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I made six figures on clips4sale alone...I want to share my knowledge
Too many creepers contacted me. Sorry, gals.
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Re: I made six figures on clips4sale alone...I want to share my knowledge
Nice! And in only one year too with just two stores, that is fantastic.
Some things Id be curious to hear your take on:
-How do you store your mass of files (video content edits, cutting room floor edits, customer files, trend tracking, earnings, etc)
-What role, if any, did offline advertisements play in your store(s)?
-Related to advertising, piracy: worth chasing after, waste of working time to track, or useful word-of-mouth / advertising strategy
-Evolution of the gear you used as your store grew - like hardware, software, cameras, and storage devices. As in, how frequently did you upgrade.
I dont have direct specific questions but those are things Im often curious about with others and would definitely look forward to reading in your book.
Keep us posted when the book is available? I'll definitely buy it!
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Re: I made six figures on clips4sale alone...I want to share my knowledge
That's so ironic, because I was literally looking at your store a couple days ago and wondering what your secrets were lol.
- Do you think your breast implants or long tongue played a part in the sales?
- Do you think working with other models helped your sales enough to be really worth it?
- Do you think being a burning angel and being signed with an a major adult agency helped for your exposure, and if its important to see 6 figure results on c4s?
- How big was your following before you started c4s? What about in your top-selling categories- did you already have a following before c4s?
- How many years had you been in the business before you started c4s?
- How often you promote and forums, how you promote, etc?
- How often you update per day (# of clips), and do you put the same clip in multiple categories?
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Re: I made six figures on clips4sale alone...I want to share my knowledge
Wow! You're so gorgeous! And fuckin SEXY!!!! So awesome and congrats you make a killing on your stores!
I see you show your face while nude/topless and suck/play with realistic toys and real cock. What percentage of your sales do you think that showing these things help boost your sales? I show nudity in my videos but never show my face in the same frame because I want to limit any awkward screenshots that may affect my future in other/vanilla careers when I retire from this biz. I also don't play with realistic toys in a sexual manner. Do you think it limits my earning potential? Thanks so much! xo -DD
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Re: I made six figures on clips4sale alone...I want to share my knowledge
Wow! You're so gorgeous! And fuckin SEXY!!!! So awesome and congrats you make a killing on your stores!
I see you show your face while nude/topless and suck/play with realistic toys and real cock. What percentage of your sales do you think that showing these things help boost your sales? I show nudity in my videos but never show my face in the same frame because I want to limit any awkward screenshots that may affect my future in other/vanilla careers when I retire from this biz. I also don't play with realistic toys in a sexual manner. Do you think it limits my earning potential? Thanks so much! xo -DD
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Re: I made six figures on clips4sale alone...I want to share my knowledge
Wow, your content is amazing! I had a go at having a Clips4 store but found I sucked and it seemed a lot of work for little return, especially when you count in editing time etc It worked out to be 60cents an hour when I was a newbie doing daily uploads. Anyway I'd like to give it another crack but have a few hurdles to get over before i can even think of piching up a camera.
My main failings are:
I don't have the confidence to do dominatrix/ridicule or anything assretive and that seems to be a common theme in all clips.
I'm not a talkative person, I don't say much simply because nothing comes into my head that is worth saying out loud.
Customers want mini-movies with a storyline and I struggle to make a subject into a story of 3-5 minutes
Without the above I was not able to stretch categories like teeth brushing or foot rubbing into a mini-movie.
The questions I have is how to come up with storylines and scripts, should I hire a bundle of porn movies or haunt other Clips stores for ideas on storylines, and more importantly what to say since talking isn't something that comes easily to me?
Can/should I "fake till I make it" with confidence needed to do assertive, ridicule, domination type clips?
Thanks, I think it's awesome that somone who is doing well is willing to share their knowledge, it's a rare quality these days.
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Re: I made six figures on clips4sale alone...I want to share my knowledge
I'm glad to see such a positive response! I'll answer everyone's questions here briefly, and make sure to include more in-depth information in the book. I'm about halfway through a first draft right now and I'm hoping to have the book in print before the end of the year. When it's ready for purchase, I'll be sure to publicize it here on Stripperweb, so keep your eyes peeled.
Starting from the top:
-How do you store your mass of files (video content edits, cutting room floor edits, customer files, trend tracking, earnings, etc)
-What role, if any, did offline advertisements play in your store(s)?
-Related to advertising, piracy: worth chasing after, waste of working time to track, or useful word-of-mouth / advertising strategy
-Evolution of the gear you used as your store grew - like hardware, software, cameras, and storage devices. As in, how frequently did you upgrade.
- I store my raw footage on 2 terabyte drives. I label each file by date and a brief description of the contents. Example: "sissytraining_103012". This helps me find what I'm looking for if I have to dig into the archives for old footage. I also back-up all my files. I have quite a few huge drives around the house, and they aren't cheap, but it's the best way to make sure my material is safe. I end up using old material quite a bit on compilations, or if I want to re-make a finished video for whatever reason (such as improved editing skills over time).
- I do very little offline advertising. 95% of my advertising is done through social media. I've been on a few radio shows for Spice and Playboy radio, but I didn't notice much improvement in my traffic or sales because of them. Social media is definitely the way to go.
- Piracy is the profit-killer. I know some girls see it as publicity, but I'm of the mind that it's nearly impossible to convert a tube site watcher into a paying customer. I take some time every two weeks to hit up every tube site I know. I search for my name "Larkin Love" as well as a few of my identifying features - "tattoos" "big boobs" "alt" "tongue fetish" etc. I've never had a problem with getting a tube site to take down the offending video if I tell them it's mine and show them where it can be found on my clip store. Luckily, most of my material is fetish content, and less appealing to pirates, so it hasn't been a huge problem for me yet.
- I started with a $1000 Canon HD camcorder, a Rode piggyback mic, a fast computer with 8G of ram and a AMD 3.1 GHz eight-core processor. The fast computer is the cat's meow when processing HD video. You don't have to have it, but it will make editing and processing a billion times easier. But one doesn't necessarily need stuff that fancy to get a store off the ground. I've successfully made and sold videos that I shot with a $100 HD webcam and edited with free software. Making clips can be done on the cheap. I just don't recommend doing it that way long term, or in great volume. The thing I've upgraded the most is my LIGHTING. I have a collection of 3 softboxes, 2 fills with umbrella reflectors, a 1000 LED panel fill light, and a camera-mounted LED light panel. I plan on getting even more lights in the future. Lighting is the major difference between good videos and great videos. Good lighting will double your sales.
Do you think your breast implants or long tongue played a part in the sales?
- Do you think working with other models helped your sales enough to be really worth it?
- Do you think being a burning angel and being signed with an a major adult agency helped for your exposure, and if its important to see 6 figure results on c4s?
- How big was your following before you started c4s? What about in your top-selling categories- did you already have a following before c4s?
- How many years had you been in the business before you started c4s?
- How often you promote and forums, how you promote, etc?
- How often you update per day (# of clips), and do you put the same clip in multiple categories?
- My large breasts and long tongue are moneymakers for me because I put them in the forefront. I make them defining features of who I am as a performer. The key to Clips4sale success is to figure out what your defining, exceptional features are, and play them up as much as possible. Everyone has something about themselves that is unique and special. Have really big feet? Play it up. Natural redhead? Play it up. BBW with great skin? Play it up. You can use anything really - your body features, your voice, your racial or ethnic background, or even something external, like the clothing you wear or makeup you use. Even the most "plane jane" girl could become known for her perfectly applied red lipstick, or vintage lingerie, or latex panties, or collection of cowboy hats, or propensity for mummifying herself in saran wrap.
- Working with other models can be very worthwhile. However, the other model needs to be professional and on top of her game. Two-model shoots are a great way to waste time if the shoot turns into a social visit. I also don't recommend paying models to work for you. Instead, find another model with a Clips4sale and offer to do some videos on a content-trade basis. There are different ways to work out a content trade arrangement, and I'll make sure to cover that in the book.
- A porn following is not necessary for clip sale success. I know several major earners on Clips4sale who have never done mainstream porn at all and make as much as I do, if not more. A porn career can enhance exposure, and is a worthwhile method of advertisement if you're up for it, but it's not going to make or break a store.
- The only category in which I had an online following before Clips4sale was tongue fetish. I have quite probably the most famous female tongue on the internet. Videos of my tongue have been going viral for years. Google "larkin tongue" and you'll see what I mean. Aside from that, though, I had to generate all my own buzz when I started making clips.
- I had been in mainstream porn for one year before I started selling clips. I was an extremely unsuccessful mainstream porn actress. I barely made enough to live on. I lost a lot of gigs because of my tattoos. Producers were afraid to film me, for fear that I was "unmarketable."
- I promote every single day. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Tumblr are my primary avenues of promotion. I also use a few fetish-specific forums to promote. For example: tongueshow.xxxfaster.net
- I update with new content every single day. Usually I split that content into 4-6 updates and spread them out over the day with a few hours in between. For two stores, this translates into 14 new videos/56 updates a week. Don't let that number scare you. It isn't as hard as it sounds to achieve that, and I will cover some tips and tricks in my book. This is the most critical part of promotion. about 80% of my clip stores' traffic comes from clips4sale itself. Every time you update, your store pops up on the front page of the site. Yes, I cross-post videos in multiple categories.
I see you show your face while nude/topless and suck/play with realistic toys and real cock. What percentage of your sales do you think that showing these things help boost your sales? I show nudity in my videos but never show my face in the same frame because I want to limit any awkward screenshots that may affect my future in other/vanilla careers when I retire from this biz. I also don't play with realistic toys in a sexual manner. Do you think it limits my earning potential? Thanks so much! xo -DD
- If you don't show your face, you're at an extreme disadvantage. Customers want to see your face. Honestly, I think hiding one's face to protect your identity is very silly. There are a million and one ways to obscure your identity without keeping your head out of frame. If you wear a wig and use makeup to alter your appearance, you can appear as a very different person on camera. You can also do things like add or subtract glasses, or even wear a mask or costume. Superhero fetish is HUGE. The thing most likely to get you "busted" in the real world is bragging about what you do to friends and family. Loose lips sink ships.
- You do not have to be nude to make great clip sales. If you are talented in a particular fetish niche, you can still bank. Mina Thorne is a good example. She's a fantastic dominatrix and a big-volume clip producer. She wears lingerie, but never ever gets completely nude. Her clip store is almost always ranked in the top 50 stores. More often than mine, in fact!
- You do not have to use sex toys at all to make money on clips4sale. If you delve into fetish, you will use many other props - many of them seemingly innocent.
- All of that said, showing nudity will increase potential clip sales. People buy this material to jerk off. Even in a straight up fetish clip, nudity is the icing on the cake. I can do the same balloon fetish clip twice over - once with topless nudity and once without - and the version with bare tits will sell much better.
My main failings are:
I don't have the confidence to do dominatrix/ridicule or anything assretive and that seems to be a common theme in all clips.
I'm not a talkative person, I don't say much simply because nothing comes into my head that is worth saying out loud.
Customers want mini-movies with a storyline and I struggle to make a subject into a story of 3-5 minutes
Without the above I was not able to stretch categories like teeth brushing or foot rubbing into a mini-movie.
Addressing your failings
- Not every clip is a domination clip. I have two clip stores. One features fetish and hardcore content without a domination element, the other is strictly femdom. They make almost equal amounts of money. If domination doesn't feel natural, don't do it. You could also consider playing submissive roles.
- Talking on camera is a skill that comes with practice. When in doubt, describe what you're doing/seeing/feeling. Slow down the action. Perform whatever it is you're doing very slowly and describe every single moment in great detail. This works for everything from hardcore sex to cake-sitting.
- If you need ideas for storylines, go to Literotica.com and read some of the free erotica available there. The content ranges from pretty good to awful, but you can at borrow the general idea from even the worst doggerel out there. You can find stories there featuring nearly every considerable fetish and sex practice.
I hope my answers are helpful. Please don't hesitate to ask more questions. And again, I'll make sure to cover these topics in great detail with many examples in my book. Thanks guys!
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Re: I made six figures on clips4sale alone...I want to share my knowledge
Thank you. That was very helpful!
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Re: I made six figures on clips4sale alone...I want to share my knowledge
First of all I have to say you are so beautiful!
Congratulations on all your success it is obvious you worked very hard and it paid off. I look forward to when your book comes out.
(I know you said print but I hope you have a kindle edition or e-book too!)
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Re: I made six figures on clips4sale alone...I want to share my knowledge
Oh, I did have a question too. Do you feel like it's really important to have separate stores for different fetishes?
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Re: I made six figures on clips4sale alone...I want to share my knowledge
How many clips do you need to upload to a store/studio for it to be listed on the front page as "Recently Updated"?
What file formats do you post your clips in?
Which formats do you find sell best?
Which resolution/aspect ratio do you post your clips in? (640x480, 1280x720, 1440x1080... ?)
Thank you for sharing your info!!! And I'd also like to say that it would be awesome if you could offer your book as an ebook.
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Re: I made six figures on clips4sale alone...I want to share my knowledge
I have a question for those of you who prefer ebooks - which file format is most popular? I don't like ebooks myself, so I don't know what to create for maximum compatibility. I know there are a few possible formats. What reader are you guys using?
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Re: I made six figures on clips4sale alone...I want to share my knowledge
Quote:
Originally Posted by
larkinlove
I have a question for those of you who prefer ebooks - which file format is most popular? I don't like ebooks myself, so I don't know what to create for maximum compatibility. I know there are a few possible formats. What reader are you guys using?
I prefer print books too, but a bunch of my friends really like ebooks and I know that you'll make a hell of a lot more money if you also offer your book that way. People can buy it immediately - so it appeals to impulse buyers, and there's no waiting for it to arrive in the mail (or get lost in the mail). Also no shipping costs.
Amazon.com has a good self-publishing setup: http://www.amazon.com/gp/seller-acco...opic=200260520 I don't know much about any others though, but I know they're out there.
The two most popular formats are azw (amazon/kindle) and epub: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebook#Formats
I was originally really annoyed at amazon for only offering ebooks in their kindle format, but they now offer free software and apps for computers/laptops and mobile devices: http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.htm...d_i=1000426311
So you no longer have to buy a kindle to read kindle ebooks.
Self publishing through amazon will get you a ton of traffic and sales (much like c4s), but I don't know what kind of limitations they may have regarding offering your book on other sites in other formats. A year ago I might have suggested avoiding them, but now that they offer kindle apps for other devices I think it'd be a good way to go. Plus you can self publish in regular print format too: https://www.createspace.com/Products/Book/
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Re: I made six figures on clips4sale alone...I want to share my knowledge
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Pippi_Hicks
I prefer print books too, but a bunch of my friends really like ebooks and I know that you'll make a hell of a lot more money if you also offer your book that way. People can buy it immediately - so it appeals to impulse buyers, and there's no waiting for it to arrive in the mail (or get lost in the mail). Also no shipping costs.
Amazon.com has a good self-publishing setup:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/seller-acco...opic=200260520 I don't know much about any others though, but I know they're out there.
The two most popular formats are azw (amazon/kindle) and epub:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebook#Formats
I was originally really annoyed at amazon for only offering ebooks in their kindle format, but they now offer free software and apps for computers/laptops and mobile devices:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.htm...d_i=1000426311
So you no longer have to buy a kindle to read kindle ebooks.
Self publishing through amazon will get you a ton of traffic and sales (much like c4s), but I don't know what kind of limitations they may have regarding offering your book on other sites in other formats. A year ago I might have suggested avoiding them, but now that they offer kindle apps for other devices I think it'd be a good way to go. Plus you can self publish in regular print format too:
https://www.createspace.com/Products/Book/
I feel like her book would get ripped off and you would find sellers stealing it for $.99.
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Re: I made six figures on clips4sale alone...I want to share my knowledge
Quote:
Originally Posted by
LAChloe
I feel like her book would get ripped off and you would find sellers stealing it for $.99.
I've heard of that happening on amazon with the free books and the $.99 ones, but not the higher priced stuff - and I would seriously hope that she'd price her book much higher than that.
@larkinlove: If you're concerned about that happening, go through a publishing house. Cleis Press puts out excellent stuff (http://www.cleispress.com/features/submission.php) and they also offer their catalog in ebook format. In this day and age though, pretty much any publishing house is going to want to offer your work in ebook format. The difference between doing it yourself and going through a house is that they'll handle the legal battle if you find that someone has plagiarized your work.
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Re: I made six figures on clips4sale alone...I want to share my knowledge
Quote:
Originally Posted by
larkinlove
I label each file by date and a brief description of the contents. Example: "sissytraining_103012". This helps me find what I'm looking for if I have to dig into the archives for old footage.
Genius!
I know this is a super silly thing to ask for, but I'd love to hear everything about your file management organization system in your upcoming book. The time I waste through badly organized video files is almost embarassing to admit.
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Re: I made six figures on clips4sale alone...I want to share my knowledge
I honestly would not recommend going through a publishing house. You can do everything yourself quite easily, and make much larger royalties. Use Kindle Direct Publishing, Smashwords to distribute the work to various other outlets, and Createspace for the actual physical book. Amazon will not "own" your book, you can publish it wherever else you like unless you enroll it in KDP select.
Your ebook may get pirated but so do clips... it's the same sort of thing. Ask nicely for it to be removed and sites usually oblige.
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Re: I made six figures on clips4sale alone...I want to share my knowledge
Amazing and wow!! Congratulations and thank you so much for sharing. I can't wait for your book, too.
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Re: I made six figures on clips4sale alone...I want to share my knowledge
Thank you everyone for the helpful ebook advice. I probably will NOT go that route, because of the piracy problems. Yes, it's the consumer's preference, but I'd hate to see my work become valueless in a matter of moments thanks to piracy. You could argue "clips can be pirated, too" which is true. However, the going price for my book will be about the same price as some of my clips (~$20) and require MANY MANY MANY more hours of writing, research, editing, formatting, you get the idea. If one of my clips gets all over the internet, I'm out a maximum of 2 hours of work. I don't know how long it will take to finish my book, but I've easily put 40 hours into it at this point, including research. I still have a long way to go. I'm far more protective of the book. I do feel that the information is worth the time value - but only if I am compensated.
Another avenue I'm looking at is informational DVD's, either instead of the book, or as an addition to the book. I think they would be an excellent way to show exactly what I'm talking about. I could use capture software to show exactly what I'm doing on my computer, and wouldn't have to resort to black and white stills for tutorials. I could show lighting tips in real time. I can show what my sets look like. It would be easy to include some sample clips (or portions of clips) for those of you who need a reference. Any have thoughts on this? (Yes, I know DVDs can be pirated as well. I'm just considering my options for presenting the information.)
Answering a few more questions . . .
Oh, I did have a question too. Do you feel like it's really important to have separate stores for different fetishes?
Not necessarily. I have two stores - one that is catch-all fetish and hardcore, one that is strictly Femdom. I made that separation because I've found that customers either find Femdom to be a huge turn on or a huge turn OFF. That way, I could direct people to the appropriate material for their needs without scaring them off or boring them to death.
I know this is a super silly thing to ask for, but I'd love to hear everything about your file management organization system in your upcoming book. The time I waste through badly organized video files is almost embarassing to admit.
Not silly at all! I'll be sure to cover it. I have a pretty good system that works for me. It saves me oodles of time. Took me a few tries to find the best way to go about it.
How many clips do you need to upload to a store/studio for it to be listed on the front page as "Recently Updated"?
What file formats do you post your clips in?
Which formats do you find sell best?
Which resolution/aspect ratio do you post your clips in? (640x480, 1280x720, 1440x1080... ?)
- You need 10 clips to be considered a full fledged store and begin taking credit card orders. After that, every time you update your store, it will pop up on the front page as "Recently Updated," as well as in the "Recently Updated" section on the category page under which you've designated said video.
- I post my clips in both WMV and MP4 formats, in 1280 X 720, 640 X 480, and 320 x 240 (mp4 only) resolutions.
- Usually HD sells the best. If you have limited production time, focus on HD versions of videos.
Thank you everyone for all the helpful publishing information. Any more tips on publishing (print or ebook) are always welcome - particularly first-hand experience.
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Re: I made six figures on clips4sale alone...I want to share my knowledge
I have an idea. Maybe instead of the DVDs, which I know would be a hassle, you could have a website dedicated to the book where you could have a forum and maybe some type of membership area where you could release videos that only members could watch. I wouldn't mind paying a reasonable fee for something like this in addition to the book if I knew it would increase my sales and there was an active community and the information was kept up to date, etc.
I know we have a C4S thread here but I feel like there is still room for something like this. Maybe you could also have some kind of software or organization tools to track sales, what is doing well for us, maybe even info about html or premade templates to use in our stores? There are a lot of possibilities with something like that. Something like C4S really needs accurate up to date info because things change and it would be a hassle to have to update something like a DVD I think.
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Re: I made six figures on clips4sale alone...I want to share my knowledge
Here's another thought... why not set up a separate studio on c4s and use it to sell tutorial clips?
I like the idea of being able to watch a tutorial on making videos compared to just trying to learn the info with black and white pictures - that's how I figured out my editing software.
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Re: I made six figures on clips4sale alone...I want to share my knowledge
Quote:
Originally Posted by
larkinlove
- You need 10 clips to be considered a full fledged store and begin taking credit card orders. After that, every time you update your store, it will pop up on the front page as "Recently Updated," as well as in the "Recently Updated" section on the category page under which you've designated said video.
Thank you! I recently started operating a c4s studio for the dungeon where I do pro-domme work, and while we're set for taking credit cards I'd been trying to figure out how their update criteria worked. Does it only take uploading one new clip to be listed under "Recently Updated"?
Also, do you use their future activation option when you upload clips? And if yes, do you like it/does it work for you?
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Re: I made six figures on clips4sale alone...I want to share my knowledge
Quote:
Originally Posted by
larkinlove
Thank you everyone for the helpful ebook advice. I probably will NOT go that route, because of the piracy problems. Yes, it's the consumer's preference, but I'd hate to see my work become valueless in a matter of moments thanks to piracy. You could argue "clips can be pirated, too" which is true. However, the going price for my book will be about the same price as some of my clips (~$20) and require MANY MANY MANY more hours of writing, research, editing, formatting, you get the idea. If one of my clips gets all over the internet, I'm out a maximum of 2 hours of work. I don't know how long it will take to finish my book, but I've easily put 40 hours into it at this point, including research. I still have a long way to go. I'm far more protective of the book. I do feel that the information is worth the time value - but only if I am compensated.
I'm not sure piracy would pose much of a risk to your bottom line. The vast majority of print books now have Kindle editions. And I don't think the average reader wants to bother looking around for pirated versions when they can simply purchase an ebook with one click. I have a Kindle and I make a ton of impulse buys. I'm not saying that piracy isn't a problem of course, but I think you'll lose out on tons of potential profit by focusing on print only. The profit margin is also much higher with ebooks than printed books, obviously.
I've been self-publishing erotica on Amazon for about seven months now, so I'm somewhat experienced, if not a little biased towards ebooks since I don't actually have anything for sale in print (yet!). I don't worry about piracy. I figure that those who purposely go looking for pirated copies would never become my paying customers anyway.
Of course, it's up to you to decide what you're most comfortable with. I will definitely buy your book either way! It sounds awesome.
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Re: I made six figures on clips4sale alone...I want to share my knowledge
Great thread. Kudos to you for your planning, execution, and resultant well-earned success.
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Re: I made six figures on clips4sale alone...I want to share my knowledge
I think frequent updating is the biggest key to making money on c4s. The more you update, the more your store is in front of customers' faces, and that translates to more traffic and more sales. When I update more, I make a lot more money. When I update less, I make a lot less money. That has been by far the biggest factor I've noticed. Hence, as soon as I get my upcoming move done etc, I'm going to dive back into more production. I've been slacking on that far too much lately.
I'm curious what times of day seem to work best for releasing on c4s. I have experimented with this but haven't tracked it enough to get good data.
Oh and I like ebooks. Printed books take up way too much space!!! Let me get it on my kindle please!