Ria Stone
SWF Writers
Posts: 1,055 
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Post by Ria Stone on May 1, 2019 13:44:06 GMT -8
IMHO Smashwords does not do much promotion of its authors.
So, I am experimenting with ways to promote Smashwords eBooks like looking for homes for various eBook Reviews.
The Coracle: One Man in a Tub
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Post by unclegarf on May 1, 2019 14:34:57 GMT -8
Not quite sure what you are getting at, Ria. SW pumps out our efforts to a bunch of affiliates (damned if I ever sold anything on any of them bar about four of them) but out they go. Can't get them promoted much more then that. Reviews by themselves don't ensure commercial success, or I'd be polishing my limo before swanning off to the beach every day. Barnes and Noble book review system is a teen infested joke, Smash readers generally can't be bothered, Some Goodread reviewers either give everything five stars or knock one star off anything they review.
Yeah, nice to get a good glowing review now and then, but don't get carried away with them.
Unless as usual I'm missing the point completely?
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Post by jjmainor on May 2, 2019 17:40:19 GMT -8
Smashwords isn't in the business of promoting individual authors or books, but they do need to do a stronger job of promoting themselves. It feels to me like most readers are unsure what to think of the site (whether it's legit or not, whether the books are any good, etc.). The best thing they can do for authors is to strengthen their brand. If they get more people coming to their site to search for books, that will do more to push our books there.
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Post by Ted on May 2, 2019 17:56:26 GMT -8
Mark has done well since he started but like you say he hasn't kept up with the competition when it comes to selling on his own site. Part of the problem is he is a distributor of works as well as a retailer. He walks a fine line to keep his Premium Catalogue clients happy and increasing sales on his own site and thereby competing with the retailers he is distributing to.
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Ria Stone
SWF Writers
Posts: 1,055
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Post by Ria Stone on May 4, 2019 12:28:53 GMT -8
Not quite sure what you are getting at, Ria. SW pumps out our efforts to a bunch of affiliates (damned if I ever sold anything on any of them bar about four of them) but out they go. Can't get them promoted much more then that. Reviews by themselves don't ensure commercial success, or I'd be polishing my limo before swanning off to the beach every day. Barnes and Noble book review system is a teen infested joke, Smash readers generally can't be bothered, Some Goodread reviewers either give everything five stars or knock one star off anything they review. Yeah, nice to get a good glowing review now and then, but don't get carried away with them. Unless as usual I'm missing the point completely? Unclegart - you are right, my idea was not fully developed.
From my perspective, I see little to no promotional efforts by SW. They communicate with authors and occasionally tweet about the sales of romance novels, their winter and summer sales, and their year-end report.
I use twitter and hardly ever see anything from SW yet, I do see promotions by other self-publishers or eTailers.
I latched onto reviews as a starting point. Essentially, while I do not review many books on SW, I am seeking a wider audience than SW authors.
At the moment, I am trying to develop various promotional ideas for my works, so I am reviewing various outlets and examining what other self-publishers and eTailers are doing.
Anyway, that's where I am at the moment.
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Ria Stone
SWF Writers
Posts: 1,055
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Post by Ria Stone on May 4, 2019 12:30:37 GMT -8
Mark has done well since he started but like you say he hasn't kept up with the competition when it comes to selling on his own site. Part of the problem is he is a distributor of works as well as a retailer. He walks a fine line to keep his Premium Catalogue clients happy and increasing sales on his own site and thereby competing with the retailers he is distributing to. Ted, I see your point. Interesting. |
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Post by jjmainor on May 5, 2019 18:20:40 GMT -8
Mark has done well since he started but like you say he hasn't kept up with the competition when it comes to selling on his own site. Part of the problem is he is a distributor of works as well as a retailer. He walks a fine line to keep his Premium Catalogue clients happy and increasing sales on his own site and thereby competing with the retailers he is distributing to. They're far from the first retailer to distribute their products to their own competitors, but that hasn't stopped anyone from self promoting in the past. B&N, Apple, etc., understand if they cut off SW, they lose access to hundreds of thousands of titles. Maybe they can afford to give up whatever business SW titles bring to them, but not if they want to compete with Amazon in the indie market.
SW's competition is not the retailers they distribute to, but Amazon. If he worries too much about Kobo or Apple, he fails to carve out market share from Amazon. On the other hand, if Matt makes SW a go-to place for indie books, and he makes the titles in his catalog as desirable as books like 50 Shades, then the demand will spill over to his partners, and that benefits those other retailers he's worried about upsetting.
It reminds me of the way he lets Paypal dictate the titles he carries/doesn't carry. Paypal isn't the only game in town, and if they want the business SW brings to them, then they have no say in what SW offers. Otherwise, Matt can go elsewhere for payment processing. I don't think he understands the power he holds, and he's letting his business get walked all over...he'll never make SW a juggernaut unless he stands up more for his company.
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Post by unclegarf on May 5, 2019 23:45:17 GMT -8
Just to cheer me up, I get a two star rating (no review) for one of mine today. Actually, I don't mind these too much if they have a constructive review with them, but a click on this goodreads readers name shows she has many books under her belt and most either get no reviews from her and most of those rated are a grudging 2 star. Oh, the power they hold. Best taken with a bushel of salt me thinks.
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Post by ChrisLAdams on May 7, 2019 4:26:52 GMT -8
Just to cheer me up, I get a two star rating (no review) for one of mine today. Actually, I don't mind these too much if they have a constructive review with them, but a click on this goodreads readers name shows she has many books under her belt and most either get no reviews from her and most of those rated are a grudging 2 star. Oh, the power they hold. Best taken with a bushel of salt me thinks. One of my personal favorites was also a ***** where the guy slammed one of my short stories for being . . . too short.
To boot, he didn't like my use of the word builded, thinking I had fabricated the word because I was unaware the word built existed.
He really showed how enlightened he was when he advised me to proof my work over that word, not realizing I on occasion reach back in time and grab old English words to add colour and flavour and panache.
Definitely take this with a grain of salt Gary. |
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Ria Stone
SWF Writers
Posts: 1,055
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Post by Ria Stone on May 7, 2019 12:36:37 GMT -8
Mark has done well since he started but like you say he hasn't kept up with the competition when it comes to selling on his own site. Part of the problem is he is a distributor of works as well as a retailer. He walks a fine line to keep his Premium Catalogue clients happy and increasing sales on his own site and thereby competing with the retailers he is distributing to. They're far from the first retailer to distribute their products to their own competitors, but that hasn't stopped anyone from self promoting in the past. B&N, Apple, etc., understand if they cut off SW, they lose access to hundreds of thousands of titles. Maybe they can afford to give up whatever business SW titles bring to them, but not if they want to compete with Amazon in the indie market.
SW's competition is not the retailers they distribute to, but Amazon. If he worries too much about Kobo or Apple, he fails to carve out market share from Amazon. On the other hand, if Matt makes SW a go-to place for indie books, and he makes the titles in his catalog as desirable as books like 50 Shades, then the demand will spill over to his partners, and that benefits those other retailers he's worried about upsetting.
It reminds me of the way he lets Paypal dictate the titles he carries/doesn't carry. Paypal isn't the only game in town, and if they want the business SW brings to them, then they have no say in what SW offers. Otherwise, Matt can go elsewhere for payment processing. I don't think he understands the power he holds, and he's letting his business get walked all over...he'll never make SW a juggernaut unless he stands up more for his company.
You make some good points. In particular, I, too, feel that Mark has neglected upgrading the SW website and functionality especially in the area of payment options. |
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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 0:12:10 GMT -8
Unclegart - you are right, my idea was not fully developed.
From my perspective, I see little to no promotional efforts by SW. They communicate with authors and occasionally tweet about the sales of romance novels, their winter and summer sales, and their year-end report.
I use twitter and hardly ever see anything from SW yet, I do see promotions by other self-publishers or eTailers.
I latched onto reviews as a starting point. Essentially, while I do not review many books on SW, I am seeking a wider audience than SW authors.
At the moment, I am trying to develop various promotional ideas for my works, so I am reviewing various outlets and examining what other self-publishers and eTailers are doing.
Anyway, that's where I am at the moment.
I know what you mean, Ria. Distribution is not necessarily promotion. Take print books for example. A publisher can distribute your new book to a bunch of different bookstores. Now, a bookstore can then simply put it on the shelf mixed up with a bunch of books, new and old. Or, the book store could put it on display shelves with all the other new books. Or, it could put it on a special display table at the front of the store with like books. Or, it could put it on a display table all to itself, with multiple copies inside of the store at the front. But what you really want is for the store to put it in the front window display, maybe with other books, but preferably on its own. This way not only are bookshop customers going to see it, but those passing by whoight not have been thinking about buying a book. Phew! Kinda got into that, but you can see the digital equivalents to these activities. (Ps., thanks for the review of our book!) |
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Post by djmills on May 8, 2019 9:58:30 GMT -8
If the bookstore put the printed book on a special display table, or end shelves, or in the front window display, it means the publisher paid the bookstore to do that. :-)
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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 23:06:26 GMT -8
Most likely, unless it's a staff picks table or one that is devoted to a certain subject. The point is that distributors don't have the promotional role, and publishers may or may not actively 'encourage' promotion depending on their level of investment. I had a friend who self-published his autobiography and some how got it into the local bookstore. When he would go in to look for it, as you do, it was buried somewhere in the biog section. He would move the very few copies to some place more prominent, only to find that they had been returned to their original spot by staff. I think staff had a word with him eventually. He didn't understand that the vanity press that printed it was only distributing it, not promoting it in the way a publisher (or self-publisher) would.
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Ria Stone
SWF Writers
Posts: 1,055
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Post by Ria Stone on May 9, 2019 10:52:04 GMT -8
Unclegart - you are right, my idea was not fully developed.
From my perspective, I see little to no promotional efforts by SW. They communicate with authors and occasionally tweet about the sales of romance novels, their winter and summer sales, and their year-end report.
I use twitter and hardly ever see anything from SW yet, I do see promotions by other self-publishers or eTailers.
I latched onto reviews as a starting point. Essentially, while I do not review many books on SW, I am seeking a wider audience than SW authors.
At the moment, I am trying to develop various promotional ideas for my works, so I am reviewing various outlets and examining what other self-publishers and eTailers are doing.
Anyway, that's where I am at the moment.
I know what you mean, Ria. Distribution is not necessarily promotion. Take print books for example. A publisher can distribute your new book to a bunch of different bookstores. Now, a bookstore can then simply put it on the shelf mixed up with a bunch of books, new and old. Or, the book store could put it on display shelves with all the other new books. Or, it could put it on a special display table at the front of the store with like books. Or, it could put it on a display table all to itself, with multiple copies inside of the store at the front. But what you really want is for the store to put it in the front window display, maybe with other books, but preferably on its own. This way not only are bookshop customers going to see it, but those passing by whoight not have been thinking about buying a book. Phew! Kinda got into that, but you can see the digital equivalents to these activities. (Ps., thanks for the review of our book!) Chelsfield: While I knew that vanity presses did little to nothing to promote their books, you are making important distinctions re distribution and promotion. I was also aware that many publishers paid for various types of promotion.My introduction to Vanity Press: Yearsssss ago, I ran a terra firma writers group where I lived. A man came to one of our meetings. He could not understand why his autobiography was not selling.Somewhere in our conversation, I was invited to his home. In the basement, he had shelves and shelves full of his autobiography books. I took one and gave it a thumb through. It was immediately evident that the manuscript has not been edited.I found the situation sad because his life story was worth reading, if only it had gone through proper editing, formatting, design, marketing channels.P.S.S. You created a great book, I just wish more people knew about it. |
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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 9, 2019 23:37:49 GMT -8
I think the really sad thing is those really great writers who do take time with editing etc and still get know attention. People seem to think writing and being successful at it is some kind of magical thing. You need skill and craft from which to showcase a good story. And you need talent and dedication. And then there is luck and having the right fit for whatever is hot at the moment. People take away the 'overnight sensation' stories, not the ones where people slogged year after year, rejection after rejection, to perfect their craft.
Back to editing, Steven King is a perfect example of a guy with great stories who really need an editor! And he's also an example of someone who plugged away at it for years, while holding down a full-time job.
Geez, don't know where these long posts are coming from! Maybe because I have just recently had a knock back?
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