Enduring Change

Konrath posted on his blog about his two newest books.  He withdrew them from traditional publishing and decided to self publish them on Kindle instead.  Some said it was brave, some said it was stupid.  But right now this second, the first book, Endurance is #42 on the Kindle bestseller list.  As always, he promoted it wisely, involved his readers and fellow indie writers and basically managed to get a lot of us invested in his progress. 

It's always intriguing when someone does something new and we all find it fascinating to compare numbers so it was fun to see the book hop up the charts.  Now that it has broken the top 100, it is likely to stay up there.  That's the thing.  Getting past 100 means you're a topseller and lots of people are more likely to buy books on the topselling list.  It is the visibility factor and a tiny bit of the sheep factor if we're honest.  But it's a decent goal to aim for.

Another indie who is good at getting people behind her is Zoe Winters.  Her third novella in her Blood Lust Series is doing great.  Right now, Mated is ranked at #116.  If she gets past 100, she will fly up that list.  If her third book gets on that list then I reckon her first two will also.  They are cheap, they are paranormal romance, they are a series, they have pretty covers, you get the point.  I'm hoping it happens soon, it'll be very interesting to see how it unfolds once more and more indies make that bestseller list. 

These two writers aren't the first and won't be the last which is a sign of how much change is going on.  Plus, now that the price of the Kindle has dropped less than $200, we're heading to a point in time when ebook readers aren't exclusively used by "serious" readers.  Lots of ereaders are more accessible, more affordable and combining that with the ever growing list of free and cheap ebooks, it's an investment more than a luxury.  It's time to embrace the change.