Exposure and profit: thoughts on promotion+business models for authors?

Frida Fantastic · 03-24-2011, 02:50 AM

Times are changing. What are some of the promotion+business models that you've come across with e-books? What are your thoughts on them?

Decoder Ring Theatre

Promotion
I found out about the Decoder Ring Theatre's OTR podcasts (Red Panda Adventures, Black Jack Justice) while browsing through a friend's facebook page with tastes similar to mine. The podcasts are released bi-weekly.
All the 30-minute podcasts (like 5 years of material) are free and are promoted through specialty blogs (OTR blogs, not sure about readership size) and word of mouth. They have an active online presence on facebook, twitter, and their own message boards I believe.

Business
Not sure about actual revenues, they're not publicly released. I believe the writer holds a day job.
Books: There's three books (both dead tree and ebooks) that are part of the Red Panda Adventures series. They're not impulse-buy priced and are geared towards to the follower of the podcasts. The podcasts seem to promote the universe, and the book is the extension of the universe. I haven't seen the books promoted outside of the podcast.
Donation-with-benefits: Listeners who donate monthly have access to free audio versions of the books, and special behind the scenes podcasts and stuff. Each podcast calls for donations. After the 20th podcast, it got drilled into my head that I should stop being a freeloader even though I don't access any of the benefits anyway. It also has versions of the podcasts without advertisements I believe, but I never checked it out because the advertisements are actually funny.
Advertisements: Each podcast has advertisements from both companies and listeners. Company advertisements seem to be geared towards people who sit at home and devour media (weight loss, media back up) which I think is perfect. Listeners generally just pay to say happy birthday to family and friends and stuff.
T-shirts and stuff: They have a basic t-shirts and hats type store, but they don't bring new products often and I don't think it brings in much revenue (compared to webcomic sites and stuff)

Thoughts
I think they have a good model going. I'm following them because I am a fan and I'm interested to see how their model continues to work in the years to come. They've done expertly well in finding their niche (don't know how many independent authors can say that) and have a a good presence in the OTR + pulp + podcasting circles which hopefully brings people to pay for books and such.

In terms of business, I'd actually be concerned about the amount of free podcasts they're offering. Five years of free podcasts is a lot of material. I didn't feel compelled looking for the books until I finished the podcasts, and many people might not even get that far. I think a creator's free work could compete with their not-free work, because if listeners/readers could amuse themselves enough with the free stuff, why pay for more? If I was DRT, I'd adopt the podcast model for something like This American Life. Recent stuff is free to download, older stuff is free to stream but downloading requires $$$. I have an issue with This American's Life pricing old episode downloads at $0.99 for an episode (an hour), which I think is silly. A better way of packaging old podcasts is to make people pay for each season but at an affordable price.

Also, while I consider myself a fan, because of the sheer number of Red Panda podcasts available, I'm not that compelled to read the books. I follow writers first, and series second. I'm sold on Gregg Taylor as a writer and would pay for non-Red Panda work in a heartbeat, not sure about how other listeners/readers feel. I will eventually pay for the e-books, but I think I'll have to wait a bit until I'm interested in the universe again (I finished 5 years of podcasts in six months. Yes, Panda heavy.)

The magical formula is somewhere out there.

spellbanisher · 03-25-2011, 10:04 PM

What precisely is in the podcasts? Does the author read from his books? For me, the books the thing. I love reading, so lots of free podcasts would never discourage me from actually buying the books if I was interested in the universe or in the books themselves.

Frida Fantastic · 03-25-2011, 11:14 PM

The podcasts are done Old Time Radio style with professional actors, because the writer is in the theatre business. The Red Panda ones are pure dialogue and sound effects, the Black Jack Justice one includes some narrative.

I guess it's the equivalent of having like a free TV series first, and and selling some books along with it. I love reading too, but I guess I feel the need to space out my intake of the universe and use my reading time for other material for now.

I also wonder how much J. A. Konrath's sales are from people finding about him through blog discussions about self-publishing. I would have never known about him otherwise. I think his blog and blogsphere presence has given him a lot more attention than through other promotional venues he's tried, but correct me if I'm wrong.

03-24-2011, 02:50 AM	#1
Frida Fantastic SF/F book blogger Posts: 270 Karma: 502030 Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Vancouver, Canada Device: Kindle 3	Exposure and profit: thoughts on promotion+business models for authors? Times are changing. What are some of the promotion+business models that you've come across with e-books? What are your thoughts on them? Decoder Ring Theatre Promotion I found out about the Decoder Ring Theatre's OTR podcasts (Red Panda Adventures, Black Jack Justice) while browsing through a friend's facebook page with tastes similar to mine. The podcasts are released bi-weekly. All the 30-minute podcasts (like 5 years of material) are free and are promoted through specialty blogs (OTR blogs, not sure about readership size) and word of mouth. They have an active online presence on facebook, twitter, and their own message boards I believe. Business Not sure about actual revenues, they're not publicly released. I believe the writer holds a day job. Books: There's three books (both dead tree and ebooks) that are part of the Red Panda Adventures series. They're not impulse-buy priced and are geared towards to the follower of the podcasts. The podcasts seem to promote the universe, and the book is the extension of the universe. I haven't seen the books promoted outside of the podcast. Donation-with-benefits: Listeners who donate monthly have access to free audio versions of the books, and special behind the scenes podcasts and stuff. Each podcast calls for donations. After the 20th podcast, it got drilled into my head that I should stop being a freeloader even though I don't access any of the benefits anyway. It also has versions of the podcasts without advertisements I believe, but I never checked it out because the advertisements are actually funny. Advertisements: Each podcast has advertisements from both companies and listeners. Company advertisements seem to be geared towards people who sit at home and devour media (weight loss, media back up) which I think is perfect. Listeners generally just pay to say happy birthday to family and friends and stuff. T-shirts and stuff: They have a basic t-shirts and hats type store, but they don't bring new products often and I don't think it brings in much revenue (compared to webcomic sites and stuff) Thoughts I think they have a good model going. I'm following them because I am a fan and I'm interested to see how their model continues to work in the years to come. They've done expertly well in finding their niche (don't know how many independent authors can say that) and have a a good presence in the OTR + pulp + podcasting circles which hopefully brings people to pay for books and such. In terms of business, I'd actually be concerned about the amount of free podcasts they're offering. Five years of free podcasts is a lot of material. I didn't feel compelled looking for the books until I finished the podcasts, and many people might not even get that far. I think a creator's free work could compete with their not-free work, because if listeners/readers could amuse themselves enough with the free stuff, why pay for more? If I was DRT, I'd adopt the podcast model for something like This American Life. Recent stuff is free to download, older stuff is free to stream but downloading requires $$$. I have an issue with This American's Life pricing old episode downloads at $0.99 for an episode (an hour), which I think is silly. A better way of packaging old podcasts is to make people pay for each season but at an affordable price. Also, while I consider myself a fan, because of the sheer number of Red Panda podcasts available, I'm not that compelled to read the books. I follow writers first, and series second. I'm sold on Gregg Taylor as a writer and would pay for non-Red Panda work in a heartbeat, not sure about how other listeners/readers feel. I will eventually pay for the e-books, but I think I'll have to wait a bit until I'm interested in the universe again (I finished 5 years of podcasts in six months. Yes, Panda heavy.) The magical formula is somewhere out there.

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03-25-2011, 10:04 PM	#2
spellbanisher Guru Posts: 826 Karma: 6566849 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Bay Area Device: kindle keyboard, kindle fire hd, S4, Nook hd+	What precisely is in the podcasts? Does the author read from his books? For me, the books the thing. I love reading, so lots of free podcasts would never discourage me from actually buying the books if I was interested in the universe or in the books themselves.

03-25-2011, 11:14 PM	#3
Frida Fantastic SF/F book blogger Posts: 270 Karma: 502030 Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Vancouver, Canada Device: Kindle 3	The podcasts are done Old Time Radio style with professional actors, because the writer is in the theatre business. The Red Panda ones are pure dialogue and sound effects, the Black Jack Justice one includes some narrative. I guess it's the equivalent of having like a free TV series first, and and selling some books along with it. I love reading too, but I guess I feel the need to space out my intake of the universe and use my reading time for other material for now. I also wonder how much J. A. Konrath's sales are from people finding about him through blog discussions about self-publishing. I would have never known about him otherwise. I think his blog and blogsphere presence has given him a lot more attention than through other promotional venues he's tried, but correct me if I'm wrong.