For as long as I've been published, I have done my best to put my books on as many retail sites as possible, in as many formats as possible, in order to give my readers choice and enable them to find me. But over the next few weeks, the majority of my titles will be coming down from retailers as I make them Amazon exclusive. The reason? I sell very little anywhere other than Amazon, and Amazon exclusivity allows me to loan my books through KU, do free days, discounts etc. These, I hope, will improve my sales so I can pay for edits and artwork on more titles. I'm also tired of some of the issues I keep running into on other retailers. Not saying Amazon is perfect, but it offers me a lot more with less hassle than everywhere else right now. B&N seems set on destroying themselves, it's taken Kobo two months and endless emails to get one of my titles even showing up in their searches while not having a decent author page, ARe requires a lot of file conversions before you can even upload and...well, I'd rather be spending the time and effort writing new books.
My Redemption series books (currently just Keir, with Keir's Fall to be released by the end of the year) and Tethered will remain at multiple retailers for the foreseeable future. When Dark Falls is already down from all retailers in digital format, but the print will still be available elsewhere - I'm waiting for it to show up on B&N but it's up at The Book Depository. No Angel came down in July. The others will gradually go over the next few months.
I really hate having to do this, but I need to find a way to make the books pay as best I can if I want to put any more titles out in the future. If that changes, then I'll do my best to make them as widely available as possible as soon as I can. In the meantime, if you want a non-Amazon format once they've come down, I can offer two solutions. Either sign up to somewhere like The Romance Reviews or Manic Readers sites where you can get my books for free in return for a review. Or you can buy the Amazon version, email me the proof (use the Contact Me button above) and I will send you whatever format you need for your ereader.
I did the same with my books about a year ago and haven't looked back. By going Amazon exclusive, I've made more in sales than having them available through other venues.
ReplyDeleteI know a few other authors have done the same and came out better for it. The regret will be there for a while, but you should come out ahead in the long run.
Well, I consider myself fortunate I have enough titles to be able to experiment, see if it makes a difference. I'm not really a fan of exclusivity - ultimately I don't think it's best for readers - but we shall see. Thanks for commenting on your experience with it!
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