The Winds of Change

Yesterday, I announced the price change on my books. Like it or not, I have to do that to take my business to the next level.

What is the next level? Distribution.

There are loads of claims of distribution, but they are often illusions. What happens is the books are made available for order. That doesn't mean that anyone will order them.

Real distribution is handled by a distributor who has sales reps who go out and make sales and take orders for the books. They have a seasonal catalog carrying all the publishers they distribute for, listing every book each publisher has coming out AND their back list.

This distribution talk is like the difference between potential energy and kinetic energy.

I have had my eye on an US distributor for several years now. They do NOT distribute POD books - thus the move to the black hole and eventually to where I am today. I am one step closer to being eligible to contract with them by doing my Totally Indie thing. I just need to build up my back list. So I'm hoping to produce two more books this year.

The really, really, really BIG news is that I'm in talks with a Middle East Distributor. I have no idea where this is going, but I certainly like the idea of my books being distributed to the countries who have made them popular.

There is talk of both an American English edition and a Formal Arabic translated edition of each book. I am so honored and humbled by this, I can't express it adequately.

After that, I'm considering a Spanish translation. And later an American English version distribution in the UK. But I'm open to other avenues.

Some of these things are down the road. All I know is once I said, "Yes" to being Totally Indie, the Universe has taken me seriously.

So maybe, my dear Ivy, you will get my books distributed in Croatia one day.


(Update: Kathryn's Beach is in the process of being published in UAE with extended distribution into the region, including Egypt.)

Tempus Fugit

Business is a learning curve. The one regret I have in all of this is listening to advice to lower my book price to be competitive with NY publisher's books. I've never given a flip what everyone was doing, so I have no idea why I thought that was a good idea. I don't have the budget they do to print thousands of books, nor the distribution or marketing departments they have. If they are so smart, why are they in financial troublet? What WAS I thinking? The lower price made no difference in sales from before. If people want a book they buy it, if they don't -- you can't give it away.

What it did do was exclude distribution. There wasn't enough profit margin to tolerate a split with a distributor and the wholesale price required by retailers.

My books still aren't on Amazon. Nothing wrong with Amazon, I just haven't bothered to read the instructions for how to do it. Besides, I'm well convinced that all my sales from third party and online retailers in the past, I drove there.

To correct that lapse in judgement, the prices of my books are on the rise. New covers have been submitted to my printer. The suggested retail price change has been submitted to the powers that be. Frankly, I don't care what their opinion is, books get discounted all the time. So this is nothing all that different, other than I'm not placing stickers over the old price and bar scan. I think that would just look way too hinky.

So you've been warned. If you have put off buying my books for whatever reason, once the lower price books are gone, they are gone. Until then, I will give the low price on all three books even though some of them will have the higher price on the cover. If that doesn't make sense, let me say, I have ordered another run of Storm Surge, with the new price. But until all the KB and HT with the low price are gone, the price will not change.

You might have noticed the free stuff icon on the left side of my blog. Follow that link to see the special on the trilogy. For a limited time, you get a free journal when you buy the whole trilogy at once. If you know anything about Kathryn's story, you know why you get a journal. I designed it to match the books.

The final change in operation is likely to be shipping. As it stands now, out of country shipping has been charged at the lower US shipping rate. We noticed that right off, but ignored it. Most of my fans are outside the US and I have a fondness for you for giving me my start in all of this, but the rates will have to adjust.

Tempus Fugit.

Look! http://nadinelamanbooks.com/books.html

The final big piece of news comes tomorrow.

Wholesale Math

Someone asked me why my books aren't on Amazon, et al.

Sigh, here we go again. Books are usually priced to the sky. Kathryn's Beach was once priced at $16.99 (not including shipping). I write a decent book, but for an unknown author, that is a bit steep, if you ask me. I've priced my trilogy books at $12.95 each (plus shipping).

I wanted my books affordable for people who love to read. Hey we're in an economic recession, if not depression. We all live on a shoestring right now.

By putting the consumer first, the readers, I have shut the door to most wholesale sales. Most of the time, they want up to 55% off the SRP, the cover price. Well darling, if I do that and pay to ship my books to Amazon (or anyone else), I'm actually losing a couple of dollars on each book sold. Does that make sense? Why should someone else make money on my books when I'm going in the hole? Seriously, I might as well just write and not publish the manuscripts at that rate.

So the choice is to buy my books from me through my website (secure with PayPal) or email me and we will make other arrangements. I've even been paid in Euros!

http://nadinelamanbooks.com/books.html