Sunday, March 30, 2008
PLIST Update--veinglory
The April 1 update is up. The highlights are:
* updates to the first month sales figures including the addition of rather widely hyped Wild Rose press with a figure at the low end (average first month sales, 17 books, based on 18 books).
* Based on recent behavior, including apparently now selling Ellen Ashe's work against her wishes, on sale, New Concepts is now on the 'not recommended' lists along with ABCD Webmasters and LA Media. The primary reason that I cited on PLIST is their recent admission that they do not provide substantive editing.
* Closures include Dark Eden, vanishings counted as closures include Silk's Vault and Shadowrose.
If I missed anything or you can see any inaccuracies or oversights please let me know. I am also looking for a volunteer willing to go through the list and find which of these publishers offer print versions and under what terms. Anyone have a little time to donate to EREC? (Note: anyone who helps out EREC gets a cover spot for at least 6 months, on the main page or blog)
In the next update I will be providing the 'EREC Recommends' List based on sales (an aggregated rating of first month and total sales) and a happy-omoter rating of 90% or more. Please do keep sending me your happy-ometer ratings. Are you satisfied with your epublisher or not? (Note: all I am looking for from authors is a simple yes or no answer, the figures reported are the percentage of authors who say yes). Early reports suggest many epresses have 100% satisfaction ratings, but some unexpected ratings for major epresses (e.g. under 50%) are also coming in. Email veinglory at gmail.com.
Edited to add the monthly data without Ellora's Cave. The thickness of the line indicates how much data I have for each press with thicker lines showing more books contribute to that average.
¶ posted at 10:36 AM by Emily Veinglory 
The April 1 update is up. The highlights are:
* updates to the first month sales figures including the addition of rather widely hyped Wild Rose press with a figure at the low end (average first month sales, 17 books, based on 18 books).
* Based on recent behavior, including apparently now selling Ellen Ashe's work against her wishes, on sale, New Concepts is now on the 'not recommended' lists along with ABCD Webmasters and LA Media. The primary reason that I cited on PLIST is their recent admission that they do not provide substantive editing.
* Closures include Dark Eden, vanishings counted as closures include Silk's Vault and Shadowrose.
If I missed anything or you can see any inaccuracies or oversights please let me know. I am also looking for a volunteer willing to go through the list and find which of these publishers offer print versions and under what terms. Anyone have a little time to donate to EREC? (Note: anyone who helps out EREC gets a cover spot for at least 6 months, on the main page or blog)
In the next update I will be providing the 'EREC Recommends' List based on sales (an aggregated rating of first month and total sales) and a happy-omoter rating of 90% or more. Please do keep sending me your happy-ometer ratings. Are you satisfied with your epublisher or not? (Note: all I am looking for from authors is a simple yes or no answer, the figures reported are the percentage of authors who say yes). Early reports suggest many epresses have 100% satisfaction ratings, but some unexpected ratings for major epresses (e.g. under 50%) are also coming in. Email veinglory at gmail.com.
Edited to add the monthly data without Ellora's Cave. The thickness of the line indicates how much data I have for each press with thicker lines showing more books contribute to that average.
¶ posted at 10:36 AM by Emily Veinglory
Comments:
<< Home
Any chance of seeing an expanded version of the publisher chart with the Ellora's Cave outlier removed?
The chart is a bit squashed but the text listing above has the publishers listed in sales volume order and the current value for each one.
17 books? 17? Of 18 releases they on average sold 17 each??
*wanders off, baffled* Why is everyone so stoked by them?
*wanders off, baffled* Why is everyone so stoked by them?
# posted by 
: 3:57 PM
: 3:57 PM
Because they're all newbie authors who are excited just to have a book accepted, anon.
# posted by : 4:29 PM
: 4:29 PM
No, I get that, but what I mean is, since EC is such an outlier that if you reran the chart w/out Ellora's cave, the all the squiggles would have the run of the height, rather than being compressed into 1/5 of the height because of EC's dominance.
Seriously, I'm surprised that Wild Rose doesn't sell more. I've reviewed quite a few of their books and even if the plot hasn't grabbed me, I've been impressed with the quality of the editing.
# posted by : 7:30 PM
: 7:30 PM
That's always the way with every new press...Venus, Mardi Gras, Ocean's Mist, Lady Aibell, etc...some of them rated #1 (magnificent) on the Preditors & Editors poll, for example, before they even put out a single book or had to pay any royalty checks, then a year later, everyone who voted for them was made to look like asses when they folded or didn't pay authors or the owner had a meltdown online. Authors need to think before they jump on the latest bandwagon and trumpet praises (and recruit other authors) with nothing but vague "publisher promises" as their only guide. It's obnoxious.
# posted by : 4:17 AM
: 4:17 AM
I agree, it's very obnoxious. It also completely defeats the purpose of those polls which are designed to try and help authors decide where would be a good place to send their work. It frustrates the heck out of me to see some untested, untried new epub at the top of the list in the polls while those who have proven themselves are shunted aside.
Boy howdy, though, I do like hearing those kinds of sales figures for EC, though. Makes me very glad I did my research and chose them to sub to.
Boy howdy, though, I do like hearing those kinds of sales figures for EC, though. Makes me very glad I did my research and chose them to sub to.
# posted by : 7:16 AM
: 7:16 AM
For whatever reason, Phaze authors have never sent me their data--or at least fewer than three have. The threshold for being listed is at least 5 books by at least 3 different authors. I am also very loght on Ellora's Cave data and would very much like to hear from anyone published by a press not listed here.
Just to let you know, the TWRP data must be seriously out of date...I'm a relatively new author there, and it's pretty obvious to me that I have definitely sold well more than 17 books in just a little bit of time.
Same was true, it seems, of Cobblestone Press's early data. Their original 'first month' sales were in the 30s from what I remember (and this was from the Jan. update or whenever the last one was made), and now their sales figures have more than doubled just a few months later.
I think for any new epub, the data will be skewed at the beginning until a foothold has been made. TWRP is less than 2 years old. They also sell many lines of romance, not just the 'hot selling' erotic, which could possibly mean slower sales for some who reported data here.
I'm just a little taken aback at the nasty remarks from some anonymous commenters about the sales data. This is not EVERY single sale and EVERY single author. Only those who choose to send in their data.
Once I get a monthly statement, I will make sure to send in my numbers so that a more accurate representation can be made. I am more than satisfied with the editing and sales savvy of TWRP. There is a difference between a fly-by-night publisher who has crummy editing and horrid covers and low sales and a publisher who has great editing, great cover art, and rising sales. The quality will help them in the end.
Same was true, it seems, of Cobblestone Press's early data. Their original 'first month' sales were in the 30s from what I remember (and this was from the Jan. update or whenever the last one was made), and now their sales figures have more than doubled just a few months later.
I think for any new epub, the data will be skewed at the beginning until a foothold has been made. TWRP is less than 2 years old. They also sell many lines of romance, not just the 'hot selling' erotic, which could possibly mean slower sales for some who reported data here.
I'm just a little taken aback at the nasty remarks from some anonymous commenters about the sales data. This is not EVERY single sale and EVERY single author. Only those who choose to send in their data.
Once I get a monthly statement, I will make sure to send in my numbers so that a more accurate representation can be made. I am more than satisfied with the editing and sales savvy of TWRP. There is a difference between a fly-by-night publisher who has crummy editing and horrid covers and low sales and a publisher who has great editing, great cover art, and rising sales. The quality will help them in the end.
# posted by : 12:41 PM
: 12:41 PM
There is of course more to a publisher than sales. However a check of the data suggests that my Cobblestone and Wild Rise data set are if a similar age overall--in terms of when the books in question were first released. By defintion not representative of a book coming out right now, but not aggregiously old either.
I have books at both TWRP and CP, they are on the lower end of my sales, but I look at more then just sales when choosing an e-pub. Both TWRP and CP are wonderful to work with. The editing is stellar and the women in charge of these publishing companies are smart and savvy with clear business plans and are in it for the long haul. I think that's important.
Post a Comment
<< Home
