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Author Topic: Modern sales tracking headache and puzzlement
rcmann
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Does anyone else have this kind of bewilderment? I noticed recently that Amazon is offering a used (I suppose I could get fancy and say pre-owned) copy of the paperback version of my book, in addition to the P.O.D. and Kindle version.

Odd feeling. It's only been out for a couple of months. Apparently somebody didn't tink it should be cherished as an heirloom [Smile] Equally odd that the used copy is priced for two dollars more than the new one.

Be that as it may, I got curious and started trying to figure out when it might have been purchased. I knew it was most likely futile, but I'm a beginner at this.

I dug into Createspace and their reporting system. Egad. Has anyone else tried to decipher that conglomeration of Sumerian graffiti? Turns out there is no record of sales for the last month or two. Yet I *know* the sales were made since the money is accounted for.

When I checked into the distribution channels I discovered that the extra $25 I tossed into the pot has gotten my book on sale at a long list of different book stores and chains, with apparently no way in place to track or identify which, if any, of them are actually moving any copies.

Does anyone have experience with how Createspace, and their reporting system, operates? Any enlightenment that you can provide?

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EVOC
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First, The used book mystery. I'm afraid that remains a mystery. Both books I published has a used copy pop up, usually for more than the new copy, and it seems after a time it disappears. I wonder if this is some type of glitch. Even when I've tried to check out the used copy link, I don't find much information.

Second, I haven't ever used the Expanded distribution with either book. But Createspace is a bit tricky with how it reports book sales. They claim they only report once the book has been printed and shipped. But I know some people who have purchased, received, and read the book before the sale ever showed up. But from best I can tell by the end of the month all my sales are there.

It clearly isn't as cut and dry as KDP is. Looking up past sales is a bit harder to simply explain on here. But it can be a bit difficult and I tend to have to play with it a bit to get it right.

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LDWriter2
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I just looked over a new book on Amazon the other day. It had been out one to three days. It already had a used book listed.

I think the used book was a couple of dollars cheaper than the new one. But boy someone must read fast or is able to get free copies from somewhere.

As to creatspace and their graffiti---I don't know.

I hope to have my go at translating it soon but so far my book seems to be on hold as someone looks over the first ten pages to see how much they charge for copy editing.

I thought about doing a POD of my story set but five stories--which I could do now-- are probably too few even though a couple of people seem to be doing fine with one and five story paper books. I may try one with all of the stories sets combined, with a couple of extra fantasy stories. That would be 17 or 18 stories. But that would probably take as long as the Novel so I would still have to wait.

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Robert Nowall
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Once somebody's bought a book, it's theirs to do as they see fit---as an artifact. Otherwise we wouldn't be able to explore, say, a writer's out-of-print oeuvre by browsing through used bookstores.

quote:
But boy someone must read fast or is able to get free copies from somewhere.
Or...somebody's lying about having a copy, or expects to obtain one shortly.
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rcmann
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quote:
Originally posted by Robert Nowall:
Once somebody's bought a book, it's theirs to do as they see fit---as an artifact. Otherwise we wouldn't be able to explore, say, a writer's out-of-print oeuvre by browsing through used bookstores.

quote:
But boy someone must read fast or is able to get free copies from somewhere.
Or...somebody's lying about having a copy, or expects to obtain one shortly.
Got no problem with people selling my books used. I love the idea. The more exposure the better, and a paying customer can do very little wrong as far as I'm concerned. I'm just puzzled, like LDWriter2 is, about how fast the cycle happened. It smells fishy.
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