Register Guidelines E-Books Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

Go Back   MobileRead Forums > E-Book General > General Discussions

Notices

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 12-09-2010, 06:29 PM   #16
mr ploppy
Feral Underclass
mr ploppy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mr ploppy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mr ploppy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mr ploppy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mr ploppy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mr ploppy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mr ploppy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mr ploppy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mr ploppy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mr ploppy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mr ploppy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
mr ploppy's Avatar
 
Posts: 3,622
Karma: 26821535
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Yorkshire, tha noz
Device: 2nd hand paperback
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steven Lake View Post
What if you just release your first book free, and then offer the rest at "regular ebook price" instead?
The trouble with free is a lot of people will download it but never read it. If it costs something, even just a token amount, anyone who gets it will be more likely to read it.

Having said that, nobody in the last 5 years or so has made it onto my regular buying list without me reading something for free.

My strategy will be to give away a short story featuring characters from a longer, paid for story. The thinking being that people are more likelly to fit a short story into their reading schedule, even if it is free.
mr ploppy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-09-2010, 06:48 PM   #17
caleb72
Indie Advocate
caleb72 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.caleb72 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.caleb72 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.caleb72 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.caleb72 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.caleb72 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.caleb72 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.caleb72 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.caleb72 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.caleb72 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.caleb72 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
caleb72's Avatar
 
Posts: 2,863
Karma: 18794463
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Device: Kindle
Oooh - I hope people do read free offerings.

I was thinking of making a very small attempt at self-publishing with just a short story. I had no intention of charging for it, but I did want people to read it.

Maybe that rule of thumb doesn't apply for short stories though as there isn't much time commitment in reading a short story.

I just thought I could write a few short stories just to see if people like my ideas and my writing style. I've got very intelligent family members who will probably agree to perform editing services for me, so there's no reason not to try.

But I'm not really interested in traditional publishing. Even in the unlikely event that what I wrote became really popular, I think I'd still stick with a more DIY approach - it suits me.

Regards
Caleb
caleb72 is offline   Reply With Quote
Advert
Old 12-09-2010, 08:02 PM   #18
hpjrt
Connoisseur
hpjrt is clearly one to watchhpjrt is clearly one to watchhpjrt is clearly one to watchhpjrt is clearly one to watchhpjrt is clearly one to watchhpjrt is clearly one to watchhpjrt is clearly one to watchhpjrt is clearly one to watchhpjrt is clearly one to watchhpjrt is clearly one to watchhpjrt is clearly one to watch
 
Posts: 78
Karma: 10862
Join Date: Aug 2010
Device: kobo
Quote:
Originally Posted by mr ploppy View Post
My strategy will be to give away a short story featuring characters from a longer, paid for story. The thinking being that people are more likelly to fit a short story into their reading schedule, even if it is free.
Well that strategy wouldn't work for me. I never read short stories ... ever. Some of my favourite authors have volumes of "short stories" that I won't read. Why? I'm not sure ... but I know I'd rather sit down with a 500 page book than a short story any day.
hpjrt is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-09-2010, 08:33 PM   #19
L.J. Sellers
Novelist
L.J. Sellers ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.L.J. Sellers ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.L.J. Sellers ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.L.J. Sellers ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.L.J. Sellers ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.L.J. Sellers ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.L.J. Sellers ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.L.J. Sellers ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.L.J. Sellers ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.L.J. Sellers ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.L.J. Sellers ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
L.J. Sellers's Avatar
 
Posts: 287
Karma: 387979
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Eugene, Oregon
Device: Kindle
VWcherrybomb: Thanks for the support of my work. I appreciate it!

Steve: Amazon won't let independent authors give away free e-books, and I'm not on Smashwords. (My books are everywhere else though.) But I have book giveaways on my blog and website all the time, and I've given away hundreds of books, both print and electronic.

[Promotional link deleted - MODERATOR]

Last edited by Dr. Drib; 02-26-2012 at 07:00 AM.
L.J. Sellers is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-09-2010, 09:12 PM   #20
pholy
Booklegger
pholy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pholy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pholy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pholy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pholy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pholy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pholy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pholy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pholy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pholy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pholy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
pholy's Avatar
 
Posts: 1,801
Karma: 7999816
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Device: BeBook(1 & 2010), PEZ, PRS-505, Kobo BT, PRS-T1, Playbook, Kobo Touch
Teleread has an article by Mark Coker (Smashwords) wherein he interviews one of his more successful authors (Brian Pratt). I found it interesting how he plowed right on, just because he loved to write.
pholy is offline   Reply With Quote
Advert
Old 12-09-2010, 11:44 PM   #21
Steven Lake
Sci-Fi Author
Steven Lake ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Steven Lake ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Steven Lake ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Steven Lake ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Steven Lake ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Steven Lake ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Steven Lake ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Steven Lake ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Steven Lake ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Steven Lake ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Steven Lake ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Steven Lake's Avatar
 
Posts: 1,157
Karma: 14743509
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Michigan
Device: PC (Calibre)
Heck yeah. I do too. (ie, plow on regardless of what happens with my books) I love writing so much that I did it for 15+ years without getting paid, and would probably still be doing it even if I wasn't published simply because I love to write. It's as one of the members here once said. A good author writes books and makes money. A great author will write books even if he never makes a dime on them because he loves what he does.
Steven Lake is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-09-2010, 11:54 PM   #22
LaFlamme
Junior Member
LaFlamme began at the beginning.
 
Posts: 4
Karma: 10
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Maine
Device: Kindle
Apropos of nothing, L.J., but I really like your covers.




Mark LaFlamme
www.marklaflamme.com

Last edited by LaFlamme; 12-09-2010 at 11:54 PM. Reason: Omitted information
LaFlamme is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-09-2010, 11:58 PM   #23
LaFlamme
Junior Member
LaFlamme began at the beginning.
 
Posts: 4
Karma: 10
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Maine
Device: Kindle
There's a real good piece on the potential for profit at E-book Endeavors, a blog I just recently discovered.


Mark LaFlamme, Maine
www.marklaflamme.com
LaFlamme is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-10-2010, 05:42 AM   #24
murraypaul
Interested Bystander
murraypaul ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.murraypaul ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.murraypaul ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.murraypaul ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.murraypaul ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.murraypaul ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.murraypaul ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.murraypaul ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.murraypaul ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.murraypaul ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.murraypaul ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 3,725
Karma: 19728152
Join Date: Jun 2008
Device: Note 4, Kobo One
For a reader's perspective: The last half-dozen books or so that I have bought from Amazon have all been second books in a series where the first was free and listed in the 'Free/Cheap Kindle books' thread here. I think two more where it first book was $1 and in that thread.
For giving away the short story, I can already get a reasonably sized free sample of any book, so I think that is covered, the real struggle is to get your book into my vision at some point, so that I actually look at it.
murraypaul is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-10-2010, 09:16 AM   #25
Steven Lake
Sci-Fi Author
Steven Lake ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Steven Lake ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Steven Lake ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Steven Lake ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Steven Lake ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Steven Lake ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Steven Lake ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Steven Lake ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Steven Lake ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Steven Lake ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Steven Lake ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Steven Lake's Avatar
 
Posts: 1,157
Karma: 14743509
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Michigan
Device: PC (Calibre)
LaFlamme, if you like her covers, you'll probably like mine as well. Have you had a chance to check them out?
Steven Lake is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-10-2010, 11:12 AM   #26
mr ploppy
Feral Underclass
mr ploppy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mr ploppy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mr ploppy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mr ploppy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mr ploppy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mr ploppy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mr ploppy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mr ploppy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mr ploppy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mr ploppy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mr ploppy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
mr ploppy's Avatar
 
Posts: 3,622
Karma: 26821535
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Yorkshire, tha noz
Device: 2nd hand paperback
Quote:
Originally Posted by hpjrt View Post
Well that strategy wouldn't work for me. I never read short stories ... ever. Some of my favourite authors have volumes of "short stories" that I won't read. Why? I'm not sure ... but I know I'd rather sit down with a 500 page book than a short story any day.
Fair enough. I tend to have a short story collection on the go at the same time I read a longer book, and it's always easier for me to fit in an extra short story than anything else. What if there was a short story that tied in directly with your 500 page book, would that make any difference? If it was included as a free extra within the book would you read it then?
mr ploppy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-10-2010, 11:18 AM   #27
mr ploppy
Feral Underclass
mr ploppy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mr ploppy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mr ploppy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mr ploppy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mr ploppy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mr ploppy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mr ploppy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mr ploppy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mr ploppy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mr ploppy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mr ploppy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
mr ploppy's Avatar
 
Posts: 3,622
Karma: 26821535
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Yorkshire, tha noz
Device: 2nd hand paperback
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steven Lake View Post
Heck yeah. I do too. (ie, plow on regardless of what happens with my books) I love writing so much that I did it for 15+ years without getting paid, and would probably still be doing it even if I wasn't published simply because I love to write. It's as one of the members here once said. A good author writes books and makes money. A great author will write books even if he never makes a dime on them because he loves what he does.
I think that's the only valid reason to write something. You might get lucky, but if you try to write in order to make money you would just end up writing for the lowest common denominator, or whatever fad happens to be selling right now. Even then you would need to write pretty quickly otherwise the fad would be over by the time your re-tread was finished.
mr ploppy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-10-2010, 11:26 AM   #28
DMcCunney
New York Editor
DMcCunney ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DMcCunney ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DMcCunney ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DMcCunney ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DMcCunney ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DMcCunney ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DMcCunney ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DMcCunney ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DMcCunney ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DMcCunney ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DMcCunney ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
DMcCunney's Avatar
 
Posts: 6,384
Karma: 16540415
Join Date: Aug 2007
Device: PalmTX, Pocket eDGe, Alcatel Fierce 4, RCA Viking Pro 10, Nexus 7
Quote:
Originally Posted by DMSmillie View Post
Briefly OT:
Most likely as a guard against unscrupulous types disguising spammy or malicious links. Easiest to have a single rule for all, trusted and unknown users alike - no links where you can't see where the link goes, either from the visible link text or by mousing over the link.
I don't use TinyURL here, but as a courtesy, when I use it elsewhere, I use the preview.tinyurl option, that displays the actual URL the user will be taken to.

You don't really need TinyURL here. The board software does a good job of handling long links.
______
Dennis
DMcCunney is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-10-2010, 12:40 PM   #29
hpjrt
Connoisseur
hpjrt is clearly one to watchhpjrt is clearly one to watchhpjrt is clearly one to watchhpjrt is clearly one to watchhpjrt is clearly one to watchhpjrt is clearly one to watchhpjrt is clearly one to watchhpjrt is clearly one to watchhpjrt is clearly one to watchhpjrt is clearly one to watchhpjrt is clearly one to watch
 
Posts: 78
Karma: 10862
Join Date: Aug 2010
Device: kobo
Quote:
Originally Posted by mr ploppy View Post
Fair enough. I tend to have a short story collection on the go at the same time I read a longer book, and it's always easier for me to fit in an extra short story than anything else. What if there was a short story that tied in directly with your 500 page book, would that make any difference? If it was included as a free extra within the book would you read it then?
If it was directly tied into the 500 page book, I might be inclined. On the other hand, I never read the "preview chapter" at the end of a book [paperback usually ... pre-e-reader days] after the first few times I encountered them ... because when I would find the actual book to which the preview chapter belonged, I tended to think I'd already read it.

I don't seem to recall book titles or covers nearly as well as I recall the actual story line. So ... when I was looking at books to purchase, I would always turn to the first chapter. If while reading the first page the text "rang a bell" ... I would presume that I'd read the book already. This was not always the case, naturally.

If I knew that a given short story pertained directly to the 500 page book, and was not simply a sample chapter ... I might be convinced to read it to get a feel for the story line ... but the problem there is that I'd want to have the 500 page book available at the same time. If I liked the short story, then I'd want to dive into the whole story ... get enveloped by it right away.

HTH

Mary
hpjrt is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-10-2010, 01:09 PM   #30
Marcy
Guru
Marcy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Marcy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Marcy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Marcy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Marcy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Marcy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Marcy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Marcy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Marcy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Marcy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Marcy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Marcy's Avatar
 
Posts: 893
Karma: 950683
Join Date: Oct 2009
Device: Kobo Libra2
Quote:
Originally Posted by L.J. Sellers View Post
My e-books, priced mostly at $2.99, are starting to be profitable for me. Meaning, they pay most of my bills. I offer the first book in my series at $.99 to get readers to try my work. This has been effective for me, because I have five other books, and readers end up buying most or all of them. I love being able to reach a lot of readers with reasonable prices.
L.J.
You should put a link to your books in your sig, not just the covers. I tried to click on them to see what they were about and if I wanted to buy them, and discovered they were just pictures, no links.

-Marcy
Marcy is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Translating indie authors Kumabjorn General Discussions 19 06-22-2012 04:58 AM
Your Favorite Indie Authors and Books? jamesread General Discussions 7 09-27-2010 03:11 AM
How Many of MR's Indie Authors Have You Read ? Kevin2960 General Discussions 44 09-22-2010 04:20 AM
Amazon ups profits to indie authors kindlekitten Amazon Kindle 3 07-03-2010 07:35 PM
Indie Authors on Twitter DaringNovelist Writers' Corner 20 06-10-2010 01:26 PM


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 03:50 AM.


MobileRead.com is a privately owned, operated and funded community.