I uploaded my debut e-novel, Good Ole Boys, to Amazon, exclusively to the Lending Library for three months. Although I have four other e-books live on both Amazon and Barnes & Noble, this is my first fiction work I have released. While my Amazon sales exceed my B&N sales, maybe it would have been more evenly matched had I offered only e-novels.
But with the knowledge at hand, I opted to enroll this first e-novel of mine in the Lending Library. Obviously that precludes any strictly Nook readers for a season--although they could download a copy to their computer via the Kindle for PC buying option. Still, at the end of the ninety-days of exclusivity, Good Ole Boys will also be offered at B&N.
Plus I plan to put up (soon) my next e-book, "Good Ole Boys: The Prequel," at both online stores.
Granted my initial Amazon enrollment was done midmonth, so I missed an opportunity to be the single free read chosen for December by many Amazon Prime Members just by the later timing of my upload. Still, my baby was not ready until the seventeenth. I'm happy with what went up on that date. Anything before that would not have been "right" enough.
However, there are two things working for me. One, some people are getting their first Kindle under the Christmas tree this year, so I'm expecting further activity December 25 on. Two, as another new name among the throng of beginning and established authors, this is a marketing tool.
Being free to the reader, it remains a cash cow for me. Granted a fluctuating cash flow, much like the stock market, being diluted as more authors opt-in, but alternatively being increased as more of an author's books are borrowed. Gives new meaning to the word "free" from an author's perspective.
Remember, too, that enrollment in Amazon's Lending Library does not preclude a normal sale. It just gives our readers a choice. Those in the Amazon Prime program have a subset of all the book offerings online that are offered to them for free, while they can buy those they wish from the bigger pool of authors.
So, as my experiment continues, I'll report back with any other revelations I garner.
Please keep in mind, this is new to us all--Amazon, the authors, the readers. So if I've misinterpreted anything herein, forgive me. I'll correct any such errors in later posts as my data indicates.
Also note that your e-book, once enrolled, is set to be automatically enrolled for the next ninety-day period unless you uncheck the box. I believe I found that in my Bookshelf, clicking on the Enrollment data/info area and then snooping around there. Just FYI.
In the meantime, keep reading and writing. A well-written entertaining book is a treasure forever.
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