I’ve been having statistics withdrawal symptoms (itchy percentage points, twitchy tables, etc) – and I’m going to satisfy that right here, right now. Today I’m going to have a look at 2011 (because lovely as they were, I’m tired of those 2012 statistics ) in terms of their recommended retail price (RRP) and actual selling price (ASP). With Amazon, the price of…
Tag: self-publishing
5 Extremely Annoying Book Reviews
Those of us shopping for self-published e-books have very little to go on. Short synopses and sample chapters lie all too often. There isn’t even a proper book jacket to tempt you. So how do you make the decision to buy? We’ve come to rely on reviews. And reviews make bestsellers. 2 websites seem to have…
5 Reasons why Self-Published Authors should be whipped for not using Editors
Have you ever written anything which, once proudly presented to someone else, turns out to be a total turkey which is either illegible or incredible? What often sets bestsellers apart from books which “just do okay” is polish, and by polish, I mean editing. I wish I had a percentage for all the self-published works out there…
Naughtie Book Sales (and no. It’s not what you’re thinking)
Want naughty book sales? Have a look at 2012. This, however, is all about the Noughtie/Naughties: those transformational years in terms of self-publishing and e-publishing, from 2000-2009. In previous posts about book sales in the 1980s and 1990s, we saw that very few authors actually made it to #1 on the New York Times Bestseller…
5 Old Bookselling Rules which No Longer Apply
…and, from the emerging author’s perspective, are they a Woo-Hoo, or a Boo Hoo? 1. Back Catalogues Sell Slowly, Or Not At All Back in the 1970s, 80s and 90s, when a reader stumbled across a new author, their latest book was often the only one available. If the author were really successful, the bookshop might stock…
And the Blockbusting Author of the 1990s was…. an emerging writer!
We move from the 1980s to the 1990s, when it was a little easier to sell your books… but only marginally. “Where’s John Grisham?” was one comment I got regarding my post on how few authors reached #1 on the New York Times Bestseller list in the 1980s. The answer? Lying in the long grass, waiting to own the…
Only 33.5 Authors wrote Bestsellers in the 1980s. Fact
It’s Reeling in the Years time. First stop, those big-haired, blockbusting 1980s. You may not know this yet, but book sales were remarkably different in the ’80s. (I know, because I’ve charted the last 3 decades already into earth-shatteringly revealing, multicoloured pies, and I don’t mind telling you, I haven’t been this excited by data since checking my Santa…
Self-publishing and e-publishing ——The authors are revolting!
Revolting, I tell you! Depending on who’s talking – author or print publisher – it could have either meaning. This whole publishing lark has opened up. A quick look at the bestseller lists from recent years, following the e-book revolution, shows it. People are reading different stuff nowadays. Whether it’s because they’re finally able to get what they…
What Makes a Bestseller?
Trendspotting, or a Shamelessly Business-Like Approach to Writing It’s tempting to think that the democratisation of bookselling through self-publishing and e-publishing means that it’s harder than ever to rise above the noise and get published or more to the point, sell your book. Not at all. The deafening cacophony which once drowned out new authors…
Tara Sparling writes 