tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7436915084701775452.post6708284290242043330..comments2024-03-18T21:30:04.613-07:00Comments on <b>Smashwords</b>: New Smashwords Survey Helps Authors Sell More eBooksDovetail Public Relationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05039664167177159146noreply@blogger.comBlogger79125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7436915084701775452.post-50081576385495404462016-01-30T06:52:29.225-08:002016-01-30T06:52:29.225-08:00Has this data changed significantly in the last fe...Has this data changed significantly in the last few years? Nanettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12750070015181006732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7436915084701775452.post-44722520366949080402014-11-14T08:08:07.378-08:002014-11-14T08:08:07.378-08:00This is very useful info. But please make your rig...This is very useful info. But please make your right sidebar stop having spasms so I can read your posts without feeling ill.Bad Horsehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10735227563256689679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7436915084701775452.post-63313735658046274312014-01-21T02:34:46.121-08:002014-01-21T02:34:46.121-08:00Great article.
Most of my sales are currently in ...Great article.<br /><br />Most of my sales are currently in the UK.<br /><br />Are these prices directly comparable in the UK or would a currency conversion of $3.99 to, say, £2.45 be the sweet spot in UK?Rosie Dean Musingshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00988165538579214367noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7436915084701775452.post-56315136766120513532013-11-02T07:43:04.630-07:002013-11-02T07:43:04.630-07:00Great info, thanks for sharing it. It gives me a ...Great info, thanks for sharing it. It gives me a lot to think over before publishing my first book.Stephenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14985917598240640084noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7436915084701775452.post-53471311034135573952013-10-29T20:45:10.333-07:002013-10-29T20:45:10.333-07:00I've asked myself why people absolutely love m...I've asked myself why people absolutely love my book and it has a cult following, but my sales aren't reflecting that. I think it may be due to the low pricing and the disrespect I get from readers because of the low price, with comments like "Great for a FREE book." Or "Pretty good for a $1.99 book." I priced it free to gain readership, and this worked, but not enough. I've now changed all my prices to $3.99 and we'll see how that goes. I do admit, I am every scared. It feels like I'm embarking on a new journey. But, it's all in the name of research. I can handle a drop in sales just to see if it really works. And who knows? Maybe it really will work! Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7436915084701775452.post-41877874609398500222013-09-03T20:20:59.705-07:002013-09-03T20:20:59.705-07:00Mark,
Thanks for sharing this data!!!!
Question....Mark,<br /><br />Thanks for sharing this data!!!!<br /><br />Question. What is the standard deviation on the book lengths for the top 1,000 or 2,000 books? Or the range? <br /><br />Averages can be tricky, and it might be that the range of what's successful is huge. <br /><br />I'd really like to see the distribution over the length range. Can you shed some light on that?John Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16644593323523613105noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7436915084701775452.post-83411080106100155462013-08-31T02:18:22.479-07:002013-08-31T02:18:22.479-07:00My self published book is going to be released in ...My self published book is going to be released in Oct but this is not why I am writing. My question is the following. My book has a word count of 222.000. A large book but big story, which I could have elongated even further. I have full rights over my book but do I have full rights as to its pricing, as I am published by a large self publishing company? Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05222388857965403402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7436915084701775452.post-16612609421713839942013-08-29T21:52:00.659-07:002013-08-29T21:52:00.659-07:00I noticed that $8.99 does better than $7.99 and ev...I noticed that $8.99 does better than $7.99 and even $6.99 does better than $7.99. How do you explain this?<br /><br />Could it also be that there are fewer books published at 1.99, or did you look at the total volume of books offered at 1.99 and still conclude that the price is a black hole?<br /><br />I know an author, Mark David Ledbetter, who sells a ton of his "America's Forgotten History" series at $1.50.<br /><br />Thanks,<br />RichardRichard Crastahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02940887505212281224noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7436915084701775452.post-66905209526887548902013-08-29T21:35:04.705-07:002013-08-29T21:35:04.705-07:00Hi Mark,
Thanks for the info. A few questions:
-...Hi Mark,<br /><br />Thanks for the info. A few questions: <br />--Do readers like or NOT like the inclusion of excerpts from the author's other books at the end of a book? <br />--Is the Library Price meant to be set higher than the normal price? What difference does it make? It appears to be just one or two sales in any case.<br />--Does the price aversion to prices above $4.99 include books for a small readership (literary books, semi-scholarly works)?<br />Thanks,<br />RichardRichard Crastahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02940887505212281224noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7436915084701775452.post-90069044642025176722013-08-15T13:36:45.040-07:002013-08-15T13:36:45.040-07:00Hi Pastor Tom, welcome to the brave new world! We...Hi Pastor Tom, welcome to the brave new world! We didn't break out the difference between fiction and non-fiction, and it's fair to say our data is heavily skewed in favor of fiction. Regardless of our findings, I think you should write to the length that your book requires to maximize reader happiness with your knowledge or story, no less no more.Dovetail Public Relationshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05039664167177159146noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7436915084701775452.post-52175370269846033132013-08-15T13:25:07.287-07:002013-08-15T13:25:07.287-07:00Hi Mark, I am a relative newbie to e-book publishi...Hi Mark, I am a relative newbie to e-book publishing. A question about book length: is there any difference in the best book lengths between fiction and non-fiction?Pastor Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17571857719138644812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7436915084701775452.post-1756166790881945792013-07-24T10:48:38.496-07:002013-07-24T10:48:38.496-07:00Al, check out my older survey HERE which explored ...Al, check out my older survey <a href="http://blog.smashwords.com/2011/09/how-ebook-buyers-discover-books.html" rel="nofollow">HERE</a> which explored discovery. Also check out my free ebook, The Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success. It has a lot more on discovery.Dovetail Public Relationshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05039664167177159146noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7436915084701775452.post-21535807909102429422013-07-24T10:21:11.020-07:002013-07-24T10:21:11.020-07:00The article begs the question: How does this perfe...The article begs the question: How does this perfect book get seen? You can't sell copies if your book isn't seen by readers.<br /><br />You can't get near the top of Smashword's lists if you're not selling, but you can't sell if you're not near the top of the lists. Catch-22.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7436915084701775452.post-54114391811056050022013-06-29T03:54:07.346-07:002013-06-29T03:54:07.346-07:00First, I want to say it's awesome that you'...First, I want to say it's awesome that you're providing this kind of data. So thanks for that.<br /><br /><i><br />Mark Coker said...<br />@JJ, I think the data pretty conclusively shows that $.99, $2.99 and $3.99 are the price points that get the most unit sales, <b>and that higher word count (regardless of price) is prefered by readers, judging by their votes with their dollars</b>.<br />[ ... ]<br />@Rachalle, I'm not a big fan of serialization either. Our data shows so conclusively that longer works please readers more.<br />[ ... ]<br />[B]ut I wonder if that success was primarily due to them writing an irresistibly awesome story, and not because it was a serial. <b>Very important to separate cause and effect</b>.<br /></i><br /><br /><br />(note, I know you urge caution in the conclusion, but I didn't read that until now, after the below is written, and maybe other people are like me)<br /><br />Isn't this what the blog post is doing? Conflating correlation with cause, by assuming that the reason that those books that sell more do so because they're priced at $3.99?<br /><br />In other words, raising or lowering the price of a book to $3.99 will not necessarily increase sales, nor will deviating away from $3.99 necessarily decrease sales, just that, on average, books at $3.99 tend to sell better.<br /><br />To see this, ask how the data shows that the price is the cause. Is it not also possible that the best authors price their books at $3.99?<br /><br />For example, imagine a scenario where King, Rowling, Clancy, et al, all decide to price their ebooks at exactly $3.99. Suddenly, $3.99 is the hottest price point. But that doesn't imply that $3.99 is the reason those books are selling so well (and the fact that $3.99 stands out so strongly in the data could suggest that the anomaly is due to external factors--it will be interesting to see next year if this effect is increased).<br /><br />The same thing can be applied with word count.<br /><br />Instead of drawing the conclusion that readers prefer longer works, maybe it's just that books that are longer are simply better, or are written by better known authors--or, if the $3.99 correlation is in fact a causal factor, that longer works tend to be priced at $3.99.<br /><br />That's not to say any of those are the reasons, just that they are other possible ones that, lacking more data, are equally as likely as reader preference. To determine reader preference, things like popularity would need to be controlled for; by the data's nature, it's not an unbiased sample with regards to user preference.<br /><br />Again, thanks for the stats. But it's nice to remember that there are lies, damn lies, and then statistics. Lying by telling the truth is still lying, and that's what statistics tend to do--the average is not the specific.Shaunhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09027593066075125217noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7436915084701775452.post-1627458850794913192013-06-28T23:55:42.410-07:002013-06-28T23:55:42.410-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Shaunhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09027593066075125217noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7436915084701775452.post-31764107095448389332013-06-26T02:02:08.152-07:002013-06-26T02:02:08.152-07:00thanks dear,for data...thanks dear,for data...Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14571836575484702638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7436915084701775452.post-79132612845888037712013-06-18T01:22:08.000-07:002013-06-18T01:22:08.000-07:00Mark Coker is a guru, an important figure in the i...Mark Coker is a guru, an important figure in the industry. I published my two novels in Smashwords. I like its simplicity. More power to Mark and Smashwords!Rafhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16522220585909956318noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7436915084701775452.post-72902017219890260232013-06-14T11:20:32.319-07:002013-06-14T11:20:32.319-07:00 Wow, fascinating study. This should help all of u... Wow, fascinating study. This should help all of us in the ebook field. Knowledge is power and you are giving us great power with your knowledge. Thanks, Lyn AustinLyn Austinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02505669382481081519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7436915084701775452.post-33391917021263155732013-06-11T18:03:09.071-07:002013-06-11T18:03:09.071-07:00Great to see some very interesting and useful info...Great to see some very interesting and useful information on self publishing stats. The pricing information confirms the buyers notion that inexpensive books are less rewarding. I'll be back to see what you guys post next.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13657147897755505054noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7436915084701775452.post-35528609155260300732013-06-09T09:35:15.011-07:002013-06-09T09:35:15.011-07:00Things obviously change: in 2008 most people prefe...Things obviously change: in 2008 most people preferred books of about 180 pages (approx. 60.000 words.)<br />But then this was not about e-books.<br />Big tomes were thought unsellable, so that made me decide to cut my tome of more than 600 pages into smaller books. I may have to reconsider that...Constance Hampton Joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04774551331887197988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7436915084701775452.post-25317425199236436812013-06-09T07:47:39.696-07:002013-06-09T07:47:39.696-07:00Gregory...It took me 7 years to write VAlley of So...Gregory...It took me 7 years to write VAlley of Sorrows. I used at least 30 beta readers to get feedback. I was fortunate that a friend gave my manuscript to an employee at International Creative Management in NYC who read it and offered suggestions. Her best suggestion was for me to employ an editor which I did. I met Mark Coker in Wichita and he suggested I put my ebook up for free the first month. In that time, I started to receive some good reviews which lead to about 350 downloads. Then word of mouth kicked in. Although I chose to keep my book free, after one year I have over 6400 downloads. Let others read your work and get feedback. It does help.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04135267525164606021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7436915084701775452.post-30262502837025271312013-06-07T08:02:05.269-07:002013-06-07T08:02:05.269-07:00No one has even brought a copy; more than one week...No one has even brought a copy; more than one week ago, I ran into a conclusion that no one will ever buy my e-book, and so I have to rewrite it all over again...<br /><br />I have been working on my rewriting for several days, but I can't believe how much work I have to do and yet not succeed in what I want to do. I don't understand why no one has ever brought my e-book.Gregory Desrosiershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00189273846619965757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7436915084701775452.post-63790199890384176812013-06-04T16:23:35.155-07:002013-06-04T16:23:35.155-07:00I found your presentation interesting as always. S...I found your presentation interesting as always. Since my book is free and doing well (6235 downloads)I am glad you threw in info on free books. You are right about making the first book in a series free when you are an unknown author. Although I have not written a series,my first book has been free for a year and I actually have people asking for my next novel. It worked out better than I expected. Thanks Smashwords.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04135267525164606021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7436915084701775452.post-2847201281858688892013-06-01T10:14:31.061-07:002013-06-01T10:14:31.061-07:00This pm I opened Smashwords to increase my non-fic...This pm I opened Smashwords to increase my non-fiction book price to $3.99. I decided to procrastinate and clicked the blog button instead. Wow am I glad I did to get some support for increasing the price. Also am going to refer to my book as Girls Succeed! not using the entire title anymore in my blog posts, etc. Thanks for the info.J.Q. Rosehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04710790553616621103noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7436915084701775452.post-32709603298618683322013-05-29T22:03:35.101-07:002013-05-29T22:03:35.101-07:00Downloaded your Secrets to Ebook Publishing Succes...Downloaded your Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success too, very inspiring and informative. Thank you very much!Evacomicshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03001049594351073991noreply@blogger.com