Guest Blogger: Ian Hocking

Long time readers of this blog might remember me. I'm a science fiction author (dabblin' in comedy, lol) who decided to go solo with his fiction via the Amazon Kindle's self-publishing programme. The short version: I retired (aged 34) from writing; published my books last-ditch style on the Kindle; sold a few copies, got some nice feedback; started writing again. For the long version, check out these other guest articles on Scott's blog, or my own blog.

One of the things I'd like to do with this guest post is give the reader some data on my sales and expenditure. Before I do that, however, I want to cover a little ground on my recent self-publishing experience.

My relative success in the UK towards the end of last year prompted me to approach agents in the United States. Because my sales in the US have always been steady, but never quite on the scale of those in the UK, I wondered whether I could convince a US agent to think of the UK market as a test-case for the US. As it turns out, I could; I'm now represented by Katherine Flynn at Kneerim, Williams & Bloom.

Before I happy-dance through my house Gangnam Style - remember, it's dangerous - I should add that, thus far, the reaction from US publishers to the Saskia Brandt series has paralleled the outrageously laissez-faire attitude of their UK cousins. (Readers may wish to read my earlier post on Snookins and Shit Dance.)

My agent is invaluable in other ways, however. She provided some great feedback on Déjà Vu (Saskia Brandt book one) and knows what she's doing with the film production companies who want to option the books, whereas I'd be like a monkey shopping at Ikea.

Relatedly, this year has been full of probably-important decisions that I've made without, frankly, having the time or inclination to evaluate them thoroughly. Let's evaluate them now.

I've joined the Amazon Kindle Select programme. In essence, this is an agreement whereby Amazon helps with marketing your book in return for (i) exclusivity and (ii) the right to add the book to its Kindle lending library. My gut instinct was to agree. For a start, more than 90% of my sales came from Amazon even when my books were available on competing platforms. Secondly, the renumeration for a lent copy of a book is about the same as my royalty on a sold copy, so I don't feel like I'm being fleeced. Thirdly, more people read my stuff. Fourth, I'm supporting Amazon.

Wait. Supporting Amazon? Have I been getting hammered on the eggnog? (Yes. In fact, I'm roaring drunk right now and I LOVE YOU GUYS.) But it's still true that without Amazon, I would be another washed-up writer. Thanks to the Kindle, I get random emails like this:

Having gone into Waterstones and seen a whole table of (Insert number) shades of ( Insert colour) type books, read bits of them and felt VERY CROSS with the AWFUL writing in the world... I was so PLEASED to read a GOOD book that even stopped me from getting sleep I REALLY need, since I've got two young kids. Won't buy your next one quite yet as the lack of sleep would kill me but THANK YOU and all the very best!!!!

Excuse me while I tour my house in the Gangnam Style.

Another decision is pricing. The third book in the series, The Amber Rooms, will be out on the 21st of this month (i.e. now, if this article goes up on or after that date). Should I keep it the same price as the first two? I may plump for 99p, £1.99 and £2.99. Three pounds is a little higher than I would prefer, but there's the cost of the editing to earn out, and I always have the option of dropping the price if no bugger buys it. However, if a reader has bought the first two books, they'll probably hand over £2.99 for the third. I think I would. On the other hand, this escalation smacks of stinging those readers who have supported my work. I'm undecided.

Anyway, this being Scott's blog, where you walk the walk while you talk the talk - or something - I want to finish with some numbers.

(These data cover the period March 2010 to the present. Saskia Brandt book one, Déjà Vu, was released March, 2010; Flashback (book two), May, 2011; Proper Job (a comedy), April, 2012.)

Thus far, across all Kindle markets, I've sold 18,621 books (13,186 of Déjà Vu, 4,926 of Flashback, the rest being Proper Job and my other books - one of which is an academic text on the philosophy behind artificial intelligence). Only 192 copies have been lent. As for free promotions, there were 72,333 (36,963 of these were Déjà Vu).

My total earnings thus far in the UK are £8,447.30. In the US, $1,994.86. (And in Europe, €47.36!)

I'm in the process of working out my expenditure with more precision. However, it's somewhere in the region of £4000.

As I've written elsewhere, and once in response to Nicholas Clee, the overall profit is somewhat meaningless. It simply represents what's left over when I've finished ploughing the money into the next book; all editing, proofing, etc. for subsequent books has come from the earnings of previous ones. The expenditure can, therefore, be unpredictable. I created the cover for Déjà Vu myself using a stock image. Cost: £50 or so. Flashback's cover was produced by a professional at around £700. For The Amber Rooms, I found a public domain image a few weeks back and knocked up my own cover, essentially for free.

Overall, my experience with the Amazon Kindle programme has been positive. There are some negatives. One, I don't have copies of my books to hold. It is, of course, possible to use an online print-on-demand service like CreateSpace, but my experience with them has been awful. After weeks of delay, they produced two proof copies of Déjà Vu that suffered from all manner of problems - uneven gutters, off-kilter text, poor guillotining - and I despaired of the whole thing. Two, I couldn't afford to produce an audiobook; and I love audiobooks. Three, it doesn't quite feel like the books are actually published.

But to accentuate the positive for a moment: There are no print runs; I have a large readership now, and a small but determined fan base; I've made money; the books are no longer motes in my eye.

Not a bad year. As usual, if you have any questions, I'll be happy to reply to them in the comments.

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Ian has kindly agreed to give away five free Kindle copies to people who leave a comment beneath this post. We'll pick the winners at random and contact them directly.

Comments

[Ian Hocking]

Just to point out, while I'm here, that the first two books in the series will themselves be free until the 25th. Merry Xmas!

[Ian Hocking]

And a wee erratum: Déjà Vu was published in 2011, not 2010. Apologies.

[D.J.Kirkby]

Thank you for all this information Ian. I do have one question - how did readers find out about your book? I know you said Amazon KDP marketed you but to what extent and in what way?

[Ian Hocking]

Hi Dee

I was quite lucky that, while Déjà Vu (the first book) sold virtually no copies when it was traditionally published by the UKA Press, I did score a positive write-up in a Guardian and various blurbs from Ken MacLeod, Ian Watson, and other writers. When Déjà Vu was released for the Kindle, it already had several 'trusted' reviews attached; after that, the star ratings of the Amazon customers have kept it high in the charts. The star ratings are probably the single most important factor. As I write, for instance, Déjà Vu is the no. 1 free science fiction book in the US, and this is probably due to ratings (it was ranked at 20,000 or so a few days back).

So the short answer is the chart...

Cheers
Ian

[D.J.Kirkby]

Thanks Ian!

[Jason Alan]

Can I just not find it, or is this not available on the US store?

[Nicola May]

Congratulations on your success and sealing a US agent. I am a self published author. Totally agree that you have to get in to at least the top 40 chart to start getting any sort of decent KDP sales, plus changing your pricing periodically.

I would love to know of any other way of promotion via Amazon if you do know? Even after 2 years it is a mystery to me. Of course as you say reviews are key too.

[Ian]

Jason, the book is available in the US: http://www.amazon.com/Amber-Saskia-Brandt-Series-ebook/dp/B00ARGTNY6

[Ian]

Nicola, I can't really think of any other Amazon-based promotion. It is certainly the case that they will occasionally push individual titles, but as I understand it these are worked out through individual relationships with publishers; self published authors don't have this option.

It's worth noting that having your book on free promotion helps. One, it widens the net of readers, so your book appears on more of those 'customers also bought' lists. Two, it will boost your popularity index, and this seems to impact the position that book receives when it re-enters the book chart. Best of luck.

[stephen terry]

Good post. Thanks for the insight