Let's do the numbers! (3rd edition)

Let's do the numbers... Again

The Numbers! I know, so many writers are freaked out and never talk about this stuff and each year I let it all out for you to see. Why? So you the writer, who wants to make a living can really see what you can do, make plans and write to the income you want, not cross your fingers and hope you hit it big.

Many of you know about my "Amway" speech, it goes something like this: Find your averages. That is what do you make per title per month. Notice that I didn't say per unit? That is because in the land of eBooks it is about your per month income NOT your per book or unit income. This is where a lot of authors get mixed up.

If you make 1K per title per month you have to write how many books to make the money you want? It is simple math and I HATE math, but this I can do. So, even if your averages are low you can still make a living, it just means you have to write more books. Now, don't you feel better knowing what you have to do? Do you feel more in control? Good, that is the point.

Now that I told you all that lets go over the last year, see what this may look like.

My average per book per month is around 4.1k. This means that on 5 books I will make 50K per year per book. These averages are good, not the best I've seen but not the worst. This means in the book world I would be a mid-lister, and most mid-listers don't make a lot of money based on 12-15% royalties. But me? I can make a good living selling what in the traditional publishing world would only grant me a 4K per year check.

Now, in case you are just as bad at math as I am, here is the end of the year total. 250K off 5 titles. Not bad for a home-schooled punk huh...

Now, what if I want to make more, build and grow this thing. What happens if I have 10 titles at the end of the year? That means I make 500K per year. Now lets keep going, 20 titles, will put me at one million a year based on these averages. But I don't count for the rollover that will happen by having that many titles out. I should hit a million a year with 12-15 titles as the chance for one hitting big goes up and the fallout from that gives me a boost.

So you see, anyone can make money as an author. The key is to get away from the big publishing model, and reach out on every platform you can. audio, E, print, bulk sales, book clubs etc... if you think publishing is just having a print and eBook you are missing out on a lot of money.

This is like Amway, the more books you write, the more you make and with eBooks it can keep going, nothing gets old, update your titles every three years and you have a new book to sell to new readers!

Any questions?


Author Aaron Patterson: Blog: The Worst Book Ever.

How Much Should An eBook Cost? Part #1

How Much Should An eBook Cost? Part #1

This is a big topic in the writing world. Most readers are open to paying a higher price if it is a well known author, but who does not want a cheap eBook?

I will take a short amount of time over a few posts to talk about eBook pricing in the fiction world and also in the non-fiction world.

First, we need to look at how we SHOULD look at eBooks and price/value. To think of a paperback as a per unit price/value is fine. But to take your value as an author with a per unit price for an eBook, is just silly.

The Big 6 want us to believe that price=quality. But the low priced books, (Indie or not) have shown that this is not the case. Price=Price. I say that if you have a high priced eBook you are greedy and a mean person, or maybe just hate puppies and little children. This is the truth of the matter, if you are a big publisher and have high priced eBooks you are ripping off the readers.

The Big 6 say we have low quality and I say they are greedy. eBooks are cheap, they do not cost a lot to put online and take little to maintain or manage. Where is the cost? Anyway... I could go on and on about this and we will explore it later. What should an eBook cost? As a Indie what should you price yours at and is there a better way of doing things?

Here is what you want.

Highest number of units sold:

Highest return:

If one has to give way to the other, you are doing it wrong. In the eBook world it is monthly return, not a per unit price. Look at how much you make per book per month. Not what you make per sale.

It is all about Volume baby!

So you want to price your eBook at the highest price, and still reach the most people. With some books this is 9.99 and with others it is .99.

If you reach 1000 people a month at 2.99 but can make more money at 4.99 and only reach 500 people, drop it back to 2.99. It is not about the money, (that will come later,) it is about building fans. So, if your reach more people every month, and your numbers stay the same or go up, you are in a good price per person rate.

Now if you have a book that is dropping in numbers,(Ranking or number of copies sold each month) mess with the numbers until you can stop the bleeding. The goal is to keep your book sales and numbers up.

I will give you an example. One of my books I priced at 8.99. I sold about 200 copies a month. I dropped it down to 2.99 and now sell 400-600 a month, I do not make that much more, if any, but I reach more people. Now, I have tried to sell this title at .99 and at that price, still only sell 600 or less. So I found my sweet spot, 2.99 reaches the most people and makes me the most money. I would make a little more at 8.99 but would have to give up the people.

Again, remember that to figure out your value as a writer with eBooks, it is not about the price of the book, but the monthly income. If Stephen King sold 100k eBooks at 14.99 the big publishers see that as a win. But if he would do it the way I am telling you here, he could sell 1 million eBooks at a lower price and make more money and reach more people. There is no loser except for the big publisher.

For any of you out there that still think I am giving away all my value as an author, that I am short selling my work, well... I say, are you full time? Do you want a good monthly income or do you want to sell a few books at a higher price to keep your pride intact? After all, that is what this is... pride, you want to think that you are WORTH a good high per book price, so will you let your own pride stand in the way of your own success? Because once you EARN the right, you like SK and other bestsellers can get a higher price as the fans will pay it.

We new authors, the Indie people have to build a fan base first, after that we can do more as we will have the fans to carry it all... and we will talk about will they pay more once they are used to the low price later...


Author Aaron Patterson: Blog: The Worst Book Ever.

"John Locke is not a real published author unless I say so!" -The Big 6

*Warning Rant*

I woke up to this post on my Twitter feed and after reading it had to first smack my face, throw up and after all that read it again just to find out that yes, in fact it was posted by a real human. The Shatzkin Files posted this on John Locke.

Here is my take.

First off, this entire post is about what could have happened, might, maybe, but more important, DIDN'T. It is like a friend of a lottery winner trying to tell everyone else what they would spend the money or how it should be done.

We all know that JL has made headlines as the indie author that has sold one million eBooks. Now out of the woodwork come these talking heads that want to over think how he did it and what he should have done.

What is the goal of all this? To keep us thinking that the big publishers still have something to offer. He will run the numbers on a .99 book or a 9.99 book. How is that even in the same ball park? I mean, he sold the books he sold because of the price and his marketing. One without the other would not work as well and to compare what he would have made if he was with a big publisher is just stupid.

The fact they will never tell you is that JL would have never sold the books he sold if he was with a big publisher. No publisher would have taken him on, and even if he did get a deal they would not market him like he marketed himself. The price of his eBook would be to high and the small number he sold through them would put him out of print in 13 months.

So, I ask you, why are we trying to shove him into this box? Why not just say, good job john? Are we that scared to leave the old system? Is it that bad out there?

He was smart, he sold his books at a low price, built a fan base and made himself worth a ton of money. Now if a publisher wants him they will have to pay out the nose. It is not the money, I am so tired of all these talking heads and writers who just think of the money and how much the book is and what it cost and are you worth it and is your writing worth a buck and are you selling yourself short and is this a run on sentence?

Look, it is about FANS, let me say that again, FANS! If you build fans the money will come. He reached a million people and it doesn't matter if he gave out all those books for free! That group if they liked the book will come back and pay for the other books. I wonder why this is such a mystery in the publishing world.

So could he have made more money if he sold the books at 9.99? Well DUH, if he sells them at a higher price he makes more. Come on! But would he have sold a million? Nope. Not a chance, sorry but it wouldn't happen. Also, if he sold through a publisher for 9.99 he would make only 1.75 per book when he could do it himself and sell the book at 2.99 and make 2.10 per book. Lets do that math!

This blogger did at least say as much: Of course, if Locke himself sold the ebooks at $2.99, he’d be taking in six times more per book, or about $2.10 a copy.

But, either way, he seems to be leaving a lot of money on the table. Without a publisher’s efforts, he’s certainly leaving a lot of marketing on the table too.

The only thing here is the marketing he is leaving on the table. What marketing? Really, you think a big publisher is going to market you better? Come now, let us not be dumb. The only person going to market you is you. If they do anything it comes out of their royalty. Besides, why would they market him, he is a small fish, cuz we are talking all this before anyone knew who he was... You can't backdate your rules and treat him like a bestseller before he was. Now I would say he could get some marketing out of the publishers, but not before the million books.

And here is the meat of the matter: But if the markets are distinct, there is also some great potential reward. If there are people who only choose from the cheap books, there are also people who want to choose from the professionally validated books, the ones from the major publishers. The more you believe the markets are distinct, the more opportunity there could be for Locke in using what he’s done to launch himself independently as the springboard to a career as a published author with a major player.

This is what all the big publishers and the blind authors want you to think. That you are no good, you are sub par because you are not professionally validated.

Take that Amanda Hocking, Take that Vincent Zandri!

So we are fed the same lie. You are just a lame writer and have no value unless one of the Big 6 publish your books. Remember that when you see more and more eBook millionaires. Remember that when you read an amazing novel from a new author, that you the reader have no power, that you cannot choose who is a good writer or not, they choose!

It is the men on the hill that make the call, the publishers that decide if we are good enough. Well... what say you? Is it us the readers or them the publishers? You tell me.

Rant over.

Cheers