Ebook Bundles Anyone? - Page 4

neilmarr · 07-04-2011, 12:59 PM

Thanks again, folks. This new input will be taken into account. We never carve anything in stone ... apart from the books themselves, Uluhara: Our editorial process is so rigorous (often taking a year or more to achieve perfection of a title) that we don't make errors that need to be repaired later.

Omnibus and individual titles within a bundle will be re-proofed before release by several pairs of professional hawk-eyes to be sure that no tech-generated error has crept in.

Hoots toots, chums. Very best. Neil

Tony Szmuk · 07-04-2011, 04:18 PM

From our POV (BeWrite Books'), 'omnibus' editions are the way to go with the retailers. I don't see a way making, say, Amazon or B&N to bundle what we want to bundle and we can't upload to their stores three or four separate files as a bundle and price it accordingly. That's the problem.

We can and most probably will offer though separate files bundles archived in one zip/rar file from our website.

Thanks for the input, folks. This 'omnibus' bundling seems to be like olives: some people like it, some don't. C'est la vie, I guess.

CRussel · 07-04-2011, 04:45 PM

Certainly the omnibus editions are the only viable hope for Amazon/Kobo/B&N/etc. I can completely understand that decision. If it's balanced by the ability to buy directly from BeWrite with the choice for individual book files there? I'm a happy camper.

cfrizz · 07-04-2011, 06:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tony Szmuk

We can and most probably will offer though separate files bundles archived in one zip/rar file from our website.

This is exactly what I was thinking 3 separate books bundled into a zip or rar file.

Perhaps place a links on your site for a free rar/zip programs for those people to download to make unpacking the bundle easier.

I only found out a few months ago about rar files and needing special software to unpack them.

Freeshadow · 07-04-2011, 08:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EowynCarter

I bought a bundle, and the fist thing i did was to grab sigil, and split the one ePub into 4.

de gustibus et coloribus non est disputandum

I'd be doing just the opposite of that.

neilmarr · 07-05-2011, 04:52 AM

Yup, tony and I looked into the possibility of offering individual title downloads within a bundle. But I'm afraid we hit a snag.

Although we could do this at our own store, the major third-party retailers we need won't wear it because of a pricing clause in our contracts with them (aimed at keeping our prices well below Agency Model and pretty well identical at all outlets). So we must bundle as a single omnibus download with a new covering title for the omnibus edition(s) and new ISBNs for each digital file to differentiate them from the titles they contain that are already on individual sale at retail points.

Having said that, individual title content (and even original covers on each book included in the package) will be intact.

Once we have the main job out of the way soon, we'll then offer bundles that include individual title downloads in zipped files from our own website bookstore as an alternative for those who prefer them this way. We can justify this within the terms of our contracts as an in-house promotional move.

Whatever, each batch will cost the equivalent of current combined cover price of included titles ($5.95 each across the board) with a 40% discount. Very roughly, a title in a bundle would cost around $3.50 instead of $6.00. But wherever we can, we'll keep a three-book bundle below the $10 glass ceiling, so the saving to buyers will slightly more than the general 40%.

We can't please all the people all the time, I'm afraid ... but we will continue to try our damnedest to do just that. And apart from friendly and helpful informal banter here, we have NEVER heard from a single unhappy customer. Not many outfits can say that.

Thanks again chaps and chappettes. You've no idea how much we appreciate you. Neil et al

CRussel · 07-05-2011, 09:10 AM

Thanks, Neil. Please do post here or in the Freebies forum when you actually do the release(s).

neilmarr · 07-05-2011, 03:18 PM

Will do, CR. But you've probably been around long enough to know that among MR pals here, there's usually a much better deal on the go that often doesn't cost a red cent.

We don't openly 'advertise' these in the 'freebies and deals' or other promotional sections here: they're quietly dropped in where relevant to an ongoing thread on some subject or another and apply to all contributors to and readers of that thread. It's by way of thanks for the advice and in appreciation of the encouragement we get at MR. Fair swap, eh?

The softly-softly approach saves us getting in hot water with third-party retailers by offering for free what they offer for sale because it's just an informal and private wee thing between friends. Like Christmas cards or a bunch of flowers for the wife.

So far, we've got away with it. Fingers crossed that we can continue to do so because many here will attest to the fact that we are reluctant to take money from family. Bestests. Neil

PS: There were sinister rumblings from Amazon after April's 'Read an Ebook Week' when we gave away any two or three books of choice from our catalogue free to all comers (those on the Kindle boards were particularly enthusiastic) because the Big A was jealous of the Kindle sales it might have lost on our titles for sale at regular price in their store over the our gift period. Considering our Kindle sales record, I can understand that.

Spoilsports -- but bloody dangerous folks to spoil the sporting of. Love 'em or hate 'em, there's no getting around the fact that we need 'em. So freebies must be low profile affairs between thee, us and the gatepost. N

CRussel · 07-05-2011, 05:35 PM

Understood (and appreciated), Neil. But as someone who knows exactly what a royalty existence is like, I do tend to want to actually pay good, living, authors.

Which is not to say I don't look for the best possible deal.

Seriously, once I get past the current backload on my Kindle (about a dozen books I actually want to read or thought I did when I bought, and over a hundred I honestly probably won't read unless I get desperate), I will get serious about looking. Of course, a good deal before then changes the priorities.

neilmarr · 07-06-2011, 05:54 AM

Royalties -- particularly author royalties -- are a number one priority here, CR.

Our author royalties are much more generous than at other houses. But even the in-house team is on royalties on each title handled (the equivalent of a small fraction of the author's) rather than salaries.

Tony and I have waived our own royalties -- our SOLE means of income -- for the past two years to finance development (thank ye gods for understanding, hard-working and supportive wives, eh?).

All benefits are passed on to authors, readers and other editors on the team. Tony and I work at least 16x7 for not a red cent. Although BB is a commercial enterprise, after ten years it has grown hugely and has a high rep, but it hasn't yet yielded a profit large enough to actually pay fees, salaries or bonuses to a hard-working professional team that's mostly been with us for the past decade.

That's OK. At least we can sleep straight in bed at night (on those occasions when we actually get there) ... unlike some I could mention in this game of soldiers.

We've also been working on an ambitious plan (I'll tell you about it when details are more firmly fixed) that will work to even greater advantage for a whole bunch of new and existing tried-and-tested authors and their established readerships ... and may even turn a buck for BeWrite Books at long last. Watch this space.

Do bear in mind that Tony and I (the partners in the biz) are NOT hard-nosed businessmen. I'm a writer and editor of 45-years professional standing in publishing and he's a doctor who turned to his passion for art and technology and joined me just over two years ago.

But as far as the business side of things goes, we don't ask our folks to rely on nothing but good intentions. The road to hell is paved with those. We study the ever-evolving game hard and try to keep a step ahead for everyone's sake. It's a tough juggling act between what we want to do and what we must do. And it's not always as much fun as a barrow-load of monkeys when we come across those whose only interest in books is in check books.

So now, everyone, please say "Awwwwwwwwwww."

Hoots toots the noo. Neil

CRussel · 07-06-2011, 09:29 AM

Awwwwwwwwwwww

Phogg · 07-06-2011, 09:59 AM

Awwwwwwwwww

JSWolf · 07-06-2011, 10:06 AM

The problem with an omnibus is that it screws up my stats at Goodreads. An omnibus only counts as one book when it's really more then that. So please, if you do have an omnibus edition, please separate it back to the original single books. Now for bundling the individual titles, that I am all for. But please don't make omnibus editions. I end up having to separate them. and that's more work.

Freeshadow · 07-06-2011, 12:37 PM

Quote:

The problem with an omnibus is that it screws up my stats at Goodreads.

D'uh and I tought I 'd never read anything more silly than "kernelupdates would be perfect if the restarts wouldn't screw up my uptime."

Do you read for the sake of reading or showing off?

neilmarr · 07-06-2011, 12:41 PM

We'll soon have zipped 'omnibus' collections containing individual title downloads at our own site's bookstore section, JS (we can get away with that as in-house promotion), and all individual titles remain on single sale everywhere and at our own place.

Thing is that we must go single downnload on bundles -- new covering titles, side notes and ISBNs -- with third-party retail for darned awkward contractual reasons. If this causes you a hitch, mate, drop me a line off-list and we'll find a way around it for you.

Cheers. Neil -- ntmarrATbewrite.net (but use the @ sign, of course)

07-05-2011, 03:18 PM	#53
neilmarr neilmarr Posts: 7,216 Karma: 6000059 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Monaco-Menton, France Device: sony	Will do, CR. But you've probably been around long enough to know that among MR pals here, there's usually a much better deal on the go that often doesn't cost a red cent. We don't openly 'advertise' these in the 'freebies and deals' or other promotional sections here: they're quietly dropped in where relevant to an ongoing thread on some subject or another and apply to all contributors to and readers of that thread. It's by way of thanks for the advice and in appreciation of the encouragement we get at MR. Fair swap, eh? The softly-softly approach saves us getting in hot water with third-party retailers by offering for free what they offer for sale because it's just an informal and private wee thing between friends. Like Christmas cards or a bunch of flowers for the wife. So far, we've got away with it. Fingers crossed that we can continue to do so because many here will attest to the fact that we are reluctant to take money from family. Bestests. Neil PS: There were sinister rumblings from Amazon after April's 'Read an Ebook Week' when we gave away any two or three books of choice from our catalogue free to all comers (those on the Kindle boards were particularly enthusiastic) because the Big A was jealous of the Kindle sales it might have lost on our titles for sale at regular price in their store over the our gift period. Considering our Kindle sales record, I can understand that. Spoilsports -- but bloody dangerous folks to spoil the sporting of. Love 'em or hate 'em, there's no getting around the fact that we need 'em. So freebies must be low profile affairs between thee, us and the gatepost. N Last edited by neilmarr; 07-05-2011 at 03:21 PM.

07-06-2011, 10:06 AM	#58
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,896 Karma: 128597114 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	The problem with an omnibus is that it screws up my stats at Goodreads. An omnibus only counts as one book when it's really more then that. So please, if you do have an omnibus edition, please separate it back to the original single books. Now for bundling the individual titles, that I am all for. But please don't make omnibus editions. I end up having to separate them. and that's more work. Last edited by JSWolf; 07-06-2011 at 10:08 AM.

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07-04-2011, 12:59 PM	#46
neilmarr neilmarr Posts: 7,216 Karma: 6000059 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Monaco-Menton, France Device: sony	Thanks again, folks. This new input will be taken into account. We never carve anything in stone ... apart from the books themselves, Uluhara: Our editorial process is so rigorous (often taking a year or more to achieve perfection of a title) that we don't make errors that need to be repaired later. Omnibus and individual titles within a bundle will be re-proofed before release by several pairs of professional hawk-eyes to be sure that no tech-generated error has crept in. Hoots toots, chums. Very best. Neil

07-04-2011, 04:18 PM	#47
Tony Szmuk Connoisseur Posts: 61 Karma: 383712 Join Date: May 2010 Device: ,,,	From our POV (BeWrite Books'), 'omnibus' editions are the way to go with the retailers. I don't see a way making, say, Amazon or B&N to bundle what we want to bundle and we can't upload to their stores three or four separate files as a bundle and price it accordingly. That's the problem. We can and most probably will offer though separate files bundles archived in one zip/rar file from our website. Thanks for the input, folks. This 'omnibus' bundling seems to be like olives: some people like it, some don't. C'est la vie, I guess.

07-04-2011, 04:45 PM	#48
CRussel (he/him/his) Posts: 12,157 Karma: 79742714 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Sunshine Coast, BC Device: Oasis (Gen3),Paperwhite (Gen10), Voyage, Paperwhite(orig), Fire HD 8	Certainly the omnibus editions are the only viable hope for Amazon/Kobo/B&N/etc. I can completely understand that decision. If it's balanced by the ability to buy directly from BeWrite with the choice for individual book files there? I'm a happy camper.

07-05-2011, 04:52 AM	#51
neilmarr neilmarr Posts: 7,216 Karma: 6000059 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Monaco-Menton, France Device: sony	Yup, tony and I looked into the possibility of offering individual title downloads within a bundle. But I'm afraid we hit a snag. Although we could do this at our own store, the major third-party retailers we need won't wear it because of a pricing clause in our contracts with them (aimed at keeping our prices well below Agency Model and pretty well identical at all outlets). So we must bundle as a single omnibus download with a new covering title for the omnibus edition(s) and new ISBNs for each digital file to differentiate them from the titles they contain that are already on individual sale at retail points. Having said that, individual title content (and even original covers on each book included in the package) will be intact. Once we have the main job out of the way soon, we'll then offer bundles that include individual title downloads in zipped files from our own website bookstore as an alternative for those who prefer them this way. We can justify this within the terms of our contracts as an in-house promotional move. Whatever, each batch will cost the equivalent of current combined cover price of included titles ($5.95 each across the board) with a 40% discount. Very roughly, a title in a bundle would cost around $3.50 instead of $6.00. But wherever we can, we'll keep a three-book bundle below the $10 glass ceiling, so the saving to buyers will slightly more than the general 40%. We can't please all the people all the time, I'm afraid ... but we will continue to try our damnedest to do just that. And apart from friendly and helpful informal banter here, we have NEVER heard from a single unhappy customer. Not many outfits can say that. Thanks again chaps and chappettes. You've no idea how much we appreciate you. Neil et al

07-05-2011, 09:10 AM	#52
CRussel (he/him/his) Posts: 12,157 Karma: 79742714 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Sunshine Coast, BC Device: Oasis (Gen3),Paperwhite (Gen10), Voyage, Paperwhite(orig), Fire HD 8	Thanks, Neil. Please do post here or in the Freebies forum when you actually do the release(s).

07-05-2011, 05:35 PM	#54
CRussel (he/him/his) Posts: 12,157 Karma: 79742714 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Sunshine Coast, BC Device: Oasis (Gen3),Paperwhite (Gen10), Voyage, Paperwhite(orig), Fire HD 8	Understood (and appreciated), Neil. But as someone who knows exactly what a royalty existence is like, I do tend to want to actually pay good, living, authors. Which is not to say I don't look for the best possible deal. Seriously, once I get past the current backload on my Kindle (about a dozen books I actually want to read or thought I did when I bought, and over a hundred I honestly probably won't read unless I get desperate), I will get serious about looking. Of course, a good deal before then changes the priorities.

07-06-2011, 05:54 AM	#55
neilmarr neilmarr Posts: 7,216 Karma: 6000059 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Monaco-Menton, France Device: sony	Royalties -- particularly author royalties -- are a number one priority here, CR. Our author royalties are much more generous than at other houses. But even the in-house team is on royalties on each title handled (the equivalent of a small fraction of the author's) rather than salaries. Tony and I have waived our own royalties -- our SOLE means of income -- for the past two years to finance development (thank ye gods for understanding, hard-working and supportive wives, eh?). All benefits are passed on to authors, readers and other editors on the team. Tony and I work at least 16x7 for not a red cent. Although BB is a commercial enterprise, after ten years it has grown hugely and has a high rep, but it hasn't yet yielded a profit large enough to actually pay fees, salaries or bonuses to a hard-working professional team that's mostly been with us for the past decade. That's OK. At least we can sleep straight in bed at night (on those occasions when we actually get there) ... unlike some I could mention in this game of soldiers. We've also been working on an ambitious plan (I'll tell you about it when details are more firmly fixed) that will work to even greater advantage for a whole bunch of new and existing tried-and-tested authors and their established readerships ... and may even turn a buck for BeWrite Books at long last. Watch this space. Do bear in mind that Tony and I (the partners in the biz) are NOT hard-nosed businessmen. I'm a writer and editor of 45-years professional standing in publishing and he's a doctor who turned to his passion for art and technology and joined me just over two years ago. But as far as the business side of things goes, we don't ask our folks to rely on nothing but good intentions. The road to hell is paved with those. We study the ever-evolving game hard and try to keep a step ahead for everyone's sake. It's a tough juggling act between what we want to do and what we must do. And it's not always as much fun as a barrow-load of monkeys when we come across those whose only interest in books is in check books. So now, everyone, please say "Awwwwwwwwwww." Hoots toots the noo. Neil

07-06-2011, 09:29 AM	#56
CRussel (he/him/his) Posts: 12,157 Karma: 79742714 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Sunshine Coast, BC Device: Oasis (Gen3),Paperwhite (Gen10), Voyage, Paperwhite(orig), Fire HD 8	Awwwwwwwwwwww

07-06-2011, 09:59 AM	#57
Phogg PHD in Horribleness Posts: 2,320 Karma: 23599604 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: In the ironbound section, near avenue L Device: Just a whole bunch. I guess I am a collector now.	Awwwwwwwwww

07-06-2011, 12:41 PM	#60
neilmarr neilmarr Posts: 7,216 Karma: 6000059 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Monaco-Menton, France Device: sony	We'll soon have zipped 'omnibus' collections containing individual title downloads at our own site's bookstore section, JS (we can get away with that as in-house promotion), and all individual titles remain on single sale everywhere and at our own place. Thing is that we must go single downnload on bundles -- new covering titles, side notes and ISBNs -- with third-party retail for darned awkward contractual reasons. If this causes you a hitch, mate, drop me a line off-list and we'll find a way around it for you. Cheers. Neil -- ntmarrATbewrite.net (but use the @ sign, of course)

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