aristotle
Junior Member
Posts: 38
Joined: Mar 28, 2012 17:11:38 GMT -8
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Post by aristotle on Aug 1, 2012 21:39:25 GMT -8
I know from the Smashwords account panel that an author can control the percentage of a book that is available as a free sample at Smashwords. However, unless I have misunderstood, the author does not control the sample size for books listed with affiliates, e.g. Apple, B&N.
If so, isn't this a potential problem for a book of short stories? If the book contains 20 stories and say, 50% of the book is available free, then the author is giving away 10 stories. To me this is no different than listing 10 books and being told that 5 will be free.
Is there any way of finding out how, or preferably controlling, what percentage of a book is available free on the affiliates?
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Post by Ted on Aug 2, 2012 6:14:36 GMT -8
Which retailers offer 50% samples? I think they all offer 10 - 20 percent as a sample.
Just like Amazon an author can't control the sample size at a retailer, but they can control sample size at Smashwords.
An affiliate is not a retailer like B&N or Apple. An affiliate is a separate class of seller. Click on Affiliate link on your Dashboard for information.
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aristotle
Junior Member
Posts: 38
Joined: Mar 28, 2012 17:11:38 GMT -8
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Post by aristotle on Aug 2, 2012 12:15:24 GMT -8
Ted, Sorry, I meant retailer, not affiliate. My point remains, whether the percentage is 50%, or as Smashwords recommends for short stories, 30%. I can well understand the 30% figure for a single short story, but 30% for a book of short stories means that web surfers can obtain almost a third of the stories for free.
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russellphillips
Guest
Joined: Mar 28, 2024 13:52:43 GMT -8
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Post by russellphillips on Aug 2, 2012 12:49:10 GMT -8
You'd have to ask the individual retailers what percentage they use for sample size, but I suspect, as Ted suggests, that it's in the 10-20% range. You might be able to find out at the individual retailer websites, or you could get a sample of a Smashwords book from each retailer. You can get the word count from the book's Smashwords page, and compare that to the number of words in the downloaded sample. That will give you the sample size as a percentage.
To be honest, if I were you, I wouldn't worry about it. The whole point of a sample is to give the reader a chance to see if they like your work enough to pay for it. There is a chance that people will read the stories that are in the sample and not bother buying the book, but the chances are that people who do that wouldn't have bought your book anyway. On the other hand, giving people a chance to find out whether or not they like your writing before parting with their cash will probably lead to more sales.
Some retailers may allow you to set the sample size if you upload directly, but if you go through Smashwords, they'll use their standard sample size.
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