Sometimes I wish I had a criminal mind. Then I would find clever ways of selling books for more than double what I originally paid for them.
For example, I give you the case of a user named "Stork Media" on the Barnes & Noble store. He or she has a paperback copy of The Complete Bubby Anthology and are selling it for $24.07.
To be honest, I wish him or her luck, even though I won't be seeing a penny of the profit. However, if the copy does eventually sell, I might try their technique for myself!
In the meantime, if you want to buy a eBook copy of The Complete Bubby Anthology you can do so by clicking any of the links on Books tab at the top of this page. The book is now available at Barnes & Noble, iTunes, Kobo, and Smashwords, with many more stores still to come.
Friday, August 24, 2012
Saturday, August 11, 2012
The Big-ish Reveal
The Complete Bubby Anthology is now available for purchase at Smashwords, along will all five individual tales.
So for those of you that own a Nook, and couldn't read the Kindle versions, you are now in luck! To get your ePub version, click here.
Now, you may be wondering, "Hey, I've never heard of Smashwords. Is it safe to purchase from their site?"
The answer, of course, is "Yes. They have you pay through your PayPal account, so your transaction is completely secure."
To which you say, "Thank you for enlightening me."
To which I would reply, "Think nothing of it. It was my pleasure. I'm glad we had this talk."
If you're still unsure, you can wait until the book is distributed, by Smashwords, to major book stores, like Barnes & Noble and Apple's iBookstore (probably within 1-2 weeks).
In the meantime, I would like to thank the site, Bailey's EZ Reader Picks for promoting The Complete Bubby Anthology on day one of its availability at Smashwords. Usually I'm stuck at the bottom or middle of a mass of books on promotional sites. However, on Bailey's list, I'm #1. So, thank you!
So for those of you that own a Nook, and couldn't read the Kindle versions, you are now in luck! To get your ePub version, click here.
Now, you may be wondering, "Hey, I've never heard of Smashwords. Is it safe to purchase from their site?"
The answer, of course, is "Yes. They have you pay through your PayPal account, so your transaction is completely secure."
To which you say, "Thank you for enlightening me."
To which I would reply, "Think nothing of it. It was my pleasure. I'm glad we had this talk."
If you're still unsure, you can wait until the book is distributed, by Smashwords, to major book stores, like Barnes & Noble and Apple's iBookstore (probably within 1-2 weeks).
In the meantime, I would like to thank the site, Bailey's EZ Reader Picks for promoting The Complete Bubby Anthology on day one of its availability at Smashwords. Usually I'm stuck at the bottom or middle of a mass of books on promotional sites. However, on Bailey's list, I'm #1. So, thank you!
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Free eBooks - Today Through Thursday
Yes, that's right, today, tomorrow, and the next day, you can download all five singular episodes of Bubby for just pennies. Well, less than pennies, actually, because they're free. FREE, I tell ya!
In case you need each of the individual links, here they are:
Bubby I - Wanted: A Hero like None Other
Bubby II - Freak Attack
Bubby III - Pessimists of America Unite
Bubby IV - Return to Nobulescence
Bubby V - Napping With the Froggies
Update - Tuesday 6:00 a.m.:
First off, I would like to preface the following statement with a disclaimer. Outside of yesterday's post on this blog, I've done zero promotion for these books. Now, to the data:
Each book currently has one download each.
There, I said it.
Update - Tuesday 7:00 a.m.:
In all this time, I had never sold any copies of The Complete Bubby Anthology in paperback. Granted, there had been four sales of the Kindle edition, and one sale of Bubby I, but not a single paperback sale.
So you can imagine my surprise when I saw, over the weekend, that there had been a paperback sale and that, just yesterday, there had been yet another. This morning it stands ranked at #302,815 in the Amazon bookstore (I can't quite remember what it reached last night, though it was in the 200,000's).
Well, no new news to share about the current promotion, so I'll post another update later.
Update - Tuesday 4:00 p.m.:
Wow, it has been a busy day. Sorry for not posting an update sooner. However, in my defense, not much has been happening. Anyway, here is the current tally:
Bubby I - Wanted: A Hero like None Other - 12
Bubby II - Freak Attack - 15
Bubby III - Pessimists of America Unite - 15
Bubby IV - Return to Nobulescence - 15
Bubby V - Napping With the Froggies - 15
As expected, episodes II through V are being downloaded more, since episode I already had been offered for free a month ago. We'll see how the numbers grow as people get off work and decide to download themselves some free books.
Update - Tuesday 10:00 p.m.:
I've just been alerted that Kindle Nation Daily, through no effort on my part, listed all five books on their free list, both in the Humor and YA / Kids categories (go see for yourself).
After you return from checking that out, here is the download count as it stands this evening:
Bubby I - Wanted: A Hero like None Other - 22
Bubby II - Freak Attack - 32
Bubby III - Pessimists of America Unite - 33
Bubby IV - Return to Nobulescence - 33
Bubby V - Napping With the Froggies - 31
I honestly have no idea why a certain someone would download episodes III and IV, but skip episode II. I've been refreshing the page periodically through the night to see if the number ever catches up, but it never does. I mean, I can understand missing episode V, if you didn't know there was one. But II comes before III and IV... seriously, how do you miss a free download?!
I guess I'll just have a fitful night's rest trying to reconcile the issue in my head.
Update - Wednesday 6:00 a.m.:
What a relief! As I awoke this morning the download count made a little more sense:
Bubby I - Wanted: A Hero like None Other - 38
Bubby II - Freak Attack - 49
Bubby III - Pessimists of America Unite - 49
Bubby IV - Return to Nobulescence - 48
Bubby V - Napping With the Froggies - 45
Now we just need to see if these books can reach the two day count The Complete Bubby Anthology achieved without any advertising (89). We're halfway there, I think it is manageable.
Also noteworthy: Bubby III reached the #1 spot on the Superhero chart. Hooray!
Update - Wednesday 7:00 p.m.:
We're doing pretty well. Even Bubby I has peaked at #1 (in the Superhero category) - and it has been downloaded the least of all five.
Bubby I - Wanted: A Hero like None Other - 56
Bubby II - Freak Attack - 63
Bubby III - Pessimists of America Unite - 63
Bubby IV - Return to Nobulescence - 62
Bubby V - Napping With the Froggies - 61
Update - Thursday 12:00 p.m.:
Gee, things have really tanked since yesterday evening. I'm rather at a loss for words. So, without further ado, here is the current tally:
Bubby I - Wanted: A Hero like None Other - 63
Bubby II - Freak Attack - 68
Bubby III - Pessimists of America Unite - 68
Bubby IV - Return to Nobulescence - 67
Bubby V - Napping With the Froggies - 66
Update - Thursday 9:00 p.m.:
Things continue to go slowly throughout the afternoon and evening. Just yesterday I was thinking that each of the five episodes would beat (or at least tie) what The Complete Bubby Anthology accomplished in its last free run (which was 89 downloads). Alas, it does not appear to be likely anymore.
And now, the download tally:
Bubby I - Wanted: A Hero like None Other - 67
Bubby II - Freak Attack - 71
Bubby III - Pessimists of America Unite - 71
Bubby IV - Return to Nobulescence - 70
Bubby V - Napping With the Froggies - 70
Update - Friday 8:00 a.m.:
Thursday was a lousy day for free downloads, as you can see from the ending tally below:
Bubby I - Wanted: A Hero like None Other - 70
Bubby II - Freak Attack - 74
Bubby III - Pessimists of America Unite - 74
Bubby IV - Return to Nobulescence - 73
Bubby V - Napping With the Froggies - 73
Now we just have to wait and see if the promotion period results in any additional sales.
And, now that the KDP Select exclusivity period is over, the Smashwords ePub editions should be rolling out shortly (probably tomorrow). In the meantime, you can already pick up The Complete Bubby Anthology at Smashwords right now.
In case you need each of the individual links, here they are:
Bubby I - Wanted: A Hero like None Other
Bubby II - Freak Attack
Bubby III - Pessimists of America Unite
Bubby IV - Return to Nobulescence
Bubby V - Napping With the Froggies
Update - Tuesday 6:00 a.m.:
First off, I would like to preface the following statement with a disclaimer. Outside of yesterday's post on this blog, I've done zero promotion for these books. Now, to the data:
Each book currently has one download each.
There, I said it.
Update - Tuesday 7:00 a.m.:
In all this time, I had never sold any copies of The Complete Bubby Anthology in paperback. Granted, there had been four sales of the Kindle edition, and one sale of Bubby I, but not a single paperback sale.
So you can imagine my surprise when I saw, over the weekend, that there had been a paperback sale and that, just yesterday, there had been yet another. This morning it stands ranked at #302,815 in the Amazon bookstore (I can't quite remember what it reached last night, though it was in the 200,000's).
Well, no new news to share about the current promotion, so I'll post another update later.
Update - Tuesday 4:00 p.m.:
Wow, it has been a busy day. Sorry for not posting an update sooner. However, in my defense, not much has been happening. Anyway, here is the current tally:
Bubby I - Wanted: A Hero like None Other - 12
Bubby II - Freak Attack - 15
Bubby III - Pessimists of America Unite - 15
Bubby IV - Return to Nobulescence - 15
Bubby V - Napping With the Froggies - 15
As expected, episodes II through V are being downloaded more, since episode I already had been offered for free a month ago. We'll see how the numbers grow as people get off work and decide to download themselves some free books.
Update - Tuesday 10:00 p.m.:
I've just been alerted that Kindle Nation Daily, through no effort on my part, listed all five books on their free list, both in the Humor and YA / Kids categories (go see for yourself).
After you return from checking that out, here is the download count as it stands this evening:
Bubby I - Wanted: A Hero like None Other - 22
Bubby II - Freak Attack - 32
Bubby III - Pessimists of America Unite - 33
Bubby IV - Return to Nobulescence - 33
Bubby V - Napping With the Froggies - 31
I honestly have no idea why a certain someone would download episodes III and IV, but skip episode II. I've been refreshing the page periodically through the night to see if the number ever catches up, but it never does. I mean, I can understand missing episode V, if you didn't know there was one. But II comes before III and IV... seriously, how do you miss a free download?!
I guess I'll just have a fitful night's rest trying to reconcile the issue in my head.
Update - Wednesday 6:00 a.m.:
What a relief! As I awoke this morning the download count made a little more sense:
Bubby I - Wanted: A Hero like None Other - 38
Bubby II - Freak Attack - 49
Bubby III - Pessimists of America Unite - 49
Bubby IV - Return to Nobulescence - 48
Bubby V - Napping With the Froggies - 45
Now we just need to see if these books can reach the two day count The Complete Bubby Anthology achieved without any advertising (89). We're halfway there, I think it is manageable.
Also noteworthy: Bubby III reached the #1 spot on the Superhero chart. Hooray!
Update - Wednesday 7:00 p.m.:
We're doing pretty well. Even Bubby I has peaked at #1 (in the Superhero category) - and it has been downloaded the least of all five.
Bubby I - Wanted: A Hero like None Other - 56
Bubby II - Freak Attack - 63
Bubby III - Pessimists of America Unite - 63
Bubby IV - Return to Nobulescence - 62
Bubby V - Napping With the Froggies - 61
Update - Thursday 12:00 p.m.:
Gee, things have really tanked since yesterday evening. I'm rather at a loss for words. So, without further ado, here is the current tally:
Bubby I - Wanted: A Hero like None Other - 63
Bubby II - Freak Attack - 68
Bubby III - Pessimists of America Unite - 68
Bubby IV - Return to Nobulescence - 67
Bubby V - Napping With the Froggies - 66
Update - Thursday 9:00 p.m.:
Things continue to go slowly throughout the afternoon and evening. Just yesterday I was thinking that each of the five episodes would beat (or at least tie) what The Complete Bubby Anthology accomplished in its last free run (which was 89 downloads). Alas, it does not appear to be likely anymore.
And now, the download tally:
Bubby I - Wanted: A Hero like None Other - 67
Bubby II - Freak Attack - 71
Bubby III - Pessimists of America Unite - 71
Bubby IV - Return to Nobulescence - 70
Bubby V - Napping With the Froggies - 70
Update - Friday 8:00 a.m.:
Thursday was a lousy day for free downloads, as you can see from the ending tally below:
Bubby I - Wanted: A Hero like None Other - 70
Bubby II - Freak Attack - 74
Bubby III - Pessimists of America Unite - 74
Bubby IV - Return to Nobulescence - 73
Bubby V - Napping With the Froggies - 73
Now we just have to wait and see if the promotion period results in any additional sales.
And, now that the KDP Select exclusivity period is over, the Smashwords ePub editions should be rolling out shortly (probably tomorrow). In the meantime, you can already pick up The Complete Bubby Anthology at Smashwords right now.
Monday, August 6, 2012
Project Cast Away
First off, what is Project Cast Away?
Well, from Tuesday to Thursday, I will be giving away free copies of all five Bubby stories on Amazon.com. This is to use up the remaining KDP promotional days before my contract ends and I am able to publish all of these stories in other online stores, such as Barnes & Noble and the iStore.
So, in case you missed out on getting your copy of The Complete Bubby Anthology when it was available for free last week, you can get all five stories for free beginning tomorrow. The only thing you won't get is the interviews that come with the complete anthology edition. Come to think of it, maybe you actually do want to pony up the cash and pay for these stories in their commemorative, collective edition.
At some point this Saturday I plan to have all the books available at Smashwords. So, if you've been holding out for an ePub version of the stories, you'll be in luck soon.
Well, from Tuesday to Thursday, I will be giving away free copies of all five Bubby stories on Amazon.com. This is to use up the remaining KDP promotional days before my contract ends and I am able to publish all of these stories in other online stores, such as Barnes & Noble and the iStore.
So, in case you missed out on getting your copy of The Complete Bubby Anthology when it was available for free last week, you can get all five stories for free beginning tomorrow. The only thing you won't get is the interviews that come with the complete anthology edition. Come to think of it, maybe you actually do want to pony up the cash and pay for these stories in their commemorative, collective edition.
At some point this Saturday I plan to have all the books available at Smashwords. So, if you've been holding out for an ePub version of the stories, you'll be in luck soon.
Saturday, August 4, 2012
$5.99... Are You Out of Your Mind?
There has been debate for some time among indie authors as to what price point is the best for selling eBooks. Mark Coker, founder of Smashwords, did some analysis and noted that authors receive the greatest profit from book sold between $2.99 and $5.99. (as seen on slide 58 of the embedded slideshow below:
He also noted (on slide 61) that most books do not sell well (The Complete Bubby Anthology being part of that category).
Since I have nothing to lose, I figured I would try a weekend or two at the $5.99 price point, rather than $3.99. Likewise, the individual tales are now listed at $1.99 rather than $0.99.
If the experiment fails, then so be it. As I said, I've got nothing to lose.
Of course, those of you actually reading this blog are probably wondering why I'm screwing you over. Well, as a reward to you, I can give you a 99.9% guarantee that the prices will revert. The 0.1% gives me an out in case I sell a ridiculous number of copies at $5.99. Since I don't believe that will actually happen, I can pretty much guarantee that the $3.99 price point will return shortly.
One thing I can promise is that all the original price points will be available when I publish on Smashwords next week. If Amazon's bots are doing their job, they'll recognize the cheaper price and adjust Amazon's price accordingly (though it might be another week or so before they do).
He also noted (on slide 61) that most books do not sell well (The Complete Bubby Anthology being part of that category).
Since I have nothing to lose, I figured I would try a weekend or two at the $5.99 price point, rather than $3.99. Likewise, the individual tales are now listed at $1.99 rather than $0.99.
If the experiment fails, then so be it. As I said, I've got nothing to lose.
Of course, those of you actually reading this blog are probably wondering why I'm screwing you over. Well, as a reward to you, I can give you a 99.9% guarantee that the prices will revert. The 0.1% gives me an out in case I sell a ridiculous number of copies at $5.99. Since I don't believe that will actually happen, I can pretty much guarantee that the $3.99 price point will return shortly.
One thing I can promise is that all the original price points will be available when I publish on Smashwords next week. If Amazon's bots are doing their job, they'll recognize the cheaper price and adjust Amazon's price accordingly (though it might be another week or so before they do).
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Operation Smash Begins... NOW!
What is Operation Smash? Well, there are a few meanings.
1) It refers to the fact that The Complete Bubby Anthology will soon be available through Smashwords.
2) It refers to the hope that we will smash the total number of free downloads from last month's promo.
3) Finally, it refers to your ability to download a copy of the book for free on Amazon, right now (which our British readers might describe at "simply smashing")!
If Amazon is as on top of things as it was last time, the free promotion for The Complete Bubby Anthology should be live. However, I'm asleep right now, so I can't really check it myself. I'll find out in a few hours, at which point I'll update you on the progress, just as I did last time.
Update - Wednesday 7:00 a.m.:
We have yet to be featured on any of the sites I mentioned in Monday's post. However, it is still early and many of them have yet to do their morning posts for the day.
My KDP sales reports is a tad slow today, stating, "There are no sales to report during this period." Nevertheless, copies are being downloaded, as The Complete Bubby Anthology is currently ranked #17,807 Free in the Kindle Store. As well as #3 in Superheroes and #4 in Comedy.
I'll try to update again when the KDP system gets back up and running.
Update - Wednesday 1:00 p.m.:
Well, I suppose this is why other indie authors recommend waiting at least one month before putting your book up for free a second time... we have only 7 downloads so far. That's right, just 7. We were doing much better last time around.
Nevertheless, since the only paid sales for the book have come on the weekends, I don't feel like I'm losing anything by using up the rest of my KDP freebie days today and tomorrow.
In the meantime, I should probably note that 7 sales gets a book up to #11,076 Free in the Kindle Store.
Update - Wednesday 4:00 p.m.:
Here is some interesting math for you. We now have 9 total downloads (yes, I know it looks pathetic). However, with those two "sales," The Complete Bubby Anthology jumped to #5,639 Free in the Kindle Store.
That's right, the book jumped 5,437 spots with just two more downloads. I can only imagine that there are a lot of books with only 8 downloads today. It's sad really, but there it is.
Update - Wednesday 6:00 p.m.:
5 more downloads in the past hour has pushed us to 14 total downloads. This also takes us to #5,006 Free in the Kindle Store.
I was surprised to see five downloads in two hours, when it had taken well over half the day to get just nine. At first I thought we'd finally made one of the promotional lists, but it seems I was mistaken. Perhaps the two five-star reviews of the book were not enough to entice the sites to promote The Complete Bubby Anthology. Oh well, I suppose there is still a possibility of it happening this evening or tomorrow.
Update - Wednesday 8:00 p.m.:
We are now sitting at 18 total downloads. Intriguingly, while two sales caused The Complete Bubby Anthology to jump over 5,000 spots in the rankings just a few hours ago, four sales at the present moment led to falling back to #5,041 Free in the Kindle Store.
Update - Wednesday 11:00 p.m.:
24 total downloads as the day draws to a close. That places us at #3,600 Free in the Kindle Store (such a strangely round number).
Still no love from the eBook promotion sites. We'll see what happens tomorrow.
Update - Thursday 8:00 a.m.:
Somehow, overnight, we've practically doubled the number of downloads. There have now been 47 total downloads, placing The Complete Bubby Anthology at #3,010 Free in Kindle Store.
Still no help from the eBook promotion sites, so I guess there are just a lot of late night shoppers in the world.
Update - Thursday 12:00 p.m.:
It's high noon - do you know where your favorite epic novel is? Well, assuming that your favorite epic novel-ish item is The Complete Bubby Anthology, then you might want to know that there have now been 54 total downloads, placing it at #2,263 Free in the Kindle Store.
Update - Thursday 4:00 p.m.:
There are presently 70 total downloads, bringing us to #2,143 Free in the Kindle Store.
If we can get to 100 downloads at the end of this promotion, I suppose I'll consider it a success - especially with a lack of promotional consideration.
Update - Thursday 9:00 p.m.:
With 83 total downloads, The Complete Bubby Anthology has reached #2,003 Free in the Kindle Store.
100 downloads is still achievable, depending on how the night goes.
Update - Friday 6:00 a.m.:
So the promotion ends with 89 total downloads. Not quite 100, but still a decent promotion. For now, we fall back to #473,514 Paid in the Kindle Store.
In the mean time, you may be wondering what to do with yourself now that the coolest book around is no longer free. Well, you could either pay for a copy in paperback. Or, if you're still looking for free stuff, order yourself a free sample of Jelly-Kids. Enjoy!
1) It refers to the fact that The Complete Bubby Anthology will soon be available through Smashwords.
2) It refers to the hope that we will smash the total number of free downloads from last month's promo.
3) Finally, it refers to your ability to download a copy of the book for free on Amazon, right now (which our British readers might describe at "simply smashing")!
If Amazon is as on top of things as it was last time, the free promotion for The Complete Bubby Anthology should be live. However, I'm asleep right now, so I can't really check it myself. I'll find out in a few hours, at which point I'll update you on the progress, just as I did last time.
Update - Wednesday 7:00 a.m.:
We have yet to be featured on any of the sites I mentioned in Monday's post. However, it is still early and many of them have yet to do their morning posts for the day.
My KDP sales reports is a tad slow today, stating, "There are no sales to report during this period." Nevertheless, copies are being downloaded, as The Complete Bubby Anthology is currently ranked #17,807 Free in the Kindle Store. As well as #3 in Superheroes and #4 in Comedy.
I'll try to update again when the KDP system gets back up and running.
Update - Wednesday 1:00 p.m.:
Well, I suppose this is why other indie authors recommend waiting at least one month before putting your book up for free a second time... we have only 7 downloads so far. That's right, just 7. We were doing much better last time around.
Nevertheless, since the only paid sales for the book have come on the weekends, I don't feel like I'm losing anything by using up the rest of my KDP freebie days today and tomorrow.
In the meantime, I should probably note that 7 sales gets a book up to #11,076 Free in the Kindle Store.
Update - Wednesday 4:00 p.m.:
Here is some interesting math for you. We now have 9 total downloads (yes, I know it looks pathetic). However, with those two "sales," The Complete Bubby Anthology jumped to #5,639 Free in the Kindle Store.
That's right, the book jumped 5,437 spots with just two more downloads. I can only imagine that there are a lot of books with only 8 downloads today. It's sad really, but there it is.
Update - Wednesday 6:00 p.m.:
5 more downloads in the past hour has pushed us to 14 total downloads. This also takes us to #5,006 Free in the Kindle Store.
I was surprised to see five downloads in two hours, when it had taken well over half the day to get just nine. At first I thought we'd finally made one of the promotional lists, but it seems I was mistaken. Perhaps the two five-star reviews of the book were not enough to entice the sites to promote The Complete Bubby Anthology. Oh well, I suppose there is still a possibility of it happening this evening or tomorrow.
Update - Wednesday 8:00 p.m.:
We are now sitting at 18 total downloads. Intriguingly, while two sales caused The Complete Bubby Anthology to jump over 5,000 spots in the rankings just a few hours ago, four sales at the present moment led to falling back to #5,041 Free in the Kindle Store.
Update - Wednesday 11:00 p.m.:
24 total downloads as the day draws to a close. That places us at #3,600 Free in the Kindle Store (such a strangely round number).
Still no love from the eBook promotion sites. We'll see what happens tomorrow.
Update - Thursday 8:00 a.m.:
Somehow, overnight, we've practically doubled the number of downloads. There have now been 47 total downloads, placing The Complete Bubby Anthology at #3,010 Free in Kindle Store.
Still no help from the eBook promotion sites, so I guess there are just a lot of late night shoppers in the world.
Update - Thursday 12:00 p.m.:
It's high noon - do you know where your favorite epic novel is? Well, assuming that your favorite epic novel-ish item is The Complete Bubby Anthology, then you might want to know that there have now been 54 total downloads, placing it at #2,263 Free in the Kindle Store.
Update - Thursday 4:00 p.m.:
There are presently 70 total downloads, bringing us to #2,143 Free in the Kindle Store.
If we can get to 100 downloads at the end of this promotion, I suppose I'll consider it a success - especially with a lack of promotional consideration.
Update - Thursday 9:00 p.m.:
With 83 total downloads, The Complete Bubby Anthology has reached #2,003 Free in the Kindle Store.
100 downloads is still achievable, depending on how the night goes.
Update - Friday 6:00 a.m.:
So the promotion ends with 89 total downloads. Not quite 100, but still a decent promotion. For now, we fall back to #473,514 Paid in the Kindle Store.
In the mean time, you may be wondering what to do with yourself now that the coolest book around is no longer free. Well, you could either pay for a copy in paperback. Or, if you're still looking for free stuff, order yourself a free sample of Jelly-Kids. Enjoy!
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