Tuesday, March 18, 2008
The proof of the promo--veinglory
Further the the question of what kind of promotions works well, I would like to suggest an experiment.
I am looking for authors with two back list books that sell a steady and similar amount. The idea is to pick one of those and promo the hell out of it during the month of May. Do your absolute minimum of promotion on the other (i.e. don't deliberately ignore it or remove it from your website or anything, but no active promotion). Keep some record of what promo you do.
At the end of June I will ask you to share your results. Note: I do not want to know your actual sale levels. Just calculate your average monthly sales for each book based on Dec-Jan (5 months). The tell me how many extra sales you saw for May.
For example, if the average for the promo book was 20 and in May you sold 25 your result would be +5. If the average for the control (non-promoted book) was 20 and in May you sold 15 your result would by -5.
I can do this and will focus on blog promo and maybe some banner ads. Who else thinks they could join in? Use any kind of book and any kind of promo you want. I would suggest either choosing a particular 1 or 2 types of promo or taking a 'blitz' approach and doing everything you can think of. But please keep a record. ¶ posted at 3:04 PM by Emily Veinglory
Further the the question of what kind of promotions works well, I would like to suggest an experiment.
I am looking for authors with two back list books that sell a steady and similar amount. The idea is to pick one of those and promo the hell out of it during the month of May. Do your absolute minimum of promotion on the other (i.e. don't deliberately ignore it or remove it from your website or anything, but no active promotion). Keep some record of what promo you do.
At the end of June I will ask you to share your results. Note: I do not want to know your actual sale levels. Just calculate your average monthly sales for each book based on Dec-Jan (5 months). The tell me how many extra sales you saw for May.
For example, if the average for the promo book was 20 and in May you sold 25 your result would be +5. If the average for the control (non-promoted book) was 20 and in May you sold 15 your result would by -5.
I can do this and will focus on blog promo and maybe some banner ads. Who else thinks they could join in? Use any kind of book and any kind of promo you want. I would suggest either choosing a particular 1 or 2 types of promo or taking a 'blitz' approach and doing everything you can think of. But please keep a record. ¶ posted at 3:04 PM by Emily Veinglory
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I'd love to participate in this, but I have a release tied to my two steady-selling backlist books, so I expect a natural jump in sales due to the April or May release. I'll definitely be watching for the results, though!
Em this is a great idea and would be a real asset to those of us left wondering--WTF works?? :) Thanks for taking this on, and I look forward to the results.
I'm curious about which epublishers can be relied upon for accurate month over month counts (or even week to week/day to day). Do any of the epublishers offer you stats like that?
Um, all of mine do. Actually, I would say one only provides the statement and check quarterly, but the majority send a statement and check monthly and I am completely satisfied with its accuracy.
Mine does, and the publisher is so accessible that she's willing to provide information on a given week if I ask. Granted, information like that would be limited because she only has accurate figures from publisher site sales. Fictionwise, ARe, Mobipocket wouldn't be included in the equation.
This would work for ebook sales, but not print. Because of the way bookstores pay for the books they've ordered, I might not see payment for a print book for several months, even though the reader already has it in hand. Ebook royalties, however, are paid immediately by my publisher, so I have an idea month-by-month what works.
(this is Diana Hunter, btw. My current firewall is giving me grief by not letting me log into blogger)
I have an ebook releasing in April, however, and that skews the data for the month. Will be interested in the results of those who can participate, though!
diana
(this is Diana Hunter, btw. My current firewall is giving me grief by not letting me log into blogger)
I have an ebook releasing in April, however, and that skews the data for the month. Will be interested in the results of those who can participate, though!
diana
# posted by 
: 7:35 AM
: 7:35 AM
This is a great idea. I don't have a backlist - sorry I can't participate - but looking forward to what others report on this topic.
Topics like this are one of the reasons I enjoy your blog. Keep up the good work. It's appreciated :)
~Margo
Topics like this are one of the reasons I enjoy your blog. Keep up the good work. It's appreciated :)
~Margo
Well, so far it's just going to be me. But I will leave it open. If you can't make May, pick your own month :)
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