By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
Just a quick wrap-up today of my thoughts on various formats/platforms I’m using to reach readers, an idea for a format I might explore in the future, and a general thought on the production process.
Wattpad: Wattpad lists free books, so I can’t gauge if it’s having an impact on the sales of my other books. But it’s been an interesting experience for me so far because I’m reaching a completely different audience than I ordinarily do, by decades. So I’m at 131 reads right now (woo-hoo!) and these are folks who probably don’t usually read my genre…maybe I can even help introduce a few new readers to cozy mysteries.
Amazon Foreign Sales: Japanese Amazon sales are suddenly, inexplicably, as strong as my European sales. Absolutely no idea why.
Nook, Smashwords, Apple: Steady sales but not nearly in the same league as the Amazon sales. Nook is usually about 5% of my Amazon sales.
ACX: I have no quibbles here because what I make at ACX (audiobooks) is pure profit—I invested nothing in the production, having chosen a royalty share deal with my narrators. ACX has also recently branched into the international community (more information on that in Joanna Penn’s May 1 post, “Audiobooks: Tips For Distribution With ACX And Marketing Ideas”). I’m unhappy that they lowered royalty rates (covered here in Porter Anderson’s March 6 article, “A Most Audible Alarm: ACX Chops Royalties”), which gave me the uneasy feeling like…well, like Amazon could do the same for their ebooks. But that’s why I’m diversifying. In addition, ACX’s sales can be pesky (audiobook authors don’t set price) because it does mean lost revenue. But, in all, I make a decent income there with my four books…and again—it’s all profit since I sunk nothing into production.
Print: Always steady sales. It’s almost exactly a year since I branched my self-pubbed books into print on CreateSpace—it was the best decision I made. Again, I do have an older readership which may have contributed to the success, but the one-time investment of cover design (adapting the ebook cover to a print cover with a spine and back cover) and formatting was certainly worth it for me.
Production-related thoughts: I’m effectively approaching work like my trad. publisher does and contract book design labor before the current WIP is finished as long as my outline seems pretty firm and I’m not going off in some crazy, unplanned direction. Since I’ve had to wait on covers before because designers so quickly get booked, this has helped me out the two times I’ve done it now.
Summing it all up…I’m still thinking diversifying is key to what we’re doing. Not having an all-our-eggs-in-one basket approach. Trying different things. Figuring out different approaches with production.
Hugh Howey effectively blew my mind the other day with his May 28 post, “The Beauty of Booktrack.” This isn’t necessarily a way that I want to experience books (with a soundtrack), but I can totally see how it could be very appealing to other people, especially younger readers. His post introduces Booktrack a bit. There’s more information here (FAQ) and here (video tutorials). It’s free and your book must be listed free there.
That’s my run-down on what trends I’m seeing currently with my own sales as we head into the summer months. Are you looking into trying any different formats for your books? Have any insights into what’s working or not for you and your books?
As always, your posts are highly informative and fun to read and I’m literally fascinated by your…hum, “cozy” approach to the publishing platforms circus! Thanks so much for sharing the info and being so transparent about your sales. I don’t have anywhere near your fan base so all I can say is that the only place where my books move is Amazon…Guess that says something abou the importance of Amazon for new, emerging writers…
Claude–Thanks! And I think another take-away from all this, looking back, is that all I’m really doing is making the content available. Yes, there is a bit of set-up time involved in having it available in print, audio, serial form…but once it’s set up, I’m stepping back. Not promoting it. So, really, for most of the platforms, it’s a one-time outpouring of time.
I’m with you on Amazon–that’s where the majority of all income comes from.
Elizabeth – Thanks so much for this useful insight. Diversifying definitely seems to be the key to making the best of online platforms. I’ve just actually started using Wattpad actually, and I’ll be interested to see how it works for me.
Margot–So excited to hear you’re there! Hope it goes well for you. Yay for mysteries on Wattpad!
Japanese sales are up? Don’t question, just enjoy. Although you always wonder what on earth you’re doing to cause it.
Booktracks – I will check it out!
Alex–It’s just…odd! But I’ll take it. :)
Yes I think Booktracks would be *really* good for your book/genre.
Maybe the expats need something they can read and relate to .. and not Japanese?! H
Book tracks does sound interesting .. H
Hilary–Good point! Hadn’t thought of that. Because it’s not translated…it’s in English.
I’m still on the fence about audiobooks. Every time I look at Publishers Weekly’s updates on sales, audiobook sales have sunk another 10%. But diversifying is always good. Even if one source dries up, others are still producing.
Diane–I know what you mean…it’s not the way that I “read” books. But I figure if I can reach another market…I’ll give it a go.
So true about mixing it up. The problem for me is keeping up with the newest thing. I’m tech minded and have a hard time keeping up with the newest fad on the internet. This summer I’m going to try out Createaspace.
Teresa–I think you’ll like CS. They make it easy to work through. It’s great you’re so tech-minded–it makes things so much easier that way!
I LOVE the idea of soundtracks for books. Michael Nesmith was doing it decades ago, with The Garden and The Prisoner, two albums which had books included.
But Booktrack is another proprietary system trying to do what Dave Bricker’s brilliant PubML is better at.
http://pubml.com/
Anybody who wants to do more with eBooks should be using all the power and reach of the web, rather than investing time and energy into one more proprietary format.
Audio, video, web links, interactive maps, whatever. PubML is better at digital books than any other format, and whatever ereader your folks already have can still read it.
Joel–Thanks for the link! I’ll check it out. What I think will end up working for most authors who want to branch into a transmedia approach to publishing is going to be ease-of-use…and, as you mention, something that will work on all the readers/formats.
Thanks for sharing all those tidbits. I’ve seen my sales in India spike, but still haven’t cracked the Japanese market. :)
Peace, Seeley
India is good, too!
Elizabeth, you say you have an ‘older readership’. How did you target that specific market if I may ask? Is an ‘older readership’ restrictive in any way? You really seem to be enjoying digging deeper to keep sales perking along. Thanks for your reply.
Leslie Ann–I targeted them completely by content. I have an octogenarian sleuth for one series and sleuths in their 60s for the other series. I focus on the puzzle of the mystery instead of on forensics and avoid profanity, gore, etc. The cozy mystery genre tends to trend somewhat older than other mystery subgenres and my books trend older than the average in the genre. That’s not to say I don’t have much younger readers (and sometimes *very* young readers since parents have chosen my books because of the lack of objectionable content). But that’s my main audience that I’m focusing on pleasing.
As far as being restrictive, no I wouldn’t say so. But if I want to branch out into edgier writing, I’ll be using a pen name, for sure. And the older readers have been, in many cases, very quick to move to e-readers (font size adjustment) and audio (some with more serious eye issues).
I do like branching out into other formats and where younger readers are. As a teen, I *loved* Miss Marple. Loved her. I wasn’t an Ordinary Teen, but I’m thinking there may be plenty of kids like that if we branch out far enough and find them. With any luck!
Elizabeth, I don’t know much about these formats and platforms. I’m assuming they’re publishing domains for free books and stories for both published authors and potential writers and that once you share a story, on Wattpad, for instance, you can’t publish it elsewhere. Then again, if it’s free then how does sales matter? This is all very informative.
Prashant–I should have given a little more info…ack. Sorry about that! None of these platforms are proprietary, actually–that’s something I don’t believe is a good business practice, from a writer’s standpoint. So, for instance, I’ve never done KDP Select. Wattpad is a free platform and free to share–and free to post elsewhere (and for a profit) elsewhere…so I’ve got the same book that’s free on Wattpad for $2.99 on Amazon (I think that’s the price, anyway). ACX is audio and just expands the content into a different format. Nook, Kobo, Smashwords, Apple are all competitors of Amazon, and I’ve got my books published through them as well so that I don’t have all my eggs in one basket. CreateSpace is owned by Amazon, but it produces print books–so just branching the same content into a different format than digital.
So, none of these things are mutually exclusive…*except* if writers choose KDP Select with Amazon which limits choices. Which…well, it just makes me a bit leery to do so I haven’t and don’t plan to.
Thanks for the tip on Booktrack. I love the concept!
I’m with you on suspecting Amazon will eventually kill the hen that laid the golden egg. Its ruthless in eliminating competitors should serve as a warning.
I’m traditionally-published but about to enter the hybrid waters, so I apprecitate your insights.
Janalyn–It’s a cool concept, isn’t it? And they’re obviously not the only player in town (see Joel’s comment below) so this seems to be an up-and-coming area where we could tap into different readers. And…it all looks super easy, too. A good thing.
You know, I think writers have just got to be wary, in general. For years I believe that we’ve been taken advantage of in various ways by various entities: that includes publishers, agents, vanity presses that fed off of dreams, scammy contest, and–yes, big retail, including Amazon. I think we *are* in a position of strength now, but we’ve got to ensure that we diversify and keep looking ahead so that we don’t get boxed in again.
Thanks for coming by!
Great summary, thanks Elizabeth!
The Booktrack thing also blew my mind :) Like you, it’s not something that would interest me personally, although I do make music playlists for my books, which I share on my website. Again, I see the appeal for a younger audience. I’m still pondering ACX, now that they’ve opened up to UK authors. Again, I’m not into audiobooks myself, which is probably why I haven’t branched out into this yet…man, I’m coming across as OLD…
I agree that diversifying is key. I am currently distributing my ebooks to non-Amazon platforms via Smashwords but the option has been opening up to sell directly with some of those retailers, which is what I’m considering doing (Joanna Penn’s posts have been very useful on that subject). Some veterans of self-publishing feel that Amazon won’t touch ebook royalty rates. Some think “You never know with the Zon…” I’m with the latter group. You never know.
AD–Ha! Yes, that’s been my thought a lot lately…boy, I’m getting to be an old stick-in-the-mud. But that’s fine, right, as long as we don’t make our *books* be sticks-in-the mud? I think Wattpad and Booktrack are geared to the young folk and I don’t mind being available to that audience (I’m throwing spaghetti at various walls and seeing what sticks). I think ACX appeals to a variety of different people (commuters, young-middle age exercising types, older folks with poor vision).
As far as non-Amazon platforms, I will say that Apple is a *pain in the neck* to deal with separately from Smashwords. I did it, but had to pay someone in the end to upload my book since we’re not an Apple household here and you have to have a Mac to upload. Nook, Kobo were pieces of cake to deal with separately. And I’d say–you never know, as far as royalty rates. Let’s just keep throwing spaghetti at walls.
I missed that Hugh Howey post. I’ll check it out. I’m with you on print sales…it was soooo worth the effort. I think I may also have to start the cover design process earlier. It’s all a learning process! Thanks so much for always being a fountain of information.
Julie–Covers are just so important and those designers get booked up so quickly! I’ve had to delay launches as many as three months to wait on a cover…so now I’m scheduling way in advance. In fact, I asked my designer to pencil me on her calendar any time she had an opening in the next year and I would give her a cover gig. :)
This is excellent. Some of these platforms I haven’t considered. I’ll have to seriously consider how I can leverage these. Meanwhile, I’m featuring this post in tomorrow’s The Content Letter.
Allen–Glad the post helped you think outside the box a little, regarding platforms. And thanks for the mention!
Hi Elizabeth – another great post .. and yes I think and I’m sure I’ll go the multi route – keeping as many options going as seems possible without over cooking it …
Interesting what you say about Amazon .. thanks for that – cheers Hilary
Hilary–It’s always safest to diversify, I think. Thanks for coming by!