anita
Full Member
Posts: 134
Joined: Jun 6, 2012 8:57:42 GMT -8
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Post by anita on Sept 1, 2012 5:10:37 GMT -8
Check your sales at other retailers, including your KDP account, and see if there was an increase. It could be that readers simply bought elsewhere. From my experience any sales on Smashwords is pure bonus as they are mainly a distributor to highly popular online retailers where readers are accustomed to shopping at. (Whoops. Just ended a sentence with a preposition. Need coffee.) Stop prepositioning me, Ted! ;D (Sorry, that one was too easy...) Sales are up for me on every other retailer. I did notice that some of my titles are not available in certain venues and sent an email to SW. So, in that respect, certain titles are only available on SW and they aren't selling there. It almost makes me wonder if something is broken with my SW account. I can't bring myself to shoot an email to SW about it yet because no one else seems to be having this issue. |
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Post by Ted on Sept 1, 2012 7:06:47 GMT -8
I rarely bother looking at the Smashwords sales page because I know its futile. All up for 2012 I've sold 27 books. I have 9 stories listed. 1 of these 9 books is selling an average of 550 copies per month on Amazon and I believe that's because one of the better known Kindle Book Reviewers got her hands on it and loved it, blogged about it. She has a gazillion followers. Had it not been for this particular reviewer I'd still be in the 20+ per month category, struggling to make $100 so Amazon can send me paper money that costs a fortune to bank and needs 32 working days to clear! Jules57, congrats on your 550/month sales. I hope you receive a similar reviewer on Apple or B&N. I hardly ever look at the number of sales of my ebooks on Smashwords itself, but comparing Amazon sales to sales on Smashwords itself is like comparing sales of toilet paper to sales of tofu. Amazon is a much wider known brand with millions of established members selling products on Amazon and buying products on Amazon, before Amazon started selling ebooks. They had a built-in clientele. Smashwords started with no established clientele, and chose to focus on distribution to other retailers instead of focusing on retailing products as does Amazon. Their focus on distribution was essential to their establishment of multiple distribution channels such as Apple, B&N, Kobo, etc., and creating a one-stop distribution service for authors. Amazon focused on selling ebooks to people who bought their Kindle devices. Smashwords doesn't sell its own ereader device or tablet, so it doesn't have a locked in clientele as do the major online retailers like Apple, B&N, Kobo, Sony, and Amazon. Any time I get a sale on Smashwords, and my sales are just a tad above jules57, I consider that a bonus. The purchaser was a reader who really wanted my work and was willing to buy it right now instead of going back to his/her usual online retailer to buy the book. I wish I could track where a sale on Smashwords itself originates, like from my blog or a tweet, email, or whatever. |
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Post by Julie Harris on Sept 1, 2012 12:52:46 GMT -8
Thanks Ted. Smashwords kickstarted me all over again and I'll always be loyal not to mention grateful for the opportunity Mark Coker and Crew provides.
In 2010, my brother in law asked, will you ever put your books online? So I googled ebooks and Smashwords came up first... Amazon KDP was a 'nothing to lose' decision I am now pleased about.
Essentially I'm selling more of my e-stories now than I ever sold via traditional, and am loving the freedom of no agent/no publisher and seeing my books in a language I can read, not to mention having covers I actually like.
When I gave up writing over ten years ago I was so tired of selling only in Germany, on a 6% royalty, and of that 6%, 20% went to one agent, 10% to a sub agent, 10% to German tax and 30% to Australian tax. I couldn't juggle working full time and writing, too, so I let the creative side go. And didn't realise how miserable I was until ebooks came along.
Sorry for going off topic here, but I really am grateful for Smashwords. My passion is back and people who haven't seen me in ages always say, you look so GOOD. Maybe I'm just back doing what I was put on earth to do!
Julie.
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Post by Ted on Sept 1, 2012 13:08:43 GMT -8
Wonderful story, Julie. An author must be passionate about writing, as much so as they are about their significant other, but I fear there are some authors self-publishing nowadays just for the money.
Others see your glow, then remark, and you know you are in the right place. Good for you.
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anita
Full Member
Posts: 134
Joined: Jun 6, 2012 8:57:42 GMT -8
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Post by anita on Sept 1, 2012 15:40:43 GMT -8
It is important to feel passionate about your creative works. I don't know that I put it on quite the same level as caring about a significant other, but I tend to think about the characters that I create in my straight fiction as being old friends. Many of the stories have been in my head for years and I've always found them to be entertaining.
I started writing erotica to see if I could do it. It can be fun to write since I tend to have quirky characters and settings. I only write in that genre when I make the time to do it. With straight fiction, I write when the characters in my head force me to write.
It sounds as though Julie would be an author by choice even if she won the lottery! That is the sign of a true calling.
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