Joanna is trying to sort the facts from the hype on direct sales
A couple of weeks ago, I took part in a webinar about direct sales for books, led by the co-founder of a direct sales organisation in the USA. So I knew from the start that the webinar was bound to include a sales pitch.
Fine. But how much else of what he said do I believe?
First, a quick definition. What do I mean by direct sales?
Let me use an example. Not about books. There’s an organic dairy farm just up the road from where I live. They could sell their milk to supermarkets. In fact, they do. But, in addition, I can go to the farm and buy organic milk direct from them, from a chilled milk dispenser which is available to customers 24/7. If I do that, I’m buying direct. The farm gets all the cash from my purchase with no supermarket or other middleman taking a cut. I probably get a fresher product at a keener price. Win-win. Except for the supermarket, of course.
Direct sales of books : who benefits?
So direct sales, in the book business, are where the author sells direct to the reader and no sales platform in between takes a cut. The author gets all the sales proceeds. Great for the author, but isn’t it better and simpler and faster for Ms Reader to click to download from the same internet seller she has always used? Why should she go to the faff of going direct to the author?
What’s in it for the reader?
Quite possibly a cheaper book.
Certainly a direct relationship with the author who will have the reader’s contact details and will want to nurture that relationship.
Also—and this is where I begin to wonder whether this is hype—an opportunity for the reader to thumb her nose at the big platforms that are trying to extend their reach more and more.
Is it true?
Do we really want to cock a snook at the Amazons and Apples (and all the others) of this world? Are they getting too big for their corporate boots?
If I’m honest, I would say that I’ve heard a lot of people say that they wish the big platforms had less power. People say they’d like to use them less. But then that one-finger convenience clicks in. “Yes, I know I should look for other suppliers but I don’t have the time and it’s so much easier and quicker just to look on [Platform X] and buy there. Besides, my reading device is hooked into that platform so it would be a real hassle to go elsewhere.”
Have you been there? I certainly have. And though I try to resist, that one-finger click is very seductive. (As, of course, it was always intended to be.)
What would it take to move readers to direct sales?
I don’t know the answer to that question.
But I am pretty sure that it would take a lot to move some readers from one-click simplicity to a direct relationship with authors, even authors they love.
Some authors have managed it, though. What’s more, those authors say they would never go back to the way it was before.
They value having a direct line to their fans and being able to offer them special deals and access to prove to those fans how much they matter. Authors really value their reader fans.
And so we should 😉
But back to my question. What might it take to get readers to buy direct?
Here are a few factors that might (or might not) influence readers:
- Cheaper books by buying direct from the author
- Chance of getting freebies, advance information etc by having a personal relationship with the author
- Ease of purchase (ie as simple as the checkout on the big one-click platforms)
- Ease of download to the e-reader they already use (Kindle, iPhone, tablet, whatever)
- Satisfaction of not using the big sales platforms
Factors 1 and 2 are in the control of the author. Factors 3 and 4 depend on the sales funnel that the author is using. Factor 5 is for the reader alone.
Ease of use when buying direct
Now, the guy who was leading the webinar seemed to me to be saying that his organisation had a sales funnel that could deliver on items 3 and 4 above. I haven’t tried using it yet, so I don’t know whether that’s true. I’m a bit sceptical at the moment, because I’ve often found that sales pitches and reality are a long way apart.
But who knows? Maybe it does work?
Until now, it’s usually been the case that buying direct can be a palaver, depending on the shopfront that the author is using. Certainly, I’ve found that it takes more than one click to pay.
And downloading to existing e-readers has certainly created problems for some. Not surprising, really. Amazon wants readers to buy from Amazon to read on their Kindle. Apple wants readers to buy from Apple to read on their iPhone. They, and other platforms, have invested heavily in their shopfront so they want to tie readers to their service (and their profits). It’s in their interests to make untying hard.
But if the webinar guy hasn’t yet succeeded in making purchase and download as easy as Amazon’s one-click system, someone else soon will. Because that’s the nature of the way the internet works.
If there’s a gap in the internet market, some enterprising person will fill it soon enough.
How much does price matter in direct sales?
I know it shocks some readers when they hear how little the author makes from book sales, especially in print. If you’re interested, there’s a lot of detail in my earlier blog about sales platforms for self-publishing.
For print sales, the self-published author has to give a discount to the shopfront (bookshop, Amazon, Apple, whatever). It is common for the discount to be 55% of the sales price. In addition, the author pays the cost of printing the book. So, for a paperback that retails at $13.99, the author may make around 90 cents. Not much for all those hours of writing? Especially when the retailer is making well over $7.00 a pop. (Sour grapes? You bet.)
But if there’s no retailer in between author and reader, the sums work out differently. The author will still have to pay for printing. She will probably also pay the credit card company’s fee and the cost of packing/shipping the book to the buyer.
But the chances are that she would receive more than the usual 90 cents. So she can look at reducing the book price for direct sales to readers. Maybe by as much as 15%-25%. The author will still make more than 90 cents. And the reader gets a bargain book. Win-win.
Would that be enough to persuade you, as a reader, to make the move to direct sales?
If not, what would an author need to offer to persuade you? I’d love to hear what you think.
I buy direct when I can, and prefer to for all the reasons you mention. But – and it’s an important caveat – it has to be easy to get to my reader. (I use Nook from Barnes and Noble whenever I can. I avoid Amazon unless a book is only there.).
Usually BookFunnel is easy but I had problems with last book I got direct.
Price is important to me since I buy 20-30 books a month and I like hearing from authors as long as they write books I want to read.
You are welcome to contact me via email. Notice I did not say “reach out” which is an abomination.
Thank you Kathy, on behalf of all authors. That’s a huge number of books every month. And Dame Isadora would definitely support you about the abomination 😉
I wrote a long, rambling comment that basically comes down to the fact that the kindle app is more than a reading app. It stores, organizes, and gives information about books like blurb, series info, and reviews. Yes, it’s currently possible to send outside files to kindle; but those files don’t come with bibliographic data, and the more readers sideload non kindle files the sooner Amazon will crack down on the ability to sideload.
I have sometimes bought direct but am not inclined to do it regularly because it splits my library, and I forget to look for books in the other reader. At this point, I’m actually willing to pay more to have my ebooks in one place with biblio data.
Maybe what’s needed is some sort of storage/library app that shows what reading system the book is in and can give info about it.
A thought-provoking reply, Mary. Thank you. I hadn’t thought of those aspects of using Amazon. I have books on kindle and on my iPhone and I also sometimes forget about the other reader.
This is really interesting, Joanna. In the interests of taking myself away from the ‘zon, I’ve recently signed up for Bookshop.org, where you can download ebooks and your local indie bookshop gets the credit. I’ve just bought Natalie Haynes, Pandora’s Jar for 99p. However, you can only download to your phone – which I’m okay with. I have also just got my head around giving away books on Bookfunnel. I may be exploring that as a sales platform for a few of my books which aren’t tied to KU, but it’s time consuming, which I think may be a problem for writers with a full schedule.
I need to do all of those things, too, Liz. But the time commitment can be a problem. I’ve just committed to doing a monthly newsletter as well as blogging twice a month so my schedule is a bit full, right now.
Much to think about here, Joanna. Thank you.
The technology has fallen into very few hands, in spite of anti monopoly legislation. And we readers have got addicted to the “easy route” which the current platforms offer us. We’re almost certainly losing serious problem-solving skills as a result, not to mention a load of fun. And bookshops fail, libraries close and resources are concentrated in fewer and fewer hands.
Bookshop.org sounds like a glimmer of light, Liz. Shall look into it.
You’re right about fewer and fewer tech controllers. And often, if a clever new app is devised, one of the big boys buys it up. I don’t yet use bookshop.org but I should, clearly.
I would love to start selling direct, but I’m not sure anyone would want to buy anything! I already have a Payhip account, so I could use that to sell ebooks. Regarding your point 1 (price) – the ‘zon price matches, so if you price the book lower on your website, they’ll lower the price on their site eventually. An alternative would be to have the books at the same price on your site, and offer your readers discount codes.
Amazon doesn’t always catch up on price matching, in my limited experience, Rhoda. But thanks for the suggestion of discount codes. I hadn’t thought of that.