Shearwater Update

[khiemtran]

One of the interesting things about having an all-digital book published is that you can see all the sales in near real-time. This is both exciting and nerve-wracking.

On the one hand, you get a little thrill each time there's a sale. On the other, it can be daunting when there's a long gap between sales. I think I'm going to have to stop watching it so often.

So far, the early reviews have been good, which is heartening. It's been especially nice to get positive feedback from complete strangers, which is something I realise now I haven't had for years. Unfortunately, this hasn't translated into reviews up on Amazon or Kobo yet. (Working on this!)

I was surprised by how many people asked for a print copy. Our family has switched almost entirely over to ebooks now, but obviously that's not true for everyone. Also a bit surprised to learn how many people are avoiding Amazon.

I guess the thing now is to wait for more people who bought it in the first round to give some feedback and build momentum.

Comments

[asakiyume]

The fact that you supply the Kobo version is great precisely for those people who *are* avoiding Amazon. Re: reviews, I keep checking on Amazon too to see if more have gone up.

I added your book to Goodreads! I'm hoping that some of the people I'm friends with on there will be moved by my enthusiasm to read and review it.

[khiemtran]

Thanks for that! I've joined Goodreads now too... Is it the done thing to review your own book on there?

[asakiyume]

I don't review my own books, but I do add them as "to-read" which calls them to the attention of people I'm friends with on there. Some writers do an own-review, but it's not so much a review as an explanation about the book--sort of like a little mini book talk. (As always with social media, people have different patterns)

[asakiyume]

(I will add you as a friend!)

[asakiyume]

By the way, you can also add yourself as the author of Shearwater and be on Goodreads not only as a reader but as a writer ;-)

[khiemtran]

Thanks! I'm trying to do that now.

[lethargic_man]

I would be very interested to know what proportion of people are avoiding Amazon, speaking as someone who does so myself, but has not been able to influence anyone up to and including my wife, to also do so. I don't really have a handle on whether people like me are on the fringe or making a significant inroad into Amazon's profits. (Though I also recall reading some years ago that the majority of Amazon's profits nowadays are through Amazon Web Services and not sales of consumer items.)

FWIW, I'm also what rysmiel calls a hardcopy romantic.

[khiemtran]

I know two people who have said they are avoiding Amazon and, while I was googling another book in the same field, I saw comments from someone else asking if there was a non-Kindle option because they were avoiding Amazon. So, probably not a huge number, but more than I expected.

On the flip side, both Amazon and Kobo have some strong incentives to give them exclusive rights for a period time, so I gave that up to launch on both platforms.