Amazon Reports Growth, Barnes & Noble Closing Stores

Recent reports indicate what many Indie authors already know as vendors dealing with retailers: that Amazon thrives while Barnes & Noble struggles.

Amazon CEO, Jeff Bezos, said, “After 5 years, eBooks is a multi-billion dollar category for us and growing fast – up approximately 70% last year. In contrast, our physical book sales experienced the lowest December growth rate in our 17 years as a book seller, up just 5%. We’re excited and very grateful to our customers for their response to Kindle and our ever expanding ecosystem and selection.”

The company does not give exact data on Kindle sales although the Kindle Fire HD, Kindle Fire and Kindle Paperwhite have all been top sellers since their releases.

One of their historical competitors, Barnes & Noble, plans to close roughly 200 stores, about 30% of their brick and mortar locations, over the next decade. Barnes & Noble also reported a decline in Nook sales for the last quarter of 2012.

Notice that Amazon reports a growth rate even for print books, while B & N reports a decline for the Nook devices. Not good. Perhaps Microsoft needs to invest another 300 million in this fight?
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Writing Goals and Resolutions

From Indie Authors #38, Writing goals and New Year’s resolutions–how to make the most of them. Featuring host, Jason Matthews and manifesting expert, Jana Matthews, with authors, Alana Woods, Emily Hill and Lisa Grace.

Amazon Author Pages:
Emily Hill – http://www.amazon.com/Emily-Hill/e/B004GRK21A/
Alana Woods – http://www.amazon.com/Alana-Woods/e/B0061UWNN0/
Lisa Grace – http://www.amazon.com/Lisa-Grace/e/B003H8CMBW/
Jason Matthews – http://www.amazon.com/Jason-Matthews/e/B004A8W4BG/

Websites:
Jana Matthews – http://newmoonmanifesting.com/
Emily Hill – http://www.EmilyHillWriter.com
Alana Woods – http://www.amazon.com/Alana-Woods/e/B0061UWNN0/
Lisa Grace – http://www.lisagracebooks.com/
Jason Matthews – http://ebooksuccess4free.webs.com

G+ Pages:
Jana Matthews – https://plus.google.com/101843370808029116484/posts
Emily Hill – https://plus.google.com/115897756622234367963/posts
Alana Woods – https://plus.google.com/114531688710125871848/posts
Lisa Grace – https://plus.google.com/103935289635198255908/posts
Jason Matthews – https://plus.google.com/117850331447734054313/posts

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New Year’s Writing Resolutions?

courtesy http://www.flickr.com/photos/hebe/3160703957/

New Years often means resolutions: this will be the year I lose weight, find true love, make money, quit crack cocaine, etc. For us writers, it usually involves a book.

I’m not so good at this. Mine are three-fold. In no particular order:

-Finish the novel from NaNoWriMo of 2011. It’s been in limbo for 13 months since 50,000 words were created. Bad writer, bad.

-Get my other novels selling as much (or more) as the non-fiction titles. Then I could buy that Kia.

-Do a speaking/teaching seminar where I teach self-publishing methods. I might rent a BMW for curb appeal.

Okay, those are mine but what are your writing goals for 2013? I asked some writing friends and they said this:

-I think mine is to work everyday. From sending a tweet about my book to contacting reviewers to writing five thousand words – it doesn’t matter how big or small, I just want to keep the momentum going.

-I will have my book, Of Unicorns And Pegasuses, made into an ebook for Kindle. Even if I have to pay to have it done. I should’ve done it last year.

-Finish the book that should have been done last month.

-Plan to wrap up The Land of Betrovia trilogy this April and then begin a sci-fi/adventure series for teens!

-I’m at that dreaded 20,000 word mark, where not the ‘block’ but the ‘rot’ sets in. It’s that period where any other writing project seems preferable. So my resolution this year, and I know it sounds like a cop out, or a way to drum up support, but it’s that IF I get into the top twenty on [Authonomy], I’ve resolved to finish Canterbury Warriors within one month. That’s a promise to come up with another 50 – 60,000 words within 30 days. Like I said, it sounds a bit silly, but I operate best like that.

-Finish & then publish my 2nd novel by Sept ’13. Set dates for each milestone leading up to that goal & take those deadlines VERY seriously.

Interesting how some people (like me) have vague descriptions and goals while others are more defined. Hmm, that’s probably a good idea.
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Mark Coker, Smashwords CEO, Ebook Predictions for 2013

I’ve been a huge fan of Mark Coker since the early days of e-publishing (2009)–even asked for his autograph at the SF Writer’s Conference. But this isn’t about my fandom–it’s about Mark’s 2013 predictions for ebooks and the business in general. These are just the bullet points (the actual blog post is longer than some Indie books I’ve read), but you can read the entire article here – http://blog.smashwords.com/2012/12/mark-cokers-2013-book-publishing.html.

Remember, these are Mark’s predictions, not mine. ( I tend to agree except about #13 because I’ve decided B&N is going down since they sell so few of my books.)

1.  In the US, ebooks sales will reach 45% of US trade book market

2.  Follow the eyeballs:  2013 will be the first year unit volume of ebooks exceeds print

3.  The current glut of books will become even more pronounced

4.  It’ll get tougher to sell books

5.  Publishers, in search of Black Swans, will lose authors to self-publishing platforms

6.  Overall ebook prices will decline, though author brands will retain pricing power

7.  Passive discoverability trumps other book marketing methods

8.  Tablets will become the new paper as E-Ink becomes niche product

9.  Global will be the biggest story of 2013 for indie authors

10.  Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble and Kobo will redouble global expansion efforts

11.  Apple iBookstore will be the breakout story of 2013 ebook retailing

12.  Amazon’s global ebook market share will decline

13.  Barnes & Noble will rise again like a Phoenix

14.  In the self-publishing gold rush, more money will be made in author services than in book sales

15.  Pearson/Penguin/Random House/Simon & Schuster will either cut bait on Author Solutions or ride this anchor to the bottom of the sea

16.  The Big 6 will become the Big 4 as bean counters take over the farm

17.  Stigma of Big 6 (or Big 4 or Big 3) publishers will increase as prior stigma of self-publishing evaporates

18.  EPUB 3 will disappoint

19.  Ebook subscription offerings will face uphill slog

20.  Indie authors poised to capture a growing percentage of library ebook market

21.  Indie ebooks will start driving more film & television projects
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Click here for the home page of How to Make, Market and Sell Ebooks All for Free.
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Amazon Author Page and Book Page, Make the Most of them

Make the most of your Amazon author page and book page to sell more ebooks. It’s surprising how many little things add up. Watch this video for all the tips when you get some time.

Learn more from Amazon Author Central.
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Click here for the home page of How to Make, Market and Sell Ebooks All for Free.
Subscribe to this blog for updates on what Indie authors can do to sell ebooks.

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