Book Sales

[R. Richard]

People are staying home, often forced to stay at home. The sales of my e-books are up!

 

[jehoram]

Mine, too, a little bit, but I expect the sales to go down once the recession deepens and people need to save their money for food, rent, and such.

 

[KeithD]

Haven't seen much change, although they are more up at platforms other than Amazon. I think folks will do more reading but that they won't feel they can afford to buy it in these uncertain times, so I'd expect an uptick in reading here, not in the marketplace.

 

[gordo12]

Haven't seen much change, although they are more up at platforms other than Amazon. I think folks will do more reading but that they won't feel they can afford to buy it in these uncertain times, so I'd expect an uptick in reading here, not in the marketplace.

Do the other platforms do more to promote erotic books cause Amazon doesn't do anything.

 

[KeithD]

Do the other platforms do more to promote erotic books cause Amazon doesn't do anything.

Promotion isn't the job of a distributor/bookstore. Amazon and the others are distributors/bookstores, not publishers. They all give more support in that in the Internet age than distributors did before that. They post thumbnails of covers and provide an organized way (although Amazon isn't really great at this--some of my books have been misfiled and Amazon is pretty much hopeless in getting them where they belong) to bring up blurbs. For a bigger slice of the profit (when there isn't much profit in erotica anyway, especially self-published erotica) Amazon and some others have extra attention program. But that's limited and it isn't traditionally their job.

The bottom line is that it isn't their job to promote anything they are distributing, and its a miracle that the hassle of even listing self-published works (bookstores won't do it) and erotica, especially in face of all of the stealing and offering of stolen works) hasn't prompted them just not to deal in it. At some point all of this questioning of who owns what is going to cause them just to turn self-publishers off.

 

[lovecraft68]

Do the other platforms do more to promote erotic books cause Amazon doesn't do anything.

No, but what I think is happening is amazon has gone out of their way to bury indy authors, especially erotica into their dungeon and make it very difficult to find.

Unless of course you buy into their absolute sham of their kindle unlimited program and give your book away for free and be exclusive there, then you get some visibility, but you're not making any money.

At this point I think buyers are so sick of trying to play hide and seek with what they want, they are going to other platforms.

Smashwords, which has always been a good platform for me and other erotica authors(especially because like lit, they allow anything as long as its 18+) has gone way up the last few months. I think more people are finally looking elsewhere and are finding places they probably wished they'd known about years ago.

And most sites now allow you to download to kindle and other e-readers or even a word doc or PDF so its not like you're stuck shopping at amazon.

This is what I've been waiting a long time for, and its exactly what amazon wants. Indy authors built that platform, especially indy erotica, but when the big publishers want in, Bezos didn't just let them in, he's tried to squeeze out indy's ever since. He won't completely ban them, that would be too much bad press, but he wants to frustrate you into leaving.

I tell anyone who is starting to sell, to put your books on amazon(a sale is a sale) but do not go exclusive, and when you advertise, advertise other platforms, everyone knows amazon. people don't know Smashwords or other sites.

 

[gordo12]

Promotion isn't the job of a distributor/bookstore. Amazon and the others are distributors/bookstores, not publishers. They all give more support in that in the Internet age than distributors did before that. They post thumbnails of covers and provide an organized way (although Amazon isn't really great at this--some of my books have been misfiled and Amazon is pretty much hopeless in getting them where they belong) to bring up blurbs. For a bigger slice of the profit (when there isn't much profit in erotica anyway, especially self-published erotica) Amazon and some others have extra attention program. But that's limited and it isn't traditionally their job.

The bottom line is that it isn't their job to promote anything they are distributing, and its a miracle that the hassle of even listing self-published works (bookstores won't do it) and erotica, especially in face of all of the stealing and offering of stolen works) hasn't prompted them just not to deal in it. At some point all of this questioning of who owns what is going to cause them just to turn self-publishers off.

Interesting that you would say that. I've heard that erotica (books) is one of their biggest sellers. Although when you go to the book section there isn't a side link for erotica you have to do a search using the keyword. Interestingly, they do have a link for gay and lesbian books. Go figure. Why not a link for erotica and break down for G&L under that. Tis a mystery?

No, but what I think is happening is amazon has gone out of their way to bury indy authors, especially erotica into their dungeon and make it very difficult to find.

Unless of course you buy into their absolute sham of their kindle unlimited program and give your book away for free and be exclusive there, then you get some visibility, but you're not making any money.

At this point I think buyers are so sick of trying to play hide and seek with what they want, they are going to other platforms.

Smashwords, which has always been a good platform for me and other erotica authors(especially because like lit, they allow anything as long as its 18+) has gone way up the last few months. I think more people are finally looking elsewhere and are finding places they probably wished they'd known about years ago.

And most sites now allow you to download to kindle and other e-readers or even a word doc or PDF so its not like you're stuck shopping at amazon.

This is what I've been waiting a long time for, and its exactly what amazon wants. Indy authors built that platform, especially indy erotica, but when the big publishers want in, Bezos didn't just let them in, he's tried to squeeze out indy's ever since. He won't completely ban them, that would be too much bad press, but he wants to frustrate you into leaving.

I tell anyone who is starting to sell, to put your books on amazon(a sale is a sale) but do not go exclusive, and when you advertise, advertise other platforms, everyone knows amazon. people don't know Smashwords or other sites.

Buying at Smash is a hell of a lot more complicated than Amazon. My kindle syncs at Amazon. Voila, instant gratification. The Smashwords online reader is abysmal. Kindle could be vastly improved but kindle is a sportscar vs a little red wagon compared to Smash. I seldom buy there because of that.

 

[KeithD]

Interesting that you would say that. I've heard that erotica (books) is one of their biggest sellers. Although when you go to the book section there isn't a side link for erotica you have to do a search using the keyword. Interestingly, they do have a link for gay and lesbian books. Go figure. Why not a link for erotica and break down for G&L under that. Tis a mystery?

As noted before, self-publishers are a big headache for Amazon. There's no law saying they have to distribute them (mainstream bookstores don't). When the hassle gets to a point of not being justified by the profit, they'll just turn it off. How they currently are treating self-publishers reflects the real profit share to Amazon of doing so no matter what you've heard.

And I note again that promotion is not a function of book distribution/bookselling. For books from publishers, promotion is a shared function between the publisher and the author. For self-publishing, promotion is fully the function of the self-publisher.

Anything other than this is author wishful thinking.

 

[MetaBob]

Smashwords and Apple

I submitted an epub for preorder to Smashwords several days ago, the first I've tried with everything in place for Premium distribution (meaning that it would be propagated to Apple and Barnes & Noble, among other places). It was approved, and the Smashwords version looks great on both my iPhone and Mac. However, the sample available from Apple doesn't look good at all -- the formatting is atrocious, at least on my Mac. It should be the same epub as the one they got from Smashwords, right?

A very helpful person at Smashwords responded with an Apple support link when I asked about adjusting my epub so the version available from Apple's store looks better, which I'm working through now. But I wondered: have any of you encountered a similar issue in the past? Do you have different advice on how to proceed? Thanks in advance!

 

[Ada Stuart]

I submitted an epub for preorder to Smashwords several days ago, the first I've tried with everything in place for Premium distribution (meaning that it would be propagated to Apple and Barnes & Noble, among other places). It was approved, and the Smashwords version looks great on both my iPhone and Mac. However, the sample available from Apple doesn't look good at all -- the formatting is atrocious, at least on my Mac. It should be the same epub as the one they got from Smashwords, right?

A very helpful person at Smashwords responded with an Apple support link when I asked about adjusting my epub so the version available from Apple's store looks better, which I'm working through now. But I wondered: have any of you encountered a similar issue in the past? Do you have different advice on how to proceed? Thanks in advance!

I have had a lot of errors in epub files both to Smashwords and Google Play Books. So, the solution is most likely that you need to clean the epub file before uploading it to Smashwords.

The following works for me:

1. Upload a Word file to Smashwords instead (if you have that option).
2. Check the epub from Smashwords for errors. Smashwords has advised me to open it in Adobe Digital Editions
3. You can also check the epub file with an "EPUB Validator" before uploading
4. If the epub file needs fixing, I've found that this usually works: Use the free program called Calibre. Open it in the Edit more and use the Bug-button to locate and fix errors. Save as new epub file and upload again

I hope that solves it

 

[ElectricBlue]

Here's a thought piece on Romance novels. Substitute "romance" with "erotica" and keep writing.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-29/coronavirus-why-we-read-romance-fiction-in-a-crisis/12097592


Don't feed misogyny though, because domestic violence is also on the rise (which just shows assholes are always assholes and parasites are always parasites).

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-29/coronavirus-family-violence-surge-in-victoria/12098546


I reckon we should all write positive stuff for a while (aka warm and fluffy, vanilla), and do our tiny bit to support our community's well being. Be kind to one another. Also, stay inside .

 

[sporkfina]

Does Amazon allow 'hardcore' erotica? I know smashwords does.

 

[KeithD]

Does Amazon allow 'hardcore' erotica? I know smashwords does.

Yes, but not underage (18)--at least not in the erotica section. A mainstream novel can have underage sex and violence in it--just not gratuitous underage sex.

 

[sporkfina]

Yes, but not underage (18)--at least not in the erotica section. A mainstream novel can have underage sex and violence in it--just not gratuitous underage sex.

Wow!

Just to be totally clear, I can have a story with the sentence 'Mark's throbbing cock shot four ropes of thick cum on Marie's face and tits, leaving them glistening with goo.' and have it published on Amazon erotica?

 

[KeithD]

Wow!

Just to be totally clear, I can have a story with the sentence 'Mark's throbbing cock shot four ropes of thick cum on Marie's face and tits, leaving them glistening with goo.' and have it published on Amazon erotica?

Let's see, I have about 200 erotica titles on Amazon, most of which have something parallel to that in them. So, yes.

 

[lovecraft68]

Wow!

Just to be totally clear, I can have a story with the sentence 'Mark's throbbing cock shot four ropes of thick cum on Marie's face and tits, leaving them glistening with goo.' and have it published on Amazon erotica?

Yes, but.....Amazon talks out of both sides of their mouth. On one side they say they allow no pornography...but have hundreds of thousands of erotic e-books and other 'porn' items for sale.

Their vague AF TOS actually says regarding 'offensive material"
"If you find it offensive odds are we do to"

In other words they act like they don't want erotica, but sell tons of it...however, they will pull this rule out when someone has a bad day and blocks your book because they felt like it, and if you complain that there is thousands of books just like it, they ignore you.

Perfect example...in 2013 they decided they no longer wanted the words "mom dad, sis...etc..." in erotica titles. even for Step Incest which is allowed there. They blocked a shitload of books, but gave people the chance to change titles covers and descriptions and re-submit

This was due to complaints from the moral majority Bible thumping crowd(who BTW demographically spend squat) complained.

So what they did was say you can still publish your step incest, but you have to disguise it....that way they can still make money, but it looks like they're caving to the zealots.

Okay fine...except they enforced that for about a year. Now years later there are daddy and mommy titles everywhere in the title, cover description and many are 'real incest" which they allegedly banned back in 2008ish.(I think) and again its selling well

Because the trick is to submit them in romance because they don't screen that category at all.

Now I don't do these things, I follow the rules and because of that I make $350 or so a month while rule breakers are making $1100....but at some point there will be another hunt and they will all lose their accounts as Amazon once again plays the "how'd that get there? Pesky indy authors!"

So that's how it works with Step incest, rape, bestiality and whatever other nasties they pretend they have issues with

Which for the record is exactly how the rules work here. "Rape and under age is not allowed" yet its all over the site and if your story gets blocked and you say look at all these stories...you get nowhere.

Difference is this is a free site so no one is losing money over fickle make believe rules or being buried in search engines because of their material, and there is also literally only one person making up and enforcing rules as opposed to amazon with an entire staff of asshats banning books because they're having a bad day or were instructed to start purging certain material

Are they a necessary evil if you want to make some money selling erotica? Yes, but...I tell anyone who will listen to put your work on as many platforms as you can find and not go exclusive with amazon due to its BS games.

In closing...an off topic statement about amazon. While other ultra wealthy people are giving money to support this Covid crisis, poor Trillion dollar Jeff bezos is asking the government for money. I'm not making that up, and it should be remembered for a long time to come.

 

[GuessImJamie]

This was due to complaints from the moral majority Bible thumping crowd(who BTW - spend squat) complained.

So what they did was say you can still publish your step incest, but you have to disguise it....that way they can still make money, but it looks like they're caving to the zealots.

Cheap, IGNORANT zealots, that Bible they thump BUT HAVE NEVER READ would be #1 on thier ban list. Lotsa BDSM, non-con. No one woman + one man of her choice = marriage. Sorry, that IS NOT IN THERE, eight other forms are like taking a wife as a POW. Rules for plural marriage, concubines, mistresses, having sex with slaves THAT IS IN THERE. So is the rule that husbands and wives NEVER SAY NO TO ONE ANOTHER SEXUALLY.

Oh and INCEST BEING IMMORAL, Ha ha. WHAT MORONS!!! Incest is biblically ordained from "In the beginning," Adam and Eve, Cain and Awan, Seth and Azura... Tons of incest, Lot's daughters being rewarded for seducing thier father. NAMING THIER CHILDREN "OF MY PEOPLE" "GIFT OF MY FATHER" no shame there.

And Terah... Terah, Terah, Terah... The son of two of Terah's children married the daughter of another of his children and a grandchild. That couples son married the four daughters of another grandchild and a great grandchild and "begot" the 12 patriarchs of the tribe of Israel. You know, it seems sort of difficult to believe that God doesn't approve of incest.

 

[gordo12]

Cheap, IGNORANT zealots, that Bible they thump BUT HAVE NEVER READ would be #1 on thier ban list. Lotsa BDSM, non-con. No one woman + one man of her choice = marriage. Sorry, that IS NOT IN THERE, eight other forms are like taking a wife as a POW. Rules for plural marriage, concubines, mistresses, having sex with slaves THAT IS IN THERE. So is the rule that husbands and wives NEVER SAY NO TO ONE ANOTHER SEXUALLY.

Oh and INCEST BEING IMMORAL, Ha ha. WHAT MORONS!!! Incest is biblically ordained from "In the beginning," Adam and Eve, Cain and Awan, Seth and Azura... Tons of incest, Lot's daughters being rewarded for seducing thier father. NAMING THIER CHILDREN "OF MY PEOPLE" "GIFT OF MY FATHER" no shame there.

Fairy tales have always been popular throughout history. The bible being the most popular one of all. People would rather believe idiotic tales like that than listen to the facts. They're pathetic.

Any good sales person knows that. Given a choice between emotion and facts you go with the emotion every time. Facts don't matter shit in the face of emotion.

 

[sporkfina]

Yes, but.....Amazon talks out of both sides of their mouth. On one side they say they allow no pornography...but have hundreds of thousands of erotic e-books and other 'porn' items for sale.

But if amazon is not actively promoting this, how are people finding it on the site?

 

[gordo12]

But if amazon is not actively promoting this, how are people finding it on the site?

Searches using keywords

 

[sporkfina]

Hey lovecraft & Keith, can I pm you?

 

[KeithD]

Hey lovecraft & Keith, can I pm you?

You could PM me, yes, but I don't have much knowledge of the inner workings of Amazon. I have publishers who do all of the Amazon work for me.

On Amazon itself, though, anyone who was in the business before the Internet and Amazon would just be overjoyed that they were here now doing whatever they're doing.

 

[lovecraft68]

But if amazon is not actively promoting this, how are people finding it on the site?

You can ultimately find what you're looking for, but they make it harder. Unless you buy into one of their exclusive programs where you will get seen a bit easier, then get paid pennies on the dollar, based on page views, if you even get that much.

 

[lovecraft68]

Cheap, IGNORANT zealots, that Bible they thump BUT HAVE NEVER READ would be #1 on thier ban list. Lotsa BDSM, non-con. No one woman + one man of her choice = marriage. Sorry, that IS NOT IN THERE, eight other forms are like taking a wife as a POW. Rules for plural marriage, concubines, mistresses, having sex with slaves THAT IS IN THERE. So is the rule that husbands and wives NEVER SAY NO TO ONE ANOTHER SEXUALLY.

Oh and INCEST BEING IMMORAL, Ha ha. WHAT MORONS!!! Incest is biblically ordained from "In the beginning," Adam and Eve, Cain and Awan, Seth and Azura... Tons of incest, Lot's daughters being rewarded for seducing thier father. NAMING THIER CHILDREN "OF MY PEOPLE" "GIFT OF MY FATHER" no shame there.

And Terah... Terah, Terah, Terah... The son of two of Terah's children married the daughter of another of his children and a grandchild. That couples son married the four daughters of another grandchild and a great grandchild and "begot" the 12 patriarchs of the tribe of Israel. You know, it seems sort of difficult to believe that God doesn't approve of incest.

Well moral majority=hypocrite is as tried and true of a formula as one can find.

 

[lovecraft68]

Hey lovecraft & Keith, can I pm you?

Yeah, why not?