Could Konrath Become the First Kindle Millionaire?

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Joe+Konrath+pic Everyone knows that Joe Konrath’s books are doing remarkably well on the Kindle. But the actual numbers are astonishing. He’s sold 103,864 ebooks across all platforms since 2004…78,000 of them on the Kindle. Here’s how his numbers break down…and for comparison’s sake, he’s included both his self-published and professionally published books. 

My six Hyperion ebooks, from June 2004 until December 2009: 7865

Afraid from Grand Central, from May 2009 until December 2009: 13,973

Self-pubbed titles on Kobo from May 2010 until July 2010: 132

Self-pubbed titles on Smashwords since July 2009: 372

Self-pubbed titles on iPad from May 2010 until August 2010: 390

Self-pubbed titles on iTunes from Jan 2010 until July 2010: 508

Self-pubbed titles on Barnes & Noble from June 2010 until August 2010: 2212

Self pubbed titles on Amazon from April 2009 until Sept 20, 2010: 78,412

So what does all of this mean to the home viewer? Currently, I’m selling an average of 7000 self-pubbed ebooks a month on Kindle.

The fascinating part of Joe’s post are his comparisons between what he is earning from his Hyperion ebooks and what he is earning on his own. For example:

My best selling Hyperion ebook, Whiskey Sour, has sold 2631 ebooks since 2004. That’s earned me about $2200, or $34 a month since it was released.

$34 a month per ebook is a far cry from the $1700 a month per ebook I’m making on my own.

Why are my self-pubbed ebooks earning more than Whiskey Sour, which remains my bestselling print title with over 80,000 books sold in various formats?

Because Hyperion has priced Whiskey Sour at $4.69 on Amazon, and I price my ebooks at $2.99.

For each $4.69 ebook they sell, I earn $1.17.

For each $2.99 ebook I sell, I earn $2.04.

So I’m basically losing money hand over fist because Hyperion is pricing my ebooks too high, and giving me too low a royalty rate.

Even the print sales (Whiskey Sour just went into a fifth printing) don’t come close to making up the money I’m losing.

If we assume I could sell 833 copies per month of Whiskey Sour, I’d be earning $17,000 per year on it, rather than $5616 per year. (I’m guessing my numbers have gone up recently, and am estimating 400 Whiskey Sour sales per month.)

Let’s multiply that times the six books Hyperion controls.

I’m estimating I currently earn $33,696 annually in ebook royalties on those six.

If I had the rights, I estimate I’d earn $102,000.

Do I want my books to go out of print?

Hell yeah.

[…]I’ll end 2010 having earned over $100k on my self-pubbed ebooks, and that’s nothing compared to what I expect to make in 2011. And I’m doing it without touring, without promoting non-stop, without spending a lot of money, and without relying on anyone.

 

It’s no wonder that Joe has opted to focus his literary efforts almost entirely on ebooks and to turn his back, for the most part, on NY print publishers. Financially for him, it’s a no brainer.

I have to admit that Joe’s experience — and, to a lesser degree, my own — are changing some of my long-held beliefs about the publishing business. And it’s also made me think twice about whether I should write my next book for a publisher… or for myself, a thought that never would have entered my head a year ago.

Remaindered Movie Poster

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Here's the preliminary movie poster for REMAINDERED, designed by Brian Bolin and featuring a photo by Neil Kellen.

Remaindered_Bargain_Bin

 Which tagline do you like better…

1) The Bargain Bin is Murder

2) A Novel Way to Die

(You can click on the image for a larger view)

Watch THE GLADES Tonight

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Episode-generic-promoYeah, I know BOARDWALK EMPIRE and MAD MEN are on tonight. But please don't forget to set your DVR's for tonight's episode of THE GLADES, which I wrote with William Rabkin.  It's entitled "Booty" and it's all about pirate treasure, murder, and the relationship between Longworth & Callie, which changes significantly before the end credits roll…

Remaindered in the News, 2

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Lee Directs

REMAINDERED made today’s Evansville Courier-Press. Out of all of my credits, why does the Evansville press keep rubbing my nose in BAYWATCH? 🙂

 

‘Quiet on the set!’: Part of short film shot at local Sureway store

By Donna Stinnett

Sureway customers picking up their groceries this past Sunday at the Watson Lane location may have been a bit surprised to find a movie crew shooting in the store while they shopped.

The scenes were for a short film called “Remaindered” by writer and director Lee Goldberg, who has written for the television shows “Monk” and “Baywatch” and who was an executive producer for “Diagnosis Murder.”

Goldberg has had an association with the International Mystery Writer’s Festival in Owensboro. “Remaindered” is being sponsored by The RiverPark Performing Arts Center, Kentucky Wesleyan College, Brescia College and Owensboro Technical College.

This current film, which was largely created through the production and acting assistance of local volunteers, will premiere Oct. 16 at the World Mystery Convention called Bouchercon being held this year in San Francisco.

Lewis Chaney, who premiered his own locally made feature-length film, “victimEYES,” last fall and who worked with Goldberg on “Remaindered,” described it as a “very dark comedy” about an author who commits a murder then realizes he’s done away with his only remaining fan.

A crew of about 25 to 30 worked on the scenes shot at Sureway all day Sunday, Chaney said.

“It looked like a full-scale production,” he said. “And Sureway was wonderful to us. They gave us tons of access.”

“It’s giving local filmmakers and local actors a chance to experience the way we make movies and TV shows in Hollywood,” Goldberg said in an interview with WEHT Channel 25, where Chaney is an assignments manager in the newsroom.

“Obviously it’s not a full $25-million Hollywood production or weekly TV series, but we’re using the same principals of pre-production and shooting on this little film that we’d be using in a Hollywood production,” he added.

Henderson residents Chaney and Neil Kellen, who is a co-worker, fellow filmmaker and who was technical consultant for “victimEYES,” designed the lighting for “Remaindered” working with independent filmmakers P.J. Starks and Rodney Newton, who made “Hallows Eve: Slaughter on Second Street.”

“This really helps legitimizes what we’re doing,” Chaney said. “It’s really cool for the local indie filmmakers.”,p>
Other locations used in “Remaindered” included a private residence and Danhauers Drugs in Owensboro and “a couple of desolate areas around Owensboro for driving shots,” Chaney said.

Andrew Coburn

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Five years ago, I blogged about discovering author Andrew Coburn's terrific crime novels and how wowed I was by his books. Today I got this note from his daughter:

This is a pivotal time in Andrew Coburn's life. He is my dad. He's written, I think, 14 novels and though he hasn't stopped writing (been writing lots of short stories published online and in university periodicals), he is struggling with a life-threatening illness. His family is around him, of course, but he needs to be reminded there is life beyond the four walls.That his work has been –and more importantly, still is–his lifeblood. I can forward any mail: Cathleen Coburn; 4 Patricia St, WIndham, NH 03087. My email is cathycoburn@live.com Thank you! If his words have inspired you, touched you or mattered in some way, please let your words do the same for him. My father's daughter, Cathy Coburn

If you are a fan of Coburn's work, now is the time to let him know!