A few years ago, two of the major bookstore chains went into the publishing business, and began producing their own books, both classic titles and new content.
It made complete sense. Why split money with publishers when you can publish it yourself and make a larger profit?
Yet, none of them ever took the next logical steps--signing a big-name author to an exclusive publishing deal. Or reprinting backlist titles that continue to sell on the used book circuit.
Seems like a missed opportunity. But then, they're retailers first and foremost, and expanding into publishing carries a lot of costs and risks.
Now, in the days of ebooks, we have the Kindle, the Sony Reader, the iPhone, and the Barnes and Noble nook.
The savvy, ewise author knows how to get his books on these devices. Mine already are, or soon will be. Kindle in particular makes it very easy to do, and Sony is stepping up as well. I'll be on iTunes soon thanks to IndiaNIC, and B&N thanks to Smashwords.com.
But Amazon, Sony, Apple, and B&N are missing out on a way to make a lot more money.
Publishers get rich by having exclusive content. Only one publisher has Stephenie Meyer. The others do not.
And yet Amazon, Sony, Apple, and B&N all carry Stephenie Meyer on their sites, for their ereaders. They're sharing the pie.
Sharing is not the main problem. All bookstores share. But in the case of Amazon, Sony, and B&N, they LOSE money on each book sold. Print publishers, in an effort to stave off the inevitable, charge these companies several dollars more for the ebook than the companies are selling them for.
The result? Every time Twilight sells, the etailer loses money. In fact, a good portion of the ebooks sold lose money for the etailer.
If the etailors got wise, they'd try to make deals with authors directly. But they won't, or can't. Because there is a cost and risk associated with publishing ebooks, the same as there is with publishing print books.
This is a shame. I'd love to sign an exclusive ebook contract, and have the etailer promote it. Sell it at a low price, and we'd both make a nice bit of change.
Maybe this will happen in the future. In the meantime, it seems like a smart person, or company, could capitalize on the current situation.
Let's call these people estributors.
In the book world, a distributor such as Ingram, Baker & Taylor, Partners, or Anderson, is the middleman between the publisher and the retailer. They warehouse the books from the publisher, and fufill orders to the bookstores and bookselling outlets.
What the ebook world needs is a middleman who can facilitate sales between Luddite authors with backlists but no tech savvy, and etailers selling ebooks.
An estributor could contact NAME authors (not self-pubbed newbies) for shelf novels and out of print backlists, arrange for cover art, format for Sony, nook, Kindle, and iTunes, and take a small percentage, say 10%, of the profits for a set amount of time.
The etailers would be making a profit from estributors, rather than hemorrhaging money like they're doing right now. Ebook prices stay low, which the customers want. And authors can concentrate on writing rather than all the tech stuff.
There are millions of out of print books still under copyright but not under contract. Estributors could position themselves to rival the sales of large publishers, if they get in while they can.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
The Game
Just got back from Bouchercon, and had one of those revelation moments.
When I play, I play to win. That's the point for me. If I lose, I try to learn from it so I can win next time.
Traditional publishing is a game where I'm not allowed to win.
I suppose this is rather obvious. There are too many factors involved--luck being one of the biggies--that are out of my control.
But if I look at my writing career, I've done my best to have as much control as possible. I was the guy who sent out 7000 letters to libraries, who visited over 2000 bookstores, who blog toured over 100 sites in a single month, who gathered 10,000+ names for his newsletter, who talked about social networking before anyone knew what Facebook was.
I think all of this has had a positive effect on my career. I've made some money. I'm still selling books.
But even with my best effort, and with all I've learned, I'm not allowed to win.
Winning involves big print runs and marketing campaigns and distribution. No matter how hard I try, or how well I play the game, those things aren't up to me.
So along comes ebooks.
For the first time, there's a level-playing field. It's no longer about who has 200 copies of their latest hardcover on the Borders New Release table for five weeks at 40% off cover price. It's no longer about huge New York Times ads, or getting a review in People magazine. It's no longer about being available at every Walgreens and CVS.
I have no idea if I'll be able to win the ebook game. There are still a lot of factors involved.
But it's nice to finally feel like I actually have a chance to compete.
When I play, I play to win. That's the point for me. If I lose, I try to learn from it so I can win next time.
Traditional publishing is a game where I'm not allowed to win.
I suppose this is rather obvious. There are too many factors involved--luck being one of the biggies--that are out of my control.
But if I look at my writing career, I've done my best to have as much control as possible. I was the guy who sent out 7000 letters to libraries, who visited over 2000 bookstores, who blog toured over 100 sites in a single month, who gathered 10,000+ names for his newsletter, who talked about social networking before anyone knew what Facebook was.
I think all of this has had a positive effect on my career. I've made some money. I'm still selling books.
But even with my best effort, and with all I've learned, I'm not allowed to win.
Winning involves big print runs and marketing campaigns and distribution. No matter how hard I try, or how well I play the game, those things aren't up to me.
So along comes ebooks.
For the first time, there's a level-playing field. It's no longer about who has 200 copies of their latest hardcover on the Borders New Release table for five weeks at 40% off cover price. It's no longer about huge New York Times ads, or getting a review in People magazine. It's no longer about being available at every Walgreens and CVS.
I have no idea if I'll be able to win the ebook game. There are still a lot of factors involved.
But it's nice to finally feel like I actually have a chance to compete.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Kindle Numbers: Traditional Publishing Vs. Self Publishing
I got quite a shock last week, when I got my bi-annual royalty statement.
Hyperion publishes six titles in my Jack Daniels series. They gave me my ebook figures.
Authors are usually quite secretive about their sales and their royalties.
Me? I'm spilling the beans. Here are my ebook Kindle numbers from Jan 1 to June 31, 2009.
Whiskey Sour priced at $3.96: 550 sales, $341 earned.
Bloody Mary priced at $7.99: 180 sales, $381 earned.
Rusty Nail priced at $7.99: 153 sales, $341 earned.
Dirty Martini priced at $6.39: 202 sales, $604 earned.
Fuzzy Navel priced at $7.59: 152 sales, $341 earned.
That's 1237 ebooks sold in six months. Total money in JA's pocket: $2008.
Why do these numbers vary so much?
I get 25% of the amount received by the publisher. Depending on the deal my publisher makes with Amazon, that can be anywhere from 62 cents to $3 per ebook sold.
We can draw a simple conclusion looking at these sales: a $4 ebook sells 3 times as many copies as an $8 ebook.
Now lets compare these to my self-published Kindle sales. I'll use my four novels for comparison. This is also for a six month period.
The List priced at $1.99: 5142 sales, $3600 earned.
Origin priced at $1.99: 2619 sales, $1833 earned.
Disturb priced at $1.99: 1139 sales, $797 earned.
Shot of Tequila at $1.99: 900 sales, $630 earned.
That's 9800 ebooks sold in six months. Total money in JA's pocket: $6860.
I get 35% of the price I set on Kindle, or 70 cents per ebook download.
We can draw some simple conclusions looking at these numbers.
Ebooks priced at $4 sell an average of 1100 ebooks per year.
Ebooks priced at $8 sell an average of 342 ebooks per year.
Ebooks priced at $2 sell an average of 4900 ebooks per year.
It doesn't take a math whiz to see that the biggest profit is with low priced ebooks.
Now let's play the imagination game.
My five Hyperion ebooks (the sixth one came out in July so no royalties yet) each earn an average of $803 per year on Kindle.
My four self-pubbed Kindle novels each earn an average of $3430 per year.
If I had the rights to all six of my Hyperion books, and sold them on Kindle for $1.99, I'd be making $20,580 per year off of them, total, rather than $4818 a year off of them, total.
So, in other words, because Hyperion has my ebook rights, I'm losing $15,762 per year.
Now Hyperion also has my print rights, and my Jack Daniels books are still selling in print. But they aren't selling enough to make up the $15,762. Especially since all of them aren't regularly being stocked on bookstore shelves.
According to my math, I'd be making more money if my books were out of print, and I had my rights back.
Of course, there are a lot of different factors at play here. Certain titles are more popular than others. Print sales may fuel ebook sales. Ebooks sales may wane (though mine haven't yet.) Branding and name recognition and past customers and fans all come into play, making this damn confusing and far from conclusive.
That said, do I really want to keep signing deals with print publishers?
$3430 per ebook per year isn't really a big number. I've certainly never been paid so small an advance for a novel.
And yet, I'm 100% sure ebook sales are going to go up. I've signed deals with Smashwords to sell ebooks through Barnes and Noble, Apple to sell ebooks as iTunes apps for the Iphone and iPod Touch, and Sony to sell ebooks on their reader. Kindle was just released in 100 more countries. I predict more ebook sales in the near future.
Let's say by the end of 2010 I can make $5000 per year per ebook title by self publishing. I can easily write four books per year.
Again, $20,000 per year isn't enough to live on. But things begin to accumulate.
$20k per year for 4 new books, plus $20k per year for the books I'm already selling, is $40k per year.
But I'm selling more than novels on Kindle. I also have 6 collaborations and short story collections. This year I'm also going to put The Newbie's Guide to Publishing ebook on Kindle.
So now we're looking at 14 ebooks, each making $5k per year. That's $70,000 a year.
And as more people buy ereaders and ebooks, that number can go up. Plus, I publish on my schedule, I keep the profits, and best of all, the rights are 100% mine. So if I want to do a limited print edition, I can. If I want to sell the mass market paperback rights, I can.
Ebook rights began as gravy. I can picture a day when the print rights are the gravy, and authors make their living with ebooks.
Yes, it's still far off. And yes, print publishing is in no danger of going away anytime soon.
But I don't think I'll ever take a print contract for less than $30,000 per book, because I'm confident I could make more money on it over the course of six years than I could with a publisher over six years.
Isn't that bizarre?
For the bestselling author, this is all still very trivial. These numbers are chump change compared to the advances they get.
But for the midlist author, I'm beginning to think it's possible to make a living without print contracts.
I've struggled mightily to break into print. And I've made a nice chunk of change on my print novels.
Now I'm hoping those novels go out of print, so I can get my rights back.
I never would have guessed my mindset would change so dramatically in so short a time.
DISCLAIMER: YOUR MILEAGE MAY VARY
If you're a new author, reading this and thinking about the fame and fortune you'll make on ebooks, I urge you to try the traditional route first. Find an agent. Land a deal with a big NY house. Ebooks aren't there yet.
I'd hate to think some writer gave up on their print aspirations because of something I've said on my blog. I suggest you keep up the agent search, and hold out for that major deal. While I have no doubt others will be able to sell as many ebooks as I have, and probably many more, I still haven't made anywhere near the money I've made by being in print. Plus, everyone's situation is unique, and no writer should compare themselves to any other writer.
Most of all, don't change the future of your career based on one man's ideas. Learn as much as you can about all of your options, do research, get other opinions.
Hyperion publishes six titles in my Jack Daniels series. They gave me my ebook figures.
Authors are usually quite secretive about their sales and their royalties.
Me? I'm spilling the beans. Here are my ebook Kindle numbers from Jan 1 to June 31, 2009.
Whiskey Sour priced at $3.96: 550 sales, $341 earned.
Bloody Mary priced at $7.99: 180 sales, $381 earned.
Rusty Nail priced at $7.99: 153 sales, $341 earned.
Dirty Martini priced at $6.39: 202 sales, $604 earned.
Fuzzy Navel priced at $7.59: 152 sales, $341 earned.
That's 1237 ebooks sold in six months. Total money in JA's pocket: $2008.
Why do these numbers vary so much?
I get 25% of the amount received by the publisher. Depending on the deal my publisher makes with Amazon, that can be anywhere from 62 cents to $3 per ebook sold.
We can draw a simple conclusion looking at these sales: a $4 ebook sells 3 times as many copies as an $8 ebook.
Now lets compare these to my self-published Kindle sales. I'll use my four novels for comparison. This is also for a six month period.
The List priced at $1.99: 5142 sales, $3600 earned.
Origin priced at $1.99: 2619 sales, $1833 earned.
Disturb priced at $1.99: 1139 sales, $797 earned.
Shot of Tequila at $1.99: 900 sales, $630 earned.
That's 9800 ebooks sold in six months. Total money in JA's pocket: $6860.
I get 35% of the price I set on Kindle, or 70 cents per ebook download.
We can draw some simple conclusions looking at these numbers.
Ebooks priced at $4 sell an average of 1100 ebooks per year.
Ebooks priced at $8 sell an average of 342 ebooks per year.
Ebooks priced at $2 sell an average of 4900 ebooks per year.
It doesn't take a math whiz to see that the biggest profit is with low priced ebooks.
Now let's play the imagination game.
My five Hyperion ebooks (the sixth one came out in July so no royalties yet) each earn an average of $803 per year on Kindle.
My four self-pubbed Kindle novels each earn an average of $3430 per year.
If I had the rights to all six of my Hyperion books, and sold them on Kindle for $1.99, I'd be making $20,580 per year off of them, total, rather than $4818 a year off of them, total.
So, in other words, because Hyperion has my ebook rights, I'm losing $15,762 per year.
Now Hyperion also has my print rights, and my Jack Daniels books are still selling in print. But they aren't selling enough to make up the $15,762. Especially since all of them aren't regularly being stocked on bookstore shelves.
According to my math, I'd be making more money if my books were out of print, and I had my rights back.
Of course, there are a lot of different factors at play here. Certain titles are more popular than others. Print sales may fuel ebook sales. Ebooks sales may wane (though mine haven't yet.) Branding and name recognition and past customers and fans all come into play, making this damn confusing and far from conclusive.
That said, do I really want to keep signing deals with print publishers?
$3430 per ebook per year isn't really a big number. I've certainly never been paid so small an advance for a novel.
And yet, I'm 100% sure ebook sales are going to go up. I've signed deals with Smashwords to sell ebooks through Barnes and Noble, Apple to sell ebooks as iTunes apps for the Iphone and iPod Touch, and Sony to sell ebooks on their reader. Kindle was just released in 100 more countries. I predict more ebook sales in the near future.
Let's say by the end of 2010 I can make $5000 per year per ebook title by self publishing. I can easily write four books per year.
Again, $20,000 per year isn't enough to live on. But things begin to accumulate.
$20k per year for 4 new books, plus $20k per year for the books I'm already selling, is $40k per year.
But I'm selling more than novels on Kindle. I also have 6 collaborations and short story collections. This year I'm also going to put The Newbie's Guide to Publishing ebook on Kindle.
So now we're looking at 14 ebooks, each making $5k per year. That's $70,000 a year.
And as more people buy ereaders and ebooks, that number can go up. Plus, I publish on my schedule, I keep the profits, and best of all, the rights are 100% mine. So if I want to do a limited print edition, I can. If I want to sell the mass market paperback rights, I can.
Ebook rights began as gravy. I can picture a day when the print rights are the gravy, and authors make their living with ebooks.
Yes, it's still far off. And yes, print publishing is in no danger of going away anytime soon.
But I don't think I'll ever take a print contract for less than $30,000 per book, because I'm confident I could make more money on it over the course of six years than I could with a publisher over six years.
Isn't that bizarre?
For the bestselling author, this is all still very trivial. These numbers are chump change compared to the advances they get.
But for the midlist author, I'm beginning to think it's possible to make a living without print contracts.
I've struggled mightily to break into print. And I've made a nice chunk of change on my print novels.
Now I'm hoping those novels go out of print, so I can get my rights back.
I never would have guessed my mindset would change so dramatically in so short a time.
DISCLAIMER: YOUR MILEAGE MAY VARY
If you're a new author, reading this and thinking about the fame and fortune you'll make on ebooks, I urge you to try the traditional route first. Find an agent. Land a deal with a big NY house. Ebooks aren't there yet.
I'd hate to think some writer gave up on their print aspirations because of something I've said on my blog. I suggest you keep up the agent search, and hold out for that major deal. While I have no doubt others will be able to sell as many ebooks as I have, and probably many more, I still haven't made anywhere near the money I've made by being in print. Plus, everyone's situation is unique, and no writer should compare themselves to any other writer.
Most of all, don't change the future of your career based on one man's ideas. Learn as much as you can about all of your options, do research, get other opinions.
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
Working With a Publicist by Rebecca York
Full disclosure. I've never hired a publicist. My two main reasons--being cheap and thinking I could do it all myself--aren't really valid, because I frankly never looked deeply into the subject.
When I asked writer Rebecca York about her experiences, this was her response:
-----------------------
There was a time when an author could sit back in her comfortable office and focus on the word processor. Her job was writing the best book she could. Her publisher’s job was printing, publicizing and distributing her book. But things have changed dramatically over the past few years. Today a writer’s also got to do something about publicity, or her book is likely to get lost in the great sea of publications that come out every month.
I’d love the luxury of simply sitting and writing. And give a few lectures a year to enthusiastic audiences. But how are readers going to know I’ve got a book out? Unless they’re poring through future pub lists, I need to let them know they can get the next exciting book in my werewolf series in–October. And hopefully I can also interest some new readers in my work.
A full-blown promotion effort is a lot of work–more than I can do myself. Which is why I’ve hired several people to help me. My latest release is DRAGON MOON, which came out from Berkley on October 6. The heroine is Kenna, a slave from my alternate universe, sent here to help her ruthless dragon-shifter master invade our world. She meets werewolf Talon Marshall and desperately wants to tell him her frightening secret. But every time she tries to reveal her plight, excruciating pains stab into her head. Even as Kenna and Talon fall in love, he can’t trust her. And she struggles to break through the barriers that control her mind. It’s classic romantic suspense, with the paranormal twists I love.
But how do I tell people about the book? I’ve got several strategies, with three different "publicists" who each bring something to my book promotion.
For years I’ve used Binnie Syril Braunstein of Press Kit Communications. I met her because she lives in my local area. Mainly she makes and sends out ARCs of my single-title Berkley releases to readers’ groups and review sites. And recently, to save money, I asked her to send out "teasers" to some of these groups. The teasers were the first seven chapters of DRAGON MOON, and we got a good response from them. Also, some of the review sites have asked me for interviews. Another thing we tried with this book was offering to give away ARCs to people who would post reviews of DRAGON MOON. Again, this got a great response.
Another key part of my marketing plan for DRAGON MOON involves Circle of Seven Productions. I’ve had them produce a book trailer for the past five of my Berkley single-title releases. This time I also bought a special package they offered in conjunction with Between Your Sheets, a weekly e-newsletter that goes out to readers. (I’m one of the participating authors.) Although COS isn’t strictly a publicist, they do a lot of the same things. They made a great video for DRAGON MOON which you can see on my Web site at www.rebeccayork.com They distributed it to a lot of outlets on the Web including Youtube.
And the video will also be playing on television stations in Northern California. The special deal with them also included a review, blog entries, Tweets about the video that drove traffic to my Web site, and a podcast. (Which became two podcasts!)
But I was looking for more exposure. For DRAGON MOON, I added another publicist, Dana Kaye, recommended by a friend. Dana’s got media savvy and some great contacts. She’s filled in the blanks in my book promotion strategy by sending a DRAGON MOON press kit to various newspapers, magazines, blogs, radio and television shows. As a result of her work, I’m now writing this guest blog entry. She’s also set up a podcast for me as well as several other blogs and articles. And she’s following up on these contacts.
In addition, Dana’s helped me with some other aspects of publicity that I hadn’t used effectively. She linked my Tweets to my Facebook page, made a background for my Twitter page, started me a Facebook fan page, and advises me on my Web presence.
All of the above seems to be working for me. I’m getting a lot of visibility, and I’m not spending a fortune, either. One thing I discovered after doing several book videos with COS is that the shorter ones are probably the most effective. So I’m buying their least expensive products and taking advantage of their media presence. Also, both Binnie and Dana give me excellent value for my money.
In the quest for effective promotion, I’ve learned from my past experiences. Two years ago I hired an expensive publicist and was much less pleased with the relationship. She charged me for her time while she had me paying third-party suppliers for various projects like my Web pages and press kit. Unfortunately, she had a bad habit of getting into disagreements with her suppliers, costing me extra money and sometimes leaving me with not-quite-completed work.
If you’re looking for help with your publicity, find out up front what the publicist will do for you and how much it’s going to cost. Be prepared to be a partner with your publicist. She should listen to your ideas and use them if they make sense. Keep in mind that the most expensive services aren’t necessarily going to be the best for you. And be open to opportunities you might not have considered on your own.
--------------------------------------
If you have any questions for Rebecca, post them and I'm sure she'll reply.
If you'd like to see her press kit for DRAGON MOON, if posted it HERE.
When I asked writer Rebecca York about her experiences, this was her response:
-----------------------
There was a time when an author could sit back in her comfortable office and focus on the word processor. Her job was writing the best book she could. Her publisher’s job was printing, publicizing and distributing her book. But things have changed dramatically over the past few years. Today a writer’s also got to do something about publicity, or her book is likely to get lost in the great sea of publications that come out every month.
I’d love the luxury of simply sitting and writing. And give a few lectures a year to enthusiastic audiences. But how are readers going to know I’ve got a book out? Unless they’re poring through future pub lists, I need to let them know they can get the next exciting book in my werewolf series in–October. And hopefully I can also interest some new readers in my work.
A full-blown promotion effort is a lot of work–more than I can do myself. Which is why I’ve hired several people to help me. My latest release is DRAGON MOON, which came out from Berkley on October 6. The heroine is Kenna, a slave from my alternate universe, sent here to help her ruthless dragon-shifter master invade our world. She meets werewolf Talon Marshall and desperately wants to tell him her frightening secret. But every time she tries to reveal her plight, excruciating pains stab into her head. Even as Kenna and Talon fall in love, he can’t trust her. And she struggles to break through the barriers that control her mind. It’s classic romantic suspense, with the paranormal twists I love.
But how do I tell people about the book? I’ve got several strategies, with three different "publicists" who each bring something to my book promotion.
For years I’ve used Binnie Syril Braunstein of Press Kit Communications. I met her because she lives in my local area. Mainly she makes and sends out ARCs of my single-title Berkley releases to readers’ groups and review sites. And recently, to save money, I asked her to send out "teasers" to some of these groups. The teasers were the first seven chapters of DRAGON MOON, and we got a good response from them. Also, some of the review sites have asked me for interviews. Another thing we tried with this book was offering to give away ARCs to people who would post reviews of DRAGON MOON. Again, this got a great response.
Another key part of my marketing plan for DRAGON MOON involves Circle of Seven Productions. I’ve had them produce a book trailer for the past five of my Berkley single-title releases. This time I also bought a special package they offered in conjunction with Between Your Sheets, a weekly e-newsletter that goes out to readers. (I’m one of the participating authors.) Although COS isn’t strictly a publicist, they do a lot of the same things. They made a great video for DRAGON MOON which you can see on my Web site at www.rebeccayork.com They distributed it to a lot of outlets on the Web including Youtube.
And the video will also be playing on television stations in Northern California. The special deal with them also included a review, blog entries, Tweets about the video that drove traffic to my Web site, and a podcast. (Which became two podcasts!)
But I was looking for more exposure. For DRAGON MOON, I added another publicist, Dana Kaye, recommended by a friend. Dana’s got media savvy and some great contacts. She’s filled in the blanks in my book promotion strategy by sending a DRAGON MOON press kit to various newspapers, magazines, blogs, radio and television shows. As a result of her work, I’m now writing this guest blog entry. She’s also set up a podcast for me as well as several other blogs and articles. And she’s following up on these contacts.
In addition, Dana’s helped me with some other aspects of publicity that I hadn’t used effectively. She linked my Tweets to my Facebook page, made a background for my Twitter page, started me a Facebook fan page, and advises me on my Web presence.
All of the above seems to be working for me. I’m getting a lot of visibility, and I’m not spending a fortune, either. One thing I discovered after doing several book videos with COS is that the shorter ones are probably the most effective. So I’m buying their least expensive products and taking advantage of their media presence. Also, both Binnie and Dana give me excellent value for my money.
In the quest for effective promotion, I’ve learned from my past experiences. Two years ago I hired an expensive publicist and was much less pleased with the relationship. She charged me for her time while she had me paying third-party suppliers for various projects like my Web pages and press kit. Unfortunately, she had a bad habit of getting into disagreements with her suppliers, costing me extra money and sometimes leaving me with not-quite-completed work.
If you’re looking for help with your publicity, find out up front what the publicist will do for you and how much it’s going to cost. Be prepared to be a partner with your publicist. She should listen to your ideas and use them if they make sense. Keep in mind that the most expensive services aren’t necessarily going to be the best for you. And be open to opportunities you might not have considered on your own.
--------------------------------------
If you have any questions for Rebecca, post them and I'm sure she'll reply.
If you'd like to see her press kit for DRAGON MOON, if posted it HERE.
Friday, October 02, 2009
That About Covers It
I just gave my homepage a much-needed update. It includes:
*Fixing the video on Invader and Invaders, two 16mm black and white comedy horror films I shot back in college, on the Photos page.
*Adding over fifty interviews to the Links page.
*Adding easier contact info.
*Adding new items to the Store page.
*Adding new cover art and material on the Freebies & Ebooks page, and on the For Writers page, kicking off the Great Ebook Experiment.
The new covers are something I've wanted to do for a while. I've had over 10,000 ebooks sales on Kindle, but I've never been happy with the cheap cover art I did myself.
I complained about this a few months ago, and the good folks at www.bellbridgebooks.com offered to make me a cover for Disturb. You can see the obvious difference.
My crummy cover:
The new cover:
Seeing a 25% uptick in sales once I stared using the new cover, I hired a friend of mine to redo my other covers. Here are some of his creations:
I've recently uploaded these covers to Kindle, but it takes Kindle several days to update. So if you'd like to see my original, cruddy covers for a comparison, just search for my books on Amazon.
Everyone has opinions about cover art, but few people are able to articulate why they like something, or why they think it works (or doesn't work.)
I approached the new covers with some specific goals in mind. Whether I reached them or not is open to debate, but here was my thought process.
1. Branding. Each of the new covers has a JK banner on the top, with a blurb in it. Even though the images and styles on the covers vary greatly, I wanted a unifying factor. The simple brand JK does this.
2. Genre. I want the reader to be able to tell in two seconds what sort of book this is based on the cover. With Truck Stop, it's a serial killer/cop thriller. Shot of Tequila is a men's action novel, so I wanted a throwback to the pulps with a Robert McGinnis-type of image. Origin is a monster-on-the-loose book, and The List is a technothriller. I believe each of these covers convey their genre.
3. Professional. My early covers looked self-published, like someone with no talent played around with Photoshop--which was exactly what I did. I wanted the new covers to look like books that big publisher release. Or, in the case of Tequila, released 40 years ago.
4. Reduceable. Amazon, and many other e-tailers, shrink the covers to thumbnail size when browsing. I wanted these to still be identifiable and readable when compressed.
5. Eye-catching. After the initial, two-second impression, I wanted enough detail to get people to look closer. The background of Origin is a bible page. The List has a gene sequence, and a family tree of related events. Tequila has some blurbs, an aged appearance, and a fake cover price. With Truck Stop, besides the blood and the bloody tire marks, the heel on the shoe is broken. Hopefully this makes the reader wonder who owns the shoe, and why it is broken, which is answered in the story.
What are some other things you look for in covers? What makes a cover good or bad? And do we really judge books by their covers?
I'd love to hear your thoughts...
*Fixing the video on Invader and Invaders, two 16mm black and white comedy horror films I shot back in college, on the Photos page.
*Adding over fifty interviews to the Links page.
*Adding easier contact info.
*Adding new items to the Store page.
*Adding new cover art and material on the Freebies & Ebooks page, and on the For Writers page, kicking off the Great Ebook Experiment.
The new covers are something I've wanted to do for a while. I've had over 10,000 ebooks sales on Kindle, but I've never been happy with the cheap cover art I did myself.
I complained about this a few months ago, and the good folks at www.bellbridgebooks.com offered to make me a cover for Disturb. You can see the obvious difference.
My crummy cover:
The new cover:
Seeing a 25% uptick in sales once I stared using the new cover, I hired a friend of mine to redo my other covers. Here are some of his creations:
I've recently uploaded these covers to Kindle, but it takes Kindle several days to update. So if you'd like to see my original, cruddy covers for a comparison, just search for my books on Amazon.
Everyone has opinions about cover art, but few people are able to articulate why they like something, or why they think it works (or doesn't work.)
I approached the new covers with some specific goals in mind. Whether I reached them or not is open to debate, but here was my thought process.
1. Branding. Each of the new covers has a JK banner on the top, with a blurb in it. Even though the images and styles on the covers vary greatly, I wanted a unifying factor. The simple brand JK does this.
2. Genre. I want the reader to be able to tell in two seconds what sort of book this is based on the cover. With Truck Stop, it's a serial killer/cop thriller. Shot of Tequila is a men's action novel, so I wanted a throwback to the pulps with a Robert McGinnis-type of image. Origin is a monster-on-the-loose book, and The List is a technothriller. I believe each of these covers convey their genre.
3. Professional. My early covers looked self-published, like someone with no talent played around with Photoshop--which was exactly what I did. I wanted the new covers to look like books that big publisher release. Or, in the case of Tequila, released 40 years ago.
4. Reduceable. Amazon, and many other e-tailers, shrink the covers to thumbnail size when browsing. I wanted these to still be identifiable and readable when compressed.
5. Eye-catching. After the initial, two-second impression, I wanted enough detail to get people to look closer. The background of Origin is a bible page. The List has a gene sequence, and a family tree of related events. Tequila has some blurbs, an aged appearance, and a fake cover price. With Truck Stop, besides the blood and the bloody tire marks, the heel on the shoe is broken. Hopefully this makes the reader wonder who owns the shoe, and why it is broken, which is answered in the story.
What are some other things you look for in covers? What makes a cover good or bad? And do we really judge books by their covers?
I'd love to hear your thoughts...
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Stealing The Future
I was taking a writing break, surfing the net, and came across Steal This Movie 2.
It doesn't directly address copyright infringement, or offer any solutions. But it does a very good job of explaining why copyright infringement exists, and is unstoppable. It's 45 minutes long, and well worth your time if you have any interest in the future of ebooks, concerns about illegal filesharing, and questions about what the future holds.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpXK8mDTiNg
One of the ideas I found to be the most compelling was the concept of fences.
In the past, property (including intellectual property) had owners. If you owned a bicycle, or wrote a book, it existed as a physical object. To protect your property, you could build a fence around it, so it wouldn't be stolen. Then you could decide what to do with your property. Sell it. Give it away. Throw it away.
But there are no fences anymore. Intellectual property can be copied and distributed, and there is no way to protect it. In fact, the internet was created so people can share and copy information.
I've talked before about gatekeepers. In the past, TV studios, movie producers, and publishers have decided what media the masses can see.
The Internet is changing that. Now, everyone can produce media. The way the trend is going, there won't be any gatekeepers. Or at the very least the ones who exist will have more competition and fewer ways to make money.
For a society, that seems to be a good thing.
But is it good for a writer?
While YouTube has shown that a lot of people can produce media--media that can take viewers away from the TV shows and films produced by the gatekeepers--it hasn't shown how those media creators can make money. The money YouTube generates goes to YouTube, not the people uploading their movies.
And the majority of people uploading content to the Internet aren't uploading their original content. They're uploading media paid for by the gatekeepers.
If you're an artist who wants to earn a living, the way to get paid is to work for the gatekeepers.
But how long will these gatekeepers exist in their present form? How long before the media shared by individuals--both original and pirated--reaches more households than the established distribution networks run by the gatekeepers? And what will happen when that tipping point occurs?
In our desire to share and copy media, we're destroying the institutions that create the media.
But here's the thing. We're only destroying the institutions. We're not destroying the artists.
I don't believe the incentive to create is directly tied in to a paycheck. I wrote many books before ever earning a dime. And if the publishing world collapses, I'll still write books.
If people have an interest in reading me, money will somehow follow suit.
After viewing Steal This Film 2, you won't walk away thinking this is the end of media.
In many ways, it's more like a vibrant new beginning.
It doesn't directly address copyright infringement, or offer any solutions. But it does a very good job of explaining why copyright infringement exists, and is unstoppable. It's 45 minutes long, and well worth your time if you have any interest in the future of ebooks, concerns about illegal filesharing, and questions about what the future holds.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpXK8mDTiNg
One of the ideas I found to be the most compelling was the concept of fences.
In the past, property (including intellectual property) had owners. If you owned a bicycle, or wrote a book, it existed as a physical object. To protect your property, you could build a fence around it, so it wouldn't be stolen. Then you could decide what to do with your property. Sell it. Give it away. Throw it away.
But there are no fences anymore. Intellectual property can be copied and distributed, and there is no way to protect it. In fact, the internet was created so people can share and copy information.
I've talked before about gatekeepers. In the past, TV studios, movie producers, and publishers have decided what media the masses can see.
The Internet is changing that. Now, everyone can produce media. The way the trend is going, there won't be any gatekeepers. Or at the very least the ones who exist will have more competition and fewer ways to make money.
For a society, that seems to be a good thing.
But is it good for a writer?
While YouTube has shown that a lot of people can produce media--media that can take viewers away from the TV shows and films produced by the gatekeepers--it hasn't shown how those media creators can make money. The money YouTube generates goes to YouTube, not the people uploading their movies.
And the majority of people uploading content to the Internet aren't uploading their original content. They're uploading media paid for by the gatekeepers.
If you're an artist who wants to earn a living, the way to get paid is to work for the gatekeepers.
But how long will these gatekeepers exist in their present form? How long before the media shared by individuals--both original and pirated--reaches more households than the established distribution networks run by the gatekeepers? And what will happen when that tipping point occurs?
In our desire to share and copy media, we're destroying the institutions that create the media.
But here's the thing. We're only destroying the institutions. We're not destroying the artists.
I don't believe the incentive to create is directly tied in to a paycheck. I wrote many books before ever earning a dime. And if the publishing world collapses, I'll still write books.
If people have an interest in reading me, money will somehow follow suit.
After viewing Steal This Film 2, you won't walk away thinking this is the end of media.
In many ways, it's more like a vibrant new beginning.
Monday, September 14, 2009
The Great Ebook Experiment Part 2
I should win some sort of award for being disorganized, but if I won it I'd forget where I put it.
That said, I just realized when I switched ISPs, my previous ISP never killed my old email account. So I've spent the last few days wading through a few hundred emails from people who assumed I was ignoring them. And in doing that, I've been ignoring people who have emailed me recently.
But I'm very close to catching up. If you've contacted me about trying the ebook experiment, you'll hear from me by September 18th. If you haven't heard from me by then, try emailing me again at joekonrath(at)comcast.net.
Here's how this is going to work.
I'll need a ready-to-go chapter or excerpt from you, no more than 2500 words, sent to me as an email attachment in either MS Word .doc format or .rtf format.
Included at the end of the exceprt, please list:
1. The Title and your Author Name
2. Date and places the title is available
3. Your website URL
4. A brief two or three sentence bio
Here's an example:
"AFRAID by Jack Kilborn is available as an ebook, audiobook, and paperback, wherever books are sold. Jack Kilborn is the pen name for Joe Konrath, author of Whiskey Sour, Bloody Mary, and several other thrillers. You can find information about Joe at www.JAKonrath.com, where you can download many free ebooks."
I'll also need to know which ebook of mine you'd like the excerpt to appear in, along with two back-ups in case the first one is already full.
My plan is to upload the ebooks to Amazon Kindle on on my website on September 26th. They will run through all of October. After that, we'll pow-wow and discuss if this is getting results for people.
I've gotten a lot of private response about this, most of it favorable. Most people beleive:
Ebooks are here to stay.
Excerpts are a good form of advertising.
This is a pretty cheap experiment.
Will ads in ebooks become the norm? I'm betting yes. Ads appear in magazines, newspapers, radio, TV, and all over the Internet. Ebooks, with their zero cost to copy and distribute, seem to be a perfect medium for advertising. Especially non-intrusive ads that feature content.
Time will tell if I'm right...
That said, I just realized when I switched ISPs, my previous ISP never killed my old email account. So I've spent the last few days wading through a few hundred emails from people who assumed I was ignoring them. And in doing that, I've been ignoring people who have emailed me recently.
But I'm very close to catching up. If you've contacted me about trying the ebook experiment, you'll hear from me by September 18th. If you haven't heard from me by then, try emailing me again at joekonrath(at)comcast.net.
Here's how this is going to work.
I'll need a ready-to-go chapter or excerpt from you, no more than 2500 words, sent to me as an email attachment in either MS Word .doc format or .rtf format.
Included at the end of the exceprt, please list:
1. The Title and your Author Name
2. Date and places the title is available
3. Your website URL
4. A brief two or three sentence bio
Here's an example:
"AFRAID by Jack Kilborn is available as an ebook, audiobook, and paperback, wherever books are sold. Jack Kilborn is the pen name for Joe Konrath, author of Whiskey Sour, Bloody Mary, and several other thrillers. You can find information about Joe at www.JAKonrath.com, where you can download many free ebooks."
I'll also need to know which ebook of mine you'd like the excerpt to appear in, along with two back-ups in case the first one is already full.
My plan is to upload the ebooks to Amazon Kindle on on my website on September 26th. They will run through all of October. After that, we'll pow-wow and discuss if this is getting results for people.
I've gotten a lot of private response about this, most of it favorable. Most people beleive:
Ebooks are here to stay.
Excerpts are a good form of advertising.
This is a pretty cheap experiment.
Will ads in ebooks become the norm? I'm betting yes. Ads appear in magazines, newspapers, radio, TV, and all over the Internet. Ebooks, with their zero cost to copy and distribute, seem to be a perfect medium for advertising. Especially non-intrusive ads that feature content.
Time will tell if I'm right...
Monday, August 31, 2009
The Great Ebook Experiment
In my previous blog post I talked about the future of ebooks. The current model of overpriced ebooks with exclusive formats isn't going to last, because history shows us it never lasts. Technology, and the media released for technology, follows a pretty predictable pattern.
I believe ebooks are going to lose proprietary formatting and copy protection, and eventually become either cheap or free. People want their media fast, easy, and inexpensive.
Fast and easy will come as a matter of course, as all tech gets better and less expensive as time goes on.
Inexpensive will come one of two ways.
In the best-case scenario, print publishers will realize their strategy of releasing ebooks for the same price as hardcovers is short-sighted and harmful, and they will lower their prices.
But I don't see them doing that. Instead, I see software and tech developers eventually coming up with a system that will allow Joe Average to quickly and easily download all ebooks for free.
Joe Average can already download all ebooks for free, but it isn't quick or easy. There is precedent for this happening, however.
I have an iPhone. The first thing I did when I bought it was jailbreak it.
Jailbreaking involves hacking the operating system of the phone, which allows it to be used for many applications that Apple doesn't condone. One of these applications is Cydia.
Cydia, and Installous, are included with the free programs used to jailbreak iPhones and iPods. These are apps that link directly to websites that let you download apps for free.
In other words, the owner of a jailbroken iPhone doesn't need to go to the iTunes App Store to buy programs and games. They can simply go to Installous and get all of the programs and games for free.
Consider the levels of piracy involved in this endeavor.
Programmers hack the source code. Software developers create the applications. Designers build websites. Then users hack applications and upload them.
This is a streamlined, coordinated effort to steal by thousands of people, used by millions of people. Anyone with a jailbroken iPhone can get any application they want, and it is fast, easy, and free.
This isn't a question of if it will happen with ebooks. It's a question of when. And when it happens, how will authors get paid?
I've said before, you combat piracy with cost and convenience. Selling ebooks (which are essentially a bunch of ones and zeros and cost nothing to copy and distribute) for $9.99 is insane. Especially when you consider that this cost results in the ebook distributors LOSING money, because the print publishers sell them to retailers at 40% the hardcover price. This is hurting the retailers, and the consumers, who are going to go elsewhere to get their ebooks for cheap or free.
But I think there's a way for authors to make money by selling their ebooks cheaply. I think they can even make money by giving their ebooks away.
But first, let's go off on a seemingly unrelated tangent for a moment.
I love going to movies and seeing coming attractions. It gives me a taste of films that I might be interested in seeing. Sometimes a preview announces a film I didn't know about. Sometimes it gives me a glimpse of something I already knew about, and gets me excited about seeing it.
As a form of advertising, previews work. They aren't intrusive, like commercials. You pay to see a movie, and previews are a sort of bonus feature. They offer content.
People like content. They like information and entertainment. They seek it out.
Books have their own kind of preview. At the end of each of my paperbacks, there is a sample chapter of one of my upcoming books. I think this is a no-brainer. The best advertising for your writing is: your writing.
Like a coming attraction, an excerpt informs and entertains. It announces, whets the appetite, and often is a direct call to action. If I read a preview that I like, I buy the book.
For years, I've been wondering why publishers waste money on full page ads in the New York Times, featuring a picture of the book cover and a bunch of blurbs, when a much more effective ad would be a full page excerpt from the novel.
If your writing sells your writing, it makes sense to have your writing in as many places as possible, so it can be seen by as many readers as possible.
Unfortunately, print publishers haven't used this opportunity as much as they could. The end-of-book excerpt is commonplace, but it isn't the equivalent to the coming attractions at a movie theater. Instead of five previews, a book only offers one preview. And the preview is limited, because it is a preview of the same author who wrote the book.
This is understandable. Space is limited, and expensive, in print books. Plus, an author may balk at the idea of having five excerpts from other authors at the end of their novel.
Unless that author is me. :)
Personally, I'd pay a fortune to have ten pages from one of my books appear at the end of a Stephen King or James Patterson novel. It would be a tremendous opportunity.
Which brings us to this experiment.
How would you like to put a ten page excerpt from one of your books in the back of my ebooks?
Not counting SERIAL, which has had over 100,000 downloads as an ebook, my other ebooks have been downloaded roughly 30,000 times on my website and Kindle.
Here are my numbers, as of last Friday:
55 Proof - 3044 free downloads, 468 Kindle downloads
Newbie's Guide to Publishing Ebook - 5761 free downloads
Origin - 3122 free downloads, 2188 Kindle downloads
Disturb - 2724 free downloads, 869 Kindle downloads
The List - 2622 free downloads, 4088 Kindle downloads
Shot of Tequila - 425 paid downloads on my website, 720 Kindle downloads
Truck Stop - 730 Kindle downloads
Now, I'm the first to admit that this isn't enough information to base a reliable advertising scale upon. I've been tracking free books on my website for over 20 months, and have been tracking Kindle books since April 8. It's possible to average day-by-day and month-by-month downloads, but these fluctuate, and differ. For example, Truck Stop is only a month or so old. Shot of Tequila has never been given away for free. The Newbie's Guide has never been for sale. Depending on the month, book downloads go up or down. A lot of it is a crap shoot.
But I'm not out to create an accurate chart for dictating ad rates. For this experiment, I'm going to use a simple model.
I will put your book excerpt in one of my ebooks for $1 a day.
Intrigued? Here are the basic rules.
1. You provide me with an excerpt no longer than 2500 words.
2. You pay me through PayPal for a minimum of 30 days (in other words, $30.)
3. There will be a maximum of five excerpts per ebook title. First come, first serve.
4. In the product description of the ebook I will mention that your excerpt appears, stating your name and the title.
Now lets have some questions.
Q: So my excerpt will appear on both the Kindle and on your website?
A: If my book appears on both, yes. The Newbie's Guide to Publishing Ebook is only on my website. Truck Stop is only on the Kindle, though I will put it on my website soon for $1.59.
Q: Can I put an excerpt in SERIAL?
A: SERIAL, and any of the other ebooks where I have a co-author, are not going to be used for this experiment at this time.
Q: Do you accept all excerpts?
A: No. I reserve the right to not accept an excerpt, and I won't give a reason. But the reason will probably be that I'm already full, or I don't think your excerpt is a good match for my readers, or there are too many typos and errors.
Q: Do you accept short stories or interviews instead of excerpts?
A: No. Book excerpts only.
Q: Can I put an excerpt from an unpublished book in your ebooks?
A: No. Your books must be available for the public to download and/or buy. How else would you be able to track the success of this endeavor?
Q: Does that mean I have to have books in print or on Kindle?
A: Not necessarily. Personally, I think you'd get the most for your money if indeed you had an excerpt from one of your current in-print or Kindle books. But if you want to promote a free ebook you're giving away on your website, just to increase your site traffic, that's fine.
Q: Will you trade excerpt space, one of yours for one of mine?
A: Maybe, if you can prove you have more downloads than me.
Q: Can I pick the ebook I want the excerpt to appear in?
A: As long as there is still room. But keep in mind that my most-downloaded ebook might not be the best one for your excerpt. I encourage you to read the ebook, or at least the description. Different books have different demographics.
Q: Can I advertise in more than one of your ebooks?
A: Yes. Each one is $30 a month.
Q: What document format will you accept?
A: MS Word or rtf.
Q: Can I also include a book cover, or art?
A: No. That's a pain to format, and often comes out looking crummy. But you should include a section that lists your website, and where the book is available.
Q: You posted my excerpt, but now I want to make some changes. Can I send you an updated version?
A: Only if the month ends and you want to buy another month. Either send me something in publishable shape, or don't send anything at all.
Q: What if I want to cancel this in the middle of the month?
A: I'll remove it as soon as I have the time, once you ask. But you won't get your money back. I'll have already spent that on beer.
Q: I don't believe you've had that many downloads. Prove it.
A: Pay for a month, and you'll have access to my download data. I'll give your weekly updates via screenshots, so you'll know how many downloads your excerpt has had.
Q: Is $1 a day fair?
A: I have no idea. Maybe that's too much. Maybe that's not enough. Personally, I would pay a lot more than that to have my excerpts in a well-known author's books, because I believe people will buy my books based on the strength of my writing. But I may be a deluded egomaniac.
Q: Why are you doing this?
A: Besides the money? I believe that ebooks are the future. But I worry how authors will survive in a digital world where everything is free. This experiment is a chance to see if ebooks are a viable medium for advertising. Personally, I think an excerpt is much better than an ad, because it offers content and is viewed as a bonus rather than an intrusion. This makes it more effective, which indeed may help authors sell their books.
Q: Do you think this will work?
A: I dunno. I didn't think putting my books on Kindle would work, and I've made about eight grand so far. I know the hardest thing about being a writer is finding readers. I don't believe print ads works. I don't believe bookmarks and postcards work. I don't believe book trailers work. But I know this costs a lot less than all of those. In fact, I can't think of a cheaper way to promote your book.
Q: Okay, I want to try it. Now what?
A: Email me. But before you do, make sure you have realistic goals, and a way to track those goals. Unless you have some idea what it is you're expecting from this, you'll have no idea if it's working or not.
Q: When does this start?
A: I'm not sure yet. First I need to see what sort of response I get.
I believe ebooks are going to lose proprietary formatting and copy protection, and eventually become either cheap or free. People want their media fast, easy, and inexpensive.
Fast and easy will come as a matter of course, as all tech gets better and less expensive as time goes on.
Inexpensive will come one of two ways.
In the best-case scenario, print publishers will realize their strategy of releasing ebooks for the same price as hardcovers is short-sighted and harmful, and they will lower their prices.
But I don't see them doing that. Instead, I see software and tech developers eventually coming up with a system that will allow Joe Average to quickly and easily download all ebooks for free.
Joe Average can already download all ebooks for free, but it isn't quick or easy. There is precedent for this happening, however.
I have an iPhone. The first thing I did when I bought it was jailbreak it.
Jailbreaking involves hacking the operating system of the phone, which allows it to be used for many applications that Apple doesn't condone. One of these applications is Cydia.
Cydia, and Installous, are included with the free programs used to jailbreak iPhones and iPods. These are apps that link directly to websites that let you download apps for free.
In other words, the owner of a jailbroken iPhone doesn't need to go to the iTunes App Store to buy programs and games. They can simply go to Installous and get all of the programs and games for free.
Consider the levels of piracy involved in this endeavor.
Programmers hack the source code. Software developers create the applications. Designers build websites. Then users hack applications and upload them.
This is a streamlined, coordinated effort to steal by thousands of people, used by millions of people. Anyone with a jailbroken iPhone can get any application they want, and it is fast, easy, and free.
This isn't a question of if it will happen with ebooks. It's a question of when. And when it happens, how will authors get paid?
I've said before, you combat piracy with cost and convenience. Selling ebooks (which are essentially a bunch of ones and zeros and cost nothing to copy and distribute) for $9.99 is insane. Especially when you consider that this cost results in the ebook distributors LOSING money, because the print publishers sell them to retailers at 40% the hardcover price. This is hurting the retailers, and the consumers, who are going to go elsewhere to get their ebooks for cheap or free.
But I think there's a way for authors to make money by selling their ebooks cheaply. I think they can even make money by giving their ebooks away.
But first, let's go off on a seemingly unrelated tangent for a moment.
I love going to movies and seeing coming attractions. It gives me a taste of films that I might be interested in seeing. Sometimes a preview announces a film I didn't know about. Sometimes it gives me a glimpse of something I already knew about, and gets me excited about seeing it.
As a form of advertising, previews work. They aren't intrusive, like commercials. You pay to see a movie, and previews are a sort of bonus feature. They offer content.
People like content. They like information and entertainment. They seek it out.
Books have their own kind of preview. At the end of each of my paperbacks, there is a sample chapter of one of my upcoming books. I think this is a no-brainer. The best advertising for your writing is: your writing.
Like a coming attraction, an excerpt informs and entertains. It announces, whets the appetite, and often is a direct call to action. If I read a preview that I like, I buy the book.
For years, I've been wondering why publishers waste money on full page ads in the New York Times, featuring a picture of the book cover and a bunch of blurbs, when a much more effective ad would be a full page excerpt from the novel.
If your writing sells your writing, it makes sense to have your writing in as many places as possible, so it can be seen by as many readers as possible.
Unfortunately, print publishers haven't used this opportunity as much as they could. The end-of-book excerpt is commonplace, but it isn't the equivalent to the coming attractions at a movie theater. Instead of five previews, a book only offers one preview. And the preview is limited, because it is a preview of the same author who wrote the book.
This is understandable. Space is limited, and expensive, in print books. Plus, an author may balk at the idea of having five excerpts from other authors at the end of their novel.
Unless that author is me. :)
Personally, I'd pay a fortune to have ten pages from one of my books appear at the end of a Stephen King or James Patterson novel. It would be a tremendous opportunity.
Which brings us to this experiment.
How would you like to put a ten page excerpt from one of your books in the back of my ebooks?
Not counting SERIAL, which has had over 100,000 downloads as an ebook, my other ebooks have been downloaded roughly 30,000 times on my website and Kindle.
Here are my numbers, as of last Friday:
55 Proof - 3044 free downloads, 468 Kindle downloads
Newbie's Guide to Publishing Ebook - 5761 free downloads
Origin - 3122 free downloads, 2188 Kindle downloads
Disturb - 2724 free downloads, 869 Kindle downloads
The List - 2622 free downloads, 4088 Kindle downloads
Shot of Tequila - 425 paid downloads on my website, 720 Kindle downloads
Truck Stop - 730 Kindle downloads
Now, I'm the first to admit that this isn't enough information to base a reliable advertising scale upon. I've been tracking free books on my website for over 20 months, and have been tracking Kindle books since April 8. It's possible to average day-by-day and month-by-month downloads, but these fluctuate, and differ. For example, Truck Stop is only a month or so old. Shot of Tequila has never been given away for free. The Newbie's Guide has never been for sale. Depending on the month, book downloads go up or down. A lot of it is a crap shoot.
But I'm not out to create an accurate chart for dictating ad rates. For this experiment, I'm going to use a simple model.
I will put your book excerpt in one of my ebooks for $1 a day.
Intrigued? Here are the basic rules.
1. You provide me with an excerpt no longer than 2500 words.
2. You pay me through PayPal for a minimum of 30 days (in other words, $30.)
3. There will be a maximum of five excerpts per ebook title. First come, first serve.
4. In the product description of the ebook I will mention that your excerpt appears, stating your name and the title.
Now lets have some questions.
Q: So my excerpt will appear on both the Kindle and on your website?
A: If my book appears on both, yes. The Newbie's Guide to Publishing Ebook is only on my website. Truck Stop is only on the Kindle, though I will put it on my website soon for $1.59.
Q: Can I put an excerpt in SERIAL?
A: SERIAL, and any of the other ebooks where I have a co-author, are not going to be used for this experiment at this time.
Q: Do you accept all excerpts?
A: No. I reserve the right to not accept an excerpt, and I won't give a reason. But the reason will probably be that I'm already full, or I don't think your excerpt is a good match for my readers, or there are too many typos and errors.
Q: Do you accept short stories or interviews instead of excerpts?
A: No. Book excerpts only.
Q: Can I put an excerpt from an unpublished book in your ebooks?
A: No. Your books must be available for the public to download and/or buy. How else would you be able to track the success of this endeavor?
Q: Does that mean I have to have books in print or on Kindle?
A: Not necessarily. Personally, I think you'd get the most for your money if indeed you had an excerpt from one of your current in-print or Kindle books. But if you want to promote a free ebook you're giving away on your website, just to increase your site traffic, that's fine.
Q: Will you trade excerpt space, one of yours for one of mine?
A: Maybe, if you can prove you have more downloads than me.
Q: Can I pick the ebook I want the excerpt to appear in?
A: As long as there is still room. But keep in mind that my most-downloaded ebook might not be the best one for your excerpt. I encourage you to read the ebook, or at least the description. Different books have different demographics.
Q: Can I advertise in more than one of your ebooks?
A: Yes. Each one is $30 a month.
Q: What document format will you accept?
A: MS Word or rtf.
Q: Can I also include a book cover, or art?
A: No. That's a pain to format, and often comes out looking crummy. But you should include a section that lists your website, and where the book is available.
Q: You posted my excerpt, but now I want to make some changes. Can I send you an updated version?
A: Only if the month ends and you want to buy another month. Either send me something in publishable shape, or don't send anything at all.
Q: What if I want to cancel this in the middle of the month?
A: I'll remove it as soon as I have the time, once you ask. But you won't get your money back. I'll have already spent that on beer.
Q: I don't believe you've had that many downloads. Prove it.
A: Pay for a month, and you'll have access to my download data. I'll give your weekly updates via screenshots, so you'll know how many downloads your excerpt has had.
Q: Is $1 a day fair?
A: I have no idea. Maybe that's too much. Maybe that's not enough. Personally, I would pay a lot more than that to have my excerpts in a well-known author's books, because I believe people will buy my books based on the strength of my writing. But I may be a deluded egomaniac.
Q: Why are you doing this?
A: Besides the money? I believe that ebooks are the future. But I worry how authors will survive in a digital world where everything is free. This experiment is a chance to see if ebooks are a viable medium for advertising. Personally, I think an excerpt is much better than an ad, because it offers content and is viewed as a bonus rather than an intrusion. This makes it more effective, which indeed may help authors sell their books.
Q: Do you think this will work?
A: I dunno. I didn't think putting my books on Kindle would work, and I've made about eight grand so far. I know the hardest thing about being a writer is finding readers. I don't believe print ads works. I don't believe bookmarks and postcards work. I don't believe book trailers work. But I know this costs a lot less than all of those. In fact, I can't think of a cheaper way to promote your book.
Q: Okay, I want to try it. Now what?
A: Email me. But before you do, make sure you have realistic goals, and a way to track those goals. Unless you have some idea what it is you're expecting from this, you'll have no idea if it's working or not.
Q: When does this start?
A: I'm not sure yet. First I need to see what sort of response I get.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Stanza and the Future of Ebooks
As of this writing, Stanza has been downloaded over two million times.
What's Stanza?
Stanza is an electronic reading application for the iPhone and iPod Touch. It's free. And unlike the Kindle app, which is also available for iPhones, Stanza isn't dedicated to a single format.
Let's talk about formats for a moment, because they're one of the reasons ebooks haven't gone mainstream yet.
The history of media technology is all about formats. A format is the means in which a piece of media (books, movies, music) can be distributed, and, possibly, purchased.
The first form of media was writing. For a long time, the first format for this media was stone.
If you wanted to share your writing, you wrote it on a cave wall, or chiseled it into an obelisk or pyramid. This format had the advantage of being long-lasting, but lacked in portability, and ownership was unheard of. If you wanted to read something, you went to the writing.
Then came paper, and scrolls. Scrolls made it easier to write, and they were portable. But scrolls were labor-intensive, because each scroll had to be hand-written. This precluded ownership, except in the case of libraries, scholars, rulers, and the very rich.
Scrolls were the preferred format for writing for millennia. Then a guy named Gutenberg came along and invented the printing press, and the preferred format became printed books. These were cheap, reproducible, and have been the de facto format for sharing writing media.
Until now.
Now, writing, and publishing, has gone digital. Offset printing, with its costs, labor-intensive set-up, and distribution and shipping limitations (which requires time and travel) is no longer the best format.
The advent of the computer, and the Internet, has made writing easier than ever, and distribution free and unlimited. One monk could labor for years on one scroll, which might be seen by only a few dozen people. With books, a writer could reach millions, but was still limited by gatekeepers (publishers and agents) and distribution. It involved money, and a lot of people. Now a writer can save their words for eternity using an electronic format, for free, and reach unlimited numbers of readers.
But there's a problem. Which format should writers use?
Let's look back to Edison and the invention of the phonograph. Edison's invention used a tube. A competitor used a disk. For whatever reason, consumers bought more disks than tubes, and the record became the preferred format for music.
Other formats showed up. Reel to reel tape. Eight track tape. Cassettes. Digital tape. And CDs.
Of these formats, DT (digital tape) made the most sense. It allowed the consumer to record music digitally, which allowed for much faster and better recordings than analog. The first CDs didn't allow recording.
But eventually, CD burners came into vogue, and CDs became the preferred format for music. Up until mp3s came along.
Let's look back on the history of photography. Actually, let's skip to the part where no one buys film anymore, and everyone has a digital camera.
When movies first became popular, over a hundred years ago, ownership was unheard of. Films were seen, and only the rich could own them. Less-expensive 8mm films weren't a big hit with consumers. Video tape, when it first arrived, caused big controversy and a few lawsuits between the movie and TV producers and videotape manufacturers.
For those who remember, the very first movie ever released to the general public was Star Trek II, on VHS and Beta, for the own-it price of $59.99. This was revolutionary. If you had a $600 VCR or Betamax, you could actually own a movie.
VHS wound up winning the videotape war, even though Beta tapes were smaller and had a superior picture quality. But VHS was eventually usurped by DVD.
You can now buy new DVD players for $30, and new DVDs for $5.
BluRay has tried to replace DVDs as the preferred format (after winning the war against HD-DVD), but it hasn't happened yet. Downloading may be the culprit. Why go out and spend $40 on a BluRay disc when you can download a high def movie on cable, satellite, or on your computer? You can also download digital movies to your iPhone, iPod, PSP, PS3, XBOX 360, and many other gadgets.
Why have a physical copy, that requires manufacturing, travel, shipping, and distribution, and shelf space, when you can fit 300 movies on your hard drive and get them by pressing a button?
But even with downloading movies, there are different formats to deal with. Avi, m4v, mp4, rm, iso, img, and a dozen more.
Which brings us back to formats.
Formats can only be read using certain media or programs. Just like you couldn't play your Edison tube on your RCA 78 player, or your Beta tape on a VHS machine, you can't play your avi movie on your home DVD player (for those who aren't into the downloading scene, avi is about as universal a format as you can get for movies, and there are well over a million avi movies and shows available for free if you know where to look.)
Looking back on history, the best format didn't always win the media wars. VHS beat Beta (and laserdisks). CD beat DT. BluRay beat HD-DVD.
I have a theory about why.
When a company invents a media format, they want control over it. They license the format to others who want to release media on that technology.
This usually backfires, because someone comes along with a competing format that doesn't require a license (or has a cheaper license). No license means its easier for others to release media. The more media a format has available, the more likely it is to succeed.
In some cases, licenses don't matter. The ability for consumers to copy the media in a specific format (like the case of avi--no one has ever released consumer avi files for purchase) will make it the format of choice.
Which brings us back to writing, and to ebooks.
For all intents and purposes, ebooks are superior to print. If you grew up reading ebooks, would there be any advantage at all to inventing offset printing? No.
Ebooks, whether or not anyone wants to believe it, are the future. Because they're cheaper, easier, faster, more versatile, and can be copied.
So why haven't they taken off in a big way yet?
Formats.
There are well over two dozen different ebook formats.
For consumers, this is a nightmare. It's not a question of choosing between VHS or Beta, or HD-DVD and BluRay. It's a question of choosing among a dozen different ebook readers, with more coming out every month. And each of these readers has a licensed format specific and exclusive to their device or program.
Remember when you dumped your VHS and had to buy all of your movies again on DVD? Think about buying the same book ten times, as ereaders come and go and none of their formats are compatible.
Right now, Kindle is the leader in ereader sales. Sony is very much in the game. Barnes & Noble is releasing an ereader too.
Let's set aside the functions, bells and whistles of these machines for a moment. Let's also set aside price. These gadgets will continue to become better, and cheaper, like all technology does.
What it will come down to, like it always does, is who has the biggest library of media available. That will be the format that wins.
Which means these companies have a choice. They can either try to license as many books as possible on their devices in order to get the largest library, or they can create readers that read many different formats, and let consumers decide (as in the case of avi and mp3) which format they prefer.
Now along comes Stanza. It isn't a $400 unitasking ereader that is bound to a single format. It's a free application that reads all of the major formats.
I've been playing around with Stanza for the past week, and I'm impressed. It has the biggest library of any ebook reader, both legally (buying ebooks in various formats) and illegally (downloading ebooks on file sharing sites.)
Don't think people are stealing ebooks? In a one hour stretch yesterday, I downloaded 700 books, all by popular and bestselling authors (including all of my own titles) for free. There are hundreds of thousands of free ebooks available on the Internet, many of them illegal.
Stanza can read all of these books, even though they're in different formats. This is revolutionary. It's also a big step closer to having a universal ereader.
"Universal" is the key here. In the past, Joe Consumer waited for the one format that was available everywhere--the one with staying power--before he committed to buying some new camera or video player or personal stereo.
But now, he doesn't have to wait. He can let the companies duke it out, get a Stanza for free, and read whatever he wants to, in whatever format he wants to. And with a bit of know-how, he'll never have to pay for a book again.
Stanza isn't without its flaws. Some formats don't read as smoothly as others. And getting books from your computer onto Stanza isn't as quick, easy, or elegant as it is with the Amazon Kindle.
But give it time.
Maybe it will be Stanza. Maybe it will be another ereader. But soon, you'll be able to get an app that allows you to instantly download any book you want, for free, on your gadget du jour.
Now, if the big boys want to compete with this, here are my suggestions.
1. Lose proprietary formats, and stop linking your devices to only one distribution network. A universal ebook reader will be able to read many formats, and get them easily from many sources.
2. You don't fight piracy with copy protection and licensing. You fight it with cost and convenience. That means NY print publishers need to wake the hell up and stop selling ebooks for full price. For those who don't know, Kindle and Sony lose money on ebook versions of hardcovers. Publishers insist on selling ebooks to them for 40% of the hardcover price. So when Kindle or Sony sell an ebook for $9.99 (which is still waaaaay too high) they are actually LOSING five bucks per book. How do any of the parties involved in this ridiculous model think it can be sustainable?
3. Become your own publisher. Then you control the content, and the price, and you don't have to share profits (or lose profits.) Kindle has allowed for authors to publish on their device (and Sony is doing the same) and since April I've made over eight thousand dollars selling my books there. But allowing authors to publish, and actively soliciting name authors, are two different things. They need to start soliciting.
4. Once you have the universal technology nailed down, share it. It's smart for Amazon to have a Kindle for iPhone. But if it really wants to be the universal reader, it should have Kindle apps freely available for all smart phones, computers, video game systems, cable and satellite TV, and pretty much everything consumers use or can use to read on. Then it should allow that reader to access books not only on Amazon, but on all places ebooks are available.
So how will they make money, if they give away the app for free, and link to sources that have free ebooks?
Stay tuned...
Coming This Monday: I'll share the answer. I'm also going to back up my words with actions, and begin a new, revolutionary ebook experiment that you can participate in. It's going to turn some heads, that's for sure.
What's Stanza?
Stanza is an electronic reading application for the iPhone and iPod Touch. It's free. And unlike the Kindle app, which is also available for iPhones, Stanza isn't dedicated to a single format.
Let's talk about formats for a moment, because they're one of the reasons ebooks haven't gone mainstream yet.
The history of media technology is all about formats. A format is the means in which a piece of media (books, movies, music) can be distributed, and, possibly, purchased.
The first form of media was writing. For a long time, the first format for this media was stone.
If you wanted to share your writing, you wrote it on a cave wall, or chiseled it into an obelisk or pyramid. This format had the advantage of being long-lasting, but lacked in portability, and ownership was unheard of. If you wanted to read something, you went to the writing.
Then came paper, and scrolls. Scrolls made it easier to write, and they were portable. But scrolls were labor-intensive, because each scroll had to be hand-written. This precluded ownership, except in the case of libraries, scholars, rulers, and the very rich.
Scrolls were the preferred format for writing for millennia. Then a guy named Gutenberg came along and invented the printing press, and the preferred format became printed books. These were cheap, reproducible, and have been the de facto format for sharing writing media.
Until now.
Now, writing, and publishing, has gone digital. Offset printing, with its costs, labor-intensive set-up, and distribution and shipping limitations (which requires time and travel) is no longer the best format.
The advent of the computer, and the Internet, has made writing easier than ever, and distribution free and unlimited. One monk could labor for years on one scroll, which might be seen by only a few dozen people. With books, a writer could reach millions, but was still limited by gatekeepers (publishers and agents) and distribution. It involved money, and a lot of people. Now a writer can save their words for eternity using an electronic format, for free, and reach unlimited numbers of readers.
But there's a problem. Which format should writers use?
Let's look back to Edison and the invention of the phonograph. Edison's invention used a tube. A competitor used a disk. For whatever reason, consumers bought more disks than tubes, and the record became the preferred format for music.
Other formats showed up. Reel to reel tape. Eight track tape. Cassettes. Digital tape. And CDs.
Of these formats, DT (digital tape) made the most sense. It allowed the consumer to record music digitally, which allowed for much faster and better recordings than analog. The first CDs didn't allow recording.
But eventually, CD burners came into vogue, and CDs became the preferred format for music. Up until mp3s came along.
Let's look back on the history of photography. Actually, let's skip to the part where no one buys film anymore, and everyone has a digital camera.
When movies first became popular, over a hundred years ago, ownership was unheard of. Films were seen, and only the rich could own them. Less-expensive 8mm films weren't a big hit with consumers. Video tape, when it first arrived, caused big controversy and a few lawsuits between the movie and TV producers and videotape manufacturers.
For those who remember, the very first movie ever released to the general public was Star Trek II, on VHS and Beta, for the own-it price of $59.99. This was revolutionary. If you had a $600 VCR or Betamax, you could actually own a movie.
VHS wound up winning the videotape war, even though Beta tapes were smaller and had a superior picture quality. But VHS was eventually usurped by DVD.
You can now buy new DVD players for $30, and new DVDs for $5.
BluRay has tried to replace DVDs as the preferred format (after winning the war against HD-DVD), but it hasn't happened yet. Downloading may be the culprit. Why go out and spend $40 on a BluRay disc when you can download a high def movie on cable, satellite, or on your computer? You can also download digital movies to your iPhone, iPod, PSP, PS3, XBOX 360, and many other gadgets.
Why have a physical copy, that requires manufacturing, travel, shipping, and distribution, and shelf space, when you can fit 300 movies on your hard drive and get them by pressing a button?
But even with downloading movies, there are different formats to deal with. Avi, m4v, mp4, rm, iso, img, and a dozen more.
Which brings us back to formats.
Formats can only be read using certain media or programs. Just like you couldn't play your Edison tube on your RCA 78 player, or your Beta tape on a VHS machine, you can't play your avi movie on your home DVD player (for those who aren't into the downloading scene, avi is about as universal a format as you can get for movies, and there are well over a million avi movies and shows available for free if you know where to look.)
Looking back on history, the best format didn't always win the media wars. VHS beat Beta (and laserdisks). CD beat DT. BluRay beat HD-DVD.
I have a theory about why.
When a company invents a media format, they want control over it. They license the format to others who want to release media on that technology.
This usually backfires, because someone comes along with a competing format that doesn't require a license (or has a cheaper license). No license means its easier for others to release media. The more media a format has available, the more likely it is to succeed.
In some cases, licenses don't matter. The ability for consumers to copy the media in a specific format (like the case of avi--no one has ever released consumer avi files for purchase) will make it the format of choice.
Which brings us back to writing, and to ebooks.
For all intents and purposes, ebooks are superior to print. If you grew up reading ebooks, would there be any advantage at all to inventing offset printing? No.
Ebooks, whether or not anyone wants to believe it, are the future. Because they're cheaper, easier, faster, more versatile, and can be copied.
So why haven't they taken off in a big way yet?
Formats.
There are well over two dozen different ebook formats.
For consumers, this is a nightmare. It's not a question of choosing between VHS or Beta, or HD-DVD and BluRay. It's a question of choosing among a dozen different ebook readers, with more coming out every month. And each of these readers has a licensed format specific and exclusive to their device or program.
Remember when you dumped your VHS and had to buy all of your movies again on DVD? Think about buying the same book ten times, as ereaders come and go and none of their formats are compatible.
Right now, Kindle is the leader in ereader sales. Sony is very much in the game. Barnes & Noble is releasing an ereader too.
Let's set aside the functions, bells and whistles of these machines for a moment. Let's also set aside price. These gadgets will continue to become better, and cheaper, like all technology does.
What it will come down to, like it always does, is who has the biggest library of media available. That will be the format that wins.
Which means these companies have a choice. They can either try to license as many books as possible on their devices in order to get the largest library, or they can create readers that read many different formats, and let consumers decide (as in the case of avi and mp3) which format they prefer.
Now along comes Stanza. It isn't a $400 unitasking ereader that is bound to a single format. It's a free application that reads all of the major formats.
I've been playing around with Stanza for the past week, and I'm impressed. It has the biggest library of any ebook reader, both legally (buying ebooks in various formats) and illegally (downloading ebooks on file sharing sites.)
Don't think people are stealing ebooks? In a one hour stretch yesterday, I downloaded 700 books, all by popular and bestselling authors (including all of my own titles) for free. There are hundreds of thousands of free ebooks available on the Internet, many of them illegal.
Stanza can read all of these books, even though they're in different formats. This is revolutionary. It's also a big step closer to having a universal ereader.
"Universal" is the key here. In the past, Joe Consumer waited for the one format that was available everywhere--the one with staying power--before he committed to buying some new camera or video player or personal stereo.
But now, he doesn't have to wait. He can let the companies duke it out, get a Stanza for free, and read whatever he wants to, in whatever format he wants to. And with a bit of know-how, he'll never have to pay for a book again.
Stanza isn't without its flaws. Some formats don't read as smoothly as others. And getting books from your computer onto Stanza isn't as quick, easy, or elegant as it is with the Amazon Kindle.
But give it time.
Maybe it will be Stanza. Maybe it will be another ereader. But soon, you'll be able to get an app that allows you to instantly download any book you want, for free, on your gadget du jour.
Now, if the big boys want to compete with this, here are my suggestions.
1. Lose proprietary formats, and stop linking your devices to only one distribution network. A universal ebook reader will be able to read many formats, and get them easily from many sources.
2. You don't fight piracy with copy protection and licensing. You fight it with cost and convenience. That means NY print publishers need to wake the hell up and stop selling ebooks for full price. For those who don't know, Kindle and Sony lose money on ebook versions of hardcovers. Publishers insist on selling ebooks to them for 40% of the hardcover price. So when Kindle or Sony sell an ebook for $9.99 (which is still waaaaay too high) they are actually LOSING five bucks per book. How do any of the parties involved in this ridiculous model think it can be sustainable?
3. Become your own publisher. Then you control the content, and the price, and you don't have to share profits (or lose profits.) Kindle has allowed for authors to publish on their device (and Sony is doing the same) and since April I've made over eight thousand dollars selling my books there. But allowing authors to publish, and actively soliciting name authors, are two different things. They need to start soliciting.
4. Once you have the universal technology nailed down, share it. It's smart for Amazon to have a Kindle for iPhone. But if it really wants to be the universal reader, it should have Kindle apps freely available for all smart phones, computers, video game systems, cable and satellite TV, and pretty much everything consumers use or can use to read on. Then it should allow that reader to access books not only on Amazon, but on all places ebooks are available.
So how will they make money, if they give away the app for free, and link to sources that have free ebooks?
Stay tuned...
Coming This Monday: I'll share the answer. I'm also going to back up my words with actions, and begin a new, revolutionary ebook experiment that you can participate in. It's going to turn some heads, that's for sure.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Keeping Up
Planting the seed isn't enough to ensure it grows.
Plants need attention. Water. Sunlight. Pruning. Fertilizer. Insecticide.
Planting is tough. But the work doesn't end there.
Maintenance and upkeep is a never-ending process.
Which brings us to one of my Achilles heels. And perhaps one of yours as well.
I'm great at planting. Maintaining, not so much.
For those who haven't caught the obvious analogy to marketing yet, let me drive the point home.
If you want to sell books by using the Internet, maintenance is essential.
When was the last time you updated your website?
When was the last time you blogged?
Traded links?
Friended people on MySpace, Facebook, Shelfari, or Goodreads?
Participated in a forum?
Having an online presence doesn't mean building it and the forgetting it. It means constant upkeep, diligent attention to what visitors want, and an ongoing addition of quality content.
You can't ever rest on your laurels.
I've been buried in writing for the past few weeks. Which is great--I'm lucky to have contracts and deadlines. But this isn't an excuse for lapsing on my net maintenance.
A good website or blog will keep attracting new visitors.
But new content is what keeps visitors coming back.
Don't forget your site maintenance. You worked too hard planting the seed to let it die.
Now stop screwing around on my blog and go tend to your garden.
Plants need attention. Water. Sunlight. Pruning. Fertilizer. Insecticide.
Planting is tough. But the work doesn't end there.
Maintenance and upkeep is a never-ending process.
Which brings us to one of my Achilles heels. And perhaps one of yours as well.
I'm great at planting. Maintaining, not so much.
For those who haven't caught the obvious analogy to marketing yet, let me drive the point home.
If you want to sell books by using the Internet, maintenance is essential.
When was the last time you updated your website?
When was the last time you blogged?
Traded links?
Friended people on MySpace, Facebook, Shelfari, or Goodreads?
Participated in a forum?
Having an online presence doesn't mean building it and the forgetting it. It means constant upkeep, diligent attention to what visitors want, and an ongoing addition of quality content.
You can't ever rest on your laurels.
I've been buried in writing for the past few weeks. Which is great--I'm lucky to have contracts and deadlines. But this isn't an excuse for lapsing on my net maintenance.
A good website or blog will keep attracting new visitors.
But new content is what keeps visitors coming back.
Don't forget your site maintenance. You worked too hard planting the seed to let it die.
Now stop screwing around on my blog and go tend to your garden.
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