I love the concept behind the Humble Indie Bundle, a collection of five computer games, all made by independent companies, bundled together in a pay-what-you-want deal (with money going to charity, too).
The “street value” of the games is around $80. Currently, the average buy price is just under $8. It’s not yet clear what percentage will go to the two charities involved, but the default option is that the money is split evenly in seven ways – the five developers and the two charities.
A Bit of Math
At first look, this seems like a bad deal for the developers – getting a dime on the dollar, in effect. Then again, as I type this, nearly 41,000 people have contributed at least a penny or more to reach that $8 average.
The games in question are not new, though I imagine they still sell. But 41K copies worth in a few days? I doubt that very much, even collectively.
Bundled Buzz
The individual games have fans, the developers have networks, and as an “event” they are reaching more than they would individually. Nearly 7,000 retweets and 12,000 Facebook shares have happened so far of just the post I linked. That’s surely a lot of new attention for these developers.
The downloads themselves are bound to make fans for the games and the companies, and they all have or will have other products to sell. In other words, this has the chance to have longer term effects, too.
I’d also note that many people who are putting in money are people who would never have bought these games individually – but the pay what you want price allows them to justify the decision: 8 bucks for 5 games is a steal but it’s still a deal for two.
Does It Transfer To Books?
There are many more twists and turns and nuances, but what I’m wondering is… could a major publisher or a few team up and do this with books? I see no reason why not, though major companies and “pay what you want” are not phrases that go naturally together.
Could a group of small houses or individuals who own their product – maybe just the e-rights – do this? Absolutely. And that is where I think it gets exciting.
Now, would it make sense? I think that depends on the strength of the networks, the reputation of the people/product… and how you define success.
Success?
I don’t know the startup costs of this event, but right now each developer and charity would be clearing around $46,000 dollars. The average price per game is $16, so this is the equivalent of nearly 3,000 direct sales of each game (and the event is not done – track it here).
Imagine you had a book out that was well known yet not still generating buzz. Would 3,000 sales be a lot in a short period? Seems to me it would.
I realize one event is not enough to form a conclusion, but I do think that as proof of concept goes, it’s interesting. There will be no real way to track to the longer term effects, either, but if one is hoping for more than one book/game/product, it seems likely that fans are being created.
All that said… do you see this as a viable path in any way? Does this only work because not everyone is doing it? Does it offer value to everyone? I’d be curious to hear your take.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
I think your take on it is pretty accurate. I would love to see it take off with books because I think it would get more books into kids’ hands.
For me, buying bundled software really hasn’t worked too well, as I am inevitably disappointed with the reality vs the hype. No MacHeist for me next time I swear!
.-= Book Chook´s last blog ..Let’s Eat Our Way to Literacy (1) =-.
One big difference between this and MacHeist is the “pay what you want” idea – riskier, for sure, but with the last MacHeist bundle there were a couple programs I knew I’d never want/use so the “deal” became less good (in my head, anyway). But if I coulda set my own price, I probably woulda bought in. Which way works better for the seller – important, indeed – is unclear, though.
.-= Greg Pincus´s last blog ..Bundling Bunches of Books? =-.
It’s an interesting idea, Greg, one I think would benefit the lesser-known or unpublished writers. I wonder how the approach would have to be different for books. Games have built in replay value that’s very high. Sure, we re-read our favorite books, but at a different attention level than gamers take.
Would you publish excerpts with a discount offer for the full story?
Is it e-publish only, or is there a physical component?
As more bundles sold would additional books/chapters/authors be unlocked?
How could you build buzz through social media?
Wow, my mind is spinning with possibilities. Great idea!
.-= Jim´s last blog ..NaPiBoWriWee, Days 3 & 4. =-.
I think you’re right that books and games are different and offer different “value,” but the overall concept should still work from format to format. The E vs. physical is a key question as is what would actually WORK in terms of generating enough excitement to make it worthwhile. In software, for example with MacHeist, they often unlock additional titles at certain levels, which definitely adds incentive. You need to build buzz SOMEHOW, and if you’re online and trying not to spend money… well… social media rocks at that. Of course, if you don’t have a good network or if you’re selling totally unknown products, I think that’s harder. If it were THAT easy to build buzz, the products wouldn’t be unknown!
Interesting to toy with the possibilities, though….
.-= Greg Pincus´s last blog ..Bundling Bunches of Books? =-.
Well, it’s interesting! I wonder what was drawing people to this particular promotion though. Like you said, it already had a fan base. Would that work for books that don’t? Hm. I don’t know.
But interesting,
e
I think the promotion worked because of a lot of factors – the games are well known and liked, the addition of charity made it easier to think of promoting it (hey – we’re doing good!), the value is high, it’s new, etc. The existing networks and fan bases are a key part, as is reputation. So while you probably couldn’t just sell five unheard of new books in a bundle and expect excitement… you could probably sell five unknown books by known writers in a bundle. Or one or two known quantities and a couple less well known. Or or or!
.-= Greg Pincus´s last blog ..Bundling Bunches of Books? =-.
I think short story compilations are an impotant piece of the puzzle when trying to figure out if this might translate to selling books. Often it’s a few well known authors, some lesser known ones, all put together around a theme and sold in a bundle. I think especially for e-books, the idea of bundling is fascinating, as is the pay what you feel it is worth concept…
Great topic to consider and discuss, Greg! Thanks,
Namaste, Lee
.-= Lee Wind´s last blog ..Rhythm and Blues – A Lesbian Teen Novel =-.
Scholastic does this in their own way, by bundling themed books together. Judging by how many students buy these bundles, it’s a successful method of purging paperbacks that would rather go unsold. I can’t see separate publishers coming together for this reason, unless the imprints belong to the same parent company.
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