Comments for The Fiction & Apps of Andrew Nicolle http://andrewnicolle.com Sat, 21 Jan 2012 05:38:53 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Comment on What Can Writers Learn From The App Store Gold Rush? by Andrew http://andrewnicolle.com/what-can-writers-learn-from-the-app-store-gold-rush/comment-page-1#comment-1683 Andrew Sat, 21 Jan 2012 05:38:53 +0000 http://andrewnicolle.com/?p=775#comment-1683 Thanks for the feedback, Lindsay. It's certainly interesting comparing the two markets and watching developments as they unfold. The only trouble is the market is changing so fast, it's hard to know what approach to take. The traditional "write, research markets, submit, and find an agent" routine isn't necessarily the best way these days. Interesting times! Thanks for the feedback, Lindsay. It’s certainly interesting comparing the two markets and watching developments as they unfold. The only trouble is the market is changing so fast, it’s hard to know what approach to take. The traditional “write, research markets, submit, and find an agent” routine isn’t necessarily the best way these days. Interesting times!

]]> Comment on What Can Writers Learn From The App Store Gold Rush? by Lindsay B http://andrewnicolle.com/what-can-writers-learn-from-the-app-store-gold-rush/comment-page-1#comment-1681 Lindsay B Sat, 21 Jan 2012 05:14:13 +0000 http://andrewnicolle.com/?p=775#comment-1681 Very thoughtful post, Andrew! I think the publishers are already figuring things out in the ebook world (I've seen them doing lots of sales of Book 1s from traditionally published authors in the last six months or so), and they're experimenting with price points and starting to be more competitive. I think it's getting more competitive even amongst indies, too, as there are so many out there now. Free is definitely a way to get people to try you, and in that sample or in that story/novel, you have an opportunity to turn a reader into a fan. For fans, authors aren't interchangeable, so the competition becomes irrelevant. Fans will go out of their way to get the latest books from their favorite authors, and some will pay a premium (i.e. buy hardbacks). There are lots of ways to stand out in the short run (snazzy cover art, for example), but in the end good storytelling and maybe something of a unique premise are key. (What's been odd up until now is that you didn't necessarily need those things to succeed in the Kindle Store! Just being the first to get in or the first to cut prices etc. was enough) Anyway, just stopping by to state the obvious. :P Very thoughtful post, Andrew! I think the publishers are already figuring things out in the ebook world (I’ve seen them doing lots of sales of Book 1s from traditionally published authors in the last six months or so), and they’re experimenting with price points and starting to be more competitive. I think it’s getting more competitive even amongst indies, too, as there are so many out there now.

Free is definitely a way to get people to try you, and in that sample or in that story/novel, you have an opportunity to turn a reader into a fan.

For fans, authors aren’t interchangeable, so the competition becomes irrelevant. Fans will go out of their way to get the latest books from their favorite authors, and some will pay a premium (i.e. buy hardbacks).

There are lots of ways to stand out in the short run (snazzy cover art, for example), but in the end good storytelling and maybe something of a unique premise are key. (What’s been odd up until now is that you didn’t necessarily need those things to succeed in the Kindle Store! Just being the first to get in or the first to cut prices etc. was enough)

Anyway, just stopping by to state the obvious. :P

]]> Comment on Story Tracker v1.8 update now available for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch by Tweets that mention Story Tracker v1.8 update now available for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch « The Fiction & Apps of Andrew Nicolle -- Topsy.com http://andrewnicolle.com/story-tracker-v1-8-update-now-available-for-iphone-ipad-and-ipod-touch/comment-page-1#comment-519 Tweets that mention Story Tracker v1.8 update now available for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch « The Fiction & Apps of Andrew Nicolle -- Topsy.com Wed, 23 Feb 2011 14:55:26 +0000 http://andrewnicolle.com/?p=466#comment-519 [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Andrew Nicolle, Bob Estes. Bob Estes said: RT @andrewnicolle New blog post - Story Tracker v1.8 update now available for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch: http://t.co/mSruizW [...] [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Andrew Nicolle, Bob Estes. Bob Estes said: RT @andrewnicolle New blog post – Story Tracker v1.8 update now available for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch: http://t.co/mSruizW [...]

]]> Comment on Story Tracker – A Year on the App Store by The Numbers Post | Cindy on the iPad http://andrewnicolle.com/story-tracker-a-year-on-the-app-store/comment-page-1#comment-168 The Numbers Post | Cindy on the iPad Sun, 28 Nov 2010 00:46:46 +0000 http://andrewnicolle.com/?p=309#comment-168 [...] Story Tracker : Nice post from Andrew, but unfortunately low sales. [...] [...] Story Tracker : Nice post from Andrew, but unfortunately low sales. [...]

]]> Comment on Story Tracker – A Year on the App Store by Andrew http://andrewnicolle.com/story-tracker-a-year-on-the-app-store/comment-page-1#comment-77 Andrew Thu, 02 Sep 2010 13:53:57 +0000 http://andrewnicolle.com/?p=309#comment-77 Update: the section on awaiting payments from the past year of worldwide sales is now out of date! Apple now sends a single payment for each month's sales over all regions. As of today I've been paid for sales over the past year :) On an administrative note, this blog gets a fair bit of comment spam. If you've posted a comment that hasn't appeared, it's possible the spam-filter ate it. You may want to try again but without too many links. Update: the section on awaiting payments from the past year of worldwide sales is now out of date! Apple now sends a single payment for each month’s sales over all regions. As of today I’ve been paid for sales over the past year :)

On an administrative note, this blog gets a fair bit of comment spam. If you’ve posted a comment that hasn’t appeared, it’s possible the spam-filter ate it. You may want to try again but without too many links.

]]> Comment on Story Tracker – A Year on the App Store by Luke http://andrewnicolle.com/story-tracker-a-year-on-the-app-store/comment-page-1#comment-66 Luke Fri, 20 Aug 2010 13:17:35 +0000 http://andrewnicolle.com/?p=309#comment-66 Love hearing other developer's stories. Thanks for posting this! Love hearing other developer’s stories. Thanks for posting this!

]]> Comment on Story Tracker – A Year on the App Store by Andrew http://andrewnicolle.com/story-tracker-a-year-on-the-app-store/comment-page-1#comment-65 Andrew Fri, 20 Aug 2010 04:04:00 +0000 http://andrewnicolle.com/?p=309#comment-65 Facebook Advertising was a bust. The fan page is a good way to keep existing users informed about new features and updates, though. Twitter seemed to work fairly well early on, but nowadays anyone following me would've already tried the app. Based on the hits to my website, I'd say writing forums are probably the most useful for getting the word out about my app. You still can't beat visibility on the App Store itself, though! Facebook Advertising was a bust. The fan page is a good way to keep existing users informed about new features and updates, though. Twitter seemed to work fairly well early on, but nowadays anyone following me would’ve already tried the app. Based on the hits to my website, I’d say writing forums are probably the most useful for getting the word out about my app. You still can’t beat visibility on the App Store itself, though!

]]> Comment on Story Tracker – A Year on the App Store by Jason http://andrewnicolle.com/story-tracker-a-year-on-the-app-store/comment-page-1#comment-64 Jason Thu, 19 Aug 2010 15:05:39 +0000 http://andrewnicolle.com/?p=309#comment-64 Thanks for sharing your story, this is very interesting. Have you been tracking your marketing to see what works the best--facebook vs. twitter vs. forums? Jason www.iphoneflashcards.com Thanks for sharing your story, this is very interesting. Have you been tracking your marketing to see what works the best–facebook vs. twitter vs. forums?

Jason
http://www.iphoneflashcards.com

]]> Comment on Story Tracker – Six Months on the App Store by Paul.. http://andrewnicolle.com/story-tracker-six-months-on-the-app-store/comment-page-1#comment-51 Paul.. Mon, 12 Jul 2010 03:26:06 +0000 http://andrewnicolle.com/?p=230#comment-51 After having one game out for a few months at $1.99 we've just experimented with dropping the price to $0.99 (sales were low by this point so there wasn't a lot to 'break' with the experiment). There's definitely been a reasonably big uptick in sales since we dropped the price, but it's not immediately obvious if that's just the natural effect you get when there's any form of update (to the price or the app itself) or the price alone. We're currently working on a new game - more of an arcade pick up and play this time - and whilst a higher launch price would be favourable, given what's happening on the market right now we will almost certainly launch it at 0.99c for the paid version. After having one game out for a few months at $1.99 we’ve just experimented with dropping the price to $0.99 (sales were low by this point so there wasn’t a lot to ‘break’ with the experiment). There’s definitely been a reasonably big uptick in sales since we dropped the price, but it’s not immediately obvious if that’s just the natural effect you get when there’s any form of update (to the price or the app itself) or the price alone.

We’re currently working on a new game – more of an arcade pick up and play this time – and whilst a higher launch price would be favourable, given what’s happening on the market right now we will almost certainly launch it at 0.99c for the paid version.

]]> Comment on Story Tracker – Six Months on the App Store by Ryan Mitchell http://andrewnicolle.com/story-tracker-six-months-on-the-app-store/comment-page-1#comment-24 Ryan Mitchell Wed, 31 Mar 2010 18:39:02 +0000 http://andrewnicolle.com/?p=230#comment-24 I wish you all luck. As with any market better products sale better. My marketing experiment is about to fire off April 1. I will see if it actually effects sales. As far as other platforms.. http://larvalabs.com/blog/iphone/android-market-sales/ Not exactly a motivator to put in extra time in multiple markets. My app requires hefty openGL-ES acceleration so I am limited to the iDevices from the start ;) Good luck! http://ryanmitchellgames.wordpress.com I wish you all luck. As with any market better products sale better. My marketing experiment is about to fire off April 1. I will see if it actually effects sales.

As far as other platforms..

http://larvalabs.com/blog/iphone/android-market-sales/

Not exactly a motivator to put in extra time in multiple markets. My app requires hefty openGL-ES acceleration so I am limited to the iDevices from the start ;)

Good luck!

http://ryanmitchellgames.wordpress.com

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