ScribeCount Brings Your Sales Data Across Retailers into One Place
David Viergutz
For authors who publish wide, tracking sales and trends across different platforms can be time consuming, yet the data it provides can be essential to creating effective marketing strategies. ScribeCount (https://scribecount.com) offers a way to track and compare sales across several distribution platforms. The online platform can help indie authors collect all their sales data in one application and then, with its selection of built-in features, allow them to make the best decisions for their business using accurate reports. From tracking ads to convenient visualization tools, ScribeCount offers a robust toolset designed and managed by and for indie authors.
ScribeCount connects to various distributors and sales reporting services using a browser extension, which augments the functionality of your current browser. “This extension is like hiring your own personal doorman who will control who and what you wish ScribeCount to see,” according to ScribeCount’s website. “Unlike other reporting services, this doorman works for you and controls what data goes in and out your door.” ScribeCount also states that the application does not visualize or store your passwords, nor can it change any of your data across the platforms it is connected to. The application observes, correlates, compiles, and analyzes the data it is provided through the browser window.
ScribeCount’s dashboard can be optimized based on a user’s reporting needs, offering a variety of layouts depending on whether you publish hybrid, wide, or direct to Kindle Unlimited. Read on to learn more about ScribeCount’s features, tools, and pricing structure so you can decide for yourself if the application has a place in your workflow.
ScribeCount aims to be affordable for everyone and offers its entire toolset at any tier level. Tier 1 starts at just $9.99 monthly for authors making less than $1,000 in that time period. ScribeCount only charges more if your income from your sales increases, becoming $19.99 a month for those making over the $1,000 threshold. This monthly charge is variable and will scale down to $9.99 should you not meet the $1,000 threshold, but it will never exceed $19.99 a month. For those who want to save 15 percent, a yearly plan is also available at $185 per year.
If you’re interested in testing out ScribeCount, the company offers a two-week free trial, with all features accessible during the trial period.
Visualization of data is an effective way to absorb overall data points without getting lost in the numbers. Connecting different retailers such as Amazon KDP and Barnes & Noble to ScribeCount gives you access to the Sunburst Chart, a pie-chart depiction of your royalties on each platform, in each region, and in each format—print, e-book, and audiobook—even down to the specific book or series. Date ranges are adjustable and make it easy to narrow your focus so you can better understand your business’s performance over a given period.
Pro Tip: Most authors look for flexibility and ease of use when it comes to analyzing the data they’re provided across multiple platforms. ScribeCount’s dashboard is customizable, allowing the user to hide or show features as needed. If you only wish to see one sales channel, click on that section of the ring. You can also select your preferred currency, a specific book across the different channels, or the series across all the channels—and any combination thereof. For authors in Kindle Unlimited, you can set the KU rate, have your chart convert page-reads to sales automatically, and even compare sales to rank by book, series, and marketplace.
One of an author’s greatest challenges is determining the effectiveness of ad campaigns, judging spend, and evaluating revenue generated, which often includes switching between platforms and managing expansive spreadsheets. ScribeCount’s Ad Tracking feature pulls data from Meta and Amazon ads platforms and consolidates it onto your dashboard so you can monitor a campaign without having multiple tabs. Clicks, impressions, spend, and reach are all available to monitor and compare. Authors can also see individual charts offered by ScribeCount, such as Royalties vs. Ad Spend, to assess a campaign’s effectiveness.
Pro Tip: Toggle data points in the platform to display your data as a Sunburst Chart, bar graphs, or text using the toggle buttons at the top of the dashboard. Similar buttons are found on the dashboard to help you switch between publishing strategies if you are wide, in Kindle Unlimited, or hybrid.
ScribeCount spreadsheets compile multiple data points into a single location, then give authors the flexibility to view and export the data in formats they find most useful. The spreadsheet tool is valuable for traditional data collection, allowing easy export of all aggregated data available on your dashboard. You can filter through columns such as Marketplace, Net Profit, Total Royalties, and Total Expenses, and edit the view to see only what you need.
As a cursory feature, ScribeCount spreadsheets can also combat piracy and help give authors an indication that it’s happening via price tracking. Amazon enforces its price-matching policy through web crawls and can spot another e-book offered at another retailer for a reduced price. ScribeCount monitors the prices of your books based on this feature on the distribution site and will notify you of a price change of your books by identifying it on the spreadsheet.
Spreadsheets are excellent tools for data analysis, though authors must be familiar with the data presented and with key terminology, how Kindle Unlimited works, how payouts work, and other facets of publishing to make best use of the features.
ScribeCount’s data aggregation not only covers current numbers; the application also shows historical sales, page reads, and free titles in a single dashboard, and can pull historical data from pre-set date ranges or a specific reporting period. This feature allows authors to judge the effectiveness of their marketing efforts over time, such as in the instance of a Kindle Daily Deal or limited Barnes & Noble e-book promotions.
Like any tool, overcrowding the dashboard can become a hindrance. ScribeCount thrives on showing you exactly what data you need and allowing you to build out visual reports and spreadsheets from there. Consider starting with one report, digging into the data points, and building onto it from there.
There is valuable information in reviews, and like sales rankings and revenue generated, reviews are part of an author’s business decision-making process. ScribeCount consolidates reviews from every platform and allows filtering and organization by platform, most recent, most positive, and most negative.
ScribeCount is hard at work integrating new platforms into the existing application. More recent updates have included incorporating sales data from WooCommerce, Shopify, and BookFunnel accounts for those who sell direct with those platforms.
Pro Tip: ScribeCount can generate automatic reports on a regular schedule without you having to drill down to the specific information you need repeatedly. Announced in February 2024, ScribeCount Analytics received an upgrade to its analytic capabilities and can now run automatic reports. When you provide information about your book, series, and goals, ScribeCount will compile your data in as little as five clicks while walking you through the report. The application contains industry definitions and will output the information in several charts and a spreadsheet.
For those who are new to reports and the terminology but still want to take advantage of the application, ScribeCount contains tutorials built into the system. Each feature of the report contains a text explanation of what it does and how to read it. There are additional links within the application for more in-depth learning. As part of ScribeCount’s continued improvement efforts, the company plans to expand the knowledge database over the coming months to offer advice for using ScribeCount from vetted sources in both video and text formats. You can find these tutorials at https://scribecount.com/feature-tours or by tapping “Feature Tours” at the top of the ScribeCount homepage.
Although its purpose may seem mundane, ScribeCount aims to save you time and effort by consolidating information and exporting it in ways that are best for you. Slogging through endless spreadsheets and multiple platforms is the old way of things. ScribeCount is a tool that can save authors time and money by centralizing that same data in one place and then making it easier to understand.
David Viergutz
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