Bisky's Twitterling's Scribbles! discussion
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Sales after Createspace
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I'm not really sure. Most of my Createspace sales are family members who want paperbacks but won't take them from me. Where are you looking at your sales?Just an idea, but when you released the paperback, it may have put your book into new releases again. It's easier to stay in the top 100 on the new release section and that will help you get more sales.
At any rate, that's wonderful news, congratulations !
Cassandra wrote: "I'm not really sure. Most of my Createspace sales are family members who want paperbacks but won't take them from me. Where are you looking at your sales?Just an idea, but when you released the p..."
Well, I was checking my sales on KDP, but I just checked the createspace sales and it seems that my assumption the sales increase was down to paperback sales was wrong! I've only sold one and I bought that! That'll teach me to make assumptions!
Seems I've had a sales boost just on the ebook in the UK.
Can't be just a coincidence though that it happened when the paperback was released, must have put my book back into new releases as you suggest.
Oh, and try not to worry about sales dropping off. Enjoy it. Fingers crossed that your sales continue to go up.
Thank you Mark and Cassandra! I should try not to ruin the enjoyment of people buying my book by worrying about it!
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You worried in the right place though; no one in this group will judge you for it. :]
Your increased sales is probably a combination of two things. 1) The addition of a paperback version makes your book seem more professional. 2) The 'you save' tag below the listed price of your ebook probably says you save around 80% (over the listed paperback price). People like to feel like they've gotten a really, really good deal. Plus, Amazon owns CreateSpace, so they have reason to push your book a little higher in their search results.
It is very difficult to know why one is making sales but what is important is to get a consistent level of sales and then to improve on that. The UK market seems very fickle harder to understand than the US, I might work it out one day.
Could be that Amazon has run some kind of UK promotion, I sold a couple ebooks on amazon.co.uk recently too. Mind you, just a couple, nothing like what you experienced, but I haven't sold any in the UK in months. It could also be unconnected, perhaps you have received some word of mouth in the UK through someone's blog or just telling people about your book. Anyway, congrats on the sales bump and I hope it continues!
I would offer another explanation completely. You see I think your sales went up because you started participating more in groups like this one. And before you think I'm just trying to kiss up to Bisky here, let me tell you that I've actually advertised in a number of places like Google, Goodreads, and Twitter, where I've spent some pretty good money, and those efforts did next to nothing for my sales. But when I started getting more involved in the groups here at Goodreads after I stopped all my other advertising efforts my sales started skyrocketing. Now I don't want you to get me wrong, I still have my own website, am active on Youtube, Twitter, and little on Facebook too, but I think Goodreads gives the most traction. In fact I looked at your book,"Five Very British Horror Stories" after a few comments I saw you made here. So in the end I think what I'm trying to say is that participating in the groups here, not just Bisky's, but others too, really helps out in terms of getting your name out there.But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong...
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*rolls around in praises*
:P just kidding. But i think you have a point, although there are alot of people on Facebook and Twitter, the people who are on Goodreads are on Goodreads because they like to read. It might have something to do with it :]
Rick wrote: "I would offer another explanation completely. You see I think your sales went up because you started participating more in groups like this one. And before you think I'm just trying to kiss up to..."This could very well be true. I've heard participation in online forums can be a good way to market yourself, bcs readers get to know YOU rather than being bombarded by ads which they ignore or actively dislike.
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No, but you've definitely got a good point. By really immersing oneself Into the goodreads community, or I suppose any online writing community, one tends to get to know others they work with and then really just want to support them when their work comes out <3
Rick wrote: "I would offer another explanation completely. You see I think your sales went up because you started participating more in groups like this one. And before you think I'm just trying to kiss up to..."Hi Rick,I think Goodreads et al is an excellent way for readers to find writers and for a writer to build up a steady fanbase, but I don't think it can account for suddenly selling a month's worth of books three days in a row.
Sales remain increased and so I think Amazon must have done some sort of UK promotion after all.
I'm going to post something on the Kindle forum when I get time and I'll come back and let you know if I learn anything useful. I think it'd be helpful for us all to learn how the system works and how we can get such a sales boost!
Bisky - You deserve praise for starting, maintaining, and actively participating in your own group (That was kissing up :-))J. - I agree the ads, which I bought here at Goodreads, are just white noise that no one pays attention to, but I pay attention to everyone thats participating with me in groups
Nicole - Theres a fine line between favorite and irritant...lol
Helen - You might be right about the promotions because I've been getting these e-mails that mention my book next to a lot of other similar works. Now I'm not sure if it's targeted advertising geared towards me buying up the other books like mine, or if it's targeted at me as a consumer of books trying to get me to buy similar purchases. But if other authors/consumers are getting emails like that, then that might be an explanation for the increase in sales, I know I look at all the other books that are lumped in there with mine.
Rick wrote: "Bisky - You deserve praise for starting, maintaining, and actively participating in your own group (That was kissing up :-))J. - I agree the ads, which I bought here at Goodreads, are just white n..."
Those emails! I get them too, maybe a mass of them went out with my book on it or something very like. Thanks Rick!
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Oh and Bisky's people ARE friendly! :P
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G.G. wrote: "Ah you should do it Lynn... It cost nothing to set up, and will only cost you a few $ or £ or whatever to be able to hold your own book in your hands. Worth the trouble. :)Oh and Bisky's people A..."
I'm with you - Createspace is great. I haven't sold many paperbacks, but it's cool to have a "real" version of your book which you can use for photos and as giveaway prizes. Well worth the setting up fee - which is, of course, nothing!
G.G. wrote: "Ah you should do it Lynn... It cost nothing to set up, and will only cost you a few $ or £ or whatever to be able to hold your own book in your hands. Worth the trouble. :)Oh and Bisky's people A..."
Yes, CreateSpace is the best! So easy to use. I don't sell paperbacks except to people who know me in person, but it's nice to have that option. And it gives me hard copies to take to book sales and book clubs and the like. I did a book club just last week with non-tech-savvy readers, and they all bought paperbacks off me. I promote the heck out of CreateSpace whenever I run into other authors - to a point of being annoying. Lol.
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I agree CreateSpace is great. The ability to have copies of your books on demand for any event you choose is really nice. Especially since the actual publishing is free. I also love it now that they've made their expanded distribution free. Without even paying for it, now companies like Barnes and Noble have my paperbacks on their website. Sweet!
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It does raise the price, but I've had some sales through those other mediums. Guess it depends on the pay off.
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Edited: I went ahead and changed it... I can always go back to my previous setting if anything.
It's hard to know. The print book market seems to be a bit of a gamble. I've sold paperbacks to the UK - no idea how those customers heard of me - and in the US. I think people buying a print book won't be put off by a couple extra dollars. Those buying solely based on cost will most likely download an ebook. And those unwilling to buy from an author they've never heard of...those aren't buying regardless. So I don't think the increase in print price has been a deterrent for anyone who would have bought otherwise.
@Lynn are you writing what you love to write? Do you like to write erotica? The key to sales is to build an audience. If you love to write it then there will be an audience that loves to read it. Keep writing. Keep promoting. Your audience will grow bigger and bigger as you go.
I have CreatSpace copies available of my novels The Rock Star and The Singer, but the only ones I've actually sold are the ones I bought myself to sell at a fundraiser for my Rotary Club. 100% of my sales have been e-books so far. I really enjoy having and holding copies of my books, but I get the feeling that sales trends are heading to mostly e-books. I know I haven't read a regular book since I got my iPad. And the only change I've drone on that is to move from mostly iBooks over to Kindle and that's just because my books are on Amazon and the prices for other books I read are better at Amazon.I kind of get the impression that to sell hard copies you need to be in book stores or at events. Most people who are shopping on-line are looking for the instant gratification of downloading what they want right then and there. While people in bookstores want the same instant gratification of holding the books in their hands, even if it costs more than the deals they can find on-line.
But that's my 2 cents and i could be very wrong, so let me know if you feel differently.
Brian wrote: "@Lynn are you writing what you love to write? Do you like to write erotica? The key to sales is to build an audience. If you love to write it then there will be an audience that loves to read it. K..."I agree with Brian. Self-publishing is something you need to be in for the long haul. Even the top authors like Amanda Hocking didn't become successes over night, they did it by producing a large number of books and building up a loyal audience that spread the word.
Erotica might be hot now, or Paranormal romance, but at one point when Stephen King was red-hot in the eighties Horror was the in thing. Then when Dan Brown was hot it was controversial thrillers. the point being is that it's just like investments, one year Gold is the place the be, the next year the stock market is, and the year after that you'll want to be in real estate. It's a big revolving cycle of moving tastes and by the time you try and jump on the bandwagon you'll have missed the hot Genre. The best thing you'll ever write is the book you'd love to read. So if you love Erotic, write Erotics, because it'll show up in your writing. But If you don't love Erotica and you're just writing it to cash in, it'll fail because there is no (pardon the pun) passion behind the words. Stick to what you know, what you love, and what you consistently read, and you'll write better books.
I write thrillers that are tinged with horror because that's what I read and that's what I know. I've sold over 7,000 books in just over a year, but I have yet to make back anywhere close to what I paid in editing, promotion, and artwork. If you're getting into this business to make money, you could starve long before you do, so you need to be writing because you want to, and you enjoy it. The money may happen, but it's going to take a long time to get there, and it's going to take a lot of promotional work to make it happen. So you need to go in with your eyes wide open.
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Since we're all trying to be as friendly as possible here, could we call it a misunderstanding?
G.G. wrote: "@Lynn, I don't think Rick was trying to patronize you. At least, I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Internet is a cold place. It's easy to misinterpret words others are saying. There..."Thank you for that G.G.. And no Lynn I was not trying to be condescending in any way, shape, or form. I was just trying to offer up my advice. I'd love to be a writer full time, it's my long term goal, but the reality is that sales move slowly and unpredictably so it's very difficult to anticipate a steady stream of revenue that could possibly replace my full time job any time soon. And i was basically just repeating the same thing that's been said to me by so many other authors that if you got into writing for the money your in the wrong place. But I'm sorry if it came across wrong. My intention was to be helpful.
It's a marathon not a race. Many authors fail because they stop trying. The authors I've heard of that made it as an indie didn't start making enough money to support themselves until they had 5 or more books out. It might be disappointing now but I like to think about it as the building blocks that will get me to where I want to be.
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Of course I have no experience on this because my book isn't out :p but i have had one donation! So I kinda take that into account :p
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I think everyone else is very passionate about writing what you ("you" as a general audience, not addressing anyone in particular) love, because when you do the audience will see that and naturally sales will reflect that. A new phrase comes to mind, "good writing sells," which doesn't have to particularly mean technical writing, but writing that shows how much the author put in and cared about it. I think this is where the "sex sells" (in writing) theory comes back into play, because if someone, say, were writing books for a paycheck, I think that has a tendency of showing through the writing and could be a turn off (no pun intended :p), in which case it could be seen as a waste of time and effort when that author could have originally been writing something they were passionate about.
While I'm not entirely sure whether erotic/romance novels do have better sales, I don't necessarily doubt the myth. I could certainly see that having truth to it, but I think the more important question isn't whether or not it's true, but whether or not an author wants to put all their focus or attention into being a successful erotic/romance author. To echo Bisky, with any book an author writes, it still requires just as much attention--promoting wise--to be a successful sell, because one thing that's safe to say is books don't sell themselves (not initially, there has to be some sort of promotion, at the very least, word of mouth). So, ultimately, I think it's up to the author to decide what exactly they would like to focus their writing-attenion on and what they'd like to be known for.
http://www.kboards.com/authors/If you go to the link above you'll get to the KBoards Author page which lists all the authors that participate in the forum. Worth noting is the fact that there is not a single "Erotic" author listed on the top page of bestselling authors. The top author, H.M. Ward, who has sold over 4 million books, writes New Adult Romance, and her books do look a little steamy, but I don't think they fall into the full on "erotic" category. Most of the authors on this list are either writing Romance or Thrillers, with a little fantasy and science fiction thrown in. The one constant through all of the top sellers is that they've written a whole bunch of books, from Amanda Hocking at 17 books to J. A. Konrath at 50 books, which goes back to what Brian said about the key to success being quantity on top of quality. Now I know this is just one list of authors, but it's still a good indication of who's writing what and how many books they're selling, so I thought I'd pass it along.
And I'd like to thank everyone for the support they showed me. I was just trying to help out and I really appreciate your acknowledgement of that, so Thank You.
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I've been pleased with the number of paperbacks I've sold through Createspace, it's a neat little system and all the copies I've seen (and signed! What an ego rush!) have looked to be decent quality.I did a simultaneous launch of my new book on Kindle and via Createspace, so I didn't notice any particular increase in sales, but options like the Matchbook program and stuff must help your chances with potential readers.
Hmm, this is an interesting and enlightening thread. I haven't done the Createspace thing. I've confined myself solely to ebooks. Even if hard copy sales are poor, it seems a great marketing tool, if only for the perceived price discount on your book page.Thanks for the food for thought!
Rusty how does that page number thing work? Because on my e-books and most other independent books I read there's the loc thing, which I'd love to get rid of.
Ah, that explains it. I always wondered what the 'page numbers' thing was about! I'm going to give this physical copy business some serious thought. :)
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So, ignore it. Lol.
The paperback of my book went on sale on Friday through Createspace. I only found out it had gone live because I had to look into why my sales had shot up! Both yesterday and today, I have sold more books in a day than I would usually sell in a month!
I am of course over-the-moon to experience such a sales boost, but I don't quite trust it...
Firstly, sales have only shot up on amazon.co.uk. On Amazon.com, where the paperback also went alive, sales are still the same.
Secondly, out of necessity the paperback version is much more expensive than the ebook version, and I can't believe that a short story collection would sell so well at the price it is at!
Anybody got any ideas? I was wondering if Amazon did some sort of promotion of new releases and I've ridden that wave? It's frustrating not being able to find out how people have discovered my book. Can't help thinking sales are going to dip after this weekend's sale madness and I'm going to be left feeling very flat, lol!