# Challenge: Top 500 reached. Stayed in the Top 5,000 for 30 days!



## Bryan Cohen (Aug 28, 2010)

_*Update on Thursday, September 15th:* After 30 days of release, Cinderella Dreams of Fire remains in the Top 5,000! The experiment has met both of its milestones._

_*Update on Monday, August 22nd*: I've reached my launch goal by getting into the Top 500! I actually hit my stretch goal of the Top 250 by the final day of my 99 cent price point. Now comes the second part of the challenge: trying to stay in the Top 5,000 for the next 30 days.

See more details about the launch with a series of videos and Facebook posts on my FB Group: http://bit.ly/mastercindlaunch _

*Intro:* Several months ago, Chris Fox and I were planning a project where we would teach people the art of writing faster. In preparation, I sought to dictate a book quickly that would also follow the "Write to Market" strategy. While we decided to shelve the training, I went ahead with the book anyway.

*The Challenge:* Write a book to market and launch it into the Top 500 on Amazon, keeping it in the Top 5,000 for 30 days.

*The Book:* Cinderella Dreams of Fire by Casey Lane

*The Genre/Market:* Fantasy Fairy Tales

*Writing Strategy:* I used Chris' formula to determine which subcategory had enough demand but not quite enough supply. I then used the customer reviews and the text of several of the books in the genre to determine the tropes. I outlined the book by hand before dictating the 50k word novel through Dragon. I used a VA to help with "dictation errors" before sending it off to the editor for two passes. I combined my beta and ARC stage, with half a dozen readers offering me extensive notes. According to BookFunnel, approximately 200 people downloaded the ARC from a combination of my Street Team for my previous YA Superhero series and folks who joined a private Facebook Group for the launch. I gave them the book three weeks ahead of time to read and prepare a review.

*Marketing/Launch Strategy:* I hired a cover designer who had previously designed the covers of some of the books in the genre. I published the book as a pre-order about six days ahead of the Monday, August 15th soft launch with the goal of getting into also-boughts for similar books. I asked my Street Team to post honest reviews of the book on the 15th, with the hard launch beginning on Wednesday, August 17th. The strategy has paid off so far, with 28 reviews on the official "launch day."

To prepare for the launch, I connected with several friends and some additional authors in the genre with hopes that they'd share the book in the first few days. I've been able to secure a few folks with 5-10k lists, and others with 500 to a few thousand FB fans. I also have my own list of 2,000+ for my YA Superhero series as well as a new list of 300 that I built for the new pen name with Jonny Andrews' Author Platform Rocket service through a rolling 90-day giveaway. I'll also be putting this out to my nonfiction list of 12,000+ to tell them about the challenge, though I suspect there won't be a huge crossover of fairy tale readers in there.

I've purchased several promos, and I've been running FB ads for the last week. Yesterday, about 14 KDP Ads went live (at $5 per day), and in a few days I'll be using BookBub Ads beta to give the book a boost as well.

I've launched the book at 99 cents for the week, and I'll bump the price up to $2.99 on the morning of Monday, August 22nd.

*Goals:* I want this book (and subsequent series of standalone fairy tale retellings) to become a major earner for me. I've enjoyed the author service business of writing book descriptions, as well as training other authors in copywriting. There's a LOT of upkeep through all of that, and it'd be nice to diversify my earnings with a successful launch and a long tail fiction earner.

*Promo Schedule: *

Wednesday, August 17th: 
- Promote to my fiction lists 
- 1-2 other authors promoting on their lists & FB pages with boosted posts
- FB Ads, KDP Ads 
Thursday, August 18
- Big push of other authors on mailing lists & boosted FB page posts 
- FB Ads, KDP Ads 
Friday, August 19th 
- Hungry Author Triple Email Blast 
- More authors' email lists & FB posts 
- FB Ads, KDP Ads 
Saturday, August 20th
- Romancing the Dragon Email Blast 
- Share with nonfiction list 
- BookBub Ads, FB Ads, KDP Ads 
Sunday, August 21st 
- BookBub Ads, FB Ads, KDP Ads 
- Author Ad Network, Awesome Book Promotion, Raven Publicity
Monday, August 22nd
- Raise price to $2.99
- Continue ads to help keep rank sticky

*Results: *
46 preorders before Monday
Monday 8/15: 21 Sales, 644 Pages Read, Rank #12,500
Tuesday 8/16: 28 Sales, 1,181 Pages Read, Rank #5,500
Wednesday 8/17: 85 sales, 1,273 pages read, Rank Range #2,350
Thursday 8/18: 180 sales, 1,461 pages read, Rank Range #821-2,396
Friday 8/19: 226 sales, 4,098 pages read, Rank Range #740-944
Saturday 8/20: 253 sales, 6,304 pages read, Rank Range #525-695
Sunday 8/21: 490 sales, 9,466 pages read, Rank Range #215-571
(price change to $2.99, some sales came before the increase)
Monday 8/22: 95 sales, 14,701 pages read, Rank Range #199-343
Tuesday 8/23: 40 sales, 11,921 pages read, Rank Range #384-#682
Wednesday 8/24: 38 sales, 12,455 pages read, Rank Range #684-980
Thursday 8/25: 42 sales, 11,966 pages read, Rank Range #940-1158
Friday 8/26: 28 sales, 13,893 pages read, Rank Range, #1106-1253
Saturday 8/27: 34 sales, 13,013 pages read, Rank Range #1269-1661
Sunday 8/28: 29 sales, 12,823 pages read, Rank Range #1442-2001 
Monday 8/29: 29 sales 13,138 pages read, Rank Range #1502-1881
Tuesday 8/30: 23 sales, 9,927 pages read, Rank Range #1888-2305
Wednesday 8/31: 21 sales, 8,078 pages read, Rank Range #1771-2074
Thursday 9/1: 19 sales, 10,002 pages read, Rank Range #1963-2772
Friday 9/2: 21 sales, 7,365 pages read, Rank Range #2071-2658
Saturday 9/3: 37 sales, 9,932 pages read, Rank Range #2073-2697
Sunday 9/4: 17 sales, 8,872 pages read, Rank Range #
Monday 9/5: 17 sales, 10,594 pages read, Rank Range #2,293-2,914
Tuesday 9/6: 17 sales, 7,038 pages read, Rank Range #2,612-3,192
Wednesday 9/7: 22 sales, 7,488 pages read, Rank Range #2,747-3,743
Thursday 9/8: 19 sales, 7,098 pages read, Rank Range #2,870-3,473
Friday 9/9: 20 sales, 8,054 pages read, Rank Range # 2,594	-3,085
Saturday 9/10: 12 sales, 7,608 pages read, Rank Range #2,931-4,573
Sunday 9/11: 12 sales, 9,634 pages read, Rank Range #3,903-4,506
Monday 9/12: 24 sales, 5,461 pages read, Rank Range #3,050-4,010
(DAY 30) Tuesday 9/13: 12 sales, 6,042 pages read, Rank Range #3,284-4,143
Wednesday 9/14: 17 sales, 5,619 pages read, Rank Range #3,361-4,741
Thursday 9/15: 12 sales, 2,603 pages read, Rank #4,765 (as of 1:38 pm Central)

I'll keep everybody up to speed on my progress. Thanks for reading. I hope this is helpful for folks!


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## hulklogan (Jul 13, 2015)

Good luck Bryan!


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## A.A (Mar 30, 2012)

Sounds like you've got it sorted. Hope the book (and coming series) continues to do well!


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## dianapersaud (Sep 26, 2013)

Thanks for sharing. 

Your strategy may work for established authors who know other established authors, but I don't see how a newbie (someone with only one book) would be able to use this strategy.

A new writer won't necessarily have access to a fan base/mailing list or access to a writer with a large following. Without X# of reviews, they won't be able to schedule promos.


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## James Dreyer (Aug 17, 2016)

I've been following Chri's work as well and I have read his write to market series. He was the one that actually convinced me (through his books/ vlog) to go for it and made me stop dragging my feet on writing.

I'm looking forward to your updates because it'll be nice to have a comparison for when my book will launch. I don't have any of the support that you already have so it's going to be interesting to see the differences.


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## Bryan Cohen (Aug 28, 2010)

hulklogan said:


> Good luck Bryan!


Thanks, Hulk Logan!



A.A said:


> Sounds like you've got it sorted. Hope the book (and coming series) continues to do well!


I hope so! Thanks, A.A.



dianapersaud said:


> Thanks for sharing. Your strategy may work for established authors who know other established authors, but I don't see how a newbie (someone with only one book) would be able to use this strategy. A new writer won't necessarily have access to a fan base/mailing list or access to a writer with a large following. Without X# of reviews, they won't be able to schedule promos.


You're welcome, Diana. I agree, that where I am now with my connections is far ahead of where a newbie would be. But I definitely think that new writers should always consider networking a must in their promotional plans. I didn't try to schedule with places like eReaderNewsToday and whatnot since I didn't have any reviews up, so that aspect would be the same.

Hopefully newbies and... oldbies will get something out of following along.



James Dreyer said:


> I've been following Chris' work as well and I have read his write to market series. He was the one that actually convinced me (through his books/ vlog) to go for it and made me stop dragging my feet on writing. I'm looking forward to your updates because it'll be nice to have a comparison for when my book will launch. I don't have any of the support that you already have so it's going to be interesting to see the differences.


Congrats, James! Getting started is the hardest part. Chris' work is awesome. I hope I can hold a candle to him! Consider starting to connect with other authors and see if there's anything you can do for them. Networking by providing help has always been one of the pillars of my author business. Good luck and thanks for following along!


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## pajones (Apr 21, 2014)

All the best. It will be interesting to follow up your progress.


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## Craig Andrews (Apr 14, 2013)

dianapersaud said:


> Your strategy may work for established authors who know other established authors, but I don't see how a newbie (someone with only one book) would be able to use this strategy.
> 
> A new writer won't necessarily have access to a fan base/mailing list or access to a writer with a large following. Without X# of reviews, they won't be able to schedule promos.


I agree and disagree. Only having one book out doesn't preclude someone from connecting with other authors in their genre and doing what Bryan's done in asking for their support. As with anything, I'd hope a newbie author would take the time to study the market, understand who the players are, and analyze previous release strategies (like this one) to see what works for them, their genre, and their budget. It takes time to write a book, but there's nothing stopping anyone from doing their homework.


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## James Dreyer (Aug 17, 2016)

Bryan Cohen said:


> Congrats, James! Getting started is the hardest part. Chris' work is awesome. I hope I can hold a candle to him! Consider starting to connect with other authors and see if there's anything you can do for them. Networking by providing help has always been one of the pillars of my author business. Good luck and thanks for following along!


Thank you Bryan.

Actually this is the reason why I made this account, to network with other writers, especially in my genre.


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## Bryan Cohen (Aug 28, 2010)

Update: Nice launch day stats so far. 50 sales and over 500 pages read. Just crept into the top 2,600. Should keep the rank nice and fluid for the "big dog" promotions coming Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.



pajones said:


> All the best. It will be interesting to follow up your progress.


Thanks, PA.



Craig Andrews said:


> I agree and disagree. Only having one book out doesn't preclude someone from connecting with other authors in their genre and doing what Bryan's done in asking for their support. As with anything, I'd hope a newbie author would take the time to study the market, understand who the players are, and analyze previous release strategies (like this one) to see what works for them, their genre, and their budget. It takes time to write a book, but there's nothing stopping anyone from doing their homework.


Great point, Craig. We should all study up to give ourselves the best chance of succeeding.



James Dreyer said:


> Thank you Bryan.
> Actually this is the reason why I made this account, to network with other writers, especially in my genre.


Very smart move, James!


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## Chris Lord (Feb 22, 2014)

Comment deleted due to new TOS on 27/08/2018


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## Lysandra_Lorde (Mar 6, 2016)

So you asked fellow authors in your genre to let their mailing list know 'hey this new book is out, check it out' and have them do that for their Facebook as well?


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## GwynnEWhite (May 23, 2012)

Good luck. I watch with interest. But please don't stop writing blubs—you are amazing at it and that makes you essential to my book production team.  Congratulations on your lovely orange bestseller banner! And I love the blurb. Bought the book.


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## A. N. Other Author (Oct 11, 2014)

Am I correct thinking the Bookbub Ads beta is the pay per click service for those ads at the bottom of the regular newsletter? I'll be especially interested in how that goes. 

I recently had my first full Bookbub and hit #60 overall in paid (briefly), so was delighted with that. I've been wondering how it will compare success / cost wise.


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## Bryan Cohen (Aug 28, 2010)

Chris Vaughn said:


> Just saw you are at 2,558! Great job!
> Who did you get for editing?


Thanks! My editor is Ashley Gainer. I've actually worked with her for over a decade. Here's her info: 
http://www.ashleygainer.com/



Lysandra_Lorde said:


> So you asked fellow authors in your genre to let their mailing list know 'hey this new book is out, check it out' and have them do that for their Facebook as well?


Pretty much, Lysandra. Mostly I only did that with folks I've chatted with before or who I'd consider a friend. And for Facebook, I made sure to offer to pay for any post boosting. I imagine this gives them one "IOU" at some point, but I'm happy to repay the favor for these folks in the future.



GwynnEWhite said:


> Good luck. I watch with interest. But please don't stop writing blubs-you are amazing at it and that makes you essential to my book production team.  Congratulations on your lovely orange bestseller banner! And I love the blurb. Bought the book.


Thanks, Gwynn! I have no plans to stop the blurb writing, so don't worry . I appreciate you picking up the book!!



ADDavies said:


> Am I correct thinking the Bookbub Ads beta is the pay per click service for those ads at the bottom of the regular newsletter? I'll be especially interested in how that goes.
> I recently had my first full Bookbub and hit #60 overall in paid (briefly), so was delighted with that. I've been wondering how it will compare success / cost wise.


Correct, AD. BookBub Ads is the PPM (Pay Per Mille, so it's impressions, not clicks you pay for) at the bottom of the newsletter. I'll definitely share my BB Ad results.

Congrats on the BB! Always nice to break into that Top 100. I chatted with Daniel Arenson about his BB Ad, and he did pretty well on his. He says he had a positive ROI, even selecting a higher CPM (they recommend you pick between $4.50 and $7.50, he chose $7.50 and still got a positive return).

Here was his article on the subject: 
https://insights.bookbub.com/how-i-launched-my-new-release-and-sold-20k-copies/


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## MissingAlaska (Apr 28, 2014)

Could you elaborate a little more on how you put together your street team? Are they readers off your mailing list or individuals solicited from beta-reader groups?  Secondly, how did you motivate them to leave reviews, especially on what appears to be a tight schedule? Congratulations on a great launch. Looks like you have a true winner here.


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## MKK (Jun 9, 2015)

Wishing you all the best with this and thanks for the post(s). 

I don't have the wherewithal to be as organized as your strategy requires, but there are plenty of nice juicy tidbits in it. Thank you. I'm especially interest in hearing how the bookbub advert clicks pan out.


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## Bryan Cohen (Aug 28, 2010)

michaelsnuckols said:


> Could you elaborate a little more on how you put together your street team? Are they readers off your mailing list or individuals solicited from beta-reader groups? Secondly, how did you motivate them to leave reviews, especially on what appears to be a tight schedule? Congratulations on a great launch. Looks like you have a true winner here.


Sure thing, Michael. So, getting folks onto my Street Team is one of the two main focuses of my email autoresponder sequence. The first three emails once folks get onto my list are "getting to know you" emails. They're like dates #1-3 . I give them a freebie, check-in about the freebie, show them where else to connect with me, and otherwise describe who I am and what I'm all about. I don't even tell them I have a book for sales until email #4. In email #5, I ask them to join my Street Team. I pitch it as getting "free books from me for life," and it works pretty well. I send them to another landing page where they can opt into another list. With my YA list of 2k or so, I've recruited almost 300 folks to my 2nd list for the Street Team. About 10-15% of them end up leaving a review, when I give them the book 3 weeks ahead of time.

I've also taken to inviting them to a special Launch Team FB Group, so that I can constantly check in (and they can see other folks finishing the book), which gets them excited to finish and review.

Thanks for the kind words! So far, so good. Lots of work left to do .



MKK said:


> Wishing you all the best with this and thanks for the post(s). I don't have the wherewithal to be as organized as your strategy requires, but there are plenty of nice juicy tidbits in it. Thank you. I'm especially interest in hearing how the bookbub advert clicks pan out.


Thanks, MKK! It definitely requires a bit of organization (which isn't always my strong suit), but it's a one step at a time sort of thing. Glad you're finding this helpful! I'll definitely let you know how the BB Ad goes.


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## Salvador Mercer (Jan 1, 2015)

Oooh... such fun. P2F. Good luck!


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## Moist_Tissue (Dec 6, 2013)

As a listener of your podcast, I wish you good luck, Bryan! 

(Psst... I know your family is expecting to expand soon, are you planning to take any time off from writing blurbs? I'd like your help with a blurb but not until October.)


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## A Woman&#039;s Place Is In The Rebellion (Apr 28, 2011)

Good luck, Bryan! Warm up those readers for me because my next YA release will be out in a couple of months and it's also fairy tale-based. 

Def report back on your BB ad. I just read the Lauren Blakely article on her experience (thanks Mark Cooper) and am curious to see how a different genre compares.


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## Bryan Cohen (Aug 28, 2010)

Nice results on official launch day #1. 85 sales and 1,273 pages read. The red line graph is trending up! Hoping to keep it that way for the rest of the 99 cents promo.



Salvador Mercer said:


> Oooh... such fun. P2F. Good luck!


Haha, I had to look up P2F to understand it. Thanks, Salvador .



Moist_Tissue said:


> As a listener of your podcast, I wish you good luck, Bryan! (Psst... I know your family is expecting to expand soon, are you planning to take any time off from writing blurbs? I'd like your help with a blurb but not until October.)


Thanks, MF! I'll probably have to scale back a little after Little Lady Cohen is born, but she's not due until December. So, you should be all set in October. Thanks!



Augusta Blythe said:


> Good luck, Bryan! Warm up those readers for me because my next YA release will be out in a couple of months and it's also fairy tale-based. Def report back on your BB ad. I just read the Lauren Blakely article on her experience (thanks Mark Cooper) and am curious to see how a different genre compares.


Thanks, Augusta! Ok, I'll try to keep 'em warm for ya . I'll let you know about BB. I tried a few with Nonfiction a couple of weeks back, and I wasn't in love with my results. I think this genre will perform much better.


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## Shalini Boland (Nov 29, 2010)

Good luck, Bryan. Looks like you're off to a great start. I did something very similar in June for my psychological thriller (a brand new genre for me), also using Chris Fox's strategy. My first 3 days looked very similar to yours, and I'm over the moon with how it went. I'll be watching your progress and rooting for your success.


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## Bryan Cohen (Aug 28, 2010)

Shalini Boland said:


> Good luck, Bryan. Looks like you're off to a great start. I did something very similar in June for my psychological thriller (a brand new genre for me), also using Chris Fox's strategy. My first 3 days looked very similar to yours, and I'm over the moon with how it went. I'll be watching your progress and rooting for your success.


Holy crap, Shalini. I just checked out your sales ranking for your psychological thriller. That's fantastic after two months of launch! No wonder you're over the moon . Might have to pick your brain a bit . Thanks for the well wishes!


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## Shalini Boland (Nov 29, 2010)

Bryan Cohen said:


> Holy crap, Shalini. I just checked out your sales ranking for your psychological thriller. That's fantastic after two months of launch! No wonder you're over the moon . Might have to pick your brain a bit . Thanks for the well wishes!


Thanks, Bryan. You look like you're doing just fine, but my brains are at your disposal


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## Simply_Me (Mar 31, 2016)

Congrats, Bryan. It's working nicely! 

And thanks for sharing.


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## dragontucker (Jul 18, 2014)

Congrats!! This is awesome to watch


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## Bryan Cohen (Aug 28, 2010)

Shalini Boland said:


> Thanks, Bryan. You look like you're doing just fine, but my brains are at your disposal


Every little bit helps . Thanks!



Simply_J said:


> Congrats, Bryan. It's working nicely!
> And thanks for sharing.


I'm happy with the results thus far, for sure! You're welcome, J .



dragontucker said:


> Congrats!! This is awesome to watch


Thanks so much, DT! Glad you feel that way .


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## Lysandra_Lorde (Mar 6, 2016)

Wow you're right on the precipice, think you're gonna do it! Thanks for answering my question by the way, and uh, not to be too greedy, but how did you get your book description HTML to go through? Mine never seems to work when I try. Is there some secret that I'm missing?


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## LucaThrace (Aug 16, 2016)

Inspiring and insightful, as always, Bryan. Congratulations on another success!


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## The one with all the big dresses on the covers (Jan 25, 2016)

Lysandra_Lorde said:


> how did you get your book description HTML to go through? Mine never seems to work when I try. Is there some secret that I'm missing?


Ooh, me too. I can't seem to get it to work and have been wondering if I was doing something wrong


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## PB2016 (Jan 14, 2016)

This is fascinating and a great learning experience..Thanks, Bryan!

About the HTML for book description - I have noticed that the changes are reverted in a day or two. I wonder why.


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## Bryan Cohen (Aug 28, 2010)

Big promo coming up today. Could it be the day where I hit my first goal of reaching the top 500?!

I also recorded a special Sell More Books Show episode where I go in depth about the launch. If you're into podcasts, you can check it out here: 
http://sellmorebooksshow.com/bonus-episode-bryans-launch-challenge/



Lysandra_Lorde said:


> Wow you're right on the precipice, think you're gonna do it! Thanks for answering my question by the way, and uh, not to be too greedy, but how did you get your book description HTML to go through? Mine never seems to work when I try. Is there some secret that I'm missing?


Thanks, Lysandra! I hope so! I use Author Marketing Club's Description Tool. There may be other tools out there that do the same thing, but since I'm an AMC member, it's a cinch. I use it multiple times a week for my book description writing business.



LucaThrace said:


> Inspiring and insightful, as always, Bryan. Congratulations on another success!


Thanks, Luca!!



MelanieCellier said:


> Ooh, me too. I can't seem to get it to work and have been wondering if I was doing something wrong


The important thing to keep in mind with the formatting is to do it on the KDP description box when you're publishing your book. Not on Author Central. If you use a formatting tool like I do, then you should be set to just copy and paste it in!



PB2016 said:


> This is fascinating and a great learning experience..Thanks, Bryan!
> About the HTML for book description - I have noticed that the changes are reverted in a day or two. I wonder why.


Thanks, PB! Not sure why your changes revert. Mine never have. I could see that happening if you use Author Central to make the changes.


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## Justawriter (Jul 24, 2012)

Shalini Boland said:


> Good luck, Bryan. Looks like you're off to a great start. I did something very similar in June for my psychological thriller (a brand new genre for me), also using Chris Fox's strategy. My first 3 days looked very similar to yours, and I'm over the moon with how it went. I'll be watching your progress and rooting for your success.


Shalini, I just started reading your book earlier today, and recommended it in my mystery readers group. I can see why it's doing so well!

Bryan, congrats on your strategy---just checked out your ranking, and it looks like it's going really well! Thanks for sharing what's working for you.


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## hulklogan (Jul 13, 2015)

Glad to see that things are working out so far, Bryan. Do you plan on sharing any of the financials related to this project? 

On a separate note, can you share details relating to how long it took you to write the book and what your plan is for books 2+?

Thanks again for sharing.

Pat


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## Chris Lord (Feb 22, 2014)

Comment deleted due to new TOS on 27/08/2018


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## hunterone (Feb 6, 2013)

Congrats. Quick question. How did you manage to get other authors to promote you without it coming across as you are only reaching out to them to get them to promote?


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## Shalini Boland (Nov 29, 2010)

PamelaKelley said:


> Shalini, I just started reading your book earlier today, and recommended it in my mystery readers group. I can see why it's doing so well!
> 
> Bryan, congrats on your strategy---just checked out your ranking, and it looks like it's going really well! Thanks for sharing what's working for you.


Thank you, Pamela! I really appreciate you recommending it to your group. That's wonderful 

It's exciting watching Bryan's launch - flipping between the Olympics on TV and his rank climb on the laptop. All nail-biting stuff.


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## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

Go, Bryan! Rank is around #800 right now. Your also bought should sort out once the Kindle Unlimited readers start discovering the book. If that happens quickly, you rank might continue to improve =)

Either way, very nicely done. I loved watching this come together, and I think you're going to sell a lot of books this year.


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## dragontucker (Jul 18, 2014)

Chris Fox said:


> Go, Bryan! Rank is around #800 right now. Your also bought should sort out once the Kindle Unlimited readers start discovering the book. If that happens quickly, you rank might continue to improve =)
> 
> Either way, very nicely done. I loved watching this come together, and I think you're going to sell a lot of books this year.


Does it usually take a little time for KU readers to discover a book? I am curious about this. I remember my KU reads took a while to kick in. I mean, my reads never went higher than 1k pages per day. But, I remember it took a week or so before I saw any KU page reads show up. I wonder why.


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## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

dragontucker said:


> Does it usually take a little time for KU readers to discover a book? I am curious about this. I remember my KU reads took a while to kick in. I mean, my reads never went higher than 1k pages per day. But, I remember it took a week or so before I saw any KU page reads show up. I wonder why.


Page reads generally lag a few days behind the 'sales' that generate those reads.

Being at a rank under a thousand puts you in the top 20 of a lot of categories. The longer your book maintains that rank, the more KU readers discover it by browsing those lists. Once they start reading, that can sustain or improve your rank. Destroyer stayed in the top #1,000 for almost two full months, largely due to KU.


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## Bryan Cohen (Aug 28, 2010)

PamelaKelley said:


> Bryan, congrats on your strategy---just checked out your ranking, and it looks like it's going really well! Thanks for sharing what's working for you.


Thanks, Pamela! I'm definitely happy with the results so far.



Chris Fox said:


> Go, Bryan! Rank is around #800 right now. Your also bought should sort out once the Kindle Unlimited readers start discovering the book. If that happens quickly, you rank might continue to improve =) Either way, very nicely done. I loved watching this come together, and I think you're going to sell a lot of books this year.


Sensei! Awesome to hear you chiming in . I'm noticing a KU bump today, already almost 2x the pages read as yesterday. Rank is creeping down a bit today, but I've heard today's promo really ramps up in the afternoon. So hopefully I can regain that momentum back toward the Top 500.


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## nellgoddin (Jul 23, 2014)

Cheering for you, Bryan! Thanks for the Chris Fox recommendations. Dug into the Launch book last night and really really like it.

Come on BB ads, do your thing...


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## Guest (Aug 19, 2016)

Best rank now at 740! Been stalking your promo with us today and doing our best to get you into top 500 or at least close. Hope numbers are looking good and ranking will update again soon!


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## Bryan Cohen (Aug 28, 2010)

nellgoddin said:


> Cheering for you, Bryan! Thanks for the Chris Fox recommendations. Dug into the Launch book last night and really really like it.
> Come on BB ads, do your thing...


Thanks, Nell!



TheForeverGirlSeries said:


> Best rank now at 740! Been stalking your promo with us today and doing our best to get you into top 500 or at least close. Hope numbers are looking good and ranking will update again soon!


This promo has been fantastic, Rebecca! My latest rank is #602!! So close to the goal. I bet we'll have it by the time I wake up. Thanks so much for your help!


----------



## Lysandra_Lorde (Mar 6, 2016)

I believe in you, Bryan


----------



## Moist_Tissue (Dec 6, 2013)

It's currently #593.

Edited at 8:23pm PT. Now at #561.


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## Guest (Aug 20, 2016)

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #561 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
#1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > TV, Movie, Video Game Adaptations
#1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Children's eBooks > Fairy Tales, Folk Tales & Myths > Collections
#1 in Books > Teens > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Fairy Tales & Folklore > Adaptations




Almost there!


----------



## LifesHumor (Feb 5, 2014)

This is exciting. You are so close. Congrats.


----------



## SunshineOnMe (Jan 11, 2014)

What did you think of the Book Bub ad? Can you share more about that?
P.S. Congratulations!!! Whoop!


----------



## barryjhutchison (Feb 21, 2016)

I'd missed this, so just catching up now. Currently at #555, so it's headed in the right direction. I'll be following along with interest.


----------



## vkloss (Sep 22, 2014)

Hi Bryan,

Congrats on your success so far. Following with interest! 

Quick question - on your recent podcast regarding your launch, I believe you mentioned there might be a way to contact KDP via phone? If that is the case, could you point me in the right direction so I could get a number? Got a mini emergency here.

Thanks!


----------



## Justawriter (Jul 24, 2012)

vkloss said:


> Hi Bryan,
> 
> Congrats on your success so far. Following with interest!
> 
> ...


Call Author Central and tell them you need to speak to a KDP rep. They will transfer you. Good luck.


----------



## RecluseRaconteur (Apr 11, 2015)

Thanks for sharing. I guess planning ahead before you start writing is the way to do it.


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## Bryan Cohen (Aug 28, 2010)

Crazy day yesterday! Got as high as #531 in the store at 4am, before it started inching back into the 600s.

Today and tomorrow will be one last big push to try to hit my goal, which includes my BB Ads Bonanza, emailing my Nonfiction list, and trying to get a few more folks to spread the word.

Fingers crossed!



TheForeverGirlSeries said:


> Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #561 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
> #1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > TV, Movie, Video Game Adaptations
> #1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Children's eBooks > Fairy Tales, Folk Tales & Myths > Collections
> #1 in Books > Teens > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Fairy Tales & Folklore > Adaptations
> ...


Love seeing those #1 category rankings . Thanks so much for all your help, Rebecca!



hulklogan said:


> Glad to see that things are working out so far, Bryan. Do you plan on sharing any of the financials related to this project? On a separate note, can you share details relating to how long it took you to write the book and what your plan is for books 2+? Thanks again for sharing.
> Pat


Thanks, Pat! I've spent about $1,500 in marketing for this launch. I go into some of the details on my Facebook Group: 
https://www.facebook.com/groups/509197505915958/permalink/632372526931788/

It took me about 4 weeks to dictate the book and 2-3 weeks to edit. I'm halfway through book 2, and I have an idea for book 3 right now.



Chris Vaughn said:


> How did you find your VA that helped clean up your Dragon transcription? That thought I can't get out of my head... Congrats!


I used www.onlinejobs.ph but for book 2, I'm using a transcriptionist from www.upwork.com to help out. The first one needed A LOT of work, so I wouldn't necessarily call that a success.



Shalini Boland said:


> It's exciting watching Bryan's launch - flipping between the Olympics on TV and his rank climb on the laptop. All nail-biting stuff.


I hope I don't drop the baton! 



Lysandra_Lorde said:


> I believe in you, Bryan


I appreciate the support, Lysandra!



Moist_Tissue said:


> It's currently #593.
> Edited at 8:23pm PT. Now at #561.


Woo! Thanks for following along, MT!



LifesHumor said:


> This is exciting. You are so close. Congrats.


I'm neck and neck with 500! Feels like I'm running against Usain Bolt though.



SunshineOnMe said:


> What did you think of the Book Bub ad? Can you share more about that?
> P.S. Congratulations!!! Whoop!


I'm really liking the results in the UK, Canada, and Australia. My U.S. results were a bit disappointing for sales yesterday, but it's impossible to track borrows, so they may have been more successful than I thought. Running a big campaign today and tomorrow. I'll let you know!



barryjhutchison said:


> I'd missed this, so just catching up now. Currently at #555, so it's headed in the right direction. I'll be following along with interest.


Thanks, Barry. Let's hope I can get back going in that right direction!



vkloss said:


> Hi Bryan,
> Congrats on your success so far. Following with interest!
> Quick question - on your recent podcast regarding your launch, I believe you mentioned there might be a way to contact KDP via phone? If that is the case, could you point me in the right direction so I could get a number? Got a mini emergency here.
> Thanks!


Hey VK. Shalini is right, but you can also get to them through the KDP Help page on your dashboard. Go to Help, then Contact, and then you'll see both options.



RecluseRaconteur said:


> Thanks for sharing. I guess planning ahead before you start writing is the way to do it.


Most definitely, RR. Planning ahead is key. Thanks for following!


----------



## Yayoi (Apr 26, 2016)

Hello Bryan! How long did it take you to write the novel? How many novels have you written so far to have the kind of mailing list that you have now? Thanks for replying!


----------



## JaclynDolamore (Nov 5, 2015)

This has been really exciting to watch! Congrats either way--the difference between 500 and 531 is negligible anyway, you've definitely rocked it and I bet you'll see slews of page reads coming in soon.


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## Geoff North (Apr 2, 2011)

It's been fantastic following this thread, Bryan. You can chalk one more sale up here to get you to #500. I've been enjoying the SMBS podcast since the beginning. If anyone deserves the success, it's you. You've worked hard for it and helped a ton of people along the way. Very proud of you.


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## dragontucker (Jul 18, 2014)

Chris Fox said:


> Page reads generally lag a few days behind the 'sales' that generate those reads.
> 
> Being at a rank under a thousand puts you in the top 20 of a lot of categories. The longer your book maintains that rank, the more KU readers discover it by browsing those lists. Once they start reading, that can sustain or improve your rank. Destroyer stayed in the top #1,000 for almost two full months, largely due to KU.


Good observation Chris. That makes sense. I remember how long destroyer stayed below 1k. That was awesome.


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## Bryan Cohen (Aug 28, 2010)

Yayoi said:


> Hello Bryan! How long did it take you to write the novel? How many novels have you written so far to have the kind of mailing list that you have now? Thanks for replying!


Hey Yayoi! I would say the rough draft was about 2-3 weeks. Dictated it over the course of 4 weeks. 3 weeks of editing. So, 10 weeks in total.

This is my sixth novel. The other five novels are a part of my superhero series, so the crossover isn't that huge BUT most of my list building came through Facebook Ads and Nick Stephenson's Reader Magnets strategy.



JaclynDolamore said:


> This has been really exciting to watch! Congrats either way--the difference between 500 and 531 is negligible anyway, you've definitely rocked it and I bet you'll see slews of page reads coming in soon.


Thanks, Jaclyn! I know, 531 and 500 are close... but I think I can do it. We'll see what the next two days bring . A friend also told me he saw his sales rank jump higher once he raised his price after a similar launch. So maybe I can hit the # later if I'm not fortunate enough to get it this weekend. Thanks for the encouragement!



Geoff North said:


> It's been fantastic following this thread, Bryan. You can chalk one more sale up here to get you to #500. I've been enjoying the SMBS podcast since the beginning. If anyone deserves the success, it's you. You've worked hard for it and helped a ton of people along the way. Very proud of you.


I really appreciate it, Geoff. Thanks so much for your support and your kind words! They mean a lot!


----------



## dirtiestdevil (Aug 20, 2014)

How much $ have you spent on all of the ads and promotion so far?


----------



## hunterone (Feb 6, 2013)

ADDavies said:


> Am I correct thinking the Bookbub Ads beta is the pay per click service for those ads at the bottom of the regular newsletter? I'll be especially interested in how that goes.
> 
> I recently had my first full Bookbub and hit #60 overall in paid (briefly), so was delighted with that. I've been wondering how it will compare success / cost wise.


I heard they are inviting people to the BETA of bookbub ads. I wanted to try it after hearing a few people use it but they told me it wasn't open to everyone yet.


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## Bryan Cohen (Aug 28, 2010)

I'm now just 25 slots away from hitting my first goal of getting into the Top 500. Refreshing the screen over and over again is almost like marketing, right?



dirtiestdevil said:


> How much $ have you spent on all of the ads and promotion so far?


Hey DD. I'm estimating about $1,600 that I'm spending on marketing.



hunterone said:


> I heard they are inviting people to the BETA of bookbub ads. I wanted to try it after hearing a few people use it but they told me it wasn't open to everyone yet.


That's correct. They're starting to expand it more, but they're still rolling it out slowly but surely. Make sure you're on the waiting list!


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## Edwin Downward (Apr 30, 2011)

Just finished listening to your Sell More Book Show bonus show on the way home from work then logged on here to find all this. For all I know you've already hit that 500 mark by the time I post this. Incredible story with lots to analyse. Congrats for doing so well so soon.


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## Moist_Tissue (Dec 6, 2013)

Currently at 528.


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

Now at 507! 

Looks like a great book, Bryan. It sounds like a little _Hamlet _and _Henry IV_ got mixed in with the fairy tale. Got my $.99 right quick!


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## Bryan Cohen (Aug 28, 2010)

Becca Mills said:


> Now at 507!
> Looks like a great book, Bryan. It sounds like a little _Hamlet _and _Henry IV_ got mixed in with the fairy tale. Got my $.99 right quick!


WOO! So close to 500. It's crept back a little now. I'll make one final push today before raising the price. It definitely has some Hamlet and Henry IV. I LOVE Shakespeare.



Moist_Tissue said:


> Currently at 528.


We're getting there!



Edwin Downward said:


> Just finished listening to your Sell More Book Show bonus show on the way home from work then logged on here to find all this. For all I know you've already hit that 500 mark by the time I post this. Incredible story with lots to analyse. Congrats for doing so well so soon.


Edwin! Glad you're finding this helpful. Thanks .


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## AngelaQuarles (Jun 22, 2014)

Congrats Bryan, eager to see your final results!


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## Evenstar (Jan 26, 2013)

Really enjoyed the bonus show, packed with good information.

Thanks too for the mention, that was super sweet of you.

I'm assuming that my purchase in the UK doesn't actually count towards your US rank?


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## Geoff North (Apr 2, 2011)

#386 - You made it!!!!


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## DaniO (Oct 22, 2012)

Congratulations!! This has been great to follow.


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## Lysandra_Lorde (Mar 6, 2016)

Geoff North said:


> #386 - You made it!!!!


That's awesome. Congrats Bryan! I was so worried you were going to get stonewalled at 507!


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## T E Scott Writer (Jul 27, 2016)

Congratulations! And thank you for sharing the story


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## Moist_Tissue (Dec 6, 2013)

Currently at #260. Can you make it into the Top 100?


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## Bryan Cohen (Aug 28, 2010)

Woohoo! Thanks everybody for your support . I'll explain more about today and hitting the goal soon. For now... commence dancing!


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## BeMyBookBaby (Apr 18, 2016)

Sorry if this is improper, but how many books are you selling, per day, to be under 500? I heard you needed to sell a hundred per day to be in top 100, but it's all anecdotal and never from the horse's mouth.

I hate the enigma that is ranking. My maths brain doesn't compute its mystery. 



PS: I am nearly done reading Cinderella and REALLY enjoying it. I love it when a fairy tale kicks butt! Congratulations on the excellent hard work!


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## Justawriter (Jul 24, 2012)

Ellie Keating said:


> Sorry if this is improper, but how many books are you selling, per day, to be under 500? I heard you needed to sell a hundred per day to be in top 100, but it's all anecdotal and never from the horse's mouth.
> 
> I hate the enigma that is ranking. My maths brain doesn't compute its mystery.
> 
> PS: I am nearly done reading Cinderella and REALLY enjoying it. I love it when a fairy tale kicks butt! Congratulations on the excellent hard work!


#231 now. Exciting!

Ellie, I've heard it's more like you need to sell 1000 a day to get under 100.


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## dragontucker (Jul 18, 2014)

Wow!! You are in the 200's  That is great!


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## A Woman&#039;s Place Is In The Rebellion (Apr 28, 2011)

Well done, Bryan!


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## Rica G (Jul 16, 2016)

Wow, congrats!   Been watching the progress. Thank you for sharing.


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## IreneP (Jun 19, 2012)

Congratulations!


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## Geoff North (Apr 2, 2011)

#199. The great experiment is out of control...


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## Lisa Grace (Jul 3, 2011)

Just wanted to add, congratulations.  What a way to work to build a book readers want—and get the visibility an author needs.


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## Yayoi (Apr 26, 2016)

Hello Bryan, 

I'm back w another question. Well first of all thanks for sharing this experience with all of us, and of course I'm happy for you. Really. Well anyway my question is, do you think it would be possible for a new author to have a success that's similar to yours even without a mailing list so long as they do their homework and write for a smaller market? Or do you think your book's climbing fast because of your mailing list? If it's not possible, what advice would you give to a new author with only one book in his disposal t build his momentum and propel him to more sales?


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## Bryan Cohen (Aug 28, 2010)

Phew. Thanks for following along everybody! Those of you who've been following intently know that I dropped down to #199 in the U.S. store yesterday. I met my goal and it took a lot of work and more money than I expected to make possible.

I was having a little trouble getting BookBub Ads to work for me... so I ended up spending nearly 4x my original $500 budget. I probably could've reached my goal with about $1,000, but then my rank started dropping like crazy, so I went all in .

I'll share some more about that later. First, responses!



Geoff North said:


> #386 - You made it!!!!
> (then later) #199. The great experiment is out of control...


I've created a monster! Thanks, Geoff .



Moist_Tissue said:


> Currently at #260. Can you make it into the Top 100?


I considered making a push for this. I could've really done this today with another $1.5k to $3k on ad spend. It was a tough decision, but I decided to let pursuit of the Top 100 go for now.



PamelaKelley said:


> #231 now. Exciting!


In my head, I'm dancing in the streets!



dragontucker said:


> Wow!! You are in the 200's  That is great!


It was pretty nuts, and I'm psyched about it.



Lysandra_Lorde said:


> That's awesome. Congrats Bryan! I was so worried you were going to get stonewalled at 507!


ME TOO!



Ellie Keating said:


> Sorry if this is improper, but how many books are you selling, per day, to be under 500? I heard you needed to sell a hundred per day to be in top 100, but it's all anecdotal and never from the horse's mouth.
> I hate the enigma that is ranking. My maths brain doesn't compute its mystery.
> PS: I am nearly done reading Cinderella and REALLY enjoying it. I love it when a fairy tale kicks butt! Congratulations on the excellent hard work!


This post was really helpful for me in understanding the sales rank: 
http://selfpublishingadvice.org/amazon-sales-rank-taming-the-algorithm/

I have the sales #s updated on my initial post, but here they are again for you.

46 preorders before Monday
Monday: 21 Sales, 644 Pages Read, Rank #12,500
Tuesday: 28 Sales, 1,181 Pages Read, Rank #5,500
Wednesday: 85 sales, 1,273 pages read, Rank #2,350
Thursday: 180 sales, 1,461 pages read, Rank #757
Friday: 226 sales, 4,098 pages read, Rank #531
Saturday: 253 sales, 6,304 pages read, Rank #507
Sunday: 490 sales, 9,466 pages read, Rank #199
(price change to $2.99, some sales will come before the increase)
Monday: Current Rank #228 (23 sales, 7,751 pages read)



Yayoi said:


> Hello Bryan,
> I'm back w another question. Well first of all thanks for sharing this experience with all of us, and of course I'm happy for you. Really. Well anyway my question is, do you think it would be possible for a new author to have a success that's similar to yours even without a mailing list so long as they do their homework and write for a smaller market? Or do you think your book's climbing fast because of your mailing list? If it's not possible, what advice would you give to a new author with only one book in his disposal t build his momentum and propel him to more sales?


I think my mailing list (and lists) only contributed about 20% to this launch, so I definitely think that with enough homework and some financial investment, it's definitely possible to make this happen.

BUT, I also wrote my book to market. And marketed it to market (cover, title, description, etc.). You'd probably need to do the same to have these kind of results without a huge list.



Evenstar said:


> Really enjoyed the bonus show, packed with good information.
> Thanks too for the mention, that was super sweet of you.
> I'm assuming that my purchase in the UK doesn't actually count towards your US rank?


It doesn't, but I'm also in the Top 2,000 on the UK, and briefly got into the Top 900, so thank you! I really appreciate your help .



AngelaQuarles said:


> Congrats Bryan, eager to see your final results!


Thanks, Angela! Let's see if I can stay sticky in this Top 5,000 now!



Carrie_Cox said:


> Congratulations!! This has been great to follow.


Thanks, Carrie! Good to know .



T E Scott Writer said:


> Congratulations! And thank you for sharing the story


Thanks and you're welcome .



Augusta Blythe said:


> Well done, Bryan!


Thanks, Augusta .



Rica G said:


> Wow, congrats!  Been watching the progress. Thank you for sharing.


Much appreciated! Glad I could share.



IreneP said:


> Congratulations!


*bow*



Lisa Grace said:


> Just wanted to add, congratulations.  What a way to work to build a book readers want-and get the visibility an author needs.


Thanks, Lisa. It has been a ton of work, but I've been very happy to do it for sure.


----------



## Aaronhodges (Dec 19, 2015)

Yayoi said:


> Hello Bryan,
> 
> I'm back w another question. Well first of all thanks for sharing this experience with all of us, and of course I'm happy for you. Really. Well anyway my question is, do you think it would be possible for a new author to have a success that's similar to yours even without a mailing list so long as they do their homework and write for a smaller market? Or do you think your book's climbing fast because of your mailing list? If it's not possible, what advice would you give to a new author with only one book in his disposal t build his momentum and propel him to more sales?


Hi Yayoi, I wasn't as successful as Bryan with my first book, but I managed to hit the 600s on Amazon with my first book Stormwielder. I only used FB ads as made it free for the first couple of days. I never even knew about mailing lists or what not!


----------



## vkloss (Sep 22, 2014)

Congrats! Looking forward to part 2....=)


----------



## embitca (Feb 23, 2016)

Bryan Cohen said:


> I used www.onlinejobs.ph but for book 2, I'm using a transcriptionist from www.upwork.com to help out. The first one needed A LOT of work, so I wouldn't necessarily call that a success.


Hi Bryan, just curious on what you had the transcriptionist doing? Did you dictate without punctuation? I really hate speaking the punctuation in Dragon and have thought about dictating without it and putting it in later. Having someone else do the work of punctuating would be awesome, so I'm just wondering if that is what you did? Or did your transcriptionist just clean up Dragon transcribing errors?

Congrats on your success!


----------



## Bryan Cohen (Aug 28, 2010)

Still in the Top 400 a full day later! Didn't expect that, but it bodes well for potential stickiness .



Aaronhodges said:


> Hi Yayoi, I wasn't as successful as Bryan with my first book, but I managed to hit the 600s on Amazon with my first book Stormwielder. I only used FB ads as made it free for the first couple of days. I never even knew about mailing lists or what not!


Good work, Aaron. I definitely went all out, but I could've had pretty darn good results without as much crazy .



vkloss said:


> Congrats! Looking forward to part 2....=)


Me too! I think I'll let a few full-priced days go by before I give a part 2 update .



embitca said:


> Hi Bryan, just curious on what you had the transcriptionist doing? Did you dictate without punctuation? I really hate speaking the punctuation in Dragon and have thought about dictating without it and putting it in later. Having someone else do the work of punctuating would be awesome, so I'm just wondering if that is what you did? Or did your transcriptionist just clean up Dragon transcribing errors?
> Congrats on your success!


I spoke the punctuation. My VA just cleaned up transcribing errors. But I don't see why you couldn't have someone put it in for you. Might be tough though.


----------



## Vinny OHare (May 3, 2013)

I was probably refreshing my browser to see your ranking more than you were lol. This was a lot of fun for me, as much as it was stressful for you except I had no money on the line.

I see your updated goal for 30 days and added your book to go out once a week on all our social for the next 30 days. I will email you about doing a second run on the sites near the end of the 30 days.


----------



## Bryan Cohen (Aug 28, 2010)

Slowly sinking in ranking the last day or so, but every so often it creeps back up, which could be a good sign of Amazon trying to right the ship.

By the way, I've been documenting the process of this launch in video and FB post form on my Facebook Group if you'd like to go a little more in-depth.

Here's the link: http://bit.ly/mastercindlaunch



Vinny OHare said:


> I was probably refreshing my browser to see your ranking more than you were lol. This was a lot of fun for me, as much as it was stressful for you except I had no money on the line.
> I see your updated goal for 30 days and added your book to go out once a week on all our social for the next 30 days. I will email you about doing a second run on the sites near the end of the 30 days.


Hehe, thanks, Vinny. I really appreciate your help with Author Ad Network and Awesome Book Promotion! Pretty awesome to see a boosted post with that many likes .


----------



## JaclynDolamore (Nov 5, 2015)

Great launch rank, solid reviews, strong genre? I am betting you'll have no problem staying in the top 5000 for a month--at the least!


----------



## Krista.Cairn (Jun 13, 2014)

Hey, nice work Bryan - on a search for your book (in Canada) today, it comes up as auto-complete #1 the minute the second "e" is entered.


----------



## dragontucker (Jul 18, 2014)

Still holding strong  Did sales drop any after switching the price to 2.99? Just curious


----------



## Bryan Cohen (Aug 28, 2010)

JaclynDolamore said:


> Great launch rank, solid reviews, strong genre? I am betting you'll have no problem staying in the top 5000 for a month--at the least!


Thanks, Jaclyn! I appreciate the encouragement .



Krista.Cairn said:


> Hey, nice work Bryan - on a search for your book (in Canada) today, it comes up as auto-complete #1 the minute the second "e" is entered.


Haha, that's awesome!! Thanks for sharing, Krista .



dragontucker said:


> Still holding strong  Did sales drop any after switching the price to 2.99? Just curious


Hey, DT. Sales did drop. But earnings only decreased by about 7% the day I increased the book price. There was a higher earnings drop the next day of 25% day to day, which leads me to believe that Amazon hasn't really started pushing the book too hard yet.

I'm hoping to see an increase in the next couple of days. If I don't, I may have to put some more advertising into this.


----------



## JaclynDolamore (Nov 5, 2015)

I think at this point you just need to wait for your book to appear it more also-boughts on other pages. My page reads also started going way up after a few days at full price.


----------



## Vinny OHare (May 3, 2013)

Bryan you sneed to check your forum sig here as the first and third one lead to dead pages 

I am also interested in if you think the extra money to the bookbub ads were necessary. I thought I hear you say they were converting at 1%?


----------



## Bryan Cohen (Aug 28, 2010)

JaclynDolamore said:


> I think at this point you just need to wait for your book to appear it more also-boughts on other pages. My page reads also started going way up after a few days at full price.


Doesn't waiting take patience?  I'll try to keep calm and not do anything rash, Jaclyn. Thanks!



Vinny OHare said:


> Bryan you sneed to check your forum sig here as the first and third one lead to dead pages
> I am also interested in if you think the extra money to the bookbub ads were necessary. I thought I hear you say they were converting at 1%?


Fixed! Thanks, Vinny. I was getting a click through rate of 1% (though I've had some ads have a CTR that's nearly triple that).

Was it necessary for the book? Debatable. Was it necessary to get into the Top 500? Absolutely. 3/4 of my sales that day were attributable to my BookBub Ads. Wouldn't have hit my goal without putting money into that.


----------



## angela65 (Oct 8, 2014)

This is so inspiring. Thanks for keeping us updated.


----------



## Bryan Cohen (Aug 28, 2010)

Looks like rank may be starting to stabilize around the #1,000-1,200 area. Similar sales and pages read the last 3 days.

Pretty cool!



angela65 said:


> This is so inspiring. Thanks for keeping us updated.


That's awesome to hear, Angela. Will do!


----------



## hulklogan (Jul 13, 2015)

Bryan you completely ad free at this point, or are you stilling putting dollars in? If so, do you ever plan on stopping ads completely?

Thanks,
Pat


----------



## Bryan Cohen (Aug 28, 2010)

hulklogan said:


> Bryan you completely ad free at this point, or are you stilling putting dollars in? If so, do you ever plan on stopping ads completely?
> Thanks,
> Pat


Great question, Pat. I'm still using FB Ads and KDP Ads at this point as a bit of a boost. I'm not sure if I'm going to stop ads. I'll have to assess the cost vs. the benefit. For now, I still want to make sure my ranking stays high enough that Amazon is pushing me with all its might .


----------



## RecluseRaconteur (Apr 11, 2015)

I just wanted to thank you again for sharing. Discovering your podcast tonight made me cheer. I'm starting from the first one in 2014, listening to the second one now. Great stuff!


----------



## Bryan Cohen (Aug 28, 2010)

RecluseRaconteur said:


> I just wanted to thank you again for sharing. Discovering your podcast tonight made me cheer. I'm starting from the first one in 2014, listening to the second one now. Great stuff!


You're welcome, RR. That's awesome. You've got a lot of listening to do .


----------



## Yayoi (Apr 26, 2016)

Hey Bryan, Just want you to know I'm still following your progress! So are you now working on the sequel? Since you spent $1,600 on advertising, can you say that you've compensated now through your sales?


----------



## Chris Lord (Feb 22, 2014)

Comment deleted due to new TOS on 27/08/2018


----------



## Bryan Cohen (Aug 28, 2010)

Yayoi said:


> Hey Bryan, Just want you to know I'm still following your progress! So are you now working on the sequel? Since you spent $1,600 on advertising, can you say that you've compensated now through your sales?


Hey Yayoi! Thanks for keeping tabs . I'm working on the sequel currently, though it's mostly a standalone set with a different fairy tale.

I have not made a positive ROI when you combine marketing and production (around $5k). I did recently cross the $2k earnings mark with the book though, and if I'd been a little less over the top with my BookBub Ad spend, I might've hit the break even point after 1 month. It's looking like it'll be 2 or 3 now.



Chris Vaughn said:


> Very happy for your results. I know you have about two weeks before you month is over. Are you still pushing any ads to keep the ranking up?
> I see you are in the middle 2608 right now.


Thanks so much, Chris. I'm doing some FB ads and some KDP ads to keep rank up a bit, though my spend is significantly down from how much I was putting out during launch week.


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## Scout (Jun 2, 2014)

Oh, how interesting. Thanks for sharing. Love the SellMoreBooksShow  So happy for you.


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## Bryan Cohen (Aug 28, 2010)

Hey all. I wanted to give a longer update here since I know a lot of folks have been following things.

After 3 weeks, Cinderella Dreams of Fire remains in the top 5,000 (current rank: 3,085). I'm very happy to still be on pace to reach my goal of staying there for the first 30 days. I have done some advertising along the way (approximately $15 a day of KDP ads, and $10-15 a day of FB ads) to try to keep it boosted.

That puts my production + marketing spend at a little over $5,000. So far, the book has earned $2,500. It's not quite the grand slam home run I was hoping for, but there are some successes with the project that are very encouraging for the future:

1. I've added over 200 emails to my list.

By presenting an exclusive offer of an unpublished novella in the front and back matter of my book, I've brought in over 200 new subscribers. I can see this # continuing to grow over time, especially if I present the same or a similar offer in the front of my future standalone fairy tale novels.

2. I'm getting some great engagement from my new subscribers.

I've gotten way more email than I expected from new fans of the book. I always make sure that my emails ask questions to promote a two-way relationship with my readers. That's worked like gangbusters, and I think I'll definitely find some true fans in the mix.

3. Even with a short book (50k words exactly), I've received no complaints about the length.

In fact, some readers even though it could be shorter! I wonder if the length has led to fewer sales after the price increase, but nobody in the reviews have said they wish the book was longer. This is encouraging since I plan to write similar length books going forward.

So, long story short: I haven't made back my money yet, but it's very likely I will by month three or so.

I'll keep everybody up to speed on my progress.

Thanks for following along!



Scout said:


> Oh, how interesting. Thanks for sharing. Love the SellMoreBooksShow  So happy for you.


Thanks, Scout! Happy to have you as a listener .


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## Doglover (Sep 19, 2013)

That's the sort of useful information we love to hear. Thanks, Bryan.


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## Bryan Cohen (Aug 28, 2010)

Doglover said:


> That's the sort of useful information we love to hear. Thanks, Bryan.


You're welcome!


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