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Post by Julie Harris on Nov 28, 2012 13:48:38 GMT -8
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Post by Ted on Nov 28, 2012 16:53:20 GMT -8
Amazon sucks. I feel sorry for people who bought a Kindle. Still, there are still millions more Smartphones, tablets, PC's, Mac's, TV's, and who-knows-what in the next few years, than there are Kindles, and as long as there are companies like Smashwords offering ebooks to the public then indie-authors will have a venue for their works.
I imagine there will be a large influx of Amazon authors to Smashwords or going direct to retailers as Amazon continues to stomp its feet.
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jenniferp
SWF Writers
Posts: 111
Joined: Mar 29, 2012 6:47:30 GMT -8
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Post by jenniferp on Nov 29, 2012 9:56:32 GMT -8
I dunno. It's hard to tell what's reality and what isn't.
And, bear in mind, even if Amazon IS de-weighting self-published titles, we don't know what kind of threats that are being made towards them by major publishers. If two or three of the big six threatened to pull all of their books...
Still, you won't see any of my work in KDP Select.
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Post by Ted on Nov 29, 2012 19:25:49 GMT -8
Amazon also has to worry about Google and Microsoft with their new tablets and entries into the ebook retail business.
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tgmiko
Junior Member
Posts: 25
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Post by tgmiko on Jan 3, 2013 22:16:30 GMT -8
Okay, so if Amazon gives us the middle finger, where does that leave us in relation to smashwords/iStore/barnesandnoble.com???
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Post by Ted on Jan 3, 2013 23:34:29 GMT -8
Okay, so if Amazon gives us the middle finger, where does that leave us in relation to smashwords/iStore/barnesandnoble.com??? Amazon has nothing to do with iStore, Smashwords, or Barnes & Noble other than being a competitor. You could remove all your works from Amazon and doing so wouldn't change anything with your works in iStore, Smashwords, B&N, etc. If every indie author on Amazon quit them and listed there works on the iStore, Smashwords, B&N, etc it wouldn't make much more difference to any ones sales as a large number of Amazon authors are highly likely to be already offering their works at other retailers besides Amazon. |
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bergmaster
New Member
Posts: 17
Joined: Nov 2, 2012 1:59:30 GMT -8
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Post by bergmaster on Jan 22, 2013 4:53:55 GMT -8
And yet I sell books through Amazon. My sales through Smashwords have been abysmal!
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Post by Ted on Jan 22, 2013 6:48:14 GMT -8
And yet I sell books through Amazon. My sales through Smashwords have been abysmal! Have you considered dropping Smashwords and going with Amazon only? It would seem to be the thing to do, as you could concentrate your marketing with the one bringing in the sales and stop wasting your time elsewhere. |
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bergmaster
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Posts: 17
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Post by bergmaster on Jan 22, 2013 8:41:23 GMT -8
To be perfectly honest, Ted, I don't really know which way to go. I went to Smashwords on the advice of a friend who achieved fair sales through that site, but after several months I have sold just one book. Sales through Amazon have been unspectacular, but at least steady at ten to fifteen a month. I'm well into my seventies, not particularly computer literate, so I am somewhat bamboozled by the thought of setting up websites, blogs and whatever else one must do to promote my books. At my age, really, I write to keep my mind active. Writing does that!!!!!!!
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Post by Ted on Jan 22, 2013 9:49:05 GMT -8
Some questions regarding your book sales.
1) Was the sale on Smashwords itself or through one of its retailers?
2) How long has your work been at other retailers?
3) How long has your work been on Amazon?
4) How do you promote your book?
5) What is the price of your book?
6) Is your book also offered in print form?
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sharoncathcart
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Post by sharoncathcart on Jan 22, 2013 12:51:10 GMT -8
And yet I sell books through Amazon. My sales through Smashwords have been abysmal! And here's what I find so fascinating. My sales in ePub format (via Smashwords' distribution system) are on an order of 100:1 what I see on Amazon ... and that is not a typo. |
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Post by Ted on Jan 22, 2013 13:23:25 GMT -8
And yet I sell books through Amazon. My sales through Smashwords have been abysmal! And here's what I find so fascinating. My sales in ePub format (via Smashwords' distribution system) are on an order of 100:1 what I see on Amazon ... and that is not a typo. I'm with you, Sharon. Amazon is consistently 3rd or 4th, usually 4th, on my sales list. Amazon is first, and always has been, for downloads of my free ebooks. |
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bergmaster
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Post by bergmaster on Jan 24, 2013 9:34:53 GMT -8
Ted, here are the answers to your six questions:
1) Smashwords.
2) Being computer illiterate I have my books on Smashwords and Amazon only. I don't know how to do websites, blogs and other methods of promoting books. My first book went to Amazon in July 2012. The second and third books went to Smashwords and Amazon at the same time in November 2012. The fourth work, a compilation of short stories is in KDP Select at present, but that will not be renewed.
3) See answer No. 2.
4) See answer No. 2.
5) The Rules of War $3.99; Fields of Air $3.99; A Cold North Wind $1.99; Small Town Stories $0.99.
6) The Rules of War is currently going through the proofing stage with Createspace; Fields of Air sold more than 20 000 paperbacks. It is currently out of print, but I might decide to publish via Createspace later this year.
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Post by Ted on Jan 24, 2013 11:27:00 GMT -8
Bergmaster, I'd give your works more time at other retailers like Apple, Kobo, and B&N. Check your Channel Manager page on your Smashwords Dashboard for date when books delivered to retailers, then add 2 weeks for the retailer to place your work(s) to their shelves. You may want to create a blog at wordpress.com as a marketing start. It's free and quite easy to create a blog. You should prepare some writings to post for your blog before creating it, and think of what you want to name it. Some authors use their name for the blog, others create blogs for each book, and others such as I create a catch-all of writings with no particular theme other than writing 'stuff'. You may also want to download and read my free ebook " The Backward Approach To Ebook Success" from Smashwords or other online retailers. It has some information you may find useful. CreateSpace is fairly easy to use. Be sure to read their formatting guide. Review your contract with the previous print publisher and ensure you have rights to republish/reprint and who owns the ISBN number. You will likely need a new ISBN as you can't use the one for your ebook and your previous print publisher prbably owns the ISBN for that work. Hope this helps. |
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bergmaster
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Post by bergmaster on Jan 26, 2013 6:28:51 GMT -8
Thanks again, Ted. You've been a great help.
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