Today In Search of Adam celebrates its 100th day in the top 100 Paid Kindle bestseller chart (I was #6 at one point!) and that, I feel, deserves a little ‘woo hoo’.
Amazon initially reduced the eBook price from 99p (price set by The Friday Project after discussion and agreement from me) to 26p and then up slightly to 36p. This meant that a lot of people were willing to take a punt on the book and push it into the charts very quickly. Once there, I guess the low price of the book, combined with it being in the top 20, combined with lots of people buying Kindles and wanting something to put on it, meant that people carried on buying my debut.
There has been no additional publicity for In Search of Adam and all ‘pimping’ has been done via Twitter, Facebook and this blog. Now the eBook costs a mere 99p and people are still buying it, which must mean (and this is practically science!) that social media and low eBook pricing works?
I know that some people feel quite strongly that authors should not be lowering the price of their eBooks but I believe that my situation is different. In Search of Adam really did suffer with the liquidation of the initial The Friday Project. The paperback had only been out for three weeks (back in February 2008) when booksellers were told to return all stock. Now that it’s been taken on by HarperCollins (a new The Friday Project - complicated, yes?), this is my debut’s second chance.
All of this sounds positive, as clearly it means that I’m reaching a new audience BUT let’s not forget that my writing is Marmite. I would be the first to admit that In Search of Adam is not a book for everyone - strong themes, taboo subjects and not even close to a happily ever after.
However, the low pricing and positioning in the Amazon Kindle chart means that In Search of Adam is an easy download. I am reaching new readers who are not even close to my target audience. This also means that they have spent 36p on a book that they’d never have bought at full price. And, as a result, I’ve had a nice new set of negative Amazon reviews.
Once you’ve bought a book, even if you have only paid 36p, you still have a right to comment and review. Some of those reviews have stung and if I’d read them at the beginning of my career you’d probably still find me quivering in a corner. Instead, right now, today, I’m rather thrilled that my debut has been given this second chance at being read and that some of those new readers appear to have a taste for Marmite.
100 days. Woo hoo!
Well done you! And more power I say. It’s a balancing act, I suppose but as we have books out in parallell forms, maybe price experiments are well worth trying. And I love the sensible approach to bad reviews!
The whole ‘bad reviews’ thing is interesting. I think that everything happens for a reason and if those reviews had appeared a few years back it really would have been the end of the world. Now they make sense and I like that not everyone gets ‘Adam’.
Congratulations! This is very interesting - what would be useful is to know how many sales were generated by being so high ranked. Does Novel Rank work with Kindle titles?
Novel Rank doesn’t work and the actual sales figures run a number of weeks behind. I don’t know exact/hourly figures, but know it’s totally thousands of sales, rather than hundreds.
Because I know you don’t DO numbers, I thought I’d point out that as it stands, of the 50 of people who have reviewed on amazon:
• 70% loved the book and rated it 4 or 5 stars.
• 8% didn’t mind it and gave it 3 stars.
• 22% hated the book at rated it 1 or 2 stars.
I can’t find the stats now, or specific to amazon, but when I was at uni we were taught that negative feedback about products and experiences is more common than positive feedback. If you like something you move on. If you really hated it, your biology keeps you stuck in it for a while to teach you to avoid it in future. Our survival strategy is geared to rate pain as more important than pleasure.
The other thing I noted on the amazon reviews is that some people were objecting to the very concept of the book. They were railing not really against your writing but against the fact that there isn’t always a happy ending. I think ISoA was very brave in not delivering the happy ending that would have been easier to give in to.
That there are nearly-rescue moments - the teacher for example - but these come to nothing - bothered these people because even though that is a common experience for neglected children, they don’t want to know about it.
So - I think your proportion of reviews is not even marmite… it’s much more favourable than that, but the people who can’t bear the taste really do just want to spit it out!
I love that you apply such logic when my mind doesn’t. I also and espeically love that you’ve been there since publication and know how important ‘Adam’ is to me. What I find most interesting about the negative reviews is how many of them finished the book. If I really hate a book, I simply stop reading it - life is too short! x
Well done you. A brave bit of pricing and it seems to have paid off. I hope you keep a goodly portion of those new readers, and as to the reviews your work is much more loved it would seem from the stars, than any other emotion. Hold that thought!
Thank you so much for this comment. I will indeed hold that thought!
I bought ‘In Search of Adam’ at the reduced price and read it on my Kindle found it a compelling and powerful novel, as you know from my tweets upon completing it. On the strength of your debut I have also bought you other two novels for my Kindle, where they await my attention. I am also someone who will be looking to see when your next book is available. I am also planning to by a treebook of ‘Like Bees to Honey’ for my wife as she prefers to have the book in her hand, particular when they have such well designed covers. Would I now be a confirmed reader of your work without the lower priced ebooks? Probably, but the pricing and quality of your books have generated enough good will in me as a consumer of your work that I will be eagerly awaiting your next book and will be happy to pay more for them.
In the meantime, I shall be heading over to Amazon and writing you a review for ‘In Search of Adam.’ Something I should have done already.
Dan - thanks so much! Your comment is exactly what I needed to hear and really helps to explain why the eBook pricing worked. Reaching a reader who truly ‘gets’ what I am trying to do makes it all worth while. I think that the low pricing gave people that step into my world…
I, for one, don’t care what I read your work on because as far as I am concerned, it is good no matter what. I really enjoy that all your books are different, Caroline and, although Like Bees to Honey is probably my favourite (yet), I’ve been drawn into the other two just as much. You tackle subjects that people aren’t comfortable with. That’s why I added you to my review of Blacklands. What’s the point in readers only having ‘samey’ books to read all the time?
Let’s take a moment here to reflect on Stray’s numbers. You did well, chick. Please don’t ever forget that. x
I heart you x
What would be interesting to me is how many sales it took to get you to number 6 - and how much you clear from each sale.
If this has turned you into an overnight millionaire - sweet!
If this has given you the next few months rent - great!
If selling at 99p hasn’t got you more than the price of a tin of beans - it’s worth rethinking the strategy.
Obviously, your financials are your own business - but it would be fascinating to get a peek at whether this is a sustainable business model.
Oh, I should say, I’m too much of a wimp to read your books. But if you ever write one about a jolly elephant who likes eating buns - I’ll buy it in a heartbeat.
Good luck!
One day I’ll write a story about a jolly elephant who likes eating buns and will be in touch!
Alas, this hasn’t turned me into a millionaire and that’s really the point. In Search of Adam (a book that is 3 years old) was not selling and was being lost (due to the liquidation), this eBook pricing has bought the book back into focus.
The Kindle chart is updated every hour, so to stay in the top 100 is a difficult task. I don’t know sales figures related to chart position but I do know that when I was in the top 20, I was also in the top 50 fiction books (not just Kindle) on Amazon.
The sales of the Kindle version of ISoA are in the thousands and for every sale I get around 25p. It was Amazon who decided to discount the book to 26p and then 36p - they took a punt on it too and my money remains the same. So we’re talking a good amount of money, but more importantly expsoure for a lost book. When I have more precise figures (when I get my royalty statement) I will blog them.
DON’T read reviews and DON’T read sales comments.
’tis all
I know! You are wise.
Woohoo indeed! Congrats!
Thank you x
Woo hoo Caroline - fantastic to see how your stunning words go on spreading …
Megs (-:
Awww Megs, thank you x
Only reading this now so a bit late but congrats! I’m a firm believer in low e-book pricing but nothing sells if it isn’t worth buying…
Re: negative reviews - yes, a nasty downside to more people reading your book. And it’s hard to not take notice of them - I can quote my bad ones, but only have a vague recollection of the good ones. Just compare the total number of books sold with the number of negative reviews, and you’ll see that it’s only a tiny minority.
x
P.S. I just bought it for my iPhone. Another one sold!
I love your new lookwebsite, so minimalist and clean! This is very interesting, Caroline, and I think safe to conclude that low priced ebooks are a good thing. (And I don’t think you can buy anything for 26p, so that makes it even more of a glorious bargain.) It does of course mean more readers, and more varied reviews, but that does seem a small price on balance. Stray’s analysis is great. The language of ISoA is still with me, Jude’s voice, going up up up on the climbing frame… I remember being so afraid of ebooks at beginning and horrified at the thought but it all seems more benign now, if that is the right word. I am waiting for Amazon to get Kindle version of my own book back up, it was withdrawn cos of some spacing glitches but all fixed now. I just want it up for all the Christmas stocking Kindles! And I have just started Like Bees, sorry it took so long but I have had quite a lot on my plate this year, healthwise. x
Hi, Caroline. All avenues are the right ones in this tough old game, eh? I just LOVE to watch you grow. Great respect.