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Business Post: A Low Cost Launch Strategy (Patreon)

Published:
2022-12-21 17:59:01
Imported:
2023-01

Content

Let's do a quick example of a quick launch strategy in a hot genre to get an indie author who can write fast 


Assumptions

- You can write at least 2k a day.

- You can edit 4k a day.

- You have a budget of around $500 to start.

     * Or you have enough experience to write clearly without major editing.

- You are in a decently heavy in demand sub-genre

- Organic reach is not entirely removed and/or easy to locate and promote social media locations is viable


The Plan:

- Your job is to write and release a series of novellas every 3 weeks into a hot genre.

- Release a new novella every 3 weeks to sit on the charts

   - Specifically the short read charts rather than the longer, more competitive ones.

    - Side note, you might be able to do audio, but it would require a significantly higher initial budget.


Good:

- Make a small, decent return and break even quickly.

- This will not generate a livable income immediately but will allow you to produce content cheap.


Expected Cost & Results:

- Cost ~ $400 for 100k in editing.

- Approximately $100 in art.


Revenue expectations:

- Book 1 ~ $300

- Book 2 ~ $200, Bk 1 ~ $100

- Book 3 ~ $150, Bk 2 ~ $80, Bk 1 ~$60

- Book 4 ~ $105, Bk 3 ~ $60, Bk 2 ~ $50, Bk 1 ~ $40

Total: 300 + 300 + 290 + 255 = $1,140

ROI ~ 2.2-2.5x


Step by Step:

- Write the first 3 books to start, preferably 4.

- Release book 1, have book 2 on preorder.

- Release book 2, put book 3 on preorder.

- The entire point is to keep the cover the same. Keep editing cost to basic copy and line editing only and maybe proofing.

- You write in 2 weeks, edit in the 3rd week. Rotate constantly and have at least two more books ready on the backend, rotating constantly.

Will this work? Can this work? Yes. In a hot genre, especially one that has a bunch of readers. Constant quick releases will help build reliability and trust. The more work you have, the better.


Other Questions:

- Wide or KU?

      - KU initially. You’re targeting whale readers to start.

      - Wide is an option if you do not launch well.

      - Stay in KU till you can’t keep up and unless you are launching a new series, pull out of KU then.


Promotions

Low cost so social media. This means your genre needs to be easy to reach via social media and willing to try new works.

Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, and Reddit.


AMS category might be viable to let people know but only after you have significant number of words and books out. Do NOT use it till you have at least 3 books, preferably 5. And keep your bid extremely low.


Pricing:

- $2.99 purchase price

- KU.

Do not go cheap! The cheaper you are, the harder it will be to make money back. You want the $ from $2.99 and the contrast between it and KU to start.

Your readers are mostly in KU.


Product:

The genre is basically whatever works. The preferences for genres that aren’t doing this now.

LitRPG, progression fantasy, urban fantasy or scifi (military scifi?) might all be viable. Post-apocalyptic potentially? This is already happening in romance and mystery. Some forms of fantasy too.


How do I Know This Works:

I’ve done it.

No, I won’t say in which genre or what pen name.

But if you’re wondering why my release numbers were down, this is why.

Comments

Anonymous

Interesting. Is that a 5-day writing week, for a 20K novella, or 7-day, for ~30K?

Andre A

Come on Tao, now I wanna read it... Not fair. All you write is very good reading!

Anonymous

What is your opinion in sites like royal road?

Justin Ventura

Fantastic perspective on the business side of it You have a dynamic way of running different product lines to different vendors to maximize returns That’s dope man

Tao Wong
>>97992477

I assume a 5 day work week in my above example (10k a week, 20k in 2 weeks, edit 4k per day, so 20k in 5 days). There's very little wiggle room here other than adding extra days though.

Tao Wong
>>98000905

Sorry. I'm running a completely different test now with that pen. So it's staying secret for a while longer.

Tao Wong
>>98000907

Talking from a purely business standpoint. So, take a look at this: https://cosmiccoding.com.au/tutorials/royalroad From basic analysis, it's a winner take all scenario, even worst than Amazon. "The grind for new stories is horrific. 50% of stories updated in the last 6 months have four followers or less. The top ten percent are only in aruond 300, which isn't enough for a proper readership and career swap. The top 1% get around 5000 followers." That's a very steep curve and even the top 10% only have 300 followers. To hit that, you need tens of thousands of words. Assume you have 300 followers, conversion rate is 2%. You are in the top 10% of RR and you have... 6 followers. That's $30 (each follower is around $5). To make $300, you need 60 followers or around 3000 followers. Three times the average. You're nearly at the top 1%. It's not a bad place to test your idea, see if there's any traction. If you see you are beginning to earn, you might want to keep churning out work, build up a big follower base there. The BIG boys have been writing there for nearly a year VERY consistently, sometimes 2-3 before they go to Amazon. If you can't afford to wait... *shrugs* Amazon.

Tao Wong
>>98016207

Thanks. I get annoyed when I hear people say 'this can't be done' or 'this isn't working', so I figure I'll test it out.

Anonymous

I found this to be hugely interesting and insightful. Tao, you obviously have been able to keep up a high word output consistently over a long period across many formats and genres. Have you found any ways of working or mindsets that help you maximise the time you have available to write?