A New Omnibus

 

Over the weekend I released an new omnibus version of two of my novels, Some Day Days and A Summer in Amber for $.99 on Amazon. They are exclusive to Amazon. I had originally intended to release this omnibus this past summer, but the first two such omnibus versions sold only a handful of copies, so I was undecided as to whether to continue the effort or not. But now, I've decided that I have nothing to lose by doing so, so I have. I will probably release a After the Solar Age Omnibus, which included Keiree, Beneath the Lanterns, and The Girl on the Kerb, sometime this summer. And a final one, Tales of the Tropic Sea Omnibus around this time, next year.

The point of these omnibus versions is to make it a painless as possible for Amazon customers outside of the US to purchase and read my books. Only two or three of my books are not free on Amazon.com, but usually only one, if any at all, are free on non-US Amazon sites. I could, of course, reduce the list price of all my books to $.99 - I have done so in the past - but I want to keep the retail price listed at the usual indie publisher's price, just to give a sense of value. I don't know it it makes a difference or not. But that's what I settled on. 

What this experiment illustrates, however, is something we all know; readers are unlikely to find your books without advertising. Between the two current omnibus versions I've sold 13 copies in like 7 or 8 months. I don't think that's going to change, but since it only takes an hour or two of work on my part to publish them, so why not?

The more important lesson to be learned by this experiment is the value of owning your own work. You, as the owner, can try different ways to sell and/or monetize your work. A traditional publisher will print only as many copies as they think will sell, and unless they sell faster than anticipated, they will leave it at that. Oh, they'll keep an ebook and audiobook version alive, so that the retain the rights the purchased, but that's it. As the publisher of your own books, you can renew, rework and promote your entire catalog. You can put on new covers, try new prices, make boxed sets, and see what works. You don't have to give up on yourself.