Support for Indie Authors discussion

I've got previews for my books on both Amazon and on my website, but I'm wondering if these are perhaps doing more harm than good.
The previews are about 20 pages, sometimes more. The sales are Zero, unless I have free days, when they go up a bit. A tiny bit...
Does anybody else have the same experience? Should I take the previews away and force users to buy my books, or will this just result in books being given back and more frustrations for me? I really wish there was a way I could see how many people looked at the previews on Amazon, because it may even be that nobody is bothering to open the books to read the previews.
I'm really frustrated about all of this, some advice will be appreciated.
Regards
Leon

Preview shouldn't do any harm. It just gives a chance to people To decide whether or not they'll like it. In book stores such as Barnes and nobles, they have seats and tables where people sit and read books. What's the difference aside from being able to read it all or any part in the mortar and stone store and the twenty-page preview online?

As you already said, Amazon as a loose policy on returns. People who don't like it would just return it. Not so good.

I much prefer someone reads my preview and not waste money on something they know they won't like if it's not their style, than having returns.

Besides, I don't see how it could hurt your sales unless there's a big no-no there.

Leon wrote: "Should I take the previews away and force users to buy my books, or will this just result in books being given back and more frustrations for me?"

Personally, I won't buy a book unless I can read a few pages of it first, especially by an author I've never heard of.

Well, for one, the Look Inside preview is not something that you have the option of get rid of.

I took a look at your books and two things stick out to me: Your goodreads page for Dreamworld has a broken Amazon link and your price on that book is likely too high for many people to take a chance on. How many books are going to be in the series? If it isn't complete, some people may not want to take the risk. Try dropping the first book to $2.99 and see if Goodreads can fix the buy link.

Thanks Christina
Dreamworld was actually never going to be a series, it only got a second book because there was a second book there waiting to be written. :)
I had the books, all of them, at a much lower price, as low as it could go, for about six months, but never got any sales then either. For some reason though, the Amazon price is miles above the price that I specify, I don't know why.
I might try dropping the price again as you suggest though, and then see what happens after a couple of free days.

[EDIT]I just realized I misinterpreted the question.

If you're talking about previews on the Look Inside feature...DON'T take them down!

They're the single most important feature on Amazon's book pages. At least for me. Reviews are too subjective and too easily faked/punked to be reliable indications of a book's worth. Reading a sample is the only direct way a prospective buyer has of gauging a book's potential.

I agree 100% w/Dwayne's response. If I don't know an author and there's no Look Inside...no way I'd buy the book.

Even if people would buy a book with no preview, I have a feeling they'd be more likely to leave negative reviews if they hated the book.

But with the preview available, IMO, if you buy a book you end up hating, more than likely it's your own damned fault. Of all the books I've read, I've only given something like 5 1-star reviews because I filter out things I won't like by previewing the book first. In almost all cases, a book I won't like will be revealed in the first 4 paragraphs.

So, taking it out will definitely hurt you. Leaving it in can only hurt you if your book isn't very good or if it's largely attracting the wrong audience to look at it.

[ORIGINAL REPLY BELOW FOR POSTERITY'S SAKE...or something]
Previews at the end of your book are neither good nor bad, IMO.

If the other book is already published and a reader liked the book they just read I think they'd already be predisposed to looking for more work by you. And, as it's on Amazon, previews are already available in the Look Inside feature, which personally I look at in every case before buying a book.

If the book that's being previewed hasn't been published yet, then the preview is useless, there's nothing for the reader to go buy. And chances are by the time that book is available, they'll have moved on to something else and will only return to your catalog when they happen to think about the full book they read (not the preview).

I almost never read previews in the back of books. For authors I know I like, what's the point? I'll be looking at their books regardless of the preview. For authors I don't like...what's the point? I won't want to read something else by them.

So I think they're kind of a waste.

Micah wrote: "If I don't know an author and there's no Look Inside...no way I'd buy the book."

Same here. The only time I made an exception was someone contacted me and asked if we could do a review swap. I said I don't do that but I would look at his book and possibly buy it. When I tried to look, he had so much "filler" that I couldn't see the actual story, so I asked him to send me a few pages. I liked it and bought it and advised he move the filler to the end of the book or delete it. It wasn't bad stuff, it just didn't give me any sense of what his story would be like.

Micah wrote: "I almost never read previews in the back of books. For authors I know I like, what's the point? I'll be looking at their books regardless of the preview. For authors I don't like...what's the point? I won't want to read something else by them."

I used to put preview of other stories at the back of mine, but I've stopped doing it and have been slowly removing them. I realized I rarely read others' previews for the reasons you stated, so why bother putting them in my own stories? Instead, I just put a list in there of everything I've published and leave it at that.

I've never heard of previews hurting anything. Readers don't like buying a "pig in a poke". I also won't buy a book I can't read a good chunk of.

As for previews at the ends of books, I have no idea if they are worthwhile of not. We include them because we are writing a series, and we want the reader to know that there is more to come, and a little bit of what it involves. Whether it helps or not, I can't say.

In our last book, we dropped a massive "preview" at the end because we pulled a "fast one" on our readers, so we thought maybe they'd benefit from knowing how we intended to address it. We can't tell if people read it or ignore it. (We do a lot of things that may be ill-advised, but we are rarely able to judge if that is actually the case or not.)

Thanks for all the replies, it gives me a good insight into how buyers work, I appreciate it.
Leon

Book previews are good. It seems these days we want more then to just read the synopsis on the back or the flap on the inside. Amazon's preview feature is a good idea as it gives readers a small snipit of the book, though as an author you should check to see if it's formatted correctly. A reader once told me a preview on Amazon for one of my books was not formatted so I went in and fixed it.

But back to previews, yes they are good and I believe they should be given for free. I actually did one better for my upcoming novel. I read this comic that was Issue #1 but after the story it gave an introduction to the characters, locations and other unique things to make the reader more familiar. This inspired me to make a Summary and Introduction to my book as well where I explain the process i went through while writing it and I introduce the two main characters, talk about technology and locations, etc. I give a little bit but educate and hopefully entice the reader to be interested in the book.

I read all this stuff authors say about their books being thrill rides, page turners, critically acclaimed, best sellers - all of which can be pure horse puckey. The ONLY way I will buy a book these days is by looking inside, sampling a few pages or paragraphs here and there. I must not only want to read the story, but enjoy the story telling. In these days when anyone can publish anything, some real amateurish schlock gets out there. But as I get better and better as a writer I have higher and higher standards for what I read as well. So previews are an absolute requirement for me. - But if you're talking back cover blurbs, I try to write mine so potential readers get the feel of the writing, AND of the story, not just a clunky synopsis.

Edward wrote: "IIn these days when anyone can publish anything, some real amateurish schlock gets out there."

Please refrain from making negative remarks such as this. They add nothing of value to the conversation.

Previews are a must for me as a reader. Just like others have said, a sample of your writing is the best way for me to know if I, as a reader, want to read this book. The blurb helps, and reviews are great, but the first few chapters are the biggest deciding factor of whether I'll buy something. (Unless the book is free, in which case I often get it anyway and sometimes find it wasn't my fit after all.)

Denae wrote: "Previews are a must for me as a reader. Just like others have said, a sample of your writing is the best way for me to know if I, as a reader, want to read this book. The blurb helps, and reviews..."

Agreed. Previews act as a teaser sort of just like a book trailer, which I would also consider to be a preview in it's own right. If it's done right it can really just interest and before you know it you've got yourself potential readers.

I always make sure my first 10 chapters are page turners (I write thick books so I average 10 chapters on the look inside). If they can't decide then... >_>
As for previews in the back for the next book? I used to do that but after my final goes through a developmental edit some chapters get moved around. For the third book in The Agency (originally Line of Fire) got too big for the printers and had to be split (borderline is #3 while line of fire is 4). Then developmental edits came through and moved orig chapter 8 to 1 and the original first 5 chapters (originally part of the preview) to the second half . After that headache of updating books and ebooks (and changing out the blurb & removing preview from book 2 dangerous methods ) I decided since my books take awhile from various editors (I have 3 making rounds ) readers are going to be forced to wait between releases.... I try 2-3 a year ( every 6 or 4 months) though my goal is 4 a year (every 3 months).