Expanding beyond Amazon
Fire up those Nooks. The Greatest Show on Dirt is now available in Nook format. After wrestling with the decision of whether to renew for another 90 days with Kindle Select or expand to other ereader platforms, I ultimately came down on the expansion side, thanks in part to feedback from friends both here and on Facebook. I’m not sure what to expect in terms of sales, but time will tell.
Kindle’s Select option requires an exclusive commitment to the Kindle platform, as part of Amazon’s master scheme to take over the world. They do build in some nice benefits for authors, or at least potential benefits, which is what makes the decision more complicated than “Duh, more platforms is better.” Ultimately, I didn’t get enough of a bump from those perks to convince me to re-up, so here we are, in phase two.
Over the past few weeks I’ve also been able to expand into a few independent book stores, two down in North Carolina (The Regulator and Quail Ridge Books & Music), where The Greatest Show on Dirt is set, as well as the Lift Bridge Book Shop in Brockport, N.Y., about half an hour from where I live. Small book stores are willing to take a chance on independent authors, though typically they do it by risking little more than shelf space, as most will take the books on consignment.
I suspect in many cases they come out ahead on the deal, even when few books are sold. If other authors are like me, they go in and load up on visits to these shops, spending more on other books than they’re likely to make on their own. I took my son to Lift Bridge last week and walked out with three books for him and one for me.
I don’t get most of my books from small brick-and-mortar shops. I do a lot of Amazon, and I get more baseball books than I can even read as review copies. But I do feel good about supporting the indies when I can. There aren’t many of them left. While Amazon might like to eventually be the only one left, it won’t be good for readers or writers if that day ever arrives.
Kindle’s Select option requires an exclusive commitment to the Kindle platform, as part of Amazon’s master scheme to take over the world. They do build in some nice benefits for authors, or at least potential benefits, which is what makes the decision more complicated than “Duh, more platforms is better.” Ultimately, I didn’t get enough of a bump from those perks to convince me to re-up, so here we are, in phase two.
Over the past few weeks I’ve also been able to expand into a few independent book stores, two down in North Carolina (The Regulator and Quail Ridge Books & Music), where The Greatest Show on Dirt is set, as well as the Lift Bridge Book Shop in Brockport, N.Y., about half an hour from where I live. Small book stores are willing to take a chance on independent authors, though typically they do it by risking little more than shelf space, as most will take the books on consignment.
I suspect in many cases they come out ahead on the deal, even when few books are sold. If other authors are like me, they go in and load up on visits to these shops, spending more on other books than they’re likely to make on their own. I took my son to Lift Bridge last week and walked out with three books for him and one for me.
I don’t get most of my books from small brick-and-mortar shops. I do a lot of Amazon, and I get more baseball books than I can even read as review copies. But I do feel good about supporting the indies when I can. There aren’t many of them left. While Amazon might like to eventually be the only one left, it won’t be good for readers or writers if that day ever arrives.
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