You've probably heard about this. Rather than carry around a bunch of plastic you just carry around your smart phone which, chances are, you were going to take with you anyway. Rather than store a gazillion credit cards in a bulgy wallet you just use your phone to make purchases.
You might be wondering: Okay, but so what? This is a blog about writing and the publishing industry, not about new apps no matter how nifty.
It seems this technology could help change the way indie authors sell books. I don't know much about it, I've just watched a couple of Google videos, but wouldn't it be great if it made setting up an online store easier? Or at least gave us more options, more ways for folks to pay?
Wouldn't it be great if it made selling paper copies of our books easier? Just get your customer to use their phone to log into your online store, make the purchase, you'll be emailed a confirmation, and there you go! No more expensive wireless credit card machines.
Or am I on the wrong track? What do you think?
Related reading:
- 99Designs.com: How I Solved My Book Cover Dilemma, and How You Can Too
- Derek Haines: Are Free Ebooks A Good Marketing Strategy?
- My New MacBook Air: The Adventures Of A PC Gal In The MacBook World
If you're not using one already, I'd definitely recommend picking up a Square credit card reader -- they'll send you one for free, it plugs into the audio Jack of your smartphone, and they just take a small percentage of each transaction. That's what I use to sell books at my readings, and it's pretty awesone. http://www.squareup.com
ReplyDeleteThanks Michael! I hadn't heard of that before, what a terrific idea. Thanks for the comment, I appreciate it. :)
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