Contributed by Frankie Blooding
I’ve been in publishing since the first days of e-books. Mine was one of the very first electronic publications offered in this latest storm. I remember hearing that these would take off about as well as the last ones did. That people would never buy electric books.
I didn’t care. We were pioneers, paving a pathway for the fearless, brave, and sometimes stupid to follow and it was amazing.
When I earned USA Today Bestseller, I thought I’d finally made it, but as six figure authors dropped like flies, I realized it could all disappear. I wasn’t in charge of my business. Amazon was. That thought reawakened my pioneering heart as a few of us boldly dared to go where we’ve never successfully been before; selling our books direct.
Readers hate it because they just want to buy a book and read it. They don’t want to add three steps to the process. Authors hate it because we’re not IT. We don’t want to be IT. We want to write books and sell them, not teach you how to download and open a book.
A few things have smoothed out over the past couple of years, though, making this a lot simpler, to the point that, for the past year, I’ve been selling books on my own site and not losing my hair.
But why would you leave Amazon and go to WhistlingBookPress.com to buy the book that was already in your cart? Here are a few reasons.
To better support your favorite author. When I tell people I publish books, they want to know about my writing process. I get scant hours in the week to write new chapters, and that’s if I’m lucky. Most of my time is spent on covers, formatting, web maintenance, ads, graphics, articles, my newsletter, planning a writer’s conference for young adults, editing, recording audiobooks, editing the audiobooks, accounting, project management, scheduling, forecasting, and budgeting. If it sounds like a business, it is.
I do all of that while working a full-time job, managing my publishing house nearly full-time, and raising two amazing kids and a husband. Yes. I phrased it that way on purpose. I want as much of my royalties as I can get so that one day, I can do less by earning more. The big stores keep a large portion of your payment. So, I have to sell a lot more to make a little.
You’re handing me control of my business. When you buy direct, you’re now a person instead of just another dollar sign. I can create new content for you inspired by your review. I can send you the special editions when they come up, and so much more!
You get more for your money because I can offer deals Amazon & Barnes and Noble can’t. Right now, I’m adding bonus content to all of my books that will only be available at WhistlingBookPress.com. Along with bundles and coupons and savings, oh my! The savings on Storyland, for instance, are insane!
But the biggest thing for me, is that you and I are builiding a relationship. The bond between reader and author doesn’t have to be a one-way street. That’s a great reason to look up your favorite authors, see if they’re offering their books on their site, and buy them.
So, what’s the process?
At WhistlingBookPress.com, when you buy an ebook, the download link will generate in your Thank You For Purchase window. You can then download it to your device and open it from your Downloads folder. Once you’ve opened it, you don’t have to search for it again.
But what happens if you have crappy cell reception, or the boss walks in and you have to close your window? You’ll also get two emails; one from me with a download link, and one from BookFunnel. If you’re technologically challenged, use the BookFunnel email. They’ll walk you through how to open your book, and they’ll even email it directly to your Kindle.
That’s pretty exciting, right? We have been working hard to find better ways to give you more value, and this is it! Come check it out at WhistlingBookPress.com! The future is near! And it looks incredible!