Earthfleet - Book 2 - Destiny's Mission - Now available on Goodreads! - Page 2

GlenBarrington · 10-14-2010, 10:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steven Lake

No, that's just stupid Amazon, and only for the print version. I still haven't got the prices fixed with them yet. If they don't fix it soon I'm going to just yank the books. The ebook version is just $8. To get to that you have to click through the buy book link to see all the choices. I don't know why, but you do.

Here's the direct preview link: http://www.goodreads.com/reader/read/7769?percent=0

And here's the direct buy link: https://www.goodreads.com/store/pay/26601

Well, it LOOKS like the ebook is $14.39, that may be why the response has been underwhelming. It sure put me off! Maybe you could add some text that explains all that better. I got to say I'm not too impressed with Goodreads, but I'm at an emotional spot that doesn't want to cut the ebook vendors too much slack.

lene1949 · 10-15-2010, 03:40 AM

I find GoodReads way too confusing to buy from... I get a message 'that payment isn't yours'...

Even at $8, I think, it's too expensive... There are so much readable stuff out there for no money.

Steve... have you published on Amazon and Smashwords?

Steven Lake · 10-15-2010, 08:38 AM

Do I have them available on Amazon and Smashwords? Well, yes and no. Yes, they were put up there, but no they're not available currently, and there's a reason for that. The long and short of it is this. When the books were first released they were priced out at $15.99 per suggestion of my publisher (the print version, not the ebooks) as that was the average selling price of most books that size. Well, it seems that unless you're Dan Brown or some other mega famous author, people won't even touch the book for that price. So we went looking to try and find out why this supposedly sweet price point wasn't working. Come to find out, we learned that right now the best you're going to get out of a book like mine (ie, a novel from a non-world-famous author) is $11.99, so we are in the process of repricing it right now to the lower price point. (again, print only version)

Now here's the real kick in the pants. In order to reprice the print version, we have to get a completely brand new ISBN, since you're apparently locked in on your "official" selling price once the ISBN is marked as live and you aren't allowed to change it. So we're going through a transition period right now as we wait for the old ISBN to go inactive and the new one to take its place. (apparently you have to do this when doing different editions of a book anyways, so it's more or less the same process, which is a PITA in my honest opinion.) So in short, that's why my ebook isn't out on the big ebook outlets right now, as I apparently can't sell ebooks for novels listed as "out of print". However, I can do that on goodreads, so it offers me a way around the blackout period caused by the ISBN changeover. (well, it's not really a "blackout" period, so much as it's a period when I can't sell the book because of the change in ISBN's)

Now as for why the ebook is priced the way it is, that is due to a majority recommendation from people here at Mobileread. A while ago I came to the site members and asked, "How should I price my ebooks?" The majority response was to sell my ebooks at 2/3rds the price of my print copies. Since the new cover price will be $12 (rounded) for the print version, I followed the rule that was suggested to me and priced the ebook at $8. Yes, I had a few who said that the ebook should cost no more than $5 regardless of the official cover price, a couple who said no more than $1.99, and there were even a few who recommended giving all my stuff away for free in ebooks (yeah, right), but they were all in the extreme minority.

So that's how I ended up with my $8 price point. Now if everyone had said, "You should price all your ebooks at $1.99 flat, and never go higher", I would have done it. Again, I'm trying to make my readers happy while at the same time trying to make a little money as I do. So now if an $8 ebook for a $12 book is too high, I'd like to find out why the 2/3rds rule is no longer in effect, and what the right pricing scheme should be for my ebooks. Because if the rule has changed to 50% less than the print book cost, or even 80%, then I'll do it, as long as it's within reason. I just need to know what this new "suggested" or "required" price point is.

GlenBarrington · 10-15-2010, 06:45 PM

I don't think $8 is too much for a good read (I get to be the judge of that though!

) I'm much more concerned about how confusing the GoodReads site is. I don't have a lot of confidence in the site.

JSWolf · 10-15-2010, 06:58 PM

However if your paper version ends up in shops where there is a discount given (or even a temp discount for being new) or they have a club membership where it can be bought for less, then $8 for the eBook will be too much given that sales on eBooks don't really happen any longer.

Are your books eventually going to be in paperback? If so, $8 is too much given that we've had too many problems when a paper book goes to paperback for less and the price of the eBook doesn't change.

JSWolf · 10-15-2010, 06:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moe The Cat

Book 1 is here (lower left part of the page) and it's free in epub and mobi.

Thanks!

JSWolf · 10-15-2010, 07:14 PM

I'd like to make a few suggestions to the formatting (overall it's pretty good)...

1. Raise the chapter titles up. They are too low.

2. The indents are too large. Take a look and see what 1.1em looks like. I find that's pretty good. But you may find you want more. But not as much as there is now.

3. Since ou do not have section break markers and just space, the first paragraph of a chapter should have no indent and the first paragraph after a section break should also not have any indent. That way it is easy to tell when the next section starts especially if the section ends near the bottom of the page so the next paragraph starts at the top of the page.

4. In the Body CSS style, put in widows: 0 & orphans: 0. What this does is keep every screen page the same length regardless of windows and orphans. Personally I prefer that. Others may not. But it helps with section breaks that are just space.

5. The cover should be larger. It's 202x300 and most readers are 600x800 and that does not include larger computer displays. In ADE for Windows, when I make the ADE window as small as possible, the cover is still very pixelated as it's still blown up too much. A size of 600 to 800 lines would do fine.

This is from viewing The Oort Perimeter. I'm interested in knowing what you think of my suggestions.

Steven Lake · 10-15-2010, 09:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Are your books eventually going to be in paperback? If so, $8 is too much given that we've had too many problems when a paper book goes to paperback for less and the price of the eBook doesn't change.

Actually, my books are already in paperback. That's what I started out with and only recently started offering ebooks of my print novels. In fact it was this site that encouraged me to do that.

As for your suggestions, I'll have to play with the ebook first to see what I come up with. Book 1 was formatted by dreams for me back before I really understood how ebooks worked. Book 2 and on were done strictly by me using what I learned. So let me tinker around a bit and see what your suggested changes do to the book.

lene1949 · 10-16-2010, 03:58 AM

I thought anyone could publish books on Smashwords??

JSWolf · 10-16-2010, 04:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steven Lake

Actually, my books are already in paperback. That's what I started out with and only recently started offering ebooks of my print novels. In fact it was this site that encouraged me to do that.

As for your suggestions, I'll have to play with the ebook first to see what I come up with. Book 1 was formatted by dreams for me back before I really understood how ebooks worked. Book 2 and on were done strictly by me using what I learned. So let me tinker around a bit and see what your suggested changes do to the book.

If you need help, feel free to ask. But the one thing I cannot do is fix the cover. I'd need a new image for that.

10-15-2010, 08:38 AM	#18
Steven Lake Sci-Fi Author Posts: 1,158 Karma: 14743509 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Michigan Device: PC (Calibre)	Do I have them available on Amazon and Smashwords? Well, yes and no. Yes, they were put up there, but no they're not available currently, and there's a reason for that. The long and short of it is this. When the books were first released they were priced out at $15.99 per suggestion of my publisher (the print version, not the ebooks) as that was the average selling price of most books that size. Well, it seems that unless you're Dan Brown or some other mega famous author, people won't even touch the book for that price. So we went looking to try and find out why this supposedly sweet price point wasn't working. Come to find out, we learned that right now the best you're going to get out of a book like mine (ie, a novel from a non-world-famous author) is $11.99, so we are in the process of repricing it right now to the lower price point. (again, print only version) Now here's the real kick in the pants. In order to reprice the print version, we have to get a completely brand new ISBN, since you're apparently locked in on your "official" selling price once the ISBN is marked as live and you aren't allowed to change it. So we're going through a transition period right now as we wait for the old ISBN to go inactive and the new one to take its place. (apparently you have to do this when doing different editions of a book anyways, so it's more or less the same process, which is a PITA in my honest opinion.) So in short, that's why my ebook isn't out on the big ebook outlets right now, as I apparently can't sell ebooks for novels listed as "out of print". However, I can do that on goodreads, so it offers me a way around the blackout period caused by the ISBN changeover. (well, it's not really a "blackout" period, so much as it's a period when I can't sell the book because of the change in ISBN's) Now as for why the ebook is priced the way it is, that is due to a majority recommendation from people here at Mobileread. A while ago I came to the site members and asked, "How should I price my ebooks?" The majority response was to sell my ebooks at 2/3rds the price of my print copies. Since the new cover price will be $12 (rounded) for the print version, I followed the rule that was suggested to me and priced the ebook at $8. Yes, I had a few who said that the ebook should cost no more than $5 regardless of the official cover price, a couple who said no more than $1.99, and there were even a few who recommended giving all my stuff away for free in ebooks (yeah, right), but they were all in the extreme minority. So that's how I ended up with my $8 price point. Now if everyone had said, "You should price all your ebooks at $1.99 flat, and never go higher", I would have done it. Again, I'm trying to make my readers happy while at the same time trying to make a little money as I do. So now if an $8 ebook for a $12 book is too high, I'd like to find out why the 2/3rds rule is no longer in effect, and what the right pricing scheme should be for my ebooks. Because if the rule has changed to 50% less than the print book cost, or even 80%, then I'll do it, as long as it's within reason. I just need to know what this new "suggested" or "required" price point is. Last edited by Steven Lake; 10-15-2010 at 08:44 AM.

10-15-2010, 06:45 PM	#19
GlenBarrington Cheese Whiz Posts: 1,986 Karma: 11677147 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Springfield, Illinois Device: Kindle PW, Samsung Tab A 10.1(2019), Pixel 6a.	I don't think $8 is too much for a good read (I get to be the judge of that though!) I'm much more concerned about how confusing the GoodReads site is. I don't have a lot of confidence in the site. Last edited by GlenBarrington; 10-15-2010 at 06:47 PM.

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10-15-2010, 03:40 AM	#17
lene1949 Wizard Posts: 1,952 Karma: 213930 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Middelfart, Denmark Device: Kindle paper white	I find GoodReads way too confusing to buy from... I get a message 'that payment isn't yours'... Even at $8, I think, it's too expensive... There are so much readable stuff out there for no money. Steve... have you published on Amazon and Smashwords?

10-15-2010, 06:58 PM	#20
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 79,550 Karma: 145863177 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	However if your paper version ends up in shops where there is a discount given (or even a temp discount for being new) or they have a club membership where it can be bought for less, then $8 for the eBook will be too much given that sales on eBooks don't really happen any longer. Are your books eventually going to be in paperback? If so, $8 is too much given that we've had too many problems when a paper book goes to paperback for less and the price of the eBook doesn't change.

10-15-2010, 07:14 PM	#22
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 79,550 Karma: 145863177 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	I'd like to make a few suggestions to the formatting (overall it's pretty good)... 1. Raise the chapter titles up. They are too low. 2. The indents are too large. Take a look and see what 1.1em looks like. I find that's pretty good. But you may find you want more. But not as much as there is now. 3. Since ou do not have section break markers and just space, the first paragraph of a chapter should have no indent and the first paragraph after a section break should also not have any indent. That way it is easy to tell when the next section starts especially if the section ends near the bottom of the page so the next paragraph starts at the top of the page. 4. In the Body CSS style, put in widows: 0 & orphans: 0. What this does is keep every screen page the same length regardless of windows and orphans. Personally I prefer that. Others may not. But it helps with section breaks that are just space. 5. The cover should be larger. It's 202x300 and most readers are 600x800 and that does not include larger computer displays. In ADE for Windows, when I make the ADE window as small as possible, the cover is still very pixelated as it's still blown up too much. A size of 600 to 800 lines would do fine. This is from viewing The Oort Perimeter. I'm interested in knowing what you think of my suggestions.

10-16-2010, 03:58 AM	#24
lene1949 Wizard Posts: 1,952 Karma: 213930 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Middelfart, Denmark Device: Kindle paper white	I thought anyone could publish books on Smashwords??