This weekend, I did a quick mental calculation and realised that ‘A Constuct of Angels’ had been live on Amazon for almost three months.
How time flies!
Rightly or wrongly, I’d signed up to KDP Select’s 90-day exclusivity deal in order to test the Amazonian waters (well, it WAS my first time) and was interested by Amazon’s ‘Lending Library’ scheme that promised authors a share of umpteen millions per month depending on how many books were borrowed by other KDP members. Part of the downside of this is that the author has to sign an exclusivity deal with Amazon for a minimum of 90 days. Well, those 90 days have now expired and I had a peek at how many of my books had been borrowed by other KDP Select members.
So…(opens envelope), Ladies and Gentlemen, the number of borrowed books after 90 days totalled exactly (drum roll, please);
Zero, nada, nill.
Zero multiplied by umpteen millions = ? Well, you can do the math, as they say.
Sheesh.
Amazon automatically renew KDP Select for the author, UNLESS that author remembers to untick the renewal box. With only two days to go, I unticked and have now dipped my toe into the next part of the adventure.
‘A Construct of Angels’ continues to be live at Amazon, but as of today, it’s also available from Smashwords in multiple formats.
Now, I’ve been warned that Smashwords is not simply a ‘post and forget’ site; that marketing work needs to continue.
Smashwords has many detractors on various blog sites, with some authors complaining about low sales. Others are constantly chiding these same authors for not marketing effectively.
So it will be an interesting experiment. A steep learning curve lies ahead, but I intend to do everything that my spare time allows to spread the word.
Also, now that I’m no longer tied into Amazon, I’m free to explore beyond the boundaries. To infinity – and beyond?
I will let you know how I get on.
.
Write on in 2013!
Ryan Casey
Feb 08, 2013 @ 17:25:06
Andrew – I commend your move for trying out Smashwords, however I still believe that KDP Select is the best route for newer authors.
The key is in a HUGE free promo. I was picking up the odd sale here and there, but nothing major (also very few borrows) before my free promo which I planned 2 months in advance and ended up giving away 11,000 copies of my book.
I paid for a couple of promotional opportunities in the following week to keep momentum going.
The results, 3 weeks on?
I’m selling 10 books on average per day now the post-free buzz has died down, and picking up a similar amount of borrows. I think for the first 2-3 novels, Select is a great road to go down, because it’s all about visibility in the early days, right?
I know DWS and others argue that the ‘early days’ should simply be spent uploading to everywhere and wait for a break. But I want to get that break that little bit earlier. Now I’ve seen what a single well-promoted Select promo can do for sales, for the first time, I can genuinely see a path ahead where I write for a living.
Now, on to writing the next book… 😉
Ryan
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Ryan Casey
Feb 08, 2013 @ 20:01:13
Some of my post appears to have been cut off! To cut it short – best of luck and keep us all updated with the stats. 🙂
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Andrew Toynbee
Feb 09, 2013 @ 23:02:20
Ryan
I thought I’d give it a shot with the first novel and forge a path for the future and the sequels that will follow ‘A Construct of Angels’.
However, as the sands are continually shifting, who know what opportunities await us down the road.
Perhaps I became impatient; perhaps I was curious. Regardless, congrats on achieving steady sales with WWS. That’s a goal achieved! 😀
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Deliberately Delicious
Jan 25, 2013 @ 05:25:03
It’s too bad that your experience on Amazon has been so discouraging. May the buzz grow in the same way your blog readership is growing!
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Andrew Toynbee
Jan 25, 2013 @ 08:01:42
It wasn’t so much discouraging as part of the learning experience. I am following in the footsteps of others, but I am also experimenting to see what works best for me. I hope that others can read about it and gain from that experience.
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change it up editing
Jan 19, 2013 @ 16:12:22
Thanks for the follow, and I’m happy you found my blog so I could find yours. Good luck with the marketing–how to do it well seems to be the $25,000 question. Hope you’ll post some of your successes!
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Andrew Toynbee
Jan 19, 2013 @ 16:17:07
Hi
Thanks for the reply 😀
I’m currently working on building my platform via Twitter and WordPress, hoping to be spread across the web by the time my sequel is completed.
It IS a long process, isn’t it?
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Lila
Jan 19, 2013 @ 07:47:39
Best of luck to you Andrew. We’re all experimenting and progressing each day.
Thanks for sharing your experience with us.
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Julie DeNeen
Jan 17, 2013 @ 20:21:33
Just stopping by because I noticed you followed my blog today. Going to follow back because I love reading blogs of self-published writers. 🙂
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Andrew Toynbee
Jan 17, 2013 @ 21:42:36
Julie
Hi and thanks for following. 🙂 Like you, I’m still in the learning curve stage of social media and love to read about everyone else’s experiences.
I also empathised with your ‘letter to your father’ story – I have written millions of words and yet pen pen hesitates when I have to pen a reply to my mother (she’s still a technophobe and paper is the only way to reach her).
Hope you find some of my irregular scribblings of interest! 😀
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Jacqui Murray
Jan 17, 2013 @ 01:41:51
Interesting feedback. I wondered how that went. You can also try Scribd. I’ve sold quite a few books through that website, although I understand from others that my experience is unique. What do I know?
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Andrew Toynbee
Jan 17, 2013 @ 08:34:59
Jacqui
Thank you – I will try Scribd today. Now that I’m no longer tied into Amazon I can try out all the various sites and compare them.
Will let you know how I get on.
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Candace Knoebel
Jan 15, 2013 @ 16:21:01
Let me know how Smashwords works out for you! It’s a long road…lol.
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jumpingfromcliffs
Jan 15, 2013 @ 09:24:33
Bonne chance and fair winds my friend!
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Andrew Toynbee
Jan 15, 2013 @ 10:10:20
Thank you – I will be watching my stats with both eyes crossed!!!
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