As is usual with the end-of-the-year posts, I'm popping on the blog to update you on some decisions I've made about my books.
I've now had my books in Kindle Unlimited for over 90 days. I've had the chance to see their performance, and I'm quite pleased with the results so far. I won't say that I've made a lot of money on Kindle Unlimited borrows, but I have made a significant amount more than I did selling through other vendors. Which is what I wanted to get from this switch. I've been watching my Pretty Links dashboard to see if people from other vendors have been reading my books and clicking on the links to get the next book in the series, and that just hasn't happened. I figured that if people were downloading REMOVED from Apple, Barnes & Noble, or Kobo, reading, and clicking on the links at the back of the book, I would know that my books were wanted on other platforms. This is obviously not a foolproof method because they could NOT click on the link and instead go straight to the store, but the link is right there and usually it's the laziest way to buy the next book (and we all know how lazy we can be).
So after giving it more thought, and looking at my numbers for the year, I've decided to put REMOVED into Kindle Unlimited. This means it will no longer be free. It will also no longer be available from Apple, Barnes & Noble, or Kobo. I will also remove it from Wattpad, since Amazon demands exclusivity from its KU books. I will price REMOVED at $.99 for 2016, and I will occasionally make it free. I had approximately 8000 free downloads of REMOVED in 2015. In 2014, I gave away approximately 5000 free copies. It's safe to say that, without a Bookbub, I am not going to reach a significantly new audience in 2016, so price pulsing the book to free every few months will have a greater impact than just leaving it free. Plus, those in Kindle Unlimited will be able to borrow the book, and I will get paid for those borrows. I feel confident that this is a good decision. So, if you want to get the book for free, do it before January 1.
I also plan to redesign the covers for the Nogiku Series to give them a more scifi/space feel in 2016! I’ll be sure to show them off here when that happens.
In other news, SUMMER HAIKUS is getting a new cover! I know that this will come as a disappointment to some of you. Many friends, other authors, and book bloggers expressed their love of the original cover, and I was very happy with it. But the book is just not selling, and I suspect that the cover has something to do with that. It's usually the first thing in an author will change if sales are low, so I wanted to give it a facelift before I put the book on sale. I’ve hired an amazing designer and she’s working on it as I type this! I’m sure you’ll love this one just as much. And yes, SUMMER HAIKUS will go on sale in January. I feel no regrets telling you this since I haven't sold a copy of it in over two months. LOL. I suspect that I will also have FACE TIME’s cover redesigned in the spring, but for now the book is doing just fine on its own.
Writing continues on book 2 of my cozy mystery series! I faltered a little bit this past week, but I continue to write and be excited about my characters and their lives. Hopefully I will be done with book 2 by mid-January, and I will start on revisions to book 1 soon after that.
That's all from me! Remember to get REMOVED for free before the end of the year, or you can wait for it to be in Kindle Unlimited and read the whole series for free with your subscription.
I never click on the links in the back of a book, but that’s because I never buy books on my e-reader or ipad, so I will always go back to my computer and buy the books there. I am sure I am the exception to that as from what I’ve seen lots of authors use links in the back of their books, so I am assuming it will have some effect.
I am sorry to hear Summer Haikus is getting a new cover as I love this one, but if a new cover will help it sell better then it’s definitely worth a try. I am curious to see the new cover!
I think focussing more on the sci-fi elements for the nogiku covers sounds like a good idea, they only focus on characters/ japan now and maybe with a sci-fi covers you would attract more readers who are looking for that. Let me know if you want me to organize a cover re-reveal for any of your new covers in 2016!
I recommended Removed to my sister, last time she was here I saw it was on her e-reader already, so she managed to grab it while it was still free.
I sort of base my data off of the hits the Amazon links get. The links at the back of Amazon books get clicked on and correlate to sales, so I would assume that the links in the back of Apple, Kobo, or B&N books would get about the same (I’m guessing 80% of people click on the Amazon ones). But I’m getting NO CLICKS at all. So that tells me people have downloaded but are not reading. Which is a shame but it does give me something to go on. Some data is better than none.
I think you’ll like the new SH cover! You’ll look at it and think it’s very Isa. :) And yeah, the Nogiku books need a more “space” feel and I have some ideas of what to do there. I’m looking forward to giving them an overhaul, probably in conjunction with an omnibus of the whole series.
I’m glad your sister got Removed for free! Only a few more days and I’ll start taking it down. Never a dull moment around here. ;)
Wow 80% of the people click on the links, that’s quite a lot! I never would’ve predicted the effect would be that big. It sure seems to be helpfull to have those links in the back of your book then.
You make me curious about the new SH cover :). I like the idea of an omnibus for the whole series. A lot of authors seem to do that lately.
I hope my sister will enjoy Removed! My sister is a big fan of everything japan and asia, so I think she will like that aspect.
I think I wrote that wrong. Need more tea! What I meant to say was that 80% of sales come from people who click on the links at the back. So if I get ten sales in a month, I usually have about 8 link clicks from the back of the books that correspond to the same days as those sales. Meaning, my sell-through is pretty good. If they click the link AT ALL, it’s almost a guaranteed sale. I’ll see the link in the dashboard and I usually have a sale not long after. Then I get random sales here and there from people that are coming to my books from other locations.
I also get more clicks on back-of-the-book links soon after I do a promotion. So people are buying or downloading during a sale, and then reading, clicking, and buying. Which is what I want!
But that really only happens at Amazon for me. *shrugs shoulders* I never see those clicks from other retailers.
That’s still a great number! And it does show how important and effective those links are.
That’s good to see that promotions lead to more sales of your later books that way as well!
I think most authors sell best at amazon from what I’ve heard and most readers buy their books there, so I guess that makes sense.
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