Free serialized audiobook debuts in print on NYT Best Seller list
Old thinking: If you give away a version of your book, no one will pay you to write:
New thinking: The print version of Scott Sigler’s Contagious hit #33 on the New York Times Best Sellers list last Thursday. And yes, he’s giving away the serialized audio version for free.
The last 18 months or so has seen the death of several old thinking assumptions about the publishing industry. It’s getting so that we’re not talking about isolated edge cases, but more a consistent path towards success. We’ve seen authors surge ahead of well-promoted and well-funded books on Amazon.com. Several authors have been given print contracts for their previously-released-in-audio-for-free books. A few authors are being paid to work on screen plays. And dozens more have seen an increase in their audience from their new media efforts. And all those authors shared a common ploy: they gave away a serialized audiobook version of their tale.
But the breakout success is Scott Sigler. Yes, many have called him so for some time now, but the boy just keeps on killing it. This latest achievement is quite the milestone — for him and the rest of us.
But I don’t want to leave you with the impression that putting up a free serialized audiobook here on Podiobooks.com is the ticket to success. It’s part of that, for sure. But there’s a lot more work to do. Ask Scott or any of the other authors who have seen significant success. It’s not easy. But it’s nice to know that a path has been blazed. Who wants to follow?
Listen to Contagious. Then go out and buy it in print for those friends of yours that don’t listen to audiobooks.
January 11th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
I’m not completely sure why Sigler is more popular than Lowel or Hutchins and others, but I think he’s doing a lot of promotion on his own, and therein lies the difference.
January 11th, 2009 at 12:25 pm
[...] Go to the author’s original blog: Podiobooker » Blog Archive » Free serialized audiobook debuts in … [...]
January 12th, 2009 at 7:01 pm
John, I’m not sure why you mean by “more popular than Hutchins or Lowell” or why you even bring that up. Hutchins hasn’t had a book on the market yet. In 2009, he has two (PERSONAL EFFECTS and 7TH SON) and he’s going to sell a ton of books. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him on the NY Times list as well. As far as I know, Nathan doesn’t have any books in bookstores yet. When he does, I bet it’s going to sell like hotcakes.
January 12th, 2009 at 8:36 pm
[...] major success in traditional media is very cool. You can find the full article over at the Podiobooks blog. Posted in Books, New Media, [...]
January 13th, 2009 at 5:29 am
The various successes of those authors are luck of the draw like anything else. I think Scott has been at it a little longer than most. J.C. HAS been picked up by St. Martin’s Press. Nate’s road to success is a little more complicated because he writes a book in just a few months, so he’s been able to put out 5 books in the span it would take many writers to put out just one or two. He’s wildly popular and I’m reasonably sure he’ll get picked up eventually.
Also, everyone keep in mind (at least for Scott’s books) that there’s an audio version available to purchase of both Infected and Contagious from Random House and available on Amazon.com. I buy both versions just to support him and listen to the CDs at work.
Happy reading and listening!
January 18th, 2009 at 2:49 am
Ah, didn’t realized they hadn’t published. Congrats and all.
January 20th, 2009 at 7:52 pm
scott is a very talented writer, podiobooks has just let more people experience this.
January 21st, 2009 at 11:49 am
Resistance is futile. All Hail the FDO. Of course, I had no self-control and finished reading Contagious, so I’ll have to see how Scott reads it…
[Incidentally, I'd buy a Hutchins of Lowell book the day it goes into preorder.]
January 29th, 2009 at 9:04 am
[...] know that Scott hit the NY Times Best Seller list a few weeks back. Recently, he was interviewed by fellow podiobook author Travis Heermann. The text [...]
February 28th, 2009 at 2:42 am
[...] Last week, authors Seth Harwood and Scott Sigler showed just how helpful they can be. Both are successful podcast novelists, with both having landed publishing deals after making serialized free audioboook versions of their work available to the masses. And in Scott’s case, harnessing the power of new media and social media helped him get on the New York Times Best Seller’s list. [...]