By Chester Campbell
It has been two weeks since my second Greg McKenzie mystery, Designed to Kill, had a three-day freebie book promotion with BookBub. The results are a mixed bag. There were 49,287 free downloads on Amazon. Bill Kirton said he didn't have such large numbers but sold 9,000 books. He's obviously in a different league from me. I've never sold 9,000 books under any circumstance.
I was disappointed with the sales of Designed to Kill, which have only numbered 35, plus six borrows, which pay about the same. But on the whole my books have sold much better than normally. The first and third books have each reached 111sales or borrows, while the fourth and fifth books in the series registered 47 and 30. In all, my ten books totaled 366 sales and 20 borrows. For a relatively unknown micropress author, that's not bad for a month.
Of course, the total result was no bonanza. I paid BookBub $240 for the promotion, which should leave a net return of about $435. If I did that every month for a year, it would be more than $5,000. Not a bad sum for somebody who doesn't depend on book revenue for his bread and butter. As I become better known with the publicity brought by the freebie promotions, hopefully sales will pick up for all my books.
One benefit of the recent BookBub coverage was a noticeable pickup in reviews on Amazon. Designed to Kill had 23 reviews before the promotion. Now it has 43 reviews, including 22 five stars and 12 four stars.
If I keep at it and learn more about the ways of ebook promotion, maybe I'll achieve the success of writers like Jinx Schwartz, author of the Hetta Coffey series. She knows how to do it right. Check out her article on the subject at the Blood Red Pencil blog at this link: http://bit.ly/18Ig8L4.
Visit my website ChesterDCampbell.com
Showing posts with label Amazon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Amazon. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
How to Promote Free Books to Sell More
Being published by a micropress has its drawbacks, mainly a dearth of distribution and promotion. I like to have my books available in paper for the few who decide to take one, but mainly I sell them at outdoor festivals and book events. Most of my mysteries and thrillers (now ten) are sold as ebooks. And since I decided to cast my lot with Amazon KDP, they're only available in the Kindle Store.
I have used their free days almost monthly over the past year to promote sales. KDP allows you to give a book away for five out of every ninety days. Despite how it sounds, the act of giving away books has a definite effect on book sales. The practice has brought less results as time progressed for several reasons. One has to do with the fact that more and more authors are using the free days route. There are several dozen Internet sites that promote free ebooks, but they get so many requests now that they limit what they do or charge for the service.
I have used several sites in recent months, paying from $5 to $25 for guaranteed listings. When I first began the practice, my books sold well after the three free days (that seems the most effective period) for two weeks or more. Not just the book that had been free, but the rest of my backlist. However, for the past few months, the lingering effect has been much shorter.
Recently I've read posts by my colleagues on some promo sites about their use of BookBub.com. It sends out an email to its list of thousands of readers daily, promoting from two to four ebooks that are either free or on sale at a discount such as 99 cents. This one is not for the faint of heart. For mysteries that are free, the price is $240. For mysteries priced at $1 to $2, it's $720. They claim 700,000 subscribers to the mystery email list and show average downloads of 18,000.
I started three days for a free Kindle copy of my second Greg McKenzie mystery, Designed to Kill, on Saturday. It goes back to $2.99 tonight (Monday) at midnight PDT. As of 10 p.m., the time I'm writing this, the book has been downloaded 49,009 times. During this time, the first book in the series has sold 47 copies, book three 31 copies, book four 12 and book five 6.
If things go as expected (at least hoped), Designed to Kill should sell hundreds of copies in the coming days, while the other books in the series continue to do well. The theory is that if readers like the free book, they'll come back to buy the others. I've already gotten three new four-star and one five-star reviews since the giveaway began. People who take part in these promotions are good about writing reviews on Amazon.
I'll post in a couple of weeks how the after-effect turns out. Has anybody else tried this approach? How were your results?
I have used their free days almost monthly over the past year to promote sales. KDP allows you to give a book away for five out of every ninety days. Despite how it sounds, the act of giving away books has a definite effect on book sales. The practice has brought less results as time progressed for several reasons. One has to do with the fact that more and more authors are using the free days route. There are several dozen Internet sites that promote free ebooks, but they get so many requests now that they limit what they do or charge for the service.
I have used several sites in recent months, paying from $5 to $25 for guaranteed listings. When I first began the practice, my books sold well after the three free days (that seems the most effective period) for two weeks or more. Not just the book that had been free, but the rest of my backlist. However, for the past few months, the lingering effect has been much shorter.
Recently I've read posts by my colleagues on some promo sites about their use of BookBub.com. It sends out an email to its list of thousands of readers daily, promoting from two to four ebooks that are either free or on sale at a discount such as 99 cents. This one is not for the faint of heart. For mysteries that are free, the price is $240. For mysteries priced at $1 to $2, it's $720. They claim 700,000 subscribers to the mystery email list and show average downloads of 18,000.
If things go as expected (at least hoped), Designed to Kill should sell hundreds of copies in the coming days, while the other books in the series continue to do well. The theory is that if readers like the free book, they'll come back to buy the others. I've already gotten three new four-star and one five-star reviews since the giveaway began. People who take part in these promotions are good about writing reviews on Amazon.
I'll post in a couple of weeks how the after-effect turns out. Has anybody else tried this approach? How were your results?
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Cornish Mysteries now in UK
by Carola
[I used Grammarly to grammar check this post, because after 45 years in the US, my UK schooling is beginning to wear off.]
All three of my Cornish Mysteries come out in the UK this week. Read excerpts at http://historicalfictionexcerpts.blogspot.com/2013/06/cornish-mysteries.html
Buy now at
Waterstones
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk
Nook
They're set in Cornwall, in a fictional fishing village called Port Mabyn, which is a cross between Port Isaac (think Doc Martin) and Boscastle, and set on the North Coast between those two towns.
Eleanor Trewynn, after working all her life for an international charity all over the world, retires as a widow to a Cornish village. She buys a cottage and sets up a charity shop on the ground floor.
The first book is MANNA FROM HADES:
Looking forward to a peaceful retirement, Eleanor's horrified to find in the stockroom behind the shop, the body of a scruffy, unknown youth.
Waterstones
Amazon.co.uk
REVIEWS:
“Adept at showing character through witty dialogue, Dunn paints an amusing picture of a small town that readers will want to visit again soon.” -- Publishers Weekly on Manna From Hades
“Dunn
has a knack for writing meatier-than-usual cozies with strong female
characters, and she has another charming winner here.”
-- Booklist on Manna From Hades
“Eleanor is a wonderful, multi-faceted heroine and Manna from Hades is a first-rate story…Carola Dunn demonstrates the same smooth writing and seasoned storytelling that readers have come to expect from her.”
--- Mystery News
“Welcome to Cornwall, beautiful land of Cornish pasties, cream teas and murder. [Manna from Hades] is a modern day version of the classic English village mystery.”
--- Kirkus Reviews
Port Isaac pics
The second is:
A COLOURFUL DEATH
Once
again murder disrupts the quiet life of widowed charity shop owner
Eleanor Trewynn, who's settled in the village of Port Mabyn with her
Westie, Teazle. On returning from a
train trip to London, Eleanor's artist friend and neighbor, Nick
Gresham, discovers that someone has slashed several of his paintings in
his Port Mabyn shop. Rather than go to the police, a furious Nick sets
out to confront rival artist Geoffrey Monmouth, who Nick is sure is
the culprit. Accompanied by an anxious Eleanor, Nick finds Geoff stabbed
to death in his Padstow bungalow. When the authorities detain Nick,
Eleanor determines to track down the real killer, who just might be one
of the young artists living communally on a local farm. Bolstered by
strong characters, the fast-moving plot builds to a satisfying conclusion. --Publishers Weekly
Waterstones
Amazon.co. uk
VERDICT Dunn's second cozy set in 1960s Cornwall (after "Manna from Hades") is a delightful romp, full of busybodies, unscrupulous artists, and a charming Westie with character. ---Library Journal
On-line review:
http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/none/quot-a-colourful-death-quot-by-carola-dunn-book-review-1697662/
The third book is THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW
“The sights and sounds of the coast of Cornwall come alive in The Valley of the Shadow. The rescue of a drowning Indian man leads to a race against time to rescue his family, trapped in the smugglers’ caves on the rocky shore. Feisty retiree Eleanor Trewynn enlists her fellow villagers in tracking down those responsible for abandoning the refugees — but will the smugglers find her first? Dunn gives us a thoroughly enjoyable, cozy suspense novel — one with a social conscience.”
—Carol Schneck Varner, Schuler Books & Music, Okemos, MI
...Dunn lives up to her reputation for cozies that take on serious stuff, allowing her ragtag bunch of investigators to unearth a story with roots deep in international politics...
--Publishers Weekly
Waterstones
Amazon.co.uk
[I used Grammarly to grammar check this post, because after 45 years in the US, my UK schooling is beginning to wear off.]
All three of my Cornish Mysteries come out in the UK this week. Read excerpts at http://historicalfictionexcerpts.blogspot.com/2013/06/cornish-mysteries.html
Buy now at
Waterstones
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk
Nook
Eleanor Trewynn, after working all her life for an international charity all over the world, retires as a widow to a Cornish village. She buys a cottage and sets up a charity shop on the ground floor.
 |
| US hardcover |
 |
| Large print |
 |
| UK cover |
Looking forward to a peaceful retirement, Eleanor's horrified to find in the stockroom behind the shop, the body of a scruffy, unknown youth.
Waterstones
Amazon.co.uk
REVIEWS:
“Adept at showing character through witty dialogue, Dunn paints an amusing picture of a small town that readers will want to visit again soon.” -- Publishers Weekly on Manna From Hades
“Dunn
has a knack for writing meatier-than-usual cozies with strong female
characters, and she has another charming winner here.”-- Booklist on Manna From Hades
“Eleanor is a wonderful, multi-faceted heroine and Manna from Hades is a first-rate story…Carola Dunn demonstrates the same smooth writing and seasoned storytelling that readers have come to expect from her.”
--- Mystery News
“Welcome to Cornwall, beautiful land of Cornish pasties, cream teas and murder. [Manna from Hades] is a modern day version of the classic English village mystery.”
--- Kirkus Reviews
Port Isaac pics
 |
| UK edition |
 |
| Padstow |
A COLOURFUL DEATH
 |
| US edition |
Waterstones
Amazon.co. uk
 |
| Large print |
VERDICT Dunn's second cozy set in 1960s Cornwall (after "Manna from Hades") is a delightful romp, full of busybodies, unscrupulous artists, and a charming Westie with character. ---Library Journal
On-line review:
http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/none/quot-a-colourful-death-quot-by-carola-dunn-book-review-1697662/
 |
| US hardcover |
“The sights and sounds of the coast of Cornwall come alive in The Valley of the Shadow. The rescue of a drowning Indian man leads to a race against time to rescue his family, trapped in the smugglers’ caves on the rocky shore. Feisty retiree Eleanor Trewynn enlists her fellow villagers in tracking down those responsible for abandoning the refugees — but will the smugglers find her first? Dunn gives us a thoroughly enjoyable, cozy suspense novel — one with a social conscience.”
—Carol Schneck Varner, Schuler Books & Music, Okemos, MI
...Dunn lives up to her reputation for cozies that take on serious stuff, allowing her ragtag bunch of investigators to unearth a story with roots deep in international politics...
--Publishers Weekly
Waterstones
Amazon.co.uk
 |
| Rocky Valley--Gave me the idea for Valley of the Shadow |
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
99c for Kindle experiment
My Regency e-publisher is experimenting with pricing on Amazon. She asked me if I'd like to find out what happened if one of my (36) Regencies was priced at 99c (UK 77p) instead of the usual $3.99. I said okay, and she chose A Lord for Miss Larkin, originally published in paperback in 1991.
No murder here, but there is an abduction so at a pinch you could call it crime fiction. What it does have is dogs, as you might guess from the paperback cover. The heroine has a Newfoundland, and three of her four eccentric aunts have West Highland Terriers. (The protagonist of my Cornish mysteries also has a Westie.)
The second book, The Road to Gretna, features an elopement--or rather two elopements that get entangled with each other--and an extremely troublesome kitten.
The third, Thea's Marquis, doesn't feature any animals, but it does have a villain or two and it ends with a thrilling rescue...
It will be interesting to see what the pricing does for the sales and whether any increase carries over to the sequels and even to the rest of the 36. We won't know for a month or two, when the numbers come in. Fingers crossed!
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Title? Cover Art? What makes you buy?
Carola Dunn
I expect some of you know that before I started writing mysteries, I wrote Regencies--32 full length novels and a bunch of novellas. (Many have mystery and suspense elements, smugglers, spies, attempted murders, impersonations, etc.) They have all been available as e-books for several years, but it's only since they became available on Amazon that I've been getting a monthly list of all titles and how many of each sold.
It's been interesting. For some reason the same titles tend to have the highest sales numbers month after month. Lavender Lady is almost always at the top.
Ginnie Come Lately also does well, as does A Poor Relation.
At the bottom are the collections of novellas. I can understand that. Some people just don't particularly like novellas. Somewhat above them are my ghost and time travel Regencies, The Actress and the Rake and Byron's Child. OK, so some people don't like ghosts or time travel.
But why are Angel and The Fortune Hunters so often near the bottom?
Is it the picture? Is it the title? It doesn't seem to be the number of stars or reviews on Amazon that makes the difference. It's all a mystery to me.
Especially as Smugglers' Summer has such wonderful cover art, the title seems to me as intriguing as any of the rest, and it has 5 stars, yet it's near the bottom in sales!
What do you think? Is there anything I can do to level the playing field?
Available in multiple formats at RegencyReads.com or for Kindle at Amazon.com/carola+dunn+regency
PS. Just after I finished this and turned off my computer, I went out to get the mail. Nice surprise arrived: The trade paperback large print edition of My Lord Winter, first published in 1992. I take it this means the hard cover large print sold well enough to justify bringing it out in paper. The work that keeps on paying!
I expect some of you know that before I started writing mysteries, I wrote Regencies--32 full length novels and a bunch of novellas. (Many have mystery and suspense elements, smugglers, spies, attempted murders, impersonations, etc.) They have all been available as e-books for several years, but it's only since they became available on Amazon that I've been getting a monthly list of all titles and how many of each sold.
It's been interesting. For some reason the same titles tend to have the highest sales numbers month after month. Lavender Lady is almost always at the top.
Ginnie Come Lately also does well, as does A Poor Relation.
At the bottom are the collections of novellas. I can understand that. Some people just don't particularly like novellas. Somewhat above them are my ghost and time travel Regencies, The Actress and the Rake and Byron's Child. OK, so some people don't like ghosts or time travel.
But why are Angel and The Fortune Hunters so often near the bottom?
Is it the picture? Is it the title? It doesn't seem to be the number of stars or reviews on Amazon that makes the difference. It's all a mystery to me.
Especially as Smugglers' Summer has such wonderful cover art, the title seems to me as intriguing as any of the rest, and it has 5 stars, yet it's near the bottom in sales!
What do you think? Is there anything I can do to level the playing field?
Available in multiple formats at RegencyReads.com or for Kindle at Amazon.com/carola+dunn+regency
PS. Just after I finished this and turned off my computer, I went out to get the mail. Nice surprise arrived: The trade paperback large print edition of My Lord Winter, first published in 1992. I take it this means the hard cover large print sold well enough to justify bringing it out in paper. The work that keeps on paying!
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
E-book Daisy
by Carola Dunn
I am exceedingly happy to announce that at long last all my Daisy Dalrymple mysteries are available for Kindle and Nook (using the original hardcover art--not necessarily a good idea!).
The first four recently joined the fifth through twentieth.
Their legal department first had to figure out what to do about it. Then the two agents had to come to an agreement--not difficult--as to who was "agent of record." Countless papers (in sextuplet) had to be sent back and forth and signed by all concerned. That really slowed everything down. Then the publisher had to decide what they were willing to pay for the e-rights.
It's all sorted at last. You can find these four and all the other titles at:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/daisy-dalrymple-series?keyword=daisy+dalrymple+series&store=ebook
And:
http://www.amazon.com/daisy+dalrymple+mysteries
(Click on my name at the top to go to my website and see a list in the proper order.)
I am exceedingly happy to announce that at long last all my Daisy Dalrymple mysteries are available for Kindle and Nook (using the original hardcover art--not necessarily a good idea!).
The first four recently joined the fifth through twentieth.
They were delayed partly because I changed agents halfway through the
series and my former agent no longer agents; partly because back when I
wrote them St Martin's wasn't interested in what were called "computer"
rights.
Their legal department first had to figure out what to do about it. Then the two agents had to come to an agreement--not difficult--as to who was "agent of record." Countless papers (in sextuplet) had to be sent back and forth and signed by all concerned. That really slowed everything down. Then the publisher had to decide what they were willing to pay for the e-rights.
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/daisy-dalrymple-series?keyword=daisy+dalrymple+series&store=ebook
And:
http://www.amazon.com/daisy+dalrymple+mysteries
(Click on my name at the top to go to my website and see a list in the proper order.)
Friday, April 27, 2012
Free Books - an Amazon Promo
By Chester Campbell
When Amazon first announced its KDP Select program, it looked like another effort of the 800-pound gorilla to throw its weight around. I had all of my mysteries set up on Amazon for the Kindle and at Smashwords for all the other ebook formats. The key to Amazon's program is the requirement that you make the book exclusive to the Kindle for 90 days.
The kicker to the deal is that the book is available in the Kindle Owners Lending Library. Amazon currently puts up a kitty of $600,000 a month to be divided among authors whose books were borrowed from the library. The kitty is divided by the total of books borrowed, and each author gets that amount times the number of his or her books checked out. According to the KDP Select FAQ, each book earned $1.70 per borrow in a prior month. It isn't as much as the 70 percent royalty, but it isn't bad.
Only members of Amazon Prime can borrow books, and they're restricted to one per month. It costs $79 to be a Prime member, but you get other benefits like free two-day shipping on your puchases.
When I finished revising and getting my first Post Cold War thriller edited and ready for publication, I decided to try the KDP Select deal. I know several authors who have done well in the program. One of its features is the ability to make the book free for five days during the 90-day period. It's a good way to get word out on the book and encourage reviews. So here's the deal:
Today (April 27) and tomorrow (April 28), you can get a free Kindle ebook by going to this link: Beware the Jabberwock.
The book is set in the fall of 1991 and spring of 1992. As the Cold War winds down, former enemies on both sides of the Iron Curtain plot to retain power with a deadly stroke against top world leaders. Telephone intercepts hint at its existence. Veteran CIA spook Cameron Quinn finds it necessary to recruit an old FBI friend to assist in his investigation. Burke Hill, still trying to live down his dismissal by J. Edgar Hoover years ago, travels from Tel Aviv to Hong Kong and soon finds himself unable to trust anyone. He and Quinn's daughter, Lori, face one trap after another as they put the pieces of Operation Jabberwock together and find they're fighting against the clock to stop the slaughter.
Pick up your free ebook today or tomorrow and put a review on Amazon.
When Amazon first announced its KDP Select program, it looked like another effort of the 800-pound gorilla to throw its weight around. I had all of my mysteries set up on Amazon for the Kindle and at Smashwords for all the other ebook formats. The key to Amazon's program is the requirement that you make the book exclusive to the Kindle for 90 days.
The kicker to the deal is that the book is available in the Kindle Owners Lending Library. Amazon currently puts up a kitty of $600,000 a month to be divided among authors whose books were borrowed from the library. The kitty is divided by the total of books borrowed, and each author gets that amount times the number of his or her books checked out. According to the KDP Select FAQ, each book earned $1.70 per borrow in a prior month. It isn't as much as the 70 percent royalty, but it isn't bad.
When I finished revising and getting my first Post Cold War thriller edited and ready for publication, I decided to try the KDP Select deal. I know several authors who have done well in the program. One of its features is the ability to make the book free for five days during the 90-day period. It's a good way to get word out on the book and encourage reviews. So here's the deal:
Today (April 27) and tomorrow (April 28), you can get a free Kindle ebook by going to this link: Beware the Jabberwock.
The book is set in the fall of 1991 and spring of 1992. As the Cold War winds down, former enemies on both sides of the Iron Curtain plot to retain power with a deadly stroke against top world leaders. Telephone intercepts hint at its existence. Veteran CIA spook Cameron Quinn finds it necessary to recruit an old FBI friend to assist in his investigation. Burke Hill, still trying to live down his dismissal by J. Edgar Hoover years ago, travels from Tel Aviv to Hong Kong and soon finds himself unable to trust anyone. He and Quinn's daughter, Lori, face one trap after another as they put the pieces of Operation Jabberwock together and find they're fighting against the clock to stop the slaughter.
Pick up your free ebook today or tomorrow and put a review on Amazon.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Macmillan & Penguin v. Amazon and DoJ
by Carola Dunn
I thought you might be interested in the views of a small independent bookstore owner on the current lawsuit between the Department of Justice--backing Amazon--and the two publishers who have refused to settle. In the interests of full disclosure, I should say that Macmillan is my publisher--which does not mean I have the slightest idea whether they're in the right or wrong, but I do see a danger of Amazon approaching monopoly.
DoJ settlement, Amazon: What it Means
What does the settlement of three major publishers with the Department of Justice lawsuit mean? Really - it is too soon to know. We think we know what it will mean in the near-term, but if we could predict the future we'd be gazillionaires from all the Lottery numbers we'd have chosen and wouldn't be trying to scrape out livings selling books.In the short term, we will undoubtedly see the price of e-books tumble. Will it be a slight decrease or a free fall? In the short term, probably somewhere in between. Amazon released a statement yesterday that they were looking forward to lowering prices. Will that mean back down to $9.99 from $14.99? We shall see. Will it mean even lower? We shall see. You can track that yourself. Pick a new book on Amazon and check the price for a Kindle edition. Then look up the same book on another site and see if there is a difference. Now repeat every couple of days. (We don't set the prices of the e-books sold through our site. Google does that. Will they drop prices to match Amazon? We'll see.)
In a comment reported widely yesterday, "Reaction from Amazon was also swift. Drew Herdener, a spokesperson for the e-tailer, called the DoJ’s decisions “a big win for Kindle owners,” adding, “We look forward to being allowed to lower prices on more Kindle books.”
A report on Mediabistro notes that in the first quarter of 2012, Amazon's sales of e-books rose 29% while Apple's rose just 1%. Overnight, Apple's stock had dropped 13% when we checked Friday, while B&N's dropped 6.4% Thurdsay (down 17% for the month that is not half over). We admit to not being able to tell much from these tea leaves - Amazon's stock is also down slightly.
What will it mean to publishers? In the short term, it depends on the publisher. Those who settled will be forced to pay millions back to customers in some fashion. So they'll take a financial hit in the short term, at a time when they're already reeling from the falling sales of printed books. On NPR Thursday, one analyst - James McQuivey of Forrester Research - predicted that some won't make it.
The Author's Guild website carried the full statement from someone who didn't buckle. Macmillan's CEO John Sargent is one of the guys who did not settle with the DoJ. "But the terms the DOJ demanded were too onerous. After careful consideration, we came to the conclusion that the terms could have allowed Amazon to recover the monopoly position it had been building before our switch to the agency model. We also felt the settlement the DOJ wanted to impose would have a very negative and long term impact on those who sell books for a living, from the largest chain stores to the smallest independents." Bear in mind that Macmillan is the company that Amazon attacked a few years ago by removing all of their publications from sale.
Penguin Group chairman (the other publisher who refused to settle) John Mackinson wrote this: “The second, and equally powerful, reason for our decision to place this matter in the hands of a court is that we believed then, as we do now, that the agency model is the one that offers consumers the prospect of an open and competitive market for e-books. We understood that the shift to agency would be very costly to Penguin and its shareholders in the short-term, but we reasoned that the prevention of a monopoly in the supply of e-books had to be in the best interests, not just of Penguin, but of consumers, authors and booksellers as well."
At the same time, there is a class action suit against the publishers and an on-going European investigation concerning the agency model as well. So the financial liabilities faced by the named publishers and Apple are impossible to know at this time. It would be fair to say they will be 'large'.
What will it mean to booksellers? In the short term... depends on how far the prices for e-books fall. If they fall fast and steeply, it will inevitably mean lost sales of printed books.
While everyone seems to think that this DoJ case is about competition surrounding the sale of e-books, and how collusion was engaged to raise the price of e-books, what isn't addressed is that higher prices for e-books are needed to save printed books. A $25 or $27.99 hardcover can compete with a $14.99 e-book better than it can with a $9.99 price. Drastically lowered e-book prices gut the sales of hardcovers, even trade paperbacks. If e-books continue to outsell hardcovers and massacre the sales of softcovers, printed books are seriously threatened. No one talks about that.
What you, as reader[, writer,] and consumer and resident of Earth can do for yourself is to watch for stories that report on the sales of printed books. Most likely, you'll find them around the ends of financial quarters, as well as annual reports of the past year's sales that come out at the beginning of a new year. A search on the internet should turn them up - business pages of the major news outlets, or Publisher's Weekly. Quarters go Jan - Mar, April - June, etc. Look for reports in early July that cover the present quarter. That will tell us if something is happening immediately. And that may foretell where publishing is going.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Confessions of a Kindle Killer
by Jaden Terrell
I came late to the electronic revolution. I love books, love turning the pages, love the look of print on the page (which is not the same as e-ink, no matter what people say), love being able to carry them around with me and not having to worry about plugging anything in. Love everything about them.
Last year, my husband bought me a Kindle for my birthday. I liked the way I could download books so easily (though it took great strength of will not to burn through my paycheck ordering $2.99 novels from Amazon. I liked the way I could make the print larger if I needed to. Above all, I liked that I could carry hundreds of books with me when I traveled. The Kindle didn't take the place of my beloved books, but it was a pretty cool supplement.
Of course, there were downsides too. Although it held a charge pretty well, having to recharge it regularly was a bit of a pain--especially if I let the battery get low and had to plug it in at a crucial point in the plot. And I noticed that, for some reason, I found it easier to put down a book that I would, if I'd bought it in print, have read straight through, and I wasn't as likely to carry it around with me to read in restaurants or in free moments in waiting rooms. I didn't love it, but I liked it a lot.
I liked it even better when I found several books I needed to research my next Jared McKean mystery. They weren't $2.99, but they were cheaper than they would have been in print. Then Timothy Hallinan e-published all his Simeon Grist books and the first of a new series. A long-time Hallinan fan, I bought them all. I was starting to feel pretty happy with this new technology.
I started carrying the Kindle around the house with me, as if it were a regular print book, reading as I took my vitamins, brushed my teeth, brushed my hair, fed the cat. Well, you can imagine the rest. As I stood at the bathroom sink, toothbrush in one hand, Kindle in the other . . . I dropped the Kindle.
It struck the floor, face down, with a sickening crack. Oh no. I picked it up, a feeling of dread settling in my stomach. The screen was intact, but the image looked like an angry orangutan had thrown a tantrum on an Etch-a-Sketch. I tried to turn off the device. No luck. The fractured image was frozen on the screen. I told myself maybe it was in shock and just needed a little time to settle down. No such luck. By morning, it was clear.
The Kindle was dead.
Mike says he plans to replace the Kindle when my next birthday comes around. I have my reservations. It seems like maybe I should wait until they come up with a klutz-proof version. Still, I've managed to keep my laptop intact, so maybe there's hope. Maybe I could get one of those little slings like people carry babies in. Do they make padded Kindle-carriers? Maybe I could make a sort of safety belt for it--hook it to my belt with a carabiner?
Hmm. Maybe I could invent one and market it for a gazillion dollars. Surely I'm not the only Kindle-Killer around.
I came late to the electronic revolution. I love books, love turning the pages, love the look of print on the page (which is not the same as e-ink, no matter what people say), love being able to carry them around with me and not having to worry about plugging anything in. Love everything about them.
Last year, my husband bought me a Kindle for my birthday. I liked the way I could download books so easily (though it took great strength of will not to burn through my paycheck ordering $2.99 novels from Amazon. I liked the way I could make the print larger if I needed to. Above all, I liked that I could carry hundreds of books with me when I traveled. The Kindle didn't take the place of my beloved books, but it was a pretty cool supplement.
Of course, there were downsides too. Although it held a charge pretty well, having to recharge it regularly was a bit of a pain--especially if I let the battery get low and had to plug it in at a crucial point in the plot. And I noticed that, for some reason, I found it easier to put down a book that I would, if I'd bought it in print, have read straight through, and I wasn't as likely to carry it around with me to read in restaurants or in free moments in waiting rooms. I didn't love it, but I liked it a lot.
I liked it even better when I found several books I needed to research my next Jared McKean mystery. They weren't $2.99, but they were cheaper than they would have been in print. Then Timothy Hallinan e-published all his Simeon Grist books and the first of a new series. A long-time Hallinan fan, I bought them all. I was starting to feel pretty happy with this new technology.
I started carrying the Kindle around the house with me, as if it were a regular print book, reading as I took my vitamins, brushed my teeth, brushed my hair, fed the cat. Well, you can imagine the rest. As I stood at the bathroom sink, toothbrush in one hand, Kindle in the other . . . I dropped the Kindle.
It struck the floor, face down, with a sickening crack. Oh no. I picked it up, a feeling of dread settling in my stomach. The screen was intact, but the image looked like an angry orangutan had thrown a tantrum on an Etch-a-Sketch. I tried to turn off the device. No luck. The fractured image was frozen on the screen. I told myself maybe it was in shock and just needed a little time to settle down. No such luck. By morning, it was clear.
The Kindle was dead.
Mike says he plans to replace the Kindle when my next birthday comes around. I have my reservations. It seems like maybe I should wait until they come up with a klutz-proof version. Still, I've managed to keep my laptop intact, so maybe there's hope. Maybe I could get one of those little slings like people carry babies in. Do they make padded Kindle-carriers? Maybe I could make a sort of safety belt for it--hook it to my belt with a carabiner?
Hmm. Maybe I could invent one and market it for a gazillion dollars. Surely I'm not the only Kindle-Killer around.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
The Amazon
Father Gaspar de Carvajal was a Catholic priest who visited the coast of South America in the middle years of the sixteenth century and wrote a book about it.
The book begins in a perfectly believable fashion. They were, he said, following the coast, keeping it on their starboard (right-hand) side. One day, the coastline veered from south to west. The water around their ship went from blue to brown and a current began to push against the bow, both signs seeming to indicate they’d entered an estuary.
Five days of steady sailing ensued, still with no sign of an opposing shore. The sailors began to have doubts. If they were on a river, it was huge, larger than any in Europe.
Then, on the morning of the sixth day, their ships were suddenly and viciously attacked. The assailants were a host of natives in canoes, natives who (according to Gaspar ) were all women, set on capturing our men for the purpose of procreation.
Mind you, the crew had been at sea, without women, for many months by then. They might have welcomed some feminine company, had not Gaspar, wise man that he was, claimed to have been in possession of superior knowledge, i.e. that the ladies weren’t after a lifetime of connubial bliss. They were after a date and dinner – with the seamen as the dinner.
Fear of cannibalism strengthened the crew’s resolve. The attack was beaten off. The women disappeared into the jungle, never to be seen again. And not one member of the crew accused Father Gaspar of being a mean-spirited Baron Munchausen of sexual angst for inventing the story. (Okay, I made that last part up.)
But Gasper made up more than the story. He also invented a name for the place where it all happened,
He called it the Great River of the Amazons, later (shortened and Anglicized) to become the Amazon River.
He was, of course, inspired by the legend of a similar tribe of warlike women in the mythology of the Greeks.
But who needs tall tales, and myths, when it comes to the Amazon? I sure as hell don’t. For me, the truth is impressive enough.
There are more species of fish in the Amazon River than there are in the Atlantic Ocean...
...bigger fish than can be found in any other river, fifteen times as many species as can be found in all the rivers of Europe. Twice a year, between the months of February and March, the Atlantic Ocean waters roll up the Amazon in a great tidal bore (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tidal_bore) that the Brazilians call the Pororoca. It generates the longest waves on earth, sweeping along everything from piranhas to tree trunks. One Brazilian surfer, Picuruta Salazar, managed to ride one of those waves for 37 minutes. It carried him for 12 kilometers.
...half the world’s bird species, one-third of all the types of living creatures on earth. And almost three hundred varieties of mosquitoes.
One word of advice: Should you add The Amazon to your bucket list, center your visit around Santarem, not Manaus.
Santarem is a rather pleasant place as far as isolated jungle cities go. Manaus…isn’t.
Want to know why? Read my book, Dying Gasp.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Are We Being Misled?
By Chester Campbell
I'm reading a book that comes highly recommended, has plenty of glowing reviews, the second book by an author whose first mystery was a best-seller, but I'm still not sure how well I like it. I'm up to chapter five, in the middle forties pagewise, and the real story is just getting started.
The first few chapters have been full of backstory, nicely fleshing out the characters, but not giving much about the mystery. There's been a death, an apparent suicide, but those close to the victim think there may be more to it than a self-inflicted demise.
It makes you wonder about those warnings by agents that we have to grab the reader on the first page. Some even say the first paragraph or first sentence. I haven't read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, but from all the comments I've heard and read, the first hundred or so pages get pretty boring. One cover-blurber of the book I'm reading called it a "bullet-fast" thriller. Up to this point, for me the bullet hasn't left the gun.
So how do novels like these get to be best-sellers, indeed, a mega-best-seller in the case of Dragon Tattoo? I work my brain to the bone (there is a brain bone, isn't there?) trying to make that first sentence a great hook that will snare readers. Agents yawn. I did read the opening pages of Dragon Tattoo on Amazon, and he starts out with a mystery about an annual flower delivery. The reviews on Amazon are either "great, amazing" or "boring, awful."
I get the feeling that the key is to go deeply into the characters and don't worry about plotting mysteriously. But where does that leave you with Dan Brown and The Da Vinci Code?
Oh, well, I suppose us shadowy toilers in the midlist ranks will have to go on creating mysteries the best we know how, following the conventional wisdom if it fits our situation. We have the solace of comments from our readers on how much they enjoy our books.
I'm reading a book that comes highly recommended, has plenty of glowing reviews, the second book by an author whose first mystery was a best-seller, but I'm still not sure how well I like it. I'm up to chapter five, in the middle forties pagewise, and the real story is just getting started.
The first few chapters have been full of backstory, nicely fleshing out the characters, but not giving much about the mystery. There's been a death, an apparent suicide, but those close to the victim think there may be more to it than a self-inflicted demise.
It makes you wonder about those warnings by agents that we have to grab the reader on the first page. Some even say the first paragraph or first sentence. I haven't read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, but from all the comments I've heard and read, the first hundred or so pages get pretty boring. One cover-blurber of the book I'm reading called it a "bullet-fast" thriller. Up to this point, for me the bullet hasn't left the gun.
So how do novels like these get to be best-sellers, indeed, a mega-best-seller in the case of Dragon Tattoo? I work my brain to the bone (there is a brain bone, isn't there?) trying to make that first sentence a great hook that will snare readers. Agents yawn. I did read the opening pages of Dragon Tattoo on Amazon, and he starts out with a mystery about an annual flower delivery. The reviews on Amazon are either "great, amazing" or "boring, awful."
I get the feeling that the key is to go deeply into the characters and don't worry about plotting mysteriously. But where does that leave you with Dan Brown and The Da Vinci Code?
Oh, well, I suppose us shadowy toilers in the midlist ranks will have to go on creating mysteries the best we know how, following the conventional wisdom if it fits our situation. We have the solace of comments from our readers on how much they enjoy our books.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
The Ebook Revolution
Tim Hallinan prompted a raft of comments when he wrote a post for Murder is Everywhere a day or two ago, praising what the ebook has done for authors. Tim pointed out how he has put up some of his old books for the Kindle, books the publisher let go out of print, and plans to release in electronic format some new books publishers were less-than-enthusiastic about.
I'm thinking of doing the same with two or three thrillers I wrote before landing a publisher for my first Greg McKenzie mystery. At least a couple of them were spoken of favorably by publishers before being turned down.
All six of my current mysteries are now available for the Kindle at $2.99. I've put the last two on Smashwords, which makes them available in various e-book formats, and plan to upload the others soon. I get 70 percent of the sales, which gives me a little more than the standard royalty on a paperback. Of course, I don't have a following like Tim Hallinan, who sells about 1,000 ebooks a month. But half a hundred isn't bad and should add up to more than a thousand bucks in a year. Hopefully my sales will improve, and if I get a few more on my Amazon page, it should cover the cost of attending a couple of conferences.
One of Tim's blogging partners, Stan Trollip (half of Michael Stanley), decried the long-term effect of books going electronic. He talked of fondly remembering times when he opened his grandfather's bookcase and browsed its impressive contents. I sympathize with him. A faded wooden bookcase with artfully decorated glass doors stands against one wall of my office. It opens with an old hollowed-out metal key. It contains some of my own books, plus ones handed down in the family. Pulling out one at random, I hold a thick volume titled The Mentor, Serials 73-96. A little more battered are volumes with Serials 49-72 and 97-120.
These came from my history-teacher aunt who died some years back at age ninety-six. The Mentor was a weekly publication of The Mentor Association in New York City. Serial 73 is dated December 15, 1914. An early issue of the publication contained this statement:
"The object of The Mentor Association is to enable people to acquire useful knowledge without effort, so that they may come easily and agreeably to know the world's great men and women, the great achievements, and the permanently interesting things in art, literature, science, history. nature and travel."
Serial No. 73 is devoted to Charles Dickens. Printed on heavy stock, it contains beautifully rendered intaglio-gravure pictures illustrating Dickens' characters. The next issue covers Greek masterpieces, with full-page pictures of various sculptures, including one I saw on a visit to the Louvre, Venus of Melos. Following this came an issue devoted to Fathers of the Constitution.
I have my doubts that any e-reader will ever have the impact of turning the pages in this vintage volume. I hope our libraries will continue to provide sanctuary for bound books both old and new. But I think coming generations will depend more on electronic reproductions of books read for entertainment. I intend to contribute my share of ebook fiction to the cause.
All six of my current mysteries are now available for the Kindle at $2.99. I've put the last two on Smashwords, which makes them available in various e-book formats, and plan to upload the others soon. I get 70 percent of the sales, which gives me a little more than the standard royalty on a paperback. Of course, I don't have a following like Tim Hallinan, who sells about 1,000 ebooks a month. But half a hundred isn't bad and should add up to more than a thousand bucks in a year. Hopefully my sales will improve, and if I get a few more on my Amazon page, it should cover the cost of attending a couple of conferences.
One of Tim's blogging partners, Stan Trollip (half of Michael Stanley), decried the long-term effect of books going electronic. He talked of fondly remembering times when he opened his grandfather's bookcase and browsed its impressive contents. I sympathize with him. A faded wooden bookcase with artfully decorated glass doors stands against one wall of my office. It opens with an old hollowed-out metal key. It contains some of my own books, plus ones handed down in the family. Pulling out one at random, I hold a thick volume titled The Mentor, Serials 73-96. A little more battered are volumes with Serials 49-72 and 97-120.
These came from my history-teacher aunt who died some years back at age ninety-six. The Mentor was a weekly publication of The Mentor Association in New York City. Serial 73 is dated December 15, 1914. An early issue of the publication contained this statement:
"The object of The Mentor Association is to enable people to acquire useful knowledge without effort, so that they may come easily and agreeably to know the world's great men and women, the great achievements, and the permanently interesting things in art, literature, science, history. nature and travel."
Serial No. 73 is devoted to Charles Dickens. Printed on heavy stock, it contains beautifully rendered intaglio-gravure pictures illustrating Dickens' characters. The next issue covers Greek masterpieces, with full-page pictures of various sculptures, including one I saw on a visit to the Louvre, Venus of Melos. Following this came an issue devoted to Fathers of the Constitution.
I have my doubts that any e-reader will ever have the impact of turning the pages in this vintage volume. I hope our libraries will continue to provide sanctuary for bound books both old and new. But I think coming generations will depend more on electronic reproductions of books read for entertainment. I intend to contribute my share of ebook fiction to the cause.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
The Apple Pies Are A Nice Touch
By Pat Browning
Distributing the New Testament in more than 400 languages is a Texas project of the Baptist General Convention. Some church members are going door to door, delivering the Scriptures along with freshly baked apple pies.
That’s according to an AP story by Linda Stewart Ball. Read all about it at:
http://tinyurl.com/yck2b6l.
Meanwhile:
As the world huffs and puffs over the Amazon/Macmillan/Apple iPad kerfluffle, Amazon calmly goes about its business of being The Big Cheese. Nick Bilton of the New York Times reports that Amazon has acquired Touchco, a start-up specializing in touch-screen technology. It’s said that Touchco screens can tell the difference between the touch of a finger and the pressure of a pen.
Watch for a super Kindle down the road apiece. Read the story at:
http://tinyurl.com/ygt8ghz.
Already beating iPad to the draw is Joojoo, ready to launch late this month. Quoting from The Tech Chronicles at sfgate.com:
“CEO… (Chandrasekar) Rathakrishnan said JooJoo will carve out its own audience with its bigger 12-inch screen, Flash support and full web experience. … ‘There's no question, Apple will take a good chunk of market share but the market is big enough for a number of players.’”
Read about Joojoo at:
http://tinyurl.com/y8po645.
Last, but far from least, the much maligned print-on-demand technology has finally come into its own, in books and now in magazines. Print your own magazine – niche publishing for specific groups. According to the PBS web site, “Media Shift tracks how new media – from weblogs to podcasts to citizen journalism – are changing society and culture.”
Read the details of publishing your POD magazine at:
http://tinyurl.com/ydhqfx9
In the world of technology, every day is Christmas. Who knows what the next goody will be?
Distributing the New Testament in more than 400 languages is a Texas project of the Baptist General Convention. Some church members are going door to door, delivering the Scriptures along with freshly baked apple pies.
That’s according to an AP story by Linda Stewart Ball. Read all about it at:
http://tinyurl.com/yck2b6l.
Meanwhile:
As the world huffs and puffs over the Amazon/Macmillan/Apple iPad kerfluffle, Amazon calmly goes about its business of being The Big Cheese. Nick Bilton of the New York Times reports that Amazon has acquired Touchco, a start-up specializing in touch-screen technology. It’s said that Touchco screens can tell the difference between the touch of a finger and the pressure of a pen.
Watch for a super Kindle down the road apiece. Read the story at:
http://tinyurl.com/ygt8ghz.
“CEO… (Chandrasekar) Rathakrishnan said JooJoo will carve out its own audience with its bigger 12-inch screen, Flash support and full web experience. … ‘There's no question, Apple will take a good chunk of market share but the market is big enough for a number of players.’”
Read about Joojoo at:
http://tinyurl.com/y8po645.
Last, but far from least, the much maligned print-on-demand technology has finally come into its own, in books and now in magazines. Print your own magazine – niche publishing for specific groups. According to the PBS web site, “Media Shift tracks how new media – from weblogs to podcasts to citizen journalism – are changing society and culture.”
Read the details of publishing your POD magazine at:
http://tinyurl.com/ydhqfx9
In the world of technology, every day is Christmas. Who knows what the next goody will be?
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
The Long Goodbye for Publishing
By Chester Campbell
Mystery fans are well aware that The Long Goodbye is a Philip Marlowe story written by the iconic Raymond Chandler. It won the Edgar Award for Best Novel in 1955. Interestingly, it appears in a quite different context in the headline for an article in The Nation by Elizabeth Sifton, a senior vp at Farrar, Strauss & Giroux.
The article appears under the heading The Long Goodbye? The Book Business and its Woes.
There has been a lot said and written lately about the state of publishing, or should I say the sad state of publishing. Ms. Sifton’s article covers the history of the business and the practices that led up to the current scene as well as anything I’ve seen. She has spent nearly half a century in the field, working for several different book publishers as they merged into conglomerates. Re the latter, she had this to say:
“As the megapublishers tightened their grip in the 1980s, I was dismayed to see a number of once good firms of markedly different publishing style or literary taste make foolish, overpriced mistakes; they seemed to be losing their bearings as they paid ever more money for ever more questionable properties, entrusting the sewing up of these sow's ears to not very experienced practitioners.”
She quoted this from one publisher: "Businessmen never learn from their mistakes because they always find someone else to blame for them," he said. "Businessmen only learn from their successes. Except publishers can't do that."
Ms. Sifton says the arithmetic on how publishers calculate their income and outgo has remained unchanged since the middle of the last century. “Of the roughly $10 a publisher took in on a $20 book, say, 10 to 15 percent of the cover price was allocated to the author, leaving only the remaining $7.50 or so to cover the fixed, make-ready costs (coding, proofing and correcting the author's original disk, press preparation and such); the varying paper, printing and binding costs; the cost of sales and marketing; the overhead; and maybe some profit, 4 to 5 percent if all went well. No wonder they longed for bestsellers, the income from which would allow expansion of staff, or staff salaries, or the size of the list--or profits.”
Regarding authors’ royalties, she observes, “Their ever more powerful agents have successfully decoupled the size of the royalty advances they receive from any estimate of the books' eventual earnings, and routinely assure them that if Knopf or Norton or Morrow fails to earn back the upfront money, it's because their masterpieces were badly published, not because the advances were implausibly high.”
After discussing Amazon and Google and the current state of affairs, she bemoans, “I, for one, don't trust the book trade to see us through this. Wariness is in order.”
I highly recommend the article, which you can read HERE.
Mystery fans are well aware that The Long Goodbye is a Philip Marlowe story written by the iconic Raymond Chandler. It won the Edgar Award for Best Novel in 1955. Interestingly, it appears in a quite different context in the headline for an article in The Nation by Elizabeth Sifton, a senior vp at Farrar, Strauss & Giroux.
The article appears under the heading The Long Goodbye? The Book Business and its Woes.
There has been a lot said and written lately about the state of publishing, or should I say the sad state of publishing. Ms. Sifton’s article covers the history of the business and the practices that led up to the current scene as well as anything I’ve seen. She has spent nearly half a century in the field, working for several different book publishers as they merged into conglomerates. Re the latter, she had this to say:
“As the megapublishers tightened their grip in the 1980s, I was dismayed to see a number of once good firms of markedly different publishing style or literary taste make foolish, overpriced mistakes; they seemed to be losing their bearings as they paid ever more money for ever more questionable properties, entrusting the sewing up of these sow's ears to not very experienced practitioners.”
She quoted this from one publisher: "Businessmen never learn from their mistakes because they always find someone else to blame for them," he said. "Businessmen only learn from their successes. Except publishers can't do that."
Ms. Sifton says the arithmetic on how publishers calculate their income and outgo has remained unchanged since the middle of the last century. “Of the roughly $10 a publisher took in on a $20 book, say, 10 to 15 percent of the cover price was allocated to the author, leaving only the remaining $7.50 or so to cover the fixed, make-ready costs (coding, proofing and correcting the author's original disk, press preparation and such); the varying paper, printing and binding costs; the cost of sales and marketing; the overhead; and maybe some profit, 4 to 5 percent if all went well. No wonder they longed for bestsellers, the income from which would allow expansion of staff, or staff salaries, or the size of the list--or profits.”
Regarding authors’ royalties, she observes, “Their ever more powerful agents have successfully decoupled the size of the royalty advances they receive from any estimate of the books' eventual earnings, and routinely assure them that if Knopf or Norton or Morrow fails to earn back the upfront money, it's because their masterpieces were badly published, not because the advances were implausibly high.”
After discussing Amazon and Google and the current state of affairs, she bemoans, “I, for one, don't trust the book trade to see us through this. Wariness is in order.”
I highly recommend the article, which you can read HERE.
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