My first book, Ohlen’s Arrow, was released in 2013. I chose to sell it as an ebook only. Initially, it was available for Kindle via Amazon, Nook via Barnes & Noble, and iBooks via Apple’s iTunes bookstore. In 2014, I released the sequel, Ohlen’s Bane. Again, it was sold as an ebook only, via the same three channels.
In 2015, I released the third book, Paragon’s Call, with what became the trilogy The Taesian Chronicles. Sometime during the process of writing Paragon’s Call, I made the decision to sell the three individual books as Kindle ebooks exclusively, removing the Nook and iBooks versions, and then selling The Taesian Chronicles as a paperback as well as a Kindle ebook.
I have noticed something interesting about this sales strategy. Several readers have purchased The Taesian Chronicles in paperback, and told me they have held off buying my books until they were released in paper form. One reader told me she had been waiting since 2013! To some people, if it’s not a dead-tree edition, it’s not a book.
In fact, I’ve noticed more enthusiastic and voluminous interest in my writing efforts now that I’ve released something in paperback than I ever have when my works were available as ebooks only. People seem far more impressed by the heft and size of The Taesian Chronicles than they were when I told them I’d written three novels [as ebooks only]. Perhaps ebooks just don’t seem tangible and real to people.
I’m toying with the idea of releasing special paperback editions of the individual books that make up the trilogy. What do you think?