In past blogs I’ve mentioned the many book promotional sites
that have popped up during the last five years. These sites are changing the
landscape of the book and publishing industry. Primarily driven by the
fantastic growth of ebooks, these promotional sites allow the
author/indie-publisher/traditional publisher to more easily access the reading
public and place their stories in front of an interested buyer.
Simply these are pay to play. For a fee (that is wide
ranging) the author requests that their book be scheduled on a specific date at
a specific price to be listed on a web site (usually through a subscription)
that is broadcast daily to thousands and even millions of interested readers.
The author (and/or publisher) picks the genre, the price, and the commercial
site where the books can be purchased (Amazon, Kobo, Nook, iBook, etc.). In
most instances the promotional site is a pass through, you do not buy the book
directly from them. For the security conscience reader/buyer this is looked-for.
Each of the promotional sites has their pluses and minuses.
Some are focused on specific genres (or more heavily oriented), especially
romance, mystery, and young adult. Some have good to great visuals for
displaying the books, others not so much. Most reputable sites do not charge
the reader to join their subscription service. They make their money buy
charging the author/publisher a fee to post. I’m not going to get into the fees
or their relative pricing structures, but the reputable ones, such as BookBub,
list the number of readers that their service reaches on a daily basis, the
cost to reach those readers (varies whether the book is free or at a discounted
list price). As I said some are very expensive (relative). Hundred of dollars
to post (if accepted) but may reach millions of eyeballs. How much would it
cost you reach that many with book tours, newsletters, and magazine ads.
For the new author, the toughest challenge is to be found
and discovered. I can go to a dozen book club presentations, or try and flood
the region’s bookstore with book signings, and I still will only reach a few
hundred people—at best. The cost per unit sold is very high – gas, overnight
stays, printing books, handouts, gimmicks and do-dahs, cost money.
Over the last month I have, through listing four of my
titles at various price points, had my books downloaded (primarily
Amzon-Kindle) almost 7,000 times. The total cost was approximately $300. The
goal for a new author (or even an experienced writer with a large backlist) is
exposure. Every day there are thousands of new readers joining other
enthusiasts in romance, sci-fi, thriller, mystery, and a dozen other genres.
The author needs to remember that there is a wealth of new customers coming to
the ebook industry every day – regardless of what naysayers say about the ebook
industry. If you’ve written a great book, especially a series, the goal is to
have the buyer buy the others.
I honestly don’t know how many of these promotional sites
are out there. Some are personal blogs that weekly post a few books that
interest them, some are just getting their feet wet, and others, such as
BookBub (founded in 2012 – GO HERE for info on one of the founders), receive millions in venture capital to keep
expanding their digital footprint.
I will over the next six months or so post progress blogs
about my experience with these sites. I’ve already found that some need work on
their business model, their payment systems (credit/PayPal, etc.), and customer
interface. However, they are learning. Some are intensely curated and filtered.
Some only want titles that have shown a track record (i.e. number of posted customer
reviews – minimum of 100 I’ve heard), some tend toward the traditional
publisher and their backlists, and others are beginning to develop their own
internal review and acceptance procedures.
Here are just a few:
No comments:
Post a Comment