More on the Business of Writing

Continued from The Business of Writing Part 1.

Another thing I learned is that developing a line of products makes a big difference. Sales of my tennis strategy guide took off when I added more products and put them in a Pro Shop on the site.

I guess that makes sense. Potential customers then see that you are serious. They see experience creating these publications, and this instills greater trust in their quality. It also indicates success, because people won't continue to waste time developing new products if they are having no success.

I suppose all that may occur to the potential customers almost subconsciously.

Increasing the buyer's options also makes a big difference. Sales took off again when I stopped offering the product as a download only and added the option of (a) purchasing a backup CD, (b) purchasing on a custom CD-ROM, and (c) purchasing major products in paperback.

Interestingly, despite the cost of a paperback, some people just don't like this new finagled ebook thing and want nothing but a dead-tree version, no matter how much more it costs. And some have more sensible reasons for needing a paperback.

But I found that the main benefit isn't in the sales of the paperback. Sales of the electronic versions increase!

CD-ROM editions and backup CDs are attractive to people who don't know a lot about computing. They like getting the product (or at least a backup copy of the download file) in a tangible medium.

But again, just offering these options makes sales of the download version increase.