Chirenjenzie discussion

Me: When will be the book be set up on Amazon?

Publisher: I'm thinking about two weeks before the release.

Me: Can we get it set up sooner? It's not like preorders go away.

Publisher: I guess. I don't preorder, I can't imagine lots of people want to pay for something that far in advance of getting it.

Me: it doesn't work that way. They preorder it now, and don't get charged until the book is shipped. And it would be good to have a presence on Amazon to send people to as soon as possible, don't you think?

Publisher: Oh, I didn't realize. Like I said, I don't preorder. I'll see what I can do. Should be a couple of days.

Me: *headache-inducing facepalm*

Oh dear. Who's your publisher again Gene?

Hamel Integrity Publishing. They're very new, and this is only their second book. (First isn't out until the first of September.) She's a dear, but sometimes...

Gotcha. Yeah, you just need to educate her in these things. Maybe you should show her an example (on Amazon or Barnes&Noble) of a book currently available for pre-order. These things help publishers know how many books they will order in their first print run too.

She was thinking 1000 for the first print run. I'm thinking that's high, because frankly, we won't have all the blurbs we need when the book first hits, and... well, put it this way: if Neil Gaiman comes through with one, we'd better go into bookstores with his name attached to a front cover blurb, no matter how many blurb-free copies we have lying around.

You're right about that!

But sometimes a print run number is about cost. 1000 might be the same price as 500. Know what I mean?

yeah, it's something that needs to be discussed in greater detail soon. I mean, I would love it if we sell 1000 copies in a month or two, I just think it's a bit optimistic for online-only sales.

We'll see what she thinks after her company's first book hits. I'm not optimistic that it will sell a lot, based on what I've seen.

Getting local bookstores to set up a display can sell well. Who is her distributor? They should be doing something. As for you, do you know Brian @thenewauthor on Twitter? He has a great PR company and is dirt cheap. Like almost free.

I was looking at Brian. Nice guy, not a bad service. I caught a typo on his splash page and told him about it; not sure if he likes me so much right now. Anyway: we don't have a distributor deal yet. Thus, Amazon first, bookstores soon.

LOL Brian's easy going.
The publisher should contact National Book Network (NBN) and see if they'd give her company distribution. They're a huge force in the industry.

I think pricing has been a question. She doesn't like what she's heard as far as rates for new indie publishers and thinks sales and blurbs will improve negotiations. She has a money man behind her that is very old-fashioned-- she only recently convinced him the Internet is important-- and thinks everything is negotiable. We'll see; it'll happen, just not sure when.

NBN doesn't charge except a percentage of sales and if they have to warehouse inventory. Bookstores won't usually buy books unless they're dealing with a distributor. It's because of the returns.

Ohhh, I know. I've been down the "no returns" road with other books. Don't worry, we'll get one.

NBN is pretty well the best. Start there. ; )

Gene, just wondering what happened with the pre-order status. Since your publisher is new and small, did Amazon allow it? So far, we've had no luck. We'll be moving to Lightning Source this year, though, so maybe that will make a difference...

Kristie-- It had more to do with the program we were in at Amazon than with anything else. We had to switch to the Amazon Advantage program, which is downright felonious, but is the only one that presents the print book as sold by Amazon instead of sold through Amazon.

Huh, sounds like a PITA to me. I didn't know there was a difference, though, so thank you for sharing.