MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - independent author on what Sony demands to list her books

sic · 11-29-2006, 02:06 PM

Steve,

I've been thinking a lot lately about the same kind of questions that you're facing i.e. how to best market books (in our case ebooks).
I mean it's easy to set up a webshop but if it's small, then... well it's just too small, whereas if it's big (like mobipocket.com, connect.com etc.) then there's just too many books there to get noticed.

I don't have good answer yet, but here are some ideas:

"bookstore browsing"

The customer can start reading the book online while browsing the ebook store.
OSoft is doing this with the DOTreader as they have timed keys in their DRM solution, meaning the customer can read the book for free until a given time elapses.

Another variation would be some sort of pay-per-page micropayment scheme e.g. 1 cent per page
I'd say that the money spent on browsing would be credited back to the purchase.
e.g. if the user read the first 100 pages then it cost him 1 dollar, so when he decides to buy the book that 1 dollar would be deducted from the price.

This scheme could be combined with some loyalty point system, e.g. get 20$ free that you can use to browse any book you like (= read 2000 pages)

bundles

The idea is coming from the "playlists" of the music world where they would include songs of less known artists among major hits.
In the case of ebooks a list woud be just too much to read IMO but we can do bundles.
e.g. in your case, Sci-Fi
the Connect store is running a special where you can but the Asimov Foundation trillogy for some low price.
They could bundle one of your books for free with the purchase, so people would know you and would come and buy the rest of your books.

multi-level marketing

The bookstore would work out some sort of affiliate program where people would be motivated to refer other people to become affiliates (see Amway, Quixtar etc.)
As long as it's not pyramid i.e. you're not paying or getting paid for enrollment it's OK.
Affiliates could be book clubs, and "payment" could be some discount rate.

I think the good thing with ebooks is that you have the whole pie -- because no publisher took 90% -- so you can give out slices of that for marketers.

Just thinking out loud...
there's nothing new under the sun

regards

Sic.

11-29-2006, 02:06 PM	#31
sic Addict Posts: 202 Karma: 692 Join Date: Oct 2006 Device: SONY reader	marketing model Steve, I've been thinking a lot lately about the same kind of questions that you're facing i.e. how to best market books (in our case ebooks). I mean it's easy to set up a webshop but if it's small, then... well it's just too small, whereas if it's big (like mobipocket.com, connect.com etc.) then there's just too many books there to get noticed. I don't have good answer yet, but here are some ideas: "bookstore browsing" The customer can start reading the book online while browsing the ebook store. OSoft is doing this with the DOTreader as they have timed keys in their DRM solution, meaning the customer can read the book for free until a given time elapses. Another variation would be some sort of pay-per-page micropayment scheme e.g. 1 cent per page I'd say that the money spent on browsing would be credited back to the purchase. e.g. if the user read the first 100 pages then it cost him 1 dollar, so when he decides to buy the book that 1 dollar would be deducted from the price. This scheme could be combined with some loyalty point system, e.g. get 20$ free that you can use to browse any book you like (= read 2000 pages) bundles The idea is coming from the "playlists" of the music world where they would include songs of less known artists among major hits. In the case of ebooks a list woud be just too much to read IMO but we can do bundles. e.g. in your case, Sci-Fi the Connect store is running a special where you can but the Asimov Foundation trillogy for some low price. They could bundle one of your books for free with the purchase, so people would know you and would come and buy the rest of your books. multi-level marketing The bookstore would work out some sort of affiliate program where people would be motivated to refer other people to become affiliates (see Amway, Quixtar etc.) As long as it's not pyramid i.e. you're not paying or getting paid for enrollment it's OK. Affiliates could be book clubs, and "payment" could be some discount rate. I think the good thing with ebooks is that you have the whole pie -- because no publisher took 90% -- so you can give out slices of that for marketers. Just thinking out loud... there's nothing new under the sun regards Sic.