Let me preface this post with a disclaimer: I’m sick as a dog, with the flu. When I am sick, I am often struck with ideas that seem frickin’ brilliant… and which, equally often, seem insane once I’m healthy. So if this seems insane, please feel free to point out why.
So this week’s flu-inspired brainchild: micro-discounting.
Right now, as far as I know, only publishers are able to negotiate with bookstores to offer a discount on books. Sometimes bookstores will take it upon themselves to offer discounts (see the ever popular buy-one-get-one, etc.) but if you’re an author and you want to try to boost sales with a little cash incentive, you’re ass out unless you’re self published. Only publishers can negotiate discounts.
I’m an author. I’ve got a website. I offer a lot of my books through various online venues: Amazon, IndieBound, B&N, Borders, yadda. And I’m not stupid. I figure, hey, if you’re going to buy a book through my website, and those bookstores offer an affiliate cut, I’m going to sign up. You buy through Amazon coming from my site, I make 4% of sales price. Borders, more like 6%. Pocket change, but considering most authors make between 4 -10% royalty on cover price, we’re used to little things adding up.
But I also shell out a lot for promotion: the website’s cheaper than it was, but it still cost a bundle to set up initially. If I thought about all the stupid promo tricks I’ve shelled out money for in my career, then the little chump change the affiliate link provides isn’t going to offset at all. The point of most author websites is to try and seal the deal, but really, it’s not geared to hard-sell through the site. It’s geared to get you to remember to pick up one of our books when you’re buying books… if that’s at a physical bookstore, or the next time you’re on Amazon, or whatever. If we did push the hard sell, I think a lot of fans would be irritated. (I sure as hell would be.)
Amazon especially smooth talks its affiliates by saying they’ve got a chance to sell everything, since Amazon sells just about all products under the sun. As an author, I’m not trying to sell my readers a frickin’ toaster. I want them to buy one book. My book. And honestly, the link’s more a convenience for my readers anyway than a scheme to make a quick twenty cents.
So… what if I say, screw the affiliate payout?
What if Amazon or Borders lets me forfeit the payout, pass on the savings to my reader? They’re giving up the money either way. And hey, my reader would get a 4-6% discount. Not exactly something to jump through hoops about, but it’s a start, and it might make a difference. Give me something to shout about.
And further on that line of thought… what if authors paid out of their own pockets to offer a discount? Say you wanted to offer a discount on the first 500 copies of your book. A 20% discount. And say you wanted to offer it only the first week of sale. This gives you a real promo point: “Buy the first week, and get 20% off at (wherever)!” The beauty of that being that you’d be driving sales for that crucial first week of sales, a number that drives re-orders and bestseller lists. The bookstore could charge you up front up to 500 books, betting that you wouldn’t hit the number… they’d be clearing a profit if you only sold, say, 4 copies. Or if they were more humane, it could be like Pay Per Click: you’d only have to pay for the people who actually took advantage of the discount, capping at 500 copies. Either way, bookstore’s not out cash.
And unlike offering multiple links, it’s unlikely that an author would want to make this deal with a number of different bookstores, simply because she wouldn’t be able to afford discounting 500 books at multiple outlets. So one bookstore — the first bookstore to offer microdiscounting — would get not only the sales, but they’d get some screaming, driven salespeople.
Does this make sense? Would you pay to drive sales for your book with a micro-discount?
Or is this just the Nyquil talking?
