#IWSG: Who Gets the Profit?
It's the first Wednesday of the month again already, and time for my IWSG post! I'm excited to be a co-host again this month!
Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writers - aim for a dozen new people each time - and return comments. This group is all about connecting! Be sure to link to the IWSG page and display the badge in your post. And please be sure your avatar links back to your blog! Otherwise, when you leave a comment, people can't find you to comment back.
Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!
Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.
Remember, the question is optional!
July 1 question - Is there anything you'd like to see changed, added, and/or rearranged about the book publishing industry?
My initial reaction to this month's question was that I don't know enough to have an opinion about the publishing industry. Then I realized that in my own small way, I'm working on changing it a bit. What else is my personal ebook store on Buy Me a Coffee, if not an effort to shift the industry's profits from Amazon to the author (i.e., me)? That's how I've been selling it when I hand out my bookmarks with the QR code link--and no one has indicated they think that's a bad idea. Around here, people are all in favor of me getting the profit, not Amazon. (Someone even used the link and bought some books a couple of weeks ago!).
So here's what I want changed: I want the creators, the writers, to get more of the profit. At the moment, my approach to fixing this is to sell my paperbacks directly to the public at festivals and markets. This leads to my...
Writer's Update
I've been putting in a fair bit of time at local markets and events, hand-selling my books. This is teaching me some things: what covers appeal to viewers, how to tailor my elevator pitch to my audience (and how to improve it in general), and how much I hate heat (two of the last three weekends have been miserably hot, though this past Saturday was both cooler and indoors).
Besides selling books, I'm still working on the next installment in Seffi Wardwell's adventures. Thank goodness I'd already decided to hold my release of this one until November, because I've concluded that the ending needs some major reworking, forcing a re-write from about the 2/3 point (see last Wednesday's post). That's still under way.
No submissions, no responses to outstanding submissions.
We are making progress on a cover for the new book, and I think you're going to like it. I'm also working on the blurb. So far, it's as follows. Please feel free to leave comments on what could be better!
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| This is a picture of a pretty meadow--and a decaying mylar balloon, which has blown in from who knows where, because those things really travel. Eventually balloons come down--including in wilderness areas--and begin to decay into microplastics. This was was already breaking up when I carefully gathered it into a plastic bag, and left many little tiny bits scattered forever in that meadow. |
©Rebecca M. Douglass, 2026
As always, please ask permission to use any photos or text. Link-backs appreciated.
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If you can sell the books directly you will definitely make more! Although if you think what Amazon keeps is high you should see what little I get for my audio books which is split with my publisher.
ReplyDeleteOh, yeah. And when I sell to other retailers through D2D, I get an absolute pittance, since then there are TWO companies taking their cut. But who wants to administer 12 different accounts for a dozen books?
DeleteAnd thanks for co-hosting today!
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure!
DeleteI'm with you on sales.
ReplyDeleteGood on you for getting out there physically and connecting with people. Love the story concept. I would tighten up that first paragraph to a single sentence (two at the most) -- too much backstory for me. Need to get to that hook sooner.
Thank you for hosting today!
Thanks for the input---that's the stuff I need. I"m not very good at blurbs.
DeleteI agree 100%. I'd like to sell directly, leaving the middle man/Amazon out of the profits, but that means I need more of a presence, which I feel I'm a nobody. LOL. Thanks for co-hosting
ReplyDeleteI'm not doing much with the direct sales (on line--the events I attend at least turn a profit), exactly because I don't have a presence or any reach.
DeleteI've also been trying to break away from non-direct options--there's not enough pie to share it with a greedy distributor. Best of luck with your direct sales! @samanthabwriter from
ReplyDeleteBalancing Act
I think that to maximize my profits, I'd need to publish directly at more sites, cutting out D2D. But I just don't sell enough at any of them to be worth the extra work.
DeleteThanks for co-hosting this month. I like your approach to keeping more of the profit. I also prefer direct sales at live events. I wish you the best with your cover design and look forward to the results. The blurb is good, but it needs a hook early on, maybe a reduced word count as well.
ReplyDeleteThanks--I'm getting a good consistent set of comments on the blurb, so I think I know where to start, anyway.
DeleteThanks for co-hosting this month. Yes, authors need to be paid better. It's great that you're going to events where you can hand-sell your books.
ReplyDeleteIt's effective, but I'm not sure how sustainable long-term.
DeleteNot to mention Amazon is chaotic at times! But, without them, I probably wouldn't sell any books. I'm pretty public-shy.
ReplyDeleteI have no idea how to use Amazon in any effective way.
DeleteIt's a tough business for sure, Rebecca. Kudos to you for directly selling to people, especially in the heat. I loved your blurb! Smelt Point ~ Hilarious location name. All the best!
ReplyDeleteBit of series trivia: Seffi moved to Smelt Point from Skunk Springs :D
DeleteI just watched a video on YouTube about how selling books directly to readers is a growing trend. Like you said, a lot of people don't want to give money to Amazon if they can help it. So yeah, I think you have the right idea!
ReplyDeleteI've also been lucky enough to find (and be accepted into--it's vetted) an author group that shares costs of events (and handles the part I'd flop at, i.e. applying for vendor space in a timely fashion).
DeleteCan't really remember Seffi planning her garden in the book, so it probably doesn't need mentioning in the blurb.
ReplyDeleteI think it's great that you do in-person sales. I'd love to read a post about how you do that :-)
Good suggestions--both of them. I think I was looking for something to fill out that sentence...
DeleteThank you for co-hosting this month. I liked your blurb could you tighten it a bit? Also, it seems like this may be a sequel, or another edition in a series. Can you ground the reader in what makes Seffi want to solve a mystery? I get she was a science teacher, but is she also an amateur sleuth? Intriguing story though!
ReplyDeleteGood comments--I'm working on that.
DeleteGreat post, Rebecca! Bravo, hand-selling your books. I try to do this, too. Can't say I'm good at it. I feel this is the best method to make the most profit.
ReplyDeleteSo interesting, your E-book...store[?]. We all learn every day from what we try to do. Good for you! Thanks for cohosting!
It's funny how I can sort of switch on a personality that can interact with people that way, given how I feel about small-talk and socializing in many situations.
DeleteThanks for co-hosting! You're the third author I've seen to sell their books via QR code in their own bookshop, and I'm glad to know it's working for you. I've developed several book talks for groups where I can sell my books directly after I've presented, and I've found that works well.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if one sale is "working for me," but at least the idea is positively received!
DeleteFrom who knows (where ~ instead of were) ... sorry, random spotting.
ReplyDeleteThose balloons are a waste of helium and create litter. Crazy how popular they remain.
Authors should get the biggest chunk of the book "pie," but it seems that isn't usually true. Maybe one day.
Argh! Thanks for catching the typo. That's the sort I have a lot of trouble seeing, especially when the font is smaller :(
DeleteI've just been doing a lot of research as I get ready to dip my toe into the publishing arena, but I read a book called Preorder Profits that was really interesting. It was about selling books on your website and prioritizing profit (hence the title). Hats off to you for hand-selling. It would be pretty difficult for me to manage that due to family obligations, but it sounds like you've learned so much!
ReplyDeleteI'm happily free to tie up a bunch of weekends, though I'm still prioritizing my hiking and travels :)
DeleteBuy me a coffee and a QR code--GENIUS. That is such a great idea, and I also really love how it cuts out the biggest monopoly site. I really agree with you that the transaction should be more between author and readers. Thanks so much for co-hosting today!
ReplyDeleteNow, if I could just get people to use that code and buy the books...
DeleteGreat post! I've tried the "hands on" approach. While I enjoyed the interactions, I sold more books on my website, which amounted to 10 or so -- all to people I knew (know). Years later I can admit I need more than a few pointers on successful marketing (brand building), and wonder how cost-prohibitive the pointers might be. Thanks for co-hosting this month!
ReplyDeleteI definitely don't sell books via my web site, and so far it's not working to direct people to go to my new store and buy them, either (that is, the link is there, but people aren't clicking on it).
DeleteThanks for co-hosting this month!
ReplyDeleteI'm an introvert, so it'd be a bit too much for me to hand-sell my books. But using Buy Me a Coffee to cut out the middle man and get more pay for your work is a good idea.
It's always worth a try. And I do know introverts who hand-sell books successfully. It does require a sort of mental switch, and not everyone can do it. But you learn your pitch, and do your best!
DeleteYou know, I have an account at Buy Me A Coffee that I used for my podcast, but now that I've shut that down, I should repurpose it for ebooks! I had no idea you could do that (I was only using it for the general support donations). So glad you posted about that today!
ReplyDeleteI hope it does you some good! Might as well make use of the account, and it wasn't hard to set up the store.
DeleteFirst of all, thanks tou you and the others for co-hosting! Next, I've noticed other indie writers distributing bookmarks that have QR codes instead of urls. I think that's a clever way to get the full profits to go to the author that platforms l8ke Amazon rat up too much of.
ReplyDeleteA QR code can lead anywhere, but if it leads to your personal bookstore, all the better :) I have two codes on my bookmark--one to my store, and one to Books2Read, so they can buy from wherever they want. But lately I'm making a point of telling them about buying direct.
DeleteReaching readers has always been the main concern for any writer through the ages. I truly think Amazon helps with that - and they are better than many other distribution systems. Draft2Digital comes to mind. They recently announced that they would charge authors who don't sell well to keep their books in the system. Argh! Only bestsellers would be exempt from those charges.
ReplyDeleteWell, Amazon makes the books at least theoretically available to any reader anywhere. But I don't think they do thing one to help a small-potatoes writer like me to be discovered. And yes, I should have called out D2D (again) on their very unfriendly policy. I'm one of the many who is going to take a hit from that charge.
DeleteI always appreciate buying books directly from authors rather than through Amazon. Amazon gets too much of my money already.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the next installment!
I'm doing my best to buy nothing from Amazon (except paper copies of my book...)
DeleteI agree. That should have been on my list. Thanks for co-hosting.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by!
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