Lindsay - March 31, 2022We had fantasy and romance author Katie Cross on the show back in January and asked her all about selling direct from her website, since she’s been making six figures doing so.
This week, we brought her back for an update and also to answer listener questions.
Here are the questions:
- Angie: I’d love to know how Katie gets the writing done, especially when managing a business with and without a large team.
- Jonathan: How do you convince readers in your ads to buy direct and eschew Amazon? I find my conversion rate for my direct ads very very low (granted I have one book and can’t offer a great deal as a hook). I offer a $2 off coupon and have been experimenting with various ad copy (using different coupon codes in each so I can track).
- Bianca: Do you have any plans to sell translations direct?
- Brent: I write in a couple of once popular niche genres that were often associated with illustrations and had a specific art style connected to it. What does Katie think of a model whereby your books on the platforms have good covers and are unillustrated, but on your site, you direct sell “special editions” that are illustrated and have covers that are higher quality with the stylized art of the past, sold at a higher price point?
- Brent: In connection to audiobooks, with the growth in quality of AI narration and lower production costs does she see potential with direct selling AI narrated books with lower overheads, and higher profit margins in the future?
- Denise: How does she handle taxes (VAT, sales tax, etc.) and duties (customs fees, etc.)?
- Lettie: In the first episode it wasn’t clear how she handles preorders. Does she charge people when they order or when they get the book? And how if it’s the latter?
- A couple of people: Any interest in blockchain technology or plans to sell NFTs?
- John: What’s her take on Brandon Sanderson’s Kickstarter?
- DL: With the serious influence of fantasy inside the “metaverse,” are you considering VR to be an upcoming potential market or additional avenue for marketing?
- Laura: I know Katie mentioned wanting a Patreon-like subscription service on her own website (great idea, btw), but I’m wondering if she’s ever used or considered using Kickstarter to grow her impressively large audience even more.
- Charley: I love how Katie is working to educate readers to buy direct from her. Has she considered bundling ebooks with print as something readers can only get from her direct, and any ideas on how to fulfill that?
- Ara: Is there a range of royalties from the different website providers or payments providers?
Thanks for listening!
To learn more about Katie or buy her books, head over to her website.
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