Where some publishers at one time were getting their feet wet in the world of digital publishing by experimenting with marketing their backlist titles as ebooks, the turnaround in digital sales has caused many publishers to now focus on the ebooks of their bestselling titles. But those backlists aren’t forgotten; on the contrary, technologically savvy publishers are now experimenting with using those backlist ebooks to add even more value to digital purchases by bundling several titles.
Several companies, like StoryBundle and recent startup Ganxy, are offering authors and consumers the option of bundles of ebooks. While StoryBundle operates under a pay-what-you-wish model for a pre-selected bundle of titles, Ganxy lets authors and publishers decide what titles will go together, as well as what they will cost.
According to an article by Laura Hazard Owen for paidContent, “Ganxy already lets authors and publishers create ebook “showcases” that can be tweeted and embedded on sites like Facebook, or can stand alone as websites. With the new bundling feature, authors and publishers can create ‘box sets’ of ebooks and sell the bundles directly to their audience through the showcase. They can also quickly adjust pricing and offer flash sales.”
The option to bundle ebooks can be especially helpful for smaller press publishers, digital-first or ebook-only publishers, or indie authors with a number of titles, as it helps with the discoverability while not forcing the rights’ holder to focus their resources on separate marketing strategies for each different book. Where reading consumers might be making the bundle purchase in order to receive one specific title, they are now more likely to read an author’s work that they otherwise would not necessarily have bothered with.
Mercy Pilkington is a Senior Editor for Good e-Reader. She is also the CEO and founder of a hybrid publishing and consulting company.
