Large book (150k) in 3 parts or 1 part?

[VydorScope]

Originally Posted by crich70

What genre is it VydorScope?

My books would be shelved with Star Wars, and similar titles but I would say that I write fantasy stories set in a sci-fi setting. (i.e. click my siggy links)

[Andy Farman]

Originally Posted by VydorScope

That is what around $12 USD? That is about the price I would have to charge WITH extended distribution. Are you paying more cause your not in USA maybe?

$12 for the split volumes and $18 for complete volumes, although they have dropped the price of the split volumes to $10.50.
You can but try can't you, so that is why I will try extended distribution. You mentioned 'Rip off'? yes I suppose paying their distribution costs when they will get 90% of the price is a rip off.

I am baffled at the cost. Their formatted template is 4.5MB so I used my own at 550KB but their minimum list price was the same.
I bought a copy of volume 1, and postage put the price up to $26 and a 6 week delivery estimate.

I do not think 'Less is more' enters their vocabulary.

Getting them translated is the next step of course into French, Spanish, German and Russian

[VydorScope]

This is why I am putting all my eggs in the EBook basket honestly. I use the print edition to create an appearance of value, nothing more.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by VydorScope

This is why I am putting all my eggs in the EBook basket honestly. I use the print edition to create an appearance of value, nothing more.

Do you find that ebooks generally get more sales than pbook copies VydorScope?

[VydorScope]

Originally Posted by crich70

Do you find that ebooks generally get more sales than pbook copies VydorScope?

I get a check every quarter from Smash for my Ebooks. I get a check every month from Amazon and B&N for my ebooks....I have not sold a print book in many months. (well they are all direct deposit)

So yeah, you could say that. Some authors report the opposite, I guess YMMV is the rule.

[Andy Farman]

Originally Posted by VydorScope

I get a check every quarter from Smash for my Ebooks. I get a check every month from Amazon and B&N for my ebooks....I have not sold a print book in many months. (well they are all direct deposit)

So yeah, you could say that. Some authors report the opposite, I guess YMMV is the rule.

Some authors are prone to a little exaggeration. I was told by one Indie on the Amazon boards that his paperback matched his kindles and he was selling 8k books a month.

You could smell the virtual BS.

__________________________________________________ ________

I put it into print for credibility but then I was asked about 'Analogue Kindles' by an elderly gent which is why I split them to make them cheaper, not that it worked so far though.

Looking at Lulu for hardbacks with dustcovers as advertising tools, plus of course I promised the CO of my old regiment a set as the boys get a few mentions. They are pretty expensive though through Lulu. When the third volume is finished a 8 x 11 book containing all three volumes will be 1367 pages. I don't think Waterstones will be stocking it any time soon

Anyone know any easy map making programs ?

[Andy Farman]

Originally Posted by VydorScope

Some authors report the opposite, I guess YMMV is the rule.

Childrens books sell better in print, especially for the very young. Small page count keeps the cost down too. But if all those nippers are like mine they'll need toughened paper to stop them being ripped.

Since you're all talking about words per page, I thought I'd throw in that it seems that Hodder & Stoughton put around 350 words onto a trade paperback page, so a 150,000 word book published by Hodder & Stoughton would probably be something around 430 pages*.

* based, of course, on my unprofessional assumption based on some estimated math.

[VydorScope]

Just saw the latest findings (date 2013) by Smashwords ...

The top 100 bestselling Smashwords books averaged 115,000 words. When we examined the word counts of books in other sales rank bands, we found the lower the word count, the lower the sales.

Now consider how authors can use this finding, combined with the knowledge of the power curve, to make smarter publishing decisions, and to avoid poor decisions. Often, we'll see an authors with a single full-length novel break the novel into chunks to create a series of novellas, or worse - they'll try to serialize it as dozens of short pieces. When you consider that readers overwhelmingly prefer longer works, and you consider that bestselling titles sell exponentially more copies, reach more readers and earn more money than the non-bestsellers, you can understand how some authors might be undermining their book's true potential.

Like every finding from this survey, you should use this information as one data point. There will always be exceptions to any rule. If your story deserves 50,000 words - nothing more and nothing less - because this is the length packs the biggest pleasure punch for readers, then by all means don't bloat your perfect story with extra words just because the data shows that longer books, on average, sell more. Do what's right for your story because that's what's right for your reader.

src: http://blog.smashwords.com/


I added bold/etc to the key parts in the finding that fit this thread. Just something to think about.

[crich70]

Makes sense. If I see two books at .99 cents and one is a 10,000 word piece of a longer work and one is 50,000 words long I'm more likely to spend the .99 cents on the 50k book even beyond the idea of having an interesting story and eye catching cover. As a consumer I want to get the best value for my $ so longer is better.

[Andy Farman]

Originally Posted by crich70

Makes sense. If I see two books at .99 cents and one is a 10,000 word piece of a longer work and one is 50,000 words long I'm more likely to spend the .99 cents on the 50k book even beyond the idea of having an interesting story and eye catching cover. As a consumer I want to get the best value for my $ so longer is better.

Only works with eBooks and PH paperbacks. Indie paperbacks from POD are as expensive as hardbacks. They are geared for vanity sales, not mass market.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by VydorScope

My books would be shelved with Star Wars, and similar titles but I would say that I write fantasy stories set in a sci-fi setting. (i.e. click my siggy links)

Are your eBooks hand crafted (so they aren't a direct conversion from Word) ePub on Smashwords? Given that you are a MR user, there's no reason for the meatgrinder to be involved in your ePub up on Smashwords. So please, I hope they are hand crafted and if so, I'll give one of them a go. But if they are meatground, I'll have to give them a miss.

If they are meatground, please hand craft and replace and let me know so I can pick one to buy.

[JSWolf]

The recently released book Magician by Raymon E. Feist was split into two as pBooks and is now back as one book in eBook.

[VydorScope]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Are your eBooks hand crafted (so they aren't a direct conversion from Word) ePub on Smashwords? Given that you are a MR user, there's no reason for the meatgrinder to be involved in your ePub up on Smashwords. So please, I hope they are hand crafted and if so, I'll give one of them a go. But if they are meatground, I'll have to give them a miss.

If they are meatground, please hand craft and replace and let me know so I can pick one to buy.

They were, but I have slowly moved over to ones I built using Sigil. I started moving over as soon as they allowed it, and all are converted now. The EPUBs pass EPUB Validator and Flight Check with not warnings or errors. At least they did when I sent them in to Smash.

This is a good time to check them out as Smashwords is doing their "Summer/Winter" sale.

[Andy Farman]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Are your eBooks hand crafted (so they aren't a direct conversion from Word) ePub on Smashwords? Given that you are a MR user, there's no reason for the meatgrinder to be involved in your ePub up on Smashwords. So please, I hope they are hand crafted and if so, I'll give one of them a go. But if they are meatground, I'll have to give them a miss.

If they are meatground, please hand craft and replace and let me know so I can pick one to buy.

I'm hoping for a translation here??