1. Smashwords Survey
Helps Authors Sell More
eBooks
September, 2013
Mark Coker
Founder, Smashwords
Twitter: @markcoker

2. Notes for the Slideshare edition of this
presentation
This is the companion deck to a Smashwords video workshop
available on YouTube
Here are links to each video in this 5-part series:
#1 - An Introduction to Ebook Publishing (a primer and e-publishing checklist)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khM4czIJUVM
#2 - The Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success (best practices secrets for reaching more readers)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jnd7jYcjqm8
#3 - Smashwords Survey Helps Authors Sell More Books (pricing strategy and fun metrics)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rrl4NExo3Y
#4 - 10 Trends Driving the Future of Authorship (indie authors are the future of publishing!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbT7r-DUa6M
#5 - How to Reach More Readers at Apple iBooks (merchandising secrets to grow sales!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKwwcL_FS_c
The complete video collection is at http://www.youtube.com/user/smashwords
View more Smashwords presentations on Slideshare at
http://www.slideshare.net/Smashwords/presentations

3. About this Smashwords Survey
video
• What you’ll learn
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Which sells better, shorter or longer books?
Do longer or shorter book titles sell more books?
What does the sales curve look like for indie ebooks?
What are the most common price points for indie ebooks?
Which price sells the most copies?
Which price earns authors the most gross sales?
And MUCH MUCH more!
• Who this video is for
• All authors, both published and aspiring

4. This is me

5. My Backstory

7. In 2002, we decided to write a
satire about the daytime
television soap opera industry

9. Publishers Said “No”
• Despite great efforts of our
agent, every major NY
publisher said NO (TWICE!)

10. I Concluded…
•
The publishing industry was broken. It was
failing to serve

Authors

Readers

The future of books
•
Publishers value books on perceived commercial merit
•
Publishers unwilling and disinterested to take a
chance on every author
•
•
Rejecting most authors!
Publishers guess what readers want to buy
•
Throw spaghetti against the wall

11. The Problem:
Publishers Controlled Everything
• They controlled the …
• printing press
• distribution
• knowledge to professionally publish

12. I imagined a publishing revolution
where writers would rise up and take
control

13. Writers needed the tools for
revolution..
.. tools that would enable them to
professionally publish without
publishers

14. My solution: Smashwords
• FREE eBook Publishing Platform
 Free ebook printing press
 Distribution to major ebook retailers and
libraries
 Best practices knowledge to help writers
become professional publishers

15. Ebooks published at Smashwords
250,000+
September 2013
250,000
191,000
200,000
150,000
100,000
50,000
92,000
28,800
140 6,000
0
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

16. How Smashwords Distribution
Works
•
UPLOAD
•
•
Free conversion to 9 ebook formats
•
•
Upload a Microsoft Word file or .epub
Ready for immediate sale online
DISTRIBUTE
•
•
Distribution to multiple major retailers
GET PAID
•
Author receives 85%+ of net = 60% list from major
retailers

17. Smashwords Ebook Distribution
Network (partial)

18. LET’S GET STARTED

19. The Second Annual Smashwords
Survey
First released May 2013 at
RT Booklovers in Kansas City
Read the original blog post: Google ‘smashwords survey’
(without quotes)
or visit http://bitly.com/smashsurvey13

20. Last year’s study has been
viewed over 85,000 times
•
Access the prior study at Slideshare
http://www.slideshare.net/Smashwords/howdata-driven-decisionhow-datadrivendecisions-might-help-authors-reach-morereaders

21. In Search of Viral Catalysts

22. What’s a Viral Catalyst?
•
A viral catalyst is something that makes your
book more available, accessible, desirable
and enjoyable to readers
•
Read the Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success (it’s
FREE!) to learn how viral catalysts spur word-of-mouth

23. ???
Useful (and not-so-useful) discoveries
start with simple questions

24. ???
So we asked questions
We looked at 11 months of sales data
for over 120,000 titles, aggregated
across the Smashwords distribution
network, representing over $12
million in global sales

25. Smashwords Distribution
Network

26. Q:
How many books sell well?

27. How Many Indie Ebooks Sell
Well?
•
Sales distribution is a “power curve”
•
Key findings:
•
Most books do not sell well (very important for authors to
set realistic expectations, and take long term approach to
platform building)
•
Sales distribution characterized by small minority of titles
selling extremely well, thousands of moderate sellers, and
then a long tail of poor sellers
•
Authors should implement best practices (read the
Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success for ideas!) to drive
their performance to the left of the curve
•
As books move to the left in sales rank, their actual sales
increase quickly, especially in top 1,000

28. Sales Distribution Across
Smashwords Network
(½ of sales are to the right of #1,000)

29. Slice: Top 500

30. Q:
Do authors who change prices
frequently sell more books?

31. Impact of Price Changes
• Conclusions not clear cut
• Might price changes be proxy for author
promotion?

32. Impact of Price Changes

33. Q:
Should I have a long book title, or a
shorter book title?

34. Do Shorter Book Titles Sell
Better? Let’s look at character
count

35. Let’s look at the number of words
in the title. Shorter titles appear
to gain slight advantage

36. Q:
Should my ebook description be short
or long?

37. What’s the right word count for
an ebook product description?

38. Q:
If ebooks are immortal, how do sales
develop over time? Case studies
from Apple iBooks store

39. How Sales Develop: Single
Retailer, Single Title
•
This set of data looks at individual titles at
the Apple iBooks store
•
Key findings:
•
Books develop differently over time
•
Sales rise and fall, then rise and fall again, based on
various factors (randomness, luck, author promotions, new
title releases, retailer promos)
•
Non-stop presence important. Never unpublish!
•
Unlike print books, which quickly go out of print, ebooks
are immortal and can yield income for years

40. The immortal indie ebook keeps
on giving
•
This title has been out over a year. A new release in
November caused title to surge anew, followed by
subsequent breakouts as new readers discover this
great author. As shown, still selling over 50 copies a
day on average one year later.

41. The book that keeps giving
•
Became immediate bestseller. Months later, still
selling about 100 copies a day. This book will rise
again with new releases by this author as new readers
discover her talent.

42. Breakout, followed by breakout,
followed by strong daily sales
•
Wordwide bestseller. Experienced spike in sales with
free promo of different book and series. Not captured
in the data – experienced another spike in May 2013
with new release.

43. New release sparks new
breakout for older book
•
This book has been out over a year. Still performing
well. Spiked in October with release of a different
unrelated book.

44. Slow boil, breakout, slow boil,
breakout
•
This title was selling relatively well (5-10 copies a day)
then benefited from major national press cover (spike
#1) then feature placement in Apple email promo (spike
#2). After each spike, sales settled at higher level.

45. Slow boil to breakout
•
This is the chart for Ruth Ann Nordin (the only author for which I obtained
permission to reveal her identity) and her book, An Inconvenient Marriage. This
book had already been a bestseller at Kobo 12 months before it suddenly broke
out at Apple to become the #1 romance title in the store. The Apple spike was
prompted by a new title release, and price changes possibly also a free
promotion for a separate title on her list. More discussion in Secrets.

46. Q:
What’s the ideal word count for
ebooks?

47. (2012) Do Readers Prefer Longer
Books?
• For the average book, yes

48. (2013) Do Readers Prefer Longer
Books?
• For the average book, yes

49. (2013) Readers Prefer Longer
Books?
•
When we look at word count bands, the
impact is clearer

50. Q:
What’s the average word count for
the top 60 bestselling Smashwords
romance books?

51. A:
112,195 words
= average word count of top 60 Smashwords romance

52. Q:
What do words cost readers?

53. (2012) ~ 3 cents per 1,000 words
•
The outlier is a 27,000 word ebook priced at $2.99. Indicates that
some authors might have ability to price popular shorter works
higher

54. (2013) How many words can a
reader buy for a penny?

55. Q:
What price moves the most units?

56. DATA FROM SMASHWORDS SALES AT
APPLE

57. FREE
• FREE moves ebooks
• 91X more downloads on average
compared to priced titles (last 12 months)
• Powerful platform builder
• Powerful sales catalyst for series or deep
backlists
• Over 35 million free downloads at Apple in
12 months (June 2012-May 2013)

58. Q:
What are the most common price
points?

59. (2012) How Many Books are
Priced at Each Price Point?

60. (2013) Number of titles in each
price band

61. Q:
What impact does price have on unit
sales?

62. Impact of Price on Unit Sales
•
This set of data examines how price impacts
unit sales
•
1.0 = normalized reference point. For
example, books priced in $3.00-$3.99 price
band sell 4.3 times more units than books
priced $10.00+
•
Key findings:
•
Low prices sell more units
•
$1.00-$1.99 price point underperforms
•
$3.99 the new $2.99?
•
Many authors underpricing!

63. How Price Impacts Units Sold

64. Q:
What prices earn the author the
greatest amount of money?

65. What Price Earns the Author the
Greatest Yield?
• We know low price yields more unit
sales, but what price yields the
greatest profit for the author?
• Key findings:
•
$.99 to $1.99 underperforms. $1.99 a black hole.
•
$2.99 to $6.99 sweet spot for max earnings
•
$3.99 the new $2.99?
•
Some authors are underpricing
•
Two benefits of a sale: 1. $$$. 2. Readers. #2
more important for long term. Choose price that
balances need to maximize readership

66. What Price Yields the Greatest
Author Earnings?

67. Final Thoughts
•
Data-driven publishing decisions are
irrelevant without a great book
•
Numbers provide hints at reader preferences
•
Dangerous to make decisions on a single metric
alone
•
•
If your story demands 200,000 words, go for it!
Your book is immortal
•
Experiment and iterate until you get viral catalysts
just right. Then iterate some more.
• Read the Secrets to Ebook Publishing
Success for other viral catalysts

68. Free Ebook Publishing Resources
•
NEW! Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success
(best practices of successful authors)
•
Smashwords Book Marketing Guide (how to
market any book at no cost)
•
Smashwords Style Guide (how to format and

69. Publish and Distribute with
Smashwords
•
Learn to publish like a pro

Join Smashwords – www.smashwords.com

Learn the best practices of professional indie e-publishing

Download and read my guides (all FREE!)


Smashwords Book Marketing Guide


Smashwords Style Guide
Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success
Watch the Smashwords videos on Youtube

Upload to Smashwords

Stay connected with your fans

Get to work on your next book!

70. Thank you for watching!
Connect:
Twitter: @markcoker
Facebook: facebook.com/markcoker
Web: www.smashwords.com
Blog:
blog.smashwords.com (subscribe
via email)
HuffPo: huffingtonpost.com/mark-coker