Happy Monday, WG2E-Land!
Can y’all believe we’re less than one week away from welcoming in 2012?!
And that got me to thinking…
Indie Epublishing 2012…What Will It Mean for Indie Epub Authors?
First, let me set the scene…
One year ago today – so December 26, 2010 – I had Indie Epubbed/Self-Published my first 3 Ebooks, and I was selling a whopping 27 copies per month…across all platforms (Kindle, Nook, Sony, Kobo, iPad and Smashwords)!!!
Today – December 26, 2011 – I’m selling over 10,000 Ebooks per month across all platforms, am both an Amazon and Barnes & Noble Top 100 Bestselling Author and a two-time Amazon Movers & Shakers List Author!!! I’ve published 10 books and will add 16 more in 2012. My reader base is well over 100,000 readers strong (if you count the 75,000 peeps who’ve now downloaded the book that’s Free and started it all for me BOOTSCOOTIN’ BLAHNIKS). I’ve sold over 40,000 Ebooks!!! And my royalties for just December 2011 alone will be over $10,000!!!
I’m not saying any of this to brag…not at all!
This is simply an example, my personal example, of what just 1 year can mean to an Indie Epub Author!
It shows the massive growth potential in an Indie Epub Author Career. It shows that our reader bases have the potential to grow beyond our wildest plans and expectations! And it shows that there’s still a huge, untapped reader base out there.
BUT…
In 2012, the BIG QUESTION WILL BE…
HOW DO WE REACH READERS?
That to me is the question I’m asking the crystal ball…
And the question on which I’m basing my 2012 Indie Epublishing Predictions.
So what are my predictions?
Let’s take a look:
1. Our readers will increasingly be looking to Subscription-Style Services – whether through library systems or Online Giants like The Zon (Amazon) – in which they’ll pay so much per month or per year to download a certain number or unlimited number of Ebooks to a variety of Ereaders, Tablets, and Smart Phones.
***I think this is where Amazon’s new KDP Select Program is headed. With this initial round of sub-ins, you’ve got a real-live Beta Test to gauge the interests – of both Indie Epub Authors and Readers – in a subscription-style service. I do think, for the record, that 90% plus of the authors in these services will NOT make decent money (enough to make a full-time career of writing-for-publication), provided the pay-outs stay in the Pool-type plans…but more on that in another post.
2. Readers will also increase their dependence on such superfab Ereader-Centric Blogs as Ereader News Today (ENT), Cheap e-Reads, Pixel of Ink, Kindle Nation Daily, etc. to hand-pick the top reads for them. And not just the blogs themselves, but their corresponding Facebook and Twitter Feeds too. When you’ve got over 100,000 readers “Liking” your Facebook Page and hangin’ there day-in day-out (as does ENT), we, as authors need to be hangin’ there too!!!
3. Readers will continue to search out and learn to expect new authors to offer them a D. D. Scott-style “the first one is on me” type deal where you treat them to a Free book first, to convince them to later spend money on your books and/or choose your books in their subscription services.
4. Readers will flock to those authors who they feel they “know”, thanks to social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter. So Getting-to-Know Readers will be a huge key.
5. Exclusivity will be a huge, HUGE issue in each author’s ability to reach readers. Can readers find you and your books across all platforms and on all the Ereading Devices of their choosing? OR Are your books exclusive to one particular store?
***For example, as an Indie Epub Author, if you’ve chosen to go the KDP Select route, you must remove your Select Program books from all other venues, including selling them on your own websites. Also, I believe many of the Amazon Imprint contracts are exclusives as well.
6. Which Ereading Devices will shake down to be “the” Ereading Devices of choice will be very important scoop. And how does that affect us as Indie Epub Authors is something we’ve got to monitor closely.
***For example, “What If” Kobo being bought by a huge Japanese company and now being sold in a huge UK grocery chain takes it to a major role-playing position on the international market, but you can’t sell on Kobo because you’re an Amazon Exclusive Author? “What If” Barnes & Noble is sold…what happens to Nook? ”What If” Apple were to buy Nook’s library and integrate it into their iBooks or do away with iBooks and just be iNook?
7. The Big Six TradiPubs will either drop their Ebook Prices and begin their own Subscriptions Services (using their authors’ backlists) or shut their doors…yep…I’m predicting they’re done. If they don’t do something innovative and drastic, they’re done!!! That said, it might take ‘em a few more years to run out of their multi-media, big corp. cash reserves, but for all intents and purposes, they’ll no longer be able to compete. Readers will go elsewhere at an even more alarming rate than they are now!!!
8. Indie Epub Authors will continue to come up with innovative ways to Collaborate to tap into each other’s reader bases…whether with Anthologies, their own Subscription Services, joint marketing, or a few other interesting concepts I’ll be revealing very soon!!!
Okay…that gives us some superfab fun and interesting conversations to have…and yes, I will be posting in full on each of these issues to kick-off 2012.
My Buzz Words for Indie Epublishing 2012 are:
*** Subscription Services
***KDP Select
*** Ereader-centric Blogs
*** Exclusivity
***TradiPub /Big Six Backlists
***Collaboration
And to jump start our conversations regarding all-things-Indie-Epublishing-2012, mark your calendars now to join us for our first ever WG2E Live Chat on the first Wednesday of 2012 – January 4th!!! The WG2E’s own A-mazing Scott Nicholson and I will be hosting this one-of-a-kind WG2E Signature Event on our WG2E Facebook Page at 8 PM EST!!! It’s your chance to chat live with us about what our Indie Epublishing Future holds!!!
Speaking of Scott Nicholson, check-out his scoop on what the new year means to him…
Liquid Fear, Chronic Fear, and the rebirth of a writing career
And in the mean time, let’s start identifying 2012 Indie Epublishing Issues now…
It’s Your Turn WG2E-Land: What do you think the major Indie Epublishing Issues of 2012 will be?
The Best of The WG2E 2012 Wishes — D. D. Scott
I hope you are wrong about the Kindle Select program. They do make it sound attractive. I put up a book that hasn’t been selling well anywhere but what sales I did have were coming from Amazon. I’m hoping this will kick start the sales as I’m able to offer it for free for up to 5 days during the 90 day period of exclusivity. I don’t expect to lend a lot of book and therefore won’t make money off the ‘Pool’ monies that Amazon has, but I hope to kick start the other sales. Since 99% of all my sales are from Amazon, this was a win-win situation for me.
Thanks,
Cindy
I hope I’m wrong too, Cynthia!
I saw a report yesterday – I believe in the Kindle Nation Daily Weekender – that over 61,000 Indie Authors are now using Select. So yes, the Pool funds are going to be spread waaay thin. So that’s not the advantage gained by signing up.
What you’ve got to decide as an author is if you can stand-out in that Pool so that the extra visibility (using the 5 days Free) compensates for the lower royalty return and exclusivity. It very well could, and I sooo hope it does for all of you!!!
From the trends we are seeing on our side of things, the main beneficiaries of the pool (if you can call them ‘beneficiaries’) will be authors with titles that are $9.99 and above, and erotica titles.
Why erotica titles? Select keeps *cough* certain books *cough* off the credit card receipts at the end of the month.
I think the option of scheduling when your book goes free is the only real benefit to the program at this time. For this to last long-term, Amazon will need to move the offer from five to fifteen days over the period of exclusivity, to really make things worthwhile.
Wow…excellent points here, Indie Books List!!!
I had no idea about the Erotica titles’ status…
Plus, I totally agree the the main benefit of Select is the “Free days”. At least with Select, an author is guaranteed those Free days, whereas otherwise, it’s up to Amazon whether or not they match the price. And, if you’re Amazon, why would you match that price if you’re not getting that $80 Prime Membership boost too?!
I agree that the free days is the biggest draw to me. I have not yet put a book up on the Select program but I’m toying with the idea on my next series.
Great blog as usual DD! Thanks for the food for thought!
Lisa Mondello
http://www.lisamondello.blogspot.com
Great post, D.D.! Thanks!
U betchya, Tamara!
It will be superfab fun to see how these predictions compare to our 2012 Indie Epub Realities!
Cheers to You!!!
Thanks for the post. The key to it all, as you note, is reaching readers. If everyone is doing the same thing, how does an author stand out?
I made my 10 predictions for 2012 on my blog. I don’t think the Big 6 will be done. They’re adapting. Also, they have marketing clout and that counts for a lot because it’s a way to reach readers. The question is whether the Big 6 can hold on to their top authors given the lousy eBook royalty rates and the expansion of the percentage of sales that are eBooks.
Standing out is indeed key, Bob!!!
The Pack Mentality does NOT work in Indie Epublishing…’course I would argue it doesn’t work anywhere, but that’s just one of my little soap boxes. LOL!
I’ll have to come on over and check out your predictions too. I subscribe to your blog right from my Kindle and luuuvvv getting your viewpoints.
The Big Six may have the marketing clout, but they’re sure not usin’ it when it comes to pricing their Ebooks to sell or when it comes to paying their authors enough to keep ‘em in contract.
I think they’ll adapt via using their Backlists to compete with Indies.
Thanks bunches for dropping by!
I think you’re right, Bob. The key for the Big6 is hanging on to their brand name authors. What if Michael Connolly self-pubbed? Or Stephen King? Or Nora Roberts? Or Lee Child?
That possibility is what must be giving them nightmares.
I totally agree, Ruth…but also, in the mean time, they’re not attracting the next generation of Connollys, Kings, Roberts and Childs.
Plus, they’re completely cutting out their entire midlist author pool.
So agree with you, Bob, and I said that last week in my blog here. I do think the big six is adapting and doing it pretty well. I do think we will see a lot more competition as Indies, as I have previously stated. 2012 will not be as exciting as an Indie, but will be a year of learning new ways to market our books, promote ourselves. I’m very interested in seeing where we will be this time next year! HAPPY NEW YEAR.
Well said, Super T!
I think you nailed it right here:
“2012 will…be a year of learning new ways to market our books, promote ourselves.”
D.D. I think you are right on the money with all of your 2012 predictions. As you do, I also believe that “The Big Six TradiPubs will either drop their EBook Prices and begin their own Subscriptions Services (using their authors’ backlists) or shut their doors” They will have to in order to be fair to their authors and their readers. Right now their eBook “policies” are neither fair to their readers (too expensive) nor authors (Not fair royalties).
“Readers will continue to search out and learn to expect new authors to offer them a D. D. Scott-style “the first one is on me” type deal” you betcha on that one! This means that new indie authors could use a strategy and get at least two books out at once -the first one “free” to allow readers to get to know them. Then the author should have their second book ready at a fair price for the reader to buy. Thank you for the terrific advice
“Indie Epub Authors will continue to come up with innovative ways to Collaborate to tap into each other’s reader bases” absolutely D.D. We must help each other out (Like you all are doing with the incredible WG2E)
And all your 2012 indie pub buzz words are awesome!
Good Mornin’, Lois!
I do think it’s super-savvy smart to offer your first book for Free then have others ready for readers to buy!
Part of the reason I think my sales have sky-rocketed during my first year is that I’ve released 10 great books for great prices!!! Ereaders are super hungry and are reading even more than they used to in print. The longest I waited between releases was three months, and I did see a significant drop in sales between months two and three of that waiting period.
Now…my readers know they can count on me to have something new and superfab fun every couple months. They don’t forget about me.
Continuing to fill your cyber shelf on a regular basis is a great way to stand-out!!!
And pricing great and payin’ it forward are definitely terrific success tools too!
Mornin’, D.D.! As usual you’ve got my head spinning and mojo moving!
And I luv the idea of your live chat! But I do have a question — do we just pop over and take part, or is there some computer thing we have to do before we can join in?
Wavin’ atchya, Alicia, and Good Mornin’ right backatchya!
All you’ve got to do for the Live Chat is just go to our WG2E Facebook Page and start commenting or posting on our wall!!! That’s all there is to it!
Scott and I thought about using a Chat Room Service, but those are just too damn tough to figure out.
Cheers to WG2E Live Chats and Mojo Movin’!!!
DeeDee, I get goosebumps reading your numbers. Holy goosebumps! Bat Woman!
It’s that Boxed Set, Barbara! LOL! That thing has exceeded all my expectations!!!
I knew it would be a terrific product, timed and priced perfectly! But I had nooo idea just how wonderful it would turn out to be!!!
Fantastic post, DeeDee. I’ve already seen a few of these coming true in the UK – big publishers are now very much in the game (in my genre, anyway), lowering their prices and getting into free books. Where before one of the indie’s big advantages was having a lower price point, now that’s been erased. So… standing out from the pack and hitting the big e-reader-centric sites is a great way to get noticed. I think more of these sites will crop up in the UK, too, as the market matures.
One thing I’ll be talking about tomorrow is WHO is the next generation of e-reader? Who are the new readers we should be targeting? I can’t wait to get the predictions on that one.
And I’m very much looking forward to the WG2E chat!
Ooooo…Talli, great idea for a superfab post on “WHO is the next generation of Ereader?”
Brilliant focus!!!
And I think that’s another area where The Big Six are totally “heads-in-the-sand”…it’s not just about their current crop of wonderful authors (like the Roberts, Childs, Kings and Connollys Ruth mentioned above)…it’s about…who’s comin’ up behind ‘em…and WHO are the readers they’ll be appealing to?!
2012 is all about REACHING READERS!!!
And I’m also over the moon excited about our chat too!
Scott and I were Facebook messaging back-and-forth a bit last week about the state of the industry, and I said “hey, we should do a Konrath-Eisler style dialog”…and we decided to make ours a Live Version!!!
Congrats on your numbers, D.D. Nothing says “know what I’m doin’ ” like results!
Thanks sooo very much, Dale!
Super T Tonya Kappes is constantly poking fun at me because I’m always studying the numbers and formulating the strategy for my next move…but it’s sure workin’ for me, plus helping all of you plan-out how you can use these ideas in your own Indie Epub Journeys!
Ditto what Dale says – Congratulations D.D. I’m really happy because I’ve sold 21 copies of my book this month, so I don’t know what I would be like if I had your numbers! Lol
Cheers to you and your superfab sales, LK…remember, I was pretty much exactly where you are now, just one year ago…
So just keep on keepin’ on…your next year at this time could look just like mine…
Great numbers, D.D………keep up the great work (uh……I guess I should say writing)! You obviously have excellent sales strategies, too, thus giving you the “extra push!” Congrats!
Thanks sooo very much, Jeanne!
In our Indie Epub World, it’s not just about writing great books and putting ‘em out there for great prices…we’ve got to be super-savvy business entrepreneurs too!!!
I totally believe that developing sound strategies is a must!!!
After having been an Indie author for a little over a year (nearly 2 now) and I’ve seen my share of ups and downs. I’ve taken lots of advice from other successful Indie authors and hope I have what it takes to make this more of a career (farming doesn’t exactly pay all the bills). I’ve done free ebooks, trivia games with ebooks as prizes, and other promotions that are within my financial reach- FB, Twitter, blog, passing out business cards, etc. My sales are slowly getting better, and I’ve been writing quite a few short stories and pricing them at .99 to try and draw readers in. So far, I’m on track for my best quarter- a little over $100 in royalties. Yes, I’d love to make $1,000-2,000 a month, but I think that will take time. I have 13 stories out there- 5 are novel length, 1 novella, and the rest are shorts.
I hope the publishing industry softens up for us Indies. It would be nice to see the stereotype of the Indie author laid to rest and the general public embrace us for what we have to offer- unique and fresh stories that haven’t been heavily edited by a Big 6 publisher to make them more “reader friendly” for what they want the reader to have. I think as adults we’re able to think for ourselves and can pick our own books.
I’ll continue to plod along in my writing career, happy to be Indie, and happy to get any sale and review I can. I love my fans and interact with them as much as possible. Face time has definitely improved my sales, and I can only hope to go up from here. 2012 will be a good year for us Indies, I feel it!
Excellent blog! Thanks for the pep talk.
U betchya, K!!!
And it really is all about getting to know your readers!
Readers don’t know and totally don’t care who publishes a book! They simply want great books for great prices and lots of ‘em…plus easy downloading too!!!
Just keep on keepin’ on!!!
D. D. How the heck are you writing so many books, so fast!
First, D. Robert, I had a huge backlist already, for the most part, ready to go…because I’d been pursuing writing-for-publication the TradiPub Route for over 12 years before beginning my Indie Epub Journey last year!
Second, now that I’m writing full-time, I can’t believe how my productivity rate has increased! It now takes me about three months for a full-length novel. I write about 10 pages per day, 7 days per week.
Awesome! What about editing? How long does it take to get a novel edited after you finish the first draft? Self-editing and the edits from an outside editor. I’m just curious what your beginning to end process, time-wise, looks like.
Great questions, D. Robert!
I found Freelance Editing Gold with my editor…The Edit Dude. He’s A-mazing.
I book with him, as well as my entire team – Rob Siders of 52 Novels for Formatting and Laura Morrigan for Covers – a year in advance, just because I want them to know my Production Schedule so they can plan accordingly.
I try to give Matt (The Edit Dude) about a month to work his magic, and Rob’s turn-around for formatting is about two weeks. I give Laura my cover ideas about two months prior to release.
These providers don’t require booking a year in advance, but I know it helps them because of the number of releases I have each year.
Does this help you a bit?
I should actually do a full post on this…thanks bunches for the idea!
Oh…and as far as the self-editing…I spend a very intense two to three weeks – prior to The Edit Dude getting my manuscript – cleaning it up myself.
And in that first draft, I include several notes to myself about further research I need to do, and I finish that in those last two to three weeks too, before sending it off to The Edit Dude.
Sounds like a great system. I’d love to be able to write full-time, but just not seeing the sales to get there anytime soon. I know a big part of having good sales numbers is having multiple books, but having multiple books needs time + money for editing, and it’s a bit disheartening when the first book doesn’t sell enough to even cover it’s own editing costs. So, I’m always looking to see how others do it.
I sooo hear ya, D. Robert…I had to look at it as an investment in myself and my future. And yes, I’ve spent a ton and learned some very tough lessons regarding what pays off and what doesn’t – in both time and money.
The time investment is something I work with a lot in my Muse Therapy Online Class Community. Teaching writers to work not necessarily harder, but smarter, and going with the natural tendencies of their own muses is a staple of my Muse Therapy classes and book…that’s the key to increased productivity.
And one more thing you might find interesting and helpful…I didn’t wait to go into writing full-time until my sales justified it. I just dove in and “acted as if” they already were…another Muse Therapy Secret…actually, coming from the superfab NYT’s Bestselling Author Debbie Macomber.
I am glad I discovered your blog as I have great concerns about the Amazon’s new KDP Select Program. Your artice has given me a great deal to think about.
The only thing that I am sure of is that the Big 6 will definitely have to rethink there current stategies just like most Indie Authors like myself.
Welcome to The WG2E, Kimmie!
There are a ton of very good reasons to be concerned about KDP Select, and we’ll be talking about them a bunch.
Perhaps I should have put Adaptation/Rethinking as two of my 2012 Buzz Words too…but in our Indie Epub World, that’s kinda the norm, right? LOL!
Cheers to you and we look forward to hearing from you!
D.D. – Fascinating and provocative list. Thank you for thinking all this through and sharing it with the rest of us! I was particularly interested in (and a bit concerned by) your mention of #6 – Which e-reading devices will rise to the top? We’re going to be looking at tea leaves and consulting mediums in an effort to make sure we don’t box ourselves in with the losers in the e-reader competition!
I am thanking the stars, the Christmas Kindle rush, or whatever else might be responsible, because, like you, I am also having a phenomenal sales ride. My political thriller “Running,” about two women vying for the Presidency, which had monthly sales in the double digits since being released in July, is on fire. I made it free for 24 hours on 12/23, and since then have sold 750 copies!! That’s in less than three days, and it is still rising in the ranks.
Needless to say, it is a very merry Christmas around my house!
Thanks for all you do for the indie community… it is much appreciated.
And I have one more prediction for the year — WG2E will be releasing a fantastic anthology in January, that will see big success!
Oooooo…congrats on your superfab sales increase!!! Go, Girl, Go!!!
And I luuuvvv your WG2E All-For-Indies Anthology Prediction, Patrice! LOL!!!
I think as long as an Indie Author doesn’t go Exclusive – at least not right now – he or she will be in a great position to ride-out the Ereader Device Battles.
That’s what bothers me most about KDP Select is the Exclusivity part…I want to be available to all readers on all platforms.
That said, there are wonderful ways to get around Exclusivity…for example…what if you created different series for different devices? With the Free Apps, your readers could read all of them that way.
My prediction is that 2012 will be the year that us indie authors truly come into our own.
And we are going to have to make some huge adjustments as well, Julie!
Cheers to you!!!
Better start treating my writing as a business then. Why I got back to work this afternoon.
U Go, Girl!!!
Thanks for that very informative list D.D. As usual you give us a lot of food for thought. I personally couldn’t consider exclusivity at this point as I sell equal amounts on B&N as I do on Amazon. Also B&N readers seem to review much better than Amazon readers. (only 47 on Amazon, over 140 on B&N) Interesting!?
2012 will indeed be a very interesting time for us. I am looking forward to seeing the results of indies who have decided to try KDP Select.
Great points, Alison!
And I’m right there with ya on Nook Sales — I’m over $8000 just for December there! Plus, I’m doing between $500 and $1000 now every three weeks on Sony, Apple and Kobo combined!!! No exclusivity for me right now!!!
2012 is indeed going to be very, very interesting!!!
Thanks for the wonderful list. As usual you have given us more food for thought.
The exclusive thing definitely isn’t for me at this time as I sell as many books on B&N as I do on Amazon and B&N readers tend to review more than Amazon readers do, for some reason.
I will be interested to see how the KDP Select program works for other indies, though.
oops my computer went doolally and I thought it deleted my 1st comment.
Gotchya on the doolally computers too! I’m working mostly from my laptop now because my PC has some major issues!!! LOL!!!
Great post D.D.! Congrats on all of your success and thanks for the shout-out.
Thanks bunches, Edit Dude! U rock, and I’m honored to give ya shout-outs!!!
Hi D. D., very interesting post. As a new publisher, I’m curious about the logistics. I see you said you started epublishing a year ago Dec 26, 2010 (congratulations by the way) and ” I’ve published 10 books and will add 16 more in 2012″.
If you don’t mind, what are some tips to writing so fast? I’ve seen on some forms that the more good quality books you have out, the better. Did you make up to 10 books in 2010? Or did you have a backlist already.
Welcome to The WG2E, Pamela!
First, I do write very fast, and that’s because I write EVERY DAY and literally I mean EVERY DAY, at least 10 pages, sometimes more. So crankin’ out 70 pages per week gets you a lot of books by the end of the year!
That said, when I first published (actually my first book came out in August 2010), I already had three full novels done…novels my agent had been shopping traditionally for two years.
I also had one non-fiction book done.
So there were my first four books out of the ten I produced in 2011.
I then wrote 2 more full novels in 2011, 2 short stories (again reworking short stories I’d already written during the last 10 years of trying to get pubbed the TradiPub way), and created a Boxed Set out of my first six books, and I have a Christmas Anthology I did with our superfab Tonya and Talli.
The best Writing Tip I can give y’all as far as productivity is:
Write EVERY DAY…EVERY DAY!!!
That’s how you increase your page counts, ultimately your book counts, and you get better and better as you go!!!
Thank you for the warm welcome D.D. I really appreciate your sharing your history and tips for productivity. You are right. Writing everyday is so important, although sometimes difficult. I look forward to following you and learning and sharing.
U betchya, Pamela!
We’re all here for you and will help you any way we can!!!
I’m looking forward to getting to know you too!!!
DD this is a great post & a lot of food for thought. It’s amazing all that you’ve accomplished in only 1 year. Would you be willing to post a link or dedicate a blog post to exactly what you feel you did to have this kind of success. My goal is to do the same thing as you & have major success being a non-fiction author. I have no predictions for 2012 by way of the big 6, all I know is that I’m going to make 100,000 & become a successful indie author by learning from the best!
Alishia Willardson, author of:
Live The Life You Love “Relationships” & “You Deserve It”
Http://www.live-my-life-free.webs.com
Welcome to The WG2E, Alishia!
Let’s see…everything you’re asking for is already right here on The WG2E! Yayyy!!!
Check out the following posts (I’ll leave one link per comment to avoid our very picky Spam Filter…LOL!):
http://thewritersguidetoepublishing.com/d-d-scotts-ebook-sales-now-selling-more-ebooks-in-one-month-than-the-entire-last-year
Here’s another one, Alishia:
http://thewritersguidetoepublishing.com/indie-epublishing-a-beginners-to-do-list
Here’s one too, Alishia:
http://thewritersguidetoepublishing.com/you-can-make-a-living-by-indie-epublishing-free-and-99-cent-ebooks
One more…
http://thewritersguidetoepublishing.com/increasing-your-ebooks-visibility-via-ereader-centric-blogs
These should get you going with gusto, Alishia!!!