Question:
One of my Yahoogroups.com friends asked if Kindle was worth the time it takes.
Answer: Monica, I have a retailing background (owner of a small chain of gift stores) as well as a publishing one. And we who are interested in selling books are also intrinsically retailers.
As a retailer I believed that one should offer a product in ways that your customer wanted to buy them. Thus we took credit cards even though it cost us money (4% of every sale or some such!) back in the days when other retailers fought the idea of catering to customers that way.
So, is Kindle important? I don't think you'll sell tons of books with Kindle but you might sell a few to people who really, really want a book like yours but want to read it on Kindle. If your book isn't a Kindle book, they'll find a similar one to yours. You lost a sale. That one sale could be your most important of the year. A director? A TV host? Someone who loves to pass around the good word about books he or she loves? Besides, last I looked, there was no charge to get your book Kindled, so why not?
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Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author THIS IS THE PLACE; HARKENING: A COLLECTION OF STORIES REMEMBERED; TRACINGS, a chapbook of poetry; and two how to books, THE FRUGAL BOOK PROMOTER: HOW TO DO WHAT YOUR PUBLISHER WON'T; and THE FRUGAL EDITOR: PUT YOUR BEST BOOK FORWARD TO AVOID HUMILIATION AND ENSURE SUCCESS.
Her other blogs include TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com and AuthorsCoalition.blogspot.com, a blog that helps writers and publishers turn a ho-hum book fair booth into a sizzler.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
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Thanks for giving us more info about Kindle.
ReplyDeleteIs it the publisher's responsibility or the author?
Interesting. This is how I often think...but what if I don't and I miss out on "the big thing"??? I imagine you outline in your book some kind of priority list for marketing, so the answer could also be, "after you've done x, y, and z first," as well. Sounds like free is always in style though! =)
ReplyDeleteAnd guess what? I'd never heard of Kindle either...so again, I learned something new today!
Allyn: The Kindle thing depends on how you're published. Many independent authors are Kindleizing their books on their own.
ReplyDeleteCarolyn