Why publish Box Sets & Bundles? Aren’t these just the same books you’ve already released? Well, I’m here on the B&N Press Blog with a helpful self-publishing tip about box sets and how many awesome, wonderful things they can do for your business.

Do you already have box sets as part of your product listings? Or have questions about whether or not they are worth your time? Did money stop you from adding book collections to your portfolio? I’m here to give some insight into what I’ve found to be true in my own business. Because I believe box sets can be a powerful tool that can help both your royalties and readership grow. Here are three reasons I’ve hopped on the box set bandwagon and why you should, too!

A Guest Post by Bethany Claire

1. High ROI (Return on Investment)

As indie publishers, we all have to be conscious of our bottom line. Both our money and time are valuable, and we want the things we invest in to pay off. In my experience, box sets are great for this and here’s why.

–  They contain books you’ve already written and released individually.

You’ve already paid for the cost of editing, which is often one of the most expensive parts of book production. The only costs involved in box set creation are cover design and formatting. Lower production costs = the ability to make back your investment more quickly.

– They take little time to produce.

You’ve already done all of the hard work! You’ve written the books you plan to include. They’ve already been edited. So, rather than the months and months it takes to prepare an individual title, a box set can be put together in a matter of weeks. Score!

– They don’t take away from the sales of individual titles.

In my Morna’s Legacy series, I’m now nearly 15 books in. So, after every few books, I compile a box set. I then track all of my daily sales. And, I found that each new release of a box set has never lowered sales of the other books.  I truly believe that if I didn’t do box sets, I’d just be leaving money on the table. Who wants that?

2. 65% Royalty Rate

Authors now receive a 65% royalty for all books priced over $9.99 at B&N Press! This is great news for all indies as it gives us all more flexibility in how we package and market our books.

– If your novels are on the longer end, consider packaging several together in a box set and setting a higher price point (i.e. $14.99, $17.99+).

– Create longer collections and charge appropriately. I’ve done this with the first 8 books, plus three novellas in my series.  While $40 may seem like a high price point, I continue to sell these every day.

3. Box Sets & Marketing

Box sets can be your little marketing superstars if you work them right. There are so many different ways to push them to new readers.

– The box set itself is a type of marketing.

This is because box sets typically already offer the reader a discount rather than buying the books individually.

– $0.99 cent promotions.

Promotions with BookBub on box sets do incredibly well. And, if you have a lot of books in a series and are willing to do a free promotion on your first box set, the results can be phenomenal. It’s a great way to get new readers into your series, and I’ve found the read-through rate on the books following the ones in my box set are higher following a BookBub ad on that box set than following a BookBub ad on the individual titles.

– HANDY TIP B&N Press also makes it easy to schedule price changes in advance. Once your promotional ads are in place, you can schedule your price drop without any worry that your book won’t be priced correctly in time for your ad. This tool is invaluable and one you should definitely take advantage of when running promotions on your B&N Press titles.

– Don’t rule out audiobooks.

If you have audiobooks available for your individual titles, it’s easy and cheap to create box set audiobooks, as well. It’s one more product to sell, and you can use the audio and eBook versions to cross-promote the other.

All in all, box sets are a budget-friendly way to add more products to your business and grow your readership at the same time. If you haven’t already dabbled in box sets, Barnes & Noble Press is the perfect place to start. Box sets have added so much to my business, and I have no doubt they can do the same for yours.

If you’re interested in learning more about me or my books, you can visit www.bethanyclaire.com.

Good luck in all your writing and self-publishing endeavors!