Competing with your own title - Do Kindle sales rob POD sales? Part II

For authors utilizing the print-on-demand business model to self-publish, the new wave of ebook success stories can seem mind boggling. With everything there is to learn to develop one successful book in the POD world, the additional burden can seem like too much.

For authors who have successful books in print using the POD publishing model, the question of introducing a competing title in the Kindle and other ebook formats raises a serious question. Will introducing a Kindle version split sales for both titles and by doing so, hurt sales for both versions. I speculated about this in an earlier blog posting and feedback from Christy Pinheiro argues having two versions will not result in a decrease in sales for either version.

Christy, who is both an author, blogger and publisher, believes the two versions will appeal to different types of customers. Both want good content for their money. The reader who purchases the Kindle version is driven by the lower price and the immediacy of obtaining the book via the Kindle's wireless delivery. The other reader wants a paper copy of the book.

Aaron Shepard, one of the foremost experts in the field of self-publishing utilizing the print-on-demand model as well as being an expert in selling books on Amazon, argues otherwise in a recent blog post on his website. Aaron argues splitting sales for a title on Amazon by offering two versions of the same title reduces the long tail effect of the Amazon computers. Aaron's logic is thus: the more a title is purchased, the more Amazon's computers will promote the book, thus further driving sales. By splitting sales between two versions, neither will receive the full benefit of the combined total of sales in having the Amazon computers push the title for more sales.

Based on my single Kindle title at the moment, the Kindle sales have far outstripped the POD sales for the title. The low price seems to be luring in customers who were not willing to pay the price for the POD version. The few reviews posted thus far have been glowing about the content but as I mentioned in an earlier post, a review about the Kindle version started with a comment about the price.

Since the POD version was not selling very well, I am happy to see the Kindle version doing well. Even at the dramatically lower selling price and the lower royalty total per copy sold, the difference is made up for by the volume of sales.

I am going to introduce a Kindle version of my best selling book. I hope Aaron Shepard is wrong about his estimation that two versions of a single title will hurt sales of both. It is my hope that the dramatically increasing Kindle market and Kindle sales will attract buyers I would not otherwise have sold the book to while not impacting negatively my POD sales.

It is my hope the Amazon software designers and programs will find a way to link the sales of the two versions so that the sale of one version will boost both versions of the same title. Time will tell.

Aiming sales at Amazon versus selling direct yourself

Anyone familiar at all with the industry of self-publishing is likely to have heard of, if not read, Aiming at Amazon by Aaron Shepard. This book covers in great detail the Aaron's business model for making a profit as a self-publishing author by selling books on Amazon (I also strongly suggest reading Aaron's latest book on self-publishing, POD for Profit, which focuses on using Lightning Source (LSI) as a POD printer and the business model of using a short discount).

Without giving away the contents of Aiming at Amazon, Aaron's business model points out several advantages of directing all book sales to Amazon. The most important of these advantages is what is known as the "long tail" of Amazon. The more a book sells on Amazon, the better its sales ranking, the higher it comes up in the search listings and the more the book sells. Pretty neat!

There are other advantages and they might not seem as important as engaging the virtuous cycle of the long tail of Amazon, these additional advantages are important in terms of profitability. Amazon handles the overhead of distributing, collecting payment, sales taxes and shipping the book to the buyer. For a self-publishing author, these services performed by Amazon means a significant savings in time and money, neither of which are in great supply for authors.

The author who uses LSI has the advantage of being able to set a short discount on the wholesale price, as low as 25%. Author's who use CreateSpace, the POD company owned by Amazon, must grant Amazon a 40% discount. I use CreateSpace for my POD printer because the price per copy is lower and I sell books at speaking opportunities. 

I also sell books directly from my website, but not for much longer. By the time I factor in my time and expenses for packaging a book, invoicing, depositing the funds in my business account and going to the post office, the difference in profit earned from selling direct instead of through Amazon has vanished and in some instances the profit is even less.

The store on my website is undergoing a redesign. Using direct links obtained from the Amazon Associates page, potential customers will be directed to the product page for the book on Amazon. If the customer purchases the book, not only will I have sold a book, but I will receive an additional commission of about 6% from Amazon for directing the sale to Amazon.  

This approach eliminates time and expense yet still allows me to use my website as a means to sell my books. Visitors to my website are not looking for books, but rather the content I provide for free on the site. Many of them visit the store while on my website, confirmed by Google Analytics, and some purchase books. The amount of sales generated is lower than those generated by speaking and Amazon sales but still important. Directing all sales to Amazon will further engage the long tail of Amazon and reduce expenses and free time to be spent on other tasks such as finishing the next book.

If you sell books directly to readers, it might be worth the time to calculate the savings if you converted the store on your website into an Amazon outlet and as Aaron Shepard would say, "aimed your sales at Amazon."