Business Hat

Years ago I put together a group blog called Genreality. It was about the reality of being a professional genre fiction writer. It was a fabulous group, full of amazing authors who were willing to share their thoughts, opinions, and experiences. (It’s still up as an archive so surf through it sometime) Here, on my own blog, I don’t often talk business because my blog is geared toward readers who want to connect with me, and get to know the author behind the stories. However, today I feel the need to speak to other writers about something that effects us all-inclduing readers.

Authors, if you want readers to value your work, you have to value it first.

By that I mean that we’ve gone from a time when a Free Read was something readers saw as the treat or bonus gift it was meant to be to a time where readers don’t want to pay more than $2.99 for a full length novel. And there is no one to blame but ourselves.

The good news is, we can fix it. There is nothing wrong with offering a Free Read. I think it’s great. I do it. I also love to give away the surprise treat on social media or through my newsletter, but I don’t like that it’s expected to price the work at a permanent bargain basement level. I know the market is FULL of cheap reads, and many of them are even good, but if we want to keep a career going, then we need to start being realistic about pricing. The thing is, it’s not just some readers who are wanting that low low pricing, it’s some authors too. But to me, what is meant to be a treat or special, should not be the norm.

Yes, lower prices can help the money come in on that title. And with the higher royalty rate that we get from Indie publishing, it feels good, for a month or two, to actually make some decent money. But I have to wonder how many of those readers who are buying it at 99 cents (or who are getting it free as part of a blog tour or promotional giveaway) are actually reading it and turning into a return buyer. I wonder this for two reasons.

1) I know *I* bought a ton of 99 cent books because they either looked interesting and “Hey, its only 99 cents.” or to support friends. Out of the ones I bought, I’ve maybe read 3/10.

The lack of physical book has made it so easy to store a TBR pile that mine is bigger than ever now. Combine the infinite space to store with the “Hey, its only 99 cents.” factor, and I know I have a shit ton of books I’ll likely never read. I can’t be the only one who does this, right?

2) I don’t see the millions of free downloads translating to sales of other titles, or even reviews for the Free one.

Now, I know not everyone who reads one of my books is going to enjoy it enough to buy other titles, but I have to believe that some (Let’s say 25% just for the sake of argument) of the people will. If I don’t believe that, then, well, I might just not have the heart to keep at this gig.

Example: UNFETTERED has been FREE for 8 months ( I just took it off Free last week) In that time it has garnered over 100,000 free downloads and 29 reviews.

The next book in that series PRIMAL has been out for 5 months, and was Never free (but was on pre-order for 99 cents and sold about 1,000 downloads at that price in just under 2 months) and while it has sold way less then the 100,000 free downloads of Unfettered, it has 55 reviews.

My conclusion is that if the price is enough that the reader has to actually think about buying it, instead of just auto clicking a 99 cent deal – then they chances of them actually reading it are higher. Which means, hopefully, that the chance of them buying other titles by the author is higher, and the chances of them leaving a review are higher.

Sure, it’s great to see the number of downloads rise, but what good is that is so few of those downloads lead to someone actually reading my work? I want readers to THINK about buying my books. I want them to look at the cover art, read the blurb, and make a conscious choice to put their money there. I want them to learn my name, my brand, and trust in it, and in me to give them some enjoyable hours of escape that are worth their time and money.

So…now you’ve had a glimpse of my thought pattern when I’ve got the business hat on …care to share yours?

Tell me what you think about the glut of 99 cent eBooks. How many have you bought that you haven’t read yet?

Readers, do you value the books you pay a higher price for any differently than the ones you get free or for cheap? (Counting print books you might get free as giveaways or goody bags at cons)