omnibus editions?
Reader Margaret B asked if I would ever sell entire series as a massive omnibus edition.
Short answer:
It would not be cost-effective, so no.
Longer answer:
I do omnibus editions of the 1st three books in a series (usually with a bonus short story) so I can sell them as $0.99 loss-leaders in special sales every so often. If you’re not familiar with the idea of a loss leader, it’s selling a product at a loss in hopes of making up the money on sales of other items. Probably the most famous example are the “doorbuster” items that big box retailers do for Black Friday. Like, the store hopes that by offering a laptop for $199 or whatever, you’ll also buy a bunch of other stuff while you’re in the building. Or when a bar gives away salty peanuts for free, knowing they’ll make it up with beer sales. Another good example is when a writer has the first book in a long series set to free – the idea is that readers read the first book, like it, and go on to buy the sequels.
So, bundling an entire series as an omnibus and selling it would defeat the purpose of a loss leader.
I’ve had a few people tell me they won’t finish reading FROSTBORN or THE GHOSTS or other series until I’ve packaged the entire series as an omnibus and put it on sale. That’s fine, and doesn’t trouble me. You cannot please everyone, and attempting to please everyone (which is an impossibility) falls under the category of “logical fallacy”, like trying to divide by zero or going faster than the speed of light.
But I’m very grateful that enough of you bought the $0.99 omnibus books and continued reading for me to have just published the 23rd book with Caina. Thanks everyone!
-JM
A mega omnibus would still be great, but only a decade later after you have finished writing the *last* story about the character in question AND your sales have dropped.
That way any new readers need not keep referring the huge reading order and missing their place and can simply buy the omnibus. It also makes a nice gift to someone who has never read your books and is going on a vacation.
Maybe in a few years. It might only be on Kobo – they’re the only retailer that offers 70% on price points over $9.99, and a mega omnibus of, say, FROSTBORN would probably be around $39.99.