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don't agree
I don't agree at all. You're right that having 100 downloads doesn't mean you have 100 readers. But it almost certainly means you have more readers than the single reader who buys it for USD2.99.
Of course, if the book you've e-published is your big, once in a lifetime novel, you want some return on your investment, so I suppose USD2.99 from one guy is the best bet.
But if you plan on sticking around in the e-book game - perhaps if your big novel is yet to come; perhaps if you're serious about one day making a living out of it, then surely it's better to speculate to accumulate in the hope of attracting and establishing some kind of readership base, some kind of blog traffic, some kind of hype?
The idea that you can just arrive out of nowhere and plonk a book up on Smashwords or wherever and expect people to part with money for it is, I think, seriously flawed - irrespective of the quality of your book. Sure you could quote odd example - but not many.
I think along with the whole new e-book movement there ought to be a new way of thinking in terms of pricing and publicising. Perhaps future e-authors' royalties will come predominantly via traffic to their websites and advertising spin-offs etc - not, at any rate, through simple (e-) book sales.
Mark Staniforth
author, Fryupdale
via fryupdale.blogspot.com
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