Ian Dawson's Blog - Posts Tagged "pricing"

In its most basic terms, metadata is data about data. A novel is filled with data, and Amazon and other sites use data (keywords) based on the data in the novel to categorize your book and make sure that when certain terms or phrases are searched that your novel pops up.

The keywords Book Baby and I chose were:

“abduction|courage|friendship|kidnapping|survival story|teenage boys|thriller”

If you do wish to change these in the future for your novel you can, and it takes about 24 hours for the changes to occur on Amazon.

Now on to pricing.  Since it was my first novel, I didn’t want to charge a crazy amount, but I also wanted to make sure that I could make some money off each sale.  I decided on the lowest amount that gets you a maximum return on Amazon: $2.99.  At this price I get 70% of the sale and Amazon gets 30%.  Any lower and I get 35%.  $2.99 seemed like a fair price since it is affordable for an eBook and my main goal was to get people to download and read the book.

With all that in place, I did a few more accounting-based steps about where you want your money sent and at what set amount would you like the money sent to you, and awaited the proofs for the eBook.

But did I just sit around waiting for that day to arrive? Quite the contrary!  I knew I had to create a platform for people to learn about my book, so I created a website using www.wordpress.com.  I started with a pretty basic and bland theme and format, but eventually took the time to make it my own.  I opted for the business website option, which costs a bit more but gives you more freedom and options with your design.

Tomorrow, I’ll talk about proofs, other book sites I joined, and getting early reviews.  See you then!

Here’s where things get a bit more complex when it comes to self-publishing.  You’re no longer in the digital realm when it comes to a paperback, you are in the real world and that means there are many more variables at play.  Let’s talk about them! 

For the eBook I did everything online with no assistance from anyone. If I ever had a question – and this has been true since day one of this experience – Book Baby responds to emails very, very fast.  With the paperback, I set up a call with one of the Book Baby people to go through all the details that go into making a paperback a reality.  We hashed through book size, page count, page color, would I need a cover or provide my own, and host of other questions.

After the call, I emailed Steven Novak and he got to work on the paperback’s cover.  I think it turned out great!

I went through the familiar steps on Book Baby’s website, but the nice thing was since it was just a new version of the same book I didn’t have to deal with as much technical stuff.  Then I had to decide on what price was best for the paperback.  Since this is Print-on-Demand, the price was set at $14.63, which I initially was concerned was too high a price.  I’m a new author, who’s gonna invest almost $15 for my first book?  (I would soon learn that there are a lot of people who are willing to pay that price, which was quite a nice feeling)

A consultant at Book Baby advised me that I could create a promo code on their site to reduce the price, and I did just that.  You can order your copy here and use the promo code FIELD20 at checkout to save 20%!

When I got the proofs for the paperback I jumped up and down even higher this time.  They looked AMAZING!  I had been a bit unsure of the whole process before I got the proofs, but the final product was definitely exciting!

All the pieces were in place.  I had ordered 125 copies for myself (well, not only for me, that would be a tad odd and narcissistic), and was awaiting their arrival.  I got the email from Book Baby that the four 22-pound boxes of books had been shipped.  I was glad for the sake of not getting a hernia that they were in four separate boxes.

Then on Friday, September 7, 2018 at 9:30PM, I got an alert on my phone that UPS had delivered the books.  And they were on my doorstep.  And we have a package theft problem at my complex.  And I live 40 minutes from where I work!

I clocked out and rushed home (as fast as one can in L.A. traffic on a Friday night).  I arrived just in time to see the sprinklers turn off in front of my door.  Where the boxes were.  Now all wet.  Yay.

I hefted the wet boxes into the apartment and dried them off.  I opened the first box, planning to unload them all to ensure there was no water damage, and I froze.  There, from inside the box, staring back at me was my novel: The Field by Ian Dawson.  It was a profound moment.  I took the top copy out and flipped through it.  The new book smell hit my nose the smell after a new fallen rain (or it could have been the smell of wet cardboard box, who know?).  I then pulled them all out of the boxes and luck was on my side: no water damage!

Now I had 125 books ready to go.  Where were they going?  Well, remember in my last post I talked about Smith Publicity?  Well, I've teamed up with them for a three-week media blitz in late September, and I needed copies to send to potential reviewers and interviewers (more on that experience soon!).  Plus, I knew that family, friends, co-workers, and those who helped me get the novel done and published wanted copies, too.

So, after all of this, from the push from the woman who cuts my hair to publish the damn book, to getting the paperbacks in wet boxes on my doorstep, what have I learned and what will I do differently with the second book (Coming Spring 2019!)?

Come back tomorrow for the final post in this series to find out!