tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7467549889510324132.post6194249439146841380..comments2024-03-19T04:19:32.143-05:00Comments on Pretentious Title: Let's Talk Numbers: How Long Should Your Series Be?Rachel Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13917123007610750274noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7467549889510324132.post-65699883334603102242022-02-11T21:19:08.313-05:002022-02-11T21:19:08.313-05:00Thank for your writting. You have made it very cle...Thank for your writting. You have made it very clear that the problem is happening. <br /><a href="https://www.sportstoto365.com" title="스포츠토토" rel="nofollow">스포츠토토</a> <br /> <br />Betteemhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08527821032230181435noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7467549889510324132.post-81346137589920546352022-02-09T21:25:41.647-05:002022-02-09T21:25:41.647-05:00magnificent put up, very informative. I'm wond...magnificent put up, very informative. I'm wondering why the opposite experts of this sector don't notice this. You must continue your writing. I am confident, you have a huge readers' base already! Feel free to visit my website; <a href="https://wikimapia.org/external_link?url=https://www.yadong.biz" title="일본야동" rel="nofollow">일본야동</a><br /><a href="https://wikimapia.org/external_link?url=https://www.yahanvideo.net" title="일본야동" rel="nofollow">일본야동</a><br /><a href="https://wikimapia.org/external_link?url=https://www.koreayadong.com/" title="국산야동" rel="nofollow">국산야동</a><br /><a href="https://wikimapia.org/external_link?url=https://www.chinayadong.net/" title="일본야동" rel="nofollow">일본야동</a><br /><a href="https://wikimapia.org/external_link?url=https://www.japanyadong.com/" title="한국야동" rel="nofollow">한국야동</a><br /> yadongbizhttps://koreayadongcom.mystrikingly.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7467549889510324132.post-73136348858345506252022-02-09T21:25:04.895-05:002022-02-09T21:25:04.895-05:00Thanks for a marvelous posting! I actually enjoyed...Thanks for a marvelous posting! I actually enjoyed reading it, you might be a great author.I will be sure to bookmark your blog and will often come back at some point. I want to encourage yourself to continue your great posts, have a nice day! Feel free to visit my website; <br /><a href="https://www.komoot.com/user/2552011951066" title="일본야동" rel="nofollow">일본야동</a><br /><a href="https://www.komoot.com/user/2552021613257" title="일본야동" rel="nofollow">일본야동</a><br /><a href="https://www.komoot.com/user/2552029227229" title="국산야동" rel="nofollow">국산야동</a><br /><a href="https://www.komoot.com/user/2552039321750" title="일본야동" rel="nofollow">일본야동</a><br /><a href="https://www.komoot.com/user/2552045254817" title="한국야동" rel="nofollow">한국야동</a>yahanvideonethttps://site-4845248-1189-5247.mystrikingly.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7467549889510324132.post-34038363105574575152022-02-04T05:11:06.054-05:002022-02-04T05:11:06.054-05:00What a nice post! I'm so happy to read this. ...What a nice post! I'm so happy to read this. <a href="https://www.powerballsite.com" title="파워볼게임" rel="nofollow">파워볼게임</a> SAFE SITES18https://www.blogger.com/profile/14079265109044374616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7467549889510324132.post-44160486794991227382022-02-04T05:10:13.143-05:002022-02-04T05:10:13.143-05:00I am very happy to read this post! The content has...I am very happy to read this post! The content has been very helpful to me. <a href="https://www.sportstoto365.com" title="사설토토" rel="nofollow">사설토토</a> SAFE SITES18https://www.blogger.com/profile/14079265109044374616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7467549889510324132.post-72150023170843957802021-11-09T06:11:12.478-05:002021-11-09T06:11:12.478-05:00When you are in need of an expert to write your re...When you are in need of an expert to write your reflective essay, you can find assistance with BookMyEssay. The company offers many services, but the one that stands out is their expert service. They have professionals who can guide you in creating your reflective essay, so you can get the best possible grade. For More Visit: <a href="https://www.bookmyessay.com.au/subject/reflective-essay-writing-help" rel="nofollow"><b>https://www.bookmyessay.com.au/subject/reflective-essay-writing-help</b></a><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7467549889510324132.post-46232874961332864772016-09-13T10:11:06.050-05:002016-09-13T10:11:06.050-05:00This is a fascinating post - and really timely for...This is a fascinating post - and really timely for me, as I'm plotting out a series right now! Artistically I could go in a couple of different directions, so it's really useful to have these kind of numbers in mind to help make the decisions. Thanks!Clairehttps://bletheringbylinley.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7467549889510324132.post-40685200835544962932016-08-31T08:46:18.836-05:002016-08-31T08:46:18.836-05:00Great question anonymous!
I have looked at Kindle...Great question anonymous!<br /><br />I have looked at Kindle Unlimited behaviors as well and found that they so similarly mimic regular sales, that its fine to lump everything together. At the end of the day every example you've given is just a +% or -% to the retention rate as people move through the series on KU or regular sales. Usually its a +%. KU readers seem to be very loyal to good series which is another reason why we love being in KU.Travis Bachhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02462838657483444088noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7467549889510324132.post-73202565223123909732016-08-30T16:39:52.700-05:002016-08-30T16:39:52.700-05:00This was a great post, purely as a reader. I had n...This was a great post, purely as a reader. I had no idea the Romance Episodes were so successful, as the changing protagonists was precisely the reason I bounced off those series from writers I otherwise really like (Ilona Andrews specifically. The Kate Daniels series is awesome but I hated the Edge series).<br /><br />How do you think Kindle Unlimited is affecting each of these topics? I'd have to imagine it's a great boon to the serial and also towards a series recovering from a bad book. I know that its changed my habits considerably.<br /><br />Since I already pay each month for access, reading the fourth book after a bad third one is basically free (it feels that way anyway) and I'm already invested in the characters and world of the book. If the fourth book is good again then that's great and I just skip the third one when I reread, or if it's also bad then I know I'm just done with the series. Without Unlimited, I wouldn't be willing to risk wasting money on the fourth book and would have pulled out earlier.<br /><br />For serials, I think knowing the book is really short (from all the angry reviews), makes taking a chance on the first one seem like you're throwing away money. With Unlimited, there's no risk, because you're not paying on per book basis, and if I don't like it I've only wasted a little time and haven't rewarded an author for tricking me into a purchase (now that KU pays per page).<br /><br />Having KU also makes me more willing to try books that don't have reviews or whose blurbs don't do a great job of hooking my interest.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7467549889510324132.post-70556384067697543942016-08-30T13:43:11.581-05:002016-08-30T13:43:11.581-05:00Fascinating data! It's pretty much exactly wha...Fascinating data! It's pretty much exactly what I've seen in my own series attempts. I haven't yet nailed a market, but each time I try, I get closer to the gold. <br /><br />I've recently discovered the beauty of trilogies. It's only three books, it has an expected, definite length, and it's not massively hard to plan the metaplot. Look at Dragonlance--trilogy after trilogy. :-)Kessiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15019626781634777336noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7467549889510324132.post-66880236058190526352016-08-30T11:45:51.629-05:002016-08-30T11:45:51.629-05:00@Ken Thanks! I'm not sure if that's the po...@Ken Thanks! I'm not sure if that's the point I wanted to make haha. Publishers milk series for reliable income all while pushing a train of debut authors to generate that next hit series. They can do that though since they are managing many authors. A solo author might be able to alternate somehow, but yeah, it'd be tricky as heck and I don't know if it would work the same way. Maybe with two pen names...<br /><br />"Milking series" may sound negative, but I don't mean it that way unless there's blatant cashins happening. I've definitely read a few authors who published one series too many in a core setting and it was sad to behold. Its funny how, the more I dig into this business, the more I discover that Trad is already doing this or that trick. We really don't give them enough credit from the indie side of things sometimes.<br /><br />Though, as many mid-listers will tell you, so many debut authors are just pen-names. SO SO MANY. And yeah, they cancel series all the time. (Marla Mason! WHY?!!....~_~) My sources say that some publishers have break points on retention rates, like 40% for example, and series that fall below that are usually canceled. This stuff matters.<br /><br />(also, if you try out the tie in thing, lemme know. I'd love to see how that works in detail)Travis Bachhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02462838657483444088noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7467549889510324132.post-17295239165326341382016-08-30T11:36:29.746-05:002016-08-30T11:36:29.746-05:00@Tom thanks Tom. I've not done any studies con...@Tom thanks Tom. I've not done any studies concerning reviews and ratings yet, but that's simply because I don't have that kind of data. I need a much bigger set to work with for that kind of analysis. <br /><br />From my own experience, number of reviews is both indicative and not indicative of success sadly. Take the Legend of Eli for example. It has 165 reviews on Amazon. Its also sold roughly 20,000 copies via Amazon (my guess I don't have the exact number). VS Nice Dragons which has 600+ reviews (on Amazon) and has sold about twice that (on Amazon). This hides the real picture though as NDFL has yet to out sell LoEM in terms of total units lifetime. So yeah, its tough stuff mainly cause we don't have a good complete picture of the review ecosystem.<br /><br />As for $4.99 assumption, yup, you're right on the number. I probably should have mentioned my sort of stock pricing for those examples. So I pulled out my spreadsheet from this post and tried out some $1.99 and $.99 book 1 scenarios. Pricing at $1.99 for book 1 was break-even effective if it, in my example, boosted sales from 8,000 units up to around 18,000 units.<br /><br />Heck if I know how to predict how many extra sales one will get from doing this though. I have no data on that. Though, I would lean on the experience of authors like Annie Bellet that shows great benefit from carefully executed $1.99 and $0.99 pricing in this regards.<br /><br />Haha, if some wonderful blog reader could send me their sales data in regards to a prolonged $0.99 pricing strat.. I'd be over the moon... and name drop you like crazy in the resulting post. ^_~Travis Bachhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02462838657483444088noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7467549889510324132.post-36754643622039483132016-08-30T10:19:01.280-05:002016-08-30T10:19:01.280-05:00Definitely a fine analysis. And it mostly comes do...Definitely a fine analysis. And it mostly comes down to "longer tail is better"--if you're professional enough to know what concept you can commit to at that length, and then write a good series without a weak link, and promote each of its steps properly. Seems like a good caveat would be: the best time for a big series is after you have several books under your belt.<br /><br />It looks like your main exception is how traditional publishers aren't as thrilled with long commitments (or worse, could buy your magnum opus and then abort it halfway through!) and would rather keep rolling the dice with more Book 1s. But indie writers just go to town on this math.<br /><br />One thing I'd add: you said this is about how to use the wiggle room in how long or short a series could be while still making dramatic sense. One variation on that point could be to release "companion books" or split one concept into multiple related series, to keep the integrity of what might not deserve to be in a single series. That wouldn't fit this logic very well in itself (it's a reason to write a *shorter* "series", which doesn't profit as well). But it could be the best way to use wilder or more finite ideas: if you have the perfect death scene for your main character, try using it for a supporting character in a side story instead of risking the series itself. Or at least see if you could end the series there and start a new, related one with whatever carryover it could gain from the first series.<br /><br />Lots to think about. Thanks again, Travis!Ken Hugheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02732164204232936705noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7467549889510324132.post-62904845391978292522016-08-29T22:14:36.178-05:002016-08-29T22:14:36.178-05:00Another fine article. Love graphs. Some of the inf...Another fine article. Love graphs. Some of the information I sort of knew, but a lot was eye-opening, especially the effects of a bad book in the middle of a series. I hadn't thought of that. Looks like us newbies will be playing series roulette: how long can we make the series (to maximize return) without pubbing a stinker (and bringing down our house of cards).<br /><br />I note that your examples assume a selling price of $4.99 for each book, including the first in the series. This kind of goes along with the guest post someone did a month or two ago (to not reduce the price of the first book of a series). I had doubts then and even more now, since it appears to me that a main, if not the main, predictor of total income on a series (assuming great books) is the number of readers of Book #1. Just as the follow-on effects on total income can make Facebook ads be more worthwhile than is apparent from the immediate results, so it seems to me that getting more readers of book #1 will result in much more income after 5 or 7 90% carry-overs.<br /><br />In any event, since I am attempting a connected but non-sequential collection of non-fiction, and since that appears to correspond most closely with the Episodic Series model, I love the math in this article. Now all I have to do is write great books....<br /><br />Thanks again,<br />Tom<br /><br />ps Ever done any research on the effects of numbers of reviews/average rating of reviews and how they correspond to increasing/decreasing sales? That would be even more interesting that how to get more reviews.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02561357573241497609noreply@blogger.com