Traditional publishers have always made box-sets for print books, and over the last few years, they have become popular for ebook bundling, rising high in the bestseller lists as customers snap up the deals, boosted by BookBub and other promotions.
Ebook box-sets are a real advantage for indie authors, but many authors are still hesitating, 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.
- Single author box-set containing multiple books in one series, priced at a discount to buying the individual books but still a good income for the author. Example: My ARKANE 8 book boxset at iBooks, or my London Crime Thriller trilogy on Amazon. These can also be reduced for easier merchandising.
- Single author box-set containing starter books from multiple series as an introduction to the author's work. Many authors give these away in exchange for an email list signup.
- Multi-author box-set sold at a good price for income purposes e.g. StoryBundle.com where I was just part of a 10 author premium writing bundle that completely bypassed the usual online bookstores and made us all some good extra money.
It's also not to be confused with 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.
Why create an ebook box-set?
- 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 indie superstar 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 merchandise than single books because of discounting, and also a higher retail price means more income for the author and retailer. You can also sell them on Kobo, iBooks and other stores that don't have a $9.99 cap on prices, so I have a 7 book box-set on Kobo and an 8-book boxset on iBooks.
- You can sell boxsets for higher prices so you get a higher 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 single 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 aim:
- If you want to make income for the longer term, then you'll want to price at a discount to buying the books separately but still at a high enough price to make it worthwhile for you. For example, my 7 book box-set at Kobo is $14.99
- 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 as possible and price as low as possible e.g. 99c. Or start at the 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 and then compile into one file. There are many other book formatting options, but Vellum makes everything much easier!
- Hire a graphic designer/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 as usual.
How to make a multi-author box-set
- 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 – more on practical collaboration issues in this interview with J. Thorn. The book used in a box-set could also be banned from other types of promos at the same time e.g. KDP Select, Nook First or BookBub, so be careful with which books are used.
- How will you split 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 what days, especially if your aim is to hit any lists, since a highly coordinated promotional campaign will be needed for this. A central 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 3 books in a series or that are linked in some way.
Have you tried box-sets as an author? or as a reader? What are your opinions and lessons learned? Please share your comments below.
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1 2 3 4 Next »Fabulous post, Joanna. I've been thinking about creating a boxset of my nonfiction, social media marketing books for authors and now I have more incentive to do so. Thanks for always leading the way.
Informative, as usual.
I haven't gotten into any multi-author boxed sets yet, but I'm open to it! (Gritty contemporary YA or mystery/suspense, if anyone reading is interested...)
I have a boxed set for my Breaking the Pattern series (3 volume)
I don't yet have one for my Between the Cracks series, of which 3 volumes are out so far, but 2 more are still to be published
I'll have another series bundle late this year, when I have a 3 book series coming out, each to be released in quick succession.
I have also done a twist on your "first in series" option, which is a bundle of stand alone books. I have done a bundle of four YA stand alone books with female protagonists (Dark is Deepest) and a bundle of three YA stand alone books with male protagonists (A Single Soul). I am also planning to do one in August that will be a bundle of mystery/suspense stand alones.
I think bundles are a great idea. Give the buyer a good deal. Add another product to your line without a lot of extra work. It's win-win!
Joanna, what timing--I was just thinking of doing this! I'm planning on boxing my three standalones together, which I think will work because the tone/voice/theme is very similar from one to the next, and there's no particular sequence to them. Since they're not a series, though, what kind of "artwork" would represent three different books? (Obviously each book already has its own cover) And where does one find a "box set" designer? That sounds like a very specific skill set. Is 99Designs always the way to go for stuff like this?
Just search for boxsets on Amazon or one of the other stores and then take screenprints of designs you like - they are mostly conceptual. Yes, you can use 99 Designs but any kind of graphic designer would be able to do this kind of boxset cover.
I have two "unrelated" boxed sets right now. The individual books have quite different covers, and I didn't want a hodge-podge for the boxed set graphic.
I looked at the common visuals, tones, and themes for the individual books. Selected a nice wraparound cover image and title for the boxed set that reflected those similarities.
How do you create a box set if you don't use Scrivener? Can you just build it in Word (the only way I know how to create an ebook) as if it's one big ebook? This is the only thing I can think of, but I feel like I've heard somewhere the books needed to be in separate files, in which case, I don't know how to upload them to kdp all together.
Thanks!
There are lots of ways to build an ebook - or you can get formatting help: http://www.thecreativepenn.com/formatting/
But the definition of an ebook boxset is that it is one file when the customer buys it.
I always knew about boxsets and I plan to use them in the future. However, I never realized how many different types there were! Thank you for sharing! This post has already been added to my personal marketing database so I can reference it later on!
Very well done--clear, with price range, immediately applicable. Finally found a way to sell my books from the last century!
Currently I have published a grief memoir, a small non-fiction book on grief, and a standalone mainstream novel in which grieving is central to the themes and plot. I'm thinking of trying to bundle them together, as Hope is a common thread throughout all three books. The novel is currently on KDP Select. Can I still bundle these books and go wide because the box set is a whole new product? Or will I be breaking my Select agreement by having the novel part of my box set available digitally in places other than Amazon?
I believe you can't do this - if the book is exclusive, it needs to stay that way.
Hi Jo Ann, I just put out a boxed set of my first 3 books! (Pirates & Petticoats Books 1-3) I tried to ask for advice on various loops but didn't get any solid info, so I used scrivener's book with parts element and put each book in a separate part. It was much easier to do than I anticipated; I simply dragged and dropped chapters from each book. Fast and simple! It went live last week, so I don't have any solid numbers just yet. I have sent it out to several bloggers for review and will be doing a tour the first week in August to promote it. I'm hoping the PR will help with the launch of book 4 in September (Pirate Heiress). My plan is to put most of my promotional time and budget into the Pirate Heiress launch, with the hope that it draws readers to my backlist. Time will tell...
This article was a great help because I am in the early stages of coordinating a multi-author book set of pirate romances. I'd love to hear more about the intricacies of handling a multi-author set.
JoAnna! I didn't mean to misspell your name (sorry).
Hi, Joanna.
I want to read this article. I'll be ready to try a box set maybe late this year. For the article I'm building my own Webliography. Maybe I'll be able to find it when it's become time.
I also want to read Author 2.0 Blueprint. For the book, I wanted to click "To read." Wouldn't it be great if your ad (on your site, on Amazon, ...) always had a "To read" button?
And wouldn't it be great of Goodreads asked me "Which shelf?" after I clicked "To read"?