Win a free copy of The Spooky Pony Mystery!

DIARY DATE!  On Wednesday 31 October, for a limited period, you can WIN a copy of The Spooky Pony Mystery and other stories, my latest title for Halloween.  Watch this space for more information.........

Related post: https://janeayres.blogspot.com/2018/10/5-star-review-for-spooky-pony-mystery.html

Is a book simply a commodity? Should you be able to get a refund on a book if you didn't enjoy it?

“The Kindle Store will provide refunds for up to 7 days for customers unsatisfied with their ebook purchases.”  Amazon.

As a writer, I have made my books available for free, as many authors do, and that is my choice.  I have donated royalties to charity. My choice. Similarly, like most writers, I have worked for free, and again this has been a personal decision. I have also downloaded ebooks that were on free promotion on occasion (although I generally pay for the ebooks I read). Whether or not authors should/shouldn’t offer their work for free is another topic for debate. 

But getting a refund for a book after you have read it?  That’s a different matter.  Yes, I agree if a book has been badly formatted or is full of typos there is cause for dissatisfaction (although hopefully this should have come to light when you checked out the sample pages of the book before buying).  And sometimes you might click the Buy button twice by mistake. 

However, is it possible to abuse the system?  Amazon say that they can check for serial returners and they would certainly have the data to do this.  After all, it isn’t good business for them (or the writers, of course).  Like many authors, when I read my sales reports there are occasions when a reader has returned one of my titles for a refund.  It would be really helpful as a writer to have some feedback on why this is.  In researching this topic, one author mentioned an average figure of 2% returns. More data would certainly be useful.  

I am making an assumption that the returns rules apply because of the consumer protection law for distance selling. After all, the Amazon policy also applies to paper books, in which a reader has up to 30 days to make a return, so this is not really an issue about ebooks. However, what concerns me is the basis for returning a book. What if it is formatted correctly and well-written but you don’t like it?  Has anyone ever taken a book back to a bookshop on the basis that they didn’t enjoy it? 

Is a book simply a commodity? Can we apply the same argument to other “creative” items.  If we don’t like a piece of music we get a refund on the download or cd?  If we’ve been to the cinema and we thought the film ended badly, do we insist on a ticket refund? What does this mean for creative producers like writers and composers? Is it right or fair?

If you are a writer, reader or a creative producer, what do you think?    

For a range of viewpoints check out:

http://www.change.org/petitions/amazon-kindle-e-book-return-policy-stop-allowing-refunds-on-e-books-after-e-books-have-been-read

http://www.the-digital-reader.com/2013/04/03/theres-no-need-to-change-amazons-kindle-ebook-return-policy/

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/607956-amazon-returns----we-need-to-take-a-stand

Related posts:
http://creatabot.co.uk/2013/05/12/twenty-dollars-worth-of-art-please-by-jane-ayres/
http://janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/lessons-in-indie-publishing-free-books.html

Lessons in Indie Publishing: Free books and the mystery of Amazon rankings

Six months ago I indie published my first backlist series (Matty Horse and Pony Adventures) and worked very hard indeed to promote the titles, especially since I donate all the royalties from this series to Redwings Horse Sanctuary.  I took part in the Amazon free promotions to gain attention for the books and encourage reviews.  I'm not sure how successful this was, but after months of work the books are selling steadily in the UK,with few sales in the US and other territories.  When the books were on free promo I contacted the various sites that will highlight this and listed the books.

Very recently, I published another backlist title called Beware of the Horse and offered it free for 2 days. I did no promotion whatsoever for this on Day 1, other than tell my partner.  To my utter astonishment, the free offer resulted in downloads in all Amazon territories (a first!).  On Day 1 the book was listed as No 22 in Amazon.com teen literature fiction e-books in Top 100 bestseller category
http://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Kindle-Store-Teen-Literature-Fiction-eBooks/zgbs/digital-text/6064561011/ref=zg_bs_fvp_p_f_6064561011?_encoding=UTF8&tf=1#2

and already has one review (4 star)  and in the UK, it made No 9 on the Kindle children's ebook (animals) category for Top 100 free bestsellers.  These categories are updated HOURLY.

I'm utterly baffled.  I should hasten to add that although listed in the best seller category the books have been downloaded a total of 255 in all territories, so not even in the 1000s.  But obviously I am thrilled that it made those lists because it brings the books to more people's attention when they are in those Amazon  categories.  Is it the cover design?  Chapter titles?

So what is the lesson I have learnt?  Well, when I started to write this post it was about the value of free promos - what is the point?  There is a thought-provoking blog post about this topic by Russell Blake over at http://russellblake.com/new-year-new-hurdles-opportunities/ which discusses how useful the KDP Select free program is for authors, and whether or not Amazon has changed the algorithm so free downloads count as even less towards ranking on the popularity lists.

"From what I can tell, free now has 5% or less of the impact on ranking than it originally did, meaning that if you don’t land in the Top 40, you won’t see any bump in sales. I believe this is because Amazon dislikes free as much as many authors do. It served its purpose, but now it’s hurting sales and has created an environment where a certain segment of readers no longer buy books they might have, preferring to download free books instead........On December 27, there were 43K books free. You’re reading that correctly. 40 might see a post-free bump in sales. The other 42,960 titles won’t, and the authors either wasted their time or saturated their own market and diminished their likelihood of selling anything."

This got me thinking.  Can you saturate your own market?  I believe you can.  Can offering free books harm rather than help actual sales?  I will be monitoring actual paid sales of my latest title with great interest.  So far, it's still in the top 40 for paid ebooks in its own category and the US sales to date are more than any of my 6 other ebooks combined.  I'm puzzled, but not complaining.  And I'd really like to know what has happened that has achieved this result so I can duplicate it!

Related post:
http://janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/the-business-of-writing-part-1.html

Matty and the Racehorse Rescue FREE to download from Amazon 23rd-27th November

A missing racehorse. A daring moonlight rescue.

Matty’s in trouble again. Big trouble. 

Just a heads-up that Matty and the Racehorse Rescue will be FREE to download from 23-27 November.   Enjoy!

The link is here for the UK
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Matty-Racehorse-Rescue-Adventures-ebook/dp/B0094RG64O/

and here for the US and India
http://www.amazon.com/Matty-Racehorse-Rescue-Adventures-ebook/dp/B0094RG64O/

All 3 Matty books are also available via Amazon as follows, where the free promotion also applies:
Amazon.de  (Germany)

Amazon.es (Spain)

Amazon.fr (France)

Amazon.co.jp (Japan)

Amazon.it (Italy)

Matty and the Problem Ponies is FREE between 7th-11th November

Just giving a heads-up that Matty and the Problem Ponies is FREE to download from 7th-11th November. 

Aimed at children, teenagers and nostalgic older readers, Matty and the Problem Ponies is the second story in a exciting trilogy. 

Matty has a new pony. 

Sweet. Placid. 100% in every way. 

Well, at least that’s what the ad said. 

Luckily, Matty likes a challenge. Which is just as well, because this will be a holiday to remember….

Now that fun-loving Matty and her intrepid teenage friends Spike, Gina and Ronnie have got a pony to share they no longer have to call themselves the Ponyless Club! The gang look forward to meeting a new member when Matty’s glamorous penfriend, Silke, comes to stay for the holidays.

Unfortunately Silke isn’t quite what Matty had expected and seems more interested in Mark, Matty’s boyfriend, than the horses and ponies! It takes a lot of Matty’s time to keep an eye on her, when what she really wants to do is help the others with Comfort, their new pony, who is not quite as perfect as they were led to believe. In fact, Comfort is turning out to be more of a problem pony and Matty’s hopes of competing in the local show look increasingly unlikely.

But little does Matty know that a twist of fate will bring her back into contact with Snowstorm, the beautiful pony that she loved and lost - and this time, Matty isn't going to lose her again. Even though getting Snowstorm back seems like an impossible dream.

Available from www.amazon.com and www.amazon.co.uk


All profits from sales of these books are going to Redwings Horse Sanctuary
                   
http://www.redwings.org.uk/

Matty and the Moonlight Horse is FREE to download from 19-23 October!

DON'T FORGET  - Matty and the Moonlight Horse is FREE to download from 19-23 October on Amazon.

Aimed at children, teenagers and nostalgic older readers, Matty and the Moonlight Horse is the first story in a exciting trilogy. 

Meet Matty Mathews.
Thirteen years old. 
Pony mad.
And pony-less.

Until a midnight encounter with a mystery horse. Life’s about to change for Matty …..

Available from www.amazon.com and www.amazon.co.uk


5 STAR REVIEWS!

All profits from sales of these books are going to Redwings Horse Sanctuary
                     
http://www.redwings.org.uk/