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Post by djmills on Apr 5, 2019 13:11:15 GMT -8
Non fiction normally sells at a higher price than fiction, but I still price on page count, and maybe add an extra $1 or $2, if there is a market for it, otherwise I keep as low as I can for more sales.
So, 1-199 pages I list price at $12.99. This includes approx. $3.25 print costs, 40 - 60% to seller $5.20 to $6.49 for seller, leaving $3.00 (approx) royalty. So, when the seller claims 60% sale price, there is less royalty. As I don't sell extended distribution through Amazon, I don't know if it changed after Amazon Print took over from CreateSpace, but I did read that print costs were going up and we should adjust our Amazon print list prices accordingly.
POD Print Extended Distribution List Price was normally: $12.99 list price for 1 - 199 pages, $13.99 list price for 200 - 229 pages, $14.99 list price for 230 - 254 pages, etc. but with the print cost increase, the list prices could have all changed. :-) OF course, the page count depends on page size, margin sizes, font size and any other layout details. So, if Large Print, it should be more pages than normal print. :-)
When I get time, I must look at List Pricing with the changed print costs. :-)
Edited to add: The prices are US dollars, so adjust for each currency. :-)
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Post by unclegarf on May 6, 2019 22:45:14 GMT -8
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Post by unclegarf on May 8, 2019 12:43:09 GMT -8
This just in from D2D. (Just the meaty bit here) The program previously paid authors based on the retail price of the book, after readers read past 20%. Now authors will be paid based on Minutes Consumed—the combined number of minutes read by paying subscribers in a given month. This change will impact all Draft2Digital authors who have opted-in to Kobo Plus as a sales channel, and all changes are implemented automatically, so there's nothing for you to do at this time. For more information about Kobo Plus, please visit our Partners page at draft2digital.com/partners/kobo-plus/.
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chelsfield
SWF Writers
Posts: 700
Joined: Mar 28, 2012 3:07:24 GMT -8
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Post by chelsfield on May 8, 2019 23:10:35 GMT -8
This just in from D2D. (Just the meaty bit here) The program previously paid authors based on the retail price of the book, after readers read past 20%. Now authors will be paid based on Minutes Consumed—the combined number of minutes read by paying subscribers in a given month. This change will impact all Draft2Digital authors who have opted-in to Kobo Plus as a sales channel, and all changes are implemented automatically, so there's nothing for you to do at this time. For more information about Kobo Plus, please visit our Partners page at draft2digital.com/partners/kobo-plus/. I am trying to figure this out. Is it a way to pay authors less? I suppose if the are really slow readers, it might make a positive difference...
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Post by unclegarf on Jun 5, 2019 9:21:19 GMT -8
thought I'd throw this into the mix. Apple Itunes coming to an end won't make any difference to ebooks even though they always got lumped together under the itunes banner or at least it seemed that way to me. I always found it a clunky way to navigate around the site anyway. D2D just told me all is as before for the books.
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Post by jaydax on Jun 15, 2019 16:38:16 GMT -8
I don't believe in giving any books away for free, we've worked too hard! Can't agree there R. Free is a very successful promotion tool. I have two series, 10 and 3 books, I give the first of each away free despite them being long books. I find for every six given away I get someone who goes on to buy the rest of each series - give away two and sell 11.
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Ria Stone
SWF Writers
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Post by Ria Stone on Nov 3, 2019 10:17:40 GMT -8
Found this article interesting. It has quite a few nuggets of info for self-published authors like: "However, the challenge of self-published authors especially is that there’s no one formula that consistently works. Michael Tamblyn of Kobo (an e-book device and retailer) said of book marketing, “It’s a ground game, it becomes a vocation. It’s an accumulation of individual promotion effort and audience gathering over time.” And furthermore, he added, it’s always mutating. What works one day doesn’t work the next. To which agent Jonny Geller of Curtis Brown responded, “It is unsustainable for a writer to do that….That’s why [traditional] publishing works, in a weird way.” www.vqronline.org/books/self-publishing-most-important-transformation-publishing-industry
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Post by garyweston on Nov 3, 2019 11:56:25 GMT -8
With over 4 million ebooks on Amazon, damned hard to make a $ or three these days. If I relied on ebook sales for beer money, I'd be teetotal. Normally I would always agree a few freebies, especially first in series, can be a good thing. I think too much of this sort of thing has muddied the waters. If I had a couple of thousand $ to risk, I'd invest in audio books, but by the time I did this, we would be into yet another mode of putting our stuff out there, and I'd be as broke as ever.
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Post by djmills on Nov 3, 2019 13:03:29 GMT -8
Ria, that article was back in 2013. We have settled into a "new normal" since then. Sales have slowed, and most people are ignoring advertisements, or switching them off like I do.
The best way to advertise for your published fiction books is to write more books. Advertise for non fiction if you wish.
The next best way is to refresh old fiction books with new covers and blurbs 5-10 years after publishing. This is because I (and everyone) have learned to create better genre covers in the past 5-10 years, and also to write better blurbs. But don't touch the story, unless it is fixing typos. Just update the covers and/or blurbs and leave alone to find readers.
And write the next story.
Why? The new ebooks draws in new readers who then check out the older ebooks. And the more we write the better we get as storytellers. :-)
And, word of mouth takes time to spread, unless you are writing "Harry Potter" type stories. I know, because I published a cosy mystery adventure story, "The Case of The Crop Duster Dog" back in March, 2018.
Now I am getting asked "when is the next in the series coming out" (male), and "why can't I find it on Amazon" male. I explained I pulled all my books off Amazon last month, so he got it from Kobo. And "why isn't this story made into a movie" female. Another one asked why didn't the main characters get together (female). And more along those lines. All from "word of mouth". :-)
Now, I am trying to think up a new story for the same characters, or different characters in the same area of Queensland, and get it written and published. Just to keep the momentum going. :-)
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chelsfield
SWF Writers
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Post by chelsfield on Nov 3, 2019 23:55:57 GMT -8
Good advice, DJ. But I do think the article has some relevance, despite its age. So many people get into this writing malarky because they want to hit it big with the first work. "I did everything I was supposed to do, why isn't anyone buying" is something you hear frequently, even on this list. Basically, it's a crap shoot. As you say, the only thing to do is keep writing, which is something you should want to do regardless. If you don't, you are in the wrong line.
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Post by jaydax on Nov 4, 2019 4:36:15 GMT -8
They are good ideas. But I get tired out just looking at the list! I suppose one could try and find someone willing to tackle the list for a percentage of increase profits. The better they do to increase sales and profits the better their own paycheck. The trouble is there are many who do exactly that. They offer their promotion services for a fee though rather than a percentage of increased profits. In many cases they attract with a beautifully crafted website but their promotion service is pure rubbish offering promotion at a website no-one visits and promotion on social media to fake followers. The clue to avoiding these 'services' is to follow up the books of those who proclaim their services. I've found many of these have a 'Paid in Kindle' sales rank of 2 million or more at Amazon - in other words it's made the difference of selling nothing to selling almost nothing.
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