Saving the Book World, One Click at a Time
If you could help out an author and save some money on the price of a book, wouldn’t you want to do that?
I’ve been writing professionally for more than 20 years and I can tell you that there has never been a more exciting, or a more depressing time to be an author.
Depressing, because the book market is actually going backwards. With competition from social media, gaming, streaming TV – and a whole host of other diversions – fewer people are reading and those who do (statistically speaking) are spending less time with their noses in a book.
Not you. You’re reading a blog on an author’s website, so that makes you a wonderful person, and someone that I, as an author, need to look after.
As a result of the state of the market, mainstream publishers have to watch their margins like never before. There’s little money available for promotion or advertising, and the days of publishers picking up a new author and working with him or her over a number of years to grow their readership are gone. Now, it’s sink or swim.
On the plus side, it’s an exciting time to be an author because, thanks to technology, it’s never been easier to publish a book and get it into the hands of a reader.
One of the biggest changes in recent years has been the creation of online platforms that have now made it possible for authors to sell their books direct to readers.
It’s taken quite a bit of time, and quite a bit of money, but my web designers (a great couple of South African guys: http://www.theguys.co.za/), have now set up an online store on my website, here: https://shop.tonypark.net/
It’s been a good investment, I hope, because it will allow you, the reader, to buy my books as eBooks a bit cheaper (mostly) than if you bought from another online retailer, and I’ll be able to keep a greater share of the profit.
Let me say that again: you pay less (usually), and I make more. That’s a win for you and a win for me. I have to also add here, in black and white, that while I’ll try and make sure you save money by buying direct from me, sometimes the online retailers (especially the one beginning with an ‘A’ and ending in ‘zon’ discount my books without telling me).
I also have to tell you that not all of my books will be available for direct sale to all my readers in all parts of the world. While I own the rights to all of my books in the UK, US, Canada and European markets, the rights to some of my books are owned by my publishers in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. That means that if you live in Australia, New Zealand or South Africa you won’t be able to buy all of my books direct from me, even if you want to (stay tuned, though, for more news on that front as I hope to be able to offer more books in those markets in the future).
If you go to my shop and you don’t get an option to add a book to your online shopping cart then that means that book is not available for sale, from me to you, in your market, but you can still buy it on Amazon or other online retailers.
If you buy an eBook from me, direct from my shop, you’ll receive an email with a link from my distribution partner, a well-established company in the US called BookFunnel. You’ll then have to download the book and transfer it to your Kindle, Kobo, phone, tablet or other device.
So, it’s not quite as simple as downloading a Kindle book, but the BookFunnel people provide directions and support. I’ve tried it myself – it really is quite easy.
At the moment I’m only offering eBooks for sale, but I hope to expand this offering to print books in the future. Stay tuned for more news on that front.
The question is, even if it means a couple of extra clicks, wouldn’t you rather save money and help an author? Let me know your thoughts please.