Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Kindles, and eBooks, and Indies, oh my!

Everywhere I look these days, I hear something new about "The Digital Revolution." "Embrace it with excitement, not fear," Suzanne Brockmann advised at a recent GRW meeting where she was a guest speaker (and a fabulous one, I have to add.) I agree.

Since my last update on Smashwords, Barry Eisler has turned down a $500K advance to self-publish, Amanda Hocking has an offer for a $2 million contact with St. Martin's Press and movie rights, to boot, and J A Konrath is probably giggling to himself, saying "I told you so."

Me? Well, I haven't self-pubbed anything but my four FREE short stories on Smashwords. Right now, I'm working on a third book in The Clever Detective series, which will be longer, and delve into Stacey's character and background more. I'm thinking of pricing it at 99 cents.

Anyone have any thoughts on that? I'd love to hear what you think.

To give you an idea, here are my download numbers from last year, compared to now:

Downloads as of October 30, 2010


The West Wind Blows
Price: FREE
Downloads: 519

Careful What You Wish For
Price: FREE
Downloads: 311

The Clever Detective
Price: FREE
Downloads: 260

Downloads as of April 4, 2011


The West Wind Blows
4 stars
Price: FREE
Downloads: 1,269

Careful What You Wish For
3.33 stars
Price: FREE
Downloads: 629

The Clever Detective
4.5 stars
Price: FREE
Downloads: 1,399

Clever is as Clever Does
4.5 stars
Price: FREE
Downloads: 1,058

I'm not in Barry's or Amanda's class (yet!), but I'm just getting started. So far, I'm excited.

How do you feel about the digital revolution?

8 comments:

  1. About the digital revolution: when I was telling my daughter about my intention to indie pub my six traditional Regencies, she made the connection to music downloads immediately. A revolution that is here to stay. As are e-publishing, indie publishing, and that marvelous array of e-readers.

    Grace Kone, w. a. Blair Bancroft & Daryn Parke

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  2. Good point, Grace. If the young people see it that way, they're probably right.

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  3. Once you have your readers "hooked" with your short stories, I imagine they will be happy to pay 99 cents for the next book in the series. I recently downloaded your free offerings myself, so count me among your first paying customers! :-)

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  4. Hi Linsey. Just popped over here from Clues N News loop. As someone who is considering "going indie" (don't you just love that phrase?? always reminds me of "going commando" and who doesn't love that saying :-) Anyway, it's heartening to read of your successes and your positive attitude as you approach this. I look forward to reading more. Now I'm off to download your shorts (what is it with me an underwear today?)

    Trina Riggle

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  5. These are great numbers, Linsey! I haven't tried this myself, but I am seriously considering it. Talk about a wonderful platform and a great way to make fans that might buy your future books. I know I'll be buying it.

    Tami

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  6. Oh, thanks, Pam. I hope you're right. I'm thrilled that you'll be one of my future customers. Thanks for reading the free offers. :)

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  7. Hi Trina. I never thought of "going indie" as "going commando," but they have a lot in common, LOL. Thanks for reading my shorts. ;)

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  8. Thanks, Tami. Yes, Smashwords is terrific. Let me know if you decide to take the plunge. And thank you for your support. It makes my day that I've already made some sales before I've written the book!

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