What are you willing to do (or give up) to be a successful writer?

[EllenFisher]

One of my two indie romances finally hit below #1000 (#899 to be precise), and both of them are currently (if temporarily, in all likelihood  ) in the top hundred in Kindle contemporary romances.  I wondered on a board why so many people were buying my books, and it was pointed out to me that my books had been featured on a blog.  The reason?  It's Read an Ebook week and my books are both at ninety-nine cents right now, so they got mentioned as part of a feature on that topic  It does seem that I've been exposed to a lot more readers because my books were priced very low, and thus mentioned on this blog-- which is admittedly probably only likely to happen during Read an Ebook week.  Obviously I'm not making much per book, but I hope that exposure will equal sales later.

[Kristie Leigh Maguire]

One of my two indie romances finally hit below #1000 (#899 to be precise), and both of them are currently (if temporarily, in all likelihood  ) in the top hundred in Kindle contemporary romances.

Major congrats on this, Ellen! It must be quite a thrill.

[Joseph Rhea]

Cyberdrome finally broke back back through the 1,000 barrier (it's been bouncing off of it like a "force field" for the past 2 weeks)! It hit #695 as of 2pm EDT

Feels good to be back, even if it's only temporary (though it would be nice if it stayed for a while.)  

[EllenFisher]

Yay, Joseph, that's fabulous.  I hope it stays beneath the 1000 barrier for a long, long time!

[Kristie Leigh Maguire]

That is totally fabulous, Joseph! Congrats on this achievement.

[David Derrico]

Glad to see the price change worked!

People do seem to love the 99 cent books. I just hope they will love $2.99 books in July. 

[EllenFisher]

That is a big question to me, David.  If 2.99 becomes standard, will people still be as willing to take a gamble on indie authors?  After all, ninety-nine cents is a fifth of a five-dollar book from a major publisher.  2.99 is more than half.  I'll be interested to see what affect is has on indie sales.

[David Derrico]

That is a big question to me, David.  If 2.99 becomes standard, will people still be as willing to take a gamble on indie authors?  After all, ninety-nine cents is a fifth of a five-dollar book from a major publisher.  2.99 is more than half.  I'll be interested to see what affect is has on indie sales.

But aren't most books from major publishers more like $6.39 to $9.99? And, by the time July rolls around, won't most of them be more like $12.99 to $14.99?

I still think $2.99 is a pretty good value! 

But you're right, time will tell. I do think $2.99 is a very good "deal" and a fair price if people think about it, but I do fear there will be less "impulse buys."

[EllenFisher]

It depends, David.  As a writer of romance, I'm competing against mass market paperbacks and their Kindle editions, which tend to go for not much more than $5.99.  If you're competing against trade paperbacks or hardbacks, you still might look like a bargain at $2.99, but I probably won't.

[J Dean]

My ultimate goal would be to get a good enough income and popularity on this to be able to quit teaching full time and do part time as a college professor.  I don't want to be a millionaire, just do well enough to pay bills.

[Joseph Rhea]

Glad to see the price change worked!

People do seem to love the 99 cent books. I just hope they will love $2.99 books in July.  

Thanks, David. It worked for your two books, so I thought it would be worth the potential loss in royalties for me to give it a shot.
Thanks for leading the way!

When your two books first shot up to the top, did you have to suffer the public outcry that my book seems to be generating? I'm referring to a post from a long-time fan on the Amazon Kindle boards yesterday that apparently made a few people think it was either me writing as someone else, or a family member doing it for me, and now a whole fight has started. There is even a side thread calling for people to stop policing the boards and even more yelling and name-calling in there. Yikes! They say any publicity is good publicity, but I don't think this applies, and I certainly don't like it. If I discover that the woman who posted is in fact some relative of mine (or a past friend) then I will be very embarrassed over this, but since she has been posting positive things about the book for nearly 2 years, I would be shocked to learn it was someone I knew. Who could keep a secret like that for so long? Anyway, I am staying clear of the Amazon boards for now. It is much more polite and calm here on Kindleboards, for which I am very grateful.
Sorry for the diversion...just needed to get that off my chest. Right now, being in the "1000 club" is much less fun than I thought it would be.

[Sam Landstrom]

On one hand, the main Kindleboard is a very effective means to get the word out about a book, but on the other hand it can be brutal. As my thread got bumped by customers and then bumped again by me replying to them, accusations of spamming started up countered with "stop crying, some of us like to see cheap books", etc which then escalated into nastiness. Basically a derivative of the debate you're seeing. That left a bad taste in my mouth so I distanced myself from those boards.

I'm sure authors/family posing as genuine customers is a game occasionally played and so some of the SPAM police are on their guard. Sounds like they didn't do their homework in your case, but does anyone ever do a proper background check to see if someone is legit? Much more expedient to just lash out.

[Joseph Rhea]

On one hand, the main Kindleboard is a very effective means to get the word out about a book, but on the other hand it can be brutal. As my thread got bumped by customers and then bumped again by me replying to them, accusations of spamming started up countered with "stop crying, some of us like to see cheap books", etc which then escalated into nastiness. Basically a derivative of the debate you're seeing. That left a bad taste in my mouth so I distanced myself from those boards.

I'm sure authors/family posing as genuine customers is a game occasionally played and so some of the SPAM police are on their guard. Sounds like they didn't do their homework in your case, but does anyone ever do a proper background check to see if someone is legit? Much more expedient to just lash out.

Sam
Actually, I believe it's much harder to "fake" a person on the Amazon forums. There you have to have an Amazon account and actually purchase Amazon products (with a credit card) to be able to post anywhere. So, if it were me posing as a fan, I would have had to use a credit card with someone else's name on it two years ago (which I'm pretty sure is illegal), and then have this alter ego hang around for two years just to plug my book yesterday. And for that matter, why would I do it? My book is in the top 500 (actually top 300 right now!) Does it sound like I need sneaky tactics to get more readers? (If so, then I am the greediest person on the planet and should be kicked out of the "club"!)

And one last thing, and I'm sorry for venting it all here (because I consider many people here as friends-both on and off the boards), even if it turns out that someone I know started the post (friend, cousin, ex-girlfriend), is that suddenly a crime now? If they actually like my book and are telling others about it, is that so wrong? I try to promote other authors whenever I can. I honestly fail to see what the controversy was/is? Also, if it really is just a really nice fan (which I still believe) do you think that person will ever say anything nice about my book ever again?

Anyway, sorry for the derailing of my own thread, and I hope you all have more fun than I am having when you get to the so-called "top!"

Let's go back to the topic now...

[David Derrico]

Wow, I had to go over and check out the thread you were talking about. First of all, congrats on reaching the 300s, that's rare air that I've never had the pleasure of sampling -- good for you! As for the thread, I'm guessing it started out just about your book, and then was edited to include several others (including mine)? It's pretty much damned if you do, damned if you don't -- either you don't promote and languish in obscurity and just sell a handful of copies to family and friends, you promote and get called a "spammer" or yelled at or have your books "tagged" with nasty stuff (not too dissimilar from graffiti "tagging," actually), or you actually find that one-in-a-thousand customer who really liked your stuff and actually does something to help get the word out ... and then you get slammed for it because people just accuse her of being a shill. So is it just a Catch-22? What are authors supposed to do, exactly?

I'm sorry it left a negative taste in your mouth. To answer your question, I'm lucky that I haven't been attacked on the Amazon forums so far, but I try to stay fairly low-key over there and try to err on the side of not promoting enough. As far as I know, no one started a thread like that for me, so I haven't been accused of making a shill account. However, once my sales increased to where I reached the Top 1,000, I did notice some lashback. The most specific example was three very poor (1- and 2-star) reviews all posted within 2 hours, right on the heels of my highest sales rankings. At least one of them was clearly fake; the other two, I can't prove one way or the other, but they didn't pass the "smell test." Sadly, not only did it pretty much ruin my weekend, but it made me almost not WANT any publicity or to get too high in the rankings or whatever for fear of retaliation.

You know, in the great scheme of things, we're still low men on the totem pole. Knowing how similar your sales rankings have been to mine, I can pretty much guesstimate how well you're doing. And I know it's certainly better than lots of people (hey, if you're in the Top 1,000 that makes 449,000 books not doing as well!), but still not enough to make a living or even come all that close. But, it does seem to be enough to instill some jealousy or hatred and attract the trolls who only use the Internet to tear people down and do things they'd never do in real life.

Anyway, sorry that happened, but I'd say to ignore the nay-sayers and enjoy your sales success (I know, easier said than done).

[Debra Purdy Kong]

My rankings are so bad, I still allow myself to get excited when I get a book sale and jump to 17,000! I know I need to pimp myself all over these boards and over at Amazon to get sales, but I simply don't have the energy.

Just makes the sales I do get that little bit more special. 

I'm with ya there! My rankings aren't great, but I'm not promoting as much as I'd like to. I am spending my energy where I need to, though: on my family, my writing, and salaried employment. I've been in a quandary about my ebook pricing and have discussed it with my publisher. We're still deciding on the best course of action.

[Joseph Rhea]

David
Thanks for the positive words. Things seemed to have simmered down over on the amazon boards, and I'm thankful for that. A few people even posted some nice things about my book on the thread I mentioned.

Back on the subject of what it takes to be on the top of the amazon charts; as I've discovered, being in the top 1,000 with a $0.99 books earns about the same in royalties as being around 4,000 with a $2.99 book. Even now, inside the top 500 and #1 in most of my genre rankings, I'm only earning approximately 50% more than I was--that's all. And my book won't stay there forever, of course. It will slide down the ranks, as they all do, and then I will find myself earning less than if I had kept my price at $2.99.

In either case, I could never live off what I am earning right now, not with just one book, and with such low royalties. After taxes and splitting my remaining royalties with my coauthor (my brother) I'm earning enough to pay for my monthly Starbucks habit-that's all. As great as the Kindle rankings are, they are still 1/10 the print market, and that market is what we need to get a cut of. That's why I decided to put (Kindle / Paperback) after my book's title, to hopefully draw in some paperback readers when they see it high on the charts. Don't know how well it will work, but I'll let you know. Those of you without print editions, should look into adding it. It's free at CreateSpace (which is owned by Amazon) and is where my paperback is published.

I, for one, am really looking forward to June when the new royalty rates go into effect. If all Indie authors set their lowest prices at $2.99, that will still be well below most traditionally published books. Then, if any of us "Indies" makes it back into the top 1000, that person might finally be able to live off his/her sales (or at least, really supplement their income). The more prolific authors like you, David, with two or more books out there, will do even better.

Better days are coming, my friends.
Joe

[rsullivan9597]

If all Indie authors set their lowest prices at $2.99, that will still be well below most traditionally published books. Then, if any of us "Indies" makes it back into the top 1000, that person might finally be able to live off his/her sales (or at least, really supplement their income). The more prolific authors like you, David, with two or more books out there, will do even better.

Better days are coming, my friends.
Joe

I wanted to resurrect this thread now that I have some real-world experience with 'breaking 1000'.  I personally think that the indies are doing themselves (and the indie community as a whole) to keep their prices so far below market value (i.e. $0.99 or $1.99 or even $2.99) just to try to get better rankings.
 
I've always had my husband's books listed at $5.99 or higher (never put a book at $0.99, 1.99, or 2.99).  Currently all of his books are below 1,000

• The Crown Conspiracy: 129 List $4.99 discounted to $3.89
• Nyphron Rising: 609 List $4.99 discounted to $3.89
• The Emerald Storm: 738 List $4.99 discounted to $3.89
• Wintertide:843 List $6.95 (no discount)

Now a big part of this has to do with Avempartha being free but he broke 1,000 before that promotion started.  Generally his books were in the 2,000 range and it took a long long time to break 1,000 (I'm hoping that Crown will break 100 - it has "flirted with it several times"). I watch ratings VERY closely (use both titlez and booklert) and believe it or not...his sales were higher at $4.99 then $3.89 (I can't get B&N to stop discounting them - I wish they would keep them at $4.99 as the discount is actually hurting sales).

Now...I have another author that I publish and his book "Quarter Share" has been below 1,000 since 07/10/2010 (Currently at: 410) his lowest has been 319 and he is routinely aroud 600.  His price has always been $4.99 (discounted to $3.89). I've done no "special pricing" to keep him there - just worked promoting him heavily thorugh the Internet.

So....I guess all I'm saying is you can be an "indie" and rank below 1000 and price your books at a "living rate".  I think it takes some confidence in your writing and the ability to market them effectively. I was speaking to another author here on the site yesterday (his book is currently free) and he mentioned his previous price was $2.99 and he had at at $0.99 - I've read his book (or at least part of it) and can see no reason why it should not be at $4.99. I understand the "old adage" that lower price = more sales but I've proven through tracking that lowering the books from $4.99 to $3.89 (beyond my control) has actually hurt sales.

Anyway...try experimenting with different price points - including higher ones- I think it is worth doing some "market research" and you just might find yourself doing better in the rankings with a price "not so low".