Adam’s Comments (group member since Jun 28, 2012)

Adam’s comments from the Q&A with Kindle Single authors Adam Piore, Erika Hayasaki and Marc Herman group.

Sari,
I agree that Amazon is a ruthless, corporate beast and it has put some of my favorite bookstores out of business. I can definately see why you would feel conflicted. My word choice was poor. But I still say change or die.

Hi Guys,

Sorry I am a little late to the game here. I just wanted to add my two cents on Alan's original question about distrubution.

I published my ebook through the Atavist, which offers it on several distribution platforms in addition to the Kindle Singles story, including in the Apple and Nook stores. About 80 percent of the copies I have sold so far were through Amazon.

So clearly Amazon's distribution -- and especially their targeted access to readers has helped sell it. That may be in part because they also promoed my story on their kindle singles front page for a bit under "page turning narratives."

Also there seems to be an impression among those in the know about kindle singles that the most powerful factor driving sales currently are the unseen promos that Amazon sends out to their readers. If the kindle signles "people" like it, they will push it, and it will sell more copies, I have been told.

I got my story excerpted in Newsweek/Daily Beast and GlobalPost. I wrote a hufington post blog piece in the books section. I got on a BBC-PRI radio show that goes out to 300 radio stations. I got a lot of spikes in sales on amazon after the daily beast excerpt, but I still think the most important factor is amazon's own internal promotion. (at least that is what I am told)

Still, I think some "digital publishers" are already developing a "brand" that may eventually come to be more powerful than the actual "storefront" distributer (like amazon) in reaching readers.

TED, for instance, has started publishing science stories. And the Atavist itself has a growing number of loyal readers. I just read a single by Evan Wright published by the Byliner that absolutely blew my mind. All three of these digital publishers are selective in the stories they choose and are in the process of developing brands and identities. They have good editors (mine at the Atavist was brilliant).

I trust the instincts of the Atavist, because they run great stuff and the editors are very talented. Now I will enthuasiastically embrace stories published by the byliner, because that Evan Wright piece was so good.

Could I have done this story without amazon? Sure. Could I have done it without the Atavist -- probably not. The reason is because they promised to pay me a modest amount regardless of how many copies I sold and then split the proceeds for copies that sold. The amount they guaranteed was enough for me to invest the time -- far below my normal per word rate, but with a much larger potential upside. I have a monthly nut, I have to make a living. Plus I needed to pay for travel.

I could of made the same amount for a shorter magazine piece, but I could never have found a magazine that would have allocated 11,000 words to my story. It had no newshook, and wasn't obviously commercial. And my name as a brand is not sufficient to draw readers to the page -- i am no Malcolm Gladwell.

Then again look at 50 Shadres of Gray. No name fan lit written by amateur. It caught on because it was available and it was something people wanted. I don't think it had anything to do with a sheen or respectability bestowed by any outlet or brand. It was just pure capitlist supply and demand. How many copies has that sold? 300,000? A gazillion?

There's something else worth noting. Evan Wright has two national magazine awards and a bestseller. He's a brand, a draw. But his byliner single "How to Get Away with Murder" must have been more far more than 20,000 words. He basically showed that a hitman for the 1980s cocaine cartel had been recruited by the CIA during Iran-Contra, and risen through the ranks to conceive and head up the post 9-11 assassination policies. It was an incrdible piece of reporting. But it would have been really, really hard to get the real estate to explore this fascinating story in this depth in a magazine.

In terms of whether I have any problems publishing through Amazon, I guess I'm cynical. But that seems like an awfully idealistic and naive question. I feel lucky to make my living as a writer. Adapt or die.