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Received my Arc Manor royalty statements for the 1st half of 2011 today -- the small press Arc Manor has reissued my books DARK WATER'S EMBRACE, SPEAKING STONES, and THE SHAPE OF SILENCE, (formerly THUNDER RIFT).
A few months back, Shahid Mahmud, who is the publisher of Arc Manor, mentioned that for the first time in their history, the sales of ebooks exceeded the sales of print books. I'm certainly seeing that… Take a look at the the ebook sales figures from the last half of 2010 and the first half of 2011. All of the books were (and are) available in trade paperback and e-book formats.
2010 - 2nd half: ebook sales: 23 copies
2011 - 1st half: ebook sales: 237 copies
And it's not that ebooks sales have cannibalized the print sales, at least in my case. The print sales were down a bit from 2010 to 2011, but the 2011 ebook sales have shot well past the print sales numbers.
I'm beginning to see how (as Mike Resnick's been telling me for the last year) a writer with a significant backlist can use that backlist to drive a 'steady' income. I hope to have much of the "Stephen Leigh" backlist available by the end of the year: SLOW FALL TO DAWN, DANCE OF THE HAG, A QUIET OF STONE, THE BONES OF GOD, CRYSTAL MEMORY, THE ABRAXAS MARVEL CIRCUS, ALIEN TONGUE. I've either received or requested reversion for all of those, and will put them out on my own to join THE WOODS, which is already out only in ebook form.
DARK WATER'S EMBRACE, SPEAKING STONES. and THE SHAPE OF SILENCE, as mentioned above, are available via Arc Manor/Phoenix Pick. My "S.L. Farrell" fantasy novels are all out in ebook form via DAW.
It's interesting times for writers, but whether it will end up being better or worse for most of us remains to be seen. What do you think?
A few months back, Shahid Mahmud, who is the publisher of Arc Manor, mentioned that for the first time in their history, the sales of ebooks exceeded the sales of print books. I'm certainly seeing that… Take a look at the the ebook sales figures from the last half of 2010 and the first half of 2011. All of the books were (and are) available in trade paperback and e-book formats.
2010 - 2nd half: ebook sales: 23 copies
2011 - 1st half: ebook sales: 237 copies
And it's not that ebooks sales have cannibalized the print sales, at least in my case. The print sales were down a bit from 2010 to 2011, but the 2011 ebook sales have shot well past the print sales numbers.
I'm beginning to see how (as Mike Resnick's been telling me for the last year) a writer with a significant backlist can use that backlist to drive a 'steady' income. I hope to have much of the "Stephen Leigh" backlist available by the end of the year: SLOW FALL TO DAWN, DANCE OF THE HAG, A QUIET OF STONE, THE BONES OF GOD, CRYSTAL MEMORY, THE ABRAXAS MARVEL CIRCUS, ALIEN TONGUE. I've either received or requested reversion for all of those, and will put them out on my own to join THE WOODS, which is already out only in ebook form.
DARK WATER'S EMBRACE, SPEAKING STONES. and THE SHAPE OF SILENCE, as mentioned above, are available via Arc Manor/Phoenix Pick. My "S.L. Farrell" fantasy novels are all out in ebook form via DAW.
It's interesting times for writers, but whether it will end up being better or worse for most of us remains to be seen. What do you think?