If I buy one book from an author, I can immediately
buy her backlist, without time to think about how much money I'm spending.
US e-book publishers including Rosetta Books are also approaching UK agents and authors to
buy backlist e-book rights, with Rosetta favouring an exclusive Amazon deal as part of the package.
«Digitisation in its wider form than just e-books or e-readers, offers much for booksellers and their customers, especially by overcoming supply problems for readers wanting to
buy backlist copies or out - of - print books.
And those readers will
buy backlist, etc..
Then, once her book wasn't free anymore, it would be tied to things like «Customers who bought X also bought Y,» plus readers might post glowing reviews and
buy backlist books.
The idea being that you're rewarding loyal readers and, once you've won a reader over with one of your books, they're more likely to
buy your backlist at full price.
If you have
bought backlist / midlist titles before from bookstores, you know what it is like to leave home and hunt down specific titles of your great interest.
Well, unless you're a huge star, publishers aren't interested in
buying backlist, so those books were basically taking up space in my closet.
Not exact matches
Their also -
boughts thus function as a substantial advertisement for their own
backlist.
I don't know how many of me there are but I impulse
bought a few Harper
backlist ebooks last year solely because I found them quickly and easily on Amazon.
When he writes more books, people will
buy more of his
backlist — but he gets nothing from that.
Tweak your pricing or offer discounted
backlist titles for limited periods of time or as a bonus when readers
buy your newest book.
In 2012, about 35 % of my income came from ebook sales of my self - published
backlist, and that income was instrumental in my being able to
buy a house that year.
I am lucky that I've been able to purchase my favorite author's
backlists during temporary promotions when it comes to e-books, but would I
buy «any» book at random?
My opinion may change as all the industry shifts, but as of right now, the only way I'd
buy a self - pubbed book is if I knew the person or if they were previously a traditionally pubbed author whose re-issuing their
backlist.
The big numbers only matter when you're
buying BookBub reviews, and BookBub probably won't take your ad anyway, unless you've got a bargain
backlist title with a major publisher
If I like your book I may glom onto your
backlist, if I don't, at least I don't resent you for making me use my scarce book -
buying dollars on your (to me) sub-par product.
Be the «other» book distribution company, the one that corporations use to
buy in bulk, the one that book retailers use for the
backlist because using your site is much easier than whatever messy crap it is that their other distributor offers.
The information is mixed; various Trade publishing houses have mentioned that one of the main facets on eBook sales volume is because of the interest in
buying more «
backlist» titles.
Some publishers only make available older books or
backlist titles, libraries will benefit tremendously due to the fact they can
buy all the latest bestsellers.
They will try and will
buy a lot of books, probably zoom through
backlists if they find something they like.
Bricks - and - Mortar Bookstore Chains The major bricks - and - mortar bookstore chains are especially important to publishers and authors for their potential ability to
buy and sell large quantities of new books and to stock
backlist sellers, as well as their ability to promote books to the book -
buying public through chain - wide bookstore promotions.
I even see instances where somebody went through my entire
backlist and
bought one of each.
(To be fair, a growing number of authors have realized the potential of e-book sales, and are now
buying back the digital rights to their
backlist or waiting until the rights revert to them, then self - publishing their
backlist titles.)
Plus readers who discover him on Scout may also
buy from his
backlist.
«Many publishers report that e-Book readers who enjoy a newly - released book will frequently
buy an author's full
backlist.»
Now major authors are
buying back their ebook rights; mid-listers are finding new life for their abandoned
backlist titles; newbies like Colleen Hoover are breaking into bestsellerdom; and everyone is reading the small print in their old contracts.
The major bookstore chains are especially important to publishers and authors for their potential ability to
buy and sell large quantities of new books and to stock
backlist sellers, as well as their ability to promote books to the book -
buying public through chain - wide bookstore promotions.
That it was
backlist didn't matter and, had I not
bought a paper version previously, it might never have entered my head.
If it's an authors
backlist I
buy a used copy from ABE (owned by Amazon).
While I love my own local indie, three blocks from my house, for scanning the magazine rack or the new titles, and certainly for gift
buying, most of what I
buy for myself is digital,
backlist, non-mainstream, or OOP.
There is however evidence to suggest that online buyers will
buy an author's complete
backlist all at once (because it's cheap and easily transmittable) whereas traditional print customers wouldn't
Keep in mind that pricing high and then lowering the price over time might harm your numbers as well... say you release at $ 12.99, then drop to $ 9.99 after 6 months, then $ 6.99 after two years, and eventually down to $ 3.99 for
backlist... sure, if I am that eager for the book and I really like what you do then I'll put down the $ 12.99... but if not, why would I
buy at $ 9.99 either?
I stopped
buying Hachette books about three years ago, as a result of what I considered egregious overpricing of
backlist by a favourite author and a rather frustrating refusal to publish an author I liked in ebook format in my region (they owned the rights to ebook publishing in the region and choose not publish).
If John D. MacDonald's
backlist was priced at $ 3.99 each, I'd
buy all 20 + books he wrote.
I
buy almost all fiction as ebooks, and I
buy a lot of it, but I won't pay over $ 9.99 for new fiction, and rarely that much for
backlist.
There are some authors who have made their
backlists available only at Amazon, but I won't be getting these titles until I can
buy them at Kobo, ARe, or even B&N.
Most of my ebook reading these days is via freebies and the online library (thankfully ours is pretty decent about
buying romance, new and
backlist, and pretty receptive to purchase suggestions).
That it was
backlist didn't matter, and except that I'd
bought a paper version previously it might never have entered my head.
As someone who
buys a lot of e-books, I still think that most of the Big Publishing House e-books are priced too high, especially many
backlist books.
But there are times when
buying digital is an advantage, as is when a publisher, like Viz, has a big
backlist of titles that are lengthy or difficult to find.