Monday, February 14, 2011

Updating assumptions, it's all right to be wrong

Some assumptions I had about my ebook experiment in April 2010, and where they stand now.

1. I will do this just to get my name and work out there, because who really makes money off their writing?

February 2011: Wrong, apparently. I actually can make money out of this, if I'm willing to work on getting more titles out and communicating with the readers.

2. My audience for the ebook will be Filipino-Americans, more than anyone else, because who else would be interested in stories set in the Philippines?

February 2011: Wrong again. I can't tell based on sales alone, but the reviews, responses and feedback I get have come from all over and not really from a particular cultural community. (Although I do suspect that the audience is mostly women.)

3. I don't need to release a paperback version, because why would someone spend more when they can already get the same thing for less than 50 pesos?

February 2011: Not necessarily wrong. FTF ebook has outsold FTF paperback by such a wide margin that the comparison isn't even fair. But the effort put into having a paperback version is still worth it because there are a few hardcore paper lovers out there who would spring for it, and they shouldn't be ignored. And CreateSpace has at least made the process easy, and I didn't have to spend so much having a few dozen copies printed.

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