Traditional publishers have always made box-sets for print books, and over the last few years, box-sets have become popular for ebook bundling too.
They can be a great opportunity for authors to collaborate to reach a wider audience, or generate more revenue from one sale with their own series or themed box-set.
Ebook box-sets are a real advantage for indie authors, but many authors haven't started using them yet, so here's why box-sets are so great and how you can create them yourself.
What are ebook box-sets or bundles?
The ebook box-set or bundle is one file containing multiple books, so there is only one purchase and download for the customer.
A boxset is not an anthology, which is usually a curated set of short stories or novellas on a specific topic, most of which will not have been published before, with a themed introduction to each.
There are a few different types of ebook box-set/bundle scenarios:
- Single author box-set containing multiple books in one series, priced at a discount compared to buying the individual books but still providing a good income for the author. For example, I have three-book boxsets for my ARKANE series and my London Crime Thriller trilogy, as well as a higher-priced nine-book boxset. These can be reduced for merchandising opportunities at iBooks and Kobo in particular.
- Single author box-set containing starter books from multiple series as an introduction to the author's work. Many authors give these away as a Starter Library in exchange for an email list signup, but some also sell them as a taster.
- Multi-author box-set sold at a massive discount in order to hit the New York Times or USA Today lists. For example, I was part of The Deadly Dozen, a 12 book boxset for 99c which hit both lists in March 2014.
- Multi-author box-set sold at a good price for income purposes at a site like StoryBundle.com which bypasses the main retail stores in order to provide higher income for the authors and give money to charity.
Why create an ebook box-set?
Box-sets represent amazing value for customers, as they get multiple books for a lower price, which is why they are so popular.
Binge consumption has become more common, with Netflix customers wanting whole series of TV shows, and book buyers wanting enough content to last more than a few hours. A box-set satisfies binge readers and they also end up remembering you because they've spent so much time with your words.
As Kristine Kathryn Rusch says:
“The best way to get noticed is by publishing enough that readers can binge for a weekend.”
Boxsets are easier to merchandize than single books because of discounting, and also a higher retail price means more income for the author and retailer. Kobo, iBooks and other stores don't have a $9.99 cap on 70% royalty and in fact, the majority of my book sales income from those stores is boxsets.
You can get a better return on paid advertising like BookBub Ads or Facebook Ads for boxsets, as you need fewer conversions for a higher income.
You can sell boxsets for higher prices, so you get more income per customer per transaction, even though overall the books are sold for less. You get more money up front rather than expecting the customer to buy all the books individually, which they might not do.
You already have the books available, so why not add another stream of income? Readers who buy boxsets are often a different sub-set to those who buy individual books, so why not appeal to both? You're leaving money on the table if you're not doing box-sets, especially if you're selling wide on Kobo and iBooks.
Pricing decisions
Pricing for box-sets will depend on your intent:
If you want to make income for the longer term, then you'll want to price at a discount compared to buying the books separately but still at a high enough price to make it worthwhile for you. For example, my nine-book box-set at Kobo is $19.99.
If you want to boost ranking and have a massive number of downloads, or you're aiming for the NY Times or USA Today lists, then put as many books in the boxset as possible and price low. Or start with a high price and then do a limited-time sale.
How to make your own single author box-set
Use Vellum to compile the books together into one file. It's super easy to drag and drop book files in. There are many other book formatting options, but Vellum makes everything much easier! Check it out at TheCreativePenn.com/vellum
You can also find my tutorial on how to use Vellum here.
Hire a graphic designer or cover designer to make a box-set cover. Get a 3D and a flat version, since iBooks only accepts the flat version and Kobo recommends the flat version for better sales, so it's good to have both.
Decide on the price and then publish in the same way you would usually.
How to make a multi-author box-set
If you want to do a boxset with multiple authors, you need to make things a bit more formal. Consider the following aspects.
Do you share a similar audience? Genre box-sets do well, and they are used less often in non-fiction and literary markets, so that might be an opportunity for you. Regardless of what you’re writing, consider which authors your books crossover with and work with them.
Rights and money. Whose publishing account will the box-set be loaded onto, who will get the royalty income and who will be in charge of all the money? You’ll need to pay for promotions and potentially other marketing, so make sure everyone knows what’s involved. These are the same issues faced with co-writing.
You can curate boxsets using BundleRabbit.com or Draft2Digital, which split the payments between the collaborators, so that could be an option rather than using one person to do the publishing work.
How will you split the promotion fairly? You need to divide the work between the group and keep communication simple and easy. Stay in touch and make sure everyone knows what is happening on which days. A highly coordinated promotional campaign will be needed if your aim is to hit any lists. A central shared Google Doc is a good start.
Clearly, a multi-author box-set is more complicated, but why not get started on a single author box-set if you have three books in a series or that are linked in some way?