QCV Kindle Smoldering

Quests, Curses, & Vengeance has been out for 2 months now, and sales have been well below expectations.  This massive collection of Fantasy and Sci-Fi stories had an initial sales price a bit higher than other Martinus Publishing releases, though considering it is about 150,000 words the price wasn't unreasonable.  The $3.99 Kindle version has thus far done horribly, which is a real shame considering the quality of the stories and the talent of the authors involved.  This volume deserves greater exposure.

Kindle Edition

To help facilitate a larger market share, the price of this anthology will be cut down.  At $3.25, perhaps more people will be willing to give it a try.  This will mean lower profits per copy sold, but hopefully that will be offset by the increased sales.  I have also enrolled this book in the "Kindle Matchbook" program, giving anyone who purchases the print version off of Amazon a free copy of the Kindle version.  That should appeal to buyers, as well.

Thus far, Martinus Publishing has not performed all that well, though I wasn't expecting a massive profit margin to begin with.  That's why a lot of small presses don't last; their editors go into it thinking they'll make money hand over fist, when in reality it is a very uncertain industry.  Most of the small publishers these days have to understand that it is largely about the art of writing, and doing your best to bring new pieces of fiction to light as best you can.  In time, it will either pay off, or not, but the quest is the thing!

I assure you, Martinus Publishing is here to stay.  Money may not be forthcoming at the moment, but if things get tight we'll just slow down, not give up.  I will always make sure that there is enough in the bank to cover basic publishing expenses, but if an anthology has to wait for publication because money isn't available, that's just the way it is.  On the bright side, we now have paid cover art for all of our currently announced anthologies (one of the biggest expenses), so there should be no interruption in the release of any of them.  We just might have to hold off on announcing some new anthologies until I can divert more of my personal funds into the coffers.

Of course, this could all turn around tomorrow.  Bookstore X might call up and order 100 copies of MP titles, thus bringing some much needed capital into the company.  Well, at least it would be a good story.