Don't Price Your ebook at $1.99

Lindsey Rietzsch

Here is an intriguing article I read the other day on gigaom.com

What’s the right price for your self-published ebook? You’ll probably want to stay in the $2.99 to $5.99 range, new data from Kobo’s Writing Life platform suggests — and stay away from $1.99 if you want to maximize sales.

Publishers Weekly reports on Kobo’s self-publishing platform, Writing Life, which launched in June 2012. Mark Lefebvre, Kobo’s director of self-publishing and author relations, tells PW that the $1.99 price point “is dead”:

“Authors most often start at $2.99 ‘and walk the prices up,’ he said, noting, ‘A low price point may be a hook, but it’s the quality of a work that attracts readers, not the price.’ Lefebvre added that $1.99 is dead ‘not just for us, but also, it seems, on other platforms,’ pointing out that $0.99 KWL titles sell twice as many copies as those at $1.99, and that ‘$2.99 sells more than four times more.’ About 80 percent of the KWL titles that sell consistently are priced in the $2.99–$5.99 range, and he also pointed to ‘a bit of a lift in the $7.99–$9.99 price range.’”

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This is corroborated by a recent report from self-publishing platform Smashwords, in which Smashwords CEO Mark Coker called the $1.99 price point “a black hole” and said to avoid it. He found that “on average, $3.99 books sold more units than $2.99 books, and more units than any other price except FREE.”

So what is the problem with $1.99? It may be that readers have come to associate it with bargain-basement quality; they may see $0.99 or free as a promotional or limited-time price and $2.99 and above as a marker of quality. I’d love to hear thoughts from self-published authors in the comments.

http://gigaom.com/2013/09/23/dont-price-your-ebook-at-1-99/#!

Working Out In the Field

Elsha Fornefeld

This Saturday September 28, 2012 author signing, Elsha  Fornefeld, "The Altar," 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 28, Hastings, 540 E. 17th St. in Idaho Falls, iD. I’m doing my first personal appearance as an author signing. Since I have gone self-published, I have found that my actual hard copies of my book have actually excelled my e-book sales.

This was very startling and at first I thought it was because of friends and family and people I knew just wanted a copy, but when people started ordering them like crazy from India, and the UK and I was getting reviews on the book from people I didn’t know I took a close look at my marketing,

 I know about my demographics my book falls under a romantic fantasy and paranormal genre. Which usually falls under young adult, and an also readers 25-45 which is rather broad. However, let us admit Twiglight is Young Adult and how many of us have read it? This is where I went into a further analysis of my demographics which is called phsycogrpacis. I may have mentioned this to you before in a previous article. Well physiographic are where your demographics  and fans eat, hang out, if they go to movies, what kind of music they like, and how much they are willing to spend on a book.  Also what type of phone do they have or do they own a kindle or not.

Surprisingly while my genre is fit for a younger generation they also prefer to have a hard copy of this type of book. My husband that travels a lot noticed that while people had their kindles out to read they were commonly regency or 'how to' books that were cheaper. And the people that had hard copies of books were The Hunger Games and Twighlight. I checked and all my friends and extended family and fans had all these books lining their shelves and not on kindle

So sometimes, self-publishing means going to print and I make more money on each copy of a hard book than I do sale digitally. Now this takes a lot of work and business savvy on my part to get my books in stores and signings and making public appearances, but if it’ something that you want go for it.

I have faced my challenges with my new book but I have had my groove and had a huge response and a lot of learning about as I go through with it. So if that is how you want to get your book going go ahead and get out there.

The Invaluable Source of a Newsletter

Elsha Fornefeld

So, I know that a newsletter seems old and outdated. Well guess what - this is where you cull some of your very best fans and keep them coming. This is a great to network and an infallible source to keep in touch with your fans and spread the news about any subject that maybe going on about your books. It keeps the characters alive to them, you and fresh in their minds.

               
When you type a newsletter, always make sure that you get a mailing list going. This is a very important step and reassures that your readership will not be used for advertising or junk mail. When writing the newsletter it should be written in first person so that the readers know they are hearing from you. This is their chance to connect with you and your characters so let them know you value their support.

               
This also drives sales and makes a great way to announce anything that you are doing. Always announce more than one thing in your newsletter and be sure to include vivid pictures and colors in your design. Also, always include your book cover. The newsletter is a great way to announce things events.

·            Announce the release of the book and/or the launch of the website

·         Promote a special deal on the book

·         Announce a contest

·         Boast about a great review and/or award you won

·         Offer a teaser about your next book

·         Let people know about an upcoming article/interview you’re doing

·         Promote your podcasts

Promote yourself as well in your newsletters. I like to let my readers get to know me in my newsletters. I recently added a funny little story in my newsletter that was less than 500 words, but over 10 of my readers at a book signing went on and on about it, and how much they could relate to me. This enabled them to relate even more to my characters.

 My Day as a Disney Princess

               I woke up this morning to the happy squawking of my friend, Mr. Rooster. He speaks excitedly to me before the cute little tinkering bell of my alarm clock cheerfully perks me up.  I gently awaken all four of my darling little children. They instantly hop out of bed, put on their cleanest, finest clothes, and their hair falls neatly into place with the help of a magic hairbrush that can rip the tangles out of a thistle.  All the while, my little darlings hold perfectly still.

                As we break our fast, my two youngest take great delight in scattering food on the floor like scented rose pedals that I am certain my cherubs or our talking mice friends will not find a week later and eat.  The two older joys calmly collect their things and never forget to give their mother a kiss on the way out the door, as they sing “hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to school we go.”

                Now it is time to go outside and talk to all my pleasant animal friends. The cat patiently reminds me he needs to be fed.  He moves loving between my legs while I gracefully dance with him and never trip. Then it is off to see my loving bird friends who have left me splatters of joy and contentment at the sight of my chariot that is nestled under a tree.

                I playfully fling some of the most succulent yard clippings to old friend Goat and decide it’s time to sing with my animal friends knowing they will talk to me and join in.  After singing pitch perfect, the “Coca-Cola Jingle,” my loving friend Goat rams the fence and the pleasant village tradesmen next door bellow encouraging words of kindness, the likes of which I have never before heard.

                I go about my day singing gaily, as I energetically clean the entire castle. I put my youngest cherubs down for a nap; the day passing as quickly as planned. I never have to dash for my carriage waking up my little angels from their nap causing them to cry out jubilation at their shortened slumber. I gather them in time to pick up my older darlings from school.

                While in my carriage, I enjoy the happy news of the pleasantries about the world. Everyone gets along in my perfectly clean carriage that is powered by fairy dust.  It squeaks loudly on occasion when the fairies get excited.  All the other wonderful children at the little enchanted school wait happily. They pay perfect attention the carriages bustling about, never risking their lives.

Later that wonderful evening, dinner has been prepared with prefect precision made by glorious magic that my fairy godmother gave me in a box called “Mac and cheese.” It is set loving as the centerpiece on the immaculate table. My Prince Charming arrives to be greeted and lovingly praised by three miniature princesses. Then our amazing heirs leave us all the time in the world for a passionate dance and true love’s kiss.

-Elsha Fornefeld

This little short story also got a huge response of happy comments on my webpage. So do not forget your fans and the wealth of readership that a newsletter can bring you. You shouldn’t make a newsletter more than two pages and it should be sent as an e-mail in html style. So that the reader can see the links to buy your books, deals, or events you may have going.

The Four P's You Should Know About

Elsha Fornefeld

All I can say to you is research, research, research! This word is such a powerful tool that if you were a scientist and tried to print a theory on any study without showing where your work or hypothesis came from, your name and work would be shambles. This is also a number one rule in selling your book and even writing it.

Today I’ll give you a little Marketing 101 that any person selling a product or service should know the four P’s of marketing. They are called Product, Price, Placement, and Promotion. If you have all of these covered then you should automatically have some sort of plan using these four words. There is a lot more than just the use of these words such as how, when and where you utilize them.

Product - The product is of course your book. Let’s take a look at the basics. It is finished? Is your book properly edited? Do you have your cover done? If you took the book to a publisher now would he/she be able to put it on the shelf? You need to get the book as polished as possible, because you only have that one chance for someone to get that first impression right about your book.

Pricing - Now let’s look at how your book is priced. Let’s say that you have your book published on Kindle - is it evenly priced? The best way to look at this is to ask yourself if your book is priced at a fair market value. Although that is real estate comparison in a buyer’s market, the best priced home in a neighborhood is usually the first one to sell. So, check your genre and other books like yours that Kindle might be recommending and perhaps make a little bit of a price cut to your book price so you have an edge on competing authors.

Placement -This is such an important area for anything in sales and sadly this where many of my clients seem to fail because they are unwilling to see their product or company from a different perspective. This can be a real challenge for us ­­­­­­as authors because we put a lot of time and ourselves into our writing. This isn’t what the reader cares about. They just care about knowing if it’s a good read that is worth their money?

Where to place your book would start with knowing your demographic. Is it fiction or nonfiction? What other books are similar to yours? The people that liked Twighlight, were all into facebook and they all had the latest android phones rather than iphones. Also over forty five percent of their fan base were women between the ages of 30-55. The people that prefer your writing may surprise you.  Just because it may not be what you like, think about what the average person who likes your style of books may prefer.

Promotion - Demographic places a large part in this. Now that you’ve determined your demographics, you are ready. Consider the people that like your books; where do they live, how much do they read, what do they buy, and how much are they likely to spend on a book? This will determine how you will promote your book.

If you have an older demographic of people it may be worth investing into printing your book. If your generation is anyone younger than 50 and has adapted to Kindle, then publishing in an e-book form is a good idea. Npw, where do you announce your book? Twitter is used more by adults in more of a business sense, however facebook is used a lot more widely by everyone (especially for socializing and spreading the word of a book).

Keep researching for all the information you can get on your subject. Use these steps to help you launch your book. The more knowledge you have on your subject, the more power you have to help launch your book.

Learning as We Go

Elsha Fornefeld

This article is really a Behind the Scenes truth since I am going to share the truth about three items: how I launched my book the first time, the results, and how it turned out.  I am currently relaunching the same book with some changes.

This summer I launched over seven books for new and upcoming authors, all of them doing fairly well and some of them even becoming best sellers in a few different countries on Kindle. The biggest shocker for me was that my own book did not achieve the same success. To be honest, my book has been out less than a month and some books do need time to grow and become popular. This all depends on your demographics, genre. Then there are several bestselling authors whose first book that they put on kindle did not go very well at all, then with another book or through an agent they were able to achieve success.

I did the $0.99 promotion for the first weekend and sold fairly well selling over 100 copies. After that however, it was slow going only about five to ten sales a day. I really have posted quite a bit on facebook and haven't even bother with twitter nor did I use good reads as much as I knew I could.

I can’t tell you how many people would text, call, IM, or come up and tell me how much they loved my book. So, I would tell them thanks and ask that they put a review on kindle. For some reason I never got very many. Soon I realized two very important things. First, my book is extremely difficult to put into a genre while all my other friends were clearly defined, such as historical romance. Second, is that Kindle may not let your family or friends post a review. There were people having problems posting any sort of review and even downloading my book. So, make certain that Kindle doesn’t have any technical problems on your end.  In the end, I have realized that my fan base has been word of mouth. I've had huge response and people love the book. 

Since realizing this, I have updated my blog, had one of our amazing editors do a complete re-edit to the book, then I stuck in a sneak peek to the second book. Next, I printed off business cards and local businesses have been awesome about letting me leave them there. Overall, I have sold 500 + copies in a month, which is not terrible. Still I know I can do much better. Giving my book a really good edit and now having utilizing all of my avenues to relaunch has already helped things pick up a bit.

In conclusion,  it's important to keep on top of your marketing so your book does not die. When you get it on Kindle make sure that all avenues checked (especially those that are technical) so your fans get the best possible service. 

I really hope this helps you in your publishing venture. 

Now, here is the relaunch and fabulous redoing of The Altar: Timeless Generation.  

http://timelessgeneration.blogspot.com/ 

 

(I should probably use my own blog as a marketing tool as well) If you like the book I would ask that our great followers leave a review of my book on Kindle. I have made sure that Kindle will let you post. Thank you and good posting!

Marketing Your Book Successfully on a Zero Budget

Lindsey Rietzsch

After all that hard work you've made it - you're book is live on Amazon! So, now what?

You can't just stop there and hope that somehow your book will start selling itself. If you take this path then you and your book will quickly be forgotten before you were ever discovered.Can't afford a marketing or PR rep? No problem. Here are eight tried and tested (by myself) suggestions for boosting your book sales and making a name for yourself as an author.

Facebook/Twitter (and Pinterest)- Over the past few years, facebook has replaced the blog! Start a fan page on Twitter and facebook. Yes, this should be separate form your personal account. You can link them so that anytime you post something on facebook it automatically posts on Twiiter as well. I have an author page (since I have a few books) and a separate page for my fiction series. Anytime someone likes my novel page, my book cover will show up on their facebook page for all their network to see. It's a free way to promote my book. Be sure to post something at least every other day if not once a day - to keep fans excited and in the loop. Remember, they are your marketing team so you want to keep them talking about your book.

A great way to keep fans interested is through contests and giveaways. Get creative - have a writing contest where fans rewrite the ending to your book. Do some trivia to see which fans know your book the best. Post updates about books you have in the works. Do a drawing and set a deadline for people who share and like your facebook page. Give away copies of your book or other prizes you think would be enticing. Sometimes you can make friends with other authors through Goodreads and exchange books with each other for giveaway prizes. 

Be sure to post your book on Pinterest as well! Because Pinterest is all about images, this works best if you have a great book cover. Be sure that the image is linked to your amazon page or fan page. 

Goodreads - Make sure your book is listed on Goodreads. If it's not, get it on there quick! If you don't already have a goodreads profile, set one up. It's quick and easy to do. Goodreads is a bookworm magnet. It's where you'll find many of your fans and your target market. Once on there, make yourself a regular. Join book clubs that are in the genre of your book. Start new discussions and join ones that are current. By contributing to the book club scene you'll soon gather a following of friends and fans. Most book clubs have sections just for authors, where you can promote your book and any giveaways you are doing. It's the perfect place to promote your book on release day especially if your book is free or you are doing a special. Just a caution - Goodreads members tend to be a bit more brutal with reviews. Also, don't forget to post reviews on books you have read and seek out new books to read. Don't just be in it for the taking - you need to give a little in order to get back.

Youtube Video Preview -  Take advantage of the power of Youtube! Make a short video under two minutes just through Windows Movie Maker. It doesn't need to be anything fancy or expensive - a slideshow of images and titles with the right music can get people interested. Just be sure that you don't use images or music that is copyrighted unless you have permission or have paid to use them.

Be sure you upload it to Youtube and share it from there. If you just upload it from your desktop to Facebook you do yourself a huge disservice - all those clicks are counting for nothing. On Youtube the more views your video gets the more people will find it and share it. Here is an example of one I made a over a year ago. Yes, it is a bit amateurish I will admit but it did the job I needed it to do. It's under three minutes but most people don't have an attention span of more than two minutes, so keep it short.

Be sure to have your book cover on there and leave the viewers wanting to know more about your book. It's wise to have your facebook page or a link to where people can purchase your book on the video.Once it's ready, begin sharing it on Facebook,Twitter and Goodreads.
 


Become and Expert - Once your book is published and even having a little success people will come to you asking for help so they can publish their own books. Take advantage of this. Post these Q&As on your facebook page, Twitter and Goodreads. Share what you know and become and expert with what you have experience in.

If you write non-fiction you have a greater advantage. You can become an expert on your subject. Look for opportunities where you can write articles and guest posts on your topic. You can get your foot in the door with TV and radio interviews when you have expertise/tips to share with an interested audience. Speak at expos, participate in workshops and local community events. Get someone to film you whenever you speak. Once you have spoken at a couple of events you can set up a portfolio that will add to your credibility.

Give Back (win/win)  - Don't always look to earn cash for your efforts. Most people don't want to pay someone they have never heard of to speak or teach a workshop. Instead offer win/win scenarios. For example, offer to give away 5 free books in exchange for an opportunity to speak for 30 minutes at an event. The event coordinator is happy, the audience is happy and you are happy. Or swap blog interviews. You feature an author/book on your facebook page in exchange for that author promoting you. You can find these opportunities on Goodreads. 

Amazon Reviews - Little reviews certainly won't help with sales. The more reviews and activity you have on your Amazon page the higher your sales rank will be. The best way to drive people to post reviews on your Amazon page is to do a giveaway. As soon as you reach 20 reviews, you give away five great prizes. The odds are good and people will be interested in a chance at winning something. Giving away your book isn't that enticing as your reviewers already have it. Again, exchange books with other authors (get them autographed) and use them as your prizes. A $10 visa gift card is also a great prize and easy to mail. Once you reach 20 you can begin another contest and set another goal.


Blog Tour - Seek out bloggers who are willing to feature your book and interview you. Try to arrange it so that they will all feature you during the same week. Try to get at least 7-15 blogs to feature you especially during release week. This will do wonders to your Amazon ratings, rank and your facebook following. You want to create a media frenzy as big as you can - all at once. Be sure to create a small press kit with your bio, picture, book cover, contact info and links to send to each of the bloggers so they have what they need to make a good post. Never send out mass emails - personalize each email and follow up.

Word of Mouth- If your book really is a great book, this will happen on it's own. Make bookmarks as a form of business card for your book. Business cards may get thrown away but a bookmark has a use especially for a bookworm. Pass them out at signings and other events where you can reach interested readers. Any way you can personalize your promotion efforts the better your chances will be for people willing to spread the word to their friends. Strike up friendly conversations wherever you can. Express gratitude towards your readers and fans and leave them with a positive experience.

Book Signings/Web Interviews - Farmer's markets, craft fairs, boutiques, neighborhood book clubs and small local bookstores are great places to have book signings. Even small ice cream shops may work a deal with you. In exchange for you holding a book signing and bringing people into their shop. They giveaway a free ice cream with every book purchase. You can agree to give them a percentage of each book sale, to help cover the cost of the ice cream. Be sure to promote it like crazy to your friends and family on Faecbook and Twitter.

If your book is only an ebook, offer to do free interviews via Skype. Fans can arrange an interview for their book clubs. They'll get one on one time with you to ask whatever they desire about you and your book. It's a win/win. You can also giveaway a free eBook with each book club interview.

Summary - Overall, there are many ways to promote your book without paying a marketing company to do so. You just need to get creative and get to work! Good luck, and don't forget to post your questions, comments or ideas below.

Five Pointers to Help Promote Your Book

      

 Hopefully some of you are at the point now where you are able to publish your book on kindle or try with publishing houses. Here are five things to keep in mind that top selling authors, Lindsey, and myself have found can make a huge difference on helping your book become a huge success.

1) - Be nice. I know this may sound trite but world famous author Neil Gaiman recaps, ‘when he shared a signing with a big ticked crime-mystery novelist who threw a scene about people not getting enough from his work or praising him enough.’ This author’s sales dropped off for a time due to the negative media and publicity.

2) - Word of mouth is priceless. People usually do not just walk into a bookshop and discover an author they love. There are those times, but word of mouth and kindle reviews are your biggest help. Usually people buy the book because someone they know told them about it.

3) - Keep in mind that people copy what is popular because it is selling but the fad can quickly fade. Therefore, what is unique can stand out; this can all be based on demographic and genre. Still the exceptional stands out because we are inspired or we can relate to it.

 4) - Make yourself heard, just submitting your manuscript to a publisher or e publishing it on kindle will not magically make it a best seller. You have to make yourself heard which can be difficult with all the different ways out there to go about it. Marketing can be done so many ways, but use social media to every advantage. In addition, try locally. You would be amazed how a small community can spread the word of a book.

5) - Do not be afraid to spread out. Don’t be afraid to spread out your options - like a plant with it's seeds blowing around; some germinate and grow while many others don’t. Try many different options. What worked for one author may not work for you. Also, think of the demographics, genre, and psychographics of people who will want to purchase your book in where you spread your options.

Hopefully by now these articles are helping you progress as you go and expand your fan base or are just helping you enjoy writing. Just keep at it and don’t limit yourself.

 -Elsha Fornefeld