I made the decision to put Books 1 of both my series on perma-free after much thought. I'm not a household name, and despite having had some fabulous sales, several best-selling rankings, and beautiful star gradings on all of the various (and sometimes scary) review platforms, I am not a USA Today bestseller or any of that other astronomically awesome stuff, but I do write books that most people who make a punt on, enjoy - and there are many (according to star ratings) who enjoy them very much indeed.
 |
| Book 1. 'Witchcraft' is free on all eBook platforms. Go to www.katiemjohn.com to pick up the links |
But there are just so many authors out there shouting to be heard - many authors who are amazing, and who tell the most bewitching and talented stories, but who get lost in the bun-fight. Way before I was an author, I became a reader - and I know how it is... it takes a lot to invest in a book, especially when you have a fearsome reading habit and a purse that doesn't match it. And it isn't just money - there's this silent communication of trust that runs between a reader and an author when you pick up a book - it's a don't let me down kind of thing; I've trusted you, I've invested in you - please don't be crap LOL
Well, my view as an author is, I want to share stories more than I want to make money (although it would be nice to be able to pay for luxuries like food, light, school shoes for the kids, notebooks and wine... most importantly wine)
My thought is, if I give you book one of my series, (both of which took over a year to write and over a thousand pounds to produce - not accounting for my actual time because authors often like to deny the idea of actually having a salary, but let's say we do take that into account - at least 20 thousand pounds if I was running my own sweat shop, which I am...) then if you like it, you move onto the next book priced at a fair (and some would argue, still too cheaply priced) $2.99-$3.99 / £2.99-£3.99
I know there have been some readers who have found this policy annoying. They think that if Book One is free then all other books from that author should be free - well, yeah, you guys are smart enough to see why that a) isn't sustainable and b) just isn't fair.
 |
| Book 1 'The Forest of Adventures' is free on all ebook platforms. Head to www.katiemjohn.com to pick up the links. |
However, as soon as a book is priced over $2.99 then the royalty goes up to a whopping 70%. Now you know how the market has been swamped with $0.99 deals, and how that has forced the market into thinking that is a new norm - well it isn't, and quite frankly, it's a little sickening to sell your book for a 1/3 of the price of a coffee, knowing that you are going to get just $0.33 (£0.20p) from each sale.
Personally, I would rather give you the book and we set up this whole reader, author relationship of trust, whereby I provide you stories you like, and you support my writing by future purchases at a fair price that plays the Amazon game sweetly - and if you feel so inclined, to leave a review as well that would be amazingly awesome - because weirdly, the more reviews you have (whatever star rating) it pushes you up the rankings and makes you more visible on searches etc.
So there we are - that's why I give away my books - not because they're crap but because I love you.
They're free on all platforms - and if you head over to www.katiemjohn.com - right there on the landing page is the links to Amazon and iBooks - you can't miss them. And whilst you're there, feel free to take a little tour around at my other 7 books ;)
No comments:
Post a Comment