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S2 Ep37: Diversify, diversify, diversify!
28 Plays6 months ago
Heather and Veronica discuss the benefits of multiple income streams from your single content book and why it's important.
A podcast from 1852 Media
Recommended
Transcript
Parallel Lives and Agency Updates
00:00:08
1852media
Hello, hello, and welcome back to For Books Sake. I'm Heather Roberts.
00:00:12
Veronica Adams
I am Veronica Adams and we are the under the weather 1852 media team today.
00:00:19
1852media
Wouldn't you know it that Veronik and I both contract a sinus infection in the same week?
00:00:25
Veronica Adams
Yes, a thousand miles apart from each other, but yet here we are.
00:00:27
1852media
pals well We live parallel lives in many ways, and this is one.
00:00:29
Veronica Adams
I don't know. So true, so true.
00:00:34
1852media
But yeah, we're both on antibiotics and
00:00:37
Veronica Adams
and We both sound like we have, uh, I don't know, monsters in our throat or that we are hitting the cigarettes way too hard.
00:00:40
1852media
Yeah.
00:00:48
1852media
Don't make me laugh. ah you it does um It's going to get um some exercise this particular episode.
00:00:51
Veronica Adams
The microphone has a mute button, girl.
00:00:58
Veronica Adams
For sure.
00:01:00
1852media
So we apologize ah if we sniffle in your ear.
00:01:00
Veronica Adams
Yes.
00:01:04
1852media
um we wanted Yeah,
00:01:04
Veronica Adams
Yes, we are temporarily available to record audio books like this too.
Agency Structure and Diversification Importance
00:01:09
1852media
right.
00:01:09
1852media
if you
00:01:12
1852media
um But we wanted to come on here because you know we didn't we had a ah weird release with the with the podcast, with the agency announcement and all of that.
00:01:20
Veronica Adams
Yes, we did.
00:01:24
Veronica Adams
Yes, which, by the way, current promotions and marketing clients, if you're listening, I've had multiple of you ask, is the agency going to get in the way of our relationship?
00:01:24
1852media
ah
00:01:34
Veronica Adams
And of course it's not.
00:01:35
1852media
No, absolutely not.
00:01:37
Veronica Adams
Let me just get that out there.
00:01:38
1852media
This is ah a new a new company separate company, same banner. um
00:01:42
Veronica Adams
Yes, yes.
00:01:43
1852media
if to to make it as clear as possible. so
00:01:47
Veronica Adams
Absolutely. We have, uh, current team members and new team members who are assisting us with this process. And so you will still continue to get our undivided attention and promotions and marketing as well.
00:01:56
1852media
So... Exactly, yes. We have the marketing firm and we have the literary agency.
00:02:01
Veronica Adams
Yep. Exactly.
00:02:02
1852media
They're two different things.
00:02:04
Veronica Adams
Yes.
00:02:04
1852media
um You could be a part of both, you could be a part of one, you could be a part of neither, and you could just listen to us here on the podcast.
00:02:09
Veronica Adams
Yep. Which we appreciate, by the way.
00:02:10
1852media
um Yes, we do. We we we do love you. um If you haven't subscribed to us on YouTube, I am asking that you go and do that because we can eventually monetize our YouTube if we get enough subscribers.
00:02:26
1852media
We know people are watching and listening over there.
00:02:28
Veronica Adams
Yes.
00:02:28
1852media
um So we'd love if we could get some subscribers as well.
00:02:31
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:02:32
1852media
That would be fantastic. But that's right.
00:02:33
Veronica Adams
You don't make it to the summit of the mountain in one climb. Well, I guess it depends on the mountain, but.
00:02:39
1852media
Yeah. You good? It's gonna be like that. It's gonna be like that.
00:02:43
Veronica Adams
Employ that mute button.
00:02:46
1852media
But so today we wanted to talk about, we just wanted to come on here. um We were talking about it before the podcast started and we were like, you know what?
00:02:53
Veronica Adams
Yes.
00:02:54
1852media
like Let's throw out all of our
Ebook and Audiobook Distribution
00:02:56
1852media
plans and talk about this.
00:02:56
Veronica Adams
Yes.
00:02:58
1852media
um So we're going to talk about diversification because ah yeah, I don't think we talked about it enough.
00:03:01
Veronica Adams
Which is huge.
00:03:05
1852media
We've talked about it previously, but in another episode, um like as part of a bigger episode.
00:03:05
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:03:08
Veronica Adams
Great.
00:03:12
1852media
We, this needs its whole discussion. You know, if you are not in KU, you need to be on every other platform known to man available.
00:03:15
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:03:22
Veronica Adams
Yes, yes, the strategies are totally different, right? So KU authors, unfortunately, there may not be a whole lot in this episode for you other than maybe some nuggets you can use for long-term canning if you're thinking about divorcing KU.
00:03:35
1852media
and
00:03:36
Veronica Adams
But yes, for those of you who have decided not to be in bed with Amazon exclusively, diversification is absolutely the name of the game. Just doing draft to digital
00:03:46
1852media
It's too necessary.
00:03:50
Veronica Adams
Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, a couple of international market stores is insufficient.
00:03:57
1852media
Google. It's not enough.
00:04:00
Veronica Adams
Yeah. Yeah.
00:04:01
1852media
You need to be everywhere. You need to be on Scribd. Is it ScribdD or Scribd?
00:04:07
Veronica Adams
i don't I have no idea.
00:04:09
1852media
I I used to call it Scribdee because I don't know, it's what my brain did, ah but then someone called it Scribdee.
00:04:16
Veronica Adams
That makes so, that makes so much sense looking at the logo though and like the way that, you know, cause it is S C R I B D. So I get it.
00:04:23
1852media
Yeah, but then someone called it Scribdee and I was like, oh, that actually makes sort of sense.
00:04:29
Veronica Adams
Yeah, I've always called it scribed.
00:04:32
1852media
I think it's Scribdee. My brain's just special. So anyway.
00:04:36
Veronica Adams
That's why we love you.
00:04:37
1852media
Yes, but that's the app we're talking about. that That's a great one.
00:04:42
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:04:42
1852media
um And then they also have their app that they now have for audiobooks and and things like that.
00:04:48
Veronica Adams
Yep.
00:04:50
1852media
And audiobooks, oh my God, you can diversify so much with your audiobook.
00:04:53
Veronica Adams
Yes you can.
00:04:54
1852media
If you own your audiobook,
00:04:56
Veronica Adams
Yes.
Exploring Emerging Platforms
00:04:57
1852media
you need to be everywhere.
00:04:58
Veronica Adams
Mm-hmm.
00:04:59
1852media
Like, literally, everywhere. Spotify, Storytell. Like, hold on, I wrote down several of them yesterday.
00:05:08
1852media
um
00:05:09
Veronica Adams
You've got Audible, obviously. You've got Apple. You've got Hoopla. You've got Libro. You've got Storytell. You've got Spotify. I mean, like, yes.
00:05:20
1852media
Raditz, Cobalt Plus, yeah, everything.
00:05:24
Veronica Adams
Yes.
00:05:28
1852media
all the things because it really makes a difference. I mean, I was talking to this week, I was, it just in my schedule, I, you know, talk to people, right?
00:05:38
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:05:38
1852media
Like all the time. And, um, this week happened to be a heavy client call week because of course it was when I was sick and never, um,
00:05:46
Veronica Adams
It never fails when you're not feeling your best. Everybody needs you the most.
00:05:51
1852media
Yeah. So I was talking with one of my clients, um, and everybody was so sweet. They're like, do you want to cancel? I'm like, no, no, no. As long as you don't mind me, like, you know, sounding like this for good.
00:06:00
Veronica Adams
Yeah, exactly.
00:06:01
1852media
Um, but I was talking with one of them and they're, you know, ah pulling on several hundred dollars from a per app, per these other, you know, apps um online.
00:06:10
Veronica Adams
Yeah. And they add up if you're on multiple apps, you know, it it becomes a four-figure stream of income pretty quickly.
00:06:17
1852media
Yeah.
00:06:18
Veronica Adams
And then as it grows, those individual three-figure streams of income that have just become a four-figure stream in total, ah ultimately become four-figure streams on their own that is a grand total five-figure stream for you, the more you grow it.
00:06:31
1852media
Right. Um, so I just don't, if you're only doing the bare minimum, that's why you're only seeing the bare minimum results.
00:06:36
Veronica Adams
Yeah. Yep.
00:06:40
1852media
You need to get out there. And then as you're throwing your backlist, you need to be doing, you know, deals, like promotional deals on these other platforms.
00:06:48
Veronica Adams
Yes.
00:06:49
1852media
So I, you know, Kobo has their own exclusive from my space tab and they're wonderful.
00:06:53
Veronica Adams
Yes. They do. They do. Yeah.
00:06:58
1852media
so they do well when you run a promotion there. No, I don't recommend you do one unless you have like a backlist right there that other people can, because that's the whole point of a promotion, right?
00:07:07
Veronica Adams
Sure.
00:07:10
1852media
Get them in.
00:07:10
Veronica Adams
Yeah, like if you're a debut and you've just released your first book, your' you're publishing wide and you are trying to promote your book, maybe some of those promotional features are not necessarily going to give you the results you're looking for until you have three, five, seven, 10 titles to your name.
00:07:17
1852media
yeah
00:07:30
1852media
Yeah. And so that's something that you need to look at. um Google has a really cool feature that like nobody knows about.
00:07:33
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:07:39
1852media
um I mean, truly, I've talked to many authors, they're like, really? And like yeah, you can
00:07:43
Veronica Adams
I can do that.
00:07:45
1852media
Yeah, you can go in and create your own deals and like your own bundles in Google.
00:07:50
Veronica Adams
Mm-hmm, yes you can.
00:07:51
1852media
So you can put together your books, like you could do like a first in series bundle um for, you know, a specific percentage off and all different sort of cool stuff within Google um for their platform.
00:07:56
Veronica Adams
Yep.
00:08:00
Veronica Adams
Mm-hmm.
00:08:04
Veronica Adams
Yeah. Mm-hmm.
00:08:07
1852media
So it's just really neat that, you know, a lot of people, they think about the Amazon promotions, they think about book bulbs. They don't think about Barnes and Noble deals or Go deals or Google Play deals or any, you know, any other ones.
00:08:16
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:08:21
1852media
um But there's so many new apps popping up that are a little bit different too, like Radish, you know, go and put your books on Radish.
00:08:24
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:08:28
Veronica Adams
Oh my gosh. Yeah.
00:08:32
Veronica Adams
ah Serialized fiction. Yeah, absolutely.
00:08:34
1852media
Yeah. um There's the chapters app for, um you know,
00:08:36
Veronica Adams
Yes.
00:08:40
1852media
also get sort of gaming with your story.
00:08:41
Veronica Adams
Mm hmm. Yeah. Scream Stories, of course, Kindle, the Kindle brand in Amazon also has the Vella option too, if you're looking to serialize. um Although there are some exclusivity rules there too, because Amazon takes care of Amazon. But after you've been in Vella for a certain period of time, you are allowed to publish elsewhere.
00:09:06
1852media
Yes. Well, and they have different programs too of like what you can probably like. So just look at the rules, right?
00:09:12
Veronica Adams
Yes.
00:09:13
1852media
But it's, it's really fascinating. There's so many more opportunities now, um, to get yourself diversified.
00:09:21
1852media
Like before it was only like those major platforms, like that was it. Um, and anywhere else it was like, Oh, well you're not going to make any money, but now you can, you can actually make real
00:09:21
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:09:29
Veronica Adams
Right. Well, and
Maximizing Sales Opportunities
00:09:32
1852media
money.
00:09:32
Veronica Adams
this is just for your digital content. This is just for eBooks and audio books.
00:09:35
1852media
Yeah.
00:09:36
Veronica Adams
This says nothing of the ways in which you can diversify print sales.
00:09:41
1852media
Mm-hmm.
00:09:41
Veronica Adams
So you have the ability to offer print copies ah through a distribution service like IngramSpark, for example, and be in print on multiple retailers or at multiple retailers.
00:09:51
1852media
yeah
00:09:57
Veronica Adams
um Direct sales, of course. And then you've got the social media direct sales too, right? TikTok shop.
00:10:04
1852media
TikTok shop. Yeah, Facebook shop.
00:10:06
Veronica Adams
Yeah. Yep.
00:10:07
1852media
um You know, all the different properties.
00:10:09
Veronica Adams
Etsy.
00:10:09
1852media
Yeah, Etsy.
00:10:12
Veronica Adams
Absolutely.
00:10:12
1852media
You can do so many different things. I mean, not to mention the drop shipping options. So if you have your own direct sales, you don't have to hold an inventory.
00:10:17
Veronica Adams
Yes.
00:10:21
Veronica Adams
No, you don't print on demand.
00:10:21
1852media
You can sign up through Book Vault and have your books print on demand.
00:10:27
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:10:27
1852media
Well, I mean, there are just so many options that you can do to increase your bottom line. The thing is a lot of these take time, right? They take time to manage.
00:10:36
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:10:38
1852media
um and
00:10:39
Veronica Adams
Well, and you have to continue writing and publishing regularly to grow a readership to to find the people who are going to buy these books and grow your sales for you. So it isn't just about marketing the backlist after you have one. You you do have to continue to create a frontlist. But as Heather and I were chatting before we started recording,
00:10:58
Veronica Adams
ah She is working with someone who has ah successfully grown her her monthly numbers, her her cash-in. I don't know what the bottom line figures are here, but the cash-in is growing without new releases because of the diversification that's happening with that particular brand.
00:11:12
1852media
Yeah.
00:11:16
1852media
Yeah.
00:11:17
Veronica Adams
It's possible.
00:11:18
1852media
Now she went, she had a strategy. She wanted to go from KU to wide.
00:11:23
Veronica Adams
Yes.
00:11:24
1852media
And she wanted to go all in wide. And I was like, hell yeah, let's go.
00:11:27
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:11:29
1852media
And it's been a process, but she's up everywhere. she has And she has an extensive backlist.
00:11:34
Veronica Adams
Yeah. Yes.
00:11:38
1852media
Very few things are left in KU, and those are only things that like she couldn't remove for other reasons.
00:11:43
Veronica Adams
Right.
00:11:44
1852media
But yeah, everything is available everywhere.
00:11:46
Veronica Adams
Yes.
00:11:48
1852media
She's constantly adding new apps. like Honestly, I sometimes hear about apps from her because I um Yeah.
00:11:55
Veronica Adams
i love i Honestly, I love when the clients teach us stuff. i mean because it's it Number one,
00:11:59
1852media
I mean.
00:12:03
Veronica Adams
it's free to us in the sense that like we don't have to go to somebody's class right to find out about it or whatever.
00:12:03
1852media
Right.
00:12:09
Veronica Adams
But also, um it's like having little feelers out there in the market for us. right like Because we have these relationships and it's impossible for us to try as hard as we might to stay on top of everything.
00:12:15
1852media
It is.
00:12:23
Veronica Adams
we miss stuff, right? Like I'm notorious for missing book talk drama because I'm on book, I'm on, well, yeah, I'm doing other stuff.
00:12:25
1852media
You're doing other
00:12:31
Veronica Adams
If I'm on book talk, it might be an hour or two a week tops. And I'm not always doing it for marketing. Sometimes I'm doing it because I need a new recommendation and I need to find out what the girlies are into right now.
00:12:43
Veronica Adams
So, you know.
00:12:45
1852media
But yeah, um she told me about a new app that she joined.
00:12:45
Veronica Adams
um
00:12:48
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:12:48
1852media
And we went I went and i checked it out. I was like, this is awesome. and And we're running so many.
00:12:53
Veronica Adams
Right.
00:12:55
1852media
The thing is, too, if you get in at the ground level of some of these apps, they have amazing, amazing like ah reward programs.
00:12:58
Veronica Adams
Yes.
00:13:05
Veronica Adams
Right. Right. Well, and then the growth.
00:13:06
1852media
Because their goal, yeah, I was going to say, their goal is to get users into the app, right?
00:13:08
Veronica Adams
Go ahead.
00:13:11
Veronica Adams
Right.
00:13:12
1852media
They want your readers to come into the app.
00:13:12
Veronica Adams
Right. Yes.
00:13:14
1852media
They want users. And they are going to reward you nicely for doing that.
00:13:19
Veronica Adams
Yes. taking the risk and investing by putting your your IP on their app and making it available.
00:13:26
1852media
he
00:13:27
Veronica Adams
Yeah, for sure.
00:13:27
1852media
yeah Yeah. Um, so she was telling me about some of the reward structures that she was getting from this particular app. And I was like, well, that is, that is freaking fantastic.
00:13:38
Veronica Adams
Sounds like, sounds like Kindle Vella during the pandemic.
00:13:38
1852media
And it's not going to last forever.
00:13:42
1852media
Yeah, it sorta, sorta.
00:13:45
Veronica Adams
Nobody was reading in Vella, but the authors who were putting work in Vella were getting awesome bonuses, thousands of dollars in some cases.
00:13:47
1852media
oh
00:13:53
1852media
Thousands of dollars.
00:13:56
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:13:58
1852media
Sorry, I had a kind of little coughing fit. It's still there. So we might, you know, this is so fun.
00:14:02
Veronica Adams
I know.
00:14:07
1852media
But, um, yeah, it's beautiful fall outside.
00:14:08
Veronica Adams
The fall follows, if you will.
00:14:12
1852media
I honestly think that that's part of why I got, so I mean, this is a deviation, but excuse me,
00:14:20
1852media
the weather dropped here from like 75 degrees yesterday.
00:14:22
Veronica Adams
Yes.
00:14:24
1852media
It was 49 degrees.
00:14:25
Veronica Adams
Ooh.
00:14:27
1852media
So. we had a severe drop in temperature and
00:14:28
Veronica Adams
Ooh.
Wide Distribution Success Stories
00:14:32
1852media
literally the entire state of Vermont is sick.
00:14:34
1852media
So um like I'm not kidding.
00:14:34
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:14:36
Veronica Adams
It's just harvest season here where I am. And it's been a very dry growing season. So all of the crops that are being harvested are extra dusty. They're extra they're they're covered in extra pollen.
00:14:48
Veronica Adams
They're covered in extra mold and ragweed and everything else. And plus the chemicals that get sprayed on them, too, get released into the air with all that dust.
00:14:53
1852media
Yeah.
00:14:57
Veronica Adams
And so being surrounded by agricultural land, I'm just breathing in. yeah like
00:15:04
1852media
Well, that could probably be me too. Yeah.
00:15:06
Veronica Adams
the um The only thing I've done for like the last week other than running mandatory errands and keeping pre-scheduled commitments outside my house is literally sit in my house and breathe purified air.
00:15:19
Veronica Adams
like And I still sound like this.
00:15:22
1852media
Yeah. and we feels out like that it's It's wild. We went out for pho the other night, which was very helpful.
00:15:31
Veronica Adams
Yes.
00:15:32
1852media
Um, just, uh, that was amazing. Highly recommend.
00:15:36
Veronica Adams
And I'll just suggest that to my husband later. That sounds perfect.
00:15:39
1852media
Yeah, it was really good. Um, but yeah, sorry, I deviated. Um,
00:15:45
Veronica Adams
we're diversifying We're diversifying the content of the podcast today.
00:15:49
1852media
that's right. Our tips to help you get over cold.
00:15:53
Veronica Adams
Oh, goodness.
00:15:55
1852media
Um, yeah.
00:15:55
Veronica Adams
But seriously, no. Being on the apps, if you if if there's an opportunity for you to get in on the ground floor like you were saying, Heather, it's usually worth taking as long as it's a legitimate business deal.
00:16:08
Veronica Adams
And that's something you have to be kind of wary about, right?
00:16:08
1852media
Right.
00:16:11
1852media
Sure, sure.
00:16:13
Veronica Adams
But yeah.
00:16:13
1852media
You have to vet it out, see you know do a little look-see and see what their user numbers are and things like that.
00:16:17
Veronica Adams
Yep.
00:16:19
1852media
And you know you shouldn't expect anything amazing if it's just you know newer, but um just knowing that it's it's happening.
00:16:19
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:16:24
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:16:28
1852media
um But yeah, for some of these more established apps, why aren't you there yet? Why haven't you uploaded your files there?
00:16:32
Veronica Adams
Right? Yeah.
00:16:36
1852media
um Yeah, it's going to take some time, but take a Saturday, take a Sunday, block out some time, and and just start getting them up there. Do it little by little.
00:16:46
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:16:47
1852media
Take an hour or two at a time.
00:16:48
Veronica Adams
like you So if you're one of those authors who's been publishing and using Draft2Digital as your your digital distributor, you're not on Google Play unless you're manually putting your books in Google Play after D2D does what they do for you.
00:17:00
1852media
Right.
00:17:02
Veronica Adams
Um, start there, like just start there, sit down and get your all your books up on Google and then come up with a plan to do that again with another opportunity next weekend.
00:17:05
1852media
Yeah.
00:17:15
Veronica Adams
Right.
00:17:15
1852media
Right.
00:17:16
Veronica Adams
And just keep going until you are literally everywhere you can be. Like the client that Heather and I were just talking about before we started recording today.
00:17:21
1852media
and And it's been great for her. She finally has a new release coming out.
00:17:30
Veronica Adams
Mm-hmm.
00:17:31
1852media
And she's everywhere.
00:17:33
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:17:33
1852media
She's on every single platform now. So yeah, is it sort of like, okay, now your steps for a new release have increased exponentially?
00:17:35
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:17:39
Veronica Adams
Yes.
00:17:40
1852media
Of course they have, but you're your income stream potential has also increased exponentially.
00:17:47
Veronica Adams
That's right.
00:17:48
1852media
And um in the same vein, this new release, now she has all these new readers that are potentially interested in her book.
00:17:48
Veronica Adams
That's right.
00:17:56
Veronica Adams
Yeah. Yeah.
00:17:58
1852media
So it's definitely, definitely worthwhile.
Pricing Strategies and Business Mindset
00:18:02
1852media
And she's still doing all the traditional stuff. She's still applying for BookBub. She's still, you know, doing all that sort of stuff, having person free, ah you know, sending out newsletters, doing swaps, that's, you know, all that sort of stuff.
00:18:02
Veronica Adams
For sure.
00:18:06
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:18:09
Veronica Adams
Mm hmm.
00:18:16
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:18:17
1852media
But you have to get out there and it says this is not a passive industry.
00:18:24
Veronica Adams
No, no, you can't just put your book up and hope for the best.
00:18:25
1852media
um
00:18:27
Veronica Adams
I mean, you can.
00:18:29
1852media
You can.
00:18:31
1852media
um but
00:18:31
Veronica Adams
But that being a successful strategy is you probably have a better chance of winning the lottery or getting struck by lightning or bitten by a shark or mauled by a rabid cow or something.
00:18:41
1852media
It's a thing of the past. I mean, we were looking, yeah, we were looking at, I was looking at the the charts on Amazon yesterday for sports romance in in the Kindle store specifically.
00:18:51
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:18:55
Veronica Adams
As you would be doing, because you do handle a lot of sports romance releases,
00:18:57
1852media
as
00:19:00
1852media
Yes, every single book in the top 100 in sports romance, you save one, save one, was in KU.
00:19:05
Veronica Adams
KU.
00:19:11
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:19:12
1852media
every
00:19:13
Veronica Adams
but amazon Amazon's charts are going to reflect amazon books that Amazon prefers and books Amazon prefers are going to be the ones that they have the exclusive right to sell you.
00:19:25
1852media
And like it's always been a majority, but it was just somewhat shocking to see every single one.
00:19:28
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:19:33
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:19:34
1852media
And the one that wasn't in KU was Icebreaker by Hannah Grace, which the only reason it's not in KU anymore is because she got the the deal with the publisher.
00:19:39
Veronica Adams
Of course.
00:19:43
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:19:44
1852media
So it used to be in KU. So I don't even know if I count that, right?
00:19:48
Veronica Adams
Well, and don't forget, publishers publishers can have books in KU that are also available for sale wide.
00:19:48
1852media
yeah
00:19:53
Veronica Adams
They have access to that.
00:19:55
1852media
Yeah.
00:19:56
Veronica Adams
So.
00:19:56
1852media
um But it's just, you know, something to think about. You can't rely on, it used to be like, oh, if you spend enough money in ads, if you spend enough, you know, this, you can pop your book up to the top 100, at least in your category, right?
00:20:05
Veronica Adams
Yeah. Yeah.
00:20:10
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:20:11
1852media
um That's not how it is anymore.
00:20:13
Veronica Adams
Depends on the category you pick.
00:20:14
1852media
and i Right, right. But if you're looking at a bigger category, like sports romance or contemporary romance, something that's more popular in that regard.
00:20:20
Veronica Adams
Yeah. Mm-hmm.
00:20:24
1852media
It's just not something that you're going to, unless you have a massive capital, you're not going to pay your way into it.
00:20:29
Veronica Adams
Yeah. Well. there was There was some scandal over that um at ah at an author conference a year or two ago, where everyone was just so shocked.
00:20:33
1852media
oh
00:20:40
Veronica Adams
I say everyone. Midlist and new authors were so shocked to hear what established brands were spending on their ad campaigns. For sales, of course, but also for for this too, for the visibility, because you know the more money you put in, theoretically,
00:20:56
1852media
hi
00:21:00
Veronica Adams
the higher to the top you can rise.
00:21:02
1852media
Right. um So yeah, it's just, you know, if you're in KU, it's also a jungle in KU.
00:21:07
Veronica Adams
Oh God, yes.
00:21:09
1852media
Let's be honest, this shooting for visibility in KU is harder than it ever has been.
00:21:14
Veronica Adams
Yes, yes.
00:21:16
1852media
um but If you're wide, don't like, I'm just saying, don't be frustrated if you're not seeing the results that you used to see.
00:21:23
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:21:25
1852media
If you're you know not in the charts where you want to be.
00:21:29
Veronica Adams
Right.
00:21:29
1852media
If the money is coming in, and I know this has always been our opinion, correct to me if I'm wrong, we care about the bottom line, the dollar number.
00:21:38
Veronica Adams
Yes.
00:21:39
1852media
I don't care about accolades unless they lead to opportunity.
00:21:43
Veronica Adams
Right.
00:21:44
1852media
I don't care about, you know, oh, you got this thing, like, lovely. Did that make you any more money? That's what we want to see. What has the ah ROI potential?
00:21:54
Veronica Adams
Right.
00:21:54
1852media
um What is going to make you more money? If it's if it's not going to make you more money, who cares?
00:22:00
Veronica Adams
Right.
00:22:00
1852media
um Truly. So like don't stress if you're not hitting the number, like the rank number that you want. If your bottom line number is increasing, that's what we care about.
00:22:13
1852media
um So like I've had several clients raise their prices over the past year because prices have gone up everywhere.
00:22:17
Veronica Adams
Yeah. Sure.
00:22:21
1852media
Why are book prices also increasing? Especially in romance. like Let me get on my high horse here for a second. like It's like other genres, they can charge independent authors, even 799, 899, 1299, 1499, four books.
00:22:41
Veronica Adams
$7.799 is the standard ebook price for a mystery and thriller author with whom I collaborate.
00:22:45
1852media
Yeah.
00:22:51
1852media
Right. And that's an independently published author and people buy it.
00:22:55
Veronica Adams
Yes.
00:22:57
Veronica Adams
yeah Yes.
00:22:58
1852media
People don't blink. And yet here we are in romance down in 299 399 category. And like, just, you know, begging for our lives over here.
00:23:06
Veronica Adams
Oh.
00:23:09
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:23:10
1852media
um No, no, man.
00:23:11
Veronica Adams
mystery, mystery author charging $3.99 for a collection, an ebook collection of shorts or deleted scenes. Okay.
00:23:20
1852media
Yeah, yeah.
00:23:21
Veronica Adams
But the full novel, you know, 40, 50 chapters, 350 plus words, $7.99. Always.
00:23:28
1852media
Right. So I have encouraged people to increase their prices at least to $4.99, if not to $5.99.
00:23:34
Veronica Adams
Yes. Yes. Please.
00:23:39
1852media
I had a client.
00:23:40
Veronica Adams
Especially if you're in KU 599, please.
00:23:42
1852media
yeah Exactly, especially if you're in KU, because here's the thing. In KU, you're going for the page reads anyway, right?
00:23:49
Veronica Adams
Yes, you are.
00:23:50
1852media
Well, if somebody is going to purchase your book, you want to make it worth your while.
00:23:53
Veronica Adams
Yep.
00:23:54
1852media
You want to encourage those page reads. And it also gives people the perception in KU that they're getting and a fantastic deal by reading your book.
00:24:01
Veronica Adams
Right. that Their subscription. and giving you the page reads as a much better value than buying the book outright.
00:24:04
1852media
Yeah.
00:24:08
Veronica Adams
Yet you're playing psychological games with the marketing tactic here, but also you are contributing to the rising tide that's going to lift all boats in romance by by unit pricing your books somewhere they have real value.
00:24:09
1852media
It's a psychological game.
00:24:23
1852media
i
00:24:25
Veronica Adams
You worked hard to write it! What are you giving it away for?
00:24:29
1852media
she
00:24:29
Veronica Adams
Unless it's strategically part of a marketing, you know, a program or or strategy.
00:24:32
1852media
Right.
00:24:36
1852media
Exactly. So, like, I understand loss leaders, right? There's there's marketing reasons, right?
00:24:40
Veronica Adams
Uh-huh. Of course. Of course.
00:24:43
1852media
But for the main reason.
00:24:43
Veronica Adams
Yeah. The occasional free deal in bookbob, which, you know, sort of an evergreen tool too.
00:24:49
1852media
Yeah. But raise your prices and don't be ashamed of it.
00:24:51
Veronica Adams
But that's right.
00:24:53
1852media
Don't, you know, stop charging new releases for $2.99, unless there's a reason, unless it's like a novella.
00:24:58
Veronica Adams
Yeah. Yeah.
00:25:00
1852media
Sure. Okay.
00:25:01
Veronica Adams
Yep.
00:25:05
Veronica Adams
I know.
00:25:06
1852media
I'm all worked up over here.
00:25:09
Veronica Adams
I know. It's hard not to be though, because you watch people in other genres who are charging $9.99 for ebooks.
00:25:17
1852media
Yeah.
00:25:17
Veronica Adams
You know, the max you can price them to get your 70% royalty from Amazon. And people, ah people pay it. public The traditional publishers are charging $9.99 for their ebooks.
00:25:27
1852media
Yeah.
00:25:29
Veronica Adams
Why aren't indies?
00:25:30
1852media
Exactly.
00:25:31
Veronica Adams
I mean, some are, but like outside of, outside of romance more than inside of romance.
00:25:32
1852media
All right.
00:25:36
1852media
And that's why, you know, it has to be a gradual shift, right?
00:25:38
Veronica Adams
Of course.
00:25:38
1852media
Like you if all your books are priced at $2.99, I wouldn't go and throw them up at $7.99 tomorrow.
00:25:41
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:25:44
1852media
Like that's not going to bode well for you.
00:25:44
Veronica Adams
Right.
00:25:46
1852media
um So you need to have a gradual shift, right? Like start raising by a dollar, see how it goes, right?
00:25:49
Veronica Adams
Sure.
00:25:52
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:25:52
1852media
But several clients have done that and it's increased their bottom line. I mean, it's been wonderful for them.
00:25:56
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:25:58
1852media
They're selling the same amount of books that they always were, but they're making more money now.
00:26:02
Veronica Adams
Right.
00:26:03
1852media
Great.
00:26:04
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:26:04
1852media
I mean, wonderful. um So, you know, think about these things, diversify as much as you can. Remember, this is a business.
00:26:13
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:26:14
1852media
For many people, this is a hobby and that's fine. um You know, if you want your hobby to make money, listen to some of our advice, ahhu ah you know, or think about it like a business.
00:26:26
1852media
But if you if you really want this to be a successful career, you have to think about this in the terms of a business because that's what you're running.
00:26:26
Veronica Adams
Definitely.
00:26:34
Veronica Adams
Yeah, for
Closing Remarks and Health Update
00:26:35
Veronica Adams
sure.
00:26:35
1852media
You are the the CEO of your own publishing house.
00:26:39
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:26:40
1852media
So think about it in that way and you know diversify your streams of income as much as possible.
00:26:45
Veronica Adams
Yes. Get the, get those books out there as far in mind as you can, if you're going to be wide.
00:26:52
1852media
Yeah, if you're gonna be wide, be wide.
00:26:54
Veronica Adams
Mm hmm.
00:26:55
1852media
Don't be Be really wide.
00:26:59
Veronica Adams
Like, I can do this slide.
00:27:00
1852media
oh Yeah, like what's my favorite phase phrase?
00:27:01
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:27:05
1852media
i don't want to You don't wanna half-ass it, you go in with your whole ass.
00:27:10
Veronica Adams
Yes, you want a full asset.
00:27:12
1852media
You know, a full asset, so.
00:27:13
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:27:16
1852media
um Well, Veronica and I, we are, we are going to go and drink more hot tea and yeah recover.
00:27:18
Veronica Adams
Oh, good grief.
00:27:23
Veronica Adams
Yes.
00:27:25
1852media
Hopefully next week will sound much better.
00:27:27
Veronica Adams
Yes, thank you for sticking with us through our are ill health.
00:27:30
1852media
Yes.
00:27:33
Veronica Adams
I feel OK.
00:27:33
1852media
i
00:27:34
Veronica Adams
It's just I sound like garbage.
00:27:37
1852media
Yeah, I mean, I'm a little like, I don't have a fever. I'm a little flushed, but otherwise I'm um improving.
00:27:41
Veronica Adams
Yeah. Yay!
00:27:46
1852media
So there's that. I feel more human today than I have all week.
00:27:50
Veronica Adams
Yeah, I guess that that just means that until next time this has been for book's sake and also for medicine's sake, for hot tea's sake, for
00:27:50
1852media
Oh.
00:28:04
1852media
Lord, don't people say,
00:28:04
Veronica Adams
False seasonal allergies turned to disaster respiratory infections sake. I don't know that doesn't really roll off the tongue does it?
00:28:11
1852media
Not as well, but take care of yourself and stay well and we'll see you next week.
00:28:15
Veronica Adams
Yes, stay well