There's one thing that every agent and editor will tell you. Short story collections don't sell very well, at all. So I wasn't expecting much when I published
Tales of Woe and Wonder. I wanted to experiment with self-publishing and marketing and have something that was all mine out on Amazon. Last weekend I tried a three-day free promotion. Over fourteen hundred customers downloaded it. Immediately following the promotion, my sales and borrows briefly tripled, boosting the collection into the top 100 fantasy anthologies for a few hours. A successful experiment I think. Hopefully the customers will find something in the collection to like. Next up, I'm publishing a paperback version through CreateSpace to experiment with some giveaways. If you have some previously published stories languishing on your hard-drive or in some internet archives, take a leap and publish them.
In other news, volume one of
Avenir Eclectia is now available on Amazon in paperback and kindle. I have four flash stories in this collection. The editors Grace Bridges and Travis Perry did marvelous work arranging the various micro-fiction pieces into a cohesive collection.
Freebie's work wonders. And you can keep on doing them for ages as other people pick them up.
ReplyDeleteIt seems counter-intuitive but somehow giving something away brings rewards. There's a message in there somewhere. : )
DeleteThat's the stuff, Jeff! I'm so glad you're getting your reprints out to a whole new audience.
ReplyDeleteThat's the plan. I'm thinking to try some 99 cent shorts next.
DeleteInpressive figures, Jeff - and congrats on Avenir Eclectica.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Simon. I was pleasantly surprised at the number of downloads.
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