image photoshopped together from my photos--
coyote at Oregon Trail Museum in Baker City,
moon one of our Arizona skies.
This topic was about setting up an historical western romance writer co-op which one of those writers is involved with helping start. She was discussing how she feels it will work as it will enable members to sell their books direct with PayPal and no need to go through any other publishers.
It's an interesting idea, and I will have to evaluate it more (rather my publisher/husband/FarmBoss will evaluate it more). I don't think I could be part of their group unless I brought out my historical westerns and maybe not even then, but this idea of selling direct is an idea that might become necessary if Amazon continues to do things to make it harder on the indie writer.
Sooner than later (right after lambing and our complex tax figures are at the accountant), I will have to change the icons alongside this site where the link goes. Instead of going only to Amazon, it will have a link to another page with more information on the book as well as all the possible places it can be purchased. This idea of their co-op makes me think maybe I should look into selling direct using PayPal. The way it would work is beyond the capacity of my brain but it's not beyond my publisher's-- fortunately. A co-op is better than just selling my own but that requires similar type books, I think, to make it work.
What we will do regardless of the idea of selling through PayPay is to turn Rainy Day Romances, Romances with an Edge or Rainy Day Reads (a site I kept private while unsure what I wanted to do with it) into a sell site while this one continues as it is with topics ranging from creativity in general to marketing as well as about my own books.
This, like so much of the Internet, is an evolving business. Some believe that soon Amazon will take a higher royalty and it's possible they will even delete slow selling books. As it stands, they do the most to promote books through the big publishing houses. There are smaller sell sites already out and I can see how writers benefit from being in such sites-- if their work fits the criteria. If not, it's like any genre limitation.
Anyway it's interesting and another thing for any writer thinking of going into ePub to learn about and consider. The big issue is how to get your books seen and a group of similar writers banding together makes sense to me as by yourself, your odds are reduced-- although if you can get readers to promote on their own sites, if you can get networking going, then it makes your odds more favorable.
My goal for this site is to get its numbers up to where my other blog is. It's not easy to build readership which amazes me as it seemed my other one just built by itself but I know it wasn't that simple. It always took cross links and word of mouth.
