Jonathan Moeller's Blog, page 266

Kindle Unlimited and some observations on the business of self-publishing

I wrapped up my book on Windows 10 this week, so I thought I would take some time to talk about the business side of self-publishing.

First, let’s talk a little about Kindle Unlimited, version 2.0.

In July, my DEMONSOULED series got 139,255 page reads. In August, it got 105, 932 page read. Assuming the payment rate per page stays at about $0.0058 cents, that means I would have made about $590.00. That’s more that I made off Google Play for August. I think a writer might benefit from rotating series in and out of Kindle Unlimited – in October DEMONSOULED will go out of KU and back on all the other ebook platforms, and I might (emphasis on might) put the first nine GHOSTS books in, just to see what happens. That will depend on what the payment per-page is for September, though.

Speaking of that, I suspect there is a chance the payment rate for Kindle Unlimited will remain around $0.005. I could be wrong, but I think that Amazon originally intended Kindle Unlimited to operate on a per-page read payment rate, and that the original implementation of Kindle Unlimited (payment per borrow) was rushed out in July 2014 to compete with Oyster and Scribd before Amazon was entirely ready on the back end. Having a per-page payment scheme, I suspect, makes KU a lot harder to game, which in turn makes it easier to maintain a stable payment rate.

But, I could be wrong. We’ll see on the 15th of September when Amazon announces the rate for July.

I almost planned to put my WINDOWS 10: 101 TIPS & TRICKS book in KU since most of my nonfiction sales are on Amazon anyway, but large portions of the Windows 10 content on my Computer Beginners Guides site is similar to the book, and I didn’t want to get in trouble with Amazon. So WINDOWS 10: 101 TIPS & TRICKS will be available on all platforms.

Speaking of non-Amazon platforms, August 2015 was the first month I made more money off Kobo than Barnes & Noble. Kobo seems to be doing a better job of competing in the ebook space than Nook. It only takes selling about thirty or forty copies of a book to get into the top 500 sales rank on Nook, whereas on Amazon it takes between a thousand and fifteen hundred copies depending on the day. Hopefully an ambitious company will buy the Nook ecosystem off Barnes & Noble the way that Rakuten bought Kobo. The Nook space has, to paraphrase a real estate broker, “good foundations”, but B&N seems content to let Nook drift along. Though the new Samsung S2 Nook seems like a clever device.

CLOAK GAMES: THIEF TRAP did really well – over 500 copies its first month. My hope was that it would surpass the first month of FROSTBORN: THE GRAY KNIGHT back in August 2013, which did about 430 copies. So mission accomplished! (Thanks everyone!) Of those 500 copies, about 200 were from Amazon US, 230 from Amazon UK, 10 from Google Play, 10 from Apple iBooks, and 49 from Nook. (Kobo only did 3, alas.)

Anyway, those are my thoughts on the State Of Ebook Publishing in the last quarter of 2015. It really is an excellent time to be a self-published writer. Thanks everyone!

-JM

another short excerpt from FROSTBORN: THE WORLD GATE

In this excerpt from FROSTBORN: THE WORLD GATE, Ridmark hears some frank talk:

“I would wager my last golden coin that she was one of the Enlightened…and I’ve got quite a lot of gold coins.”

“Truly?” said Antenora.

“Oh, yes, I’m quite wealthy,” said Jager, brushing some dust from his sleeve. “I was a very good thief, and it turns out I’m quite a good merchant, as well.”

“He is,” said Mara.

“I just needed some starting funds, and…”

“We can discuss that later,” said Ridmark.

“Right,” said Jager. “Gray Knight, you are a bold and valiant warrior, but your blind spot about your late wife and her family is the size of all thirteen of the moons put together at once.”

“Oh, it is, is it?” said Ridmark, his voice quiet.

“Yes,” said Kharlacht.

“Unquestionably,” said Caius.

“I fear so,” said Mara.

“As do I,” said Calliande.

“As unlikely as it is for me to agree with everyone,” said Morigna, “I must…”

“God and the apostles!” said Ridmark. “Fine. You’ve made your point.”

-JM

CLOAK GAMES: THIEF TRAP Amazon US vs. Amazon UK

I’ve always wondered if I would ever sell more copies of a book on Amazon UK than on Amazon US, and it finally happened. In August, CLOAK GAMES: THIEF TRAP sold 48 more copies on Amazon UK than Amazon US.

Thanks, UK readers! (And thanks US readers, as well.)

Actually, there’s no mystery how it happened. I deliberately set the first part of CLOAK GAMES: THIEF TRAP in 2013 so I could put it in the Alternate History category on Amazon. On Amazon US that category churns pretty quickly, but on Amazon UK it tends to be a bit more stable. The book hit the top #10 in the Alternate History category on Amazon UK and has stayed there ever since, which generated quite a few sales just from its visibility at the top of the list.

So, thank you all! CLOAK GAMES: THIEF TRAP did considerably better than I had anticipated, which makes me look forward to starting on CLOAK GAMES: FROST FEVER in a bit.

-JM

cover image for FROSTBORN: THE WORLD GATE

Editing is underway for FROSTBORN: THE WORLD GATE, so it’s time to share the cover image!

-JM

Happy Sextilis

Speaking of ancient Roman history, I wonder how many people know that the month of August was named for Caesar Augustus, the first Roman emperor?

Of course, August was originally named Sextilis, because it used to be the 6th month of the Roman year before Julius Caesar reformed the calendar while he was dictator.

Just as well it was renamed. Saying that school starts in Sextilis just sounds weird.

-JM

FROSTBORN and Roman history

Working on THE SOLDIER’S TALE, the short story set in the world of the FROSTBORN I’ll give away for free to newsletter subscribers when FROSTBORN: THE WORLD GATE comes out in September. Since all the humans of Andomhaim are descended from the Romans of Britannia on Old Earth, the main character in THE SOLDIER’S TALE quotes a guy named Vegetius repeatedly.

It’s always fun when I can work a little real-world history in FROSTBORN.

If you’ve never heard of Vegetius, a good thumbnail summary is at this link.

-JM

rough draft of FROSTBORN: THE WORLD GATE now finished

I am pleased to report that the rough draft of FROSTBORN: THE WORLD GATE is done! 102,000 words in 30 days.

This weekend I’ll be writing THE SOLDIER’S TALE, a short story set in the world of the Frostborn. When FROSTBORN: THE WORLD GATE comes out towards the end of September, I’ll give away free copies of THE SOLDIER’S TALE (via Smashwords coupon code) to subscribers of my new-release newsletter.

If you haven’t subscribed to my new-release newsletter yet, you can do so here!

-JM

international competition for CLOAK GAMES: THIEF TRAP

I’m interested to see if CLOAK GAMES: THIEF TRAP will sell more copies on Amazon US or Amazon UK by the end of the month. So far, I’ve always sold more copies of my new books on Amazon US, but CLOAK GAMES: THIEF TRAP might be the one that tips it over.

Right now Amazon US is ahead by five copies, but there are still six days left in August!

-JM

what am I writing next?

Lately I’ve gotten some questions about what book I will write next, so I thought I’d share my schedule here.

Right now I’m working on FROSTBORN: THE WORLD GATE and CLOAK GAMES: FROST FEVER. If all goes well, I hope FROSTBORN: THE WORLD GATE will come out toward the end of September, and CLOAK GAMES: FROST FEVER sometime in October.

After that comes GHOST IN THE THRONE, which is GHOST EXILE #7, and a (so-far) unnamed third CLOAK GAMES novel. If all goes according to plan, GHOST IN THE THRONE will come out in late November/early December, and CLOAK GAMES #3 either in December or January of 2016.

Then I will start on MASK OF DRAGONS, the second MASK OF THE DEMONSOULED book (at last!), which will be my first book of 2016.

I’m also working on a short book called WINDOWS 10: 101 TIPS & TRICKS, and I want to have it done in time for Christmas. That should be doable, since I’m about 25% of the way through it. I want to have it done by Christmas because a lot of people will be getting shiny new Windows 10 tablets and laptops and will be confused by the shiny new operating system, and I want one of my books to be there to aid them in their bewilderment. My book on Windows 8.1 was the #1 Operating Systems book on Amazon US and Amazon UK for a while, and that is a feat I hope to duplicate.

Anyway, those are my writing plans for the rest of 2015, subject to intervention by God, fate, illness, or just plain bad luck.

-JM

 

progress update on FROSTBORN: THE WORLD GATE

Now on chapter 14 of 24 in FROSTBORN: THE WORLD GATE, so I think it’s time to share a short excerpt.

“I must say, Gray Knight,” said Jager. “That was impressively insulting.”

“Thank you,” said Ridmark.

“Clearly you have learned a thing or two from me,” said Jager.

“Yes,” said Morigna. “If one wished to learn to be offensive, one could do worse than to watch you.”

-JM