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Hi folks.

I have a trilogy of books released, and I wonder if it is worth it to release a single volume containing all 3 books.

It would made it easier for me to send the entire trilogy as one book to reviewers, but I'm not sure how amazon would deal with it. I guess it would show as a different book from the individual three parts, no idea of how it would affect sales and specially reviews. I'm making some effort to gather all the reviews I can for the first volume so maybe this would be a shot in the foot, I mean separating reviews in different products.

Anyone with previous experience in this?

I am writing a series may be a trilogy but most likely longer. I just released the first book and will be finished with the second book soon. I am not sure there is a right or wrong way but a lot of readers don't want to wait a long time between books.

Sure, you could release all 3 as a box set. As added incentive you could discount it relative to purchasing each volume in the trilogy separately.

I have a similar problem. I published my first book in the trilogy and the second one is finished. The third one is almost done. How soon should I release my second one? My first one hasn't been selling yet but I heard the more books out the better.

Nice problem to have. Why not get the 2nd one out now? Then you could discount your first one to entice people to buy it and when they're hooked then they'll scoop up your 2nd. I've heard that $0.99 is a pretty good price point b/c then you could get on some advertiser subscriber lists that highlight discounted/free books. I haven't tried any of this so ymmv.

clarification: i should've uses the term, "sale," as in temporary discount, instead of "discount".

Hmm. I've been thinking about this too. Like, my first book is a full novel. The subsequent volumes will all be novellas...

I'm not totally sure yet about bundling them. I think I might just discount the first one later one. I don't know about 99cents though...that hurts my heart too much haha...maybe $2.99. Maybe I'll just leave it hahahahaha. I dunno.

Leo: How much of a discount were you thinking of giving the bundle? Just curious :)

L.C.: Yes, that's what I heard too (the more books out the better). I think it's because there's so many authors who release one book with the promise of a 2nd and never deliver. Makes readers skeptical, perhaps? Not sure...

Alex: Good point! I didn't even think of the discounted/free books "status". Do you plan to do that once you publish?

Hugs,
Ann

Hi Leo. I have two complete series and I've bundled both into ebook box sets. My trilogy I priced at a little more than 1/3 off the individual purchase price. The reason: I regularly give the first in series away on promo and I wanted the box set to be a savings even for folks who have got the first one free.

Technically, yes, I'm 'competing' against myself. But surprisingly, putting out the box set has helped boost individual sales as well. Part of that may be because it reinforces that my series is complete and a lot of buyers are wary of incomplete series.

Annie wrote: "Leo: How much of a discount were you thinking of giving the bundle? Just curious :)"

I'm not sure.

My strategy is offering the first book in the series as a permafree, and keep the second and third ones to $4.99. I believe it is a good deal since the first book is professionally illustrated, so the reader get it for free and if he like it he can buy the second and third ones. So one can get the entire trilogy for $9.98 without any risk of wasting money on the first book in case he don't like it.

That said, I don't belive a discout bundle is the right thing to do, since I'm already giving the first book for free.

I'm still studying all this.

Christina wrote: "Part of that may be because it reinforces that my series is complete and a lot of buyers are wary of incomplete series."

That is a interesting point I never tought about, now I see more than one author here talking about it.

Interesting to understand how a customer mind works. So, they won't go ahead taking the first book in a series that is not complete yet, afraid that maybe the author would abandon it and stop writing.

Well, it's a legitimate fear that has its roots in traditional publishers canceling contracts, but sadly, I've seen fans turn on authors who had the audacity to get sick before finishing a series, so there's that as well. :/

Leo wrote: "Annie wrote: "Leo: How much of a discount were you thinking of giving the bundle? Just curious :)"

I'm not sure.

My strategy is offering the first book in the series as a permafree, and keep the ..."

you could put the boxed set on sale per Cialdini's sales principle of scarcity (as described in Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion) for a couple of weeks or so. or any of the various combinations of sales for your books--even the permafree one.

Annie wrote: "I didn't even think of the discounted/free books "status". Do you plan to do that once you publish?"

i'm still formulating my über-plan. but tentatively one component would be to do a sale of some sort when the first one comes out. i wouldn't make it permafree. $0.99 seems to be a good sale price for a novel. one pretty successful sci-fi writer, Jennifer Foehner Wells, put her 1st novel on sale for $0.99 (originally at $4.99) when her second one came out. great move! that briefly pumped her first book up into the top 10 for sci-fi (if i recall correctly--at least the top 100).

she also put a novelette, The Grove--which is in the same universe as her successful series--out for $0.99 (oh wait, i see that it's listed for free on amazon). yet a novella by a fantasy author just starting out but gaining traction w/her first novel is selling at $2.99.

Perma-free is not only about inviting people to read your book at any time for free. It also makes things easier for one indie author who is just starting, like me.

I'm trying many different promotion sites, testing their results and building my system with them. But many of these sites are not that flexible when it comes to dates, I mean, matching their available slot dates with my 5 free days provided by KDP Select would be a hard task. I prefer to keep the book perma-free so I have all the freedoom to purchase advertisement with these sites at any time.

There is also another advantages of perma-free that I have in mind, I think that when my first giveaway of a printed book comes, I will be able to tell everyone who join it that they don't need to wait the result of the giveaway, they can start reading the first ebook in the series right now. So everyone will win something, and hopefully many people who do not get the printed book via the giveaway will simply buy the second ebook on the series. It is a win-win.

Of course, one must be confident about his own work to make such a plan, I still don't have enough reviews for the first book in the series to tell if the general audience will aprove it, but judging by the sales, I can say that people who read the first one will want the second. For now the conversion has been about 100%, sales for the second and third books are as many as for the first, so everyone is going further in the series. Unfortunatelly they do not leave reviews :(


By the way all our conversation have nothing to do with the toppic matter. Maybe it is just me who don't know how to express me correctly. (Sorry english is not my first language).

Christina wrote: "Well, it's a legitimate fear that has its roots in traditional publishers canceling contracts, but sadly, I've seen fans turn on authors who had the audacity to get sick before finishing a series, ..."

This is very sad, but true, Christina. I know of one author now who must postpone her next installment due to serious family tragedy. It should be accepted, no matter what job you have, that your health and your family come first.

As a reader, I often discover a completed series or someone recommends one to me. If I decide I want to read it after I take a "Look Inside" on Amazon, I will buy the box set, especially if it will save me money. I've done this often enough that I felt it was worth pointing out. Thank you.

As a reader, I will start a series that is not completed. Much of my reading is GR group reading so I have started with the second and went back and read the first. I've done that outside of group reads as well.

A number of readers are locked into A Song of Ice and Fire and of course it's not finished and some have said they will never read another series that isn't finished.

My reading time is so much less (due to writing) that some second books in a series where I loved the first book and/or second, the next one is still waiting to be read. Also sometimes I will just wait - I want to read a series the way it is released vs a binge. I also really like variety and read for it so less inclined to just read a whole series at one time. I'm probably in the minority on this, so just my two cents! :-)

It depends if the individual books are standalones. If they are market them separately. If not, bundle the trilogy as a multivolume.