Exclusive Deal Verses A Wide Net Approach

grizzletoad1

grizzletoad1

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Right now, my novel is published through Kindle Direct and Create Space. The book is selling - about 1 book a day with periods of no sales for a few days here and there. It's not a barn burner by any means. The Kindle Direct E-Book version is offered through Kindle's "Select" program. They claimed it would lead to more sales than if it were offered only through their regular program. With sales totals like I've just detailed, do you think that is working? I don't. About the only thing I believe I did was cut myself off from the wider E-Book market, namely those who use devices other than Kindle, the most notable being Barnes and Noble's Nook.

My Select period is slated to end on August 10 of this year. I'm wondering whether I should let it expire and then put my book up on Smashwords as well as Kindle Direct to cast as wide a net out there in the E-Book market as I can. Is this a wise strategy maneuver or am I still better off re-upping the Select provision and continue my exclusive sales for my E-Book through Kindle? Any advice will be appreciated. Thanks.
 
shelleyo

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grizzletoad1 said:
Right now, my novel is published through Kindle Direct and Create Space. The book is selling - about 1 book a day with periods of no sales for a few days here and there. It's not a barn burner by any means. The Kindle Direct E-Book version is offered through Kindle's "Select" program. They claimed it would lead to more sales than if it were offered only through their regular program. With sales totals like I've just detailed, do you think that is working? I don't. About the only thing I believe I did was cut myself off from the wider E-Book market, namely those who use devices other than Kindle, the most notable being Barnes and Noble's Nook.

My Select period is slated to end on August 10 of this year. I'm wondering whether I should let it expire and then put my book up on Smashwords as well as Kindle Direct to cast as wide a net out there in the E-Book market as I can. Is this a wise strategy maneuver or am I still better off re-upping the Select provision and continue my exclusive sales for my E-Book through Kindle? Any advice will be appreciated. Thanks.
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If it's not selling, I see little pointing in staying exclusive. You never know which vendor will do better for you.

Have you used all your free days? Are you getting many borrows? Is this your only book?

If you haven't used all your free days, schedule them and let some sites like Ereader News Today that pick these things up know when your free days are, maybe spend $5-$10 to have your freebie advertised a little. Can't hurt. PM me and I'll point you in the right direction.

If you're getting many borrows (which I'm guessing you're not), it could offset the slow sales during a normal month. I'm guessing it won't, because I think the payout for borrows is going to be less for the next month or two. That's just my theory. I hope it's wrong.

If this is your only book, do the freebie days if you have them left, and unless sales skyrocket after, get the book on other vendors.

Then stop worrying about that book. Worry about getting the next one out as soon as you can. It's not all that common for one book to sell well, especially a first book, especially outside romance. Looks like it was published almost 6 months ago. Is your second book coming soon? That'll do more for you than anything else at this point.
 
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WriterBN

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You really won't know without trying. I did Select for my first 3 months, then branched out to the other major channels for the next 6 months. In those 6 months, I sold less on the other channels combined than a single month of borrows in Select. Plus, I got full royalties in India through Select, which was important for my target audience. I'm back in Select now.

Other authors I know have managed to do well on other channels, but it didn't work for me. Give it a try and see how it goes.
 
grizzletoad1

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Shelleyo,

Select only allows a single promotion during each 3 month Select period. I did a .99 discounted price promo back in May when I re-upped my Select. I sold only 7 books during the 4 day period, 5 in one day. Since then, sales have been about 1 every other day. Borrows have been even leaner. I only just got my second borrow for July yesterday! All in all, the sales for the book have been disappointing, despite having great reviews on Amazon. I am running a series of ads on Goodreads, but I am unsure just how successful that has been. My ads have been viewed over 750,000 times since February. It has generated only 250 "clicks" and only 46 people have "added" my book to their lists. I have no idea what that really means as I don't see it in the sales totals. I have a website with a blog and a Facebook page dedicated to the book, but they just don't seem to be getting any interest beyond family, friends and co-workers. And while that is very heart-warming, it's not getting me out into the wider general population. The bottom line here is I need some kind of promotion. But I don't have the money for a publicist and every strategy I have tried has been a failure so far, with the limited exception of Goodreads. My Create Space softcover version has only been out for about 2 months, but it has only sold 5 copies on the open market. Others seem to have better success out here in the indie market. I need to know what their secrets are because I'm floundering right now. As for a second novel, there is none. Not now. Not ever. It took me 25 years to write this one! So as far as my writing career is concerned, I'm a one trick pony. I have to make this book work on its own.
 
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WEM

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I suppose it depends on your particular situation. I've found the opposite - Amazon sales of my new book have picked up, but zilch on the other channels. But I'm in the UK, so things will be different.
 
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