That's awesome!
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I just have to add that I agree Kobo rocks. I'm in the process of going direct with them instead of using SW or D2D and not only is the interface incredibly simple and easy to use, but I've appreciated the customer service I've received regarding questions I had. Wow. That's all I have to say about that.
Now...fingers crossed I start gaining some traction over there!
Also, for authors located in the US who have gone direct with Kobo, how does the tax information side of things work? I found a spot to enter my bank information, but not my tax information. What happens come tax time? Anything I need to be prepared for form wise?
Now...fingers crossed I start gaining some traction over there!
Also, for authors located in the US who have gone direct with Kobo, how does the tax information side of things work? I found a spot to enter my bank information, but not my tax information. What happens come tax time? Anything I need to be prepared for form wise?
I love their monthly promotions. I always shift a few copies when they go live. Also, I love reaching a more global audience than at Amazon. I sold a book in Jamaica this month. Only one, but it's still cool.
Agree that Kobo rocks, I've had nothing but good experiences with them and their people. I'm currently the Mystery/Thriller pick of the month in the free category and the ad they run is great.
Sales-wise though they do fall into third and forth. Getting traction using a permafree is proving to be difficult. I have to agree with this from Leanne;
"Besides that, I can never actually find the promos themselves on the store. Do they hide them? It's like the free first in series page. I assume I have a book on that because it does well, but I've never been able to find that page."
That free page is just too hard to find for most users. I ran a blog post telling the world my book was featured on the free page and I got email asking where to find it. One person said the easiest way they found was to Google "free kobo books". If they would just make it more visible I think the sales would follow.
As for the store and interface, top notch. I see nothing really holding them back from being a major competitor to Amazon. But there's this ONE THING. If that ONE THING would just be fixed everyone with a permafree would see a major jump in sales.
Frustrating. Kobo is like that kid you see with all the talent and skills, yet they just won't try out for the team. That's a joke but there's a bit of truth in it. I can't help but think that there's someone there who still feels FREE cannibalizes sales, even when all the evidence points the other way.
I do love that blue map with all the dots though.
Sales-wise though they do fall into third and forth. Getting traction using a permafree is proving to be difficult. I have to agree with this from Leanne;
"Besides that, I can never actually find the promos themselves on the store. Do they hide them? It's like the free first in series page. I assume I have a book on that because it does well, but I've never been able to find that page."
That free page is just too hard to find for most users. I ran a blog post telling the world my book was featured on the free page and I got email asking where to find it. One person said the easiest way they found was to Google "free kobo books". If they would just make it more visible I think the sales would follow.
As for the store and interface, top notch. I see nothing really holding them back from being a major competitor to Amazon. But there's this ONE THING. If that ONE THING would just be fixed everyone with a permafree would see a major jump in sales.
Frustrating. Kobo is like that kid you see with all the talent and skills, yet they just won't try out for the team. That's a joke but there's a bit of truth in it. I can't help but think that there's someone there who still feels FREE cannibalizes sales, even when all the evidence points the other way.
I do love that blue map with all the dots though.
David, can you share with us the pointers on metadata? If it's a secret, then no worries
I've tried promos, blurb changes, even updating the covers, but nothing has worked at Kobo... I used to see a handle full of sales but now all I see are crickets... I would love to boost some visibility there...
I've tried promos, blurb changes, even updating the covers, but nothing has worked at Kobo... I used to see a handle full of sales but now all I see are crickets... I would love to boost some visibility there...
It's not a secret. Mark Lefebvre often tells us to change prices to end .99 for each territory in the Kobo podcast. He has mentioned it on SPP as well, and on the Kobo blog. There are other things, all obvious stuff, like using the boxes given to us for series title, series number, etc. Preorders are a big thing for him atm as well. If you listen to the last SPP podcast he was in (I think it was SPP) he talks about it. It might have been Joanna's Creative Penn... I'm not sure.Thomas Fincham said:David, can you share with us the pointers on metadata? If it's a secret, then no worries
I've tried promos, blurb changes, even updating the covers, but nothing has worked at Kobo... I used to see a handle full of sales but now all I see are crickets... I would love to boost some visibility there...
The meta data is the same for all stores not just Kobo. You should never let the automatics set your prices. Always end in .99 or .49 and remember that Canada is Kobo's biggest sales area. $1 more than Amazon is normal. So for example despite conversion rates, I always set my $4.99 amazon books to $5.99 for Canada. The other territories I look at the conversion and round up to 0.99. Once set they STAY set, and don't keep fluctuating all over the scale due to currency variations. Obvious stuff I know, but imagine a reader's feeling if they buy a book for 4.56 today, and tomorrow it drops to 4.06 and then bounces all over the joint.
Choose a price you're comfortable with a SET it there.
Set the price and forget it I say.
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