Category Archives: Booksellers
You Did It!
Thanks to everyone who reported to KOBO about wanting my books. Last week, ALL of my books were shipped from Smashwords to every portal. I’m so excited! It’s been very frustrating to see so many books sit so long with the “will be shipped” message. Thank you thank you thank you for reporting and making a difference.
These portals are overwhelmed with content, but they are very consumer-focused. They respond first to requests from their customers. This applies to all books and not just mine – if there is something that you want to buy for your device and don’t see it available, please email the vendor and make them aware that you are disappointed. They might not answer your email, but your post can change what they do. It can certainly speed up something that they’re already doing.
Now, let’s have a little review of what shipped where and when. Usually the titles will take 7 – 14 days to appear on any portal after they have shipped from Smashwords.
Always a Bridesmaid went to B&N on Oct 24 and KOBO on Oct 27.
Deception went to B&N (an updated version) on Oct 24 and to KOBO on Oct 27.
Exhibition went to B&N (an updated version) on Oct 24 and to KOBO on Oct 27.
Exposure went to both B&N and KOBO on Oct 24.
Seduction, Submission, Surrender and the First Plume Anthology have been distributed everywhere since September.
The Best Man went to both B&N (an updated version) and KOBO on Oct 24.
The Second Plume Anthology went to B&N on Oct 24, KOBO on Oct 26, and Apple on Oct 17.
Thanks also for telling me about the Apple sampling issue. Smashwords is going to ship all of the books to Apple again with corrected sampling information.
What would I do without such wonderful readers?! THANK YOU!
Distribution to KOBO
I was having a look today at the distribution pattern for my books and noticed how few of them have been distributed to KOBO. KOBO has taken on the first three Plume novellas and the first Plume anthology. The other books have been available to KOBO for quite some time, so I have to think that it’s KOBO who isn’t choosing to take them on. It’s possible that this is because they think I don’t sell well there. It makes sense with so many books available that portals would choose ones they know will sell. OTOH, if the author has few titles available through the portal, he or she probably doesn’t have very compelling sales numbers. It’s a bit of a Catch-22.
So, if you are a KOBO customer and would like to see all of my books available through that portal, I’d suggest that you send KOBO a message to that effect. Digital book portals respond most quickly to demand from consumers, so it looks like solving this one is up to you. All I can do is make them available and I’ve done that bit.
Thanks for your help if you do send them a message!
Distribution Changes
If you read erotica, you have probably heard that there are distribution changes in the works. Paypal will not let their services be used for the sale of what they deem to be obscene materials, and many online vendors are trying to ensure that their book list meets Paypal’s new terms of service.
My stories don’t fall into any of the categories of erotica affected by this change, but the discussions from different vendors have offered interesting views into their perspectives. It seems clear to me now that All Romance eBooks is more interested in distributing erotic romance than erotica. This explains why sales of my Plume series have been pretty slow there. That’s fine – people have the right to focus their business as they see fit. I have removed the Plume series from sale at ARe, but when I publish an erotic romance, I’ll list it there. The Plume series remains for sale at other outlets.
Just FYI. 
Exciting!
I asked about the B&N pages and now they’re corrected. The cover illustrations are there and the blerb, too.
Sometimes asking questions works.
Interesting…
Both SUBMISSION and SURRENDER have been distributed through Smashwords to B&N, Sony, KOBO, Diesel, Apple and Scrollmotion. It takes time for them to show up in all those places, apparently. Neither book has been shipped yet to KOBO or Sony, for example. They did ship to B&N on October 28, so this morning, I had a peek at B&N to see how we were doing.
Both novellas are listed there for sale, but neither has a cover image (it’s listed as unavailable) and neither has a description. Here they are:
Are my stories and covers too naughty for B&N? Or does this page just take time to populate?
Why would anyone buy a book without being able to see the cover or a blerb about the story?
