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Originally Posted by Robertb
Yes, having an eBook Store is a worry too. You have to attract new business all the time. BUT... our devices have NOT been a draw to our store. I wish they were.
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Until very recently, there wasn't a link to the store from the device website.
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We are changing our eBook Store 101%. It will still have the lowest prices (and it already does have this)... but we are redesigning with an interactive forum, a wish list, PayPal, Agency Model eBooks, tons of Independent Author eBooks, reviews, interviews with authors chit-chat, and a lot more. Then in about two months or so comes a blockbuster add-on to it.
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I just wish I could get to it from work; it's blocked.
Most ebook stores aren't; I can shop at Fictionwise & Smashwords. (And, if I cared to, deisel, eharlequin & BoB, but I don't deal with DRM.) I don't know why it's blocked from work; must be something in the keywords or metadata that work's filters don't like. (Or didn't like, and they haven't reset them. I'm kinda afraid to ask why any particular site is blocked at work.)
What it needs--what *any* ebook store needs--is good sorting abilities. Amazon does well because it offers terrific *browsing*--"people who bought this book also bought [A] [B] [C]"--which means you've got easy links to books of similar appeal.
Browsing by author in an ebook store is useless; the selection is just too big. Can't comfortably put more than 30-50 books on a page, unlike a physical shelf where people can browse 400 books at once. The all-the-same-size thumbnail covers are another problem, especially the generic auto-generated ones. (Tell your ebook store people to see about creating less generic covers--color code them by genre, maybe, and use a handful of different fonts. Club down anyone in marketing who says that you don't want to "waste" time creating stuff for free ebooks. If you want them to be downloaded, you want them to look interesting.)
Offer the ability to sort by any-and-all of genre, book length, price, format, reader review stars, number of downloads, & number of purchases, and you're off to a good start. Offer a low-frills browsing option: no popups, no java mouseover, just thumbnail of cover, title, author & price, with a link to the book itself, 4-5 across and 7-10 down, for zipping through dozens of pages quickly, for those who want to get a sense of the whole collection, or "all the romance novels," or whatever.
I browse Fictionwise; their interface is easy & their sorting options work. I don't browse allromaceebooks, although I've bought from them on recommendations; their sorting is atrocious, and purchases bump you back to the beginning of the list. I poke at smashwords but I consider it timewasting; the interface is pleasant enough but the sorting options are atrocious.