Digital Boxed Sets and Omnibus Editions – Are They Worth It?

I've taken the Eye of the Storm Omnibus Edition offline with the intention of updating it, however, I checked my stats for the edition and ... almost no one buys it. Over the past year (and 3 years) there have been maybe two or three sales of it per year, if that, even at the lower price of £9.99. Most people tend to go for the individual series volumes instead – then you can buy at leisure every month when you have the money, I guess ... or you can decide to stop the series if you reach halfway through and something happens in the story you don't like.

So, here I am, wondering whether to relist it.

And on the tail of that, I'm having the same dilemma with The Witching Pen Series Boxed Set. That one has had a few more sales – I assume because the bulk price is more agreeable since it's only four books. But I still don't feel I've had enough sales to warrant keeping it online.

When I go online and search through traditional publishing houses, very few of them have digital boxed sets for sale of a complete series. They will sometimes create a "taster" boxed set of just two or three books, so you can sample an author through a small number of standalone novels – or a collection of authors through their standalones – but that's it. Since most major publishing houses price their eBooks at £5 or higher, I'm not surprised – this would literally mean they would have to price their series boxed sets at god-knows-what, or bring down the prices of their eBooks.

So ... do I think digital boxed sets are worth it? I'm not sure I currently do. Avid fans of the author will buy their single eBooks on release as they come out, and new readers are unlikely to go for a boxed set. And once you've read the series as single volumes, why would you want the digital boxed set?

They also keep you trapped within a price bracket, because if you have to put your eBook price up, no one is going to then pay £25 for a digital boxed set (if the individual eBooks of a six-part series were £5 each, for example).

But £5 per volume on your favourite author or series doesn't sound as bad, especially if that's spread out over twice a year if you are waiting for books to come out. Or you can pace yourself monthly if the books are already out. (And my eBooks are priced well below £5, anyway.)

I do think paperback and hardback boxed sets are worth it, though, and this is where I'm going to put my focus if I decide to withdraw my digital ones from sale (which is looking likely). Physical books are tangible, yours to own, to pass on, and can last decades.

At the moment, the Eye of the Storm digital omnibus is offline. Over the past week, I may withdraw The Witching Pen Series Boxed Set, too (so get it now if you are interested). With the new paperbacks coming out with matching covers, I actually think the digital boxed sets can also just confuse the buyer.

Feel free to share your thoughts on this.

In conclusion, unless something changes my mind, I think I will be withdrawing my two series boxed sets, and will be bringing out, instead, hardback or paperback boxed sets in the next year or two. These are proper keepsakes.

Dianna.