Finding Traction in Other Markets

Good Morning. I've been watching my sales figures since the day I first published (Sept. 28, 2011). I have spreadsheets galore, tracked sales numbers incessantly, checked my stats two, three, four times a day. Yes, I am somewhat OCD about this. (I wish I could say the same for housework, but that's another post.)

I found my footing at Amazon back in the hey-day when indie/self-published authors were given the same algorithms that every one else had. If more than 10 people bought your book on any given day, you shot up in the ranks, and if you made it into the top 100, you were SEEN and BOUGHT and all was glorious in your little world.

I'd also published on Smashwords, not wanting to limit myself to only Amazon. Once I figured out how to format properly, it was just a matter of uploading. However, back then, they weren't a major player. Smashwords was considered an upstart and would fail within the year. (HA!)

Then in February of 2013 all that changed. Amazon changed its algorithms, pushed the indies out and concentrated on the BIG 5 books. I had just released THE EARL'S ENGAGEMENT and watched it go from #19 on its debut to #3,798 in a matter of days. I was crushed, floored, and had no idea why. Then I read a blog where an insider told us all that the Mighty Zon was pushing us indies out. We had done our duty to the megalith by giving them cheap books to fill the coffers of their e-readers thus giving them the monopoly on e-reading.

Okay. Well, it's business. People ranted and raved how unfair it all was, how the Zon was going to destroy publishing, destroy indies, destroy the universe. I got over it. It's business. Jeff can run his business any way he sees fit. He's a smart man, did what he had to do, and is now a multi-billionaire. Good for him I say. He had a clear vision of his company and knows how to make his machine work.

On the other hand, I am a smart woman. This new e-publishing thing has a long tail. We've all heard that at one time or another. What you publish today may not find readers for two years, or ten years. What you publish today is just the beginning of, hopefully, a long and fruitful career.

When Amazon changed its algorithms, I changed my tactics. I had also published on Smashwords and gotten into Barnes & Noble through them. However, I wanted more control over my books. (Not that Mark Coker isn't as brilliant as Jeff Bezos -- more so I think because Mark gives us more venues to publish with, more international stores, more of pretty much everything us indies need -- and if you're not publishing on Smashwords, well, you're losing out). However, I opted out of B&N through Smashwords and published through B&N PubIt!

Sometime late last year, PubIt! went through a restructuring and became Nook Press. Same store, only better. They built a model for uploading, with the added bonus of being able to correct mistakes in your book right there on the page -- instead of fixing the ms. uploading through various epub machines, and then reviewing everything all over again and waiting the required 48-72 hours for the book to publish. I just used this feature the other day when I found the last (I hope) mistake in the Captain's Coincidence. I went to the page, fixed the mistake, and voila, the book was reviewed in less than an hour and the new version uploaded. No fuss, no muss, and I sold a copy the same day.

Nook Press has also just expanded its market share and gone global. Not only are they selling in the UK, but now they have stores in France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Netherlands, and Belgium. (I've always wanted to go to Belgium.) The outlook for this expansion is phenomenal. I've been reading about Barnes and Noble's imminent demise for years, but this expansion shows they're not going anywhere.

In thinking about all this, and looking at my numbers for the last few months, I've found that I've sold just as many books on Nook, as I have on Amazon. (US only). On some days, quite a few more. I don't know if they have algorithms. I don't know if they feature new books on their website or flash "new releases" in front of your face. (I've never bothered to actually go to the Nook Store and look.) I don't really care. All I know is the margin between both stores is closing in. And that, my friends is the name of the game.

The way I look at it is, if I can't keep my traction at Amazon, then I need to find someplace else to get it. This is business. Kobo is going through another major restructuring with the takeover of Sony. (I am installed over there, but haven't published through them as yet.) Apple is great if you can get through the Mac hoops to publish. Smashwords is a great aggregator for other markets, (Apple itunes and Kobo, not to mention B&N, FlipKart, Oyster, and Scribd, and I think six more) and they have a nifty gadget on their dashboard that tells me how many times my 15% sneak peek has been downloaded.

Therefore, for me, Nook is the up and coming place to be. I remember the Barnes and Noble store at the mall when I was a kid. I'd go through the stacks, wishing and hoping someday I'd be published. Okay, fast forward 30 years, and there I am. Yes, I understand it's only virtual reality, but hey, if it pays my electric bill, I'll take it.

Tell me -- Do you publish through other companies or are you only at Amazon? And if you are, why? Do any of you keep track of your sales figures or do you just not care as long as the money flows in?

I have not been endorsed by any company. This is strictly a business opinion/observation. .


Anne Gallagher (c) 2014

Update On My Dad and Other Miscellany

Good Morning.

It's certainly been a long couple of weeks. We finally got my father on a breathing machine and a new bed that allows him to sleep sitting up. He's been in his chair in the living room for almost six months and although it helped, it didn't allow him to get the rest he needed. Now he's in bed again and feeling so much better. Not 100%, but at least 85, so that's a good thing.  He even cut the back meadow on Saturday. (Although I still had to push mow the front hill .)

I joined in the fun of the A-Z challenge, which some of you may know. I didn't sign up on the linky because I knew with everything I have going on I wouldn't be able to do it justice. But I had this crazy idea for it about a week before it went down, and if you want, you can find it here on my Anne Gallagher blog. My theme is my characters in pictures.

Also, I managed to get THE DUKE'S DIVORCE out in paperback. You can't find it on Amazon just quite yet, (they say it takes about 14 days for all the content to be uploaded) but you can find it here.  I'm hoping if you know someone who likes to read Regency in paper form, you'll tell them about it.

 I'm also working on another short story to e-publish. It involves Lord Greenleigh, (Letter G) spies, intrigue, and espionage with Russians. I'm up to Chapter 9 and I think it's pretty cool considering I don't know the first thing about espionage. (And I'm hoping MI6 and the CIA don't take my Google searches into consideration.)

AND, the biggest news of all, (which I'm still kind of reeling from) is we're moving. No, not back to the beach, (I wish) but to the house two doors down from my parents. It has 1200 more square feet than the house we're currently in, which translates to a proper living room, sunroom, private office, and a HUGE kitchen with a FIREPLACE! (I still can't believe that.) And another bonus, there's a garage. Unfortunately the yard does not have space for a pool (unless I want to sunbathe in the front yard). It's a win-win that we'll be within shouting distance of my parents. It's also a drawback in that there's no escape. But, I'm trying to stay positive with the fact it means so much more living and BREATHING space.

Also, I believe I have to cancel the big Earth Day party I planned for my Birthday. With so much craziness going on, (packing cleaning while still trying to write) I really am quite scatterbrained these days. I'm also trying to get LADY'S FATE out to paper, as well as get Greenleigh's story finished and pubbed in e-form all before we take possession of the new house. (Which will likely be by the end of April.) So I'm trying to keep my sanity and keep all the balls in the air. HA!

Anyway, that's my news. I've tried to be around as much as I can, but it's not the same. I miss you all terribly. Tell me what you've been up to so I can keep up.

Paperback Writer

Good Morning. No, this post isn't about the Beatles, but you can thank me later after the song has been in your head all day.

Today's post concerns the idea of putting my books into paperback form. I've been thinking about this for a long time. A LONG time. Probably since I was a kid and dreamed of becoming a famous author. There I was in braids and braces, holding MY book, accepting an award for writing the best durn book in the world. I think I was maybe 11, so Pulitzer wasn't in my vocabulary. Thinking back on it, the book probably had to do with horses (Misty of Chincoteague and The Black Stallion), and maybe a girl detective (Trixie Belden) who saved a town from the villainous villain. You get the drift.

Anyway, since I published to Kindle, the thrill ride has been amazing. I still get goose bumps every time I see the covers when I click to Amazon (about 8 gajllion times a day). Pulitzer is not in the picture, nor would I want it to be, I'm not that smaht, but something's been missing. And I finally figured out what it was.

The fact is, it's not a "real" book. I mean, sure, it's there, you can download it and read it, my name is on it so I know I wrote it, I even formed my own publishing company to do that. But I can't hold it in my hands. I can't smell it. I can't stick a bookmark in it, write in the margins, or kill a fly with it. I can't FEEL it. It's not tangible to me.

And so I've been scouring the internet looking up POD (print on demand) companies, looked at pricing, and royalties, distribution models, and percentage mark-downs. It's a lot to take in. Most companies are about the same. That's not the problem.

The problem is the consumer. When you can buy digital books for so much less, would you really spend the money on a paperback? I've seen prices from small publishers and self-publishers run the gamut from $9.99 to $15.95. (Most traditional publishers for the 5x8 mass market paperback are still hovering around $7.99 but that's with a 50K print run.) However, after looking at the POD models and how the companies do it, with the cost of paper, ink (not only for 273 pages but also the color covers), staff, electricity in the plant, all that, I can actually see how they would come up with the price they do to print one. Which is actually fair. (Working in a restaurant all those years really makes it easy to see the wholesale/retail mark-up.)

I guess the question I'm asking is, do people still buy "books"? Real books made out of paper. I mean, I wouldn't expect people who have the digital version to buy a paperback version too, that would be crazy, but I'm thinking of Aunt Martha who wants a nice Regency but without the sex, and maybe cousin Joyce who doesn't have an e-reader yet. If you're stuck in an airport, or dentist office, maybe a day at the beach. Do people still buy books as gifts? How much is too much for a paperback? (I know what I pay and how I read, so my opinion doesn't count.)

Tell me -- your opinion. I really want to know.

PS   I have another novella coming out shortly. (Like within the next few days.)
You can read all about it here.