Monday, August 18, 2014

Total Boox - Pay-As-You-Read Ebooks

There is a new ebook distributor on the market, Total Boox. Only instead of charging you full price to download a book, you pay as you read.

From Book Business Magazine:
“For example, if you'll read 5% of the book (from any part of the book), you'll be charged 5% of the price. Moreover, you'll own that 5%. So it is not merely a pay-as-you-read model, but an own-as-you-read one. You gradually own a larger portion of the book, and if you read the whole book you have paid the full price and you own it as if you purchased it upfront.”

For readers, this means if they start a book and don’t like it after one chapter, it’s only cost them maybe 20 cents. They can also download a ton of books at one time and not pay anything until they begin reading.

But think of that in reverse for an author. What if 1000 people “download” a $2.99 book, but only 100 read it? For a self-published author, that’s the difference between $2093.00 if downloaded from other retailers and $209.00 from Total Boox. (At 70% to the author.) Technically, people won't download from Total Boox until they begin reading, but if they were accessing the book through Amazon, they would have to download to begin reading.

I will be curious to see how well Total Boox can attract both readers and authors.

What do you think of this new business model?


And I haven't posted any photos of Spunky in a while. 
These two demonstrate his patience!
 


42 comments:

Unknown said...

Reading 100% and owning 100% of it should be the choice I would consider than paying full and not reading it all.

EnglishRose said...

Great pictures of Spunky. As I don't posses an ebook I can't comment.
Have a nice day,
Yvonne.

Elizabeth Spann Craig said...

Love the pictures of Spunky!

Total BooX sounds great for readers...a little worrisome for writers! Guess our openings will be more important than ever!

Mason Canyon said...

At first glance Total Boox sounds like a good thing for readers. It would be a great way to try new authors and genres without paying a lot. But not so sure how it would be for authors. Love the photos of Spunky. Boy, he is patient. He looks good.

Jo said...

It's possible it might attract more readers who are reluctant to buy a book without knowing much about it and whether they will enjoy it. Presumably these same people wouldn't buy the book from Amazon anyway.

How is Spunky doing these days?

Sarah Foster said...

I find even when I dislike a book I still want to give it a shot and read it until the end. I guess something like that would be good if you weren't quite sure about a book you were considering buying and wanted to read a little first. But I agree, it doesn't sound very good for the authors.

Bish Denham said...

As a writer, I'm not sure about this option. I wonder how many authors will opt to share their books in this manner?

That bottom picture of Spunky is a hoot!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Elizabeth is right - openings will need to rock. Actually, the whole story will need to rock.

L. Diane Wolfe said...

Mason, I have a lot of photos of him covered in stuff. He just doesn't care.

Elsie - I know! That's a scary thought.

Jo, you might be right.
Spunky is doing really well. You'd never know he has cancer.

Sarah, most sites let you read the first few pages anyway.

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

Not sure what to think of this idea. It would probably work well for me as a reader. The busier I am the less likely I am to continue to read a book that doesn't capture me rather quickly. I'd save money but I'd also be less motivated to give a book a longer look.

Sheena-kay Graham said...

This is a great idea. For readers who have limited income like myself reading some of those expensive ebooks slowly instead of buying the cheaper ones only might help expand my palette.

cleemckenzie said...

Now that's a fantastic idea. I have so many books that I can't continue reading these day that I've become very cautious about buying before previewing on Amazon. This is definitely a new approach. Wonder if they will ever tie the % read into the rating of a book?

Spunky deserves a medal.

SpacerGuy said...

There has to be a logical explanation for this, hey I know. Spunky snook out to his local to grab a few beers and now hes drunk!

Jemi Fraser said...

Spunky always makes me smile! :)
Interesting concept, but I'd rather just buy :)

Anonymous said...

New business models are always worth looking into. Whether it succeeds or not is down to whether an author is prepared to allow their books to be the experiment.

Unknown said...

I agree with the other characters. It's a great idea for readers but not so good for writers.

Unknown said...

I didn't mean to say "characters" I meant to say "writers". I'm in writing mode right now.

Mark Means said...

I'd rather own and pay for a whole book. That way, even if I didn't like it, someone else might...even if it's in "e-format".

And that is one patient cat, too! :)

Annalisa Crawford said...

I'm really not sure how I feel about that. I've been sat here thinking about it, and all I've come up with is 'cute cat!' As with most publishing initiatives these days, I'll sit back and watch what happens.

Karen Jones Gowen said...

It doesn't sound as good as Amazon's new Kindle Unlimited, which I think is good for authors and readers both.

Anonymous said...

This might work for others, but I'd rather just buy a whole book.

Spunky is patient and cute.

Carol Kilgore said...

Spunky is such a cool cat. I think he likes you messing with him :)

I think this deal is better for readers than writers. I have many books on my Kindle I haven't read yet. How sad that would be for those authors.

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

The concept is interesting, but we're used to reading sample pages for free, so having to pay for a sample is a bit meh for the readers. And it doesn't seem that benefiticial to the writers either. So I can't see it taking off.

J.L. Campbell said...

What Lynda said. With Amazon, I download samples before buying so I'm not sure readers would be enthusiastic about having to pay for that first 10%.

Stina said...

Spunky has a lot of patients!

What's the point of paying for sample pages when we normally get them for free? And I've bought tons of books to support my friends but have never read them (not enough time). They wouldn't benefit in the end. On the other hand, I've downloaded a lot of impulse buys that I've never read. But that's my choice.

Morgan said...

Sounds great for readers, crappy for writers, LOL!

I hadn't heard of this. I'm curious if this will take off.

Rawknrobyn.blogspot.com said...

You have too much fun at Spunky's expense. Then again, he doesn't appear to mind. Cute.

I like the above concept as a reader, dislike it as an author.

Arlee Bird said...

What will they think of next? I think it's kind of a weird idea, but the arguments you offer make it sound good for certain readers. Personally I guess I'd rather pay for a book all at the same time--I rarely start a book that I don't finish eventually.

This will be interesting to see the outcome. It sounds like somewhat of a hassle to me.

Lee
Tossing It Out

Tara Tyler said...

your kitty is a canvas =)

and i don't like so many people trying to make a quick buck on books (moreso, i really dont like people returning books - i never return books unless i bought a duplicate by mistake like i did for my son, go to the library, cheapskate!) sorry, rant over.

thanks for all your support for my broken branch falls blog tour

Denise Covey said...

More developments. Yes, great for readers but could lead to potential losses for authors. Maybe if it creates an incentive to publish a more-carefully edited book it may prove a boon. I don't know how many books I can't read past the first page/chapter because of grammar, spelling, formatting mistakes. So sad.

Denise

Elise Fallson said...

Spunky is one cool cat. Total Boox is just another way to attract buyers, time will tell if it becomes a successful method. As a writer I'm skeptical, as a reader, it may have a shot.

H. R. Sinclair said...

Awwww, darn that Spunky is so cute!

The pay per read is an interesting idea. I'm not sure what I think.

As a reader I like Amazon's/Smashwords free sample. It's usually a chapter. that's typically enough for me to know if I'm going to like it or not. Do I have to pay to read the first few words in this new place?

As a writer 209 is better than nothing. Those people might not have even looked at it - still if there isn't that free portion they still might not...

Notes Along the Way with Mary Montague Sikes said...

This is an interesting concept. Sounds really mean for the author though because some people may stop reading not because they don't like the book but because something interrupts them and they never get back to it.

Your cat is super patient!

Mary Montague Sikes

M Pax said...

Aww. My cats loves those felt mice.

Not sure how I feel about it. Will have to mull it over. If it attracts a lot of readers, I'd want to be there.

Melissa Sugar said...

Hi, I've been away for a long time and wanted to stop by and say hello. I'm trying to ease back into blogging. I've really missed communicating with so many of ya'll.
I can't see Total BooX having any advantage for the author. As a reader, I would be way too tempted to try out one new book right after the other . The downside is that I would get stuck reading a million first or first and second chapters and the author would suffer financially . I don't like the idea . I often read more than one book at a time, but having to pay the price of the full book keeps me from downloading more than I can handle at one time and more than I need . Hope that made sense .

Johanna Garth said...

Hmmm...I don't love this model. It's like going to a restaurant and paying per bite, not having to pay the full price if you don't choose to finish your entre.

Of course, that would never happen because the profit model would be so out of whack that no one could make a living. Same for authors! We need to be able to eat too!!

Anonymous said...

I hadn't heard of Total BooX until now. There are definitely pros and cons to the concept. Pros - Readers may be more willing to try out more books from new authors. Readers aren't paying for books that they never get around to reading. Books aren't being returned for a full refund. Cons - Authors aren't getting paid the full price for their book. The stats may show lots of books being downloaded, but if they aren't being read or only partially read, it is affecting the authors income. Definitely something to keep an eye on.

Michael Di Gesu said...

Hi, L. Diane,

Interesting concept ... as a reader I like this idea, because many books I start an never finish. So it does appeal to me in this aspect... however, as a writer, it doesn't sound as wonderful. Of course, we writers want our readers to be happy and devour our books, but what if they don't? This does give them an out, but it also takes away from our revenue.

Since Amazon does feature first chapters on many books, a reader can certainly get a feel for the book whether they like it or not before purchasing... so As A WRITER, I don't love this.

In answer to your question about the blog hop, we are posting a comical, uplifting, and inspirational, story about cancer to be published in the anthology...

Joylene Nowell Butler said...

I like the way Mark said it. We can pass the book along to someone else. Plus, it scares me to think I'd have access to readers who couldn't get past my first few pages. Yikes, that would feel horrible.

Donna McDine said...

Hmmm, I echo many of the other comments. Not so sure this will be a win option for writers. Trying to keep up with technology is positively exhausting!

Anonymous said...

Great photos -- such a cool cat. Will Smashwords be distributing to Total Boox?

Sherry Ellis said...

Total Boox is an odd concept. I don't think I'd be interested in it, and I definitely think it's not good for authors.