I came across the notion of velocity when I read Hugh Howley's blog1. In his post, he mentions the importance of velocity to gain momentum and build a strong author platform. He defines velocity as the release of book in a quick and frequent manner. For example, Hugh Howey published Wool, then a month later First Shift and every two-three months after that he released a new work (Second shift, I, Zombie, some short stories).
Why velocity matters?
First let's imagine that a reader stumbles upon your book and loves it, yes really love it. The next thing the reader will probably do is check what others books you have written so they can buy them. If you have already a few titles published, the reader will probably buy them. Basically with one book released you are increasing the visibility of all your work.
Releasing titles in a short time frame will also improve your readers engagement, especially if you are writing series. As an avid reader myself, I know what happens when you finish a book and you are waiting very impatiently for the sequel. Except if you are George RR Martin and you are able to release one book every five years while maintaining a huge fan base, readers are fickle, yes, even your readers. They will check time to time to know when your next book is released but, after a while, they will probably stop checking and move to the next author they just discovered. You need to provide fresh material to your readers to maintain their interest and make sure they will share with a large number of people the wonderful opinion they have of your books.
Finally, velocity allows you to maximize the algorithms used by Amazon. When a potential buyer checks your book page, he will see the cover of your other books in “Frequently bought together”, “Customers who bought this item also bought” and “What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?”. You will get a higher visibility without the need to spend more in advertising.
Some writers, mainly romance authors with large series, have developed a rolling countdown strategy2 to maximize the impact of the series release. The idea is to run a discount on each volume on a sequential order. Let's say for example you wrote a series of four books. You will put the first book for free or at $0.99c during one week. Then you will do a promotion on the second book for one week. You do the same for the third book. Your series should pick up some steam as the readers can test your work through your first book and knows all the series is already released so if they like it, they can read it immediately.
Yes, but.... I don't write quickly enough; I wrote only one book; I don't write series...
I understand the objections. My view is that you do not need to release a full book to make velocity works. The main goal is to stimulate your readers interests. One way to do so is to publish a novella. The short story at a low price or even free will make your readers patient for your next book and help you maintain your author brand. You can also add to your currently published book a chapter of your next book with a link to pre-order it.
The lesson is to publish frequently to build your author platform and make sure your books remain in front of your readers eyes.
http://www.hughhowey.com/the-liliana-nirvana-technique/
http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,182486.msg2569847.html#msg2569847
Why velocity matters?
First let's imagine that a reader stumbles upon your book and loves it, yes really love it. The next thing the reader will probably do is check what others books you have written so they can buy them. If you have already a few titles published, the reader will probably buy them. Basically with one book released you are increasing the visibility of all your work.
Releasing titles in a short time frame will also improve your readers engagement, especially if you are writing series. As an avid reader myself, I know what happens when you finish a book and you are waiting very impatiently for the sequel. Except if you are George RR Martin and you are able to release one book every five years while maintaining a huge fan base, readers are fickle, yes, even your readers. They will check time to time to know when your next book is released but, after a while, they will probably stop checking and move to the next author they just discovered. You need to provide fresh material to your readers to maintain their interest and make sure they will share with a large number of people the wonderful opinion they have of your books.
Finally, velocity allows you to maximize the algorithms used by Amazon. When a potential buyer checks your book page, he will see the cover of your other books in “Frequently bought together”, “Customers who bought this item also bought” and “What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?”. You will get a higher visibility without the need to spend more in advertising.
Some writers, mainly romance authors with large series, have developed a rolling countdown strategy2 to maximize the impact of the series release. The idea is to run a discount on each volume on a sequential order. Let's say for example you wrote a series of four books. You will put the first book for free or at $0.99c during one week. Then you will do a promotion on the second book for one week. You do the same for the third book. Your series should pick up some steam as the readers can test your work through your first book and knows all the series is already released so if they like it, they can read it immediately.
Yes, but.... I don't write quickly enough; I wrote only one book; I don't write series...
I understand the objections. My view is that you do not need to release a full book to make velocity works. The main goal is to stimulate your readers interests. One way to do so is to publish a novella. The short story at a low price or even free will make your readers patient for your next book and help you maintain your author brand. You can also add to your currently published book a chapter of your next book with a link to pre-order it.
The lesson is to publish frequently to build your author platform and make sure your books remain in front of your readers eyes.
http://www.hughhowey.com/the-liliana-nirvana-technique/
http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,182486.msg2569847.html#msg2569847