One of my former Sunday Times colleagues, Walter Ellis, has just been through the painful process of publishing a novel online - and is now suffering from e-book invisibility.
He explains his problem in a posting headlined I publish, therefore I am invisible. His book, London Eye, isn't invisible of course. But it's one of hundreds available on Amazon and therefore requires promotion.
Two weeks on from publication, he has sold three copies in the US and eight in the UK at a mere £1.14 per Kindle download. "I need word of mouth," he writes. "I need that elusive buzz", he writes
Though there are sites that review selected additions to Kindle - including this one hosted by Amazon - Walter writes:
"What does not exist is a proper grown-up site, possibly run by Amazon, in which hot new arrivals, bestsellers and chart climbers are featured as if they mattered, and not as if they were the products of small-time eccentrics who really ought to get out more."
For the record, Walter is the author of three books published in traditional print form, including The Beginning of the End, a memoir about growing up in Belfast during the Troubles. It sold well in Ireland and was serialised in the Sunday Times.
You'll find the outline of the plot here. Its central characters are three men about to turn 50, which could well be the reason that traditional print publishers turned it down.
Anyway, I'm happy to give the book a plug. Star counting those sales now, Walter.
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Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2011/aug/03/kindle-sundaytimes
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