Allowing the reader to decide what they want to pay!
For somewhere around 18 months now I've sold my digital novel, "I can hear them singing now!" on Amazon and Smashwords, a process that has not been particularly satisfactory.
There is little doubt those platforms work well for authors in the US, UK and a few other countries but, for writers in the rest of the world, it does not seem worth the effort.
US regulations create so many hoops through which offshore writers must jump that, for me, it is just not worth the hassle. In addition, Amazon is not the fastest payer around!
With that in mind, I spent many months seeking the best way directly sell my digital novel, even from the depths of Africa. Using Paypal as the payments platform and directing purchasers to a download site was a partial, if somewhat clumsy solution. But I had other requirements. I did not want to have to constantly check my emails and bank statements, to verify purchases and then manually email a link to the buyers.
There's no doubt a way to automate the process but, I am a writer, I am cheap, and have no desire to learn how to set up such a system.
In addition, I wanted a pricing model where the reader could decide what he or she thought the property was worth and could PAY WHAT THEY WANT. Neither Paypal nor Amazon allowed that.
After much searching and researching, I chose Gumroad (www.gumroad.com), a payments facility that allows absolutely secure credit card payments to be made from anywhere in the world. They piggy-back on Stripe, one of the planet's largest payment gateways.
It is a wonderful system that works seamlessly and efficiently.
Readers can now PAY WHAT THEY WANT! -- anything from $1.00 upwards. Visit any of these download links to check it out:
Epub - https://gum.co/KmYw
Mobi - https://gum.co/gHwQZ
PDF - https://gum.co/xatDh
HTML - https://gum.co/iEsiW
Am I not afraid I'll be ripped off? After all, publishing has always operated on set pricing. I was pleasantly surprised. Almost all my readers paid fair prices and the few who didn't... well that's okay, it's not something I am going to become bitter and twisted about. There are many, many, more good people out there than there are rogues!
While I have now taken personal control of the sales of my novel, I did not want to completely abandon Amazon and Smashwords. In order to market directly from my website, I needed to change the title of the book. It is now called, "Hobson's Choice" and is the same book as "I can hear them singing now!" that is still offered for sale on Amazon, Smashwords and other platforms. All the reviews apply, the only difference is, readers can now choose the price they wish to pay and can TRY BEFORE THEY BUY when they download the first 28 of 74 chapters.
Visit my website http://www.hiltonhamann.com to download the sample chapters.
It's going to be interesting and exciting!
There is little doubt those platforms work well for authors in the US, UK and a few other countries but, for writers in the rest of the world, it does not seem worth the effort.
US regulations create so many hoops through which offshore writers must jump that, for me, it is just not worth the hassle. In addition, Amazon is not the fastest payer around!
With that in mind, I spent many months seeking the best way directly sell my digital novel, even from the depths of Africa. Using Paypal as the payments platform and directing purchasers to a download site was a partial, if somewhat clumsy solution. But I had other requirements. I did not want to have to constantly check my emails and bank statements, to verify purchases and then manually email a link to the buyers.
There's no doubt a way to automate the process but, I am a writer, I am cheap, and have no desire to learn how to set up such a system.
In addition, I wanted a pricing model where the reader could decide what he or she thought the property was worth and could PAY WHAT THEY WANT. Neither Paypal nor Amazon allowed that.
After much searching and researching, I chose Gumroad (www.gumroad.com), a payments facility that allows absolutely secure credit card payments to be made from anywhere in the world. They piggy-back on Stripe, one of the planet's largest payment gateways.
It is a wonderful system that works seamlessly and efficiently.
Readers can now PAY WHAT THEY WANT! -- anything from $1.00 upwards. Visit any of these download links to check it out:
Epub - https://gum.co/KmYw
Mobi - https://gum.co/gHwQZ
PDF - https://gum.co/xatDh
HTML - https://gum.co/iEsiW
Am I not afraid I'll be ripped off? After all, publishing has always operated on set pricing. I was pleasantly surprised. Almost all my readers paid fair prices and the few who didn't... well that's okay, it's not something I am going to become bitter and twisted about. There are many, many, more good people out there than there are rogues!
While I have now taken personal control of the sales of my novel, I did not want to completely abandon Amazon and Smashwords. In order to market directly from my website, I needed to change the title of the book. It is now called, "Hobson's Choice" and is the same book as "I can hear them singing now!" that is still offered for sale on Amazon, Smashwords and other platforms. All the reviews apply, the only difference is, readers can now choose the price they wish to pay and can TRY BEFORE THEY BUY when they download the first 28 of 74 chapters.
Visit my website http://www.hiltonhamann.com to download the sample chapters.
It's going to be interesting and exciting!
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Hi JoeThanks for the comment. Gumroad's fees are listed here:
https://gumroad.com/guide/basics/gett...
But I have cut and pasted the relevant information.
Fees
We believe in honest pricing. We take 5% + 25¢ per transaction. We don’t charge any additional monthly, hosting, or setup fees. Everything is covered: including file hosting, file downloads, payment processing, payout deposits, customer support, analytics. We even cover dispute fees, which are regularly $15 and above with other payment services.
For example, if you sell a digital video for $10, you'll make $9.25 — inclusive of everything.
Why don’t you accept PayPal?
There are three main reasons we don’t offer credit card payments through PayPal.
First, we want to maintain the simplest purchase experience on the web. This isn’t possible if we offer PayPal as a payment method.
Second, we want creators to be able to fully customize their buyer experience, and PayPal doesn’t allow complete control over the look and feel of the payment process.
Third, we want to offer the best customer support in payments. Everyone that interacts with Gumroad should have an incredible experience, and it's very difficult for us to mantain this quality when PayPal is involved.
Hope this helps.
With kind regards
Hilton
Interesting, Hilton. I'll check it out.
Do you have an update on this program, Hilton? Are you still happy?
Hi Sharon.The Gumroad system works beautifully. I think there may be some reluctance by some buyers, in that it is not as well-known as Paypal etc. but that is changing as they are increasingly getting favourable coverage in major, mainstream publications.
I wish I could say I've had thousands -- or even for that matter dozens -- of sales but those I have had have been quick and flawless.
Amazon and Smashwords etc. remain the big dogs in the fight but I like the idea of directing people to a landing page where there are no "other people also bought this" adverts.
In addition, if you live outside the few countries in which Amazon has direct representation and do not have a US bank account, this really is one of only two ways I could find to get paid promptly. Payoneer.com is a good option for "foreign" authors to use and get paid promptly by Amazon, without having to wait to reach a payment-threshold and then having to face the hassles of paper cheques.
Hope this answers your question. Shout if there is anything else you would like to know.
Regards
Hilton
I should add I have dropped the "pay what you want" programme. From the limited feedback I got, it appears people are reluctant to buy when there is no set price. They seem to be afraid of insulting the author and/or appearing cheap, if they pay too little and are afraid of paying too much.
What % of sales price does Gumroad take? I looked on their web site and couldn't see any info on this.
Thanks again for posting and good luck with your new book!