[neilmarr]

Thanks for the feedback so far chaps and chappettes. Most useful. A small technical problem we've already hit with one particular series, SP, is that it's an illustrated YA. Because the bundles will come as a single download and carry one new ISBN to cover the batch we must somehow keep the files of manageable. We'll get around that.

What we have in mind, Hellmark, is leaving all titles on sale individually at RRP but bundling earlier books in a series, by a single author or in a particular genre. A new release would remain out-of-bundle until its sequel is ready to roll but the release before it would be added to the existing bundle. When a bundle exceeds five, we will split it into two heavily discounted bundles containing three titles each.

Also, SP, thanks for the Kobo tip. My tech partner Tony tends to deal with the stores and I didn't realise there was a bundle option already there. That's good to know. It's not as though we aim to break new ground here, just a question of whether the ground is breakable. Response so far suggest it is.

I've asked my partner (member TonySzmuk here), others on the editorial team and some of our authors to monitor this thread to help in their own decisions on whether to go with our scheme. Sometimes a pain (usually quite the contrary), but our wee house is a true democracy. We like it that way. Nothing goes without enthusiastic approval from all involved.

Our common aim, of course, is to keep the customer satisfied ... even if we are sometimes one step away from the county line in terms of finance and sometimes policy. So thanks, too, to PDurrant for encouraging observations on similar existing schemes that seem not quite as generous to the reader as our own.

Steve and PooBear's thoughts about convenience of cataloguing bundles and pricing are also useful. Your input, too, Doc. In fact everything here so far is helpful and of great encouragement. I have a feeling we'll kick this off before the end of the month.

Thanks again, chums. Neil

PS: Hellmark, I hear clearly the idea of offering a bundle but that the bundle would actually contain separate downloads. Must talk this out, but my immediate feeling is that it would defeat the object to some degree. Slashed cover price apart, a single bundle of titles would allow for easy cataloguing in your libraries and devices and it also allow us to cut story catch-up prologues title-by-title as a series develops and to drop the closing pages we used to carry in each title which were actually the first chapter of the pending sequel as a taster. Less bulk in the collection but flowing continuity. New bundle cover art but original cover on each book within the bundle. We'd also be able to title the bundles themselves rather than the individual novels within them. For example 'The Beldina Lawrence Mysteries -- books one to four', 'The Petronicus Legacy -- books one to three', etc, etc. N