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Monday 22 June 2015

The Benefits from Indie Publishing a Box Set Collection

By Narelle Atkins 

My first indie novella is releasing tomorrow (US time) in a box set collection. I have six traditionally published books and I’ve been asked why I’ve chosen to pursue an indie box set opportunity. I’m going to share some of the benefits with you today.



Market Visibility 

A goal for all authors to is to gain visibility in the market. I was looking for visibility on Amazon Kindle with readers in my sub-genre: Contemporary Christian Romance (CCR). There are nine CCR authors in my SPLASH! novella group and we come from a range of publishing backgrounds. By pooling our resources to produce the box set, we’re gaining exposure from a wider audience among our existing readerships.

Target a Specific Genre

If you’re looking for visibility on Amazon Kindle, it’s essential to target a niche sub-genre. Amazon uses the keywords and selected categories to determine the genre placement of books. It’s much easier to gain visibility on the Amazon Bestseller lists and Hot New Releases lists if all your stories in the box set are targeting a specific audience of readers in a particular sub-genre eg. CCR.

Amazon Bestseller Lists

One of your group goals may include pricing the box set in a way that will attract readers and help you climb the bestseller lists in your genre. The SPLASH! box set is priced at 99 cents for nine novellas. The Amazon Bestseller lists and Hot New Releases lists are the ebook equivalent to shelf space for print books in retail stores. Readers can browse these lists when they’re looking for ebooks to purchase in a particular genre. The rankings can be fleeting, and change on an hourly basis, but they do provide readers with an indication of which ebooks are selling.

Money

There can be financial benefits from participating in an indie box set. The SPLASH! group will earn 35% from Amazon Kindle sales at the 99 cents price point. Our goal is volume sales that will increase our visibility and grow our readerships.

Importance of Series and Backlist Sales

The box set collections provide a wonderful opportunity to introduce new readers to your book series. If readers like your story in the box set, they can easily click through to your other series titles and read the other books you have for sale. This can be a big financial benefit for authors with an extensive backlist.

Marketing and Promotion

The authors in the group can pool their resources to purchase the box set cover and undertake promotional activities. Each author can promote the box set and books by the other authors in the group. A marketing schedule can be set up for box set promotional activities.

For example, each novella in the SPLASH! collection will be individually released by the authors in July. The initial marketing focus is on the box set rather than the individual novellas. Nine novellas for 99 cents is a limited time offer and a great deal for readers.

Networking

I’ve really enjoyed getting to know the other authors in the SPLASH! group. It’s fun to work together and I’ve learned so much from the more experienced indie authors in the group. We’re celebrating the release of SPLASH! with a Facebook Party Event on our release day. It was challenging to find a time zone that worked for authors living in North America, UK, South Africa and Australia. I’ll be online at 7am on Wednesday (Aussie time) to join the party (5pm-7pm US East Coast time on June 23).

Next Monday I’m starting a three part series on how to produce an indie box set collection.



A fun loving Aussie girl at heart, Narelle Atkins was born and raised on the beautiful northern beaches in Sydney, Australia. She has settled in Canberra with her husband and children. A lifelong romance reader, she found the perfect genre to write when she discovered inspirational romance. Narelle's contemporary stories of faith and romance are set in Australia. Her latest book, His Perfect Catch, is releasing on June 23 in the SPLASH! box set contemporary Christian romance novella collection. 

Blog: http://narelleatkins.wordpress.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NarelleAtkinsAuthor
Twitter: @NarelleAtkins https://twitter.com/NarelleAtkins

17 comments:

  1. I agree, box sets are a good way to reach new readers, at least from my limited experience with them. They can take off and open opportunities with different audiences and make connections with other authors. Good luck with your effort, Narelle.

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    1. Hi Terry, I'm glad the box sets you've published have helped you reach new readers and connect with authors. Thanks for stopping by :)

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  2. I've read SPLASH! (review coming), and really enjoyed it. I'd read three of the authors before, and the set has introduced me to at least three more I'd read again in the future.

    Too many books, too little time!

    Hope it all goes well, Narelle.

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    1. Hi Iola, Yes, I totally understand the 'too many books, too little time' dilemma :) Thanks for reading and reviewing SPLASH! And, thanks also editing my novella in SPLASH!

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  3. Great idea Narelle - and 9 novella's for 99c is indeed a fantastic deal. I guess the difference from an anthology is that you can also sell your novella's individually as well. I was wondering about the nitty gritty of how you split the profits between the different authors - for instance, does one person deal with Amazon & splits the money or does Amazon do that? All the best with the promotion and growing your readership.

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    1. Hi Jeanette, All the individual novellas will be available for sale as standalone titles, starting from next month. SPLASH! is different to many of the other box sets available for purchase because the novellas are all original titles that have not yet been released in any other format.

      Collections and anthologies are interchangeable terms in many respects. I tend to think non-fiction for anthologies, but that's not always the case. A typical anthology probably has a closer theme or inter-book connection than what you'll find with SPLASH! A box set collection is a better description for SPLASH! Nearly all of the SPLASH! novellas are connected to the author's individual series rather than being strongly connected to each other.

      Stay tuned because I have three posts lined up, starting next Monday, that will detail the nitty gritty of how to put together an indie box set.

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  4. great info here. I remember when one came out the end of last year with Love inspired authors they had a party also and it helped introduce readers to the different authors. As you said its great to get to know new authors at a cheap price. I also love novellas.
    Will you be doing more of these?

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    1. Hi Jenny, the Facebook parties are fun and provide a great opportunity to meet new authors plus win prizes. The SPLASH! box set is a limited time offer, and its expiry date will be determined by the group. I'm looking to write more novellas that are connected to my series books. His Perfect Catch in SPLASH! is my seventh release in sixteen months and I don't have any definite plans for book releases in 2016. I have too many stories in my head and not enough time to actually write them, lol :)

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  5. Hi Josephine-Anne, I unfortunately can't take the credit for naming the box set SPLASH! I love the title and it has worked well from a marketing perspective. We've had a lot of fun using the cover art theme for various online promos and I love the red gumboots :) Thanks for your encouraging words and I hope you'll enjoy reading the SPLASH! novellas.

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  6. Oh, Narelle...'too many stories in your head'! What a wonderful problem for an author. A great idea and hope it really takes off.

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    1. Hi Rita, I'm sure I'm not the only writer who has this particular problem :) I've found my writing journey has been either feast or famine when it comes to story ideas, lol.

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  7. I expect we'll see a lot more of these for all the reasons you've mentioned. I've enjoyed reading some other 'box sets' and is a great way to meet new authors to read.

    Congratulations, Narelle and trust it all goes well and a whole bunch of new readers get a taste for romance down under style!

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    1. Hi Ian, The indie box sets have been around for a few years and I'm glad you've enjoyed the ones you've read. Thanks for your congrats :)

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  8. A fantastic concept and I can't wait to receive my pre-ordered copy tomorrow :)

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  9. Hi Andrea, yes, not long to wait and less than 24 hours to go, not that I'm counting! I'll need to sleep well tonight so I'm wide awake on Wednesday morning at 7am for the Facebook Party :)

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  10. It's been such an amazing journey being a part of SPLASH! and has far outweighed my expectations. I can't wait to see what happens after its release and look forward to the next boxed set.

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    1. Hi Marion, I totally agree! Thanks for stopping by :)

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