I am seriously thinking about bypassing publishers and publishing all content straight to this blog starting in 2021.
There would still be plenty of free content for those that aren’t Paid Subscribers (we need a name for y’all), but I would eventually put the majority of my novels, audiobooks, stories, drabbles, readings, podcasts, serialized audio dramas (yep), and more behind a pay wall just for Paid Subscribers.
Thoughts?
[Rules of discussion: be kind, be courteous, be compassionate. No arguing, no rhetorical tricks, and no assholes!]
I want to thank everyone again for giving such great feedback. Hearing all the different opinions is exactly what I needed to hear. It sounds like offering everything through as many channels as possible is the key. I have a solid plan going forward which will take some time to implement since I'll slowly be getting my rights back to my titles, but y'all will see the steps as they happen.
I hope this doesn’t post twice. It said I must login...
Check out Camilla Monk https://camillamonk.com/ she sells her books and audio and other things directly from her e-store. Her books could not be anymore different from yours if they were written in kanji but I enjoy both of your styles. TOTALLY different. She even sold her audibles though her email a while back and we fans bought them all. Dunno how successful she is with her e-store but she is a super nice person who I’d bet would be happy to talk author to author with you about selling. I love your stories and I want you to make lots and lots of money so you’ll write lots more books.
I would prefer traditional channels or at least a non-subscription model for buying direct so long as it is price competitive with other sources. I have read a bunch your books but some don’t appeal to me so I wouldn’t want to have to pay if there wasn’t a book I was interested in.
I'm happy to pay for good quality content. I've read a lot of your work, but not all of it, and I believe in paying writers. I'm also on numerous patreon / paid subscriber accounts, but typically for publishers where I know the subscription funds a number of authors.
I believe a subscription based platform can be a way to make a living. There are podcasters who do just that. With enough varied content, there are people who would support that. Myself, I am interested in your novels. Would I pay $50.00 a year to read your novels? No. Would I pay $5.00 for a novel I am interested in? Yes. So, why not give your free subscribers access to a store where novels are for sale? I've been buying your books and listening to your podcast since the original reading of Dead Mech was available in 2010 or 2009 (I not sure which). I've read a lot of your books, but not all of them. I'd hate to miss some of your work that I'm interested in because it's behind a paywall.
Do it. I buy direct from Michael-scott earle, so I know that it is easy to get files onto my kindle. He sends them through book funnel. He sell his audio's on Bandcamp and so while it's obviously not as easy as audible, it is relatively easy to transfer the files to your listening device once you know how to do it. So yes give it a go.
As long as I could easily get it to work on my kindle I would buy. I don’t care so much who I buy from - the key for me is easy access to the books on my device.
Would the Paid subscription remain at $5 per month ($50 per year)? How about reviews? Amazon will not accept a review from me unless I buy the book from them. The same with Booksprouts. I am currently a paid subscriber with Joshua James. As he finishes new books, he makes them available for download to paid subscribers. As to the dialogue concerning in which media books should be available: I prefer printed books; however, once I passed 3,000 (yes, three thousand) books, my wife gave me a Kindle and said, "There will be NO MORE books brought onto this house!" I now read all my books on the Kindle. And due to my learning style, audiobooks are a waste of money for me. So if you are bypassing the publishers will you be able to publish books in .mobi format?
Don't care where I get it...I just need more from the Roak universe please. As for payment...If you used paypal, I won't worry about my info being hacked and my transaction being secure.
I’m sorry if different versions of this comment get posted. The system was glitching and asking me to log in every time, even though I had already logged in 😅. Anyhoo...as per my possible previous comment(s): Please, please, PLEASE continue publishing physical copies of your books. I have an honest aversion to reading ebooks. Like, I have to be pretty desperate to do it - as with your Apex trilogy, that I couldn’t get physical copies of, but I was on a mission to read all of your books that are linked. I’m still slowly collecting all of your work that’s available in print.
I used amazon Kindle Unlimited. I have been reading and rereading your books for years. You are one my favourite authors in this genre. I’m a prolific reader, retired and on a budget. I don’t think I can support both a Kindle Unlimited and one for you. That would be sad for me.
I think Cory doctorow sells directly from his site and has it figured out where he gets the distributor cut too. So he still has a traditional publisher for hard copies and what ever other benefits that would have (broader distribution, if any?), but isn't giving Amazon or anyone else that cut when bought directly from him.
One reason I am considering this is because I would only have to grow/sell my Paid Subscription service instead of trying to sell each ebook/audiobook as it comes out. Marketing is near impossible these days without spending a ton of money on advertising and competing with hundreds of indie publishers/authors that are fighting for readers day in and day out on all the retail sites (especially Amazon).
Of course, I'd need to boost my Free Subscriber numbers considerably before I even attempt to launch such an ambitious program. I'll also need to finish up some series for current publishers. But it could be doable.
Do previews only. Man’s gotta eat and anyone demanding free content should start giving away 80% of their time and skills for free, and only hold back like 20% of it as billable time.
Sign me up;I’m a paying customer. And yes, I work for a living and have only occasional time and money or entertainment, but you know you’re in my top handful of diversions when I need to get away from the world. I buy all your stuff, even though I’m still working my way through the stack.
Pay your artists and entertainers, or watch them go away.
I am probably not the target audience for the paid subscriber model. I've read and/or listened to and enjoyed some of your series (Salvage Merc, Fighting Iron, Roak) but not all you've written. The paid subscriber may be a trend, but not one I'd jump on right away. Possibly later, but not initially.
It's an exciting and frightening concept, for sure. it might be the way we all eventually have to go, anyway, with the way publishing changes so quickly. I say go for it... so I can see if it works or not, lol
I want to thank everyone again for giving such great feedback. Hearing all the different opinions is exactly what I needed to hear. It sounds like offering everything through as many channels as possible is the key. I have a solid plan going forward which will take some time to implement since I'll slowly be getting my rights back to my titles, but y'all will see the steps as they happen.
Thanks, y'all!
I hope this doesn’t post twice. It said I must login...
Check out Camilla Monk https://camillamonk.com/ she sells her books and audio and other things directly from her e-store. Her books could not be anymore different from yours if they were written in kanji but I enjoy both of your styles. TOTALLY different. She even sold her audibles though her email a while back and we fans bought them all. Dunno how successful she is with her e-store but she is a super nice person who I’d bet would be happy to talk author to author with you about selling. I love your stories and I want you to make lots and lots of money so you’ll write lots more books.
I would prefer traditional channels or at least a non-subscription model for buying direct so long as it is price competitive with other sources. I have read a bunch your books but some don’t appeal to me so I wouldn’t want to have to pay if there wasn’t a book I was interested in.
I'm happy to pay for good quality content. I've read a lot of your work, but not all of it, and I believe in paying writers. I'm also on numerous patreon / paid subscriber accounts, but typically for publishers where I know the subscription funds a number of authors.
I believe a subscription based platform can be a way to make a living. There are podcasters who do just that. With enough varied content, there are people who would support that. Myself, I am interested in your novels. Would I pay $50.00 a year to read your novels? No. Would I pay $5.00 for a novel I am interested in? Yes. So, why not give your free subscribers access to a store where novels are for sale? I've been buying your books and listening to your podcast since the original reading of Dead Mech was available in 2010 or 2009 (I not sure which). I've read a lot of your books, but not all of them. I'd hate to miss some of your work that I'm interested in because it's behind a paywall.
Thanks for all the input, y'all. It gives me a lot to think about, but I believe I can figure out a way to accommodate everyone (eventually).
Do it. I buy direct from Michael-scott earle, so I know that it is easy to get files onto my kindle. He sends them through book funnel. He sell his audio's on Bandcamp and so while it's obviously not as easy as audible, it is relatively easy to transfer the files to your listening device once you know how to do it. So yes give it a go.
As long as I could easily get it to work on my kindle I would buy. I don’t care so much who I buy from - the key for me is easy access to the books on my device.
I've always loved printed books. There's just something about holding it in my hands.
Would the Paid subscription remain at $5 per month ($50 per year)? How about reviews? Amazon will not accept a review from me unless I buy the book from them. The same with Booksprouts. I am currently a paid subscriber with Joshua James. As he finishes new books, he makes them available for download to paid subscribers. As to the dialogue concerning in which media books should be available: I prefer printed books; however, once I passed 3,000 (yes, three thousand) books, my wife gave me a Kindle and said, "There will be NO MORE books brought onto this house!" I now read all my books on the Kindle. And due to my learning style, audiobooks are a waste of money for me. So if you are bypassing the publishers will you be able to publish books in .mobi format?
Don't care where I get it...I just need more from the Roak universe please. As for payment...If you used paypal, I won't worry about my info being hacked and my transaction being secure.
I’m sorry if different versions of this comment get posted. The system was glitching and asking me to log in every time, even though I had already logged in 😅. Anyhoo...as per my possible previous comment(s): Please, please, PLEASE continue publishing physical copies of your books. I have an honest aversion to reading ebooks. Like, I have to be pretty desperate to do it - as with your Apex trilogy, that I couldn’t get physical copies of, but I was on a mission to read all of your books that are linked. I’m still slowly collecting all of your work that’s available in print.
I used amazon Kindle Unlimited. I have been reading and rereading your books for years. You are one my favourite authors in this genre. I’m a prolific reader, retired and on a budget. I don’t think I can support both a Kindle Unlimited and one for you. That would be sad for me.
I think Cory doctorow sells directly from his site and has it figured out where he gets the distributor cut too. So he still has a traditional publisher for hard copies and what ever other benefits that would have (broader distribution, if any?), but isn't giving Amazon or anyone else that cut when bought directly from him.
One reason I am considering this is because I would only have to grow/sell my Paid Subscription service instead of trying to sell each ebook/audiobook as it comes out. Marketing is near impossible these days without spending a ton of money on advertising and competing with hundreds of indie publishers/authors that are fighting for readers day in and day out on all the retail sites (especially Amazon).
Of course, I'd need to boost my Free Subscriber numbers considerably before I even attempt to launch such an ambitious program. I'll also need to finish up some series for current publishers. But it could be doable.
Keep the feedback coming, y'all!
I love your books but have limited funds so would prefer to buy your books in hardcopy from an established seller platform
This is great feedback, y'all! Keep it coming!
Do previews only. Man’s gotta eat and anyone demanding free content should start giving away 80% of their time and skills for free, and only hold back like 20% of it as billable time.
Sign me up;I’m a paying customer. And yes, I work for a living and have only occasional time and money or entertainment, but you know you’re in my top handful of diversions when I need to get away from the world. I buy all your stuff, even though I’m still working my way through the stack.
Pay your artists and entertainers, or watch them go away.
Hmm, I'm interested, all for direct to consumer.
I am probably not the target audience for the paid subscriber model. I've read and/or listened to and enjoyed some of your series (Salvage Merc, Fighting Iron, Roak) but not all you've written. The paid subscriber may be a trend, but not one I'd jump on right away. Possibly later, but not initially.
It's an exciting and frightening concept, for sure. it might be the way we all eventually have to go, anyway, with the way publishing changes so quickly. I say go for it... so I can see if it works or not, lol
If you can get the same kind of promotional effect that a publisher might give you , hell why not
Something along the lines of what Michael-Scott Earle does?