eBook Sales – should we promote them?

Annie's Story coverI’ve put the Kindle version of Annie’s Story, Book 1 of The Voyagers Trilogy, on sale for a fortnight. (It finishes on Tuesday, 15th September.) It’s reduced from £3.95 to 99 pence. But is it the right thing to do?

When one thinks of how long it takes to write a book – and Annie’s Story is quite a chunky historical saga – it does seem to demean the toil and tears we writers go through to reach ‘The End’. But contrary to what non-writers imagine, it’s nowhere near the end. Next comes the re-write and re-write again, the polish and polish again, before it goes out to an editor who suggests more rewriting and then, of course, another final polish. I’ve done as many as 25 drafts before I’ve been satisfied to send it to the editor.

So to bring the price down of my precious book to less than £1 doesn’t really make sense.

But why do we write? We have a burning story we want to tell and most of us want to be published so we can have a wider readership. Only a small percentage of us will make a lot of money. Most writers have to work full or part time to supplement the often pathetic royalties. But the reward comes from the readers themselves. When you get a review where the reader has laughed or cried (preferably both!), when s/he’s loved your book and recommended it to friends, that makes it all worthwhile. It’s communication at its deepest level and is truly miraculous.

So if I reach more readers with my fortnight’s sale of Annie’s Story I’ll be thrilled.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Annies-Story-Voyagers-Fenella-Forster-ebook/dp/B00V8MZD1A