Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Ice bucket challenge? Ummm...sure.

So, my friend, Alex Laybourne has issued the fun to watch "ALS Ice Bucket Challenge." I accept. And even better, I will have the footage right here on Friday along with my own challenge. A few of you should be nervous...

Me beside my FREAKING HERO on a best seller list?

Also, some of you may be aware that there is a new craze in the indie book world. Oh yeah, I'm talking about the 99 CENT BOX SET! They are popping up everywhere. Some are with multiple authors, and some are collections or the packaging of a series.

Pay attention. When the KDP program first started, it launched a lot of indie careers (including mine). I decided to dip my toe in that pool in November of 2011 with the first Zomblog. I was hoping for around 500 free ebooks to be snagged that fateful weekend. When I hit 10,000, I was floored. That was what pushed me into being able to write full time as my residual sales began to climb into numbers I never imagined.

Eventually, the free market was saturated and Amazon had gotten what it wanted from the indies so it tilted the playing field and started changing the rules. Mark my words, they will come after the 99 CENT BOX SET next. I don;t know how, but they will. In the meantime, I am reaping the benefits.

So, why would I put a 6 book collection on sale for 99 cents? Simple. That series did more than I could have hoped for or dreamed. These days, the DEAD series and my That Ghoul Ava books are my focus. Ava is slowly building an audience and DEAD is doing great. Zomblog is selling  maybe 50-70 books a month combined.So I decided to give the box set a try. Hang on to your hats...in the first 5 days, it was not really moving...then it was like a shark at the end of a fishing line. In the past four days it has sold over 1,000 copies!

My writing brethren know that Amazon only grants a 30% pay out for titles under $2.99 (versus 70% for titles $2.99 and above). Still, it is simple economics. A thousand units at 30% beats fifty at 70%. And then there is the exposure. If you have a good product, people will look for your other work.

So, come back Friday for my ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. And in the meantime, grab the Zomblog Saga Box Set. It is less than a buck. Also, if you would like the full collection on Audio Book, I have two full sets left. Simply email me at twbrown.maydecpub@gmail.com. If you do, and nobody else has claimed them...you win. And before you get too discouraged...it is sort of like the pretty girl sitting at the bar. She goes home alone because every guy thinks she will say no (sigh).

1 comment:

  1. Congratz! I saw the Zomblog box set pop up on my Facebook as an Amazon special of the day, and I bought it, even though I already have 5 of them... Hell, it was a buck, right? I'm still hoping my husband will read them some day. I need to finish, but I'll probably do a full reread when I do.

    ReplyDelete