Yesterday, I reformatted Genesis Earth and uploaded the new version to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords. Basically, I took everything I’ve learned about ebook formatting in the last few months and brought it up to date.
Here’s the complete list of changes:
- Revised author’s note to include Facebook and Goodreads links, mention of newsletter, etc.
- Added teasers for BSH and Desert Stars.
- Credited my editor on copyright page.
- Put table of contents on one screen.
- Added nav points using KindleGen.
If you’ve got the old version, the book itself is pretty much the same; basically, I just uploaded a cleaner version, with links to my other works. Genesis Earth continues to sell better than Bringing Stella Home and Sholpan, so I figured it would be good to update it.
As for how sales of my ebooks have been going, to be honest they’ve dropped off quite a bit. At Amazon, my free short stories have more or less equalized at 20-80 downloads per week, and they’re starting to get some traction on the new Amazon FR store, but the paid stuff has slowed down quite a lot.
What this tells me is that I haven’t yet built up enough of a reader base to be self sustaining. It’s not enough just to upload your work to Amazon and the other ebook retailers (though that’s certainly important); you’ve got to find ways to reach new readers and get your name out there.
I’m not too worried; I figure the most important thing right now is to build my list. After all, if you want to get discovered, the most important thing is to have something that people can discover.
Beyond that, though, I’m going to try a variety of strategies, including submitting work to more traditional markets (especially short stories). The biggest breakthrough would probably come from Writers of the Future, so I plan to put a lot more effort into that contest.
I’ll also focus a lot on the email newsletter, since that’s the best direct connection I have with my readers. For those of you who have already signed up, expect to see a lot more free and exclusive content. And for those of you who haven’t–what are you waiting for?? Check out the sidebar and sign up!
In the meantime, I’m going to keep writing novels and indie publishing them. It’s definitely worth it, even if sales are initially slow. Like Howard Tayler says, the first step to making grizzly bear soup is killing the grizzly bear–everything after that is just making soup.
Have you ever read “The Tipping Point”? It investigates the “magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire.” Sounds like that’s what you’re trying to seek by building a self-sustaining readership. I first read it years ago, and find it gives awesome pointers on how to market things.
In that vein, I wonder if your current blog tour is really yielding you the results you want. These blogs you’re guest posting on don’t seem to be frequented by lots of sci-fi readers, which are the audience you seek. I would recommend getting on more book review sites. Danyelle Ferguson has an EXCELLENT post on how to find book review blogs at http://ldspublisher.blogspot.com/2011/09/unique-blog-tour-tips-by-danyelle.html. Give it a read.
I haven’t read that book, actually; it sounds quite interesting. I did skim over Gladwell’s Outliers, which made some very good points too.
You’re almost certainly right about my blog audience. It’s been an interesting journey; I started this blog in 2007 as a way to keep my friends and writing group buddies updated on my progress as I wrote my first novel. I’ve long since trunked that one, but the blog readership has expanded to include a large number of other aspiring writers. The next logical step, like you said, is to attract more fans and readers of sf&f.
How to do that, though? Hehe, probably geek out a lot more…which will be fun! Besides book reviews, it might be fun to do a weekly column discussing tvtropes. And it would be a bad idea to start following other sf review blogs and become part of the dialogue; should be interesting.
You work really hard at your craft Joe. With dedication like you have, huge success is just a matter of time. In comparison…I’m a lazy couch potato lol
Thanks. It can be hard to feel that way sometimes, though. One of these days, I’ll break out in a big way…one of these days…