I feel comfortable keeping my longer novels at 4.99 but if readers are OK with 5.99, I wouldn't want to leave money on the table. For the last six months, page reads have been my primary revenue stream, and overall revenue has been better than ever.Joe Flynnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17862186143599173970noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-47229155392535452042016-03-25T15:57:40.448-05:002016-03-25T15:57:40.448-05:00Just got my copy of Rum Runner, which I will read ...Just got my copy of Rum Runner, which I will read as soon as I am finished the paperback I started earlier today.<br /><br />Looking forward also to the sequels to Origin and The List.<br /><br />Keep up the great work!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03744213559043498004noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-59192580230948980862016-03-25T13:31:29.788-05:002016-03-25T13:31:29.788-05:00Cool info on pricing. I'm in DC and have been ...Cool info on pricing. I'm in DC and have been attending Robin Sullivan's Meetup seminars. She'll be interested in your change of pricing strategy since she mentioned how you had been so insistent on the lower pricing in the past. <br /><br />Long time lurker, first time (I think) commenter. Thank you for all the great info here!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00261662186220686183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-82022614556779175302016-03-25T13:19:48.624-05:002016-03-25T13:19:48.624-05:00I'm a big fan of novellas and love that they a...I'm a big fan of novellas and love that they are more possible now. It means I can read a whole story and not have my whole day disappear. A lot of my stories end up being novella length too, so that's nice for me. The idea of crossing over in novels sounds cool. I hadn't thought about doing it with books.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-87809484049053559612016-03-25T11:12:14.994-05:002016-03-25T11:12:14.994-05:00Glad to see a new blog post, especially one this i...Glad to see a new blog post, especially one this informative. I love the crossover ideas and releasing so many works at once. Good luck with all of them!Krileyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14077299876012365866noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-54001546724854609752016-03-25T11:05:47.313-05:002016-03-25T11:05:47.313-05:00Being a long time comic book geek, I absolutely lo... Being a long time comic book geek, I absolutely love Crossovers. Since the Griffin and Price series I write is already a collaboration with another author, James A. Moore, we've been experimenting with crossing over some of our other characters, like Jim's monster hunter Jonathan Crowley with my Occult Detective, Carter Decamp. Jim and I are currently working with half a dozen other horror writers on a big round robin crossover of a slew of occult detective types. And of course, because of your Kindle World, I was able to have my private eye Wade Griffin meet Jack Daniels in VIRGIN ZOMBIE. I want to write another Konrath Kindle World story soon, when I get a little time. So yeah, love crossovers. Charles R. Rutledgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14265387377510655973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-68665655100570453232016-03-25T10:46:39.324-05:002016-03-25T10:46:39.324-05:00I am encouraged to see your pricing comments; I th...I am encouraged to see your pricing comments; I think readers will be okay with paying a reasonable amount for your books - and other books - if they get the value of a good story. And I've been perturbed by the race to make everything so inexpensive there's no margin of safety.<br /><br />A $5.49 recommendation from the Amazon pricing beta service sounds quite reasonable - I followed the steps and got a 2.99 recommendation for my (one) novel; it must be at least partly based on comps and sales - that seems way too low for me.<br /><br />Meanwhile, the most important career move still seems to be 'write more books.'<br /><br />Thanks for the information and the advice and your example.ABEhrhardthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17211038591900883672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-10374414859222906952016-03-25T10:38:17.925-05:002016-03-25T10:38:17.925-05:00Nice. That's a lovely area. Can't wait to ...Nice. That's a lovely area. Can't wait to read it. Donna White Glaserhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00802142273102557253noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-44358523231950349072016-03-25T10:20:11.424-05:002016-03-25T10:20:11.424-05:00This is where you shine. Don't wait six years ...This is where you shine. Don't wait six years to do it again.Joshua Simcoxnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-24694615264279566582016-03-25T10:17:54.219-05:002016-03-25T10:17:54.219-05:00Hayward, maybe?
I call it Spoonward, which is a ...<i>Hayward, maybe? </i><br /><br />I call it Spoonward, which is a Hayward/Spooner portmanteau. That way I can get away with stuff. :)<br /><br />JA Konrathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08778324558755151986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-18149572716438804902016-03-25T09:59:21.020-05:002016-03-25T09:59:21.020-05:00I'm excited to watch how layering the launches...I'm excited to watch how layering the launches of these separate worlds works out for you. I think it's genius. I think a lot of us have felt the drop in sales and as usual, instead of bitching about it, you've come up with an innovative approach to tackling the issue. Good on you! I'm also really looking forward to reading Rum Runner--it sounds like it's based up in my neck of the woods. Northwestern Wisconsin. Hayward, maybe? I got the download of RR last night and was all Whoo hoo! A new Jack!Donna White Glaserhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00802142273102557253noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-9797000627437525902016-03-25T09:58:42.603-05:002016-03-25T09:58:42.603-05:00I've been noticing this with Kindle Unlimited ...I've been noticing this with Kindle Unlimited ever since they came out with KU2 last summer. KU has always cannibalized sales, but at least readers had an incentive to purchase during bargain promotions, so they could get the audiobook for $1.99. In KU2, if they borrow the book, they can get the audiobook for $1.99, so there's never an incentive to purchase. Since I don't have the giant backlist that you do--and that you really need, nowadays, to make KU2 feasible--I noticed my income dropped 50% with KU2. I had to leave Select and go wide, to continue to make a living. Now, Amazon is only about 55% of my income. With the new KU2 rules, and with more ad blogs advertising links to distributors other than Amazon, it's actually possible to make wide work--and work better than Select, which is a first. Amazon's dip into the subscription model has left the door wide open for the other retailers to really get into the game. Christyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13141337002051004406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-50058692994093984532016-03-25T08:35:30.308-05:002016-03-25T08:35:30.308-05:00Great post as usual Joe. I had a beer with Eric De...Great post as usual Joe. I had a beer with Eric Devine and Vincent Zandri the other night and we were discussing this very thing. Indy self published works. Love it. I've been doing it for awhile now thanks to your advice but have caught the big fish yet, as they say. I'm hoping to hook a Grade A agent soon with one of two new unpublished books Serial Disturbances and Ghostwritten. Both outside of my comfort zone but very mature and different from my usual over the top pros. I need to raise my profiler. Feel kind of like a needle in a hay stack at Amazon.com right now. I look forward to reading the new ones from you Joe. Best! BRYAN HIGBYhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01126595775432851053noreply@blogger.com