Books and virality check

[Nik]

For me an indie revolution is somewhat similar to app revolution. I know it's a wild exaggeration, but I'll use it as such: a lot write books, just like a lot develop applications for appstore and/or google play. Unlike lit biz though, development of something beyond basic usually requires external investment. Often to decide whether an idea of some social media, for example, has a potential and is worth investing - they 'buy', let's say, a thousand users (don't ask me how it's done) in Boston and see whether the app shows sufficient growth in number of users to prove virality potential.
I'm sure a virality check would be beneficial for publishers, but do you think a virality check, if available, would be helpful for the authors? Would quantifying your potential for 'word-of-mouth' help make business decisions?

[Mehreen]

Nik wrote: "For me an indie revolution is somewhat similar to app revolution. I know it's a wild exaggeration, but I'll use it as such: a lot write books, just like a lot develop applications for appstore and/..."
Word of mouth is always a good idea, I think. I bought a lot of books recommended by friends, especially my mother who happens to be a voracious reader.

[Tara Woods Turner]

People might not think about this in such specific terms when they're working on their book but I do think writers are always hoping that there's something about their book that's unique and can help it stand out in the sea of publications so maybe in our own since this is our version of what you're talking about.

[Annie]

Ooooh, I dig this, Mr Nik! And I sorta think your wild exaggeration is spot on!!

My girlfriend's hubby is a total computer wiz and designs apps for "fun". He's passionate about it, extremely creative in the process, and of course, would love to sell a bazillion downloads and retire from his day job (also doing smart computer stuff haha!).

I feel as though this "hobby' is very comparable to writing.

The only difference is that most nerds openly admit - even profess - they'd like to make a gob of money with their craft. Because no one raises a brow if you say you wanna release an app and make moolah, eh? It's not something you do cuz you "just love it sooo much."

Sometimes I wish more authors would speak like this. It would really push us forward as a community. Orrrr sink us completely. Who knows...?

*cues ominous music**giggles**cuz who doesn't love creepy tunes, eh?*

Hugs,
Ann

EDIT: Umm. I totally didn't answer your question. At least I'm on-topic-ish, right? Riiight???

[Nik]

Annie wrote: "I feel as though this "hobby' is very comparable to writing. ..."

I think you provide some valuable input, because for many there is a business side to writing, even if some tend to downplay its importance. If writing is two-fold, then sales or no-sales potential have nothing to do with writing for enjoyment, but it's crucial when you come to decide whether to invest money (and time) on promotion of a book. Just as there may be only one Angry Birds for 10K apps, there are might be even less Harry Potters. I think having the ability to check virality potential may be quite beneficial in 'business' context of writing.

[Quantum]

I want to make 200k within the first year of publication of my first novel. How's that?

Wrt buying an audience to test an app's virality, I hadn't heard of this technique. Do you have a source or more details? It sounds more like crowd-sourcing. Most apps are initially financially bootstrapped by the engineers themselves. Somewhere in there you have beta tests and then get some real customers--paying or free--and then at a certain point they approach angel investors so that they can take it to the next level.

[Segilola]

'buying an audience' to test virality is not unique to apps. there are companies whose main service is to provide youtube views. what sets some apart from others is that some will guarantee a minimum % of views eg 70% of the length of the video would be watched by X number of people. Apparently a lot of music video channels use this approach on release day

however, there are always two sides to everything . . . some people would frown and say that it is not honest. if an author for instance puts his book free and contracts a freelancer to give him 1000 downloads from dummy accounts, simply to boost his visibility (as the book is free, he's not gaining an income from the dummy account), if his book is in a popular genre I can see the book getting more downloads as a result

[Nik]

Alex G wrote: "Wrt buying an audience to test an app's virality, I hadn't heard of this technique. Do you have a source or more details?..."

I'll ask a friend of mine, who develops some new dating platform and that's what they plan to do to prove virality to investors. I'm not sure there is anything extraordinary - they probably just incentivize through agressive marketing, let's say, first thousand users to join and see whether the network grows or not.. But I will ask for specifics -:)
Maybe it's something like this:
https://techcrunch.com/2010/08/13/fiv...
where he says: “Buy the seed, get the viral for free” -:)

[Quantum]

Segilola wrote: "'some people would frown and say that it is not honest. if an author for instance puts his book free and contracts a freelancer to give him 1000 downloads from dummy accounts, simply to boost his visibility (as the book is free, he's not gaining an income from the dummy account), if his book is in a popular genre I can see the book getting more downloads as a result "

i agree that it is an unethical practice. in fact, it would most likely be (if i hasn't already been called out as) against the Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing Terms and Conditions, which includes the Publishing Process Promotion and Merchandising Getting Started:

"You are responsible for ensuring that no tactics used to promote your book manipulate the Kindle platform and/or Kindle programs."

ah, another author resources spreadsheet addition.

[Joanna]

In reply to Annie (above) I am not shy about saying I would like to earn decent money from writing fiction. In fact if you check out yesterday's post on my website "http://www.joannaelm.com/trying-for-a..." you will see I originally quit on my third traditionally published thriller because, among other things, I didn't think the advance was substantial enough.
I don't want to sound as if I did that because I thought my work was just oh-so fabulous, but it was a calculation I made that the amount of work I was going to have put into the novel was just too monumental to do it for an advance that was one-fifth of what I could earn for writing in journalism or TV news or as an attorney.
Of course none of this explains why I am now writing for my own website for absolutely zilch!!!

[Quantum]

Nik wrote: "Alex G wrote: "Maybe it's something like this:
https://techcrunch.com/2010/08/13/fiv...
where he says: “Buy the seed, get the viral for free” -:)"

oh, that is a pretty worthwhile article to read as an intro to internet virality (which is just an extension of the conventional word-of-mouth marketing concept), considering its brevity.

I'll add this article to my personal authoring resources spreadsheet.

[Nik]

Tim wrote: "Somehow or other we, as indie authors, need to establish a quality control and until we do that we will remain in the amateur league..."

There are vetting systems on each platform probably (on Amazon and Smash for sure), but they aren't worth much ...
Don't know what QA mechanism would be optimal, but I'd gladly route my stuff its way...

[Nik]

Is there a way to measure book's virality potential?