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Snug Nugget Launches Pay-What-You-Want eBook Bundle

Story Bundle is supposed to launch in the next few weeks and offer deals which will let the buyer pick their own price, but it looks like someone beat them to the punch.

A new startup by the name of Snug Nugget has just posted their first ebook bundle. There’s 5 ebooks included, all of which are DRM-free in Epub, Kindle, or PDF.

Snug Nugget seems to have slid under the radar. Unlike their more famous competition StoryBundle, this startup has escaped almost everyone’s attention and managed to launch their first bundle without a lot of hoopla.

The ebooks are by 5 different authors and are drawn from a mix of genres, including SF, Fantasy, and thriller. Interestingly enough, they’re all from the respective author’s back list, with only 2 titles having been published in 2011. I was half expecting that; the bundle idea was inspired by the Humble Bundle(s), and those deals were usually based around several older games from a number of indie developers.

Like the Humble Bundle, you’re given the option of choosing your own price. But Snug Nugget also differs from HB in that there’s only a single charity mentioned (Book Aid International) and they’re getting a fixed 14.3%. It’s also not clear how the rest of the money will be split between the 5 authors and Snug Nugget; apparently that’s handled behind the scenes.

They’ve also posted a trailer for the ebooks.

I don’t know about you, but I’m thinking about sitting this one out. In spite of the fact that financially this is a very good deal, I’m not sure I’m going to be interested in reading most of the ebooks.

Humble Bundle has now run (I think) 8 or 9 deals, and while I was originally quite enthusiastic at first I lost interest as time went by. Very few of games held my interest for more than a couple minutes, and after the 3rd bundle I stopped buying. The Snug Nugget bundle covers ebooks, not games, but my reading interests are even pickier than my gaming preferences.

Chris took a deep look at the Humble Bundle yesterday, and he’s far more positive about the idea than I am. Well, I feel that the shine has worn off the bundle idea. When the idea was new I jumped at every chance, but now it’s just another sale. If I don’t need new content I don’t see a reason to participate.

At the very least, before I jump in I plan to see what fellow readers recommend.

Speaking of bundles, Baen Books has offered monthly bundles for over a decade. They’were called Webscriptions (originally, and I still call them that) and have a fixed price, so there’s not much in common with Snug Nugget or the other new bundle services. Baen’s bundles are also differ in that they are drawn from authors published by Bane, leading to a concentration in SF and fantasy. I like that; it increases the chances that I’ll find something readable.

Snug Nugget

 

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Comments


Eric August 3, 2012 um 4:47 pm

I’m at least vaguely curious, so I might hop on to the first couple offerings.

Another not-well-publicized part of the Baen webscriptions is when you buy one, you’re able to send that same bundle, for free, to a a friend that’s never bought a webscription. Nice way to spread the word.


Tim P August 3, 2012 um 7:50 pm

I would expect that the range and depth of the eBook bundles from Snug Nugget should improve over time. Even if there is only on book I want to read from a bundle this would still be a good deal. I am going to keep an eye on this one.


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Chris Meadows August 4, 2012 um 12:03 am

I’ll say this for the site…it seems kind of poorly designed. On my parents' slow DSL connection, it took like five minutes to load.

Doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in the selection of books.

Nate Hoffelder August 4, 2012 um 12:09 am

Really? How slow is your connection? It loaded fast for me at 200Kbs.

Or were you talking about downloading the ebooks?


Michael August 7, 2012 um 12:45 pm

If the site’s stats are correct, this is a pretty discouraging start.

Two $0.01 purchases are in the top 10. The counter says 72 bundles have been sold so far. So, out of 72 people, only 8 chose to pay more than a penny?

I don’t think book bundles can work unless you have some good anchor titles in there to entice buyers who’ve never heard of or aren’t willing to pay much for the others.


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