More on ebooks

[EDWARD C MORGAN]

Clearly, more organizations are catching on, and here's a news organization that is delving into "rapid publish ebooks".

I think one of the keys, and this works for fiction as well, is to have a growing and large inventory of books available, which can amount to larger sales over time.

Here's the article. While it is focused on non-fiction and news reporting, there are a lot of take aways here.

[Benjamin Sobieck]

If I didn't feel obligated to use Twitter, I wouldn't use it. The streaming word vomit makes it almost impossible to use with any coherency.

It's also harder to subversively place links for my e-books into interesting posts. It's either a hard sell or no sell.

[EDWARD C MORGAN]

Twitter is tough.

My caveat though is that with my clients for whom I handle blogging, if we don't use Twitter, the drop in blog traffic is significant.

[Benjamin Sobieck]

It's a necessary evil. I get traffic from Twitter, but I don't feel you can have a solid interaction.

[EDWARD C MORGAN]

As I think about the ebook growth, and attracting buyers, I do get more and more bothered by the idea of giving samples away or selling at a very low price.

I think it is full of dangers - just ask newspapers.

[Benjamin Sobieck]

I'd disagree about samples. I think it's fair to the consumer to offer a taste before they put money down.

Giving content away for free just doesn't convert into sales. That myth has been busted.

[I. J. Parker]

I agree, but a short giveaway may attract attention.  Besides, if you have a series, it can bring you sales for the other books.

[David DeLee]

I also agree. Samples are very important in our business. No better way for a reader to judge a new writer. I also agree, low balling the price of work is problematic at best, and IMO turns off as many readers as it attracts.
As for freebies, I have had some success with offering a single title for free and have had a nice uptic in sales from it, especially on Amazon. One caveat, I believe it does better to offer a freebie to an existing series than for a standalone.

David DeLee
Fatal Destiny - a Grace deHaviland novel

[EDWARD C MORGAN]

I would have to see concrete figures on how many people who downloaded a free sample, or just a chapter, actually made a purchase - and to what extent.

While I have thumbed through books at bookstores, I can honestly say I've never read a free sample chapter or downloaded a free book. My free books come from the library.  :-)

[Cammy May Hunnicutt]

This makes sense to me.  

My problem is NOT having a big backlog like some writers I know.  And thinking about things like, "would it be better to wait until I have two books before starting major promotion?"