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81
Formatter's Forge [Public] / Why can't we 'preview' the blurb?
« Last post by Jan Hurst-Nicholson on March 15, 2025, 11:04:09 PM »
I've been updating a blurb, which looks fine in the editing section, but when it goes 'live' the spacing isn't quite right, or it's bold where it shouldn't be  :icon_rolleyes: I've re-done it three times already. I have visions of some poor minion rolling their eyes and tutting as I make yet another edit.
I wish we could preview how it will look on Amazon.    :confused:
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Marketing Loft [Public] / Re: Five magic words to sell more books
« Last post by Bill Hiatt on March 15, 2025, 09:51:06 PM »
I wonder if the discount tables in bookstores were originally a relic of an age before they could return unsold copies as easily. When I was young, every large store had a fairly significant pile of books marked down. But that doesn't seem to be very common any more (to the extent that I can even find a brick-and-mortar store). What I have seen is bookstores bringing in publishers' overstock titles they got some kind of bargain on and selling those at a reduced price. I don't know if Barnes and Noble still does this, but its publishing arm used to print books specifically for bargain distribution. For a long time, that was all that was on the those BN bargain tables.
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Marketing Loft [Public] / Re: Five magic words to sell more books
« Last post by Jeff Tanyard on March 15, 2025, 01:44:31 PM »
Quote from: Lorri Moulton on March 15, 2025, 01:20:03 AM
IF they read the free ebook.  With all the huge giveaways lately, there seems to be some concern that readers have huge TBR piles and aren't able to read as fast as they collect.


Yep, and I'm one of those readers with a big stack of books I downloaded but haven't read yet.  But there are plenty I have read, so it's not like I never get around to them, because I do.


Quote from: Post-Crisis D on March 15, 2025, 05:48:42 AM
Or . . . you found books in the dollar bin and grabbed those while they were available.


I actually picked up The Complete Works of Shakespeare and The Gulag Archipelago from my local library's dollar bin* one time.   :cool:

*actually a wheeled cart, not a bin, but same thing
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Marketing Loft [Public] / Re: Five magic words to sell more books
« Last post by Post-Crisis D on March 15, 2025, 05:48:42 AM »
Quote from: Bill Hiatt on March 15, 2025, 05:17:22 AM
That said, I've been known to buy books and not get around to reading them right away. That stems from the old days of publishing, when if you didn't grab something when it came out, it might go out of print before you could buy it. I had that experience a couple of times. After that, I tended to buy more than I could reasonably read quickly, just to make sure I got them. I'm positive there have been a few titles lurking on my shelves for decades that I haven't yet gotten read, though hopefully, not too many! :icon_redface:

Or . . . you found books in the dollar bin and grabbed those while they were available.

I probably need a decade-long vacation to read all the books I have that I haven't read yet.
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Marketing Loft [Public] / Re: Five magic words to sell more books
« Last post by Bill Hiatt on March 15, 2025, 05:17:22 AM »
I was thinking the same thing, but we really don't know one way or the others. I've always thought it was strange for someone to download tons of books and never read any of them, though I'm sure there are a few people like that. I don't ever download something, free or otherwise, if I don't have some interest in it.

That said, I've been known to buy books and not get around to reading them right away. That stems from the old days of publishing, when if you didn't grab something when it came out, it might go out of print before you could buy it. I had that experience a couple of times. After that, I tended to buy more than I could reasonably read quickly, just to make sure I got them. I'm positive there have been a few titles lurking on my shelves for decades that I haven't yet gotten read, though hopefully, not too many! :icon_redface:
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Marketing Loft [Public] / Re: Five magic words to sell more books
« Last post by Lorri Moulton on March 15, 2025, 01:20:03 AM »
IF they read the free ebook.  With all the huge giveaways lately, there seems to be some concern that readers have huge TBR piles and aren't able to read as fast as they collect.
87
Quill and Feather Pub [Public] / I think I've just gone 'woke'
« Last post by Jan Hurst-Nicholson on March 14, 2025, 07:17:25 PM »
removed 
88
Marketing Loft [Public] / Re: Five magic words to sell more books
« Last post by Jeff Tanyard on March 14, 2025, 02:34:46 PM »
Quote from: Bill Hiatt on March 13, 2025, 10:35:15 PM
Authors give away books that aren't selling because of quality issues? Yeah, that certainly wouldn't work well.


Just to be clear, by "quality issues" I meant things like story and plot and characters and whatnot, not typos or formatting or some other technical issue.  What I've seen from time to time is an author deciding that since a book didn't connect with readers for whatever reason, then there's no reason not to just make it free since it wasn't selling anyway.  It's easy to see how one can reach that conclusion, and it definitely seems logical on its face, but like writeway and I said, it's the wrong way to go and is ultimately counterproductive. 

For most readers, the free stuff is going to be the first impression they get of an authors work.  It should be as good a first impression as possible.
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Marketing Loft [Public] / Re: Five magic words to sell more books
« Last post by Bill Hiatt on March 13, 2025, 10:35:15 PM »
Authors give away books that aren't selling because of quality issues? Yeah, that certainly wouldn't work well.
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Marketing Loft [Public] / Re: Five magic words to sell more books
« Last post by Jeff Tanyard on March 13, 2025, 02:21:30 PM »
Quote from: writeway on March 13, 2025, 09:17:25 AM
The blogger says, "Most who get your books free don't go on to buy the author's other books." WRONG. That's what makes free so effective. No, everyone who gets your freebie might not buy your other books but more will than won't if your freebie is good. I see authors all the time saying "free doesn't work." No, it didn't work for YOU (general author). If your freebie doesn't get people to dig into their pockets and pay for your other books then your freebie just wasn't that good. Or not good enough for someone to pay money for your other books. Free is a wonderful money maker for many of us.  Free is one of the best promotional strategies there is but you gotta have a plan and you gotta have a freebie that is good enough to make people wanna get your work.


The part in bold type is the salient point.  What I often see is authors making the wrong stuff free.  They don't want to give away their best book or the book that took the most time and effort to write.  They prefer to give away the stuff they don't value as much, things like prequels and short stories and previews and books that the author thinks aren't selling because of quality issues.  As you said, writeway, this is completely the wrong approach.  They should be giving away their best books, the stuff that is most likely to hook the reader and knock his socks off, because that's what is most likely to get him to come back and shell out money for the non-free stuff.
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