Dolphin Girl: e-book vs paperback

When Dolphin Girl was released in April it was my first foray into the world of e-books. Considering the explosion in the number of people now reading on devices such as Kindle, Kobo and other tablet apps, it made sense to bring out an e-book version alongside the paperback.

For readers and authors the cost of buying and selling e-books is far more economical in comparison with a physical book, quite apart from the instant availability and convenience of an e-book, which can be bought and downloaded in a matter of seconds from virtually anywhere in the world.

So, I decided to step into the brave new world of e-books with Dolphin Girl - albeit as a latecomer to the party.

To my surprise, all my initial sales were of physical copies of the book, even though the paperback cost three times more than the e-book. I began to wonder if I'd got the sums wrong and my readership simply preferred to have and hold a "book book".

Then, almost four months after Dolphin Girl was published it achieved its first e-book sales. It was a relief to see it finally being downloaded electronically. As a result, it briefly climbed into the top 400 in two sub-categories at the Amazon.com store twice in the space of a week. (Below is the e-book's ranking as it appeared on August 20)

It was pleasing to see Dolphin Girl attracting some attention, even though it has yet to be featured in any major advertising promotion. During the coming weeks and months I will apply some of the things I've learnt, and continue to learn, regarding e-book marketing.

A major factor to being accepted by some of the bigger book promotion outlets is the number of reviews or readers' ratings a book garners. It seems like a Catch-22 scenario - and in a way it is. But there are smaller steps that can be taken to help build momentum and with it the likelihood of a few reviews and ultimately a slot with a promotion outlet.

So I'm thankful for, and encouraged by, the words of the handful of early reviewers of Dolphin Girl.

The marketing and promotion process for Dolphin Girl is still at an early stage, although had I known what I know now it would be much further along the line. I hope to share future progress at a later date.

For now, I would like to thank all readers who have given Dolphin Girl a chance, whether as an e-book or "book book."

Dolphin Girl available here on Amazon, and also on Kobo