MobileRead Forums - View Single Post

Steven Lyle Jordan · 12-18-2007, 01:04 PM

I just checked, and discovered that I have managed to get a grand total of 2 sales of Kindle-formatted books!

Actually, I'm making that sound snide, but in reality I'm surprised that I've gotten even those two... I'm such a small fish in a big, big pond, and I didn't expect to see any sales for quite some time.

Amazon's report system lists individual sales, with detail of what was sold and in what quantity, what Amazon made on the sale, and what you made on it (my total so far: $2.44). There are no details on who bought it, of course... Amazon clearly keeps those details to themselves, unsurprisingly.

Any guesses on the buyers? It could be someone who heard about me through Mobileread... although if they did, they also know that they can get the e-books for less by ordering them from me directly, and in non-DRM'd mobi format. It could be someone who just wanted to see how the books came out on Kindle, but if they have, they haven't reported anything to me, so maybe not.

My guess is this: I recently set up an account at Shelfari.com (devoted to reading, reading, reading... and then talking about their reading), and I listed my books there, with links that take you directly to the Kindle pages (and no comments about my books site). I'm thinking the orders came from there. (I plan to strike up a thread or two about the group's perception of e-books, to see what kind of responses I get, but probably after the holidays are over.)

But this is only a guess, and I am not privy to any of Amazon's info about who bought my books, or from where. I have no way to track the purchases. So, unless some direct feedback is forthcoming, from here, Amazon or elsewhere, all I can do is sit here and watch. Again, I suspect that Big Publishers get a lot more info than this from Amazon, and again, I suspect it's directly related to exclusive contracts and agreements (and money changing hands).

12-18-2007, 01:04 PM	#70
Steven Lyle Jordan Grand Sorcerer Posts: 8,478 Karma: 5171130 Join Date: Jan 2006 Device: none	Well, well... 2 sales! I just checked, and discovered that I have managed to get a grand total of 2 sales of Kindle-formatted books! Actually, I'm making that sound snide, but in reality I'm surprised that I've gotten even those two... I'm such a small fish in a big, big pond, and I didn't expect to see any sales for quite some time. Amazon's report system lists individual sales, with detail of what was sold and in what quantity, what Amazon made on the sale, and what you made on it (my total so far: $2.44). There are no details on who bought it, of course... Amazon clearly keeps those details to themselves, unsurprisingly. Any guesses on the buyers? It could be someone who heard about me through Mobileread... although if they did, they also know that they can get the e-books for less by ordering them from me directly, and in non-DRM'd mobi format. It could be someone who just wanted to see how the books came out on Kindle, but if they have, they haven't reported anything to me, so maybe not. My guess is this: I recently set up an account at Shelfari.com (devoted to reading, reading, reading... and then talking about their reading), and I listed my books there, with links that take you directly to the Kindle pages (and no comments about my books site). I'm thinking the orders came from there. (I plan to strike up a thread or two about the group's perception of e-books, to see what kind of responses I get, but probably after the holidays are over.) But this is only a guess, and I am not privy to any of Amazon's info about who bought my books, or from where. I have no way to track the purchases. So, unless some direct feedback is forthcoming, from here, Amazon or elsewhere, all I can do is sit here and watch. Again, I suspect that Big Publishers get a lot more info than this from Amazon, and again, I suspect it's directly related to exclusive contracts and agreements (and money changing hands).