To E or Not to E?

About a year ago, I began experimenting with epublishing. It hasn't made me rich. It hasn't bumped me into a higher tax bracket. It hasn't even brought in enough money to pay for the new transmission I just found out our minivan needs. (And a happy Thanksgiving to you, Mazda Motor Corporation!)

Yet three e-collections I've been pretty lax about promoting are now buying my family's groceries, and that counts for something. (To be specific, it counts for about $400 a month.) Of those three ebooks, one has been (by the low standards I set for my experiment) a hit, one has been a slow but steady earner and one has been a complete disaster. That's enough of a range for me to declare Phase 1 of the experiment complete. I've collected enough data to draw conclusions. Such as:

(1) If you're an established author and you haven't started self-pubbing your short stories and/or out-of-print novels, you're even worse at business than I am. Quite demonstrably. Because I suck at business, yet I'm making money that you, too, could be making with just the slightest effort. I also suck at techno mumbo-jumbo, but that didn't stop me. It wasn't hard to find reliable folks who could format and design my ebooks for a reasonable price. That's why two of my collections turned a profit just a couple weeks after going on sale. (One's a disaster, remember? But more on that in a second.)

(2) Concept is key. Not surprisingly, my bestselling self-published ebook is Dear Mr. Holmes, a collection of stories connected to my Holmes on the Range mystery series. It's got a built-in audience and a hooky premise (cowboys use the methods of Sherlock Holmes to solve crimes in the Old West). The book's subtitle -- Seven Holmes on the Range Mysteries -- does almost all of the selling for me. My next most-successful e-effort, Naughty, has a strong hook (stories about Christmas-themed crimes) though not the pre-existing fanbase. So it sells O.K., but not at the same pace. And the disaster...well, we're getting to that....

(3) 99 cents for an ebook is a really good deal -- and a really bad idea. Both Dear Mr. Holmes and Naughty cost $2.99. At that price, they were profitable after selling 250 and 150 downloads, respectively. (Dear Mr. Holmes was more expensive to put out because there's a print edition -- which very quickly paid for itself, by the way. So that's another lesson learned. I just don't feel like bolding it and giving it its own number.) But what if I put out an even cheaper ebook? Could increased sales from bargain-loving Kindleers boost a title into the black even faster? The answer: maybe...but not if you're offering up a short story collection with no discernible theme other than a naked plea for money. Which brings us to my dogs -- the one that's furry and cute and that one that's an epubbing catastrophe.

(4) Do not give your ebooks jokey titles like My Dog Needs Surgery. Because guess what? My dog still needs surgery. The collection I put out to try to raise money for her has actually managed to lose money. In hindsight, it's not a shock. (A) The book's name doesn't tell people anything about what they're buying. (B) The book's cover doesn't tell people anything about what they're buying. And (C) at 99 cents a pop (33 cents of which goes to me), I need to sell nearly 1,000 downloads just to cover the cost of the cover and formatting. I'd hoped that the wacky story of an author putting out a book on behalf of his dog would have a little viral life to it, but nope. Despite some much-appreciated cheerleading from a few online pals, word didn't spread. But that's O.K. My dog's going to get her surgery some day. Because I've learned.

(5) Even without the kind of 24-7 self-pimpage that gives me the heebie-jeebies, I can put out an ebook that finds an audience and quickly pays for itself -- so long as it has the right concept, cover and price. I know, I know. Seems pretty obvious, doesn't it? But it wasn't so obvious to me a year ago.

Now -- on to Phase 2.

Comments

[Gucci Outlet]

During the proceedings, Muth asserted that his military status was crucial to his case. "It is my judgement that my wife's murder was a hit by Iranian agents," said Muth. He added that this should be given greater weight because of the plot against the Saudi Ambassador. According to Muth, he and the ambassador had been working on the same issue: namely, U.S. military engagement with Iran.

[Steven T.]

Gucci got it right...

Really, I need to know - what's phase two? I'm still trying to get through phase one. So far, everything I've put out is a dog earnings-wise.

[Steve]

Thanks for the update on the Muth case, Gucci. Fascinating stuff. Happy holidays to you and Mrs. Outlet and all the little Outlets!

Phase 2 is in the planning stages, Steven. (By "the planning stages," I mean I don't have time to do anything with it at the moment but I will be thinking about it obsessively.) Depending on how things go on other fronts, it might involve other lessons I've learned about epublishing. Namely, (6) Kindle readers want series series series and (7) Kindle readers want novels novels novels. You and I had an uphill climb saleswise because we were putting out short story collections. My advice to you (and keep in mind that I don't know what the hell I'm talking about) is to reorganize/rebrand your collections to play up the Viktor Petrenko/Ray Cruz series angles while bumping the prices up to $2.99. If potential readers have to look at an Amazon page for more than 10 seconds to figure out what a book *is*, you've lost them. That's why My Dog Needs Surgery is such a dud, I'm guessing.

[Doug Levin]

Thanks, Steve. This is interesting and useful (and even has metrics, as they say).

[Steven T.]

Why not re-release as "Seven faces of murder" or some-such with a subtitle: (Formerly "My Dog Needs Surgery")? I'd buy it. I mean, not a second time, but you get the idea.

[Steve]

My pleasure, Doug! I hope the metrics come in handy. I'm particularly fond of centimeters myself. Ba-da-BING!

I hear you, Steven. I've thought about repackaging the material from My Dog Needs Surgery and giving it another go. The problem: I'd have to pay for a new cover and another round of formatting and I just don't feel like it. Plus, I don't have time to mess with all the hoo-ha on Amazon and barnesandnoble.com right now. When I do get around to putting out another ebook, I'm going to make sure it's as market-ready as possible right off the bat. Or I'm gonna try, anyway. Who knows what new lessons my next failure will teach me...?

[Esri Allbritten]

Naughty has a kick-ass cover.

[Steve]

Thanks! I agree. It was created by my old pal Brian Trost, who was one of my lead designers when I was a magazine editor way back in another life. He also did the cover for My Dog Needs Surgery. I love that cover, as well. But then again, I'm biased. That *is* my dog on there!

Come to think of it, Esri, the My Dog Needs Surgery cover kinda reminds me of another book I've run across lately....

http://www.amazon.com/Chihuahua-Baskervilles-Tripping-Magazine-Mystery/dp/0312569157/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1323408083&sr=1-1

-Steve

[E. Perth]

I'd trust that the wild story of an writer locate out a book on behalf of his dog would have a small viral life to it. That’s way go I hope you benefit this way to publish ebooks. Thanks!