Sales channel, that is!
As both Barnes & Noble and Kobo expand into other markets to compete with Amazon, authors need to examine ways of leveraging their books in these new channels.
As someone reticent to stick all her novel-eggs in one basket (despite previously joining KDP Select), once my period of exclusivity was up, I decided to strike out for the wilds of Smashwords and see if could make some headway with other distributors. I set a novella for free across all platforms, putting the first chapter of my novel in the back to hopefully drive future sales.
The results? Dismal. Brace yourselves: since July, I’ve had 11 sales on Barnes & Noble, compared to thousands on Amazon. On Kobo, the figure is comparable: 11 sales since July, too. The royalties I earned on those channels in no way make up for the profits I could have made from loans through the KDP Select programme. I’d been hoping for an upward trend as momentum grew, but so far – when it comes to anywhere but Amazon — September is a wash-out.
I know I’m not the only one struggling to make headway with Barnes & Noble or Kobo. Some authors do extremely well there while others don’t, and there doesn’t seem to be a clear consensus why. It frustrate me to see the potential of these sales channels yet not be able to access them, despite putting up a novella for free.
And so I thought I’d ask here:
What is your biggest sales channel – what percentage of your sales comes from platforms other than Amazon? If you’re successful on Barnes & Noble, what strategies have you employed?
I – and I’m sure many others! – eagerly await your answers.
I’m in the Amazon straights with you, Talli, barely treading water with the others (okay, I’ll stop the terrible puns now).
I sell around 50-75 a month on B&N but virtually none on Apple or Kobo (also published through Smashwords). To date, only 2% of my eBook sales have come through B&N.
I did see a little rise in B&N sales after I added (a chick lit romantic comedy) to the title in B&N, but I’m not sure if the title change was the reason. In general I have only a hand full of reviews on B&N. Again, that might have something to do with sales.
I, too, would love to hear about B&N successes.
I’m envious of your 50-75 per month! Right now, even that seems miles away. Thanks for sharing.
Tried out Smashwords but sell more via Amazon. I am leaving it as it is, but any further novels will stay with KDP Select for the borrowing royalties, as they earn more than SWords for me.
It’s a little heartening (wrong word, but you know what I mean) to see I’m not the only one struggling to gain headway on other channels! Thanks, Glynis.
I’m sorry to hear your sales didn’t do so well.
I think part of the issue is that Amazon has spent so long being the go-to brand for buying books online. In Ireland, certainly, people don’t even think twice about it. If they want to order a book online, it’s Amazon they go to. It’s like using Google to look something up. It’s instinctive.
It’s going to take a while for competitors to really make a dent in Amazon’s place in the social consciousness.
That means that any given author needs the right combination of market presence, promotion, and pure luck to take off on another site, even if their Amazon sales are excellent. People still have loyalty to certain retailers. We’re creatures of habit. We go to the same restaurants all the time, shop in the same clothes stores, get our groceries in the same supermarket.
I would imagine it’s the same for online ordering. If we know that a certain site is reliable and stocks the product we want, we’re not going to change solely because the product is available elsewhere. There needs to be another factor, whether that’s stumbling across the product for the first time on the other site, a bad experience with the older one, or some promotion that draws your attention and, eventually, loyalty.
That’s a great point, Paul – thank you. I know it’ll take a while in the UK and Ireland for the other vendors to reach anywhere near the Zon’s dominance – if they ever do. But why oh why, in the US where B&N is hugs, as my sales so meagre compared to Amazon? Argh.
Haha, I would call 11 sales on B&N a win! I’ve had one. I don’t really know how or why that is, but Amazon works WAY better for me!
Super interesting post. I really want to try KDP Select, but I’ve got friends who asked for a Nook version, and I *am* selling somewhat on B&N. I did really well Day 1 w/Smash, but since then, it’s dwindled. I’ve sold like 3 copies on Kobo.
I guess strange word of mouth helped me at B&N? I’m still watching it, wondering if I should pull all and do the KDPS. Good stuff! <3
Thanks for dropping by, Leigh! I’m conscious of the fact that it does take time to gain momentum on other platforms . . . so I’m not giving up on B&N and Kobo just yet! Still, it’s hard when I think about what I could (and have) made in the past with Select. Decisions, decisions!
Let’s face it.
Amazon works.
I think it’s got to do with the name. I mean, I say the word Amazon and right off the bat I’m paddling a burned dugout down the backwaters of an unmapped South American grotto. There’s crocodiles grinning hungrily at me from thick and murky water. Deeper lie the piranha, picking their teeth with the bones of ill-compassed explorers, unfortunate peace workers and the occasional tourist who fell of the cruise boat. The air fairly hums with the buzz of a myriad of mosquitoes. Ashore lie headhunters, cannibals, and autograph seekers.
And always, always, always I can hear in the back of mind the all-knowing don’t-you-wish-you-were-as-cool-as-me I-ain’t-dead-yet voice of Morgan Freeman saying something along the lines of “Welcome to the wilderness, you in deep shit now, boy.”
I mean, the vague creepy-cottage smuttiness of the word “Nook” can’t hope to stand up against the power of the “Amazon” – and as for Kobo – hell, that isn’t even a word, is it?
Sounds like that Gollum character in Lord of the Rings, with a fish-bone caught in his throat.
“Yes, my precious. Gollum, Kobo, Gollum.”
I have ALWAYS counted on the bulk of my sales as being from Amazon, via Kindle. None of the other book-selling venues even come close.
At the same time – I haven’t had much luck with the Kindle Select program – but I suspect it is because I played it too safe and just released a couple of short collections – rather than an entire novel.
In my experience, Steve, a novel works way better free than short story collections. I got waaaay more uptake with my novel than my novella in Select.
That’s pretty well what I figured. We live and we learn.
Ah, Steve, you have made me laugh! It’s all the name! Amazon does have that all sewn up when compared to Nook and Kobo, that’s for sure!
Definitely amazon for me. I don’t even like shopping on the other sites. It’s not a very good browsing experience. Shopping at Amazon is like being in a bookstore. For all the people that want to hate Amazon, I love shopping there!
I’m with you, Laura. I always shop Amazon, too – I find the Kobo site mind-boggling!
I’m not sure that the BN/Nook markets are as open to indie authors, for some reason. I say that because my self-pubbed titles tanked there (I eventually went KDP), but my titles distributed through traditional publishers are doing pretty well. Over at Amazon, it’s the opposite–my indie titles outsell the others.
I wish I knew the answer to the riddle that is BN, though–I’d love to take advantage of it!
Hm… that’s interesting, Claire! I wish I knew knew the answer, too.
Amazon has been the huge win for me, and Kindle Select was well worth giving them an exclusive. I did very well on B&N one month, but then it suddenly dropped. I make around $50-60 a month with them, sometimes half that much, and I’ve had 17 sales on Kobo. I had one for free, but nothing good happened, couldn’t even find it on their site as a free read. Doing better with it since I put it on sale!
Thank you for sharing your results, Patrice! Kindle Select was worth it for me, too, although granting exclusivity made me a bit nervous. Still, for the amount of headway I’m making on other platforms, I might go back to it. We’ll see!
A very interesting post, Talli. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about putting my books on the platforms you mentioned since a widespread glitch occurred on Amazon on 1st Sept. My sales figures – which had been increasing month on month – suddenly froze for nearly a week and since then have trickled in at a disheartening rate. When I reported this to Amazon, they acknowledged the glitch – it had affected a lot of people. But then they claimed they’d fixed it and that my account was updating normally again. After many emails trying to convince them there was still a problem, I’m hoping they’re finally on the case as I’m now locked out of my sales reports altogether! (Probably a good thing!)
Touch wood this problem will soon blow over, but it did make me think perhaps I shouldn’t have all my eggs in one basket. It’s been a stressful few weeks but I’m trusting Amazon will sort it out as, until now, I’ve had a very positive experience with them, and judging by the comments above, they are still the best platform by far for indie authors.
Oh, Tasha. I really feel for you – it’s so, so irritating when things like that happen and you’re the little guy art the mercy of the big platform. Fingers crossed it all gets sorted soon. I don’t blame you for thinking about other platforms but I have to agree – so far, Amazon seems to be the best option for indies.
I pulled my first fiction book from Kindle Select to go to other channels and my sales immediately tanked. I don’t understand -why- people would buy my book when I am giving it away 5 times every 3 months, but they -do-.
My only regret is that I used ‘digital rights management’ when I listed it (first) on Amazon. I get a certain percentage of sales ‘returned’ because you can’t use calibre to then convert it to nook, kobo, or another platform. I HATE the fact they won’t let you change the DRM on your e-version once it’s published.
I’m working with an illustrator right now … I’m going to add 5 pen-and-ink sketches and then re-release a ‘illustrated edition’ on Kindle Select -without- the digital rights management. (which means pulling it from the other platforms that are not working). That way, people with other types of e-readers can convert the file to their device.
That is a good way around that problem, Anna.
All kidding aside, one of the reasons I was excited about working with Kobo this summer was the fact that they allow you to release your work without a DRM – and making “second-thought” changes is a fairly easy process.
I did not realize that Kindle wouldn’t let a writer change the DRM once the e-version is published.
Anna, interesting that you saw a drop in sales after pulling it from Select. And good point about the DRM – I’d not thought of Kobo customers shopping on Amazon and then converting it.
I too find the Kobo self-pubbing platform very quick and easy. I just wish my sales would rise!
Steve rocks. The Apple geeks have been getting my books through Smash words and those sales are beginning to match Nook sales. Amazon is still my biggest distributer though. Morning ya’ll!
Morning!
And wow, fantastic that you’re seeing sales through Apple. You’re one of the few authors I’e heard say that!
Amazon is still first for me in overall monthly averages, but that said, Barnes and Noble has beat my Amazon sales several different months and beat ‘em big. My largest month so far has been a $14,000 one in which B&N was around $8000 of that, Amazon around $5,000 and the rest was other channels. Currently, the two are tied.
Smashwords does work and the FREE offering is what finally got me hopping there, but it took me over a year and a half to see those results using Smashwords, not a single month. It takes time to build up the steam, but you can’t build it up if you’re not there.
The Boxed Set at $2.99 is the other approach that’s finally been a breakout for me on all the Smashwords Channels.
It takes time. And now that FREE isn’t what it used to be, I’m not sure there is any one magic thing that works in just a month. It’s now appearing to take longer than it used to for gaining visibility across all platforms, Amazon included.
The secret is getting more books out there (I didn’t notice a huge change until between books 3 and 5), and finding ways to connect with a core group of “Sneezer” readers every day.
We’ve got to all hang with readers as much as writers.
That is indeed the secret, D.D. I have got an AWFUL lot of writers that I know and network with – but they don’t always buy my books.
A writer – if he wants to sell his e-books – needs to get out and reach more readers than ever before. It’s not enough to just sit there and preen yourself and say – heh, I am a writer – you have to get right out there and sit down on the front porch with these readers and say – here, let me tell you a story.
They like that story, they’ll be more likely to pay you for the next one.
I’m in awe of your B&N results, DD – it’s encouraging to see that indie authors *can* have success there! My traditionally published books have been on there for almost two years, and have yet to see the uptake of my sales on Amazon. I think my self-pubbed titles are actually doing better than them, and that’s saying something! You’re right that free isn’t what it used to be and it’s harder to get noticed… I just wonder what more I could be doing to get noticed at B&N! I’ve four books on there now and yet to see any real results.
I think the other thing that really helps me, Talli, is my 99 Cent price tags on all single titles. I only use $2.99 for boxed sets and non-fiction.
I’ve been thinking a ton about pricing again lately, thanks to Dean Wesley Smith’s new take on it, but I’m pretty sure I’m going to continue to hold steady with my Snickers Bar Pricing Strategy as it’s sooo working for me.
Think of it this way, when readers buy my books, they can buy three at 99 Cents instead of just one at $2.99, and that’s what they do…they buy multiples from me at a time. And, I think that’s why after 8 months, my boxed set is still making me around $2,000 a month all on its own…because it’s a Snickers Bar deal.
When everyone is going to move their prices up now, that’s not going to get anyone visibility. That’s why I’m hangin’ outside the pack and stayin’ low as in lower prices…I like it out there, and I sell a bunch of books and find a bunch of sneezers that way. People talk about what’s different that they find, not what’s just like everything else. And that Buzz is Visibility and Visibility is Sales.
Here’s my Snickers Bar Pricing approach, and I talk a lot more about it too in my 10 Years and 24 Hours to Indie Epublishing Success:
http://thewritersguidetoepublishing.com/do-you-want-to-be-the-snickers-bar-of-ebooks-i-do
If I had to pick one thing that’s “made” me, it’s my Snickers Bar Pricing Approach used with my Focus on Readers.
I spend a lot more time with readers than with writers, even with The WG2E, and I make it easy on my readers’ bank accounts to choose my books. They don’t have to save money to buy me or choose my books over others, if they’re on a tight budget. And they know for a buck, they’ll get a load of laughs and fun. They also know I’ll have the next one ready in a month or two. All that, and they can become part of my D. D. Scott-ville world and chat with me each and every day too. Plus, with RG2E, I now introduce them to all of you too!
It’s about building a community of hungry readers, then satisfying their cravings for a great price.
If y’all haven’t read Patrick Hanlon’s Primalbranding, do so…you’ll learn how to build your own communities around your books and brands and around YOU. That’s what sells books!
Thanks for the explanation on your pricing! It may be that I do need to drop my price on B&N to get noticed. I might try that! Love the ‘Snickers Bar’ analogy. And thank you for the book recommendation! It is now on my to-read list.
I have found that I sell more on Amazon than Swords, but get more downloads on SW than Amazon. On SW, I think I saw that the most downloads was through B&N.
Thanks for sharing your results, Julie!
My sales on B&N tripled last fall, but are still at a maximum of low three figures.
I have more sales on Amazon. I have not tried the Select and don’t intend to.
My sales on Smashwords, which includes Sony, Kobo, and others, are also low, but it’s nice getting a three-figure quarterly check.
I’m guessing it’s because more people have Kindles?
Low three figure – I’m envious, Bettye! I’d like to even get to that level.
Hm, yes, I suppose it could be – especially in the UK. Still, I’m not sure that explains the huge discrepancy many authors experience between B&N and Amazon sales figures.
Timely post, Talli. I keep telling myself that I need to upload to different platforms, but with my writing/editing schedule there’s so little time! I’ve watched D. D. soar on multiple platforms and keep wondering if it’s for me. Juggling six books though, I think I’ll just stick with Amazon.
Thanks for your input – much appreciated.
Another question for you…do you feel time spent on Facebook and your Facebook author page is worth it?
~Nancy Jill Thames
Hi Nancy! I hear you – time is limited, and right now, I’m not really feeling like the time I invested in getting the book on all those platforms is well spent. We’ll see how it fares in the future!
Re: Facebook – oh, yes. In fact, I’ve connected with so many target readers through FB… many more than I have through my blog, who are mainly writer pals.
Thanks – I’ll hang in there with the FB connections.
~Nancy Jill Thames
I sell FAR more on Amazon.
But my sales on Nook where I upload directly and at the end of August KOBO and then my sales via Smashwords are enough to pay for promo items, office supplies, postage, and a book cover or two so I’m not complaining.
Well, sounds like it’s worth your while, Liz! I’m looking forward to when (if!) I can say that.
I don’t have any sales figures to report yet, but I do have a question regarding Smashwords: why do so many chose to go through it for B&N instead of PubIt? I know it keeps things simple, but doesn’t it take longer to show up on B&N if you use Smashwords?
Thanks!
Hi Stacy!
International authors (those outside the States) can’t upload directly to PubIt — yet. I suspect that’s why many authors use Smashwords; it’s the only way to get to B&N.
I wonder if some it has to do with features that Amazon offers that aren’t available on B&N. For instance, their author pages and the tagging system. I think it was Steve who mentioned sitting on the front porch and telling the reader your story, well Amazon makes it easier to do that, to connect to readers, to see what other readers thought of your work. It all adds up to a more helpful and effective setup than the other retailers are offering both to readers and writers.
I think you’ve hit on an important point, Heather. Amazon makes it much easier for authors to connect with readers – and for readers to find new authors with alsobots and the like.
I’m definitely in the minority here. My B&N sales are almost double what my Kindle sales are. If I only use the US portion of my Kindle sales (Which would be comparing apples to apples), my B&N sales triple my Amazon sales. This seems to correlate to the amount of free downloads on each site. So my theory for having more sales on B&N is because Nook readers aren’t swamped for choice of free novels like Kindle readers are because of KDP Select, there isn’t as much competition for readers on Nook as there is on Kindle. (That’s my theory, anyway).
As soon as KDP select went live, my free downloads on Kindle nosedived and so, consequently, did the sales of the rest of the series. This doesn’t affect my Nook downloads.
As for the other sales channels, they are really poor, and this is something that confuses me, too. My sales on Kobo, ibookstore & Swords combined amount to less than 1% of my Nook and Kindle sales combined (excluding free downloads). So my big question to the universe, is how do I get more readers on those two channels?
At the end of the day, I don’t think there is any ryhme or reason to it. It just seems to be a game of luck. I just thank my lucky stars every day that I sell as many as I do. I feel blessed and very appreciative to have such distribution channels available to us. I was rejected over 50 times by agents before I went indie and now I am at the point where my books are making me a full time living. Thank you Jeff Bezos, Mark Coker et al.
I couldn’t agree more, Alison – we are so lucky that have all these wonderful channels available to us! I love your positive way of looking at it, and how interesting that your B&N sales are better than your Amazon ones. You might be right that there really is no rhyme or reason to it, as much as we’d all like to find one!
It’s all dumb luck. I’m not doing much marketing, but my titles sell well on B&N and Apple via Smashwords and tank on Amazon. Between the Smashwords sites and Amazon I sell twenty times more books through Smashwords. (Mostly on B&N and Apple) therefore, it would be foolish for me to use KDP Select, I’d lose sales. One factor is that my free title has been in or near the top 100 on both B&N and Apple for a year and it’s the first of a series. In my opinion, being discoverable and having decent ratings is a huge factor in determining sales. (Reviews don’t count as much, it’s star ratings that help sales because people can filter out anything below a certain star rating.)
Of course, as with anything else in this business, I could be wrong and it could change the very next week.
Twenty times more books on Smashwords! Wow! Interesting that your free book is doing so well and that it’s driving sales to the rest of the books in your series. That might be the way to go, and something I’ll keep in mind as I develop my series books.
And yes, we all could be wrong! Things change so quickly in this industry!
I’d agree with the reviews thing, Doug, and the lack of marketing and luck.
The trouble is that readers don’t trust excellent reviews for indies, and the recent bad press hasn’t helped. They think good reviews have come from friends and family and don’t reflect the true story. I’ve never asked for reviews and don’t permit friends and family to leave a review or have paid for them either. Readers are not stupid. The star ratings from readers I’ve received on Kobo and Smashwords have definitely helped my sales on there. And I can only hope once my book goes free on B&N & iTunes that readers find me.
I think a lot depends on the genre too and the quality of the book and if it strikes a chord with readers. YA can place their books in quite narrow genres which might make it easier for them to hit in a ‘best seller’ list. Not easy to do that since Amazon have reduced the genre margins. Going free with distributors other than Amazon is not that easy either since it’s hard to find Kobo or Smashword affiliates who’ll plug our stories. Pixel of Ink etc only want Kindle free reads. If anyone knows of any non Kindle affiliates, please share
As Dee Dee has said, we’re in this for the long game and it takes time for readers to find us, but it would be nice to help them.
My Amazon sales far surpass any other outlet, too, Talli. One of the problems, I think, with B&N and Kobo is their search facilities are terrible and don’t lend themselves well for readers finding new authors. Amazon has got everything geared to show readers new possibilities by the also bought lists, etc.
That’s a great point, Sibel. I find navigating around B&N and Kobo a little confusing – it’s hard to find other authors the same way Amazon connects you. I wish those platforms would make it more new-author friendly!
This is a great post, missus!
I took my first book off Kindle select and it tanked, even though it’s garnered awesome reviews across the ‘Zon/Goodreads. Since my second book was out I put book 1 up free on Smashword/Kobo/ARe – still waiting for iTunes and B&N free via Swords. Amazon are refusing to price match free so I’ve dropped the price of book 1 to .99cents and it’s now selling about 10/15 per day and sales of book 2 are trickling in . Smashwords alone without distribution has been awesome – 900 downloads, 5*reviews of both and readers talking to me from Eastern Europe, South Africa, New Zealand, Canada, USA and Australia. Kobo’s ticking along with about three sales per day of book 2. No idea how many free have been downloaded since Kobo and ARe’s dashboard do not tell me. However, I’ve gathered tons of 5*reviews on there for both. For future books I’m putting them up on iTunes direct and will do the same if I can with B&N’s Nook in October.
My plan is to put up a stand alone book on Kindle select in December – a romance thriller/adventure – and see what happens, if anything. Things are again changing and we need to spread our nets far and wide. What I can say is that the free downloads are definitely feeding readers to book 2. I know if I can get book 1 free for all time on the ‘Zon it will help sales of books 2/3 & 4 on Kindle.
…And I do virtually no marketing/promotion because I’m rubbish at it. I just keep writing and hoping to hell I stick somewhere and the kind fairy waves her magic wand over a story…
Interesting, CC! I might try putting the first book in my series out for free when I have the third book out and see if that works – several people here have suggested that strategy here. Sounds like it’s helping you make a mark across other channels besides the Zon. Like you, times are changing, and I want to try to exploit all the opportunities available, although I will reconsider joining Select if I don’t gain any headway!
My biggest sales channel is currently Amazon, and I don’t imagine that will change anytime in the very near future.
This hasn’t always been the case for me, though. I’ve made sure my books were available in all channels since I began self-publishing over a year ago. The first venue in which I really achieved success was the Apple store. I sold thousands of copies and one book of mine even made it as high as #1 on the Contemporary Romance chart (in the US, though it dominated all romance categories in some other countries as well). It was great, but nowadays my Apple sales aren’t particularly brilliant (though I of course appreciate every sale through that and every other venue).
I saw a shift in which venues provided the majority of my earnings when certain books of mine started hitting bestseller lists on the Amazon US site. Over time, my Apple sales have waned while my Amazon sales have grown, with more of my books hitting bestseller lists.
Recently, my B&N sales have really picked up – I’m selling many times over what I was selling just a few months ago. Honestly, I can’t say what caused this change. I haven’t made any special efforts to increase sales particularly through that venue. My sales there still aren’t comparable to my Amazon sales, but when you consider that a few months ago I felt lucky to be breaking $100 a month at B&N (if that, I’ve earned much lower), the fact that my last month there brought in more than enough to make my monthly mortgage payment is a huge improvement. I have noticed this, though – my bestselling titles at B&N are also my bestselling titles at Amazon. I think having books do well at Amazon can impact their sales at B&N as well.
Overall, I think it’s smart to have one’s books available through as many venues as possible. You never know when sales might pick up at a venue that hadn’t earned you much in the past.
“Overall, I think it’s smart to have one’s books available through as many venues as possible. You never know when sales might pick up at a venue that hadn’t earned you much in the past.”
Yes, exactly! And this is why I want to try to get my book on as many platforms as possible. It’s hard, though, when I think about the profits I’m forsaking to do so!
Can I ask how you achieved success on Apple? Any particular strategy you tried?
Yes, I do know how I achieved success on Apple. About as soon as I started making my books available on Apple, I offered a free read. I was extremely popular as a free book and boosted the sales of the couple other titles I had published at the time. I was pleased with that and never really expected that the free book would continue to sell well after I started charging for it (which I did because Amazon had stopped offering it for free so I figured it had run its course as a free read), but it did. The book that was at the top of the charts for free also was at the top of the charts paid for months. And I noticed that when I published a new book, they would show up in promotional spots on the main genre pages in the Apple books store. Such as the ‘Under 4.99′ promotional banners and sometimes banners for new or popular books in the genre. I believe that was what really caused my books to do well – what better promotion than being right in front of the reader as soon as they land on the romance page? Of course, it was Apple’s decision (or algorithm, I don’t know) to put it there, not mine. Even now, my book is still there on the contemporary romance page because it’s an ‘all time bestseller’.
Hi Talli – what a topic! I pulled both my current titles from Smashwords recently and went over exclusivly to Amazon Select. It’s against every principle I have to be so ‘in the Zon’ (heck, I’m with Steve in that canoe!) but I had so few sales on SW and make much more on Zon sales and select loans every month.
Also, scarily, I was getting grief from the Zon to reduce my price (they threatened to remove my titles) because unbeknown to me, through Smashwords Premium Dist, Sony were discounting heavily. I though Zon would just price match – but no. At the time I was ‘experimenting’ by putting my prices up to $2.99 to attract a 70% royalty. This was a bad move. It soon became very clear that I was getting three times the sales when priced at 99p. So I went back to 99p to attract three times the readers for the same income – and I deleted my books from SW. My conclusion is that we should go with the flow, swim with the tide, but always be ready to adapt and change at any time to suit market conditions and our readers purchasing preferences.
Amazon did the same thing with me. Two days after promoting my book they notified me that the book was cheaper on Kobo and Sony. The problem turned out to be a miscommunication between Smashwords and the two sites but before I could correct the problem they pulled the book!
In my opinion their attitude is nothing more than price fixing and didn’t we just have a DOJ decision about that? Amazon frequently lowers the price of a book without warning the author, but they go ballistic when some other competitor does the same.
Something’s wrong there.
I have a theory as to why this is:
Kindle is a second hand bookshop; Kobo is the book stand in the supermarket!
I don’t mean this in terms of the books available necessarily, but by virtue of the people who shop there.
People who shop on Kindle are the people who used to shop in second-hand book shops – they are ‘book lovers’ – they take reading seriously – it isn’t just a hobby, it is a vocation! Book are art for these people. Not only do these folks buy a lot of books, but they love to browse exercise their inner ‘hunter-gatherer’.
On the other hand, people who shop on Kobo are the people who used to buy books in the supermarket – they will pick up something to read (they may even go so far as having a book always ‘on the go’) but they tend to play it safe, because books are just entertainment – a way to pass the time – no different to going to see the latest James Bond at the movies.
So my theory is that the latter group buy the books they are *told* to buy – the don’t browse; they pick up one of the books put in front of them, or mentioned by their friend who saw it in Marie Claire or whatever.
And because no one is ‘telling’ them to buy indies…
Really interesting, Talli. As a consumer, it seems like Amazon is simply the easiest option – especially for me, since I can order from Amazon in the US, UK, Canada, Germany (I’ve done all of those at one time or another), whereas B&N, as far as I know, is limited to the US. Amazon’s website is very easy to use and of course that free shipping over 25$ always gets me buying at least three books at once.
On the other hand, I love Smashwords and will always go there for ebooks if I can because I don’t have an ereader and prefer to print pdfs!
For those of my friends who do have ereaders, some have Kindles and some have the Indigo/Chapters (Canadian) one – it’s hard to remember who has what, so I tend not to buy ebooks as gifts. I wonder what others do – is there lots of ebook gift giving going on?
Also, it seems like lots of people are on Goodreads but many people seem to use it in many different ways. If there’s a lot of book talk but hardly any format-talk, readers might simply go to Amazon as the old standby, rather than exploring other sites.