Etiquette Tips for Author Events - And a Nook First Recap

What I'm reading: Contest entry 3 of 4; In Plain Sight, by C.J. Box

First – a quick Nook First recap. My 30 day commitment is almost over (and thanks to those who—I hope—have been patiently waiting for SAVING SCOTT to be available for all the other e-reading devices out there). Sales are, as expected, dropping off, but are still far more than what I'd seen at Barnes & Noble prior to the Nook First campaign

Before Nook First, I was very pleased with my Amazon sales. I still am, but I thought a quick comparison might be in order. Remember, this is "regular" Amazon, not their Select program. I've never done free giveaways there.

Amazon sales, all my titles, between March 19th and April 14th: 2,329.

Barnes & Noble sales, all my titles, same date range: 13,824.

Adjusted Barnes & Noble Sales, excluding SAVING SCOTT, which isn't available at Amazon: 9,270.

On Saturday, I participated in a library program, Mountain of Authors, at one of the Pikes Peak library branches. There were panels on thrillers and on e-publishing, as well as a keynote speech by author Connie Willis. In addition, between the panel discussions, local authors (myself included)  were "showcased" and allowed to introduce themselves, their work, and sell books to help raise money for their Friends of the Library.



(And there were a few perks. Hubster came along to "see what you really do" but I think he came because, as my guest, he got a free lunch.

There were 32 authors present. We tend to get wrapped up in our own genres, and forget that there are publishing genres for just about everyone. There were children's books, non-fiction books, niche market books, as well as the usual genre fiction.

I was interested in the panel on e-publishing. The takeaway there is that if you've got books published, the more formats you can offer them in, the better. But there IS a difference between books published in e-format by recognized publishers and indie, or self-publishing a book. As I'm sure I've said before, e-publishing should never be a shortcut. Make sure you've got a quality product, which requires investing time and usually money in good editing. Having your mother tell you your book is great is not a good reason to self-publish. But if you've got a good book, perhaps in a narrow niche market, where no publisher will take it because your target audience is too small, e-publishing offers you the opportunity to get it out there.


As for the 'showcase' side of the program.

Nook First - Week 2, and Writing Series

What I'm reading: Stay Close, by Harlan Coben; Dutch Me Deadly, by Maddy Hunter (bike); Contest entry 1 of 4.

First, a brief summary of my second week at Barnes & Noble. The program puts your book on the home pages for two weeks of the 30 days you've committed to the exclusive, so the first two weeks are where I expected to see the greatest sales. I wasn't disappointed. (If you haven't read my summary of Week 1, click here.)

(clicking should enlarge the image)

For Week 2, I had two books on the Top 100 in the Nook Store. All my books moved well up in the rankings, four of them under 500. (Note: my best-selling Amazon titles are in the 3000 – 5000 range, and I've always been happy with that.) I sold over 5000 books that week.

Week 3 is almost over as I write this, and, as expected, my sales have dropped. However, let's put things in perspective. Prior to Nook First, I was thrilled to sell 10 or 20 books a day at Barnes & Noble. In Week 3, my sales are still in the hundreds. So, just because it's not as spectacular as it was, I'm still seeing more sales per day at B&N than I am at Amazon. Who'd have thought I'd ever say, "Oh, darn. I only sold 300 books today." Or, "Oh, darn. I need a tax accountant."

As for writing, I'm gearing up for my next Mapleton Mystery. This is the first time I've committed to an actual "series". Yes, I have my Pine Hills Police "series" and my Blackthorne, Inc. "series." But in reality most of those are spin-offs and connected books. HIDDEN FIRE is a true sequel to FINDING SARAH, but although the rest do feature a recurring cast of characters, they're merely set in the same general universe.

Nook First - Week 1

I thought I'd report on my first week's experiences with the Nook First program. Overall, I'm absolutely thrilled that I was able to participate.

A brief recap:

The Nook First program includes a variety of marketing promotions on the part of Barnes & Noble. (Note: this is the current program; things might change down the line.) Your book is on the home page, on a special "Nook First" page, and there are email blasts to Nook owners and to everyone who's bought one of your books through Barnes & Noble. Needless to say, you can't get this kind of attention on your own. Not without major effort and expense.

Your book is not free. The minimum price is $2.99. Your book appears with 3 others on the Nook First home page for two weeks, and shows up in "new releases" in whatever genre(s) you've selected when you uploaded the book. So, there's good visibility all over the Barnes & Noble website. And, if your book climbs in the rankings, it'll be in even more places.

The conditions: the book must be a first time digital release, and you have to keep it exclusive to the Nook store for 30 days. After that, you're free to publish it elsewhere. My reasoning in applying for this program was that my Pine Hills Police series wasn't selling particularly well anywhere, so publishing SAVING SCOTT, the new book in the series as a Nook First, might draw attention to the rest of the series. Also, my other promo and marketing efforts seem to target the same general audience.

Did it work?

Stop Dancing and Write the Next Book

What I'm reading: Spying in High Heels, by Gemma Halliday

Don't forget, you can still enter the drawing for Donnell Bell's book. Scroll down to Tuesday's post and leave a comment.

First, some odds and ends. I'm going to be sending out my newsletter in the very near future. In addition to updates and other writing news, I hold contests that can only be accessed through the newsletter. If you're not already a subscriber, why don't you take a moment to sign up at my website.

Speaking of my website, it's moving forward … slowly, because I've got a lot of travel this month. But it's getting there.

Sometimes, everything seems to hit at once. And even when it's good, it can be overwhelming. Where do you focus? How do you prioritize? If you add coming back from being virtually off the grid for five days, it can make your head spin.

What I came back to:

Saving Scott's Official Debut

As I write this, I'm getting ready to leave town for the LA Marathon. However, due to the miracles of the Internet, the race will be over and I'll be heading home when you're reading this.

Today (Monday, that is—not Thursday when I'm writing it!) marks the official debut of Saving Scott as a Nook First special. This link is to the Nook First page, and I can only hope that Scott will be there for all to see.

I put the book up for sale last week—it went live late Wednesday. As I mentioned, it's exclusive to Barnes & Noble for 30 days. After that time, I'll be offering at the other e-book stores. But for now, you can get it here. And if you don't have a Nook, you can download the Nook apps here.

And, if you'd like to read an excerpt, you can find one here.

In an earlier post, I mentioned formatting, and gave some tips. However, there's a caveat. The software that the various sites use can still create glitches. So when you read an e-book, remember that the author might not have been "lazy" or "sloppy" in the formatting. Sometimes it's out of our hands. The folks at Barnes & Noble were very helpful when I reported things that didn't look right, despite my having everything formatted per their instructions. It was a special perk of the Nook First program, since they want the book to look its best, too.

Nook First or Amazon Select

On March 19th, SAVING SCOTT officially joins the Nook First program. Why did I decide to pursue this route, especially for those of you who read my post about why I didn't join the Amazon Select Ranks. Why the change of heart?

First, it's not really a change of heart. The two programs aren't the same. Amazon Select is open to anyone who signs up. The perks? You can list a book for free for up to 5 days in a given time period. People who belong to the "Prime" program (it's fee-based) can borrow your books, and when they do, you get paid. On the flip side, you can't sell your book anywhere but Amazon—not even through your website—for 90 days. If your books are for sale elsewhere, you have to remove them.

The Nook First program also requires exclusivity, but for 30 days, not 90. It's not open to anyone. You have to ask to be a part of the program, and participation is limited, so you're not in "competition" with countless other books. You get an assigned 30 day period. Also, it's for books that have never been published elsewhere. (Hence the name "Nook First")

Since SAVING SCOTT is a new book, I asked about Nook First. What I discovered, and the tipping point for me, was that Barnes & Noble actively promotes your book during that 30 day period. Among other things, their current agreement says they will place your book on their storefront, and include your book in email campaigns. Their website has a special "Nook First" page where your work will be on display, and not with dozens and dozens of others.

And, a well-known successful author's experiences with both Kindle Select and Nook First helped me make my decision. This is what she had to say:

I've done both the Nook First and Kindle Select programs. My take…Nook First was fabulous! BN really delivered as far as pushing my title and giving it great visibility. I more than doubled my BN income that month. I did get a few grumbles from the Kindle and iTunes folks who had to wait, but most were fairly okay with waiting 30 days. And they did have the option of downloading the free Nook app and reading the book on another device - which I know several people did. This is a program I would definitely do again in the future.